The Last Ten Days of Jesus' Life #1

The days of provocation

Fred R. Coulter—February 23, 2019

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Greetings, brethren, welcome to Sabbath services! Before we get into the sermon I want to bring up about The Christian Passover book. I got an e-mail from a woman the other day who said, 'Jesus died at the time the lambs were being killed at the temple.' Well, we will see that cannot be true.

Anybody remember what happened to the temple when He died? What else happened? Earthquake! They wouldn't be able to have any lambs there to offer, because the Holy of Holies was exposed, and everybody had to get out except the priests.

If you haven't received your book: A Harmony of The Gospels, yet, please order it. This is the third edition, second printing. When you get it, please read the commentaries. Those tell the story as we will see why that is so important. When we first did the Harmony in 1974, there are a lot of stories that go with that.

All the pictures that are in it—and we have many more in the other editions—we're all photos from the photo storage department from Ambassador College. I went in and asked the one who's in charge of it, and I said, do you have any photos that we could use? Well, by that time he heard I was doing the Gospel, he said, 'Here they are, all you want, just bring them back.'

So, I took them down to the printer. He took the printing photos of them, so they could be in the Harmony, and sized them to fit into different things. Also, these four pictures that are on the wall up here in the corner, they originally were in the original Harmony. Those sketches were done by Jay Vance. His profession was taking plans like Jonathan draws up and sketching how it would look in a three dimensional rendering.

Now then, all of those were done by Jay Vance, and he did it with a Rapidograph pen. That's a special pen that lets the ink out in very fine lines, almost like a needle. You can you can see it on the Passover book. Then he designed the York Publishing emblem, and York Publishing is the name that I use to publish it. 

Dave Brady told me, 'You ought to write; you ought write a book.' That was because I was giving for the second time, and this was in 1972, the Last Ten Days of Jesus' Life. I said no, Rod Meredith ought to write it because he teaches first year Bible. I shouldn't write it.

Things changed because of all the politics and all of the coming after those who didn't bow down and scrape down to the 'falsity' of the hierarchy. So, my sanity project was—by studying and putting together the Harmony—so I could get my mind on Christ and not get wrapped up that all the wars of politics.

That took two years to get that done and then published. Then the second edition we change the cover to green, and the printer R.R. Donnelley did a very bad mistake. You see the picture on the cover with the sunburst. Why did I choose the sunburst? One man said, 'Why did you have this? It looks like an orthodox cross.' I said, 'It's the sun.'

Jesus said that 'the sign of the Son of man will shine from the east to the west.' So that's why we had it. The artist who did this—we paid him for it—by blowing through a narrow straw. You get those little dots and things like that. So, we appreciate that.

Now we have A Harmony of the Gospels, third edition, second printing, which means that the total printed was 60,000. Probably close to little over 50,000 have been distributed.

How did I come up with York Publishing? Well, David Brady said that no one likes to buy from a church, and you can't have a long name. You can't use your own name: Coulter's Publishing. He says it has to be short; it has to be something that people can identify with, even though they've never seen it.

So, one day I was driving to go down to Torrance, and I was going down Orange Grove Boulevard, down to Highway 110. I started down the freeway and at the first overpass there was the sign 'Next Exit York Boulevard.' That's it! Why was that a good name?

If you think of York, what do you hear all the time? New York! York is something people can identify with, though they don't know exactly, in this case, what it would mean. I won't get into all of the wars and politics that we had to go through down in Pasadena, but I'll tell you this: there was a concerted effort to completely root me and Delores out of the ministry—period!

When it came to a climatic head, Rod Meredith was fired, and the next day Al Caruso left. I mean, we went through things because I stood for a man who had been disfellowship politically, and he kept trying to get back into church, his name was Nolan. And that was quite a thing!

When you have a hierarchy, you can't disagree with it; especially the one in Pasadena. I won't get into that, but that gave time where I could get my mind off the politics, off the troubles and I did a paraphrase translation the first time because I didn't know enough Greek. I later I took Greek from Dr. Dorothy.

