When sharing our faith, one of the major obstacles we face is the skepticism of whether or not Jesus existed and if the Disciples truly witnessed Him walk on earth. Join Rabbi, as he gives an answer to dispel these skepticisms using factual reasoning and supportive scripture.
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Welcome to Discovering the Jewish Jesus. I’m your host, Dustin Roberts, and today Rabbi Schneider is diving into the deep waters of something that should be near and dear to each one of us, sharing our faith. Do you ever feel the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit to share your faith, but you’re not quite sure how? Or maybe you’re wondering if you’re even doing it right. Well, you are not alone. And that’s why Rabbi wants to give us some practical tips on sharing our faith. You can learn more about Rabbi Schneider or this ministry by visiting discoveringthejewishjesus.com. That’s discoveringthejewishjesus.com. But Right now, let’s explore how we can be Jesus’ ambassadors every day. Rabbi?
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Father God, we ask you to come and touch us by your spirit as we’re tuned in together to this broadcast. Strengthen our hearts, O God, with faith by your word. Strengthen us and empower us, I pray, Father, for it’s in Jesus’ name and for his name we pray. And all God’s people spoke Hebrew together and said, Amen and Amen and Amen. Beloved, if you’re a born-again believer, if you’re a believer in Messiah Yeshua, you have a desire in your heart to obey him. That’s what the Spirit of God does. He comes in us and He imparts God’s divine nature to us. And when the Spirit of God imparts His own nature to us, it puts within us a desire to obey the Father. That’s why the Bible says that we’re calling out Father. We want to obey. Jesus said, if you love me, you’ll obey me. Part of obeying the Father, beloved, part of obeying Yeshua is being obedient in the realm of sharing our faith. You see, the scripture tells us that God didn’t save us to hide our life somewhere, to put them under a bushel where no one could see us. But the Bible tells us that God saved us, that he would put us on a hill. that our light would shine for people to see. In other words, he wants to use our lives to draw others to himself. The Bible says that Yeshua taught, as the Father sent me, Yeshua said, so also now I send you. Paul tells us we have been made ambassadors of Jesus, that God wants to use us to go into the highways and the byways of life, into the grocery stores, into the dentist office, into our school systems, into our neighborhoods, into every aspect, every corner that our life goes into. He wants us to bring into all those nooks and crannies, beloved, the fragrance of His Son, both in the way that we live, in the presence of His Spirit that emanates through us, as well as, beloved, in the proclamation of our mouth. We can’t just live in such a way that we’re living as Christians without telling anybody. We have to tell people also. Think about it for a second. I’m a Jewish person. If the fragrance of the Lord is emanating from me, if people are maybe drawn to me because they just sense something positive coming from me, if they’re drawn to me and then I treat them real kindly and they sense a lot of peace from me and they sense a lot of love from me and they see me wearing the yarmulke, but I never tell them about Jesus… I might actually lead them away from Jesus because they’re thinking, you know, he was such a good person and look at how good he was. He treated me so much better than some of the Christian people I know, and he’s not even a Christian. See, they could actually look at me and my life could be used to lead them away from Jesus if I don’t tell them about Jesus. So the point is, is that we can’t just live in such a way that demonstrates who Yeshua is. We can’t just be kind to people. We also have to verbally tell them about Jesus and we need to tell them why we live the way we live and why we are the way we are. That’s why the apostle Paul said in the book of Romans, he that calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. But then he goes on to say, but how shall they call upon him whom they’ve not heard? How should they believe in him whom they’ve not heard about, he says? And how shall they believe unless they hear? And how shall they hear unless we tell them? So, beloved, you and I have been chosen to be his witnesses. God said to Israel, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord. And now he’s saying to the church as well, beloved, You are my witnesses. And that’s why Yeshua said to his disciples, go wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit. And when he comes on you, he’s going to clothe you with power and you will be my witnesses. Sometimes when we’re sharing our faith with people, it’s important to find out what they think about the Bible. Because if we begin to quote Bible scripture to them, but yet they’re saying, I don’t believe the Bible is true. It may be difficult for us to make the point as powerfully as we like to make it. Now the reason I say it that way is because God’s Word speaks for itself. Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. So the power of God is in the Word. If a person says he doesn’t believe it, that doesn’t stop the power of God from throwing through His Word. The Word of God is living and and sharper than a two-edged sword, able to pierce between the vision of soul and spirit and the bone and its marrow. The Word of God has power and accuracy in and of itself. On the other hand, beloved, it’s good to be aware of some of these truths that I’m about to share with you. When a person says they don’t believe the Bible, as I indicated on last broadcast, I talked about the archaeological evidence that we have for the Bible’s historical accuracy. All over Israel, we’ve dug up all these things that give credence to the historical accuracy of both the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament, as well as the New Testament. Nobody can deny that. Archaeologists don’t deny it anymore. They have found too many archaeological artifacts that teach us and tell us that, yes, the Bible is a historically accurate document. Another argument that we have for the historical accuracy and reliability, beloved, of the Scriptures is the nation of Israel. I mean, think about the nation of Israel, the Jewish people. Here they were, a small group of people. And all these other nations have come and gone. The Babylonians have come and gone. The Persians have come and gone. The Medes have come and gone. The Roman Empire has come and gone. And yet here’s this little group of people that God said, I’ve chosen you to be a people for myself out of all the peoples in the face of the earth. And all these other empires and all these other people groups have come and gone. And yet here’s this group of people today we call the Jewish people, the nation of Israel, still here today. making contributions to society far beyond their numbers. It is supernatural. The Jewish people and their existence and their contribution to society, beloved, is evidence that what the Bible teaches is true and accurate and real because the scriptures teach us that God has his hand on the nation of Israel and the Jewish people in a special way. The third thing that I want to talk about in relationship, beloved, to the historical accuracy of the Bible, I’m relating now specifically to the New Testament. You see, when we look about what is an accurate historical source, in other words, is the New Testament a reliable, historical, accurate source? Can it really be trusted? Beloved, when we think about an accurate historical document, We think in ancient history, we think, for example, of somebody like Alexander the Great. As far as the earth is concerned and historians are concerned, Alexander the Great was absolutely a real person, and we have facts about his life from history. But yet did you know that the earliest historical document that we have concerning Alexander the Great is 100 years old? And yet no one questions the historical accuracy of it. Well, guess what, beloved ones? The historical document of the New Testament is a far more superior historical document than the documents that we have about Alexander the Great. Here’s the reasons why. Number one, with the New Testament that we call in Hebrew the Brihadashah, we have people that wrote about him, beloved, that were his contemporaries. We have people that wrote about Yeshua that lived with him, that knew him, that saw what he did and heard, beloved, his voice. So, for example, I’m going to start out. with the book of Peter. Listen to what the Bible tells us, what Peter tells us in 2 Peter, beginning in chapter number 1 of verse 16. Peter, Kepha says this, For we did not follow cleverly devised tales. So he’s right from the beginning. He’s saying this is no myth. He’s right off the bat cutting that argument down to its root. He said this is no myth. Listen once again. For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord, Yeshua Mashiach. He says, but we were eyewitnesses. He continues on. He’s speaking now of the transfiguration experience described in the Gospels. Verse 17, for when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to him by the majestic glory, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. And he says, and we ourselves are heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with them on the holy mountain. This is referred to in the gospels. We call it the transfiguration experience where Yeshua took the three with them. on top of the mountain and was transfigured before them. And the Spirit of God spoke there that they all heard, this is my beloved Son in whom I’m well pleased. Peter said, I was a witness of this thing. I’m writing real history here. And so the historical documents of the New Testament, beloved, are written by people that walked with Jesus, that held his hand, that walked arm in arm with him. Listen to what John said similarly. In the book of 1 John, the first chapter, beloved, hear the word of God. John begins, chapter 1, verse 1, by saying, what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with, listen now, our eyes. He said, I heard it with my own ears. I heard his voice. I saw it with my own eyes. I saw the miracles. I saw him heal people. Let’s read it again. What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, and what we beheld with our hands handled. In other words, John’s saying, listen, I touched him. I touched him. I was with him. And now I’m going to share with you what happened when I was with him. He continues on in verse number three. What we have seen and heard, we proclaim to you also. So the New Testament, beloved, is the best type of historical document that we can get because it was written by eyewitnesses that were with him, not secondhand witnesses, but direct witnesses. And not only that, but it was written by a multiplication, a multiplicity of eyewitnesses, right? Peter, John, Mark, Paul, who had a different type of encounter after Yeshua was raised from the dead. These were people that experienced him firsthand.
