Way of the Bible Dr. Philip Zimmerman

Welcome to Episode #146 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our second of eight episodes in our nineteenth mini-series entitled, The Vineyard Owner’s Son. 
On this episode, Salt, Light, and the LAW, we’re going to continue the introduction of the Kingdom of God as revealed by Jesus in what is called the Sermon on the Mount recorded in the book of Matthew. On our last Episode #145, I read and encouraged the listeners to use a meditative reading technique to chew, swallow, and digest the rich serving of Blessing presented at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:2-12.
In this passage, Jesus spoke of the blessing of everyday life of a believer in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew is the only gospel writer to use the term kingdom of heaven. He also uses the term kingdom of God in his text. Many scholars believe these two “kingdom of” phrases of heaven and God mean the same thing. Could be interchanged in the text without consequence of loss of meaning.
Other scholars believe Matthew, as guided by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, used kingdom of heaven to refer to the time of the Millennial reign of Jesus when he returns to judge the world. When the rule of heaven will be brought down to earth as is suggested in the Lord’s prayer. These same scholars believe Matthew as well as the other gospel writers use the term the kingdom of God to refer to God’s sovereign rule over all of creation which he has always held and will never relinquish.
I personally hold to this view and believe Jesus is going to bodily return to earth, judge the nations, and set up a kingdom with King David as prince ruling over Israel. Jesus will live in a new temple to be built on the highest mountain in the world just north of Jerusalem and rule the nations with an iron scepter. All nations will come to this mountain and bring offerings and worship Jesus for 1000 years. After which will be another rebellion led by the devil, the destruction of the rebellious by Jesus, the final great white throne judgment, and the permanent and eternal separation of evil from the new heaven and new earth eternal state God will create.
All that to say, I believe Jesus is referring to the kingdom of heaven all believers are born into when they are born again. When Jesus the God/man ascended into heaven and was given glory and dominion by God over the heavens and the earth, Jesus opened the way to submit under his authority as a disciple in the kingdom of heaven on earth. The afore mentioned passage I read last week, commonly called the beatitudes, refers to those who live in the world but are no longer of the world, but citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

Welcome to Episode #145 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our first of eight episodes in our nineteenth mini-series entitled, The Vineyard Owner’s Son. 
On this episode, The Blessed and Happy, we’re going to introduce this mini-series and then identify the blessed and happy in the Kingdom of God. This is our second mini-series to encounter the God/man Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospels.
I want to encourage all of my listeners at the outset of this episode and for all future episodes to discover for yourself, if you have not already, the practice of Lectio Divina and/or contemplative prayer. I personally was introduced to both through the St. Ignatius Spiritual Exercises. These are all huddled under the academic heading of Spiritual Formation.
Spiritual formation is ubiquitous in the world and is not limited to Christianity. Every person of every tribe, language, and nation is individually created by God in his own image and likeness. Into each person, God gives a spirit. It says in Ecclesiastes 12:7 – the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
Both the Old and New Testaments clearly indicate a result of sin is the death of this spirit to God and his commands. Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Romans 8:7 – For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Ephesians 4:18 – They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. Colossians 1:21 – And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.
While dead to God and his commands due to sin, this spirit given by God is not dead to the world and the powers and authorities that control it. The formation of this dead to God spirit is at the heart of all rebellion on earth. Read Romans 1:18 to the end. In this passage you’ll have a very good picture of how this dead spirit to God leads mankind into ever increasing darkness and eventually literal death. In this downward spiral, the scriptures note three milestones which cause God to turn mankind over to the next iteration of self and self-destruction. 
At the heart of all this is Spiritual Warfare. Paul notes in Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
We learn the nature of mankind in: 2 Timothy 2:26 that mankind is captured by the devil to do his will; Hebrews 2:24 that mankind is held in slavery by the devil because of our fear of death; Mark 10:18 – No one is good except God alone.
The devil is called the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), the ruler of this age (John 14:30), and the whole world is under his power (1 John 5:18). With that in mind spiritual formation in and of the world is accomplished through deceitful spirits and demons. And these were both to be anticipated in the church. 1 Timothy 4:1 – Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, We are well into those later times in 2024. 
Here's the issue today. For two hundred years or more, the focus within the protestant churches in the West has been primarily on Soteriology which deals with who is saved, by whom is one saved, from what is one saved, and by what means is one saved. Little or no emphasis in the church has been placed on sanctification, being made into the image of Christ. 