So, we are going to cover The Last Ten Days of Jesus' Life; that includes to His resurrection. Now then, this is the only Harmony of the Gospels that follows the chronology based upon the Calculated Hebrew Calendar, which is different than the Roman calendar. You can go back in time clear to creation, and you can go forward in time because based on the sun, the moon and the earth and the rules of how it is determined, you're always correct with the Holy Days. You could never do it by observation.

Did you see the super moon? Do you know what happens when there's a super moon? The moon is thousands of miles closer to the earth, and instead of 250,000 it is 211,000 miles away. Do you know what happens? It moves quicker!

So, you can't really determine, unless it's by calculation to account for the variance with the sun, the earth and the moon. Then God has figured all the relationship with the rest of the things in the universe for the calendar. How do we know it's always correct? There are two days you can check on!

A lot of people think they have to check on the new moon. No, you check on the two days that has to be the full moon: 15th day of the 1st month and the 15th day of the 7th month, always a full moon. Furthermore, there has to be two days of full moon in order to go clear around the earth. So, all you 'flat-earthers,' forget it. It is waxing when it comes to New Zealand, comes to full, comes around over here to the Western Hemisphere, and it's full, but it is waning.

Passover night: When you leave Passover night you can see that the moon is not quite full. But the next night it is full. Since 1960 I have been checking it every year. The only time I haven't been able to see it, is if it's cloudy and I can't see the moon. But it's always on time.

Now then, one other thing before we start here. A lot of people say, well you can't trust the Jewish calendar because the Jews did this, that and the other thing. Well, not the official Jews who were in charge of the calendar. A lot in Babylon tried to change it and do a lot of things because they wanted to take power to themselves. But the priests and the Levites in the Jewish community kept the calculation of the calendar correct.

'Well, we can't trust that.' All right, why don't you throw away the Old Testament, because they preserved it, too! If you can't trust one, you can't trust the other. If it's off, why is it always correct with the full moon? Because there has to be adjustments for the new moon! From the new moon to the full moon sometimes is not even 14 days. Sometimes it's almost 16 days. That's why there are the rules of adjustment, postponements and so forth, to keep it balanced.

Before we get into the last ten days, let's start out with the birth of Christ. You can study that in the Passover book. He was born in 5B.C. I have a calendar from the Hebrew calendar. No other Harmony has anything like this, because they go by the Roman calendar and they have a Friday crucifixion, and they have a Palm Sunday, so they don't even know what they're talking about.

Jesus was born on the Feast of Trumpets, a Sabbath in 5B.C. That means He was circumcised on the Sabbath before Atonement, which then made Him a legal resident of Israel. When Tabernacles came, He was tabernacling with all the people of God as an official member.

When He began His ministry—you can look up the calendar calculations in the appendices in the back of the Harmony—He started on the fourth day of the week in a Jubilee year. What is the Jubilee Year? What does the Jubilee stand for? Release of slaves! Jesus came to release people from the slavery of Satan and their sins.

But Jesus first had to be tempted by Satan the devil. His ministry was three and a half years. How many months are in three and a half years? Forty-two? Wrong! There were two years in His three and a half year ministry that were leap years and had an extra month in both of those. So, His ministry began on the fourth day, and was 44 months long. Then He was crucified on the fourth day, and He rose and ascended to the Father four days after He was crucified. So, #4 has a lot to do with Jesus' ministry and verifying it. Those signs are given, because the Jews always demand a sign.

How many days was He with the apostles before His final ascension? Forty! He starts out on the fourth day, 40 days temptation, then He is crucified on the fourth day of the week, three days in the grave, and then He ascends to the Father on the first day. Protestants look at that and say, 'That's why we keep Sunday.' You have to read the Bible!

What happened was, I heard a sermon by Dr. Hoeh about the last ten days of Jesus' life; that was in about 1963. I graduated in 1964 and then I heard a sermon by Dale Hampton on the last ten days of Jesus' life. In the first year of my ministry in Boise, Idaho—this would be the spring 1966—I decided to bring The Last Ten Days of Jesus Life.

So, I got my notes from Dr. Hoeh and Dale Hampton, and guess what I found? There was a one-day conflict. How did that happen? So, I got Robertson's Harmony to see if I could find where the one-day discrepancy was. Well, I couldn't find it, and that made it worse.

