Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP200015S
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00:01 Hello, welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School panel
00:03 for the second quarter of our lesson study, 00:05 "How to Interpret Scripture." 00:07 If you'd like to get a copy of our lesson to follow along, 00:09 go to absg.adventist.org. 00:14 But right now get your Bibles and your pens 00:16 as you join us for our second lesson study, 00:19 "The Origin and Nature of the Bible." 00:52 Hello, welcome to Sabbath School panel 00:54 here at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:56 We are so excited you've taken the time 00:58 to join us. 01:00 We have been enjoying our first lesson study 01:02 and we're going to dive into the second one, 01:04 which is The Origin and Nature of the Bible. 01:07 Get your pens, sit down, relax. 01:09 Join us for an exciting excursion 01:12 through the Word of God. 01:13 To my left, 01:15 my immediate left is Jill Morikone. 01:16 Good to have you here, Jill. Thank you, Pastor John. 01:18 Do you have some list for us today? 01:19 I think we might have one or two. 01:21 Always look forward to those lists. 01:23 And, Pastor Kenny, 01:24 are you ready to preach to us today? 01:25 Well, I love this lesson, it is a good one 01:27 and we're encouraging people to stay in and tune in 01:30 because there's some things need to be brought out today. 01:32 Your fire is always lit. Good to have you here. 01:34 Pastor John Dinzey? How's it going for you today? 01:37 Praising the Lord for His goodness and mercy. 01:39 That's right. 01:40 And now Pastor Ryan Day you're ready, our historian? 01:43 Always ready. I tell you. 01:46 You know before we go any further 01:48 however to dive in our lesson, 01:49 we are going to ask the Lord's blessing. 01:51 And I'm going to ask Pastor Dinzey, 01:52 if you would have our prayer for us today. 01:54 Sure. 01:55 Our loving Heavenly Father, 01:57 we want to thank You for Your kindness, 02:00 Your mercy, and that 02:02 You are always thinking of us. 02:05 We want to praise You 02:06 because You have a plan of salvation 02:10 that reaches every single person. 02:13 And we ask You, Father, 02:14 to bless us with the Holy Spirit, 02:16 that we may speak Your words. 02:18 And we also ask that You will bless everyone 02:21 that is listening, 02:22 that they may be drawn close to You, 02:25 and that Your name may be glorified. 02:26 We ask in Jesus name, amen. Amen. 02:29 Thank you so much. 02:31 The origin and nature of the Bible, 02:32 so many things have to do with origin. 02:35 You know, that's a question people often say, 02:37 when we meet them, where are you from? 02:39 And we try to qualify that by making where we are 02:42 from a very exciting and vital place. 02:46 I'm from New York, but I live in the Midwest 02:51 in Thompsonville, West Frankfort, 02:53 and then people tend to all automatically 02:56 draw conclusions about, 02:58 something about where you're from 03:00 and where you are. 03:01 And so when we think about the origin 03:03 and the nature of the Bible, 03:05 it's a part of our society in which we live. 03:07 Origins have a lot to do. Are you European? 03:10 Are you from the Middle East? 03:11 Are you from the islands of the sea? 03:13 Are you from Asia? 03:14 Well the Bible, in fact, is not from the Middle East 03:17 or from the islands of the sea, the Bible is divinely born. 03:21 It's really from the heart of God. 03:24 So when we think about that, 03:25 let's look at our Sabbath School lesson, 03:27 our text for this lesson study. 03:31 It is taken from 2nd, 03:33 actually 1 Thessalonians 2:13. 03:37 And it reads as follows, 03:39 "For this reason 03:42 we also thank God without ceasing, 03:45 because when you received the word of God 03:47 which you heard from us, 03:49 you welcomed it not as the word of men, 03:52 but as it is in truth, the word of God, 03:55 which also effectively works in you who believe." 04:00 And I love that scripture, because it talks about, 04:02 to me it's about food. 04:03 And I know, but I don't want to make food 04:05 a focal point, 04:07 but you know, you could look at food 04:09 and it will do you no good. 04:10 Or you could eat food 04:12 and then it'll begin to nourish you. 04:14 In our modern society today there are many Bibles. 04:17 We have them in printed form, we have them in digital form, 04:20 we have them in various translations. 