Welcome to Episode #144 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our last of eight episodes in our eighteenth mini-series, Son of God and Son of Man.  On this episode we’re going to take A Walk on the Beach with DrZ and explore together the intersection and conflagration of all things when God and sin converge. There can be only on God; and in the end that reality will be self-evident.
So glad you could accommodate a change of locations on such short notice to join me at the Gulf World Marine Park in Panama City for our walk on the beach. As you could see when you pulled in the parking lot, we’re across Front Beach Road from the beach with a huge condo complex between ourselves and the water. Both of which we’ll be visiting after we leave here. But not before our talk and a surprise. I hope you all brought your swim suits.

This is our eighteenth walk, and while it is gorgeous on the beach right now you have to admit sitting here in the first and second rows of the dolphin arena is pretty cool as well. On several of our previous walks we’ve seen pods of these guys swimming alongside the sandbars, but now we can see them up close and personal. To understand why I’ve brought us here is the topic of our walk so let me metaphorically jump right in.

I had the intention when starting this mini-series of beginning to go through the gospel’s week by week and episode by episode to expose the foundations of Jesus as the Son of God and Jesus as the Son of Man. What I was not expecting were the revelations being given to me by the Holy Spirit as I too walk along the path of discipleship following Jesus. 

The revelations concerned a deeper understanding and insights into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. These were regular, almost daily revelations, as we all walked through the Lentin season culminating in Holy Week and Easter Sunday just a couple of weekends ago. 

Covering the Holy Week topics from the perspective of Jesus being both the Son of God and the Son of Man seemed to be a keyway for God dropping bursts of understanding into my daily morning meditations and podcast preparations. Everyday I’m constantly encountering that this world we live in is not all that it seems and certainly not all that there is. The earth and the world that dwells upon it is infinitesimal in comparison to the enormity of the heavens and the beings God has created to inhabit them. And they too are infinitesimal compared with the enormity of God within whom all things exist. But I digress.

Welcome to Episode #143 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our seventh of eight episodes in our eighteenth mini-series entitled, Son of God and Son of Man. 
On this episode, THE KEY of Faith, we’re going to tie together why we are exploring the life of Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospels. This exploration has begun already and will takes several more mini-series to complete. 
Throughout Jesus’ ministry, he was not hesitant to let people know his identify as the Son of God and as the Son of Man. More often than not he would perform miraculous signs and wonders to authenticate that he was Son of God while verbally articulating he was the Son of Man prophesied in Daniel Chapter 7. At his trial before the Sanhedrin, He admitted openly to the chief priests and rulers of Jerusalem that he was both the Son of God and the Son of Man; and because of his admission he was condemned to die.
Mark 14:61-65 – Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” 62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? 64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. 65 And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. 
We know what happened next regarding the death and burial of Jesus. Given our time constraints of one episode, we’ll only be addressing what happened on the third day after Jesus was crucified. He didn’t just rise and ascend. He bodily appeared to his disciples over a period of forty days after his resurrection to speak to them about the kingdom of God. We’ll address those days, Lord willing, on future episodes.
The resurrection of Jesus is found in all four gospels. I’ll be reading passages from Matthew and Luke for the resurrection and from the book of Acts for His ascension. As I read, and when you later read these same passages for yourself, picture yourself in the account. Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through the action. He was there and an eye witness. This was not a normal day.
Paul emphatically expresses the importance of the resurrection of Jesus in the full Chapter of 1 Corinthians 15. We’ll only take a look at a brief snippet.
1 Corinthians 15:12-20 – Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Welcome to Episode #142 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our sixth of eight episodes in our eighteenth mini-series entitled, Son of God and Son of Man. 
On this episode, Mutual Comfort, we’re going for a trilogy of one-episode sidebars on our exploration of the life of Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospels. We’ll be exploring the fallout of following the resurrected Jesus and the benefit of experiencing such fallout.
With that short introduction we’re going to jump right into it. What you’ll see in the book of Acts and then spread throughout the epistles is that becoming a believer in the resurrected Jesus was serious and dangerous business. At a minimum you were persecuted and intimidated. If Jewish, if you didn’t observe the sacrificial laws and ordinances, you could be kicked out of the synagogue and ostracized by the community. You would be considered dead by family and friends.   
If you were a gentile, you would be prevented from conducting any business in public markets as Christians didn’t offer the required daily sacrifices to the gods. Not honoring the gods was grave and could put you in the grave.
Alexander the Great made a special dispensation for the Jews as a protected religious class. The Romans continued that tradition. The Jews made sure the Romans knew Christians should not be mistaken as a Jewish sect, but rather a false religious cult.
As a gentile Christian you became part of an unprotected religious class within Rome. That designation opened you up to the full gambit of rejection, persecution, punishment, and even death for dishonoring the gods of Rome. It wasn’t long before it became acceptable and rewarding to arrest, persecute and even kill Christians while confiscating all their goods as plunder like spoils of war. 
This persecution went on for three centuries, and at times was promoted and unhindered by the emperors of Rome. There are lot of well-respected scholars and experts who have investigated Christian persecutions by Roman emperors, and it was a dirty business. An evil and darkness that was dispelled in the early fourth century.
In the mid to late 19th Century this darkness and persecution of Christians emerged back into the world through atheistic philosophers and agnostic and atheistic scientists. By the 20th Century the emergence of darkness empowered the rise of atheistic leaders who instigated wars and revolutions killing over 180-million people. It was the bloodiest century in human history, by far!!
After WWII, a global philosophical shift occurred that allowed Christian persecutions to reemerged in predominately Muslim nations. This was almost immediately followed by the emerging darkness of Christian intimidation, persecution, and ostracism in the public and private sectors.
As we sit here in the Spring of 2024, let us look back to the Spring of 2020 and see what was unleased on the world by dark forces of evil. A global pandemic, daily riots and looting sprees across the country and globally as an expression of grievances. 
As the citizenry of the world surrendered most of their rights to governments and special interest groups, by January 2021 the riots and looting mysteriously stopped. Even though none of the grievances that were given for the riots and looting were ever addressed. It was as if it were all arouse to silence the opposition for what is coming.
I don’t know what is coming, revival or global persecution. The signs of the times indicate the latter. 