I took one Bible, opened it up to Matthew, one Bible opened it up to Mark, and one to Luke and one to John. I went through and started right here in John 12. I knew that we had to use a Calculated Hebrew Calendar. I'll show you where the extra day is recorded.

This is going to be easier than trying to go through the Scriptures in the Bible. The Scriptures will be the same here, but all in the organized manner.

From: A Harmony of the Gospels (third edition) by Fred R. Coulter

Section 282—Six Days Before His Last Passover, Jesus Comes to Bethany:

John 12:1: "Now, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had died, and whom He had raised from the dead."

Six Days Before Jesus' Last Passover

This chart combines the Roman calendar and the Hebrew calendar

• When does the day start in the Hebrew calendar? Sunset! All days start at sunset!
• When do they start on the Roman calendar? Midnight!

So, if you look carefully at the chart, you will see that I have it divided. I have sunset/sunrise, and then it overlaps on the bottom, I have the Roman dates. I want you to count forward—counting is inclusive—starting with the first day. Day five: Nisan 8, 1-2-3-4-5-6 days before the Passover. So, the Passover is the 7th day from when we started here in verse one.

Verse 2: "There they made a supper for Him, and Martha served; and Lazarus was one of those who sat with Him. Mary then..." (vs 2-3).

I want you to notice Mary is named, because we'll see something here in a minute, because Jesus was anointed twice, not once.

Verse 3: "Mary then took a pound of pure spikenard ointment...

I don't know anything about spikenard ointment.

...worth a great price and anointed Jesus' feet wiping His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the aroma of the ointment. As a result, one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who was about to betray Him, said, 'Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred silver coins, and given to the poor?'" (vs 3-5).

What is one of the ways that evil people appear to be righteous? By giving to the poor!

Sidebar: I got a brand new book—a nice big thick one—called In The Closet In The Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy by Frederic Martel. Homosexuality is rampant, all of them. It's quite a book. He took three years in writing it has been published in English and in French, and I don't know what the other language was simultaneously. Brand new publication, so I'll let you know about it, about how homosexuality is rampant in the Catholic Church. Guess what's rampant in the nunneries? Lesbianism! No wonder Rev. 17 says 'filled with abominations and blasphemies.' That's what it is. So, Simon wanted to appear righteous.

Verse 6: "Now he said this, not because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and carried what was put in it. Then Jesus said, 'Let her alone; she has been keeping it toward the day of My burial. For you have the poor with you always, but you do not always have Me.' Then a great crowd of the Jews found out that He was there...." (vs 6-9)

Notice it was a supper (v 2). So, this is at sunset, or the beginning of the day. That's why on the chart we have it where it is.

"…And they came, not only because of Jesus, but also that they might see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead. But the chief priests took counsel in order that they might kill Lazarus also...

you have got to get rid of all the evidence

…because by reason of him, many of the Jews were leaving them and believing in Jesus" (vs 9-10).

You can see the picture in the Harmony. These are some of the pictures that we got from the Ambassador photo file of the model city. Now a key thing in the chronology:

Luke 19:47: "Now, He was teaching day-by-day in the temple; and the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people were seeking to destroy Him."

The Day Portion—Nisan 8—Thursday, March 30, 30 AD.

Section 283—Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

The Church of God used to say that this palm day was a palm Sabbath. Why did they say that? Because the Catholics and Protestants say Palm Sunday! Why do they say that? Because they believe in a Friday crucifixion!

So, the Church said it couldn't be on a Sunday; it had to be on a Sabbath; but it couldn't be on the Sabbath. Why could it not happen on the Sabbath? We'll read it and will answer the question when we're done!

Now we have all four accounts. John's account does not have where Jesus told him to go get the donkey. The reason I have John 12 here is because of the chronology.

John 12:12: "On the next day...

in the morning after their dinner

...a great crowd of people who had come for the Feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming into Jerusalem, took branches from palm trees and went out to meet Him, and were shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel'" (vs 12-13).

• What does this tell us?
• Why could this not happen on the Sabbath?

