Learning to Tell Time - Part B

I want some of you who are discouraged by whatever's going on in your life and you feel like God's timing is way off And you're looking and going God you're late No You may be early You may be looking at the wrong clock But God is on time our sense of time and timing is often skewed Especially when we're wanting something in our life to change but as Skip shares in today's message on Connect with Skip Hyten We should not look to our own clock, but God's because his timing is never off But first we want to tell you about a resource that'll help you answer some of the toughest questions about the life Ministry and divinity of Christ. Josh McDowell has written books that rank among the best-selling Christian works of all time Now with his son Sean, Josh has released Evidence for Jesus. God gave us our mind and our heart to work in unity To what?

To glorify him. The Bible I call a fact fiction or fallacy I want to answer two questions about the Bible. This is what I struggle with as a non-believer One is what we have written down the same as what was written down 2,000 years ago or has it been changed? Second Was what was written down true? Down true in Evidence for Jesus.

Josh and Sean McDowell have adapted and updated the Evidence for Jesus section from their classic apologetics book Evidence That Demands a Verdict into a concise readable and accessible resource for those seeking answers about Jesus This powerful new resource is our thanks for your gift of $50 or more to support the broadcast ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig Josh and Sean McDowell make a powerful team If you have questions about Jesus or know someone who does this book is perfect So get your copy of Evidence for Jesus today when you give a gift of $50 or more Evidence for Jesus is our thanks for helping us expand the reach of the teachings on Connect with Skip Give online securely at connectwithskip.com Offer or call 800-922-1888 Did you know that you can now connect with Pastor Skip and this ministry via text messaging? Simply text connect to 74759 to join the group when you do you'll receive a free digital booklet call I'll be living in the last days get a glimpse into the last days and how you can be ready for them So text connect to 74759 today Now let's turn over to Galatians 4 today as Skip begins his message Paul says when the fullness of the time had come stop That's a very intriguing phrase Fullness playroma is the greek word means um complete or full or plump or ripe The time was perfect. He is saying the time was ripe like fruit hanging on a tree ready to be plucked at just the right moment It was the fullness of the time Now have you noticed that God has ended doing things on time? Very precise about that Ecclesiastes chapter 3 tells us there is a time for every purpose under heaven And if you notice that God keeps perfect time His watch is perfect Sometimes you think God is late You're just early You think God is slow no, you're just a little too fast Charles Spurgeon put it this way the great clock of the universe keeps good time And the whole machinery of providence moves with unerring punctuality I've had people tell me, you know, Jesus was a man ahead of his time Or well, Jesus was behind the times.

No, no, no. No, he came at the fullness of the time First words out of his mouth recorded in the gospel of mark where the time is fulfilled The kingdom of God is at hand So Paul says the season was right. It was the fullness of the time now. He does not tell us specifically What made the time so ripe, but let me make a few suggestions The time was right spiritually I've already told you how there was an expectation a spiritual expectation at the time of christ unlike any other time They were open they wanted they were hungry for the messiah to come but not only that Did you know that other religions like the roman religious system and the greek religious system that many of the people?

