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00:10 ♪♪♪ 00:20 ♪♪♪ 00:30 ♪♪♪ 00:36 Jean Ross: Hello, friends, we'd like to welcome all of you 00:38 to "Sabbath School Study Hour" here at the Granite Bay 00:39 Seventh-day Adventist Church in Sacramento, California. 00:42 We'd like to welcome many of those who are joining us 00:45 online today. 00:46 We have our extended Sabbath School class, who are joining us 00:49 across the country and around the world. 00:51 I'd also like to welcome our regular Sabbath School members 00:53 who are here in person this morning. 00:56 We're very excited about the new lesson that we're going to be 00:59 starting today. 01:00 It's a quarterly. 01:02 The focus is on the Bible. 01:04 It's called "How to Interpret Scripture." 01:06 And I know those who are viewing, some of you might 01:08 already have a lesson quarterly. 01:10 If you don't have one, you could get one at a hopefully local 01:11 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:14 They should have that as well, or you can go online and you can 01:16 download this quarter study, "How to Interpret 01:19 the Scriptures." 01:21 Today, our lesson is lesson number one. 01:23 It's entitled "The Uniqueness of the Bible." 01:26 Very important study. 01:28 Well, before we get to our lesson today, we'd like to 01:30 remind our friends about the free offer that we have today. 01:33 It's a book entitled "The Ultimate Resource," and it is 01:37 all about the Bible; written by Pastor Doug. 01:40 If you'd like to receive the book, all you'll need to do is 01:42 call the number 866-788-3966 and ask for offer number 728. 01:49 We'll be happy to send that to anyone in North America. 01:52 If you would like a digital copy of the book, you want to text 01:56 the code "SH091" to the number 40544 and you'll be able to read 02:03 the book through a digital download that'll be sent to you. 02:07 At this time I'd like to invite our song leaders to come 02:09 forward, and they're going to be leading us in our Sabbath School 02:12 song today. 02:16 female: Good morning, church family. 02:17 We're going to be singing "I Need thee Every Hour," hymn 02:21 number 483. 02:23 And please sing verses 1, 2, and 4 with us. 02:27 ♪♪♪ 02:45 ♪ I need thee every hour ♪ 02:49 ♪ Most gracious Lord ♪ 02:53 ♪ No tender voice like thine ♪ 02:58 ♪ Can peace afford ♪ 03:02 ♪ I need thee, O I need thee ♪ 03:08 ♪ Every hour I need thee ♪ 03:12 ♪ O bless me now, my Savior ♪ 03:17 ♪ I come to thee ♪ 03:23 ♪ I need thee every hour ♪ 03:28 ♪ Stay thou nearby ♪ 03:33 ♪ Temptations lose their power ♪ 03:38 ♪ When thou art nigh ♪ 03:43 ♪ I need thee, O I need thee ♪ 03:49 ♪ Every hour I need thee ♪ 03:54 ♪ O bless me now, my Savior ♪ 03:59 ♪ I come to thee ♪ 04:05 ♪ I need thee every hour ♪ 04:10 ♪ Teach me thy will ♪ 04:15 ♪ And thy rich promises ♪ 04:20 ♪ In me fulfill ♪ 04:25 ♪ I need thee, O I need thee ♪ 04:31 ♪ Every hour I need thee ♪ 04:35 ♪ O bless me now, my Savior ♪ 04:41 ♪ I come to thee ♪ 04:52 Jean: Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. 04:54 Dear Father in heaven, we thank you once again that we're able 04:56 to gather in your house on a rainy Sabbath, but yet a 04:59 beautiful Sabbath for we need the rain. 05:02 But Lord more important than the physical rain outside, we need 05:04 the rain of the Holy Spirit to come and fill our hearts and our 05:08 minds, especially as we delve into a new series of lessons 05:11 talking about the Bible and the importance of the Word. 05:14 So we invite your presence. 05:16 Come and guide our hearts and our minds. 05:18 We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. 05:21 Now, for those of you who are here in person, you can see, and 05:24 maybe those who are joining us online, we have two podiums up 05:27 here for our Sabbath School study hour this morning, and 05:30 that means that Pastor Doug and myself we're going to be 05:33 teaching together. 05:34 It's such an exciting and important lesson we thought, 05:36 "Well, let's talk about the Bible together." 05:39 We do have a radio program called "Bible Answers Live," and 05:42 I know it's the highlight of my week to be able to take 05:45 Bible questions. 05:47 So anytime we can talk about the Bible, that's always a 05:49 good thing. 05:50 Good morning, Pastor Doug. 05:52 Doug Batchelor: Morning, Pastor Ross. 05:54 We thought this is such an important lesson that--you know, 05:56 they say two heads are uglier than one, but they are better. 05:58 And it would be nice to get the message in stereo today. 06:03 And so--and we also want to especially welcome--you know, 06:07 we're recording this live, and it is March 14th. 06:11 And there's been a lot going on in the news nationally and 06:15 internationally connected with this coronavirus and the 06:19 potential threat that it poses. 06:21 A lot of folks have canceled their church services today and 06:26 they're doing church online or at home, and we want you--you 06:30 want to take a moment right now at the beginning of our study 06:33 and then again later during our worship service. 06:35 Call or text them and say, "You can participate in a Sabbath 06:38 School program online if you can't go to church and you 06:41 haven't already found one online." 06:43 Encourage them go to the Granite Bay SDA website. 06:46 They can also watch Facebook--Amazing Facts Facebook 06:49 page, my Facebook page. 06:51 And we want them to be engaged. 06:53 We don't want God's church to grow weak through lack of study. 06:59 So you can let them know that--by the way, if you want to 07:01 know about the--in the next few weeks, things are going to be 07:04 very unusual in the world, but we're going to continue to 07:06 provide spiritual programming online. 07:10 If you want to know when we're having a special online and you 07:12 want to be in the loop, you can text right now the word 07:17 online--just text the word "Online" to 40544. 07:23 And those of you watching, those of you here--and that'll help 07:26 you get the updates when we say we're having an online program 07:29 and you'll be able to pass it on to your friends. 07:31 A lot is happening. 07:33 Things are changing daily. 07:35 You almost have to check the news every 10 minutes to know 07:37 what's going on now. 07:39 And so we want to do our best to try to keep our friends online 07:43 updated with what's happening and some of the spiritual 07:45 ramification of these things. 07:47 Jean: Actually, on that same line, pastor, that we've been 07:49 having a lot of questions coming into "Amazing Facts" and people 07:51 are just curious about this virus and--is there something 07:54 connected to Bible prophecy? 07:56 Does the Bible speak about pestilence and various diseases 08:00 in the last days? 08:02 Well, this afternoon--as Pastor Doug mentioned, it's the 14th, 08:05 today, of March. 08:06 This afternoon the 14th of March at 4 p.m. 08:09 Pacific time, Pastor Doug and myself, we're going to be doing 08:12 a live Facebook interactive Q&A session. 08:16 So we want to invite those of you who are here. 08:18 Tune in on Facebook--this afternoon on the Amazing Facts 08:22 Facebook page, also on the Pastor Doug Batchelor Facebook 08:25 page and you will be able to participate. 08:28 And if you have a Bible question related to what's happening in 08:31 the news, what's happening in our world, how does that tie in 08:34 with Bible prophecy, we want to encourage you to just type your 08:37 Bible question there on Facebook and we'll try to take as many 08:40 live questions this afternoon. 08:44 So that'll be at 4 p.m. Pacific time, and be sure to tune in. 08:48 Tell your friends about that. 08:50 Doug: That's right, and we might even have a little 08:51 special treat. 