Caption transcript for In The Footsteps of The Rabbi From Tarsus: “First ‘Official’ Ministry Journey” (2/12)

• 00:03 WITH DR. JEFFERY SEIF AND SANDRA LEVITT
• 00:59 A HEARTY SHALOM TO ALL OF YOU.
• 01:01 JEFFERY SEIF HERE
• 01:03 WITH MY FRIEND SANDRA LEVITT.
• 01:04 SHALOM AND WELCOME BACK TO PAUL,
• 01:06 WHERE TALKING ABOUT PAUL IN DAMASCUS,
• 01:08 HE IS TEACHING IN THE SYNAGOGUES
• 01:10 AND OFF WE GO JEFF.
• 01:12 YES AND WE'RE FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS
• 01:17 AND HERE WE'RE LOOKING AT WHEN HE BEGAN TO TAKE HIS BABY STEPS.
• 01:23 SAYS THE JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME BEGINS WITH THE FIRST STEP.
• 01:27 AND PAUL BEGINS HIS JOURNEY.
• 01:29 DOESN'T HE?
• 01:31 HE DOES BUT IN ACTS CHAPTER 9, VERSE 20, IT TELLS US,
• 01:38 HE WAS NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL,
• 01:40 HE WAS NOT ASHAMED OF THE WORD.
• 01:41 HE WENT STRAIGHT WAY AND PREACHED.
• 01:42 YEAH, AND THAT STRAIGHT WAY,
• 01:44 THAT'S AN OLD KING JAMES TERM FOR "IMMEDIATELY",
• 01:46 HE GETS RIGHT OUT THERE. RIGHT, RIGHT.
• 01:48 SOMETIMES WE THINK TOO MUCH. RIGHT.
• 01:50 IT'S GOOD FOR US, GOD PUTS SOMETHING IN OUR HEARTS TO DO
• 01:52 AND JUST HAVE AT IT,
• 01:53 GO AFTER IT, AND NOT BE SHEEPISH.
• 01:55 BUT PAUL KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT
• 01:56 AND YET, HE HAD THIS HEART
• 01:59 THAT HE NEEDED TO GET OUT AND TELL THE JEWS AND EVERYONE,
• 02:02 THIS IS THE MESSIAH.
• 02:04 WHAT A WONDERFUL MESSAGE.
• 02:06 HOW EXCITING MUST HE HAVE BEEN?
• 02:07 YES, IT'S AN EXCITING MESSAGE AND I'M FASCINATED BY THE WAY
• 02:11 THAT WE'RE ALL INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE GO STORY.
• 02:16 FOR THE GOSPEL TO GROW, PEOPLE GOTTA GO.
• 02:19 AND HERE WE GO NOW AS WE ENTER INTO PAUL'S WORLD.
• 02:22 WE TAKE LEAVE OF OUR OWN
• 02:25 AND WE ENTER INTO A TIME MACHINE AND JOURNEY BACK
• 02:28 AND WATCH PAUL AS HE GET'S ABOUT THE FATHER'S BUSINESS.
• 02:33 TROUBLE SEEMED TO FOLLOW THE RABBI FROM TARSUS WHEREVER HE WENT.
• 02:40 HE'S IN DAMASCUS AND THINGS DETERIORATE TO THE POINT WHERE
• 02:43 HE'S SO MUCH UP AGAINST THE WALL, THAT HE FEARS HIS LIFE.
• 02:47 THE BRETHREN SNEAK HIM OUT OF THE CITY,
• 02:50 THEY LOWER HIM IN A BASKET AND HE MAKES HASTE TO GET OUT OF DODGE
• 02:56 AND WHERE DOES HE GO?
• 02:58 HE GOES TO JERUSALEM,
• 02:59 WHERE HE'S THEN CONFRONTED WITH ANOTHER SET OF DIFFICULTIES.
• 03:03 "SARROS" IS THE JEWISH EXPRESSION, DIFFICULTIES, TRIALS,
• 03:07 NOT JUST FOR PAUL IN THIS CASE,
• 03:11 BUT BECAUSE OF PAUL IN THIS CASE
• 03:14 AND WHY DO I SAY THAT?
• 03:17 PAUL HAS COME TO FAITH IN YESHUA, BUT HE HASN'T COME TO JERUSALEM, YET.
• 03:21 HERE HE COMES, BUT HIS REPUTATION HAS BEEN AROUND BEFORE HIM.
• 03:27 YOU MIGHT RECALL THAT THE LAST TIME HE WAS THERE IN JERUSALEM,
• 03:31 HE CREATED QUITE A STIR.
• 03:35 AND WHY IS THAT?
• 03:36 BECAUSE HE WAS THERE, NOT TO ADVOCATE FOR THE MOVEMENT,
• 03:42 BUT RATHER TO ADVOCATE FOR THE MOVEMENTS DEMISE.
• 03:46 LUKE IS VERY SPECIFIC, THAT PAUL WASN'T JUST A CASUAL PARTICIPANT IN THE PLUNDER
• 03:53 AND THE CARNAGE OF THE MOVEMENT AND IN THE DEATH OF IT'S FIRST MARTYR STEPHEN.
• 03:59 NO, IT WASN'T A CASUAL PARTICIPATION.
• 04:01 PAUL WAS PROACTIVE.
