Prayer Works Bible Study: August 17, 2025

"Prepare To Defend Pt 2 - How Jesus Modeled Being Prepared to Answer"

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Gracious heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. Thank you for this time for us to learn from your word to ask questions in our hearts, and even aloud Heavenly Father as we are led by your Holy Spirit. 

I pray your blessings upon us this evening. I pray that you be with Calvin as he leads us in this Bible study and I pray for your presence and peace to rest, to rule, to reign in all things and it's in Jesus name that we pray Amen, Amen, Amen.  

Ok can you all see always prepare to defend? Ok yes. So just a quick recap. We're all everything that we're doing for the next few weeks or so is all based in this scripture passage, that sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.  

So when we talk about giving a defense our different words for giving our defense is give a give a reason, be ready to respond, give an answer, speak up or explain, and with gentleness and respect.  

So and we also went into the weeks that are coming up and what the focus of the upcoming weeks are. This week we're looking at how Jesus modeled, being prepared to answer, and next week, God willing, we'll talk about common objections, misunderstandings, half truths and mistruths about Christianity.  

So while we're here, let me pause for a minute. Next week I need you all to come up with some objection, some misunderstanding, some have truth or mistruth you've heard about Christianity, try to come up with at least one, and by the next time we meet. 

If you can e-mail them to me in advance, you know, if you can e-mail it to me by Friday, maybe we can start some research. But I'd also like you to start some research too, so we can do it kind of collaboratively. 

All right and then the week after that, the spirit laid on my heart approach to defending your faith because there's you'll see many people you know, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, so-called defending their faith, but doing it in a way that is more about winning the fight or winning the battle.  

You know, it's very combative. That's not what you know, sometimes you may need to be combative. You know, I should say combative sometimes you need to be firm. But there is a there's a way to do that, and then we'll end with a recap reflection and testimonies. 

Week 5 between now and Week 5, I'd like you all to write your testimony and don't write a novel you know, write your testimony. Write it down and be prepared I will ask for volunteers, but you'll have an option. 

You have the option to either read your testimony in Week 5 or send your testimony to someone and I got that idea from somebody that we were listening to. Like I can't remember the person now I would give them credit. 

Don't you hate when you take somebody's idea, you can't remember where you stole it from. But yeah so you'll either read your testimony to us and on in Week 5 to everybody in week or you can send your testimony to someone. All right, that'll be your choice.  

And please let us know so I won't call you gonna be so you'll be perturbed. All right so any questions about that? So, Week 3 and Week 5 is interactive week, so be prepared ok alright.  

Alright, so again week 1 was all about looking at examples in the Bible of people defending their faith. And we just looked at Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost and how he defended his faith on the day of Pentecost.  

What did he do? You know, what kinds of reactions did he face there? People that, you know, mocks them because they're speaking in tongues and people are understanding them and the people just refused. There were people who just refused to believe this could have been a spiritual event.  

So they said oh, they're drunk and Peter didn't get mad. He didn't get upset, he countered. He says no, we're not drunk. This is what's going on. And then he did the whole history and he's like, hey, this is what you're experiencing and you have the opportunity too to experience what we're experiencing right now. 

Repent, be baptized and there was over 3000 people turned to Christ. And then these other. examples we didn't. But again, I encourage you to read them just to see what did the apostles do when they were defending their faith in these examples. 

So the example of Peter healing the crippled beggar of Peter and John being arrested by the Sanhedrin. And one of the things I think that stands out to me the most about Peter and John being arrested with the Sanhedrin is when they were like, didn't we tell you not to preach in this name?  

And they're saying, and they said well we can't we whether we should obey you or God. You know, you don't stand a chance. We're going to always obey God first and not what you say.  

And then also we have Steven accused of blasphemy. What did he do? You know, he did the whole history from of the Israelites. From Abraham to that that the current day and the moment in which she was in, and what did he need to be able to do that, you know, he laid the whole groundwork to explain. 

This is why we're here in this moment and this is why I'm having to defend myself and my faith and my belief that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Let me take you through our whole history, remind you of who we are and how we've been dealing with the issue of disbelief and sin throughout our history.  

And they were cut to the heart. But what they do being cut to the heart. They stoned them to death because they didn’t want to hear it because they didn't want to hear it and who was there?  

Paul holding people's coats. Now Paul which is a miracle in itself, Acts 26 how many times did Paul have to defend his faith, and how did he do it? And Acts 26:1-32 is just an example of what did he do when he was standing before kings.  