08:53 We just heard, as I was coming in the church, a Jamie George is 08:56 here in town and one of his events was canceled. 08:58 He may join us and do some music before and after our 09:01 prophecy study. 09:02 We will have some people in the live audience. 09:04 You know, we've got to keep that number down to 250. 09:07 Looks like we're in compliance today and--but, you know, on my 09:12 way this morning, I noticed that the gym, the parking lot was 09:16 full, and they tell me the theaters are still full, and the 09:21 casino around the corner still has customers. 09:23 So I think the house of God is--we can do it safely. 09:26 We ought to come together. 09:27 And so we want to keep it safe, use good judgment, but we don't 09:31 want to have church be the first thing that people stop doing. 09:36 Jean: That's right, and we're trying to do everything we can 09:38 to communicate online, so, all right. 09:41 Well, we opened up by introducing our new study on 09:44 the Bible. 09:46 Today's lesson number one, and it's called "The Uniqueness of 09:48 the Bible." 09:50 And, Pastor Doug, I believe we have a memory verse. 09:52 Doug: I bet most of you could do this one: Psalm 119, verse 105. 09:56 You want to say it with me? 09:58 Psalm 119, verse 105, "Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a 10:04 light unto my path." 10:06 And that is, you know, one of my favorite verses. 10:10 God's Word guides us. 10:12 I was thinking about it, Pastor Ross, as I was preparing for the 10:15 lesson; that if it wasn't for the Bible, I wouldn't know what 10:19 to do with my life. 10:21 Because my whole life is involved in waking up, studying 10:25 the Bible, reading the Bible, teaching the Bible, preaching 10:29 the Bible, writing about the Bible. 10:31 I mean, the Bible is basically the axle on which my life 10:34 rotates, and the Bible is Christ. 10:36 He is the living Word. 10:38 So how important is that to a Christian? 10:40 And this study, this quarter, I think, is going to be very 10:43 edifying for everybody. 10:45 Jean: Now, of course when we talk about the Bible, many of us 10:47 think about this book and we know it's divided into two 10:50 parts, you got the Old Testament, you got the New 10:52 Testament, but really the Bible is a collection of 66 books 10:56 that have been bound together into one book. 10:58 Roughly 22 of the books of the Bible are largely historical. 11:04 It's describing God's dealing with mankind. 11:07 Twenty-one of the books of the Bible are in the form, for the 11:10 most part, of letters written to individuals or written to groups 11:14 of people or churches, about another 21 of the books have a 11:18 lot of prophecy in it, and then we have two of the books of the 11:23 Bible which is in the style of poetry. 11:25 But whatever the style, the central theme of the Bible 11:29 inspired by the Holy Spirit is, of course, Christ and the plan 11:34 of redemption and hope for people today. 11:36 Doug: Amen. 11:38 Now, when you say the word Bible, Bible actually comes from 11:42 a Greek word biblia, and it means books. 11:45 Now, the word Bible or biblia comes from a city in the area of 11:51 ancient Lebanon. 11:53 It was called Byblos, and it was a very powerful trading port 11:57 where the Egyptians--one of the most popular commodities 12:01 was papyrus. 12:03 Papyrus was the paper that the Egyptians made, I think, from 12:07 reeds and there's still a few very rare papyrus fragments that 12:13 survived with different texts on it. 12:16 It didn't hold up as well as some materials. 12:18 But that's where you get the word paper, from papyrus. 12:21 And people would go to Byblos to get papyrus, and it became also 12:25 sort of a synonym for books because so much paper was 12:29 purchased in this city. 12:31 So that's a little bit of the history etymology of where the 12:34 word Bible comes from. 12:36 Jean: Of course, the Bible is a very unique book for a number 12:39 of reasons. 12:40 For one, it wasn't written by just one individual. 12:43 Roughly about 36 different people wrote the Bible. 12:47 It was written on three different continents: Africa, 12:51 Asia, and--what's the other one? 12:54 Europe? 12:56 Doug: Australia? 12:57 Jean: Australia, I don't know about Australia. 12:59 And three languages. 13:02 Probably the two most common that we know about is Hebrew and 13:04 Greek, but there's a little bit of Aramaic and you find it in 13:08 the Book of Daniel. 13:09 So written in three different languages. 13:12 Spanning a time period, and this is amazing to me, of about 13:14 1,500, 1,600 years. 13:17 From the first time when Moses began to write until the last 13:21 book, Revelation, written by John, you're looking at about 13:24 1,500 years. 13:26 That's a long time to write a book. 13:28 Doug: I had some homework that took me that long when I was 13:30 a kid. 13:32 So who wrote the first book in the Bible? 13:35 What is the name of the first book? 13:37 Trick question. 13:39 I heard some people get it right. 13:41 As far as we know, the first book written, was also written 13:43 by Moses, was the Book of Job. 13:45 He probably wrote that before he wrote Genesis, and the time 13:49 period it deals with is before the time of Moses. 13:51 And then Genesis and the other five books that Moses wrote 13:55 beyond that and so--he of course, is one of the most 13:58 important Bible writers. 14:00 Now, Pastor Ross, some people, they say, "Well, you know, the 14:02 Bible is so old. 14:04 And after a book is that ancient, written over that long 14:07 a period then, you know, its dependability is really in 14:09 doubt, probably a lot of collections of stories that 14:13 changed over time. 14:15 And how can we know that the Bibles we hold today are 14:18 accurate based on the original?" 14:21 You ever heard that argument before? 14:23 You know, it's fascinating to me. 14:25 I never hear anyone question the existence of Alexander the Great 14:32 or his deeds or his exploits. 14:34 We've only got about eight documents that talk about that. 14:38 People don't question Julius Caesar. 14:41 They don't question a lot of ancient history, and we have 14:45 very--far fewer documents of those things. 14:48 Let me give you an example. 14:50 Plato's original manuscripts, there's seven. 14:53 Heraclitus has eight--there's eight manuscripts of Heraclitus, 14:58 the famous historian, and he talked a lot about ancient 15:00 battle than Alexander the Great. 15:02 Homer's "Iliad and the Odyssey," there are more than 263 15:05 surviving copies. 15:07 But there are over 24,600 existent New Testament 15:13 manuscripts from the first four centuries, either in part or in 15:18 whole, 24,000. 15:21 Why are people falling off that argument that we're not 15:24 really sure? 15:25 It is the most well-documented book in history as far as 15:29 its authenticity. 15:31 Jean: Then of course one of the greatest discoveries in the last 15:33 century was the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which Pastor 15:37 Doug mentioned. 15:38 You got 24,000 more--more than 24,000 parts of the New 15:42 Testament available. 15:44 But what about the Old Testament? 15:45 Well, you got the Dead Sea Scrolls that validate the Old 15:48 Testament that date back to, some of it even, before the time 15:51 of Christ. 15:52 So there's plenty of historical archaeological evidence to 15:55 substantiate that what we have in the Bible was indeed written 15:59 way back when the Bible says it was written, and what we have 16:02 today is accurate. 16:04 It's faithful to the original text. 16:07 So, you know, if you spend some time studying a little bit of 16:09 the background about the Bible, your faith grows. 