• 04:03 A SPIRITED SORT NOT SATISFIED WITH THE DEATH OF STEPHEN ALONE,
• 04:08 HE WENT ON TO FACILITATE A GENERAL PERSECUTION
• 04:11 AND SO IT WAS,THAT THE BELIEVERS IN JUDEA, THEY FELT PAUL'S WEIGHT ALREADY.
• 04:19 AND SO HEARING THAT HE'S COMING TO TOWN, THEY WERE NOT HAPPY CAMPERS.
• 04:24 IT'S LIKE THE WAY THE MICE FEEL WHEN THEY HEAR THAT A CAT HAS MOVED INTO THE HOUSE,
• 04:30 THEY ARE ON RED ALERT.
• 04:34 LUKE TELLS US IN ACTS CHAPTER 9, VERSE 26,
• 04:46 HE'D TRY TO GET CLOSE, THEY'D BACK AWAY.
• 04:48 THEY WEREN'T COMFORTABLE WITH THE MAN.
• 04:50 AND IT'S UNDERSTANDABLE GIVEN THE NATURE OF THE THING.
• 04:54 IT SAYS, WELL, LUKE SAYS,
• 05:00 "WHAT HAPPENS IS A FRIEND COMES TO PAUL'S AIDE WHO'S ABLE TO GIVE TESTIMONY TO THE FACT,
• 05:06 THAT WITH PAUL WE'RE SEEING A MAN WITH A TRANSFORMED LIFE.
• 05:11 HIS NAME WAS YOSEPH, FOR JOSEPH.
• 05:14 HE WAS NAMED BARNABAS AS WELL.
• 05:16 HE WAS A MAN OF REPUTE.
• 05:19 NOTED PREVIOUSLY IN LUKE,
• 05:21 HE GAVE A LARGE SUM OF MONEY TO THE APOSTLES TO HELP FACILITATE THE GOSPELS ADVANCEMENT,
• 05:25 TO HELP THE JUDEANS WHO WERE VANQUISHED.
• 05:28 DIFFICULTIES, POVERTIES, AND LIKE, HE LIQUIDATED ASSETS TO PARTICIPATE WITH THEM.
• 05:33 AND SO HE WAS A MAN OF GOOD REPUTATION
• 05:35 AND THIS FELLOW BARNABAS, WHO WAS KNOWN POSITIVELY TO THE JUDEAN BRETHREN,
• 05:40 HE'S ABLE TO HELP OFFSET THE NEGATIVE.
• 05:44 AND SO IT IS, HE GETS IN THERE AND HE TELLS THE CONGREGATION ABOUT PAUL,
• 05:50 HOW HE WAS CONVERTED.
• 05:52 NOT A CONVERTED JEW, BUT A CONVERTED SINNER.
• 05:54 HOW HIS DISPOSITION WAS RE-WIRED IN THE WAKE OF HIS EXPERIENCE ON THE DAMASCUS ROAD.
• 06:00 HE GOES ON TO NOTE AS WELL, THAT THIS SAME PAUL, THEN WAS FIERY
• 06:05 AND HIS ADVOCATION FOR THE GOSPEL IN THE SYNAGOGUES IN DAMASCUS.
• 06:10 THE NET RESULT IS THAT THE DISCIPLES TAKE ALL THIS AT FACE VALUE
• 06:15 AND COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT THAT PAUL WAS A NEW FELLOW.
• 06:20 WE SEE IN VERSE 29,
• 06:31 THIS IS THE TESTIMONY PAUL, WHEREVER HE WENT, TROUBLE WENT WITH HIM.
• 06:36 AND WHY IS THIS?
• 06:38 BECAUSE WE THIS IN-BREAKING KINGDOM.
• 06:40 THE FORCES OF HELL ARE BENT ON STOPPING THIS MAN'S FORWARD MOMENTUM.
• 06:45 HERE IN JERUSALEM, BY VIRTUE OF BEING WITH PEOPLE
• 06:48 AND BEING ON PINS AND NEEDLES AROUND HIM
• 06:50 AND THEN IN DAMASCUS BEFOREHAND EVIDENCE BY THE FACT THEY'D WANNA KILL HIM.
• 06:54 WE'RE TOLD HERE THAT HE SPENT SOMETIME IN JERUSALEM.
• 06:57 IN HIS FIRST CORRESPONDENCE, THE FIRST DOCUMENT HE PENNED, GALATIANS.
• 07:02 PAUL TELLS AS MUCH IN HIS OWN WORDS.
• 07:05 IN LUKE, HERE, LUKE IS EXPLAINING PAUL,
• 07:10 WE HEAR FROM PAUL IN HIS OWN WORDS WHERE HE SAYS IN CHAPTER 1, VERSE 18.
• 07:14 HE'S IN ARABIA, RETURNS TO DAMASCUS AND THEN IN 18,
• 07:25 PAUL SAYS THAT IT WAS A REASONABLY SHORT VISIT.
• 07:28 HE GAINS ACCESS TO THE BRETHREN.
• 07:31 AFTERWARDS, THEN IN VERSE 21, HE GOES TO THE REGIONS OF SYRIA AND CILICIA.
• 07:36 THE TEXT SAYS,
• 07:51 PAUL MAKES A VISIT TO JERUSALEM BECAUSE HE'S GOTTA GET OUT OF DAMASCUS.
• 07:56 HE LEAVES JERUSALEM, BECAUSE HE'S GOTTA GET OUT AND HE MAKES HIS WAY TO TARSUS.
• 08:03 AND HE'LL BE IN TARSUS FOR THE BETTER PART OF 10 YEARS.