How did he defend himself? So those we that those we kind of touched on and then I asked you to as you were reading those scriptures to kind of think about these questions and these are just general questions that you can also think about no matter what scripture passage you're reading. 

You know what's happening, don't just read the Scripture passage and isolation. Because you miss what the whole meaning is, and there will be people that will take little scriptures out of context just to prove their point.  

But there's other stuff going on around it that we need to know, you know, so what's happening, who's involved, what is the accusation, what is the apostles or disciples Defense or answer?  

What's the reaction? Sometimes it's good. Sometimes people are saved, sometimes they repent and sometimes people stone them to death. What can we learn from these scriptures and apply in our modern day Christian world?  

So I don't have any acronym for this process. But this is basically what you can do with any scripture passage. And then I had links to different testimonies of, you know, different people from different walks of life, different ages. 

Even a young guy, you know, just give you encouragement that Christians are everywhere, and there's different ways to share testimony. There's different links and testimony. You're not alone.  

So if you're ever feeling like, oh, I must be the only one in the world that understands what I'm going through This walk, Lord, we all have, we all have incredible stories to tell of overcoming.  

Yes, you know, through our faith. And it is as Revelation said it is by the blood of the lamb and the power of our testimonies that we overcome the enemy. So now we are in week 2, which Calvin is going to lead and all this is how Jesus modeled being prepared to answer.  

So Calvin’s going to walk through some examples of what Jesus did when he had to defend his faith. So I have quite a few scriptures, so just you know, you don't have to take the notes for the scriptures unless you're just an avid note taker and that's fine too. 

Because in the end all of these we have listed as we dig with this, we're going to share it with you after the night is over. So you can reference it as you know, as you see fit. So Week 2, so how Jesus modeled being prepared to answer. 

Matthew 3:13-16 shows us that before Jesus performed any miracles, before he even began his ministry, he pleased his Father. The scriptures read, then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him, and John tried to prevent him saying I need to be baptized by you and you were coming to me.  

But Jesus answered and said to him, permit it to be so now. For thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he allowed him, but when he had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water and behold the heavens were open to him. 

And he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove. And alighting upon him, and suddenly of voice came from heaven, saying this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. So here we can see that before Jesus did anything before his ministry even began. 

God was pleased with Jesus, because from his birth to this point, Jesus was sinless. He lived according to God's purpose for his earthly life and it pleased God. 

And that's, you know, just to chime in that the power of our testimony lies in what's in our hearts and where we are in our standing with God. You know, God was pleased with Jesus, you know?  

So that's I think that's something that I'm taking away from. This is my son. So I could say, Nadia, you are my daughter, I am well pleased in you. Miss Jones you are my daughter, I am well pleased with you. Monica, you are my daughter, I am well pleased with you.  

So it's just such comforting to hear, I should say Calvin. So from here after Jesus was baptized by John, he was led into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. So how did Jesus show that he was prepared to defend the kingdom?  

So the first temptation is in Matthew 4:1-4 and it reads, then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights afterward, he was hungry.  

Now, when the tempter came to him, he said if you are the son of God, command these stones to become bread. But he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.  

Here Jesus was quoting from Deuteronomy 8:3, where it says so he humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone. 

But man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord, so here Jesus was able to defend against the temptation to use his power for his own needs because he knew the word. He quoted the word to defend the truth. 

Yes and it also caused the mind with me that as part of your testimony you're going to come against people who are going to misquote. You know, did God really say that's a that's part of Satan's MO?  

And how will you know what God really said? You know, unless you know the word and also even though Adam knew what God said, his love or lust or whatever he had, where Eve his wife caused him to forget that, to put that to the to the side.  

And here Satan was attempting to tip Jesus to put aside what God had said by misquoting him and Jesus like no. It's not about me. It's not about me feeding my belly in this moment. It's not about me satisfying my needs.  

And who knows, at some point in your life, someone's going to offer you something that you need to meet some sort of physical need or something you really need and someone's going to offer it to you in exchange for disobeying God or doing something sinful. 

The compromise, the compromise, and sure enough, it's going to happen. But what did Jesus say it is written. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, right. 

Alright and so now the temptation 2 in the wilderness 4:5-7 and it reads, then the devil took him up into the holy city, set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him, if you are the son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written. 

He shall give his angels charge over you and in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against the stone. Jesus said to him it is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.  

Again quoting scriptures from Deuteronomy 6:16, you shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him in Massah, which comes from Exodus 17:1-3 where the Israelites lacked the trust in God to take care of them is on display in their accusations toward Moses. 

