Dec. 11, 2024

Christmas Confusion

Christmas Confusion

We discuss an issue that comes up during Christmas time that seems to confuse many Christians

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We discuss an issue that comes up during Christmas time that seems to confuse many Christians

WEBVTT

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast, making Theology Central. Well, is it

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the most wonderful time of the year? Do you love

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the Christmas season? Do you love it? Now? There are

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lots of reasons people may have for not being excited

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about the Christmas season. There are a lot of things, emotional,

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things in your past, your history that could really make

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you very depressed when it comes to Christmas time. I

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think there's a lot of people who can just say

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it's not the most wonderful time of the year. Some

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may go so far to say it's the worst time

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of the year. There's just a lot of baggage some

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people have when it comes to Christmas and the Christmas season.

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A lot of people find great joy in it. They

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love it. Many people who attend church, they love the

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Christmas season. But for me, I it's not the most

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wonderful time of the year. It is not. It is not. First,

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I have my own baggage that I bring to the

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Christmas season because of things happening in my that happened

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in my childhood, things that happened to me as I

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was growing up. So I'm not a fan of the

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season for that reason. But when I became a Christian,

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I thought, Okay, now Christmas is going to be this

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beautiful thing, right, because you know, it's that time of

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the year where we will talk about the the incarnation,

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talk about the birth of Christ, you know, and and

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all of this, all of these things, a savior has come,

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and just all the philological issues and the things in

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the Bible and doctrine and salvation, it'll be it'll be wonderful.

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And then I found out that even within the Christian world,

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it's still not the most wonderful time of the year

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because you become a Christian and then you've got all

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these people within Christianity fighting over everything about Christmas. Well,

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should we celebrate this, should we do this? Should we

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do this? Should we do this? Oh, Christmas is a

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pagan holiday. We shouldn't even be celebrating it. You should

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not have a Christmas tree. It goes back to the

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book of Jeremiah. It's idolatry. You shouldn't even have one.

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Others were like, no, the Christmas tree goes comes from

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Germany and Luther and it's supposed to show the glory

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of God. And so it's a great thing, well, no,

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we should, well, should we have church on Christmas? Should

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we not have church on Christmas? All just the arguments

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and argument, and then finally you're like, you know what,

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so outside of Christianity, it's not the most wonderful time

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of the year because I've got all of this baggage,

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all of these emotions. It's depressing, it's discouraging. I don't

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like it, and then I'll become a Christian. And then

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it's debating and fighting about this and fighting about that

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and this and that. And then on top of all

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of that, so you've got the debates, you've got the baggage,

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and then sometimes you just have things that are just

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irritating because you have pastors, teachers who sometimes say things

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around the Christmas season that's just not accurate. And we're

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going to talk about some of this right after I

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say welcome everyone, Good evening everyone. It is Tuesday, December

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the tenth, twenty twenty four. It is currently eight forty

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one pm Central time, and I am coming to you

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live from the Theology Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now,

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if you were to drive past the studio of Theology Central,

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you would look and go they love Christmas. There are

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I don't know how many I'm dropping things here. There's

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probably don't I don't want to give a wrong number.

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Maybe thirty thirty five big Christmas and flatables right here

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in the front of the studio there. I mean, they're like,

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I don't know. The news the local news came and

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covered all of the Christmas inflatables we have here. Has

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nothing to do with me. Someone else does that, but

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but it's there, So you would drive by, going, man,

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they love Christmas. But the person you can you see

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all those Christian Christian, all those Christmas inflatables, and if

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you look above, you'll see a light right there by

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the window, a very bright light. That's the studio light.

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And well in that window is someone who's not necessarily

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a fan of Christmas. I want to be, like, there's

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a part of me that wants to be. But then

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there's all this baggage and so many things. I do

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have some some fond Christmas memories I do. I do

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have some fond ones I do that I really cling

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to and hold to. But then because some of those

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were really good, you kind of want to you want

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to recap those, you want you want to re experience it,

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and you're never going to experience it again. You're never

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going to capture it again. That magic is a one

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time thing, and it comes and it goes, and then

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you live your life. In many cases almost it just

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Christmas just kind of reminds you of what once was,

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but it's gone or what was briefly there and it

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disappeared quickly, and the rest of the Christmases are filled

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with horrible memories. Okay, so there's the baggage. Just really,

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I guess caused me great it ruined it greatly for me.

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I still tried to find some good ones even after

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all the things that happened to me. But it can

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still just be depressing and discouraging. But man, I had

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no idea that when I became a Christian that Christmas

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was going to be just never ending battle. I mean,

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if you just look on the sermon's two point, oh app,

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I guarantee you before Christmas occurs, there will be messages

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about it's a Satanic holiday, it's a Catholic holiday, it's

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a pagan holiday. You shouldn't even be celebrating it. It's wrong,

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it's ungodly. December the twenty fifth was taking from a

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pagan god, and just on and on and on and

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on and on, and it shouldn't be Santa Claus, it

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should be Satan Clause. And the Christmas tree is a

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pagan idol and just goes and he's just like, oh man,

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so and then people say there's nothing in the Bible

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that says you should celebrate Christmas, and like, well, there's

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nothing in the Bible issues you should celebrate this or

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this or this or this, And then you get in

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just these debates and it just it's maddening. You just

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want to throw your hands at go So what can

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I do? Can anyone tell me what I'm allowed to do?

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Because I don't know? So it just and then, as

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I stated in my intro, sometimes it's just the frustrating thing.

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So here's what we're gonna do this evening. I've kind

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of repeated myself there, but that's okay. I have a sermon.

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Someone sent me this sermon. They sent me that some

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times stamps about some different things that were spoken of,

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and this sermon is not a I can't say that

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this is the best example, but I didn't really Every

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year I feel like I have to do a message

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like this, and I don't really like doing the message

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just like this, but at the same time, I feel

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that it's necessary because you always have new listeners or

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you have listeners who completely forgot that you covered this

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last year, two years ago, three years ago, four years ago.

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But every year I almost have to turn on the

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microphone at least once during the Christmas season and say, hey, guys,

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when we refer to the birth of Christ, when we

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refer to the virgin birth, when we refer to the incarnation,

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there's a certain term that doesn't mean what many pastors

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and teachers seem to think it means, and what many

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Christians seem to think it means. There's a term we're

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going to have to look at and I have to

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offer a correction. So the sermon that was sent to

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me at least mentions it, and it doesn't go into

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any great das tell But I thought, okay, I can

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just use this one. I can just use this one

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and talk about some of the issues and then hopefully

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that will be enough. Hopefully that will suffice, hope, hopefully

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that will be it'll do what it needs to do.

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Sometimes it makes some people mad, but I think for

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the most part, I think people. I think people tend

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to appreciate. I hope maybe I'm being naive. I always

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like to believe that people go, man, i've used that term,

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or I've heard my pastor use that term. Thank you

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for correcting us because we've been using the term incorrectly,

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and so I always hope that I'm actually helping. I

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think some people feel like I'm attacking. Now. Look, do

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I get frustrated, yes, Do I get irritated yes. Do

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I think that there's not really an excuse, Yeah, I

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don't really think there's an excuse. But at the same time,

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I just want people to stop and just be careful

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with what we say so that we can be somewhat accurate.

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That's all I'm attempting to do. So we're just going

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to jump in. This is one of the I had

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no desire to review the entire sermon, right, I don't

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have the exact timestamp for the entire sermon, but it

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would be you know, three four five hours of review.

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I mean, this could go over an hour just right here.

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But we're just gonna start kind of in the middle.

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He's dealing with different passages, dealing with ultimately the coming

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of Christ, the Birth of Christ. And so he's getting

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ready to go to a very famous passage that you

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know in the Old Testament. I bet you can already guess.

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And he's going to make some statements and claims. Will

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we will look at some of those claims, and then

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there's just this one quote. It goes by like half

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a second, boom, it's just going to be there and gone,

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and he's going to use a term. You may not

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even realize it, you may not even catch it, but

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it bothers me greatly, and it's just one of the

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many things that causes me to have major issues with

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Christmas time. I wish that wasn't the case, but it

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really is. So let's just jump in and we're just

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going to see what happens. Hopefully this goes smoothly. I

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hope it does. I've got I got some notes. I

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got a very important book right here. Okay, you don't

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know what it is, but I have it. It's a

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lot of pages. It's a lot of pages in this thing,

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about over nine hundred pages, but I have it ready

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to go, all right. Also have a Bible, okay, have

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my Bible, all right, So we'll see all right, I

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got my iPad. Here, got the blue letter Bible app

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open in case we need to look up any Hebrew,

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because it's going to be a passage from the Old Testament.

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And let's see what happens. Here we go.