• 08:10 IT SEEMS THAT THINGS HAVE SETTLED DOWN SOME IN PAUL'S LIFE.
• 08:13 HE'S LEARNING, HE'S GROWING, HE'S MINISTERING, HE'S IN THE GREAT CITY OF TARSUS.
• 08:20 NO MEAN CITY ACCORDING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITER, IT'S A FAMOUS CITY.
• 08:24 IT'S A UNIVERSITY CITY.
• 08:27 HE'S THERE PLYING HIS TRADE AS AN EVANGELIST AND PASTOR.
• 08:31 AND HE'S NETWORKING.
• 08:33 ARGUABLY HE CULTIVATED A RELATIONSHIP WITH LUKE
• 08:38 OR AT LEAST LUKE WAS GOING TO JOIN HIM LATER,
• 08:41 MAY WELL HAVE SHARED WITH PAUL IN COMMON DAYS IN TARSUS AND WHY IS THAT?
• 08:46 BECAUSE, TARSUS WAS KNOWN FOR IT'S MEDICAL SCHOOL, AS WELL AS IT'S UNIVERSITY IN GENERAL.
• 08:52 AND SO IT IS THAT PAUL SPENDS TIME IN TARSUS
• 08:56 UNTIL HE'S BECKONED LATER TO ANTIOCH TO THEN BEGIN HIS FAMOUS MISSIONARY JOURNEYS.
• 09:15 WANT YOU TO GET TO KNOW PAUL A LITTLE BETTER
• 09:17 AND FRANKLY, I WANT YOU TO GET TO KNOW US.
• 09:20 IF YOU'LL CALL:
• 09:24 THAT'S THE "GO TO" NUMBER
• 09:25 TO GET IN TOUCH WITH US
• 09:27 ZOLA LEVITT MINISTRIES.
• 09:28 IF YOU'D LIKE
• 09:29 WE'RE PLEASED TO SEND YOU
• 09:30 A FREE MAGAZINE.
• 09:31 THERE'S ARTICLES,
• 09:32 YOU CAN READ IT, RESPOND TO IT,
• 09:34 GET SOME INTERACTION GOING.
• 09:36 1-800-WONDERS
• 09:38 WE WANT YOU TO GO ON THE JOURNEY
• 09:39 WITH US AS WITH PAUL.
• 09:40 AND SPEAKING OF JOURNEYS,
• 09:42 WE TAKE TRIPS TO ISRAEL AND GREECE,
• 09:44 WE LIKE TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS AND PAUL.
• 09:47 JOIN US ON A TRIP
• 09:49 1-800-WONDERS
• 09:54 I ALWAYS SAY, "THAT'S ISRAEL, THAT'S THE WAY WE SEE IT," BUT THAT'S GREECE
• 09:59 AND IT'S NOT THE SAME EVERY TIME WE GO.
• 10:01 WE GET TO SEE DIFFERENT SITES, DIFFERENT PLACES, DIFFERENT CULTURES IN GREECE.
• 10:05 IT'S EXCITING TO SEE THE BIBLE COME ALIVE IN GREECE ALSO.
• 10:09 HEY AND IF PEOPLE WANNA SEE IT, COME WITH US
• 10:12 OR AT LEAST TURN US ON, OH, BE GLAD TO SHOW IT TO THEM.
• 10:14 BECAUSE WE LIKE TO TAKE PEOPLE TO THE PLACE WHERE THE STORY TOOK PLACE.
• 10:17 ABSOLUTELY AND WE'RE LOOKING AT PAUL
• 10:18 AND HERE HE IS, HE HAS BECOME A BELIEVER,
• 10:21 HE'S EXCITED, HE'S IN THE SYNAGOGUE
• 10:23 AND YET HIS BRETHREN DO NOT WANNA EXCEPT HIM AT ALL.
• 10:27 WELL HE HAD A BAD REPUTATION, SANDRA.
• 10:30 BUT WHY?
• 10:31 PEOPLE KNEW HIM TO BE
• 10:32 A MEAN GNARLY GUY.
• 10:34 OH, HE WAS AFTER THEM.
• 10:35 THAT'S RIGHT
• 10:36 AND SO THEY HEARD THE WORD
• 10:38 THAT HE WAS A NEW MAN.
• 10:39 BUT IT'S KIND OF LIKE THE OLD SAYING,
• 10:41 "ONE DAY THE LION WILL LIE DOWN WITH THE LAMB."
• 10:43 BUT WHAT IF THE LION WAKES UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
• 10:46 AND FORGETS THE NEW ECONOMY?
• 10:47 AND DECIDES HE'S HUNGRY? WELL THE LAMB WON'T BE TOO HAPPY.
• 10:49 NO, THE LAMBS A LITTLE NERVOUS SOMETIMES AND PAUL LOOKED LIKE A LION
• 10:52 AND THE BELIEVERS WERE LAMBS
• 10:54 AND THEY WERE UNCERTAIN AT FIRST. WELL, DON'T YOU THINK
• 10:55 THEY MAY HAVE THOUGHT,
• 10:57 WELL MAYBE THIS IS JUST A PLOY FOR PAUL TO GET TO US AGAIN?
• 10:59 YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT PEOPLE THINK.
• 11:02 IT'S HARD TO SAY, BUT EVENTUALLY THEY CAME TO TERMS WITH HIM,
• 11:04 BECAUSE SOMEONE GOT BEHIND PAUL RIGHT.