They said why did you bring the Israelites saying to Moses? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst? In the Bible, there are examples of both acceptable and unacceptable kinds of testing of God.  

It's acceptable to test God, for example, in regard to tithes and offerings. But unacceptable when the test is rooted in doubt. So the difference between these two kinds of testing of God is faith.  

Faith is confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see and that comes out of Hebrews 11:1, the Israelites at Massah, going back tested God because they lacked faith in him.  

The Israelites in Malachi's Day, however, were invited to test God because they had faith in him, and you can read that in Malachi 3:10. Here the devil was telling Jesus prove God's word was true by forcing God's hand.  

If Jesus was in peril, God would have to save him. Jesus refused to test God in such a way. We are to accept God's word by faith without requiring a sign as Jesus says in Luke 11:29, this is an evil generation.  

It seeks a sign and no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah the Prophet. God's promises are therefore us when we need them to manipulate situations in an attempt to coerce God into fulfilling his promises is evil. 

Yes and it's just, you know there will be people who will do crazy things. Like jump off buildings, put their hands into a snakes mouth. Or you'll hear all kinds of foolishness to say to get God to prove that he is God and they're walking so close to him.  

How dare we? We are not to use our faith for that. Our faith is to do those things that God is calling us to do that serve his Kingdom and here Satan is telling Jesus. Please, you know you. 

You're the son of God, so God will save you. His angels won't let you fall. Yeah, he's like, no, I will not use abuse and misuse my power for something so just heinous, you know to prove that God is my Father and I am his son, I don't need to do that. 

That's ok. Alright and temptation 3 is Matthew 4:8-10 and it says again the devil took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and showed him all of the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  

And he said to him, all these things I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me, then Jesus said to him away with you, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve and the devil left him and behold, angels came and ministered to him.  

So this responds also again it is written comes from Deuteronomy 5: 6-7 where it says I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me.  

Here we see not only God's prohibition against idolatry, but his reasons for it. It was the Lord God, who had the power to bring his people out of bondage in Egypt. He alone cared enough for them to choose them to be his own, and he alone delivered and protected them.  

For all this he declares that he alone deserves to be worshipped and referenced, Amen. And here you see, here we see in these chapters the Devil's playbook. Anyway, he's coming to you it's going to ultimately be rooted in these three things.  

There's probably more than three things, I'm just going to back up a little bit. The first one, when we're at our worst, Jesus was hungry. He was tired. Here comes the tempter. You know, you're hungry. Good, use your power. If you are the son of God. 

Turn these stones and the bread. So here we have the devil first, getting us to sow doubts in our mind about who we are and then wanting us to use the gifts and talents that God has that God has given us in unholy ways. 

And our response has to always be it's not about me. It's not about feeding my stomach. It's not about easing my pain right now. It is about doing the will of God and understanding that God alone is the source of everything I need.  

 So those are two things you see here. The devil's like getting you getting try to get Jesus to doubt who he was and then getting him to feed his flesh. So that's, you know, a couple of two things, two attacks of the devil and then the other devil destroy yourself and test God.  

Actually those are those are two more things I snuck, slipped in. It slipped in there. How many people kill themselves and destroy themselves? Typical tactic people here. I hear that, I heard a whispering of the devil kill yourself, kill yourself.  

And it's very strong, that's another tactic of his that he uses and because he will say, you know, if you kill yourself, you'll be free of all the pain. And that's what he, you know, he wanted Jesus to throw himself down to not only destroy himself, but to test God. 

So the devil is very devious. He's going to try any gateway, any weakness that he can. He covers every base, every base of our weaknesses to get us to sin and doubt who God is.  

And then the final thing is here he has again first it was the stomach. Now it's I'm going to give you power and wealth if you will serve me so here again a double whammy. It's not just I'm going to give you power and wealth.  

It's like I'm going to give you power and wealth, power and wealth, anything you want if you worship me. So we have to be careful of letting the love of money, the love of power, the love of position end up leading us to worshipping the devil.  

You know, so that those things just kind of stood out to me, you know? But Jesus had to go through all this. And one example is for us, Jesus, our Messiah, had to confront the devil on so many different levels. You know, and if the devil is going after Jesus, the nerve.  

You know? What do you think he’s gonna do to us, you know. So don't be surprised. You know, as scripture says, don't be surprised with the of the test and the fiery darts. Don't be surprised, but don't be discouraged because as Jesus said, you are not powerless.  