Who subscribe to those beliefs? There was a hunger going on inside of them They were burned out on the roman polytheist polytheistic form of worship or the greek polytheism And they were attracted to judaism's one god And so many were converting in different parts of the world in the first century to judaism In fact, if you read your new testament, you know that The centurion is spoken about favorably in the gospels and in the book of acts many of them believed in the lord Jesus commanded one centurion for having more faith than any jewish people in the entire land In the book of acts there's centurion who invites peter into his house and comes to faith in christ Paul writes about people from caesar's household converting and following jesus So it was the right time spiritually But it was also the right time culturally for jesus to come You know alexander the great had a dream Of course he was dead by this time But he he had a dream that he could make the world greek. He was a greek He wanted to spread the love So he thought everybody in the world should speak his language and follow his culture So his dream was to spread greek language and greek culture around the world and you know what he was pretty successful Because for the first time since the tower of babel In the book of genesis during the new testament times. There was a common language around the world and that was greek It was said that you could go from the british isles all the way to india speaking the same language everywhere you went And what a language it was the language of greek The most precise language ever to convey human thought and that is the language of the new testament Ah, but not only that alexander the great when he conquered jerusalem He encouraged the jews to travel around the world and colonize the world into pockets of judaism wherever they went So that by the time of jesus you had these things you don't find them in the old testament But you find them in the new synagogues jewish meeting places in virtually every city around the world Where somebody could pop in speaking a common language and share ideas So it is the right time spiritually culturally, but it was also the right time politically And here's what I mean The king of the world Was rome caesar was in charge And rome brought with it what they called the pox Romana you've heard the term it means the roman peace. It was 200 years of peace on earth At least in the roman world and it was it was pretty peaceful And it was it was pretty peaceful. It was a stability enforced by roman military essentially The power of rome ensured that the places rome controlled were peaceful places so They brought in the pox romana rome also brought in a road system Get this This is 2 000 years ago Rome decided to connect all the places in the world that had not been connected by a road system. They built 250 000 miles of roads Many of them are still paved today.

You can walk on them. They're made out of stone 250 000 miles Folks, that's 2 000 years ago. I know roads in rio rancho that still aren't paved The romans paved the world at the time So now you have relative safety Where people can travel from one part of the world to another part of the world speaking the same language And bringing their ideas with them and you know who took advantage of that paul the apostle It's estimated the apostle paul traveled 15 000 miles on foot or by sea during his lifetime so Now you have the gospel in the most precise language ever under the most ideal circumstances ever To people who are hungrier than ever going to places more freely than ever before it was the fullness of time So the expectation was right The season was right There's something else that was right. The action was right Look at verse four again But when the fullness of the time had come god now watch how this is written god sent forth His son stop right there. I want you to think about that god Sent forth his son that implies that jesus was in one place first before he got sent somewhere else this phraseology suggests pre-existence The nox translation puts it this way. God sent out his son on a mission to us He was somewhere else first Then he got sent here No wonder then jesus said to punch his pilot as he stood before him for this reason.

I came into the world I came into the world. It's what isaiah the prophet predicted In isaiah chapter 7 unto us A child is born but unto us a son is given Yes, jesus was born, but first he was sent by the father So in john chapter 6 jesus put it this way I came down from heaven John chapter 8 I proceeded forth and came from god So let me spell it all out Jesus christ was in the presence of god the father Eternally existing as the second person of the triune god And at just the right time god the father sprung into action And dispatched his son on a mission to this earth a rescue mission From his presence to our presence the action was right Not only that the person was right look again at the fourth verse when the fullness of the time had come god sent forth his son And notice how he is described born of a woman Born under the law jesus was the right person for the job And the listing of his qualifications is here He was born of a woman now. That's an odd thing to say isn't it because who isn't Everybody born is born of a woman There's a religion in israel called the druze religion It's from egypt actually and it's the belief that when the messiah comes he's going to be born from a man And it's an odd belief system It's an odd belief system But paul skips all that nonsense and says no no born of a woman But the reason he includes this because it's an obvious statement.

Everybody's born of woman Is he doesn't make mention of a man didn't say born of a woman and a man He isolates it and says he's born of a woman. Why because jesus was born as the result of mary being conceived by the holy spirit Joseph had nothing to do with his birth at all So he was born of a woman Then look what else it says born under the law He's not just a man he's a jewish man He was circumcised the eighth day. He was dedicated in the temple He was raised in a jewish home reading the torah worshiping the god of israel. He attended the synagogue services. We know that like every jewish male He was bar mitzvahed became a a son of the commandment But unlike every other male he actually kept the commandments Because he was sinless.