Matthew 21:7: "They brought the donkey and the colt, and put their garments upon them; and He sat on them. And a great number of the multitude spread their garments on the road; and others were cutting down branches from the trees and spreading them on the road. And the multitudes, those who were going before and those who were following behind, were shouting, saying, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!'" (vs 7-9).

Then we have in the account in Luke 19 that the Pharisees said, 'Don't have them shouting. Jesus said, 'If I stopped, the stones would shout! If this was on the Sabbath, what would the Pharisees say? You're teaching the disciples to break the Sabbath, because they're breaking down branches, and they're putting this on the road for you to go. This is why this has to be on a Thursday. We find that in the Luke account.

Luke 19:39: "And some of the Pharisees in the multitude said to Him, 'Master, rebuke Your disciples.' But He answered and said to them, 'I tell you that if these were silent, the stones would cry out'" (vs 39-40).
How would that work? I have no idea! The closest we can come to understand it is Rev. 5, where every created thing is praising God the Father and Jesus Christ in heaven, on earth, under the earth and in the sea. I could see the whales doing it, but I can't see the minnows doing that. But that's all possible. Maybe the big frogs; I wonder what that would sound like? Frogs praising God!

Section 284—Jesus Weeps Over the City of Jerusalem

How many times did Jerusalem reject God? Just read the book of Jeremiah. Read the book of Isaiah. Read the problems that they had in Ezra and Nehemiah, just trying to keep the Jews from going out and apostatizing. 

One account was that Nehemiah was so upset, he grabbed one of the renegade priests and punched him in the face, because he was having one of the Ashdod women, instead of having an Aaronic woman.

Luke 19:41: "And when He came near and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, 'If you had known, even you, at least in this your day, the things for your peace; but now they are hidden from your eyes'" (vs 41-42).

Why don't people understand? 'They close their eyes, they close their ears, they don't want to hear' (Matt. 13).

Now try this on the Protestants sometime. Just walk up to them and say, 'I've got God's answer to the evangelicals. They use two main Scriptures, that don't even need the whole Bible. Ask them, 'Why don't you keep the Sabbath?' Oh, that's for the Jews. We keep it on Sunday.

They don't know what they are missing. They don't know that the Sabbath is God's day. If they kept the Sabbath and if they kept it to honor God, would not God open up the Truth to them? If they were seeking Him? Yes, it would happen!

Verse 43: "For the days shall come upon you that your enemies shall cast a rampart about you, and shall enclose you around and keep you in on every side."

You want to know the ghastly slaughter of what happened with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, read the account in Josephus. It was awful! When those who were trying to escape, they would be captured and they would cut them open to see if they had any gold or anything in their stomach. Those who they knew didn't have any they crucified them.

Josephus says that there were so many being crucified, that they were waiting for them to die on the cross, so they can put new ones up there. I mean, it was a slaughter.

• it's not a good thing to reject God
• it's not a good thing to reject the words of Christ

That sure happened!

Verse 44: "And shall level you to the ground, and your children within you; and they shall not leave in you a stone upon a stone..."

Sounds a little bit like Matt. 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21, 'not one stone upon the stone.' That was not just for the temple. That was the whole city of Jerusalem. The Jews made themselves such an absolute stench in the nose of the Romans, that they took Jerusalem and did that, and plowed it like a field. That fulfilled the Scripture of the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem.

What everyone needs to do is realize that the Word of God is true. The only way you're going to understand it is to believe it, and what God says we need to do: obey it!

Section 285—Jesus Goes into the Temple and Returns that Evening to Bethany

Mark 11:11: "And Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple; and because the hour was already late, after looking around at everything there, He went out to Bethany with the twelve."

Then He came back in the morning

Section 286—Jesus Teaches Daily in the Temple

Luke 19:47: "Now, He was teaching day-by-day in the temple; and the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people were seeking to destroy Him, but could not find what they might do; for all the people were listening intently, hanging on His every word" (vs 47-48).

These days were the days leading up to the crucifixion of Christ. Christ was provoking them! He knew what they were going to do, but he gave them good cause to think they were right in doing what they were doing.