Welcome to Episode #141 of Way of the Bible podcast. This is our fifth of eight episodes in our eighteenth mini-series entitled, Son of God and Son of Man. 
On this episode, Why They Killed Jesus, we’re going to follow-up our last one-episode sidebar with a second one-episode sidebar of our exploration of the life of Jesus Christ as revealed in the gospels. Having just completed Lent, Holy Week, and the Paschal Mystery of Christ, I thought it appropriate to address the seemingly abrupt and brutal end of his ministry and life.
We are only beginning our exploration on Way of the Bible podcast of the life of Jesus in the gospels. Yet I find myself at this point in time addressing his end. In many ways Jesus’ end, his dying on the cross, was only the beginning of the next phase of God’s redemptive plan for mankind which he developed before time began. And we will get to that after we complete the exploration of Jesus’ life as presented in the gospels.
The term I used earlier, Paschal Mystery of Christ, is reference to the trial, death, and resurrection of Christ. That trilogy of events points to something not plainly clear to an observer. Why would the religious leaders of the Jews demand the Romans to put to death their own Messiah by crucifixion? They demonstrated they had the ability to execute Jesus themselves when these same people stoned Stephen, the first martyr of the faith (see Acts 7:58-60). 
What transpired on the cross such that Paul would write in Colossians 1:19-20 – For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
And finally, how did Jesus go from dead and buried to resurrecting and appearing to his disciples over a period of forty days in a physical body of flesh and bone? And how did that flesh and bone body ascend into heaven. Acts 1:9-11 – And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 
The term mystery is a focal point of Paul’s doxology at the end of the book of Romans. Romans 16:25-27 – Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the MYSTERY that was kept secret for long ages 26 but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27 to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.  
First we need to see and UNDERSTAND, the revelation of this mystery to people hearing the gospel is what God is using to bring about the OBEDIENCE of faith. Second and just as important is faith is not an intellectual ascent. Faith involves a change of mind and will in a person that produces OBEDIENCE.
Paul speaks of the origin of faith in Ephesians 2:8-10 – For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Faith that renders salvation is neither by mental ascent nor by works. Both faith and salvation are given by grace as gifts of God. Or put another way, faith and salvation begin the revealing of mystery by grace that leads beyond the veil of dimensionality and terminates in the mind and will of God.