• 11:06 AND SAID, "HEY, PAUL'S A STRAIGHT UP KIND OF FELLOW."AND THAT WAS BARNABAS.
• 11:09 AND GOD USES IT ALL.
• 11:11 HE USES EVERYTHING IN OUR LIVES FOR HIS GLORY.
• 11:15 NO MATTER WHERE WE'VE COME FROM OR WHAT WE'VE DONE, HE USES THAT.
• 11:19 AND THAT'S THE ENCOURAGEMENT HERE WITH PAUL.
• 11:21 WHAT'S INTERESTING AT ONE LEVEL IS GOD EVEN USES THE KINDA SORTA NOTHINGNESS.
• 11:25 IT'S DRAMATIC PAUL'S GOING TO DAMASCUS PREACHING. BUT THEN HE GOES TO TARSUS FOR 10 YEARS
• 11:30 AND MUMS THE WORD AND NOTHING
• 11:32 UNTIL A BARNABAS IS LEAD BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO PULL HIM OFF THE MOTHBALLS
• 11:36 AND TO GO WITH HIM ON THE JOURNEY TO ANTIOCH AND THE REST IS HISTORY.
• 11:39 AND THE REST IS HISTORY. JEFF I'M EXCITED TO HEAR YOUR TEACHING ABOUT PAUL.
• 11:46 LUKE TELLS US THERE WAS A GREAT PERSECUTION, BUT PAUL WAS PART OF IT.
• 11:49 LUKE TELLS US AS WELL THAT GOOD THINGS HAPPEN AS THESE DISCIPLES HAD TO HIT THE ROAD.
• 11:55 STRANGE AS THAT MIGHT SOUND, THEY WERE DISPOSSESSED, THEY HAD TO MOVE ON,
• 11:59 THEY LOST PROPERTY, FRIENDSHIP NETWORKS, AND OFF THEY WENT TO POINTS EASY AND WEST AND NORTH.
• 12:06 AND THE QUESTION IS, CAN GOD BRING SOMETHING MARVELOUS OUT OF THE MISERIES?
• 12:10 THE ANSWER IS YES.
• 12:12 LUKE TELLS US THAT UP IN A NORTHERN CITY CALLED ANTIOCH,
• 12:15 THE GOSPEL SPREAD WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THESE BELIEVERS.
• 12:19 THERE WERE DIFFICULTIES NOT WITHSTANDING
• 12:22 TALKING ABOUT WHAT GOD WAS DOING IN THE WORLD BEGINNING IN JERUSALEM.
• 12:24 THE NET RESULT IS THAT IF THEIR REVIVAL FIRES GET STARTED AND THEY GET FLAMED,
• 12:29 AND SOMETHING SPECIAL IS HAPPENING.
• 12:31 SO MUCH SO THAT WORD GETS BACK TO JERUSALEM OF THE GOOD NEWS AMONGST THE JEWS
• 12:37 AND NONE JEWS IN ANTIOCH PROPER.
• 12:39 THEY SEND SOMEONE TO GO CHECK IT OUT AND THAT PERSONS NAME WAS BARNABAS.
• 12:43 AND THAT MAN WAS AMAZED WHAT GOD WAS DOING.
• 12:47 HE KNEW OF SOMEONE NOT FAR AWAY IN TARSUS NAMED PAUL.
• 12:51 HE'D BEEN THERE THE BETTER PART OF 10 YEARS NOW.
• 12:53 SEEMED TO HAVE BEEN ON THE BACK WATERS, IF YOU WILL,
• 12:55 BUT GOD WAS JUST USING HIM OUT THERE AND PREPARING HIM FOR HIS FUTURE.
• 12:59 WELL HIS FUTURE WAS GONNA ARRIVE ALRIGHT, WHEN HE ARRIVED IN ANTIOCH.
• 13:04 AND HE CAME AND HE MINISTERED AND THIS IS GONNA BE THE BEGINNING OF NEW DAYS FOR PAUL.
• 13:10 AND THEY'LL BE A NEW DAWN FOR THE CHURCH.
• 13:12 AS WE WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS,
• 13:15 WE SEE HOW IT'S FROM ANTIOCH PROPER WHERE HE STARTS TO GET SENT OUT.
• 13:20 AND THAT SENDING IS A STORY, CERTAINLY WORTH TENDING TO, IS IT NOT.
• 13:27 IT'S A GOOD STORY.
• 13:29 RATHER THAN JUST TALK ABOUT THE BIBLE, LET'S HEAR FROM THE BIBLE.
• 13:32 IF YOU'LL LOOK PLEASE, IN ACTS CHAPTER 11, VERSE 26,
• 13:35 WE'RE TOLD,
• 13:54 AND THEN HE SAID SOMETHING INTERESTING THAT'S REALLY REVEALING, HE SAID,
• 14:02 THAT FOR ME IS INTERESTING FOR A FEW REASONS.
• 14:04 ONE, THE JEWISH BELIEVERS IN YESHUA AND JESUS WEREN'T CALLED CHRISTIANS INITIALLY.
• 14:10 THE TERM NAZARENE WAS EMPLOYED.
• 14:13 JUST JEWISH BELIEVERS WOULD'VE WORKED.
• 14:16 THEY WERE REFERRED TO AS THE WAY; THERE WERE DIFFERENT NAMES.