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Well, the anticipation continues, how he was born Isaiah seven

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fourteen and nine six. I'm gonna read Isaiah seven fourteen again.

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It says, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold,

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the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall

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call his name am Manuel. Okay, again context this has

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to deal where aas is threatened by Israel and Syria.

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But in light of this, God gives a sign. A

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virgin conceives a son is born. He is called a Manuel.

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Now you know what, I've got commentaries. I looked at

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all kinds of stuff, and you know, scholars, critics, commentaries.

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They describe Isaiah seven fourteen is very difficult. And one

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of the reasons is is because of this word that

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we find here, virgin, virgin. The meaning of that word, Well,

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you know what, it's only difficult if you allow it

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to be difficult.

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Oh boy, here we go. First of all, I do

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appreciate that he mentions context here. I do appreciate that

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he actually puts it in some form of historical context.

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I'm not a fan. Well, all these commentaries and all

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these people they say it's difficult. Well, it's only difficult

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if you make it difficult. Oh that drives me great.

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Maybe it's maybe it's just actually difficult. I know that

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that's not allowed. It's so weird. Sometimes in preaching, sometimes

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preachers will run to a commentary, right, and then other

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times they criticize all the commentaries. Right. It's like they

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will run to a commentary and use the commentary if

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they agree with it. They may not even tell the

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congregation that eighty percent of their sermon came from their

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favorite commentary. They may not even tell anyone. Pastors constantly

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will run to commentaries, but the minute they disagree with it,

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then all these commentaries they think it's complicated. It's only

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complicated if you make it complicated. So are the commentaries

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good or the commentaries bad? Well? You know, see, you

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know what the reality is that the writers of commentaries

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have no authority because we get to determine if the

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writers of the commentaries are right or wrong. They may

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have spent fifty years studying something. They may be the experts,

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but hey, if we disagree, we become the experts. I

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just I just find it. It's so just weird. Again,

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we talked about, you know, pastors versus podcasts, and we

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talked about authority and who really has authority. And this

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is just a good example. I've got commentary after commentary

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says it's complicated. Uh, well, it's only complicated if you

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make it complicated. It's not complicated. Why because he says

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it's not complicated, Because I bet you he's done extensive

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work in the Hebrew language and extensive work and everything

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about Isaiah. Now I understand that we you could make

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an argument, and this is how I would and to

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state this, Maybe there is something complicated about Isaiah. I

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mean there's a lot of things complicated by about Isaiah.

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If you've ever studied the book in any depth, I mean,

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there's a lot of things that can be confusing and

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confounding it. I mean that's true of the entire Bible,

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if you're really gonna be honest. But maybe, just maybe

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there is something confusing about Isaiah seven. Because many commentators

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and Bible scholars have mentioned this, maybe though it's not complicated.

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If we go to the New Testament, see how they

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quote it and how they're using it, then maybe from

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that perspective, the New Testament clears it up or clarifies it.

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But that doesn't mean that there's something maybe not inherently

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confusing or difficult about Isaiah seven itself. It's okay to say, hey,

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this can be confusing, this can be difficult. I don't

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know why pastors are afraid to say that. They're like, oh,

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I can't tell the people that this could be a

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confusing and difficulty. Yes you can. What pastors love to

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do is people say this is confusing, but it's actually

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very simple. Let me explain it to you, so that

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they come across as see all these other people out

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there don't know. But I know, I think in many cases,

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maybe there's something complicated here, and maybe that complication can

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be clarified when we go to the New Testament and

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go they use it this way. Well, if we believe

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the New Testament is inspired scripture, well then we would

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have to then accept I know this is kind of

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a presuppositional bias, but if our presupposition is that the

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Bible's inspired, well then we would have to say, well,

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the inspired New Testament writers interpret Isaiah seven the use

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of the word virgin in a very specific way. But okay,

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let's say what he does and how he tries to

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explain this. So you know, I looked at this word.

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It's the Hebrew word Almah, and it has several meanings

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depending on the context. Let me give you an example.

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Alma virgin may mean a young woman of marriageable age.

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It might mean a maiden. You find that in Proverbs

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thirty nineteen. It might simply mean a girl Exodus two

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to eight.

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Or could it mean virgin.

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Now some say, well, this word is not an explicit

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Hebrew term for virgin, But listen to this, listen to closely.

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Genesis twenty four forty three describes not only a young

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woman of marriageable age, but one who is undoubtedly a virgin,

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and her name was Rebecca. So the word alma carries

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the meaning of a literal virgin. Long story short, Scholars

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don't like simple answers that way, they couldn't write books

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that thick.

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Oh wow, yeah, that's it. Scholars just don't like simple

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answers because they can't write thick books. So we don't

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need those thick books because it's really quite simple. Now,

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it sounded like it was quoting something, right, sounded like

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he was quoting something because if you look in an

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antilinear like on the blue letter Bible app if you

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look at the antilinear. Okay, there is no instance where

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it can be proved that Alma designates a young woman

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who is not a virgin. The fact of virginity is

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obvious in Genesis twenty four to forty three, where Alma

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is used of one who was being sought as a

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bride for Isaac. That's from the Philological work Book of

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the Old Testament, page six hundred and seventy two. Sounds

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like that's in a thick book. Maybe they just don't

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like simplistic answers. I mean when he got it sounded

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like he was reading something right. Now, maybe he wasn't,

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but that sounds very similar to what that was. That

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sounds almost like a paraphrase of that. So, but maybe

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others think that it's complicated. I don't like that. See. Oh,

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we love to just anyone anyone we disagree with. No,

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we almost mock their education. Oh, those scholars, they write

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these thick books, but they're really dumb because they don't

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believe what we believe. But in other cases, when we

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need an argument to be made, then we'll quote from

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the so called scholars to prove our point. I don't care.

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I don't oh man, I can't stand this way of thinking.

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If we look at the concepts, just so that you know,

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there are interpretive difficulties surrounding the use of the word

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virgin in Isaiah seven fourteen. And this is due primarily

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to linguistic, historical, and theological factors, all right, And if

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you just even ask Ai to explain some of these problems,

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it's going to go through here the controversy, this is Ai.

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The controversy centers on the Hebrew word Almah, used in

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Isaiah seven fourteen, which says, therefore the Lord himself, She'll

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give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive Embars's son,

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and she'll call his name Emmanuel Almah. The word means

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young woman of marriageable age and does not explicitly denote virginity. Well,

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it often implies virginity, and context it is is not

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as specific as the Hebrew word another Hebrew word, which

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unambiguously means virgin. So there's a different Hebrew word that

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is just clear that means virgin, but that's not used

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in Isaiah seven fourteen. I mean, that's just something that

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has to be acknowledged. Or did I say Hebrews Isaiah

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seven fourteen. I don't know why. If I'm saying Hebrews,

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I don't know why. All right. So some would argue

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that if Isaiah wanted to make the point of virginity,

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he could have viewed the Hebrew word that would be

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unambiguous and say that's the Hebrew word we use for virgin.

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For some reason, the writer of Isaiah, Isaiah the it

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does not use that term. Why. I mean, that's a

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question that can be asked. The linguistic nuance has led

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some to question whether Isaiah seven fourteen originally intended to

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predict a virgin birth. Now we could I mean, and

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this gets into questions, right, there's a context here, Right,

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there's a context. Is it possible that Isaiah seven fourteen,

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and its original context to the original recipients, was looking

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for a birth different than how the New Testament writers

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use Isaiah later on? In other words, is it possible

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that Isaiah seven fourteen had two in a sense prophecies,

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one that was closer to that time, which would have

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been real event, and then one that ultimately pointed to Christ.

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And so therefore the term used could use to someone

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who isn't a virgin, or use it to refer to

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someone who is. And in the New Testament, Isaiah seven

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fourteen is used to point to the virgin birth of

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Christ because Mary was a virgin, right and so, and

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the New Testament makes that clear. But in the historical context,

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maybe it was pointing to a woman who was going

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to give birth and it was going to be something different.

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It was it was the first stage and the fulfillment.

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I mean, can we even consider that as a possibility

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or is that too complicated?

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Now?