You've been given the weapon of the of the word, and you can stand on that and send the devil packing. So now we get into how Jesus handled himself in front of the Pharisees. And so we started Matthew 12:1-8 and it says at that time Jesus went through the green fields on the Sabbath. 

And his disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to him, look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.  

But he said to them, have you not read what David did when he was hungry? He and those who were with him, how he entered the House of God and ate the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, but only for the priests. 

Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless. Yet I say to you, in this place, there is one greater than the temple.  

But if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You would not have condemned the guiltless for the son of man is Lord even of this Earth. So again here the Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath.  

His disciples had been picking some kernels of grain and eating them as they walked through a field using the scriptures and again this is key using the scriptures, referencing the story of David in first Samuel 21:1-6.  

Why is this important? Because under Levitical law, the showbread was exclusively for the sons of Aaron. Did the Pharisees know this? Most likely however, their legalism created a lack of compassion and a strictness that caused blindness to the truth of the Sabbath.  

As Jesus goes on to say in verse 7 where it reads, but if you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. You have not would not have condemned the guiltless, but the son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath. 

So again, here Jesus uses scriptures in opposition. And this is what we have to learn to do is to defend our beliefs, but also defend them with Scripture in a peaceful and in a loving way, not in a combative way.  

And as we go further into this, you'll see that there are even times when Jesus was silent. Yes, exactly and you know, as you see here, the Pharisees knew the law. They knew the law backwards and forwards, but yet they didn't have a heart.  

They would rather see people starve in order to keep a law forgetting that the law because you obey the law does not mean that you have the heart of God. And they've missed that. They totally missed that.  

And you could even remember when Peter, Peter and John healed the lame man who had been paralyzed by the pool of Bethesda. They passed by the temple, who have been there for 30 something years and he healed him on the Sabbath and all the Pharisees could see, was what? You healed somebody.  

You worked on the Sabbath. Yeah, he picked up his mat. He told him to pick up his mat. Oh, and he's like, wait, where you going with this mat. You're working on the Sabbath, and he's like you told you to do this and he says Jesus.  

So it's a warning to us. Be careful because there will be people who will want to hold. We are not to forget the law because as the word says, not one title of the law will be banished. Though it is not the law that saves us, it is our faith in Christ that saves us and in it, and in gratitude for this salvation, we are to have mercy. We are to love. 

Here's the key the law condemns us but faith saves us. Yes, Amen, Amen. Alright, so now we go to Matthew 12:9-14 and it says now when he had departed from there, he went into the synagogue and behold, there was a man who had a withered hand.  

And they asked him, saying, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, that they might accuse him? Then he said to them what man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 

Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep. Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. Then he said to the man, stretch out your hand and he stretched it out and it was restored as whole as the other.  

Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against him how they might destroy him. So again, here the Pharisees were looking to accuse Jesus and they closely watched his response to the man with the shriveled hand.  

But knowing their hearts and their thoughts, Jesus was able to have a defense against their thoughts and ask them which is lawful on the Sabbath to do good, or to do evil, to save life or to kill.  

But they remain silent. The Sabbath was not intended to burden people but to ease their burdens. For someone to forbid acts of mercy and goodness on God's day of rest is contrary to all that is right.  

Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, did what was right and healed the man. And that's when the Pharisees began to plot with the Herodians to kill Jesus. Can you imagine if you know that you're doing something is going to lead you to be condemned, persecuted and threatened? Could you still do it?  

Can you imagine Jesus he knew. He knew that by healing this man with a withered hand on the Sabbath he was going to get criticized, but he still did it, yeah. So we go to Matthew 12:38-42 and this is about the scribes and the Pharisees and how they asked him.  

Teacher, we want to see a sign from you, but Jesus answered them and said an evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign and no sign, will be given to it except the sign of the Prophet Jonah.  

For, as Jonah was in the belly and as Jonah was 3 days and three nights in the belly of the great fish so will the son of man be 3 days and three nights in the heart of the Earth, the men of Ninevah will rise up in judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah.  

And indeed a greater than Jonah is here. The Queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the Earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.  

So again, Jesus quotes scriptures this time from the book of Jonah. And if we look at that book kind of quickly here, Jesus basically tells the scribes and the Pharisees that what you want to sign.  

And then he says only an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given except the sign of the Prophet Jonah. What was that sign? Well, if you remember, the book of Jonah because Jonah disobedience against God. 

God had sent out a great wind as it reads in Jonah 1:4-15, and I'll skim over this quickly, he says but the Lord sent out a great wind, and there was a mighty Tempest on the sea so that the ship was about to be broken up. 