Friday, March 31, 30 AD

Section 287 Jesus Curses the Fig Tree:

Mark 11:12: "And in the morning, after they left Bethany, He became hungry. Then, seeing a fig tree afar off that had leaves, He went to it to see if He might possibly find something on it. But after coming to it, He found nothing except leaves because it was not yet the season for figs" (vs 12-13).

• Why would Jesus do that?
• What about Adam and Eve?
• What did they use to hide their nakedness? Fig leaves!

Israel in the Old Testament is combined in a parable:

• to a vineyard
• to a fig tree

The reason that this is here is because Jerusalem and the temple, because this was on the way to the temple, and the priest and all of them there did not bring forth any fruit to eternal life. There was nothing. They had no spiritual fruit. That's the whole lesson.

Verse 14: "And Jesus responded by saying to it, 'Let no one eat fruit from you any more forever!' And His disciples heard it."

If you read Matt. 21, it looks like that cursing and shriveling up happen immediately. But it didn't! This is the missing day, between Dr. Hoeh and Dale Hampton. Here's the key.

Sabbath, Nisan 10—Saturday, April 1, 30 AD

Section 288—They Go Up to Jerusalem the Next Morning:

Mark 11:20: "And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots….

Jesus cursed it one day and in the morning they came back and found it dried up!

…Then Peter remembered and said to Him, 'Look, Master! The fig tree that You cursed has dried up'" (vs 20-21).

Since you have the pictures here in the Harmony, I want to show you something. Look at the picture on page 220; see the tree with all of its leaves on it. Look at the picture on page 221, see the tree was no leaves on it. Same tree! How did I get the picture of this? This was a tree before the plague of locusts came on pgs 220-221! This is how they left it. I thought that would be a good example of how they are drying up, nothing on it!

Verse 22: "And Jesus answered and said to them..."

This is very important, because now we're beginning to get into some of the things that we're going to learn for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. God is not interested in just your exterior conduct. He's interested the conversion that is in the mind and the heart! He doesn't want a change of behavior, He wants a conversion of thinking so that your behavior will be as God wants it.

Even the worst criminal… Have you seen them do interviews of those who are lifers? They come in there and the reporters come up. 'This person is such a nice person, I just don't understand how it was possible.' Well, he can be very nice. Same way with a con man or a con woman, they can be very nice. You don't know how evil they are, until you've lost all your money! Then you know what happened!

Same way with 'religion.' Religion is a good factor in the society to give a little check on the carnal mind, to have a little better behavior. But nothing can display the evil that's in the heart and mind of even the religionists, than this latest book In the Closet In The Vatican. They're all hypocrites and liars!

(go to the next track)

Page 220—I want to go over this again about the two days concerning the cursing of the fig tree and it shriveling up.

Mark 11:15: "Then they came into Jerusalem; and after entering the temple, Jesus began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple; and He overthrew the tables of the money exchangers and the seats of those who were selling doves."

What we're going to see from this time forward through the next day is what I call the days of provocation. We need to look at it from the point of view:

• How was the atmosphere around Jerusalem?
• How many angels were there making sure everything works out the way that it should?
• How many demons and Satan were there?

We know that Satan possessed Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus!

What sort of spiritual battle was going on behind the scenes that we couldn't see? Here's the provocation. You go into the temple and you start doing all of this. Now remember, the first time Jesus went into the temple, He did it in John 2. Here again, He comes in, and in the most sacred place, He starts overthrowing everything, and chasing them all out.

Verse 16: "Moreover, He did not allow anyone to carry a vessel through the temple. And He taught, saying to them, 'Is it not written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations"?....'" (vs 16-17).

Think about that! The Jews did not allow the Gentiles to come, except in a cordoned off area. They couldn't go any further unless they would be killed. But this is also a prophecy of the coming temple of God in heaven, which is a house of prayer for all people, all nations.

"…'But you have made it a den of robbers.' Now, the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and they sought how they might destroy Him; for they feared Him, because all the multitudes marveled at His teaching. And when evening came, He went out of the city" (vs 17-19).

Of course, that's back to Bethany!