16:12 Matter of fact, our free offer today, which is called "The 16:15 Ultimate Resource," is a book talking about some of the 16:17 origins of where we get the Bible from and how we know the 16:20 Bible is trustworthy. 16:22 Doug: You know, when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls--and I 16:24 think some of the manuscripts dated 200 years before Christ 16:28 as--near as they can tell. 16:31 But when they found them, the whole world was on pins 16:32 and needles. 16:34 They thought, "Oh, everyone's always wondered after 2,000 16:36 years how much has it changed?" 16:38 And they couldn't wait to take--the Isaiah scroll was the 16:41 longest complete document. 16:43 They had the whole book of Isaiah, 66 chapters. 16:45 And they said, "Let's lay that out next to what we have today." 16:50 And it's getting very interesting. 16:51 People were kind of betting on how much has it changed, how 16:54 different is it. 16:55 It was absolutely astonishing that it was 99% identical. 16:59 There was no substantive difference between the copy that 17:07 was 2,000 years old because the Hebrews were so careful. 17:11 Those Jewish scribes when they were copying the Scriptures, 17:13 they thought, "This is the Word of God." 17:15 They were very careful. 17:17 Then it would be proofed by other rabbis to make sure 17:19 that--and if there was a corruption in it, they would 17:22 destroy it. 17:24 And so it was probably the most carefully preserved book--it is 17:26 the most carefully preserved book in history. 17:29 Jean: Of course, the Bible has a number of records to its title. 17:31 It is the first book ever printed in the West on a 17:35 printing press. 17:37 It's also the first book to be translated in as many languages 17:40 as the Bible is translated. 17:42 It's the first book to be as widely distributed around the 17:46 world, there's no other book so widely distributed as the Bible. 17:49 And this is amazing, it is the first book in history that can 17:53 be read by 95% of the people on the planet, that's if they can 17:59 read, because it's been translated in so many languages. 18:02 No other book can be read almost by every language group on the 18:07 planet. 18:08 So that's an amazing thought. 18:10 This book is inspired and directed and protected by God. 18:14 Doug: Amen, you know, probably ought to start diving into some 18:18 of the sections in the lesson. 18:20 It's so much fun talking about the Bible. 18:21 I think every week now as we go through the Scriptures, we're 18:24 going to have more tidbits and some amazing facts on the Bible. 18:27 The first section, Pastor Ross, is talking about the living 18:30 Word, and the Bible is not simply ink on paper, the Bible 18:37 is the words of God. 18:39 And you can read where it says in John 6:63, "It is the Spirit 18:44 who gives life. 18:46 The flesh profits nothing." 18:47 Jesus said, "The words that I speak to you, they are spirit 18:50 and they are life." 18:53 And maybe, Pastor Ross, you want to read that other famous verse 18:56 there in 2 Timothy. 18:57 Jean: And one of my favorites. 18:59 2 Timothy chapter 3, and you can read in verse 16 and 17. 19:03 It says, "All Scripture is given by the inspiration of God." 19:06 And then it says, "It's profitable for doctrine, for 19:09 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness 19:12 that the man of God might be complete, thoroughly furnished 19:17 unto all good works." 19:18 And so we have all Scripture reference here. 19:22 It's not just a portion of the Scripture, but the Bible itself 19:25 says that it is God-breathed or inspired; God-breathed 19:28 Scripture, it's the Word of God. 19:31 Doug: And there's been efforts through history where people 19:33 find Scripture that they don't like what it says and so they 19:36 try to get the Scripture to be changed to fit what they want. 19:40 But in reality, the purpose of the Scripture is to change us. 19:43 It's not that we should change the Scripture. 19:46 All of it is the message of God to us. 19:48 And not the Bible needs changing, we need changing. 19:52 And then when we talk about the living Word of God, one of the 19:56 most famous verses that is--you're really on holy ground 19:59 when you read 1 John 1. 20:01 1 John, verses 1 through 3, "That which was from 20:04 the beginning--" 20:06 I'm sorry, 1 John. 20:08 Thank you very much, dear. 20:09 1 John 1, 1 through 3, "That which was from the beginning, 20:12 which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which 20:16 we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning 20:18 the Word of life." 20:21 See, these are living words. 20:22 "The life was manifested and we have seen and we bear witness 20:25 and we declare to you that eternal life, which was with the 20:29 Father and was manifested to us, that which we have seen and 20:32 heard we declare to you that you may also have fellowship with us 20:36 and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son 20:40 Jesus Christ." 20:41 It's called the Word of life. 20:43 It gives life. 20:44 How did the universe come into existence? 20:49 God said, God said, "Let there be." 20:53 And God said, things came into existence. 20:56 There is life in the Word of God. 20:58 I love the story in the Bible where a leper comes to Jesus and 21:01 he says--and it says he's full of leprosy. 21:04 And he said, "Lord, if you want, you can make me clean." 21:07 And he said, "I will. 21:08 Be thou clean." 21:11 It's like when God said, "Let there be light." 21:13 And when God says be, it happens. 21:16 And he said, "Let there be light. 21:18 "Be thou clean." 21:20 He was clean. 21:22 There's creative power in the Word of God. 21:23 Jean: And, of course, Jesus is described as the Word. 21:25 Now, we read 1 John. 21:27 But if you read the other book written by John, probably the 21:29 more famous one is the Gospel of John. 21:31 Did you notice the similarity between the first few verses of 21:34 the Gospel of John and the first few verses of 1 John? 21:37 He's talking about the Word of God, the power of the Word. 21:41 "And then the Word became flesh and dwelt with us." 21:44 So not only is the Bible the Word of God, but who does the 21:46 Bible talk about? 21:48 Talks about Jesus. 21:49 And so Jesus also described as the Word of God. 21:51 Thus he is living--ever living to make intercession for us. 21:54 So you can't separate the Bible from Christ that is the Word 21:58 of God. 21:59 And, you know, Pastor Doug, I want to have a quick thought 22:01 on that. 22:02 You know, in the Book of Revelation, Jesus is described 22:04 as the Alpha and the Omega. 22:06 Now, do you know what Alpha and Omega is? 22:09 Well, we say it's the first and the last and that's correct, but 22:12 it's the first and the last of what? 22:14 Of the Greek alphabet. 22:16 So it's kind of a strange title Jesus is called the A and the Z 22:18 of the Greek alphabet. 22:21 Now, we might wonder, "Why is that?" 22:23 Well, what do we do with the letters of the alphabet? 22:25 We put them in different order and we create words. 22:28 And what are our words? 22:30 Our words are our thoughts expressed. 22:34 So Jesus is God's thoughts expressed. 22:38 He's the Word of God. 22:39 That's why when the disciples say, "Show us the Father and 22:41 suffices us," Jesus says, "He who has seen me has seen 22:45 the Father." 22:46 If you want to know what the Father is thinking, look at 22:48 Jesus, he is the Word of God, he's God's thoughts revealed. 22:52 Doug: Amen, it's kind of like saying Jesus is the alphabet of 22:54 God, the Word of God, everything God uses to communicate to us. 22:59 He is the Word. 23:01 And then, Pastor Ross, there's several verses that highlight an 23:03 important truth about the Bible that--it is truth. 