So if you recall, Jonah was sent to Ninevah, but because of his disdain for those in Ninevah, he refused to do God's work and so found himself on a ship headed out to sea in the opposite direction. 

And so a lot of wind and you know, this has so many similarities as I'm reading it to when Jesus was on the ship on the Sea of Galilee and the storms came and raged, and all the disciples were terrified.  

And where was Jesus? He was sleeping. Here it says that the captain came to Jonah, who was fast asleep in the bottom of the ship and he says, what do you mean sleep or rise? Call on your God.  

Perhaps your God will consider us so that we may not perish. And they said to one another come, let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us, so they cast lots and the lot fell Jonah then they said to him, please tell us for whose cause is this trouble upon us?  

What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country and of what people are you? So he, Jonah said to them I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land, then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, why have you done this?  

For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. Then he said to him what shall I do to that the sea may be calm for us, for the sea, was growing more tempestuous. 

And he said to them, pick me up, throw me into the sea, then the sea will become calm for you. For I know that this great Tempest is because of me. Nevertheless, the man rode hard to return to the land, but they could not.  

But the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them. Therefore, they cried out to the Lord and said and keen now. They cried out to the Lord and said we pray. O Lord, please do not let us perish, for this man's life and do not charge us with innocent blood.  

For you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. So, they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging, and the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord, and took vows.  

What a story I mean to think about these men who were worshipping other gods, that they came to recognize the one true God. Therein is your sign, not only there, but in Nineveh, because ultimately, when you read the whole story, Jonah finally goes back, and he speaks and preaches to the Ninevites.  

And they have a revival, and that whole nation becomes believers in God. So, this here is the sign that Jesus was talking about. But in that moment, you know, the Pharisees, they weren't ready to hear that they didn't want to hear that you know.  

So here again, Jesus he knew the Scriptures, and he was able to provide the right answer to the question that was asked to test his power and authority. And sometimes, you know when we're called to do something for God.  

We can try to run from it but God's will will be done, even if it means, as Jesus said we'll be in the belly of a fish for three days. Lord, let us not have to be in the belly of a fish for three days and three nights before we come to ourselves.  

Let us not be that way. You know, but praise be to God as we see with Jonah when he repented and he realized, you know what? I was a fool. I mean, you're right. You are almighty God, I'm going to do what you told me to do.  

Let's not and that's interesting when you think about it. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, and he had to come to himself and be like your will be done, Almighty God.  

And what did Jesus say? He was doing God's will, even though it meant his death. And that was a sign. And that's a sign for us today that Jesus went to the cross. He died and was buried and that's the sign that was that would be the sign that would be given to the Pharisees, but which they would not accept. 

So now we go to the chief priests and the scribes in the temple. And this is found in Matthew 21:12-16. And then it says Jesus went into the Temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple and overturned tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 

And he said to them it is written, my house will be called a House of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves. Then the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.  

But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he Did and the children crying out in the temple and saying Hosanna to the son of David. They were indignant and they said to him, do you hear what these are saying?  

And Jesus said to them, yes. Have you never read out of the mouth of babies and nursing infants you've perfected praise? So here again Jesus is quoting from the Scriptures Psalm 8:2 rather that out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength because of your enemies that you may silence the enemy and the avenger. 

This response to them is a direct quote of Psalms 8:2, and Jesus knew this and so again, it comes down to us having to know where to go, what the Scriptures are saying, we know God writes it in our hearts and in a moment Holy Spirit will give us what we need in a moment to speak if we let them.  

If we don't push them aside and think that in our own strength we can do it, but Jesus is showing here that relying on the scriptures, relying on the word, you overcome. And something else that also occurred to me as you were reading is that Jesus is not talking to the Gentiles here. 

He's talking to the people who should know better and isn't that going to be like us? Part of defending your faith, you may find yourself in positions where you may have to gently but firmly correct people who should know better.  

But how can you do it if you don't know the word? People in the church, people in the church. I didn't want to say it, but people in the church, believers. Yes, you may find yourself having to defend your faith because of misconceptions, mistruths, untruths, truths that they are spreading. 

Yes, yes, yes, yes but there's a way to do it. You know, he didn't get loud, you know. Well, you know this thing when he drove the money changers out. Well, that was a zeal for his Father's house. Yeah, sometimes you just gotta go for it. 