Section 288—They Go Up To Jerusalem

That's when they saw that the fig tree the next morning had dried up. Then Jesus taught them a lesson.

Mark 11:21: "Then Peter remembered and said to Him, 'Look, Master! The fig tree that You cursed has dried up.' And Jesus answered and said to them, 'Have faith from God'" (vs 21-22).

The actual Greek means have the faith of God. It has to come from God to us. That's why I translated it, "…Have faith from God."

Verse 23: "For truly I say to you, whoever shall say to this mountain, 'Be taken away and be cast into the sea,' and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he said will take place, he shall have whatever he shall say."

That's the extreme of it. What is harder than moving a mountain? Changing the carnal mind! That's harder! And if you wanted a mountain removed, it would have to be according to the will of God, not according to your will. What He says is a very important key, one of the New Testament teachings that goes on into all of the epistles.

Verse 24: "For this reason I say to you, all the things that you ask when you are praying, believe that you will receive them, and they shall be given to you.

It goes from the mountain to all things. Sometimes prayers are answered almost immediately. Sometimes it takes a long time. Sometimes it even takes years. Have you ever had it that you're going along and all of a sudden you think: God answered that prayer! You even forgot that you prayed about it. But He gives another caveat.

Verse 25: "But when you stand praying... [or if you're kneeling] ....if you have anything against anyone... [Is that all inclusive?] ...forgive..."

Even if you have to do it reluctantly, still forgive. But do it from the heart!

"...so that your Father Who is in heaven may forgive you your offenses" (v 25).

Very interesting! Now in the series that we have Keys To Answered Prayer, we go through all kinds of prayer. Also, in the healing; healing is important. It is true, that you must forgive those in your own mind before God, who maybe they have already died! But it's in the mind, and that is a blockage of your faith to God!

"...if you have anything against anyone... [that is all inclusive] ...forgive, so that your Father Who is in heaven may forgive you your offenses. For if you do not forgive, neither will your Father Who is in heaven forgive you your offenses" (vs 25-26).

That is instruction in perfection. Remember that Jesus identified that conversion is not just your outward behavior, but your inward thoughts.

Matthew 5:48 tells the ultimate of it: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect." That's the ultimate highest standard, and that will not be fulfilled until the resurrection!

Sabbath, Nisan 10—Saturday, April 1, 30 AD

Section 289: Certain Hellenist Jews Want to See Jesus

John 12:20: "Now there were certain Greeks among those who had come up to worship at the Feast. And these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee; and they asked him, saying, 'Sir, we desire to see Jesus.' Philip came and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. But Jesus answered them, saying, 'The time has come for the Son of man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit'" (vs 20-24).

The only way for it to die is to plant it, and plant it in good soil. We've got some wheat at home, that we have had for, I would say about 40 years now; somewhere around there. It's still wheat! It's in these cans and nothing has changed. When they cleaned out one of these compartments in pyramids, they found some wheat that was over 3,000-years-old. They planted it and it's sprouted and grew! So likewise here:

How do we die? How did Paul say he died? He said, 'I die daily'! That is overcoming human nature. We can't produce the fruit of God, until we are overcoming human nature on a regular basis. As long as we're in the flesh we still have human nature. We have to work against it. That's the process of conversion. We'll cover that more a little later during the Feast.

Verse 25: "The one who loves his life shall lose it…"

I don't know how many have gone through some of the things that John Gunether has done with the Waldensians, and so forth. I imagine they read this Scripture an awful lot. They were slaughtered and tortured.

"…and the one who hates his life in this world shall keep it unto eternal life" (v 25).

Because the very best of every human being, every single one of them has, and we do to, 'the law of sin and death.' But only when you receive the power of the Holy Spirit, are you able to overcome the lust of the flesh and all of the things of 'the law of sin and death' within us.

That's the struggle. And the struggle is defined by Paul in Rom. 7, which is one of the most difficult Scriptures in the Bible to understand, if you're only thinking about keeping the commandments to change your exterior behavior.

Verse 26: "If anyone will serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant be also. And if anyone serves Me, him shall the Father honor. Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour? But for this very purpose I have come to this hour" (vs 26-27). He knew!