He was perfect. There was no sin at all in him So this is the right person i've said this before but um I need to underscore this Jesus had to be both god and man to be a savior. Otherwise, it wouldn't work He has to be fully god and fully man and that's how paul presents him. That's how the prophets present him That's how the gospel writers present him. He was fully god But he was also fully man And he had to be both otherwise What he did wouldn't have any consequence at all He had to be human because he is representing humanity. So he has to feel all the pain of the punishment That is put upon him at the cross But he also has to be god for his sacrifice to have enough value to atone for sin If I tell you i'm going to die for the sins of the world, then I die.

You know what just happened? I died That's it My death is of no value. Even though I said i'm dying for the sins of the world The only one who would have value is somebody who is absolutely perfect absolutely perfect Who lived the perfect life that we could never live and then?

Was sacrificed fully god fully man Now I want to just step back from this for a moment And just tell you that this is what? Differentiates christianity from every other belief system every other philosophy every other religion it centers on a person Not on somebody's teachings so many other religions. It's all about follow the teachings Of this person or follow the example of that person with christianity it centers on christ period Jesus never said follow my teachings.

Those teachings are important He said follow me He never said my teachings are the way the truth and the life. He said I am the way the truth and the life He never says as many as received my core belief system will become children of god. He said whoever received him Would have the right to become children of god So he had to be god had to be man had to be jewish man Had to come at the right time Had to come when the expectation was at an all-time high And to what end for what reason verse five tells us?

The reason was right Is right Look at the first two words to what? to redeem That's why he came to redeem Those who were under the law that we might receive The adoption I love that as sons or children of god And because you are sons god sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts crying out abba father If you go to israel today, you'll see little kids calling after their dads And they'll say abba abba means daddy It's an intimate term of relationship abba, daddy So here once again is the language of slavery To redeem to buy back by paying a price to set a slave free that's what the word Ex agorado or to redeem means So to redeem God went to the slave market of sin. He bought you he took you home and he adopted you That's beautiful that's what paul is saying the son of god became a slave to allow slaves to become sons of god And what does that mean to us It means you're not under bondage any longer This is what it means to you You don't have to grit your teeth and try to perform to make god like you you I gotta work really hard. So god likes me and accepts me Done.

Sorry too late. He's already did that for you What he did was enough for him to go to the slave market buy you bring you home and adopt you So you don't have to perform for him. Yes. He wants you to be obedient to him. Don't mistake what i'm saying But you are accepted you are adopted. You are a child a son or daughter of god So everything was set up perfectly and at the right time god sent the right person and that right person was Shiloh Remember I said that at the beginning and I mentioned genesis 49. So let's close on that note Look with me at the 49th chapter of genesis and I want to show you something from that text Genesis 49 as I mentioned is the old patriarch jacob He is a deathbed prophet He brings his sons around him and goes through one son and another son then another son Says something about their personality says something about their future We get to genesis 49 verse 8 he gets to his son judah Who will be the father of the tribe of judah and he says judah?