Sometimes you just got to be strong, sometimes you just got to be willing. You know, you willing to fight? Sometimes you got to do it, no, we don't fight with the physical. We fight in the spiritual, you know.  

But here we see Jesus in so many different contexts. Like I'm going to do the will of my Father no matter what. And if I'm going to confront doubt and belief with my faith in the word of God, I'm going to correct things where things are being told that are half-truths and not truth. 

I'm going to tell the truth and I'm going to do what is right, regardless of how other people may react to it. So now we move on to Nicodemus. Now Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, which was at the time the ruling body of Jews. 

Little history, each city could have a Sanhedrin which functioned as the lower courts under Roman authority in the time of Christ the Jewish nation was allowed a measure of self-rule and the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem was the final Court of appeals for matters regarding Jewish law and religion.  

This was the body that ultimately condemned Jesus, yet they had to get Pilate to approve their sentence since the death penalty was beyond their jurisdiction under Roman law. Nicodemus was a part of the Great Sanhedrin in Jerusalem.  

So, John 3:1-17, this is the interaction where Nicodemus goes to Jesus at night because he doesn't want to be seen by his fellow brethren during the daylight and be accused of siding with Jesus.  

So it goes on to say there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a rule of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God.  

For no one can do these signs that you do, unless God is with them. Jesus answered and said to him most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God, Nicodemus said to him how can a man be born when he is old?  

Can he enter in time? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born? Jesus answered most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.  

Do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it but cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit.  

Nicodemus said to him, how can these things be? Jesus answered him and said are you the teacher of Israel and you do not know these things? Assuredly I say to you, we speak what we know and testify what we have seen and you do not receive our witness. 

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe how you believe if I tell you heavenly things. No one has ascended to heaven, but he who has came down from heaven, that is the son of man who is in heaven.  

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. That who believes in him that whoever rather believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. No more to be said about that.  

So, I mean, Nicodemus we know ultimately in the end helped to bury Jesus, but again, not wanting to profess the connection to Jesus because he feared man in essence more than God. 

And again, we see here someone who should have known better, a teacher ruler should have known better. But Jesus said don't get comfortable in the fact that you are a teaching ruler, you're not set.  

You have to be born again and again, he's saying this not to a Gentile. He's saying this to a Jewish leader. And for us, the people that go to church, that know all the words to all the songs that memorize scriptures, it means nothing if they're not born again. 

And what does Jesus say that born again means, you accept Jesus as the son of God who came to give us freedom, who came from heaven to earth to save us. And believing and trusting in that is what is required.  

It's a whole new birth and he says, you know, and if you think about to how you were saved. And he's saying nobody knows where, where the wind blows. We have no idea how this works, started when it happened and as we just know, one day we wake up and we realize the things that we used to like and get pleasure out of.  

We don't like it anymore. The things we used to say, we don't feel comfortable saying the places we used to go, we don't want to go there anymore and it's like how did we get here, you know it's nothing that we had to do. 

It's because that we were born again. We were born into new creations and part of being born again means that we desire something new in our lives and Jesus is working in our hearts and the Holy Spirit is working in our hearts and we are no longer who we were, praise God, praise God, now it’s 7:51. 

Let me see I have a few more scriptures and I'm going to try to get through them and Whatever I don't get through you'll get them and you can go over them and in your own time.  

But the next story is the Samaritan woman. And this is out of John 4:7-26. Can I read, you could ok, alright. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.  

Then the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans, Jesus answered and said to her.  

If you knew the gift of God and who it is, who says to you give me a drink. You would have asked him, and he would have given you living water, the woman said to him sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep.  

Where, then do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drink from it himself as well as his sons and his livestock. So I just want to pause here in the reading to just look at how this interaction is playing out the different levels. 

So Jesus is speaking to a woman and a Samaritan. Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans. They're considered worse than a worse, worse according to Jews, because they were of a mixed blood mixed race and you know, they had us as a form of Judaism that they worship.  

But there was also intermingled with other Pagan beliefs. And so she first calls him a Jew. You know, she didn't mean it as a compliment, you Jew. You talking to me for? And then she says and then he says, well, the past. 

Like someone saying you Christian what are you talking to me for you know? But he let that pass, he said if you if you really knew who it was and what I have to offer you, you would have asked me, and I would have given you something far greater than what will satisfy your thirst physically. 

And she says, she calls him Sir, so she goes from Jew to Sir and then he then he goes on. I read on so Jesus answered and said to her whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I, that I shall give him will never thirst.  

But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. And that's the message of this Christian walk. That is the message of our faith.  