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You’re listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider, and he’ll be right back with the second half of today’s message. But first, I want to share an announcement about a special podcast we’re going to release this coming Sunday. We have a special podcast called Seize My Word. And it is a great way to fall asleep or just sit back and listen and soak in God’s Word. It’s a calming audio presentation from Rabbi with relaxing music in the background. And Rabbi gently reads passages of Scripture that are designed to quiet your mind and help you focus your heart on God’s promises. It’s a really unique resource and it’s perfect for winding down and disconnecting from the chaos of the day. And even God modeled us an example of rest and a time to connect with him on the Sabbath. So I want to encourage you to find Seize My Word on YouTube and all your favorite podcasting platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, this coming Sunday, December 22nd. And now back to Rabbi.
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I love what Luke tells us concerning the historical accuracy of the New Testament, that we can trust it, that we’re standing, beloved, on solid ground, that we don’t have to be shaken when somebody says, I don’t believe the Bible. I believe it was written from man. No, no, no. That’s why Peter says this is real. And none of this came from one’s own interpretation, but men that were moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. And so listen to what we have here concerning the historical accuracy of the New Testament as it is recorded by Luke. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but hallelujah, the word of the Lord abides forever. Hear the word of God as I begin reading, beloved, from the book of Luke chapter one, verse one. And as much as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, Just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses, he’s speaking about some of those that I just wrote about, Peter and John. He says, just as those who were from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word have handed them down to us. He says it seemed fitting in verse number three. So what he’s saying here is just as these eyewitnesses like John and Peter and Mark wrote their account, Luke’s about to say it seemed fitting for me also. So I’m beginning again, verse three. It seemed fitting for me as well having investigated everything carefully from the beginning to write it out to you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus. And so Luke is writing this out for us in consecutive order. He’s researching carefully. Notice the way he goes about it. He’s doing it scientifically as real history. And so if a person says these things to you concerning like, you know, I think the Bible was just, you know, man trying to grasp who God was, but it isn’t really breathed from God. No, it is breathed from God. And you can tell them that the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament are historically accurate documents by any historian standards. If you apply the same historical standards to the New Testament as you would any other ancient historical document, this comes through, beloved, as a viable, vibrant historical document that can be trusted. Hallelujah. Praise God and amen. Now, with that being said, knowing that the Brihad Hashah, the New Testament, is a historically accurate document, and in as much, it accurately records to us both the things that Yeshua did and said in our defense of our faith, let’s consider what Yeshua said. Jesus said, “‘I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through me.'” Jesus said, unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins. And many other statements like this that are exclusive So considering Yeshua’s words of exclusivity, that he alone is the way to God, and now thinking about this in relationship to sharing our faith, I want to share with you a response, an argument that many of you have heard before, but it’s very, very, very powerful. It might have been coined by C.S. Lewis, I forget. I have found it very extremely effective. It’s called the liar, lunatic, or Lord argument. Here’s what we do. We first of all explain this. The New Testament is an accurate historical document that is actually recorded for us the words of Jesus. Jesus said he was the only way to God and the only way to heaven. And so we only have three choices to determine who Jesus was. The first option is that he was a lunatic. What do you mean by that? I mean that there’s people all over in mental institutions throughout the world that think there’s somebody that they’re not. So when we consider who Jesus is in relationship to his words, option number one is that he’s a lunatic. He thought he was somebody that he wasn’t. Option number two was that he was a liar, that he was claiming to be somebody that he knew he wasn’t. So option number two was that he was deliberately lying, that he was claiming to be somebody that he wasn’t. But option number three, beloved, is that he is who he said he was. He is the Lord. You see, you only have one of three choices. Either he’s a liar claiming to be somebody that he knew he wasn’t. Option number one is that he’s a lunatic that he thought he was somebody that he wasn’t. Option number three is that he’s the Lord. He was who he said he was. To just have an opinion of Jesus that he was a good man or a prophet, that isn’t a possibility, because he claimed to be the only way to God. And so a good man wouldn’t claim to be the only way to God. A prophet, someone that was just a prophet, wouldn’t claim to be the only way to God. I am the way, the truth, and the life, he said. No one comes to God but through me. And so we can only be a liar, the lunatic, or the Lord, who He says He was. And you need to face that decision because what you do with this will determine your destiny. Listen, I just shared with somebody who Jesus was. I asked them, What do you think