All right, next page, you'll see one of the etchings of Jay Vance. He very carefully hid his name in very small print. I can't even find it.

Section 290—Sabbath, Nisan 10—Saturday [Sabbath], April 1—30 AD

When were the Israelites to select the lamb for Passover? Tenth day of the first month! Keep it until the 14th. We'll see that they were to slay it right after sunset on the 13th. We'll find that section a little later. Now then, this is actually God the Father selecting Christ as 'the Lamb to take away the sin of the world.'

Why did John write it that way? Why didn't he say, 'Take away the sins of the world'? Why did he say, 'Take away the sin of the world'? Because the sin of the world is the sin of Adam and Eve, and that nature was passed on to us! So, it is the sin of Adam that is the sin of the world, and every human being in every generation in every country, every nation.

John 12:28: "Father, glorify Your name..."

All you sacred-namers, think on this. Nowhere, nowhere, nowhere do you find any sacred name from the Hebrew language in the Greek New Testament. God had it written in Greek because it was not connected with the Old Testament and their practices.

Everyone who gives a translation, and puts what they think the name ought to be in Hebrew here translated into English, they're adding to and taking away from. What is the Father's sacred name? The Father! That's what it is!

"…Then a voice came from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.' Then the people standing there, who heard it, said, 'It thundered.' Others said, 'An angel spoke to Him.' Jesus answered and said, 'This voice did not come because of Me, but because of you'" (vs 28-30).

The selection of the Lamb on the Sabbath Day for the removal of the sin of the world. But it is removed, one by one as God calls.

Verse 31: "Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all to Myself" (vs 31-32).

Remember, that's what he said to Nicodemus (John 3). If the Son of Man be lifted up, they knew that meant to be crucified. They understood that.

Verse 33: "But He said this to signify by what death He was about to die. The people answered Him, 'We have heard out of the law that the Christ lives forever, and why do You say that the Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man?'" (vs 33-34).

In spite of everything that went on, they still didn't know.

Verse 35: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Yet, a little while the Light is with you.…"

Jesus is referred to as 'the Light of the world, Light of all men.

• John 1: 4, 7-9
• John 3:19-36

He is the Light and those who love God will come to the Light, those who do not will go away from the Light. They don't want to come to the Light lest their deeds are exposed.

• John 8:12
• John 9:5

All showing the Christ is the Light!

Verse 35: "Then Jesus said to them, 'Yet, a little while the Light is with you. Walk while you have the Light, so that the darkness will not overtake you. For the one who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.'"

How can you have any real purpose in life if you don't know why you were born? Why you were called? Look at all the lives. Look at all the people. I've got at home a composite of world history called Langer's Encyclopedia of World History. You know what it really is? It's a history of every fight and battle in every nation, every country down through all time. It is incredible!

Section 291—Jesus Leaves the City Again:

"...Jesus spoke these things and then departed from them and was in hiding. Although He had done so many miracles in their presence, they did not believe in Him, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled who said, 'Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?' For this very reason they could not believe because again Isaiah said, 'He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts...'" (vs 36-40).

Why would God do that? Protestants believe they've got to get out there and save everyone. Why would God do this? Because, if they are not coming to conversion, He doesn't want them to know, so that they can do so in the second resurrection! Now, you couldn't understand this, unless you have this knowledge of the second resurrection.

There are only two places in the Bible that talk about it. Ezek. 37 and Rev. 20:

• Ezek. 37 talks about Israel and the valley of dry bones. Meaning they lived once, but died.
• Rev. 20 says, the rest of the dead, who are not in the first resurrection, live again after the thousand years.

So, just those two Scriptures alone put together, answers the question, why God would do it. Now think on this. This is why the first fruits are so important. God doesn't do things like the way people think.

"'…so that they would not see with their eyes and understand with their hearts, and be converted, and I would heal them.' Isaiah said these things when he saw His glory and spoke concerning Him" (vs 40-41)

Now then, here is the day of provocation, and what a day this is. This is something!

Section 293—Nisan 11, Sunday, April 2, 30 AD.