We are offering people a non ending ever flowing of water, which is our faith in the spirit, the Holy Spirit within us, then the woman said to him, Sir. So still being polite, Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.  

So he's got her hooked. He's got her attention and she's well you know what I do know what you what you have to offer. It sounds good and but she's still thinking on the physical level and he is like, ok, now we need to go a little deeper here.  

So he says go call your husband and come here test and can you imagine what she could have said? What did she say? I have no husband. She didn't have to tell him the truth. So right there, we see conversion starting.  

I have no husband. She didn't have to tell him that. She could be like, oh, well, he's sleep. He's out in the field and she said no I have no husband and he said you have well said. I have no husband for and then now he goes to expose, expose her deep truths.  

You have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband. In that you spoke truly. So here we see part of the discipleship, the leading people to Christ is you're calling a spade a spade.  

You know somebody has an issue, you're not trying to sugar coat, but you need them to admit. It you know. And you, you let him know the Holy Spirit can give you discern on what people's issues are, so you're not hiding from the Holy Spirit.  

And she said, Sir I perceive that you are a prophet because she knew he had told the truth. So now she's like now she's like, ok, wait a second. You get a little too close to the truth here.  

You're making me uncomfortable exposing myself. So she says our fathers worshipped on this mountain and you Jews. So here she's back to name calling because he kind of flustered her a little bit. 

You Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. So how do we get from talking about how many husbands you have to you Jews, you know, say we can't worship on this mountain.  

Changing the subject right? Trying to change the subject because it's too uncomfortable. But Jesus said to her woman, believe me. The hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, worship the father. 

He's like, how am I gonna even entertain you? You're worrying about stuff and you're trying to pick a fight here, let me just tell you what you're what you're saying does is of no consequence whatsoever, I'm not.  

If I were a typical Jewish person, this would have been a fight right here, you know, but no, I'm no that's not important because this mountain is not important. You worship what you do not know, so you don't fully understand.  

You don't fully understand what you're worshipping, but we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. So he's telling yeah. You know, there's conflict between Jews and Samaritans, but you need to accept and understand that every truth and every your faith is of the Jews.  

It is not of the Samaritans. It is of the Jews. You have to 1st acknowledge that and accept that and don't we also have to acknowledge and accept that our Christian faith is descended from the Jews there without the Jewish faith, there is no Christianity, but people have separated it.  

But it is of the Jews. We have to accept that we have to accept our Jewish brothers and sisters. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers. Now you're not saying he said yes salvation is of the Jews, but now he's going to another level.  

But the true worshippers neither Samaritan. They're not going to be labeled Jews. They're not going to be labeled Samaritans, they are not going to be labeled Gentiles. They're going to be being called true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. 

For the Father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. So here he is, another truth. It's not about where you worship.  

It's not about what you call yourself. It is about are you worshipping God in spirit, and in truth, that's what he's looking for. Then she says I know that the Messiah is coming who is called Christ.  

When he comes, he will tell us all things. So here she's acknowledging, yes, the what does she learn about the Messiah that is from the Jews and he gives the revelation Jesus said I who speak to you and he now I have not studied.  

I can't remember if prior to this this scene in the Bible if Jesus had revealed that to anybody previous to this I've not studied. But that's an interesting thing to kind of research did Jesus, was the woman at the well in the book of John, was she the first person that Jesus revealed that he was the Messiah to?  

I don't know. That's something I have to research because he didn't reveal to Peter, that was revelation. Those were the two that we know of, that there was Revelation Jesus directly to the Samaritan. 

And God directly through revelation to Peter so Oh, it's 8:00 now, alright. Let's see, let me then oh, just have them read the others. So you can you can read the others and I'm just going to you know, pretty much close out, I mean this was this was quite a bit of information. 

But so the question is now after all that's said and done everything that we've read and touched on. How did Jesus model being prepared to answer? One he knew the scriptures. 2, he was able to dispel false truths using quoted Scripture.  

He was patient, he was compassionate. He showed love for his enemies. How should we then, as followers of Jesus's answer for our faith, to properly answer someone who asks about our faith, we must use gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, as it says in 1Peter 3:15.  

There is no place for harshness or disrespect in a Christian's life, especially as he represents Christ and gives an answer to explain his faith. Peter exhorts the believer to answer unbelievers gently, respectfully and with the example of ones own life.  

Believers should reflect Christ's teaching of gentleness and speak the truth in love, and that comes out of Ephesians 4:15. The commandment to always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have presupposes a faith that causes us to live out our hope in Christ, visibly for others.  