23:07 Jesus said, John 17:17, "Sanctify them by your truth. 23:14 Your Word is truth." 23:17 And so when people begin to pick and choose in the Bible and say, 23:19 "Well, we think this part is true, but, you know, Paul, he 23:22 really didn't know what he was saying over here and can't 23:24 believe that." 23:25 Jesus has settled this. 23:27 He said, "Thy Word is truth." 23:29 The Bible, it's all truth. 23:31 And Christ said of course, "I am the way, the truth." 23:34 He is the Word. 23:36 He is the truth. 23:37 He's the embodiment of the Word. 23:39 I think we have a couple other verses on the truth. 23:40 John 15:26, if you want to read that one. 23:42 Jean: That's right, we got John chapter 15:26 to 27, Jesus 23:45 speaking, he says, "But when the helper comes, whom I 23:47 will send you from the Father, the spirit of truth who proceeds 23:52 from the Father, he will testify of me and you also will be a 23:56 witness because you have been with me from the beginning." 23:59 So there we find Jesus is referred to as the truth, but 24:02 now the Holy Spirit is described as the Spirit of truth as well. 24:06 So you have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit all 24:08 connected with truth. 24:09 What is this truth? 24:11 It's the way of life, how we can have everlasting life in Jesus. 24:13 Doug: You know, one point you can't really overstate is that 24:17 when you think about the Bible, it is really a written 24:21 embodiment of a person. 24:24 For example, can a person be a book? 24:27 Of course you've ever heard someone say, "I can read you 24:30 like a book." 24:32 You know, Jesus is called the light. 24:33 The Bible is called the light. 24:35 That's our memory verse. 24:37 Jesus is called the truth. 24:38 The Bible is called the truth. 24:40 Jesus is called the bread. 24:42 The Bible is called the bread. 24:44 Jesus is called the Word. 24:46 The Bible is called the Word. 24:48 Jesus is called eternal. 24:50 The Bible is called eternal. 24:52 You start looking through the different characteristics of the 24:55 Bible, you'll find that they're often used in parallel to 24:58 describe Jesus as well. 24:59 Jean: Now, probably that lesson brings up the point probably 25:03 some of the most significant words that a person speaks, at 25:06 least for those who know the person, would be some of his 25:10 final words or her final words. 25:13 And some of the final words that Moses spoke to the children of 25:18 Israel were rather significant because he's challenging them, 25:21 he's encouraging them to be faithful to God. 25:24 And we find Moses's last words to the children of Israel 25:27 recorded in Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy chapter 32. 25:30 Now, we're not going to read the whole passage, but one of the 25:33 things that Moses is emphasizing to the children of Israel, he 25:36 says, "Set your hearts on the words, these words that I speak 25:39 unto you." 25:41 He also says the children of Israel were to observe 25:43 those words. 25:45 They were to teach their children the truths and they 25:49 were to guide their children in obedience to the Word. 25:52 So what are some of the parting words of Moses to the children 25:54 of Israel? 25:56 He says, "Take the Word to heart. 25:59 Keep the Word. 26:00 Teach the Word. 26:02 Order your life in harmony with the Word." 26:05 So we see the centrality of the Word in the life of 26:07 the believer. 26:10 Doug: Yeah, absolutely, keep talking. 26:11 I was reading something. 26:13 Jean: Oh, you were reading, all right, just wondering what I 26:14 was saying there. 26:16 But not only is the children of Israel that need the Word, we 26:18 need the Word, right? 26:20 Doug: I found what I want. 26:21 Jean: Oh, you got it, okay, 'cause I wasn't quite sure where 26:22 I was going with that, Pastor Doug. 26:24 Doug: Not only Moses at the end of his life when Pastor Ross is 26:27 quoting that there in Deuteronomy, the first book of 26:29 Joshua, notice the emphasis on Joshua's leadership. 26:32 He said, "Be careful to observe--" 26:36 And this is Joshua chapter 1, verse 8. 26:39 "This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth." 26:42 That's what they called the Bible back then, the book of the 26:44 law, they didn't have all of it yet. 26:46 "It shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in 26:52 it day and night that you may observe to do according to all 26:57 that is written therein, that you may be prosperous and that 27:02 you will have good success." 27:03 Now, that's a promise to all of us. 27:05 If we are having morning and evening worship and we're trying 27:07 to live by not some but every word that proceeds from the 27:10 mouth of God, God promised Joshua, "You would be successful 27:13 and you will be prosperous," and he was, but he said, "Day 27:18 and night meditate on this book--these words." 27:21 Jean: Now, of course the Bible is central--essentially in the 27:23 Bible as we've already been mentioning is Christ and the 27:26 good news of salvation. 27:28 Matter of fact, not only is the Bible filled with prophecies in 27:30 the Old Testament pointing forward to Christ, but even the 27:32 stories that you read about in the Old Testament and the New 27:35 Testament, particularly the Old Testament, are shadows or types 27:38 that teach lessons about Jesus. 27:40 Now, Pastor Doug, we haven't spoken about this before, but 27:43 I'm sure you're going to be able to handle this. 27:46 One of the things that Pastor Doug likes to do is to look at 27:48 some of the stories in the Bible and bring out points in the 27:51 story that emphasize Christ or some aspect of Christ's 27:54 ministry, so I jotted down a few Bible stories. 27:58 And can we bring up some sort of spiritual [inaudible]? 28:01 The first is the story of Joseph. 28:04 How does that teach us about Jesus? 28:06 Doug: Oh my, this could be the whole sermon now. 28:10 Well, first of all, you've got the beloved son of an ancient 28:13 father, he sends him looking for his lost brethren. 28:18 Jesus is sent by the Father, looking for the lost. 28:20 But when he comes to them, instead of being thankful, they 28:24 mistreat him. 28:25 They throw him in a pit. 28:27 He's sold for the price of a slave. 28:29 He's sold for 20 pieces of silver, where Jesus was sold for 28:31 30 pieces of silver. 28:33 But he's willing to forgive them. 28:35 The whole world is fed with bread from Joseph. 28:37 His brothers don't know him. 28:40 They didn't realize what an exalted position he had. 28:43 I mean, he's number two in command. 28:45 Jesus is number two in command, as you would say, to the Father. 28:50 And there's just so many similarities. 28:54 There's finally a dinner with them, and there's a big dispute 28:57 over a cup at a dinner where he sits down with the 12. 29:00 Jesus seals the new covenant with a cup when he has a dinner 29:04 with the 12. 29:06 I can go on and on. 29:07 Just the analogies and parallels between Jesus and Joseph-- 29:10 Jean: What about Samson, Pastor Doug? 29:12 Doug: Samson, people think, "How could Samson be a type of 29:14 Christ here? 29:15 You got this womanizing drunkard." 29:17 But Samson really was a type of Jesus. 29:19 You know, he was tied up by his people and handed over to 29:21 the enemy. 29:23 Samson was betrayed by Delilah. 29:26 Woman represents the church. 29:27 And given into the hands of the Gentiles for silver. 29:31 And the last--and the Bible says that Samson was--he was bound. 29:36 He was blinded. 