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If we look at the Greek translator translation of the

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Old Testament, which is the Septuagint, which was completed a

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few years before Christ, it translates almah uh as as

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as it if I can speak correctly and obviously in Greek,

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and it explicitly means virgin in Greek. This translation significantly

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influenced the New Testament writers, particularly Matthew, who quotes Isaiah

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seven fourteen in referenced to Jesus' birth. So some say

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that the septuagent, it uses a Greek word that clearly

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means virgin. I mean, there's no, it's not ambiguous in

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any way. It's unambiguous. It's very clear. And so some

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could argue, well, maybe the New Testament writers was borrowing

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from the septuagen and there seems to be cases in

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the New Testament where the New Testament writers do refer

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to the septuagen. This raises all kinds of questions. We

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could get into all. See, it is complicated, I know. See,

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we don't want to get into all these complications. Critics

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argue that Matthew's use of the septuagent reflected a theological

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reading rather than the original meaning of the Hebrew text. However, proponents,

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if I can on here we go, AI is about

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to start talking to me, critics argue that Matthew's use

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of the septuagent reflect a phiological reading that an original

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meaning of the Hebrew text. However, proponents of traditional Christian

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interpretation argue that the septuagent translators were guided by an

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understanding of Almah as applying as implying virginity and its context,

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so there's In other words, some people say, wait a minute,

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the Hebrew doesn't is not the Hebrew uses Alma, which

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does not specifically mean virgin. There was a different Hebrew term.

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They didn't use a different Hebrew term, so, but the

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septuagent did. So that means the New Testament writers was

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referencing the septuagen and it was not thinking about the

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original Hebrew. Right. Others are like, well, the septuagent they

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understood Alma. The septuagent translators understood Almah and Isaiah seven

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fourteen in the Hebrew manuscripts as meaning virgin. So really

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the septuagen translators show that that's how almost should be

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understood as virgin. So you could go all kinds of

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different ways here. The context of Isaiah seven fourteen presents challenges.

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The historical context. This prophecy was given to King a

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Has of Judah as a sign of God's deliverance from

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the threat of the Syrian Israel Israelite coalition. This suggests

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that the prophecy had an immediate fulfillment, likely referring to

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a child Bir born during a Has this time, Hazekiah

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or another contemporary figure. That's the point I made. Look

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in the original context, Hey, hey, a has a virgin's

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gonna be a virgin's gonna give birth to a son.

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I mean, I know you're all gonna be dead, nobody

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here's gonna be witnessing it, and it's not going to

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have any help to you now, But just know that

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other Some say, well, that fits the context. Others that

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doesn't fit the context at all. What it demonstrates is

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that a child was born at that time. So maybe

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the why they used Almah is it could refer to

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a woman who wasn't a virgin and gives birth, conceives

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and gives birth like anyone else would, or it can

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refer to a virgin and where the New Testament writers

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takes it. And so maybe there was two stages to

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the prophecy, an immediate and a future. Maybe that's possible,

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all right. Many Christian theologians view this prophecy as having

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both an immediate fulfillment in Isaiah's time and a fuller

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ultimate fulfillment in the virgin birth of Christ. Critics of

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this view argue that such a reading imposes later Christian

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theology on the text. Well, it does impose Christian theology

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on the text, I will agree, But the New Testament

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writers do that, or at least Matthew does that. So

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if the New Testament does that, and the New Testament's

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written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, then the

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Holy Spirit poses the idea on Isaiah. So then I

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think the dual fulfillment. If we believe the Bibles inspired

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by God, then the dual fulfillment seems to work. For Christians,

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the virgin birth is a cornerstone of crystal I can't

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read tonight. For Christians, the virgin birth is a cornerstone

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of Christology, affirming the divine origin of Jesus. However, the

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ambiguity in Isaiah seven fourteen provides room for offering for

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differing interpretations. Jewish interpretation. Most Jewish scholars understand Almah as

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referring to a young woman and do not see Isaiah

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seven fourteen as a Messianic prophecy. They argue that the

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text focuses on the historical situation of Ah has within Christianity.

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Christians following Matthew's gospel see Isaiah seven fourteen as a

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prophetic foreshadowing of christ birth, with the septuagenous use of

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the its Greek word supporting this view. All right, So

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and now they do offer this, and that culture of

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Isaiah's time, a young woman of marriageable age would generally

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have been assumed to be a virgin. So Alma may

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have carried that connotation, even if it wasn't explicit. So

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I think there is some argument that at that time

440
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it would have just been assumed a woman at that

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age would have been a virgin. All right. Modern interpreters

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challenge traditional readings influenced by skepticism towards supernatural events like

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the virgin birth. This contributes to the ongoing debate about

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the text. What I'm trying to demonstrate here through all

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of that, and I hopefully that did not get to

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I did not confuse anybody, because I went through that

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relatively quick. The point I want to make is He's like, well,

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these people just complicate it for no reason. Now, if

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you read Isaiah seven fourteen, anyone just reading it would

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be like, wait a minute, here, wait a minute, Okay,

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we know the basic situation here in Isaiah seven effect,

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if you just look, if you go to Isaiah seven.

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So I don't think this requires you to be a scholar.

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I don't think this requires you to write a commentary.

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You just look at Isaiah seven. And it came to

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pass in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham,

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the son of Usiah, king of Judah, that res in

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the king of Syria and Peca, the son of Ramalia,

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king of Israel, went up towards Jerusalem to war against it,

460
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:34.480
but could not prevail against it. All right, so we

461
00:28:34.599 --> 00:28:39.519
have a historical setting clearly given to us. We have names,

462
00:28:39.880 --> 00:28:43.599
so we can we can date it to some specific

463
00:28:44.279 --> 00:28:46.920
to a specific time, we at least or at least

464
00:28:46.960 --> 00:28:49.759
a general time. So you can look up those names,

465
00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:52.000
look at when these people reigned. You can probably get

466
00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:56.400
a pretty good idea of when this is occurring. All right,

467
00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:58.640
So then you have the date, and then all of

468
00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:01.880
a sudden we have this. Therefore the Lord himself, she'll

469
00:29:01.880 --> 00:29:04.000
give you a sign. Behold a virgin. She'll conceive I'm

470
00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:06.880
Bearra's son, and she'll call his name Emmanuel. Now immediately

471
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:09.240
you could be like, well, wait a minute, how does

472
00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:12.960
the virgin birth of Christ If we immediately assume Isaiah

473
00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:15.759
seven fourteen is about Christ, how does that help these

474
00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:25.559
people facing this conflict. That doesn't do anything for them. Hey, guys,

475
00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:28.200
I know you're in a difficult situation, all right, And

476
00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:30.440
we could argue whether he wants a sign, he rejects

477
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:34.640
a sign. So, but it just seems so out of

478
00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:36.799
context that okay, so I'm going to give you this

479
00:29:36.920 --> 00:29:40.839
prophecy of the coming Messiah. But well, for them, that

480
00:29:40.880 --> 00:29:44.160
would have done them no good in this particular situation.

481
00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:50.000
It would have seemed somewhat confusing. So you can anyone

482
00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:52.519
just reading could be asking that question, and then and

483
00:29:52.559 --> 00:29:54.759
then you could go, okay, the word virgin Almah, Okay,

484
00:29:55.079 --> 00:29:58.599
does it always refer to does it always refer to

485
00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:00.480
a virgin? Or does it can just refer to a

486
00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:04.559
woman of marriageable age, a young woman okay, a maiden. Well,

487
00:30:05.960 --> 00:30:08.559
it seems like it's possible. It doesn't have to be

488
00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:11.519
translated a virgin, but it is translated to virgin in

489
00:30:11.640 --> 00:30:15.400
some translation. Are I think most translations? Okay? Why, Well,

490
00:30:15.480 --> 00:30:21.559
maybe because of the Septuagint, maybe because of the New Testament. Maybe, right,

491
00:30:21.960 --> 00:30:23.559
I mean, we could get we could get into a

492
00:30:23.559 --> 00:30:27.799
lot of discussion, you know, which translations. That's not trying

493
00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:30.839
to make it complicated, all right, So then maybe maybe

494
00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:34.039
there is a dual fulfillment. There was there was some

495
00:30:34.039 --> 00:30:39.000
some woman had a child at this time that proved

496
00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:44.000
to be a sign for their situation, But a later

497
00:30:44.079 --> 00:30:47.599
fulfillment would come where someone would have a child, and

498
00:30:47.759 --> 00:30:51.680
well that child would be identified in the New Testament.

499
00:30:52.279 --> 00:30:56.559
So there is some complication here. There's no reason in

500
00:30:56.759 --> 00:31:01.799
mocking it or or just ignoring it. Embrace the complication,

501
00:31:02.519 --> 00:31:08.119
embrace the difficulty, explain it to everyone, work through it.

502
00:31:08.440 --> 00:31:11.119
That's what church is supposed to be about. Remember, church

503
00:31:11.200 --> 00:31:13.960
is supposed to be about equipping saints, so they're no

504
00:31:14.039 --> 00:31:16.519
longer tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.

