Welcome to the Hackberry House of Chosen, sermonaudio.com. My name is Bob. This is the next in the continuing series of Bible questions and answers, and we're now in the book of Matthew. We're doing the Gospels as a unit, you'll recall. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John will be switching back and forth and doing the whole life of Christ in chronological order. Brings us to Matthew 12.40, where Jesus predicted that he would be in the grave three days and three nights. And I have a big question mark after that. Three days and three nights. Of course, Jesus was telling the truth, but what did he mean? So many theories accompany this question. And by the way, when you know the answer to this question, your spiritual life will not be any better at all. This is just one of those things that people talk about. Let's go through it quickly and get to some more important things. But I like to be literal. In the Bible, I hope you do too. In other words, what it says, it means. What it means, it says. So men, other people, wanting to be literal, have surmised that in fact, Good Friday should be called Good Thursday. That is, the crucifixion happened on Thursday afternoon, they would say. Thus, he was in the grave Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night. There's your three nights. He was also in the grave Thursday day, Friday day, Saturday day, and... wait a minute, Sunday day. That's going to make it at least a part of four days. So that can't be right, can it? And no use counting 72 hours, that won't work. The text nowhere mentions hours anyway, only days. I'm forced into the explanation that I've read in book after book, And it seems to be the common tradition among us for all these hundreds of years that the Jewish rendering of time allows for any part of a day, however small, to be reckoned as a full day. So Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were the only three days or parts thereof where he was in the grave. I think it's going to have to stand. And one confirmation of this principle is found in the exchange of three days with the third day in several passages. Look at Matthew 27, verses 63 and 64. After three days, to us, is 72 hours plus one minute. But to the writer of Matthew, it can mean any time after 48 hours. Do you understand? Well, I may have confused you more, but it's a question that you will confront again. Be ready for it. But again, your faith is not going to be uplifted by such a knowledge. How about Luke 11, 51? A guy named Zacharias. Zacharias. This one is a puzzler. Gets into the integrity of the scripture, even though these are factual, intellectual-type questions. I think anything that brings the integrity of scripture up, needs to be talked about. First, you've got to go to 2 Chronicles 24, verses 20 through 22. But I haven't read to you the issue first. It's Luke 11, 51. The blood of all the prophets, in verse 50, since the foundation of the world will be charged against this generation from the blood of Abel. Everybody knows who Abel was. to the blood of Zachariah, or Zacharias, who was killed between the altar and the house of God. I'm reading New American Standard Bible. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against this generation. He was one of the last people or the last person of note to be martyred by the Jewish people. And so in 2 Chronicles chapter 24, verses 20 to 22, there is told the story of one Zechariah, that's the Hebrew spelling, the son of Jehoiada, the priest. He lets the people know about their disobedience. And because of that, he is soon stoned to death in the court of the temple. The murder was accomplished by one Joash, who we thought was going to be a good guy in scripture. He'd been raised and trained. in the things of God by Zachariah's father. It's a sad, awful tale. Anyway, this man, whose story is told at the end of the history of Israel, coupled with the mention of Abel from the beginning of the creation, illustrated the all-inclusive evil of the people calling themselves God's people. How's that? Is that simple enough? I'd like to stop right there. But not so fast. If you turn to Zechariah 1, 1, here's another man of God. Of his death, we know nothing. His life was lived 40 years after that other Zechariah in 2 Chronicles. And, says the prophet's first verse, his father was Berekiah. So, so what? So Matthew, who tells this same incident in Jesus' life, these same words, has Jesus calling the Zachariah of 2 Chronicles, presumably, the son of Berechiah. Hmm. What was such a perfect fit in Luke now becomes a real problem in Matthew. Here's a couple of options for you, and I hope that you'll take it from here and if it piques your curiosity at all. One option is Zachariah the prophet was murdered later also, and we just don't have a record of it. Neither does any Jewish tradition. Or a copyist error in Matthew. It always troubles me when I run across such things, but we've got to accept the fact that we don't have the original texts of scripture. And there were some errors that crept in this way. Nothing that has anything to do with your salvation or your growth in Christ is affected this way, not at all. But please learn to live with the imperfections, not of the Word of God itself, but of our translations of that Word and the things that have been passed down to us. Everything we need, it's in there, folks. It's all in there. The originals, God's Word indeed, but this is a This is an issue you're going to have to deal with as you study the scripture, that sometimes you have a problem like that. I was thinking of another problem here. I guess both Zacharias could have a father named Berekiah, right? Why not? All right, Matthew 10, 28. How does Jesus imply the resurrection of evil men here? Matthew 10, 28. Let's just go over there. I don't want to just leave you hanging all the time. Matthew 10, 28 says, Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul. Rather, fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. How does Jesus imply the resurrection of evil men here? you may recall, mentions the resurrection of life and the resurrection of damnation in John chapter 5. Though Matthew's account of Jesus doesn't go that far, this warning of Jesus makes it clear. After death, a man's soul still lives. His original body is destroyed, but he's given a resurrected body with which to come forth and be publicly judged and punished. These are awful thoughts. We don't like talking about it. But it is real. It is something we need to understand. And the fear of the Lord is a good start in our Christian life, isn't it? Mark chapter 3 is next. Verses 29 and 30. Who blasphemes the Spirit? This is not a light one. I just have a short answer for it. This is heavy stuff. This is heavy stuff. And you'll probably want to investigate this all your days. I've been looking at it a long time myself. Verses 29 and 30. Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin. And then Mark goes on to explain why he said that. He said that because they were saying he, Jesus, has an unclean spirit. They accused him of having an unclean spirit, proving that they did not have the spirit in them, because they would have recognized Jesus if the spirit was in them. Though he could and will forgive insults to his physical person when he was here, even those who crucified him, even the thief next door to him there on the cross, He can forgive all of those people. He can't forgive those who do not properly identify the voice of God coming to them by the Spirit of God. Why? God calls men to himself by that Spirit. A person who is so dead as not to hear the voice of God can't live. If every time a person hears God, he thinks it's the devil, how can he ever say, oh yes, I want to be saved? Jesus is identifying their hardness of heart here. Let us be sure that we know and obey his voice. All right, let's go back to Matthew 12, verse 37. Matthew 12, 37, how is it that we are justified by words. Justified by words. The scripture speaks of justification by faith, and a faith that is a real faith will produce works, but now words? Evangelical Christians understand that it is the grace of God that stirs within us, causing us to believe to the saving of our souls. The proof of that salvation is a life of good works put in order by the eternal plan of God. So where do words come into this picture? You're going to be justified by your words. Well, Jesus makes it easy for us earlier in the passage. Verse 33 talks about good trees being a prerequisite for good works. Then there's the man who has good treasure. and from that good treasure brings forth good things. Part of the good fruit and the good treasure is the flow of words that come from our mouth. He's not saying that we should memorize and recite certain magic words to save us. He's saying that words that flow from our mouth are the evidence to everybody around us of what's on the inside. Our words will be held against us or brought to bear for us as witnesses of the reality of our treasure. Imagine a tape recorder on all week long this week, and next Sunday, your words are going to be spoken through that tape. You remember tape recorders, don't you? All right. Through that tape, they're going to hear everything that you said. Would you want to sit and listen to that? And suppose they brought it to a church or group of people that didn't know you at all. What would they think of you? What would their judgment of you be once they heard your words? That's what we're talking about. The things that come out of your mouth come from your heart. So your heart is on trial every day. How about Luke 13, verses three and five. Isn't it true that good men perish in these ways. This one has always bothered me a bit, this passage. Luke 3, verses 3 and 5. Oh, that's not right. That is not right. Luke 13. Oh my. Luke 13. It's right here in front of me. I don't know what my problem is today. Luke 13, 3 and 5. Do you suppose, Jesus said, that these Galileans that died a horrible death, that they're greater sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this fate? He says, no, I tell you, unless you repent, you'll all likewise perish. How about those 18, a tower fell on them, 18 people killed them. Were they the worst than all the other people who live in Jerusalem? No, no, no. Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Hmm. But isn't it true that good men perish in these ways, too? The Jews were convinced that some people who had just died must be more wicked than they, since they were still alive. People who die a horrible death are greater sinners than those who stay alive. Here's my question. All men perish, physically I mean. Some men in this story have just perished by horrible occasions of persecution and suffering. But good people are persecuted as well as bad. Good people suffer as well as evil ones. How could Jesus use death, even violent death, as a motivation to repent when even the repentant must die some of them violently. Do you understand my question? I'm going to let you struggle with this therefore. It's your question. Except to add that the nation of Israel was about to be judged horrifically for its straying from God, for its hardness of heart, for its rejection of God himself in the person of his son. Israel did not repent as they are here warned to do. The rest is history. Luke 13, 23. Same chapter, few verses down. It says, someone said to him, Lord, are there just a few who are being saved? Is it just a few that will be saved? Did Jesus answer that question? That's my question. I believe he answered. And I believe he answered in the affirmative. I think he said, few will be saved. But we see innumerable people entering into the kingdom in the book of Revelation. Our conclusion is that there shall be few, but only when compared to the many that have lived. Think of the billions of people who have lived through the ages. Most have rejected God, not even looked for Him. But even so, a number as the sand of the sea, we'll get it. And that's a promise that goes back to Abraham. So yes, he did answer the question when he said, strive to enter through the narrow door for many will seek to enter and will not be able. So his answer, I believe is, yeah, there's just few comparatively. And you can look at your community Look at just about any nation in the world, even the ones that we consider good nations or Christian nations, but how many are really, truly born-again people in all these nations? All right. Okay, Luke 14, 2. What in the world is dropsy? That's probably in your old translation. It says dropsy, though, in the New American Standard Bible, so not everybody has got it yet. What is dropsy? I had to look at medicine net, medicine net. All right, you can look that up on Google. It says that dropsy is an old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water. In years gone by, a person might have been said to have dropsy. Today, one would be more descriptive and specify the cause, and so the person might have edema due to congestive heart failure. Edema is often more prominent in the lower legs and feet toward the end of the day as a result of pooling of fluid from the upright position. Dropsy. And Luke 14.26 we will close with today. Move on down that chapter. If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, they can't be my disciple. Hey, question, we must hate? We must hate? Yeah, it's still there. This troublesome word from God, it's still there. God even used it about Esau. Jacob, have I loved? Esau, have I hated? He shows us here that hatred, a pure hatred of evil is a must for every child of God. How else shall we bear eternity knowing that so many of our acquaintances and so many from the world have been justly condemned by our Father? We're supposed to rejoice with Him when evil is judged. Look at the book of Revelation at the very end as Babylon falls. Hatred need not turn into meanness or desire to hurt someone, but it must mean separation from the thing that is hated. It must mean clinging to the one who is loved. That's about enough for today. Thank you for being with me. Keep coming back. Every once in a while, see what's going on here at the Hackberry House of Chosin website, sermon audio. I will talk to you soon. Bye-bye.