29:38 And Jesus, they blinded him. 29:41 They put a hood over his head, they bound him, they beat him, 29:42 mistreated him. 29:44 The last act of Samson's life is he stretches out his arms and he 29:46 prays for God's Spirit, and Jesus commended his Spirit 29:52 to God. 29:53 Samson's filled with the Spirit, and the Bible says he slew more 29:55 by his death than he did by his life. 29:59 Jesus through his sacrifice more of the enemy are destroyed than 30:03 anything, that's through the cross, right? 30:06 A lot of analogies even about Samson. 30:09 Jean: And, of course, it's just the two stories, but you can 30:10 probably look at all of the different stories in the Bible 30:12 and learn lessons from teaching Jesus, yeah. 30:18 All right, well, on Monday--we better keep moving here. 30:21 The question is asked, who wrote the Bible and where was 30:23 it written? 30:26 Doug: Yeah, the Bible is a fascinating book because it's 30:28 written by every stripe and type of people. 30:31 You've got prisoners. 30:34 You've got people that are living in caves. 30:36 You've got people that are living in palaces. 30:39 You have shepherds. 30:41 You've got tax collectors. 30:43 You've got fishermen. 30:46 I mean, they're writing from out in the wilderness, in the middle 30:49 of a city. 30:51 I mean, you think about the different experience. 30:53 And so the Bible is something that everybody can relate to. 30:55 Stories in the Bible are embraced by children, and then 30:59 they challenge the deepest thinkers of the world. 31:01 Jean: Now, not all of those who wrote in the Bible were 31:04 necessarily eyewitnesses of certain events. 31:07 Some of them were eyewitnesses. 31:10 Many of the New Testament writings are the story of Jesus. 31:12 You got an eyewitness account from the disciples who wrote. 31:15 Some of those who wrote the Scripture, they were inspired by 31:19 the Holy Spirit, guiding them in writing. 31:22 But many of them actually researched the writings of other 31:24 Scripture or other Bible writers to help understand what they had 31:29 seen in vision will help explain the truth that they were trying 31:33 to portray. 31:35 So you have eyewitness account in the Bible, but you also have 31:37 inspired counsel; but then you have authors who have done 31:40 research from other Bible authors under the guidance of 31:42 the Holy Spirit to bring out different aspects. 31:45 Often in the New Testament, you'll have Paul quoting from 31:48 some passage in the Old Testament. 31:50 So the Bible interacts with itself, and we find the writers 31:53 also interacting with other authors in Scripture. 31:57 Doug: Yeah, sometimes today you'll hear Christian authors 31:58 accused of plagiarism for quoting other Christian authors. 32:02 In Bible times, they often quoted each other without 32:05 giving credit. 32:06 Read 1 and 2 Peter and then read the Book of Jude and you'll be 32:10 surprised how many references there are and Jude never says, 32:13 "You know, Peter said this first." 32:16 'Cause it's a message from God. 32:17 And early Christian authors, they weren't worried about who's 32:20 getting the credit. 32:21 They thought, "These are messages from God." 32:23 And so you'll hear Paul quoting things that Jesus said that he 32:27 did not hear Jesus say firsthand because he wasn't converted 32:30 until later, but he heard the other disciples repeat it and 32:33 then he says it. 32:35 And then you'll have--there's a few people who are some unknown 32:38 writers in the Bible. 32:40 They are not widely known. 32:42 Here's one example. 32:43 If you go to 2 Samuel 20, verse 23, it's talking about David's 32:46 cabinet, it says, "Joab was over the army of Israel, Benaiah the 32:50 son of Jehoiada that was over the Kerethites and Pelethites." 32:53 These are like the honor guard. 32:55 "Adoniram was in charge of the revenue. 32:57 Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder." 33:01 That meant scribe. 33:03 Now, when you're reading through the "Deeds of the Kings," who do 33:06 you think wrote that? 33:08 Or some of that may have been edited by Ezra later, but these 33:11 scribes were inspired and some of it, I think, was contributed 33:15 to--David had some prophets in his kingdom like Nathan, 33:18 like Gad. 33:20 And they don't always sign their writings, but--you know, that's 33:23 why when we talk about how many people wrote the Bible, you'll 33:25 hear the number vacillate between 38 and 42. 33:30 We're not exactly sure because there are parts--like when you 33:33 get to 2 Samuel. 33:35 When does Samuel die? 33:37 At the end of 1 Samuel. 33:39 So how did he write 2 Samuel? 33:42 Email? 33:45 So someone else probably wrote that, and it may have been the 33:48 chronicles of one of the scribes that were a 33:50 Spirit-filled recorder. 33:53 Jean: One of the passages I like is what Peter says in 33:56 1 Peter--actually 2 Peter. 33:58 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 16. 34:01 This is what he says. 34:03 He says, "For we did not follow cunningly-devised fables when we 34:06 made known unto you the power of the coming of the Lord Jesus 34:09 Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." 34:12 And then he goes on to talk about the voice that came. 34:15 "This is our beloved son--" 34:17 Or, "This is my beloved son." 34:19 on the mount when Peter, James, and John were there with Jesus. 34:21 So Peter is emphasizing the fact, he says, "We haven't made 34:23 these things up about Jesus." 34:25 He says, "We were there, we saw it, we're bearing an 34:28 eyewitness account it is trustworthy." 34:30 And if they're just come up with some story, if they had made up 34:33 the whole story of the resurrection, why would you have 34:36 so many of the disciples willing to die for that belief if they 34:42 had simply made it up? 34:44 So the fact that this belief was so central to them testifies 34:48 that it was indeed true. 34:50 They were eyewitnesses of the things that they talk about that 34:52 we read about in the New Testament. 34:54 Doug: Amen, now, when you're thinking about who are the 34:57 greatest contributors to the Bible--this isn't really in the 35:00 lesson, but just something to exercise your minds a 35:02 little bit. 35:05 Who do you think wrote most of the Old Testament? 35:09 Probably Moses. 35:11 David's not far behind. 35:15 And then New Testament? 35:17 Probably Paul. 35:19 I think Paul writes nearly half of the New Testament. 35:22 But let me give you something--did they know that 35:23 they were speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit when 35:26 they wrote? 35:27 Interesting statement. 35:30 This is one of the last phrases from David, who is one of the 35:32 large contributors of the Bible, mostly the Psalms. 35:35 In 2 Samuel 23, verse 1. 35:37 Now these are the last words of David. 35:39 "Thus says David the son of Jesse--" 35:43 You know, usually it says thus says the Lord. 35:45 But listen how he words this. 35:47 "Thus says David, the son of Jesse. 35:50 Thus says the man raised up on high, taken from a shepherd to 35:52 the highest place in the kingdom. 35:55 The anointed of God of Jacob." 35:57 He remembered when the Spirit of the Lord came on him. 35:59 "The sweet psalmist of Israel. 36:02 The Spirit of the Lord's spoke by me, and his Word was in 36:05 my tongue." 36:07 Well, that's something. 36:09 I mean, he's--you got to call David very arrogant and a liar. 36:12 You say, "This man was just stating a fact that he knew what 36:15 it was like to have the Spirit of the Lord come on him." 36:17 He knew what it was like to have the Spirit of the Lord 36:19 leave him. 36:21 That's why he prayed in Psalm 51, "Take not your Holy Spirit 36:23 from me." 36:26 But they knew they had a message from God. 36:28 Some of the prophets had come in and say, "Thus says the Lord. 36:30 This is a message from God." 36:31 Some of them didn't want to do it. 36:33 Moses didn't want to do it at first. 