505
00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:19.599
Why don't we I don't understand why churches can't seem

506
00:31:19.640 --> 00:31:24.720
to accomplish that task from the pulpit and then basically

507
00:31:24.839 --> 00:31:27.119
mock anyone who tries to do so in a book,

508
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:33.000
or they don't like podcasters who do it in a podcast. Well,

509
00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:36.440
maybe if the church could do its job, we wouldn't

510
00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:39.279
require the rest of us to come along and say, well,

511
00:31:39.440 --> 00:31:42.799
there is some complications here, there are some difficulties here.

512
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:44.319
It's okay to embrace that.

513
00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:52.200
So seeing Isaiah seven fourteen in light of Jesus' birth.

514
00:31:52.920 --> 00:31:55.119
It says God's word. This is the word of God,

515
00:31:55.160 --> 00:31:59.920
God's word. Isaiah seven fourteen says that a virgin shall

516
00:32:00.119 --> 00:32:05.359
conceive and bear a son. This is fulfilled in Matthew

517
00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:09.240
Matthew one eighteen, Matthew one twenty one through twenty three.

518
00:32:09.279 --> 00:32:12.799
Listen closely, Matthew one eighteen. Now, the birth of Jesus

519
00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:17.400
Christ took place in this way when his mother Mary

520
00:32:17.480 --> 00:32:20.519
had been betrothed to Joseph. By the way, betrothed means

521
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:26.119
a legal binding agreement. It's like being married.

522
00:32:28.440 --> 00:32:31.400
Before they came together, y'all know what that means.

523
00:32:31.720 --> 00:32:34.880
She was found to be with child from the Holy spirit.

524
00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:38.440
What was conceived in hers from the Holy Spirit. Matthew

525
00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:41.440
one twenty one through twenty three. She will bear a son,

526
00:32:41.799 --> 00:32:44.119
and you should call his name Jesus, for he will

527
00:32:44.200 --> 00:32:47.440
save his people from their sins. And all this took

528
00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:51.119
place to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet.

529
00:32:51.240 --> 00:32:53.359
Guess who that prophet is. Isaiah.

530
00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:57.200
It says, behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son.

531
00:32:58.839 --> 00:33:03.839
That's the first part of the virgin shall conceive embarrass son,

532
00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:08.759
and she shall call his name Immanuel. That is fulfilled

533
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:13.279
Matthew one three B. And they shall call his name Immanuel,

534
00:33:13.400 --> 00:33:22.160
which means God with us. That's pretty clear. Gee, I

535
00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:24.440
think about all those guys that wrote all those stick books.

536
00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:29.599
They could have saved themselves a lot, ink. I don't

537
00:33:29.799 --> 00:33:33.799
get the mocking of people who write. They wrote the

538
00:33:33.839 --> 00:33:37.000
books to talk about all of these complications. I got

539
00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:40.000
no problem saying, hey, in the New Testament, it seems

540
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.079
to clarify it. Yeah, I got no problem mentioning that.

541
00:33:43.359 --> 00:33:45.960
But you still want to deal with all the possible issues.

542
00:33:48.359 --> 00:33:50.920
You don't just ignore the issues. What is the deal?

543
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:53.640
We're just gonna mock anyone who I don't know. Try

544
00:33:53.680 --> 00:33:57.079
to explain it. I get we're gonna mock. It's like

545
00:33:57.240 --> 00:34:00.960
mocking anyone who supposedly has an expert tease, or anyone

546
00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:03.359
who may have a little level of intelligence. We're going

547
00:34:03.400 --> 00:34:09.599
to mock them. I don't get it. I don't get it.

548
00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:11.920
I don't get it. All right, let's continue.

549
00:34:13.079 --> 00:34:18.880
Well, anyway, Two names with deity written all over them. First, Emmanuel,

550
00:34:20.280 --> 00:34:24.679
prophetic fulfillment in the virgin birth of the Messiah. The

551
00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:29.679
name Emmanuel found three times in scripture Isaiah seven fourteen,

552
00:34:30.960 --> 00:34:46.960
Isaiah eight eight, and Matthew won twenty three. Matthew's quotation

553
00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:51.159
of Isaiah seven fourteen leaves absolutely no doubt that the

554
00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:55.360
Holy Spirit intended this to be a prophetic sign of

555
00:34:55.400 --> 00:34:59.920
the birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary.

556
00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:03.559
And let me make it very clear, I'm not arguing

557
00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:06.480
that the New Testament, under the inspiration of the Holy

558
00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:10.239
Spirit is using it to point to Christ. Clearly no argument.

559
00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:15.039
That doesn't mean there couldn't have been a dual fulfillment,

560
00:35:15.239 --> 00:35:17.599
that there was some fulfillment that would fit the historical

561
00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:21.599
situation and there's one that comes later. And maybe that's

562
00:35:21.639 --> 00:35:24.880
why Alma is used instead of using the Hebrew word

563
00:35:25.079 --> 00:35:28.920
that would be unambiguous, referring to a Vergin. Maybe that's

564
00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:32.760
the reason why. Now I know that may complicate it,

565
00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:37.400
but it also may show some level of great brilliance there. Hey,

566
00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:41.320
there's two things going on here, something that would fit

567
00:35:41.639 --> 00:35:44.920
a has a situation and something that would come later.

568
00:35:45.320 --> 00:35:49.880
Utilizing this same passage is referring to two things. Is

569
00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:53.000
that to me at least? Could we not? At least?

570
00:35:53.679 --> 00:35:55.920
I don't know? Is that complicating it? I don't think

571
00:35:55.920 --> 00:36:00.199
that's complicating it.

572
00:36:00.320 --> 00:36:06.760
In the name Emmanuel is the great mystery of godliness

573
00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:11.599
of the one who was revealed in the flesh, So

574
00:36:11.719 --> 00:36:15.119
Isaiah seven fourteen Matthew one twenty three.

575
00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:16.280
They are specific.

576
00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:21.360
They refer to a son born of a virgin, given

577
00:36:21.400 --> 00:36:27.760
the name Emmanuel, which means God with Us, that would

578
00:36:27.800 --> 00:36:29.519
come to Jesus. His name.

579
00:36:30.800 --> 00:36:31.360
Jesus.

580
00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:36.719
That's the Greek pronunciation of Jesus Jesus. Jesus in the

581
00:36:36.760 --> 00:36:40.039
Greek is the equivalent to the Hebrew word the Hebrew

582
00:36:40.119 --> 00:36:44.480
name Yeshua Luke one thirty one.

583
00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:45.320
And you will.

584
00:36:45.199 --> 00:36:47.920
Conceive in your room and bear a son, and you should.

585
00:36:47.599 --> 00:36:53.639
Call his name Jesus. Jesus in the.

586
00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:56.800
Greek translation of the Old Testament, which is the Septuagint,

587
00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:01.960
is the symbol of the coming miss What does Messiah mean.

588
00:37:02.239 --> 00:37:07.559
Messiah means God's anointed, the anticipated king and deliverer who

589
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:15.920
does what he brings salvation. So the Hebrew Yeshua the

590
00:37:15.960 --> 00:37:26.000
Greek Jesus both mean salvation. Now there's two texts that

591
00:37:26.039 --> 00:37:30.320
speak volumes about Jesus Emmanuel God with Us Luke to

592
00:37:30.519 --> 00:37:34.039
twenty one. At the end of eight days, when he

593
00:37:34.159 --> 00:37:39.960
was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by

594
00:37:39.960 --> 00:37:44.920
the Angel before he was conceived in the womb. And

595
00:37:44.960 --> 00:37:51.000
I love this one, Luke two twenty five through thirty two.

596
00:37:51.400 --> 00:37:55.159
Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.

597
00:37:56.840 --> 00:37:59.719
And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the

598
00:37:59.719 --> 00:38:06.239
com of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him.

599
00:38:06.360 --> 00:38:08.599
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy

600
00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:11.400
Spirit that he would not see death before he had

601
00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:18.880
seen the Lord's Christ, the anointed One, the Messiah. And

602
00:38:18.920 --> 00:38:22.119
he came in the spirit into the temple. And when

603
00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:25.320
the parents brought in the Child Jesus to do for

604
00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:28.320
him according to the custom of the law, he took

605
00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:31.920
him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,

606
00:38:32.719 --> 00:38:35.920
now you are letting your servant depart in peace according

607
00:38:35.960 --> 00:38:41.199
to your word. For my eyes had seen your salvation.

608
00:38:41.639 --> 00:38:46.280
Now think about this. He is holding the Christ Child

609
00:38:46.360 --> 00:38:52.440
in his arms, and he is looking at salvation.

610
00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:00.480
Yeah. Man, I'll tell you what God's word is. Just Oh,

611
00:39:01.599 --> 00:39:02.199
I love it.

612
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:09.800
So Jesus Emmanual Savior, the long anticipated Messiah salvation.

613
00:39:10.039 --> 00:39:12.880
For all people's jew and gentile alike.