• 14:19 BUT THE TITLE NAME CHRISTIAN WAS IMPOSED UPON THEM BY OUTSIDERS,
• 14:23 WHO SAW THE MOVEMENT BEYOND JUDEA AND SO THESE ARE CHRISTLIKE PEOPLE.
• 14:29 INDIVIDUALS THAT ARE TRYING TO IMITATE THIS MESSIAH.
• 14:32 AND SO THEY CALLED THEM CHRISTIANS FIRST, THERE.
• 14:36 WHAT FOR ME IS AMAZING IS WHAT THE FIRST CHRISTIANS DID
• 14:43 AND WOULD THAT THOSE WHO WALKED THE ROAD IN SUBSEQUENT GENERATIONS DID THE SAME
• 14:49 I WOULD INDEED BE A HAPPY CAMPER.
• 14:51 DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE FIRST FOLLOWERS OF JESUS DID, THOSE NAMED CHRISTIANS,
• 14:57 HERE IN THE LITERATURE?
• 14:58 LET'S CONSIDER THE STORY AS IT MOVES ON IN VERSE 27, WE'RE TOLD THAT,
• 15:09 BY THE WAY, THIS SHOWS A LINKAGE BETWEEN THE MESSIANIC MOVEMENT HEADQUARTERED IN JERUSALEM
• 15:15 AND THIS DAUGHTER MOVEMENT IN ANTIOCH PROPER.
• 15:19 THERE'S SOME KIND OF RELATIONSHIP.
• 15:21 WOULD THAT TODAY THERE WERE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE CHURCH AT LARGE
• 15:24 AND THE MESSIANIC WORK IN JERUSALEM, I WOULD BE THRILLED BY THAT.
• 15:28 WELL, HERE YOU SEE THERE WAS THIS CONNECTEDNESS.
• 15:44 INTERESTINGLY IT WAS THAT SAME CLAUDIUS,
• 15:46 WHO KICKED ALL THE JEWS OUT OF ROME.
• 15:48 WE KNOW THIS FROM THE HISTORICAL RECORDS AS WELL AS ACTS 18 IN THE VERY BEGINNING.
• 15:53 THAT CLAUDIUS KICKED ALL THE JEWS OUT.
• 15:56 AND IT SEEMS THAT HE IS UNKIND TOWARDS THE JEWS AND THEN GOD SENDS FAMINE IN HIS REALM.
• 16:02 WONDER IF THERE ISN'T A SUBTLE POINT HERE, THAT IF YOU BLESS THOSE PEOPLE, YOU'LL BE BLESSED.
• 16:08 YOU CURSE THOSE PEOPLE, YOU'LL BE CURSED.
• 16:10 THINK IT IS A LITTLE SUBTLE, ACTUALLY NOT SO SUBTLE, BECAUSE WE CONJUNCTION WITH THIS.
• 16:15 IN THE WAKE OF THERE BEING NEWS ABOUT TROUBLE DAWNING IN JUDEA.
• 16:22 THESE INDIVIDUALS, REFERRED TO AS CHRISTIANS,
• 16:27 ARE BECKONED TO MARSHAL THEIR RESOURCES TOGETHER, TO HELP THE JEWISH BELIEVERS,
• 16:33 TO HELP JEWS IN JUDEA.
• 16:36 NOW, MY QUESTION IS, "WHERE ON GOD'S EARTH IS THAT SPIRIT TODAY?"
• 16:42 TROUBLE IN ISRAEL, CHRISTIANS MARSHALING RESOURCES TO BE OF ASSISTANCE.
• 16:48 IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WE GET THE DIRECT OPPOSITE TODAY.
• 16:52 THERE'S TROUBLE IN ISRAEL AND IT SEEMS THAT CHRISTIANS, CERTAINLY MAINLINE DENOMINATIONS,
• 16:58 JUST GET IN LINE, THEY JOCKY FOR POSITION TO SEE WHO CAN CONDEMN THE JEWS THE MOST.
• 17:04 WHO CAN MAKE IT AS DIFFICULT FOR THE JEWS AS POSSIBLE?
• 17:08 THEY SEEM TO COMPETE FOR THAT PRIZE.
• 17:10 THAT'S NOT THE SPIRIT HERE.
• 17:12 IT SEEMS THAT THOSE WHO WHERE FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS IN ANTIOCH,
• 17:17 THAT THEY WERE INSTRUCTED TO BE OF ASSISTANCE TO THE JEWISH FOLK IN JERUSALEM.
• 17:22 IT'S A GREAT STORY, ISN'T IT?
• 17:25 WELL PAUL AND BARNABAS GO DOWN THERE WITH AIDE THAT WAS GATHERED TOGETHER IN ANTIOCH
• 17:30 AND THEY MAKE THERE WAY TO JERUSALEM.
• 17:33 THEY DELIVER THAT PACKAGE AND THEN THEY MAKE THEIR WAY BACK TO ANTIOCH.
• 17:36 AND IT'S FROM THERE, THEN, THAT GOD'S GOING TO BLESS THEM AND SEND THEM TO POINTS.
• 17:41 AS WE FOLLOW ON PAUL, WE SEE HOW HE MAKES HIS WAY OUT IN THE GRECO ROMAN WORLD.
• 17:46 AND WE'LL FOLLOW HIM, OF COURSE, AS WE WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THIS RABBI FROM TARSUS.
• 17:56 THEY ARE FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS IN ANTIOCH.
• 17:58 NOT ONLY ARE THEY CALLED CHRISTIANS, BUT A FAMINE IS PREDICTED.