When unbelievers see a Christian's great hope in the face of persecution or suffering, they will naturally want to know the reason for that hope, and this comes out of Matthew 5:16. We need to be prepared to share the gospel in a way that is gentle and respectful. 

And the result will be that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander, 1Peter 3:16 again. So remember, as a follower of Jesus, you are always being watched by men who want nothing more than to see you stumble, and by God, who gives you the testimony to shine in front of men for his glory.  

Follow these examples of Jesus so that as it says in Matthews 5:16, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 

Amen, Amen. And I'll just read the scriptures. I actually, I'm going to send these slides to you but the other scripture is that we didn't get to, but you can read on your own is Matthew 26:57-67.  

And that's Jesus in front of the Sanhedrin after he had been arrested. And John, 19:4-16. This is Jesus in front of Pilate. And Jesus on the cross, Luke 23:32-34 and 39-43. All those are examples of how Jesus defended the faith and ultimately pointed people to God.  

Ok, so next week we're going to look at common objections, misunderstandings, half truths and miss truths about Christianity, that this whole topic is a whole year long whatever study in itself, but we're just going to take a few things.  

So what I'm asking everyone to do is come with one thing. If you want to list more than one thing, that's fine, but just come with one thing that you've heard that is an objection to Christianity, or something that you've heard that you know is not is not true about Christianity.  

So if you can't e-mail that to me by Friday, that would be great. But I'd like you to come with that and be prepared next week to talk about what you what you've heard and any information that you've heard that would help you answer or respond to that particular miss truth, all right.  

Not it's not going to be a long presentation just mentioned. Just mention something you've heard and then you know where you where you might have heard something that seems to answer it. Does that make sense? ok.  

And then again on week 5 is when we're going to be sharing our testimonies. So I'm giving you all a choice. I'd like you to write your testimony don't make it too long. You know, just, you know, you can write it as long as you want.  

But the purpose is to think about if you wanted to share your testimony to someone in a concise way to write it out. And then you have a choice. You in week 5 you either read it here with us or you send it to somebody. 

Think about it this way. If you are at work and in your lunch hour, maybe you get 1/2 hour for lunch. Think about how if you had to describe your reason for your faith to an unbeliever that you worked with in the span of 1/2 hour or less. What would you say?  

That's really the goal. It's not to give your entire, you know, history from, you know, 40 years ago, 30 years but, you know, just how you got here, why you're here and what you believe. 

Yeah, that's it. So that is it for this evening. Sorry, we went a little bit over, but we're so thankful to see your lovely faces. I mean the harvest is plentiful, the laborers are few. Thank you for laboring along with us and study is laboring.  

It is, it takes discipline, it takes energy. I believe we I know being on these calls it's hard, you know. But thank God, thank God for you all. 

And so again, we are doing Fridays as prayer Fridays, so don't be afraid to volunteer if you feel inclined. Reach out and just, you know, pray you know, it doesn't have to be a long extensive prayer.  

But whatever God has placed on your heart, just reach out and we will gladly put you on to pray for us. Because you know, just as we pray for you all, we expect and hope and pray that you will be praying for us as well as the entire community, that comes on with us. 

So and Miss Jones volunteer this week and we know miss Jones she's going to be on Friday prayer hostess. So Miss Carrie, last Friday and of course our daughter was first asking her.  

Now Monica, there you go, there we go. You can I know you working, you can, right? So can you want to pray us out or you want to get a volunteer? Yeah, any volunteers to pray? If not, I'll pray I'm ok. Monica is unmuted. 

I can pray now. Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you in the name of Jesus asking Lord God, forgiveness of omission and commission of sin in Jesus name. Heavenly Father we just thank you, Lord God, for tonight's lesson.  

We pray and we ask in the name of Jesus that you would restore and replenish the virtue back into Calvin and Veronica Lord God, as they have studied as they have prepared and as they have presented, Heavenly Father, your living word to us on this evening. 

Heavenly Father, allow us Heavenly Father to apply that word not only to our daily lives, but to go out and to share it with others. Heavenly Father, I lift up each family that is represented on this line at this time Heavenly Father and those Heavenly Father that are participants of this Bible study Heavenly Father.  

But for whatever reason, we're unable to attend on this evening. I pray Heavenly Father for those unspoken prayer requests Lord God, that you, Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus will meet each and every need. 

Heavenly Father we thank you, we bless you, we honor you and we love you. It is in the name of Jesus that we do pray and ask it all, Amen and thank you, God.