614
00:39:14.400 --> 00:39:17.920
Isaiah seven fourteen speaks of a virgin literal, as in

615
00:39:17.960 --> 00:39:22.079
the case of Mary and the prophetic birth of the Messiah,

616
00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:26.880
Emmanuel God with us, the savior of mankind. So you know,

617
00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:30.400
you talk about the miracle of Christmas. Okay, here it is, folks.

618
00:39:30.719 --> 00:39:34.159
Some people say, well, the real miracle of Christmas is

619
00:39:34.239 --> 00:39:37.440
the virgin conceiving, you know, the immaculate conception. Have you

620
00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:40.000
ever heard of that before. Don't get me wrong, that's

621
00:39:40.039 --> 00:39:40.599
a miracle.

622
00:39:40.800 --> 00:39:47.760
But did you just hear that He referred to Mary

623
00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:53.679
conceiving as the immaculate conception? Did you hear that? Let

624
00:39:53.679 --> 00:39:57.039
me back that up just a little bit. Let me

625
00:39:57.199 --> 00:40:01.039
back this up just a little bit. Let's listen to

626
00:40:01.079 --> 00:40:01.519
this again.

627
00:40:02.880 --> 00:40:07.760
So I have salvation for all people's jew and gentile alike.

628
00:40:09.280 --> 00:40:12.800
Isaiah seven fourteen speaks of a virgin literal as in

629
00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:16.920
the case of Mary, and the prophetic birth of the Messiah,

630
00:40:17.239 --> 00:40:20.039
Emmanuel God with us, the Savior of mankind.

631
00:40:21.320 --> 00:40:24.320
So you know, you talk about the miracle of Christmas. Okay,

632
00:40:24.320 --> 00:40:25.239
here it is, folks.

633
00:40:25.559 --> 00:40:29.039
Some people say, well, the real miracle of Christmas is

634
00:40:29.079 --> 00:40:32.280
the virgin conceiving, you know, the immaculate conception. Have you

635
00:40:32.320 --> 00:40:34.880
ever heard of that before. Don't get me wrong, that's

636
00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:36.719
a miracle. But you want to know what the real

637
00:40:36.800 --> 00:40:38.119
miracle of Christmas is.

638
00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:49.079
So he wants to basically play down I want to,

639
00:40:49.079 --> 00:40:51.039
I don't want to say go so far say insult.

640
00:40:51.119 --> 00:40:54.000
But he almost kind of mocked those people who write

641
00:40:54.039 --> 00:40:57.559
thick books, and people who make it complicated, and all

642
00:40:57.599 --> 00:41:00.760
those people who write commentaries. But then he goes and

643
00:41:00.800 --> 00:41:10.280
refers to Mary conceiving Jesus as the immaculate conception. Now,

644
00:41:10.760 --> 00:41:13.880
you may have to read a thick book, which I

645
00:41:13.960 --> 00:41:16.440
have here, but let me just try to help you

646
00:41:16.639 --> 00:41:21.559
understand this. For some weird, bizarre reason, every year, when

647
00:41:21.559 --> 00:41:25.599
we arrive at Christmas season, the most wonderful time of

648
00:41:25.599 --> 00:41:29.599
the year, it seems common to hear non Catholic preachers

649
00:41:29.880 --> 00:41:34.360
mistakenly refer to the virgin birth or Mary conceiving Jesus

650
00:41:34.440 --> 00:41:38.079
as the immaculate conception. And this confusion stems from a

651
00:41:38.119 --> 00:41:43.119
misunderstanding of the term, all right, immaculate conception. In Roman

652
00:41:43.119 --> 00:41:46.840
Catholic theology, the immaculate conception refers to the belief that Mary,

653
00:41:47.400 --> 00:41:53.400
the mother of Jesus, was conceived without original sin. It

654
00:41:53.440 --> 00:41:57.960
has nothing to do with the conception of Jesus. Let

655
00:41:58.000 --> 00:42:03.480
me state that for the nineteenth the billionth time, the

656
00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:08.920
oh This drives me crazy. The term immaculate conception refers

657
00:42:08.960 --> 00:42:12.159
to the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was

658
00:42:12.239 --> 00:42:15.119
conceived without original sin and has nothing to do with

659
00:42:15.159 --> 00:42:19.039
the conception of Jesus. But pastor after pastor after pastor

660
00:42:19.199 --> 00:42:23.039
stands behind bulpits and talk about the immaculate conception of

661
00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:26.920
Mary conceiving Jesus. That is no, you have missed the

662
00:42:27.159 --> 00:42:31.920
entire point. That's not what the immaculate conception is. It's

663
00:42:31.960 --> 00:42:35.239
a theological term. It refers to the conception of Mary

664
00:42:35.480 --> 00:42:39.280
without original sin. That Mary was conceived without sin, that

665
00:42:39.400 --> 00:42:43.920
she had she did not have a sinful nature. Now

666
00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:47.599
we reject that teaching, so we should not be utilizing

667
00:42:47.840 --> 00:42:58.039
that term. Man. The virgin birth refers to the miraculous

668
00:42:58.119 --> 00:43:01.199
conception of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit and Mary,

669
00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:05.239
who was a virgin. The two concepts are entirely distinct.

670
00:43:05.719 --> 00:43:10.320
They similar, and wording leads to frequent confusion. It shouldn't

671
00:43:10.360 --> 00:43:14.079
lead to any confusion. Don't use the term immaculate conception

672
00:43:14.199 --> 00:43:17.719
unless you are going to go into some lengthy explanation

673
00:43:18.719 --> 00:43:24.440
for why you're using the term. Again, the immaculate conception

674
00:43:24.599 --> 00:43:27.880
refers to the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus,

675
00:43:27.960 --> 00:43:37.559
was conceived without original sin. She wasn't. She wasn't conceived,

676
00:43:38.079 --> 00:43:40.239
you know, by the holy spirit of a virgin. She

677
00:43:40.400 --> 00:43:43.840
was born her her mother and father came together and

678
00:43:43.880 --> 00:43:46.800
gave birth to her. But in her conception she was

679
00:43:46.920 --> 00:43:50.599
kept from being touched and being stained, or being and

680
00:43:51.519 --> 00:43:55.000
having a sinful nature, all the different ways you could

681
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:57.800
try to word it. That's what the immaculate conception is

682
00:43:57.840 --> 00:44:01.239
referring to. See he play, he mocks those people who

683
00:44:01.320 --> 00:44:04.000
write thick books, and then he goes and makes an

684
00:44:04.119 --> 00:44:12.719
absolute categorical philological mistake. I don't know how you would

685
00:44:12.719 --> 00:44:19.320
describe it. Many non Catholics, particularly Protestants or evangelical preachers,

686
00:44:19.480 --> 00:44:22.519
may not be deeply familiar with nuances of Catholic theology.

687
00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:26.199
Since the term immaculate conception sounds like it could relate

688
00:44:26.239 --> 00:44:29.440
to Jesus conception, they might assume that's what it means

689
00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:35.880
without further study. The phrase immaculate carries connotations of purity

690
00:44:35.920 --> 00:44:39.679
and perfection in everyday language. Preachers unfamiliar with the doctrinal

691
00:44:39.719 --> 00:44:43.320
definition might assume it refers to Jesus sinless nature. Of

692
00:44:43.480 --> 00:44:49.280
further reinforcing the mix up. The Immaculate conception is specifically

693
00:44:49.280 --> 00:44:52.880
a Catholic doctrine and is not taught and Protestant theology.

694
00:44:53.119 --> 00:44:57.280
Protestant preachers may encounter the term only occasionally and misunderstand

695
00:44:57.320 --> 00:45:00.719
it and associate it with the Christmas story rather than

696
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:07.239
the actual philological context. Movies, books, and other popular level

697
00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:13.480
Christian content incorrectly uses the term interchangeably, contributing it to

698
00:45:13.519 --> 00:45:16.800
the spread of the misconception. Christian movies do this, Christian

699
00:45:16.840 --> 00:45:20.159
books do this, Christian radio does this. Pastors do this,

700
00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:24.119
preachers do this, and once again, there's the church we

701
00:45:24.559 --> 00:45:26.679
talk about. You got to have a church. You got

702
00:45:26.679 --> 00:45:28.639
to have the church. We've got to spend all this

703
00:45:28.719 --> 00:45:33.760
money to have churches, and then they spread completely misinformation.