• 18:02 THE FAMINE COMES TRUE AND THEY ARE THE BRETHREN SEND HELP TO THEIR FELLOW JEWS.
• 18:09 HOW IS THAT DIFFERENT TODAY?
• 18:10 ARE WE HELPING OUR JEWISH FRIENDS?
• 18:12 WELL, YOU WOULD HERE ME TO SAY, OVER AGAIN IN A DIFFERENT CONTEXT.
• 18:16 I'M CHAGRIN, BECAUSE THE CHURCH SEEMS TO ABANDON THE JEWS, AS APPOSED TO GETTING BEHIND THEM,
• 18:19 BUT, THAT'S NOT WHAT THE FIRST CHRISTIANS DID. NO THEY DIDN'T
• 18:24 I LIKED THAT THEY WERE GIVEN TO EXTENDING RELIEF.
• 18:27 SEEMS TO ME THAT THE LORD SAYS THAT,
• 18:29 "YOU'LL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS",
• 18:30 NOT THAT "YOU'LL JUST KNOW THEM BY THEIR TOOTS."
• 18:33 AT THE END OF THE DAY THESE PEOPLE ARE GIVING FORTH.
• 18:35 THEY'RE CARING AND THEY'RE SHARING
• 18:37 AND THAT'S WHEN GOD'S PEOPLE ARE AT THEIR BEST.
• 18:40 AND THAT'S THE FIRST THING THEY DO.
• 18:42 THEY TURN AROUND AND THEY HELP THEIR BRETHREN.
• 18:44 THEY SEE THAT THIS FAMINE HAS HIT AND THEY ARE HELPING EACH OTHER.
• 18:48 AND THAT'S WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
• 18:49 AND I FIND IT TRAGIC PERSONALLY.
• 18:51 YOU CAN GO INTO CHURCHES
• 18:53 AND LOOK AT MISSIONS BOARDS AND ALL OVER THE WORLD, BUT ISRAEL.
• 18:55 BUT, ISRAEL. THAT MAKES ME CRAZY TOO.
• 18:57 THERE'S NOTHING THERE FOR THE JEWISH PEOPLE EXCEPT, SCORN
• 19:02 AND DERISION FROM MOLESTING THESE POOR PALESTINIANS.
• 19:04 REALLY, I COULD JUST GET THROWN OFF OF NATIONAL TELEVISION
• 19:07 BY SAYING EXACTLY WHAT I THINK.
• 19:09 BUT WHEN ONE LOOKS AT WHAT THE BIBLE THINKS,
• 19:11 NEVER MIND SEIF-THINK, TEXT-THINK,
• 19:12 THEREIN WE SEE PAUL CARING AND SHARING.
• 19:16 AND SPEAKING OF CARING AND SHARING,
• 19:18 DR. JOHN FISHER, AN EXPERT OF JEWISH EXTRACT,
• 19:23 KNOWS JESUS, KNOWS JEWS, AND HE'S GONNA COME AND SHARE WITH ALL OF "YOUS." RABBI FISHER.
• 19:33 WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PAUL IN HIS EARLY DAYS
• 19:36 AND I THOUGHT IT WAS INTERESTING IN ANTIOCH
• 19:39 THEY'RE FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS.
• 19:41 I LOVE THE DIFFERENT NAMES THAT JEWISH PEOPLE ARE GIVEN
• 19:44 WHEN THEY COME TO KNOW THE MESSIAH,
• 19:45 THE WAY AND NOW CHRISTIANS,
• 19:46 BUT WHY?
• 19:48 WHAT'S GOING ON? WHAT'S GOING ON?
• 19:49 WHAT'S GOING ON?
• 19:51 THE WAY WAS A VERY INTERESTING TERM THAT WAS USED OF THEM.
• 19:53 THE REASON BEING IF YOU RETROVERT THAT BACK INTO HEBREW,
• 19:56 THE HEBREW WORD FOR WALK IS "HALACH"
• 20:01 AND YOU WALK ALONG THE WAY.
• 20:02 BUT, IN JUDAISM, THE WAY YOU WALK IS DESCRIBED ALSO,
• 20:07 FORMALLY BY BEHAVIORS THAT ARE CIRCUMSCRIBABLE
• 20:10 BY WHAT WE CALL "HALACHA"
• 20:12 IN WHICH WE ARE TO BEHAVE AS JEWS.
• 20:13 SO IT'S SIGNIFICANT THAT ONE OF THE EARLIEST TITLES
• 20:16 IS A TITLE THAT CONNECTS THE EARLY MESSIANIC FOLLOWERS OF YESHUA
• 20:21 WITH TRADITIONAL JUDAISM AND THE TRADITIONS OF JUDAISM THAT ARE CALLED "HALACHIC"
• 20:26 NOW, MESSIANIC, OF COURSE STRESSES SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT
• 20:29 NOT JUST THEIR JEWISHNESS, MESSIANIC STRESSES THAT THEY ARE FOLLOWERS OF MESSIAH
• 20:34 AND IN FACT THE TERM CHRISTIAN, AS YOU ARE WELL AWARE, MEANS MESSIANIC.
• 20:37 SO, WHEN YOU SAY THEY'RE FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS,
• 20:39 THEY WERE FIRST CALLED MESSIANICS IN ANTIOCH.
• 20:41 WHY?