Mark 11:27: "Then they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to Him; and they said to Him, 'By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority, that You do these things?'" (vs 27-28).

They asked this because they didn't give Him that authority. And they thought all authority for anything had to come through them.

Verse 29: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'I also will ask you one thing, and if you answer Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.'"

Now remember this when you're trapped by anybody in a conversation. Don't answer them; ask a question. He put them really between a rock and a hard spot here.

Verse 30: "The baptism of John, was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me."

Remember that in John 1, Matt. 3 and Luke 3? Who came to John's baptism? The scribes and the Pharisees! They said to John, who are you? Are you the Christ? Are you that Prophet? John said, 'No, I'm not either one.' Who are you? I'm a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord!

They knew from the beginning with John, but what did they do? If your heart is hardened, and your eyes are blinded, and you have your own satanic purpose, because here's this battle going on, on this day of provocation. This is done deliberately by Christ to finalize their excuse to kill Him.

Verse 31: "And they reasoned among themselves, saying..."

I always get a kick out of this. They've got to have a little council meeting before they can answer it!

"...'If we say, "From heaven," He will say, "Why then did you not believe him?" But if we say, "From men"'; they feared the people, because everyone held that John was indeed a prophet. And they answered Jesus by saying, 'We do not know.'...." (vs 31-33).

They knew!

"...Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things'" (v 33).

It's virtually the same in Matthew and in Luke. Then He got right with them.

Section 294—The Parable of The Two Sons

Jesus speaking right to them. He's pointing out what they're doing wrong, and He's also giving them an opportunity to repent if they would. Could they repent? If they really wanted to they could! So, He said:

Mathew 21:28: "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first one and said, 'Son, go work in my vineyard today.'"

Jesus uses the vineyard many times. He compares Israel to a vineyard (Isa. 5). When He came for the fruit, He found wild grapes. What happened?

Verse 29: "And he answered and said, 'I will not'; but afterwards he repented and went. Then he came to the second son and said the same thing. And he answered and said, 'Sir, I will go'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of the father?' They said to Him, 'The first one.' Jesus said to them, 'I tell you truly, the tax collectors and the harlots are going into the Kingdom of God before you'" (vs 29-31).

Think about that. Here's the elite. That's almost like going to Washington, DC, and telling all the elite you're all going to burn in hell because you are not doing what you're supposed to do. You say one thing and do another. You say we will take care of the people. But you take care of yourselves. Same thing. The lowest of the people:

Verse 32: "For John came to you...

Did they go to John? Yes, they did!

...in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and the harlots believed him. Yet, you, after seeing this, did not afterwards repent and believe him."

Quite a thing! We have a lot to cover on this day; it will take us a couple of sessions to get through. But here again He talks about the vineyard. What does he say in John 15 about Himself and the Church?

He says, 'I am the vine, My Father is the husbandman. Now some translations say farmer. Husbandman is better, because the husband is one who takes care of his wife and his family. So, the Father is the One Who is working in us with Christ. What did He say? You are the branches! We have to stay attached to the vine. Otherwise we can't bring forth fruit.

Scriptural References:

• John 12:1-10
• Luke 19:47
• John 12:12-13
• Matthew 21:7-9
• Luke 19:39-44
• Mark 11:11
• Luke 19:41-48
• Mark 11:11
• Luke 19:47-48
• Mark 11:12-14, 20-22, 15-19, 21-26
• Matthew 5:48
• John 12:20-41
• Mark 11:27-33
• Matthew 21:28-32

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 17; 5
• Matthew 13; 24
• Mark 13
• Luke 21
• John 2
• Romans 7
• John 3
• John 1:4, 7-9
• John 3:19-36
• John 8:12
• John 9:5
• Ezekiel 37
• Revelation 20
• Matthew 3
• Luke 3
• Isaiah 5
• John 15

Also referenced:

Books:

• The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
• A Harmony of The Gospels by Fred R. Coulter
• A Harmony of the Gospels for Students of the Life of Christ by A.T. Robertson
• In the Closet In The Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy by Frederic Martel
• Josephus
• Langer's Encyclopedia of World History

Sermon Series: Keys To Answered Prayer

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 3/6/19

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