704
00:45:34.239 --> 00:45:43.280
That's not the correct understanding of it. From a philological

705
00:45:43.320 --> 00:45:47.159
and pastoral standpoint, there is little to no legitimate excuse

706
00:45:47.199 --> 00:45:50.280
for a pastor to confuse the immaculate conception with the

707
00:45:50.400 --> 00:45:54.800
virgin birth, particularly if the pastor has had any formal

708
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.480
philological training. A pastor has a responsibility to handle the

709
00:45:59.480 --> 00:46:04.400
scripture doctrine accurately. Philological training, whether formal or informal, should

710
00:46:04.440 --> 00:46:09.079
equip pastors to understand and articulate the distinctions between key doctrines,

711
00:46:09.199 --> 00:46:12.079
even those outside of their own tradition. If a pastor

712
00:46:12.119 --> 00:46:15.679
misunderstands something as fundamental as the virgin birth, it reflects

713
00:46:15.719 --> 00:46:18.480
a lack of diligence and their study or preparation. I

714
00:46:18.559 --> 00:46:23.280
did not write that the virgin birth is a cornerstone

715
00:46:23.360 --> 00:46:27.440
of Christology and it's essential to understanding the incarnation of Christ.

716
00:46:27.639 --> 00:46:30.440
Confusing it with the Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

717
00:46:30.639 --> 00:46:34.920
indicates a superficial understanding of both doctrines, which is inexcusable

718
00:46:35.159 --> 00:46:39.280
given their importance in Christian teaching. Even if a pastor

719
00:46:39.440 --> 00:46:44.519
lacks formal seminary training, the distinction between the two doctrines

720
00:46:44.639 --> 00:46:50.079
are widely available in philological dictionaries, commentaries, and online resources.

721
00:46:50.239 --> 00:46:53.400
Remember all of those things he mocked, those big thick books,

722
00:46:53.400 --> 00:46:58.800
and that people just make it all confusing with the

723
00:46:58.840 --> 00:47:01.719
prevalence of information, and there's no reason for a pastor

724
00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:05.920
not to research and clarify terms before preaching on them.

725
00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:10.119
There's no reason to mess this up. Now, if you

726
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:13.880
need to, you could pick up this really thick book

727
00:47:13.920 --> 00:47:17.480
that's almost a thousand pages long, and you could read

728
00:47:17.719 --> 00:47:24.320
this paragraph four hundred and ninety. To become the mother

729
00:47:24.440 --> 00:47:28.079
of the Savior, Mary was enriched by God with gifts

730
00:47:28.119 --> 00:47:31.880
appropriate to such a role. The Angel Gabriel at the

731
00:47:31.880 --> 00:47:35.920
moment of the annunciation salutes her as full of grace.

732
00:47:36.360 --> 00:47:38.360
In fact, in order for Mary to be able to

733
00:47:38.360 --> 00:47:41.280
give the free assent of her faith to the announcement

734
00:47:41.360 --> 00:47:45.000
of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly

735
00:47:45.039 --> 00:47:49.519
born by God's grace. Through the centuries, the Church has

736
00:47:49.559 --> 00:47:52.760
become ever more aware that Mary, full of grace through God,

737
00:47:53.280 --> 00:47:58.679
was redeemed from the moment of her conception. This is

738
00:47:58.719 --> 00:48:04.159
what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses. This was

739
00:48:04.239 --> 00:48:08.639
proclaimed in eighteen fifty four, and I quote, the most

740
00:48:08.760 --> 00:48:14.360
blessed Virgin Mary was from the first moment of her conception,

741
00:48:15.199 --> 00:48:18.639
by a singular grace and privilege of Almighty God, and

742
00:48:18.679 --> 00:48:22.119
by virtue of the merits of Jesus, Christ's savior of

743
00:48:22.119 --> 00:48:28.159
the human race, was preserved immune from all stain of

744
00:48:28.679 --> 00:48:34.960
original sin. That is what the Immaculate Conception refers to,

745
00:48:35.719 --> 00:48:42.440
not Mary conceiving Jesus, but Mary being conceived without sin,

746
00:48:42.880 --> 00:48:49.599
without original sin. That's what it's referring to. And it

747
00:48:50.079 --> 00:48:52.920
is something special because she was conceived in a normal way.

748
00:48:53.039 --> 00:48:57.239
Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin,

749
00:48:58.159 --> 00:49:02.159
and therefore he was God in the flesh without a

750
00:49:02.159 --> 00:49:09.920
sinful nature. It's a completely separate thing. So while in

751
00:49:09.960 --> 00:49:13.159
a sermon where he kind of mocks those who write

752
00:49:13.199 --> 00:49:15.519
big thick books and he doesn't understand why they make

753
00:49:15.559 --> 00:49:17.480
it so confusing, and they just like to make it

754
00:49:17.519 --> 00:49:19.159
confusing or they won't be able to write their big

755
00:49:19.199 --> 00:49:21.920
thick books, well, he kind of makes fun or mocks them.

756
00:49:22.119 --> 00:49:24.159
I don't know the right words you may want to use.

757
00:49:24.360 --> 00:49:26.639
I don't want to make it, you know, I don't

758
00:49:26.719 --> 00:49:29.079
want to be fair. But at the same time, it's

759
00:49:29.079 --> 00:49:34.519
almost ironic that he goes then refers to uses the

760
00:49:34.599 --> 00:49:38.360
term immaculate conception in a way that's absolutely not even

761
00:49:38.440 --> 00:49:42.079
close to being correct. And I've had to correct this.

762
00:49:42.760 --> 00:49:45.639
I feel like I have been correcting this now and

763
00:49:45.719 --> 00:49:48.360
this is probably no lie. I think I started correcting

764
00:49:48.400 --> 00:49:56.320
people on this as a teenager. That's a long time.

765
00:49:57.119 --> 00:50:01.679
And every year some pastor some some Christian radio station

766
00:50:02.079 --> 00:50:05.239
just hands me the opportunity, like you got to once

767
00:50:05.239 --> 00:50:07.760
again correct this, and it doesn't matter you can email

768
00:50:07.800 --> 00:50:09.920
the pastors, you can email churches and say would just

769
00:50:09.960 --> 00:50:12.880
stop using the term incorrect. We don't care. Basically, we

770
00:50:12.920 --> 00:50:14.800
don't care. We don't care. We don't care. We don't care,

771
00:50:14.840 --> 00:50:18.519
we don't care, we don't care. Okay, well, great that

772
00:50:18.679 --> 00:50:21.159
the place is supposed to equip people so they'll no

773
00:50:21.239 --> 00:50:25.079
longer be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.

774
00:50:25.519 --> 00:50:27.840
Doesn't care when they use a term. Now, I'm not

775
00:50:27.840 --> 00:50:30.000
saying this. The one we're listening to doesn't care. I'm

776
00:50:30.039 --> 00:50:31.920
not saying that. I'm saying that this has been my

777
00:50:32.079 --> 00:50:41.639
experience in the past. Is just confusing. So let me

778
00:50:41.639 --> 00:50:48.360
make it very clear. Immaculate conception refers to the belief

779
00:50:48.599 --> 00:50:52.159
that Marry, the mother of Jesus, was conceived without original sin.

780
00:50:52.239 --> 00:50:55.719
It has nothing to do with the conception of Jesus.

781
00:50:56.239 --> 00:51:00.320
The virgin birth refers to the miraculous conception of Jesus

782
00:51:00.400 --> 00:51:03.119
Christ by the Holy Spirit and Mary, who was a virgin.

783
00:51:03.400 --> 00:51:10.920
The two concepts are entirely distinct. There is no excuse

784
00:51:11.280 --> 00:51:20.719
that we keep making these mistakes. Now. Is Christmas the

785
00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:25.400
most wonderful time of the year. Well, for some people

786
00:51:25.880 --> 00:51:29.639
it's not. They've got some emotional baggage, they've got some things,

787
00:51:29.639 --> 00:51:31.800
they've got some tragedy in their past, and it makes

788
00:51:31.840 --> 00:51:36.280
it difficult. Then you've got the never ending debate within

789
00:51:36.400 --> 00:51:39.639
Christianity about it's pagan, it's Catholic, it's this, it's that,

790
00:51:39.880 --> 00:51:42.159
it's this, it's that. I'm not going to celebrate it.

791
00:51:42.199 --> 00:51:43.880
I'm going to approve a point. I'm not going to

792
00:51:43.960 --> 00:51:47.039
do anything. I'm not going to remember the incarnation on

793
00:51:47.119 --> 00:51:49.440
December the twenty fifth because that's a bad Well then

794
00:51:49.800 --> 00:51:51.760
it Well, if December the twenty fifth is the wrong day,

795
00:51:51.760 --> 00:51:54.119
which day are you going to pick? Because every day

796
00:51:54.280 --> 00:51:57.039
it's associated with something. Just look at the days of

797
00:51:57.119 --> 00:51:59.599
the week, the days of our months, they all trace

798
00:51:59.679 --> 00:52:03.480
back to, in many cases pagan terms and pagan concepts.