• 20:43 BECAUSE, THEY WERE DISTINGUISHED FROM THOSE WHO WERE PHARISEES,
• 20:46 THOSE WHO WERE SADDUCEES, THOSE WHO WERE ZEALOTS, THOSE WHO WERE ESSENES.
• 20:48 IN FACT WE'RE TOLD THAT IN THEIR TIME PERIOD,
• 20:50 THERE WERE PROBABLY AT LEAST 2 DOZEN DIFFERENT JEWISH GROUPS,
• 20:53 RELIGIOUS GROUPS. REALLY?
• 20:55 SO YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOME SORT OF...
• 20:56 WHO IS THIS JEW COMPARED TO THIS JEW?
• 20:59 WELL THIS JEW HAPPENS TO BE MESSIANIC.
• 21:01 WHY IS HE MESSIANIC?
• 21:02 BECAUSE, MESSIAH HAS COME.
• 21:04 WELL AND EVEN TODAY, THE RABBIS AND EVEN IN JUDAISM TODAY,
• 21:06 MY RABBI SAYS THIS OR MY RABBI DOES THIS,
• 21:09 THERE'S DIFFERENT TRADITIONS THAT ARE RABBINICAL TRADITIONS
• 21:11 SO I GUESS IT WOULD NOT BE ANY DIFFERENT THAN THE MESSIANIC.
• 21:14 NO, NOT REALLY.
• 21:15 SO...YOU KNOW THE OLD SAYING,
• 21:19 "IF YOU ASK 2 JEWS ONE...
• 21:21 2 JEWS THREE OPINIONS, YEAH,
• 21:22 THREE OPINIONS AND AT LEAST 4 MORE QUESTIONS. THAT'S RIGHT.
• 21:26 SO, WE NEED TO HAVE NAMES TO DESCRIBE US,
• 21:28 THIS IS THE ONLY WAY TO DESCRIBE US.
• 21:29 IT'S INTERESTING THOUGH,
• 21:30 MANY OF THE MESSIANICS IN THE...
• 21:32 CERTAINLY THROUGH THE EARLY PART OF THE BOOK OF ACTS,
• 21:35 THERE WERE MANY OF THEM WHO WERE PHARISEES, JUST LIKE PAUL.
• 21:38 RIGHT, BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED IN THE RESURRECTION, THEY COULD SEE THE MESSIAH RISEN...
• 21:42 THEY DID AND HAD THE SAME KIND OF COMMITMENT.
• 21:45 AND THERE ARE A LOT OF POWWOWS BETWEEN YESHUA AND THE PHARISEES AS A WHOLE,
• 21:50 SO, IT'S NOT SURPRISING TO FIND THAT THIS MAJOR PHARISEE, BY THE NAME, SHAUL OR PAUL,
• 21:57 BECOMING PART OF THIS MOVEMENT,
• 21:59 BECAUSE THERE WAS A LOT OF COMPATIBILITY HERE THAT ALLOWED HIM TO DO THAT.
• 22:02 AND THEN, OF COURSE, HE WAS BREATHING FIRE EARLIER ON,
• 22:05 BUT THEN AND AS HE SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF,
• 22:08 HE WAS EXTREMELY ZEALOUS FOR THE TRADITIONS OF THE FATHERS IN GALATIANS 1
• 22:12 BUT WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT THAT, IT'S USUALLY TRANSLATED PAST TENSE.
• 22:16 INTERESTING.
• 22:18 IT'S NOT, IT'S PRESENT AND IT'S A PARTICIPLE,
• 22:21 WHICH MEANS, I AM CONTINUALLY OR ONGOINGLY ZEALOUS,
• 22:24 EXTREMELY ZEALOUS FOR THE TRADITIONS OF THE FATHERS.
• 22:27 SO THIS WAS A DUDE WHO WAS VERY ZEALOUS AT THE OUTSET
• 22:31 AND CONTINUED THAT ONCE HE BECAME A MESSIANIC PHARISEE.
• 22:35 BUT HE GOT IT.
• 22:37 THAT WAS THE HOPE FOR ALL THE JEWS, THAT THEY KNEW THE MESSIAH.
• 22:40 AND PAUL GOT IT.
• 22:42 WELL, HE GOT IT, BUT REMEMBER THIS
• 22:44 ALL, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF PERHAPS THE SADDUCEES,
• 22:47 ALL THESE JEWISH GROUPS WERE VERY VALIDLY MESSIANIC,
• 22:50 VERY FERVENTLY ANTICIPATING THE ARRIVAL OF MESSIAH. THAT'S RIGHT
• 22:53 AND IT CERTAINLY GOT ONE OF THE GROUPS GOING SO STRONGLY,
• 22:58 THAT THEY ENDED UP LEADING A REVOLT AGAINST ROME,
• 23:01 IN HOPES OF BRINGING IN THIS WHOLE MESSIANIC AGE,
• 23:04 WHERE AS OTHERS FOUND HE MESSIAH MORE ON A MORE PERSONAL LEVEL.
• 23:08 AND IN LARGE... WE'RE TALKING ABOUT BY TIME
• 23:12 RAV SHAUL OR THE RABBI PAUL GETS BACK
• 23:16 TO JERUSALEM IN ACTS CHAPTER 21,
• 23:18 THERE ARE LITERALLY TENS AND TENS OF THOUSANDS IN JERUSALEM
• 23:21 AND THAT'S JUST JERUSALEM.
• 23:23 THAT'S GREAT. THANK YOU.