36:35 Jeremiah didn't want to do it. 36:37 Isaiah said, "Woe is me," and he called them and said, "I have a 36:39 message, I want you to give it," and they spoke, let God 36:42 speak through them and it wasn't always well received. 36:45 Jean: I like also what David says, speaking about being 36:47 under inspiration. 36:49 You find this in 2 Psalm that you're reading, Pastor Doug. 36:52 The last part says, "The rock of Israel spoke to me. 36:55 He who rules over men must be just." 36:58 So he's referring to God as the rock of Israel. 37:01 Of course, Jesus in the New Testament is referred to as the 37:03 rock, as the foundation of the church. 37:05 So just throughout the Bible is scattered the fact that Jesus is 37:09 central to the Scriptures, and the plan of redemption is found 37:12 from cover to cover. 37:15 Doug: Now, those who wrote the Bible--we probably won't be able 37:18 to belabor this point too long, but they came from all different 37:22 educational strata. 37:24 Paul was deeply educated as well as Moses. 37:29 Moses was properly educated in all the wisdom of Egypt, which 37:31 was--that was the top university at the time. 37:34 And he was probably being prepared for leadership in the 37:37 throne, I'm sure he was deeply-educated. 37:39 You know, one reason Alexander the Great was so successful, he 37:43 was educated by Aristotle. 37:45 I mean, you think about that, that's to have your own tutor 37:48 one of the great Greek philosophers. 37:50 Moses was being educated by some of the wisest people, people 37:54 that can build pyramids that are still a mystery to us. 37:57 He had a great education. 37:59 He--good thing for you and me, he was able to write and he was 38:02 able to read. 38:04 And Paul was greatly educated. 38:06 But then God calls fishermen. 38:09 He calls people like Amos who says, "I was not a prophet or a 38:11 son of a prophet, but I was a gatherer of sycamore fruit." 38:15 He calls Elisha who is out farming. 38:18 And so from all different strata of society, God spoke through 38:22 these people. 38:24 Jean: And God spoke through old people. 38:25 He spoke through young people. 38:27 For example, Jeremiah when the Word of the Lord came to him, he 38:29 said, "Lord, behold, I cannot speak for I'm a youth." 38:32 Of course, Daniel, when he was taken captive along with his 38:35 three friends to Babylon, they were still probably in their 38:37 teens and yet God spoke through him and through them. 38:40 So God could use old people. 38:42 For example, John--the Apostle John, when he wrote the Book of 38:45 Revelation, he was an old man. 38:47 The last of the apostles still alive. 38:50 The rest had died a martyr's death. 38:52 Very old, but the Word of the Lord came to him and he 38:54 spoke--he wrote the Book of Revelation. 38:56 So God can use young, he can use old. 38:58 He's not limited by education, background, culture. 39:02 He's able to communicate his will through whoever is willing, 39:05 a willing vessel that God could use. 39:08 Doug: Yeah, and of course he can communicate to anybody today 39:10 through you to others if we're willing. 39:13 You know, there's a nice quote that's in the lesson. 39:15 It's from "Selected Messages Book 1" page 26. 39:19 It says, "God has been pleased to communicate his truth to the 39:23 world by human agencies, and he himself by his Holy Spirit 39:27 qualify these men and enabled them to do his work. 39:30 He guided the mind in selection of what to speak and what 39:34 to write. 39:36 The treasure was entrusted to earthen vessels, yet it is 39:38 nonetheless from heaven." 39:40 Yes, it is true that the people that God chose to write the 39:44 Bible were not sinless. 39:48 You know, they made mistakes. 39:50 You can go from Moses to Paul and Peter all the way through. 39:53 But they were spirit-filled. 39:55 They were consecrated to him, and he was able to fill them 39:58 with the Spirit and speak to them and through them. 40:00 Jean: The next section in our lesson talks about the Bible is 40:03 prophecy, and about 30% of the various parts of the Old 40:08 Testament is pointing in some way or another towards Christ or 40:13 some prophetic event associated with not only Christ but with 40:17 the nation of Israel or something willing to our time in 40:20 the day of judgment near the end of time. 40:23 So prophecy is scattered throughout the Scriptures. 40:26 And we find in Amos chapter 3, verse 7 this very well-known 40:30 verse, it says, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he 40:33 reveals his secrets to his servants the prophets." 40:36 So what makes the Bible different from any other 40:38 religious book is because the Bible not only sent as in Jesus 40:43 or in Christ, but it also can tell us things that will happen 40:46 in the future. 40:48 And the prophecies given in the Scripture have all come true 40:50 just perfectly as given in the Bible. 40:54 And, you know, we might touch on some of that, Pastor Doug, if we 40:57 have time. 40:59 But "Amazing Facts" prepared a DVD called "Kingdoms in Time." 41:03 And I don't know if you've had a chance to see that, but what it 41:05 does is it looks at some of the most compelling prophecies in 41:09 the Old Testament and some in the new that Jesus made and how 41:12 history has proven those prophecies to be perfectly 41:16 fulfilled, like the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. 41:20 So when you look at all of the prophecies and how accurate they 41:22 are, that increases your faith in the Word of God. 41:25 We can trust the Bible. 41:27 Doug: Amen, who knows where you find the first prophecy in 41:29 the Bible? 41:33 Genesis 3:15. 41:35 "And I'll put enmity between thee and the woman." 41:38 And is--the last verse in the Bible, is it a prophecy? 41:42 "Even so come Lord Jesus." 41:44 Last words in the Old Testament: "Behold, I send you Elijah 41:47 the Prophet." 41:48 Is it a prophecy? 41:50 And that isn't far before you get into the first chapter of 41:52 the New Testament it talks about prophecies of Jesus' 41:54 first coming. 41:56 Matthew spends a lot of time quoting Old Testament prophecies 41:59 that are fulfilled in Christ. 42:01 So the Bible is really a book of prophecy. 42:04 Every now and then, you'll run into a preacher out there and 42:06 says, "Oh, these folks that focus on prophecy, they're 42:09 wasting their time." 42:10 You have to ignore the Bible if you say you're going to ignore 42:12 prophecy because it is very integral to its message. 42:17 Jean: And some of the prophecies--we don't have time 42:19 to go through all of them 'cause there's about 65 Old Testament 42:22 prophecies fulfilled in a life and ministry of Jesus, but just 42:25 a few of them. 42:27 Genesis chapter 49, it tells us that Shiloh will come--speaking 42:30 of the Messiah, will come from the tribe of Judah. 42:33 Well, we know that Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. 42:36 Psalm 22, and this is an amazing prophecy, tells us that his 42:41 hands and his feet would be pierced. 42:45 That's exactly what happened to Jesus when he died on the cross. 42:48 His hands and his feet were pierced. 42:50 Doug: Pardon me, one more thing about Psalm 22. 42:52 You know what the first verse is? 42:55 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 42:58 The very words he spoke on the cross were the first line in a 43:00 messianic prophecy. 