You are he whom your brother shall praise that's a plan of the world judah judah means praise Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies your father's children shall bow down before you judah is a lion's whelp From the prey my son you have gone up he bows down. He lies down as a lion And as a lion who shall rouse him This is where the term the lion of the tribe of judah from the book of revelation comes from This idea in genesis 49, but look at verse 10 the scepter Shall not depart from judah nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes And to him shall be the obedience of the people you know what a scepter is right scepter is a staff a tribal staff That shows identity and authority and in this case, it's the identity and the authority of the tribe of judah So the scepter the rule the identity shall not depart nor what notice what it says a lawgiver from between his feet So the jewish interpretation Was the right to rule and the right to enforce the law of motion And the right to enforce the law of moses on the people so that's going to be intact in judah until Shiloh comes you know what shiloh means it means the one to whom it belongs The one to whom it belongs and for centuries Rabbis taught this verse is a prediction of the messiah who would come The jewish targhams remember that book I told you about a few weeks ago We went through all this the targhams the jewish targhams the jewish midrash the jewish talmud all agree This is a messianic prophecy giving a specific time of his arrival So To expand it all it says judah's national identity which includes its right to enforce the mosaic law Will not depart from judah until the messiah comes You follow me so far We have a little bit of a problem judah was taken captive by the babylonians for 70 years remember that When they were taken captive in 586 bc they lost national sovereignty because they were slaves now But they never lost national identity. In fact, they still in babylon had law givers and judges Among their own tribe the babylonians let them do that Then they came back they repopulated the land But then something happened In the first quarter of the first century Just before the second quarter of the first century To be precise 23 years before the trial of jesus of nazareth something happened Rome that had taken over the world including the jewish nation took away from judah the right to adjudicate In capital cases They took away the right to impose the law of moses in capital cases This is why they had to bring jesus to pilot to get him crucified because the right of capital punishment was taken away From the jews.

They got to get him killed. They go to pilot to have the roman sentence dropped And jesus died so What happened when that happened? the jews knew This is what genesis 49 is written about now.

I'm going to read to you a passage from the jerusalem talmud By rabbi rachman who said and I quote when the members of the sanhedrin found themselves deprived of their right over life and death A general consternation took possession of them. They covered themselves with sackcloth and ashes exclaiming woe to us For the scepter has departed from judah, but the messiah has not come That actually happened 23 years Before the trial of jesus of nazareth in the first quarter of the first century the jewish leader said we know what this means The scepter has indeed departed genesis 49 10, but the messiah shiloh has not come While they were parading in mourning in jerusalem a little boy was playing in nazareth He was growing up under joseph and mary and he was about to put his carpentry tools down And start his public ministry And one day he would be sitting on a donkey and he would be riding into jerusalem fulfilling What the prophecy said? And when he did Some knew not all shiloh had come the scepter has departed but shiloh. This is it has come At just the right time under just the right circumstances For exactly the right reason now as we close today I want some of you who are discouraged by whatever's going on in their life and you feel like god's timing is way off And you're looking and going god you're late No You may be early You may be looking at the wrong clock But god is on time And if god would go through all of this Intricate plan to send his son from heaven to earth. Don't you think? That he's got you covered Don't you think do you think anything is slipping through his fingers at this point in your life? Do you have any right to pull out your hair and go i'm worried Do you have any right to pull out your hair and go i'm worried? What? What what what? Perfect timing perfect plan perfect person perfect reason So this is a good time for you to lay down your worry lay down your burden and start trusting in him That's Skip heitig with a message from his series against all odds find the full message as well as books booklets and full teaching series At connectwithskip.com now, let's go in the studio with Skip and lenya with news about a trip to israel You can take well if you've ever dreamed about visiting israel. Let's make that happen Lenya, and I are leading a tour group to israel next summer in 2024 We'll start up north visiting nazareth the sea of galley and the jordan river We'll spend several days in jerusalem see the temple mount the garden of gethsemane the upper room and more Now visiting the places where the scriptures unfolded where jesus lived out his earthly ministry it never gets old That's why I keep going back join Skip and I and our friend jeremy camp next summer in israel See the itinerary and book this israel tour with Skip heitig and jeremy camp today at inspirationcruises.com C-a-b-q that's inspirationcruises.com C-a-b-q we hope today's program has equipped you with practical insight for your christian walk And we want to invite you to help encourage others to do the same with a gift to keep these biblical teachings on the air Just call 800-922-14 888 that's 800-922-1888 Or visit connectwithskip.com Slash donate that's connectwithskip.com Slash donate Thank you. Come back tomorrow for an encouraging message from Skip all about what believers do with their faith Message from Skip all about what believers do with their faith So make a connection make a connection at the foot Connect with Skip heitig is a presentation of connection communications Connecting you to god's never changing truth in ever-changing times