799
00:52:03.519 --> 00:52:06.400
So just it's a day on a calendar. If I

800
00:52:06.480 --> 00:52:09.400
use December twenty fifth to remember the incarnation of Christ,

801
00:52:09.840 --> 00:52:13.039
you can't accuse me of doing anything pagan because I'm

802
00:52:13.079 --> 00:52:15.639
remembering something in the Bible and I'm just using that

803
00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:18.199
day to do so. But of course Christians will argue

804
00:52:18.199 --> 00:52:20.559
about that fight over it. Don't do this, don't do that,

805
00:52:20.599 --> 00:52:22.719
don't have a Christmas tree, don't do this. Don't sing this,

806
00:52:22.760 --> 00:52:24.719
don't do this, don't drink any eggnog, don't do this,

807
00:52:24.880 --> 00:52:28.199
don't do this. Oh my goodness, five fight, fight, fight,

808
00:52:28.280 --> 00:52:31.000
five fight. You just get sick of it, so that

809
00:52:31.559 --> 00:52:33.760
destroys it being the most wonderful time of the year.

810
00:52:34.119 --> 00:52:37.760
So I've often said I can't give me a holiday

811
00:52:37.760 --> 00:52:40.480
where Christians aren't arguing and fighting. Thanksgiving, at least, for

812
00:52:40.519 --> 00:52:43.039
the most part, Christians aren't fighting too much about it, right,

813
00:52:43.039 --> 00:52:45.400
because you can just eat food and watch football. Christians

814
00:52:45.400 --> 00:52:49.079
are all good with that. Studying the incarnation of Christ

815
00:52:49.480 --> 00:52:52.519
on Christmas Day, Oh that's pagan. You can eat all

816
00:52:52.519 --> 00:52:54.599
the foods you want, watch football. That's good to go.

817
00:52:54.639 --> 00:52:58.360
But oh, how dare you want to celebrate the incarnation

818
00:52:58.480 --> 00:53:00.599
of Christ on December the twenty fifth in a church?

819
00:53:00.840 --> 00:53:03.559
Oh my goodness, you're probably a pagan. So weird how

820
00:53:03.719 --> 00:53:07.239
some Christians do things. And then even if you get

821
00:53:07.239 --> 00:53:09.880
past all of that, and you're like, I made it

822
00:53:09.920 --> 00:53:13.079
through all of that unscathed. I don't have anything in

823
00:53:13.159 --> 00:53:16.280
my past. So Christmas is great. I don't have to

824
00:53:16.280 --> 00:53:19.159
worry about Christians fighting. Great. Well, then you just may

825
00:53:19.199 --> 00:53:26.480
get irritated by just the immaculate concer. What are you doing?

826
00:53:29.840 --> 00:53:38.079
You go to church to get confused. Now there's a

827
00:53:38.119 --> 00:53:44.280
deeper thing here which connects to our last broadcast. See

828
00:53:44.280 --> 00:53:46.800
this is why within the Protestant world we don't believe

829
00:53:47.360 --> 00:53:54.639
pastors in the church has authority, right because if they

830
00:53:54.679 --> 00:53:56.440
had authority, I wouldn't be able to correct it, would

831
00:53:56.440 --> 00:54:02.199
I their authority to teach? It's just what I agree with.

832
00:54:02.320 --> 00:54:04.480
Now in this particular case, it's not about what I

833
00:54:04.519 --> 00:54:08.639
agree with or disagree with. This is just a factual error. Okay,

834
00:54:08.760 --> 00:54:11.079
this is just a factual This has nothing to do

835
00:54:11.119 --> 00:54:14.039
with it. You can grab the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

836
00:54:14.119 --> 00:54:15.920
That's the book I was reading from. I don't think

837
00:54:15.920 --> 00:54:19.679
I've ever identified it, but paragraph four ninety four ninety

838
00:54:19.719 --> 00:54:21.760
one those are the two paragraphs. It goes all the

839
00:54:21.760 --> 00:54:24.639
way to four ninety five if you really want to

840
00:54:24.639 --> 00:54:27.239
to dig into it. But you can look it up

841
00:54:27.320 --> 00:54:31.239
Catholic Catechism, paragraph four ninety You can look it up online.

842
00:54:31.800 --> 00:54:34.079
You know there you have it. You can look up there.

843
00:54:37.039 --> 00:54:39.960
But there's there's a church making a claim, a dogmatic

844
00:54:39.960 --> 00:54:43.840
assertion about what the Immaculate Conception was, and it's just

845
00:54:43.920 --> 00:54:48.639
one hundred percent factually in error, meaning therefore, then the

846
00:54:48.800 --> 00:54:52.760
church demonstrates as Christians that the church is not infallible,

847
00:54:53.280 --> 00:54:57.960
therefore it's fallible. So if it's fallible, then it's up

848
00:54:58.000 --> 00:55:00.800
to you, the listener, to determine whether it's true or false,

849
00:55:01.000 --> 00:55:04.599
meaning then really the responsibility is on you, which is

850
00:55:04.679 --> 00:55:07.199
kind of weird. You go to church to supposedly be equipped,

851
00:55:07.239 --> 00:55:09.079
but you also have to go to church to listen

852
00:55:09.239 --> 00:55:11.199
and then determine if what you're being told is true

853
00:55:11.280 --> 00:55:14.119
or false. So really, you go to church. You actually

854
00:55:14.159 --> 00:55:17.000
give money to the church so you can go and

855
00:55:17.039 --> 00:55:19.559
then do the work to determine if what's being preached

856
00:55:19.599 --> 00:55:21.599
is true or false. So you've got to do all

857
00:55:21.639 --> 00:55:24.079
of this study so that you're ready to listen to

858
00:55:24.119 --> 00:55:27.679
what's preached to determine whether it's true or false. So

859
00:55:28.159 --> 00:55:30.079
do you go to the church to get equipped or

860
00:55:30.079 --> 00:55:31.880
do you go to a church equipped so that you

861
00:55:31.920 --> 00:55:34.559
can determine with what is preached is true or false.

862
00:55:34.679 --> 00:55:37.159
If you have the responsibility to determine what is true

863
00:55:37.199 --> 00:55:40.519
and false, you have to arrive at church already equipped

864
00:55:41.159 --> 00:55:43.679
because you can't trust their equipping. You're the one who

865
00:55:43.719 --> 00:55:45.719
is supposed to be judging if the equipping is true

866
00:55:45.760 --> 00:55:55.559
or false, that's a confounding system in the Protestant world. Now,

867
00:55:56.480 --> 00:55:59.960
I am not defending the teaching of the immaculate concept.

868
00:56:00.719 --> 00:56:04.239
I'm simply arguing for us to correctly define it and

869
00:56:04.280 --> 00:56:07.079
correctly know what it is so that we don't utilize

870
00:56:07.119 --> 00:56:12.840
the same term. You can have some Catholic person and

871
00:56:12.920 --> 00:56:18.480
some Protestant person, and I've seen the conversations before and

872
00:56:19.239 --> 00:56:22.920
not Yeah, it's just funny. You have the Catholic say

873
00:56:22.920 --> 00:56:25.840
something about themculate conception. You'll have some non Catholic going,

874
00:56:26.000 --> 00:56:29.960
we believe that too, and I'm like, oh, crying out loud.

875
00:56:30.559 --> 00:56:32.000
And so then I'll have to walk up to them.

876
00:56:32.039 --> 00:56:35.320
You told that Catholic that you believe in the immaculate conception.

877
00:56:35.599 --> 00:56:37.440
They'll be like yeah, and I'm like, are you sure?

878
00:56:37.920 --> 00:56:41.159
Do you know what the immaculate conception? Yeah, Jesus born

879
00:56:41.199 --> 00:56:44.679
of a virgin. Oh, for crying out loud, that's not

880
00:56:44.719 --> 00:56:46.760
what it refers. And then you explained they're like, we

881
00:56:46.840 --> 00:56:52.239
don't believe that. I'm like, I know, so well, my

882
00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:59.000
pastor mentions, Okay, well there we go, there we go.

883
00:57:00.199 --> 00:57:06.960
So I've done my yearly duty of once again addressing

884
00:57:07.000 --> 00:57:12.440
this never, never dying issue, and even and I even

885
00:57:12.480 --> 00:57:17.480
asked Ai about this. Ai stated that it's relatively common

886
00:57:17.559 --> 00:57:20.159
to hear non Catholic preachers mistakenly refer to the virgin

887
00:57:20.239 --> 00:57:24.639
birth of Christ as the immaculate conception, and this confusion

888
00:57:25.039 --> 00:57:29.599
stems from a misunderstanding of the terms. So AI even says,

889
00:57:29.599 --> 00:57:35.800
it's common for it to happen. That's ridiculous, ladies and gentlemen,

890
00:57:36.039 --> 00:57:47.199
that's ridiculous. How can it be common? I just give up.