43:03 So it may even be the thief hanging on the cross next to 43:05 Jesus knew that psalm and when he heard Jesus quote from that 43:08 psalm and then he looked at his hands and his feet being pierced 43:11 and being surrounded by dogs and gambling for his Ramon, he's 43:15 going, "This is the Messiah." 43:17 Not to mention the sign above his head that said, "King of 43:18 the Jews." 43:21 And so that's a very important psalm, Psalm 22. 43:23 Jean: And of course one of the passages of Scripture that is a 43:25 challenge for the Jewish people who reject Jesus as the Messiah 43:31 is Isaiah 53, which really describes the suffering Messiah. 43:36 What he would do? 43:37 And of course all of those prophecies were perfectly 43:39 fulfilled: He's a man of sorrow, acquainted with grief. 43:42 He was rejected by his very own, and yet he was the sacrifice 43:46 for sin. 43:48 I mean, it's just an amazing prophecy pointing to Jesus, 43:51 which was perfectly fulfilled in Christ's ministry and in 43:52 his death. 43:55 Doug: And then the prophecy that made me jump up and down when I 43:57 first read it and understood it was in Daniel. 44:00 Daniel has a lot of prophecy. 44:02 The 490-year prophecy that perfectly outline the ministry 44:07 of Jesus: when he would be baptized, when he would die, 44:10 when the message would then go to the Gentile world, and to see 44:13 how perfectly that all lined up. 44:16 What is--what does prophecy do for you when you read it and you 44:18 see it fulfilled? 44:21 I remember Dr. Leslie Harding used to frequently say, 44:24 "Prophecy is best understood looking back." 44:27 You know, Jesus said, "When these things come to pass, then 44:29 you will know it's redemptive." 44:32 The purpose of prophecy is to increase our faith in the Bible. 44:35 When I--you know, as an atheist, when you see prophecy coming 44:39 true, I started out that way, you say, "Wow, there's a God. 44:44 He must understand time and maybe he knows what's coming and 44:47 there's a future, and the rest of what the Bible says is true." 44:50 People have it--it's easier for people to believe in the message 44:53 about heaven and hell and everything in the Bible when 44:55 they see God has been accurate in prophecy. 44:58 That's why so many evangelists when they do an evangelistic 45:02 program, what's their first sermon? 45:05 It's usually Daniel 2. 45:09 They usually--'cause if you get people coming that don't believe 45:11 the Bible, you've got to get them to develop confidence in 45:15 the book, and prophecy is one of the best ways to do that. 45:17 Jean: Probably moving on to the next section here is Bible 45:21 is history. 45:22 Not only is it a prophetic book, but it's also a book of history. 45:24 But it's a unique book of history. 45:27 It's not just simply stating what individuals have done over 45:29 time or what has happened in different nations, but central 45:32 to the history in the Bible is how God interacted with his 45:35 people, how God interacts with individuals, and how God 45:38 directed in the affairs of the earth. 45:41 So it's unique history book in that it send us upon God and his 45:44 dealing with mankind. 45:46 Doug: When you say the word history, it's really composed of 45:49 two words, his story, and history is really his story and 45:57 it's the way that God deals with men. 45:59 You know, some of the great people through history that have 46:03 talked about the Bible--Abraham Lincoln, for instance, he said, 46:07 "I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to men. 46:12 All of the good from the Savior of the world is communicated to 46:15 us through this book." 46:18 It's quite a statement. 46:20 George Mueller, this is true also. 46:22 You know who George Mueller was, that famous Christian that 46:24 sustained an orphanage by faith for years. 46:26 Never asked for an offering. 46:28 The money always came through prayer. 46:30 He said, "The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact 46:34 proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life 46:37 and thoughts." 46:38 I think that's inspiring. 46:41 The vigor of our spiritual life will be in proportion to the 46:43 place that the Scriptures are held in our life and 46:45 our thoughts. 46:47 If you've got a very low esteem for the Bible, that'll usually 46:49 reflect in your spiritual life. 46:51 If you have a high esteem for the Word of God, for sharing, 46:53 living by the Word of God, reading the Word of God, that 46:56 will lift you. 46:58 And Dwight Moody used to say, "Sin will keep you from the 47:01 Bible or the Bible will keep you from sin." 47:03 And I find that's true as well. 47:06 Jean: Now, of course the Old Testament has a central hope, 47:08 and the New Testament has a central hope. 47:11 What do you think is the central hope and focus of the 47:14 Old Testament? 47:16 The coming of the Messiah. 47:18 That was the central hope. 47:20 You find that in the very first prophecy. 47:21 What do you think is the central focus and hope in the 47:23 New Testament? 47:25 The second coming of Christ. 47:27 So central to the history in the Bible is looking forward to 47:29 Christ coming the first time; and in the New Testament, it's 47:33 looking forward to Christ coming the second time. 47:36 So the hope in history is Jesus. 47:38 Matter of fact, he's the only hope for history. 47:40 If you look what's happening in our world today and what's 47:43 happening amongst the nations, is there any way our world can 47:46 ever put itself together and live in peace? 47:48 No, there is hope only in Jesus, we need his kingdom to come. 47:53 That's why we pray, "Thy kingdom come." 47:56 Doug: Amen, I just say amen to that. 47:58 You're preaching there. 48:02 You know, when Jesus came the first time, he came as a lamb, 48:10 and he's coming the second time as a lion. 48:13 And people need to understand the reason for his first coming 48:16 and embrace his sacrifice in order to be ready to survive the 48:20 second coming. 48:22 And that's what the whole map of the Bible is about. 48:24 You know, we have 2 minutes left, Pastor Ross. 48:27 Can we get to the part about transforming the power of--the 48:30 transforming power of the Word? 48:31 We just got a few verses here. 48:34 And you want to read Hebrews 4, verse 12? 48:36 Jean: Yes, it's under the section "Transforming Power of 48:39 the Word." 48:41 It says, "For the Word of God is living and powerful," Hebrews 48:42 4:12, "and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even 48:45 to the division of soul and spirit, joints and marrow; and 48:48 it is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of 48:52 the heart." 48:53 Probably the greatest evidence for the inspiration of the Bible 48:55 is the way the Bible can change people's lives, and we have 48:59 exhibit A standing right next to me today, Pastor Doug. 49:01 And the work of the Lord has done through him through the 49:05 Word, and what a powerful story of lives changed by the Bible. 49:09 Doug: There's a story that they asked you to read. 49:12 And we'll not have time to read it all now, but I really 49:14 recommend it there in 2 Kings chapter 22. 49:17 You can read the whole chapter. 49:19 There was a young king who--well, he told them to clean 49:23 up the temple, and in the process of cleaning up the 49:25 temple they found the book of Moses that had been lost. 49:30 Just been covered over through the reign of some bad kings and 49:34 here--you know, they were a Jewish nation, but they'd really 49:37 lost the Word. 49:39 And they read it to the king. 49:41 And in the process of reading, probably the Book of 49:44 Deuteronomy, to King Josiah, he just wept, tore his clothes. 49:50 He repented. 