of Jesus? Because, beloved, the Holy Spirit gave me that specific question to ask people. What do you think of Jesus? Because when people respond, we know exactly where they’re at. When I asked this man today the question, what do you think of Jesus? He said, I believe in God. What did that tell me? That’s why that question is so precise. It’s an exacto knife. Listen, beloved, when you ask that question, the Holy Spirit uses it to help us to diagnose where a person’s at. When that person said, I believe in God, you know what? I knew that he didn’t know Jesus. Because if he would have known Jesus, he would have said, I love Jesus. He’s my savior. I love him. He didn’t say that. And knowing where he was, beloved, I was able to proceed and witness to him. People need to be challenged with the reality of heaven and hell. Jesus talked more about hell in some measurements than he did about heaven. Of course, we have the book of Revelation, et cetera, but Jesus talked often, often about hell. And beloved, you and I are his ambassadors. As he was sent into the world, so also now are we sent into the world. So I’m going to pray for you right now that God will quicken you, beloved, to begin to share your faith. Listen, you haven’t been chosen to be accepted by everybody. Jesus said, if the world would have loved me, it would have loved you. But he said, I’m not from the world. He said, I have not chosen you to be accepted by everybody. He said, woe to you if everyone speaks well of you and puts their arm around you. He said, I haven’t come to bring peace but a sword. Beloved, we’re not in this world to be loved and liked by everybody. We’re in this world, beloved, to be his witnesses. And Jesus said, if we’re ashamed of him and his words in this wicked and adulterous generation, then he’s going to be ashamed of us. when he comes again with the glory of the Father. You know what? You don’t have to be ashamed any longer. From this point forward, beloved, you can repent. You can make up your mind from this day onward that you will be a witness. You may stumble. You may fall. It doesn’t matter. God can still use your witness. What’s most important is that you’re being obedient. So, Father, I pray for these beloved ones that, Father, are listening to the sound of this broadcast right now. Father, I pray right now that you will quicken them, Father, by the Spirit of God, by the Ruach HaKadosh. I pray for divine age, Father, for them, for fire. Quicken, come alive, Father God. Those that have been passive, those that have been sluggish, those that have been secret Christians, quicken them, Father, that they would become alive, that they would, Father, take upon the mantle of Jesus, God, and go to the highways and the byways preaching the gospel. Father, sharing their testimony, inviting people into a relationship with God, for you’ve told us, Father, that you’ve made us ambassadors of Messiah, reconciling the world back to you through him. So, Father, I bless your people today. Raise up your church, Abba, to be your witnesses. In Second Samuel, chapter 24, verse 24, we read about David wanting to offer up to Father God an extravagant offering showing his love. When he got to the place that he wanted to offer his offering from, he went there to purchase the threshing floor as the altar for it. When the owner of the threshing floor saw David and heard what David wanted to do, he offered to give the threshing floor to David that David could offer up his sacrifice from. David said, far be it from me to make an offering to Father God that cost me nothing. David insisted on purchasing the threshing floor even though someone had offered to give it to him. David then proceeded to pay for it and he offered to Father God an extravagant offering showing his love. The next part of the text says this. It says, the Lord’s heart was moved. When you and I present our offerings to the Lord out of love, you know what, beloved one? It moves God’s heart. I want to encourage you. Let’s love him today by presenting to him an offering that will move his heart because it comes from a pure place.
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Amen. And to give a gift of any amount, call 800-777-7835. That’s 800-777-7835. And we want to say thanks for your gifts. So when you give, we’ll send you a copy of our latest newsletter. It’s packed with the most current news and updates. And you know, the Feast of Dedication or Hanukkah, it begins this year at sunset on Christmas Day, December the 25th. And did you know that this holiday, it was celebrated by Jesus? Yep, that’s right. In the book of John chapter 10, while the people are celebrating the festival of lights, Jesus is asked if he’s the one they’ve been waiting and hoping for. They were looking for a Messiah-like figure who rescued them from the Greek Assyrians. They were looking for a Messiah to rescue them from the Romans. It is a wonderful passage of Scripture, and these feasts, they are great ways for believers to share the good news of Messiah with Jewish friends and family. If you’d like to learn more about this, visit our website. You can also give an offering there to support this ministry, discoveringthejewishjesus.com. And now here’s Rabbi to share God’s sacred and special blessing.
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The words from the Aaronic blessing in the book of Numbers chapter 6, verses 22 through 27, helps us to realize how good God is to you and I personally. So receive His blessing into your life, and then beloved one, go bless somebody else in Jesus’ name today.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance. And the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace. God bless you and shalom.
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This program is produced and sponsored by Discovering the Jewish Jesus. And I’m your host, Dustin Roberts. Join us again tomorrow when Rabbi Schneider shares how to witness without fear. Hear more Thursday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