891
00:57:47.519 --> 00:57:52.960
See it's not the most wonderful time of the year. Now, Jesus,

892
00:57:54.159 --> 00:58:00.000
the eternal Son of God, born of a virgin, became flesh,

893
00:58:00.599 --> 00:58:05.719
kept the law for you and me, our sins imputed

894
00:58:05.760 --> 00:58:09.280
to him. He suffers and dies paying for our sin.

895
00:58:09.599 --> 00:58:13.119
And then by faith his obedience to the law, his

896
00:58:13.400 --> 00:58:16.840
righteousness is imputed to me, and the payment for my

897
00:58:16.960 --> 00:58:21.079
sin has been taken care of. That is a wonderful message.

898
00:58:21.199 --> 00:58:25.840
That is wonderful. That is the most wonderful, not just

899
00:58:25.960 --> 00:58:28.679
time of the year. That's the most wonderful time of

900
00:58:28.719 --> 00:58:32.320
your love of everything. That God sent his son to

901
00:58:32.400 --> 00:58:34.599
pay for my sins, to die for me, and by

902
00:58:34.679 --> 00:58:36.880
keeping the law for me, his obedience is imputed to

903
00:58:36.920 --> 00:58:39.000
my account. So I can stand before God and be

904
00:58:39.039 --> 00:58:41.159
declared that which I'm not. I can be declared to

905
00:58:41.159 --> 00:58:44.719
be perfect and righteous, even though practically I'm not. There

906
00:58:44.920 --> 00:58:49.400
is that's wonderful. Now, if we just take our hands

907
00:58:49.440 --> 00:58:53.280
off all of it, it could still remain wonderful. But then, well,

908
00:58:53.599 --> 00:58:59.480
we live in a fall and broken world where there's pain, suffering, death, loneliness,

909
00:58:59.559 --> 00:59:02.840
abandon and mint and that can impact your Christmas. And

910
00:59:02.880 --> 00:59:07.000
you live in a world with Christians where everyone, I mean,

911
00:59:07.159 --> 00:59:12.800
I was in a part of Abilene today and within

912
00:59:13.599 --> 00:59:16.760
it's like a block, within a block, there were seven

913
00:59:17.159 --> 00:59:21.480
churches within basically a block. There was like one here,

914
00:59:21.760 --> 00:59:24.679
one here, there was like seven seven churches I think

915
00:59:25.960 --> 00:59:28.519
within almost the same block, maybe a block and a half.

916
00:59:28.960 --> 00:59:30.239
I mean, if I really want to push it, I

917
00:59:30.280 --> 00:59:35.119
guess maybe two blocks. Seven churches within like a two

918
00:59:35.280 --> 00:59:41.599
block radius. Ladies and gentlemen, that's ridiculous. And all those

919
00:59:41.679 --> 00:59:44.239
churches think that they're right. They all think they're teaching

920
00:59:44.320 --> 00:59:50.920
is right, they all think they're authoritative. Nobody can agree

921
00:59:50.920 --> 00:59:53.559
on anything, which can just make Christmas even more maddening.

922
00:59:53.599 --> 00:59:55.880
Because we're supposed to be celebrating this beautiful story and

923
00:59:55.880 --> 00:59:57.599
we can't even agree. No, we don't do it on

924
00:59:57.639 --> 01:00:00.159
December the twenty fifth. No it's pagan. No don't, oh,

925
01:00:00.440 --> 01:00:02.679
just forget it, just stop it. I'll just go hang

926
01:00:02.719 --> 01:00:08.719
out with some Satanist And then if you get past

927
01:00:08.800 --> 01:00:11.840
all of that, as of are now repeated multiple times,

928
01:00:12.159 --> 01:00:15.400
you just come up with something. This may seem trivial,

929
01:00:15.719 --> 01:00:18.119
like in the big picture, it maybe is trivial. He

930
01:00:18.239 --> 01:00:20.840
used the term immaculate conception to refer to something that

931
01:00:20.880 --> 01:00:24.239
doesn't refer to It seems trivial, but it isn't trivial

932
01:00:24.280 --> 01:00:28.840
because it gives a completely misunderstanding. It's like philological malpractice.

933
01:00:28.840 --> 01:00:32.960
You're just messing everything all up. So to me, it's important.

934
01:00:34.360 --> 01:00:37.000
If we can't get that right, If you can't get

935
01:00:37.000 --> 01:00:44.559
that right, then should we believe anything else? He said right?

936
01:00:45.119 --> 01:00:47.679
I mean he talked about the Greek term for Jesus,

937
01:00:47.719 --> 01:00:51.239
the Hebrew term for Jesus. Should we believe that? I mean,

938
01:00:51.440 --> 01:00:54.159
I mean, I see what I'm saying. It just calls

939
01:00:54.199 --> 01:00:59.639
into question everything. Now. I understand pastors can misspeak. I'm

940
01:00:59.679 --> 01:01:01.719
miss in this message. I don't even know how many

941
01:01:01.719 --> 01:01:04.800
times I misspoke, multiple times. I think I kept saying.

942
01:01:05.159 --> 01:01:08.639
I think at the beginning I said when I said Christmas,

943
01:01:08.639 --> 01:01:10.199
I think I may have said Christian. I don't know.

944
01:01:10.199 --> 01:01:11.760
I think at one point when I said Isaiah, I

945
01:01:11.800 --> 01:01:14.800
was saying Hebrews. So I messed up multiple times. Anyone

946
01:01:14.840 --> 01:01:19.320
can misspeak, so you have to show grace, right, But

947
01:01:20.880 --> 01:01:24.000
it's not even about this sermon. It's about that I've

948
01:01:24.039 --> 01:01:28.079
been dealing with this my entire Christian life, year after

949
01:01:28.199 --> 01:01:32.039
year after year after year. This is just an example

950
01:01:32.079 --> 01:01:35.119
that was sent to me. I could go find countless

951
01:01:35.159 --> 01:01:39.800
examples if I want them, So it's not about this

952
01:01:39.840 --> 01:01:44.960
particular sermon. And again, preachers can misspeak. You can just

953
01:01:45.000 --> 01:01:48.199
say immaculate conception when you don't mean immaculate conception. To me,

954
01:01:48.239 --> 01:01:52.559
it's a weird term to utilize mistakenly, Okay, unless you

955
01:01:52.599 --> 01:01:54.880
just had read something about the immaculate conception. But if

956
01:01:54.880 --> 01:01:57.079
you just read something about the immaculate conception, then you

957
01:01:57.119 --> 01:01:59.119
wouldn't be using it that way. So it's just a

958
01:01:59.119 --> 01:02:03.639
weird term to to wrongly insert. But people can make mistakes.

959
01:02:03.880 --> 01:02:05.760
I am the king of making mistakes. I mean, if

960
01:02:05.800 --> 01:02:09.079
you listen to me, I misspeak frequently, right, I always

961
01:02:09.079 --> 01:02:11.360
try to catch myself and correct it by the end,

962
01:02:12.199 --> 01:02:17.960
so it can happen. But once you realize it, you

963
01:02:18.079 --> 01:02:19.880
got to come back and correct it. You got to

964
01:02:19.920 --> 01:02:22.440
make sure the people in your church knows. This is

965
01:02:22.480 --> 01:02:27.320
what the immaculate conception is, this is what the incarnation is,

966
01:02:27.840 --> 01:02:30.960
this is what the immaculate conception is, this is what

967
01:02:31.000 --> 01:02:35.760
the virgin birth is like. Make sure they understand why,

968
01:02:36.000 --> 01:02:37.719
so they will not be tossed to and fro with

969
01:02:37.760 --> 01:02:40.239
every wind of doctrine. That's what the church is supposed

970
01:02:40.239 --> 01:02:42.760
to be doing. That's why you give all of that

971
01:02:42.920 --> 01:02:48.000
money each year to a church to operate. All right,

972
01:02:48.159 --> 01:02:54.719
I'm going to stop there. Thank you for listening. I

973
01:02:54.760 --> 01:02:56.920
hope it will be the most wonderful time of year

974
01:02:56.960 --> 01:03:00.440
for you. If it is. If it isn't, I full

975
01:03:00.559 --> 01:03:04.599
understand for all of the reasons I have now repeated

976
01:03:05.039 --> 01:03:10.800
multiple times. If we can set all of that aside,

977
01:03:11.559 --> 01:03:14.719
there is something wonderful we can grab onto. Thank you

978
01:03:14.760 --> 01:03:16.000
for listening, and God bless