49:52 There was a revival in the nation, and it all sprang from 49:55 the rediscovery of the Word. 49:58 And I'm hoping that during this quarter when we are delving into 50:01 the Word of God, both here locally and those who are 50:04 joining us online around the world, that there will be a 50:07 revival that takes place. 50:09 We remember why we believe what we believe and why we are who we 50:12 are, it's all going to spring back to the foundation in 50:16 the Word. 50:18 Jean: You know, the Bible tells us in Romans chapter 12, verse 50:19 2, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by 50:23 the renewing of your mind." 50:25 It is through the Word that our mind is transformed. 50:28 It's the power of the Word of God. 50:30 So we don't want to underestimate the power of the 50:33 Word of God. 50:34 Matter of fact, how many people--how many times in your 50:36 life and in the lives of people you know you have been sustained 50:39 by quoting and claiming a promise found in the Bible? 50:43 Just this morning, a verse kept going around and around in my 50:47 mind as I woke up and I thought, "Wow, what a promise." 50:50 And I repeated it several times. 50:52 There is power in the Word of God. 50:54 We can claim the promises of the Bible and have a way of 50:58 transforming us, and that's good news, that's power. 51:02 Doug: Amen, thank you so much friends who are joining 51:04 us online. 51:06 And God willing, we'll look forward to studying his Word 51:08 with you again next week. 51:09 I do want to mention we have a free offer. 51:11 They're going to put that back up on the screen, and I think 51:13 it's the book, "The Ultimate Resource." 51:15 Yes, "The Ultimate Resource." 51:18 Call 866-788-3966 and we'll send you a free copy. 51:22 You can also download it. 51:24 If you want to text, simply text the code "SH091" and you text 51:29 that to our number, which is 40544. 51:33 You'll get the information there on how to get a free copy. 51:36 You can download it right then. 51:38 God bless you, and let's stay in prayer. 51:40 We'll study his Word with you again online next week. 51:45 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's life-changing 51:48 free resource. 51:49 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 51:51 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 51:53 mobile device. 51:55 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 51:58 the keyword on your screen to 40544 or visit the web address 52:02 shown on your screen, and be sure to select a digital 52:06 download option on the request page. 52:08 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 52:11 "Amazing Facts" wherever and whenever you want, and most 52:14 important to share it with others. 52:20 male: I grew up in a church-going family. 52:22 I mean, we were at every meeting. 52:25 I sang in four of the choirs there. 52:27 I directed three. 52:29 Very involved, very active. 52:32 It almost seemed like busy work sometimes. 52:35 You know, I went to Sunday school, I knew about God, I knew 52:39 about Jesus, but I didn't have a personal relationship with 52:43 Jesus Christ. 52:46 My senior year in high school, I got the news my father had 52:51 been murdered. 52:55 I played it off well. 52:56 No one really saw that I was struggling with it. 53:03 It just really felt like there was a hole that needed to be 53:06 filled, and I tried to fill it with drugs, with alcohol, 53:10 with partying. 53:12 After college, I just stopped going to church altogether. 53:18 One day on a Sunday 'cause I didn't feel like going to church 53:22 with my mom, I thought, "You know, I should get a little bit 53:26 of Word." 53:28 She had the satellite system hooked up, and I'm flipping 53:30 through channels and then the logo pops across, "Amazing 53:34 Facts Presents." 53:36 I've listened to a lot of different ministers, but this 53:38 was the first time that he's actually saying something where 53:41 I had to grab my Bible and actually pick it up. 53:44 "And I've never heard this before. 53:46 Let me look through and find this." 53:48 I went through all the historicals. 53:51 I went through all the study guides that I just couldn't get 53:53 enough, and then the Sabbath came up, and he's going through 53:56 the appeal and I'm just going, "Lord, I hear you. 53:59 I have to go to the church." 54:01 So I show up, it was funny, I didn't feel like I was going to 54:05 be judged, anything judgmental, anything. 54:09 I walked in the door and I just felt at home, but there's still 54:13 a problem. 54:15 I'm still partying. 54:18 I was still going out to the bars. 54:20 At this time, I was selling cocaine to pay my rent. 54:24 Sixteen days later, I find myself in a 54:27 life-or-death situation. 54:29 I just came back from a liquor store and grabbed a bottle of 54:33 vodka, and there I am high off cocaine with my Bible in hand 54:38 trying to do a Bible study and I heard an audible voice, "Just 54:45 look at yourself." 54:48 And I did and I was like, "What am I doing?" 54:54 And I got on my knees and I said, "Lord, if you do not take 54:58 this away from me now, I'm going to kill myself." 55:02 I was going to continue this lifestyle and I was going to end 55:06 up overdosing, having a heart attack, whatever it was. 55:10 "You have to take this away, all of it." 55:17 And that day, he lifted all of it away from me. 55:22 It was all gone. 55:24 When God does something in your life, he does it complete. 55:29 ♪♪♪ 55:37 ♪♪♪ 55:50 ♪♪♪ 55:58 Doug: So what is the brightest light in the world? 56:01 Well, naturally you'd say the sun, but we're talking about the 56:03 brightest man-made light in the world. 56:06 It's the light that shines out of the roof of that 56:09 pyramid-shaped hotel in Las Vegas called the Luxor. 56:12 There in the cap of that hotel, there's a room that contains 39 56:16 washing-machine-sized Xenon bulb, and each of those bulbs 56:20 requires about 7,000 watts. 56:23 All together, they produce about 40 billion candle power 56:27 of light. 56:29 Can you imagine getting that electric bill at the Luxor Hotel 56:31 every month? 56:33 That light is so bright that planes can see it 250 56:36 miles away. 56:38 They are shining light 10 miles up into space; meaning if you 56:41 happen to be floating by, you could read a newspaper up there. 56:46 And as you might have guessed, that bright light has become the 56:48 world's best bug attractor, bringing in moths and bats and 56:52 owls creating its own ecosystem there are at night above 56:55 the hotel. 56:57 But the sad thing about the brightest light in the world is 56:59 especially when the night air is clear, without any particles, 57:02 the light doesn't hit anything and it's invisible. 57:06 It shoots up into empty space. 57:09 The brightest light in the world illuminates nothing. 57:13 You know, the Bible tells us that there's another great 57:15 wasted light, and that's the light of God's Word. 57:18 It says in Psalm 119, verse 105, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet 57:23 and a light unto my path," and yet so many people are walking 57:27 in darkness. 57:28 Furthermore, Jesus said, "If you do have that light, make sure 57:31 you don't put it under a bushel, but you let it shine and 57:34 illuminate the lives of others." 57:36 Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, "Set your light up on a hill 57:39 like a city so that all might see it." 57:42 Light only benefits others when it reflects off of something. 57:46 God wants our lights to illuminate the lives of others. 57:50 So are you glowing for God? 57:52 Remember, Jesus said, "Let there be light." 57:55 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-03-26