• 23:24 YOU'RE MOST WELCOME.
• 23:56 DR. FISHER IS SUCH A NICE GUY. WE TALKED ABOUT THE TRIBES
• 24:00 AND DIFFERENT NAMES THAT MESSIANICS WERE CALLED. I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS INTERESTING
• 24:04 THAT EVEN, EVEN BACK IN THE FIRST CENTURY, THEY WERE CALLED MESSIANICS.
• 24:09 ANTIOCHS ARE CALLED CHRISTIANS. A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE THINK OF US AS COMPLETED JEWS
• 24:14 OR BELIEVING JEWS.
• 24:17 IT WAS INTERESTING TO HERE HIS TAKE ON THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND ALL THE NAMES.
• 24:20 IT WAS VERY INTERESTING.
• 24:22 IT'S SEEMS TO ME THAT YESHUA, THE JESUS, CALLS INTO BEING A MOVEMENT.
• 24:27 IT'S NONE INSTITUTIONAL, THERE'S NO PROFESSIONAL CLERGY,
• 24:31 THERE'S NO BUILDINGS, IT JUST IS THIS EXPERIENCE.
• 24:33 AND LATER ON WE'LL HAVE TO COME TO TERMS
• 24:36 WITH WHAT WE'LL CALL IT HERE AND THERE
• 24:38 AND THESE ARE OUR FRUITS OF LATER ENDEAVORS.
• 24:41 I REMEMBER A FUNNY STORY THAT MY LATE HUSBAND WOULD TELL.
• 24:45 HE WOULD GO INTO A CHURCH AND THEY SAID,
• 24:47 "WELL, BROTHER WHAT DO WE CALL YOU? DO WE CALL YOU MESSIANIC,
• 24:49 DO WE CALL YOU COMPLETED, WHAT DO WE...
• 24:51 AND HE'D SAY IN THIS REAL SOUTHERN ACCENT, HE'D SAY,
• 24:54 "YOU KNOW, THEY FIRST CALL ME A CHRISTIAN."
• 24:57 AND IT ALWAYS WOULD CRACK THE PASTOR UP,
• 24:59 BECAUSE THEN THEY WOULD REMEMBER
• 25:01 THAT THEY WERE FIRST CALLED CHRISTIANS.
• 25:02 BUT EVEN IN JOSEPHUS, CALLS THEM, THE TRIBE OF MESSIANICS,
• 25:09 CALLS THEM THE TRIBE OF CHRISTIANS.
• 25:10 HE IDENTIFIES THEM AS A SECT OF PEOPLE TOO, NOT DIFFERENT,
• 25:14 BUT A TYPE OF JEW.
• 25:16 YEAH, AND LET'S DEVELOP THAT POINT THAT, THEY DIFFERENTIATED FROM WORLD JEWRY,
• 25:22 BUT THEY'RE NOT CONSIDERED AS DISTINCT OR APART FROM.
• 25:26 THAT'S AN IMPORTANT NUANCE IT SEEMS TO ME,
• 25:29 BECAUSE MANY ARE PRONE TO ARGUE WHEN A JEW ACCEPTS YESHUA,THE JEWISH MESSIAH,
• 25:34 THEY CEASE TO BE JEWISH.
• 25:36 I DON'T THINK THAT PAUL OPERATED WITHIN THAT CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK.
• 25:39 ABSOLUTELY NOT. HE PROBABLY STILL WORE HIS TALLIT, HE PROBABLY STILL HAD HIS KIPA.
• 25:43 HE LOOKED LIKE A JEW, HE TALKED LIKE A JEW, HE WAS A JEW.
• 25:47 RIGHT, THAT'S HOW HE GOT THOSE SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
• 25:49 IN THOSE SYNAGOGUES WHEN HE GOES ON HIS QUOTE "MISSIONARY JOURNEYS."
• 25:52 THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES ALWAYS BEGINS BY TALKING TO JEWS IN SYNAGOGUES.
• 25:57 HE GETS OFF THE BOAT, HE LOOKS, HE SPEAKS, HE'S CREDENTIAL, AND OFF TO JEWISH PEOPLE HE GOES.
• 26:03 ABSOLUTELY. NEXT WEEK WE'RE GOING ON THEIR FIRST MISSIONARY TRIP, WHICH IS EXCITING TOO.
• 26:09 HE GOES THOUSANDS OF MILES TO TAKE THE WORD OF GOD. IT'S JUST EXCITING.
• 26:12 I THINK IT'S FASCINATING THE APOSTLE TO THE
• 26:15 GENTILES TAKES THE BIBLE TO THE JEWS.
• 26:17 WOULD THAT, THAT SENTIMENT EXISTED STILL IN THE WORLD TODAY.
• 26:22 I BELIEVE THAT THE CHURCH MUST NEEDS BE MORE DELIBERATE
• 26:26 AND ENDEAVORING TO GET BEHIND THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
• 26:30 AND TO GET IN FRONT OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE
• 26:32 BY ENDEAVORING DETAIL THE STORY,
• 26:34 THE JESUS STORY FROM A JEWISH PERSPECTIVE. AND THOSE THAT GET BEHIND THAT STORY GET BEHIND US.
• 26:41 AND I WANNA THANK YOU. DON'T WE.
• 26:43 AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING.
• 26:45 AND AS YOU GO,
• 26:46 SHA' ALU SHALOM YERUSHALAYIM,
• 26:47 PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.