04:22 But the point I want to begin our lesson study 04:24 with is regardless of the divinity of the Bible 04:27 and the origin and nature of it, 04:28 unless you imbibe the Bible, 04:31 unless it permeates your mind and your life, 04:34 the living Word can never bring life to you, 04:37 except it is ingested. 04:39 And so I want to encourage you, 04:41 you may be living in a fast paced world 04:42 like we are. 04:44 We live in a very fast paced society, 04:46 but if we don't partake of God's Word, 04:49 not just as a point of study or developing of a sermon, 04:52 but it has to be our own personal devotion, 04:55 like our cereal in the morning, 04:57 like the thing that gives us nourishment for our day. 04:59 When it becomes a personal impact, 05:02 then the personal effect and the presence of God 05:04 will be experienced in our lives. 05:06 Now, one of the questions asked on Sunday's lesson. 05:08 Go to Sunday with me, 05:10 as we turn to Sunday is about Peter. 05:14 How does Peter express his conviction about the origin 05:17 of the Bible's prophetic message? 05:20 Let's turn to 2 Peter 1:19-21, 05:24 how does he express his conviction? 05:26 You know, unless you have a conviction, 05:27 you just have an opinion. 05:29 A conviction is something that goes deeper 05:31 than just an opinion. 05:33 It becomes the model of your life, 05:34 I am convicted, 05:36 and then you mention what the conviction is. 05:38 Well, Peter mentions his conviction 05:41 and who better than a man who had to be convicted 05:45 before he was converted? 05:47 Listen to what he says about prophecy. 05:51 2 Peter 1:19. 05:53 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed 05:57 or a more sure word of prophecy 05:59 as the King James Version says, right, Pastor Kenny? 06:01 Yes. 06:03 "Which you do well to take heed as a light 06:05 that shines in a dark place, 06:08 until the day dawns 06:10 and the morning star rises in your hearts, 06:13 knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture 06:17 is of any," what?" 06:18 Private interpretation, for prophecy never came 06:22 by the will of man, 06:23 but holy men of God spoke 06:25 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 06:28 Vitally important point to understand 06:30 from the very beginning. 06:31 Prophecy ceases to be a blessing 06:33 when it becomes something that's private. 06:36 That's why what I like about the lesson studies, 06:38 and many of you might know that 06:39 before these lessons studies get to us, 06:41 they go through committee, through committee, 06:42 through committee, edited, edited, edited, 06:45 people look at it, 06:46 it's not just the opinions of two men, 06:48 no matter how learned they are, 06:50 but they are examined and they are qualified, 06:55 and if there's something that is not in harmony, 06:57 and the committee sees it, 06:58 that's why holy men of God, they were literally examined 07:03 by the Lord chosen by Him, 07:05 and filled and directed by the Holy Spirit. 07:08 So we know that it's confirmed. 07:10 It's a light that shines brighter and brighter. 07:12 And when you study the Bible and you understand prophecy, 07:16 it becomes brighter and brighter, 07:18 clearer and clearer, leading us to that perfect day. 07:21 Now, some of the possible approaches 07:23 to studying the Bible are these. 07:25 First of all, 07:26 the Bible is a book of confirmation, 07:28 not a book of speculation. 07:31 It's vitally important. It's a book of confirmation. 07:33 That's right. 07:34 It's confirmed, it's not confirmed just 07:36 and I like the way you did that last lesson, Ryan, 07:38 you pointed out 07:39 the historical references of people 07:41 that are not necessarily Christians, 07:43 but they're saying you can't argue with it, 07:46 you know, two and two is four, 07:47 no matter what your denomination believes. 07:49 You could be convicted or converted 07:50 or you could be not a Christian. 07:52 It's a fact two and two is four. 07:54 So the Bible is a book of confirmation, 07:56 not a book of speculation. 07:57 Secondly, the Bible is a book of instruction, 07:59 not a book of suggestions. 08:02 You know, it's not God saying, I suggest you do this. 08:06 That's the political approach. 08:07 The Lord is saying, "That's why the commandments 08:09 I call suggestions, the Ten Commandments." 08:11 When you follow Bible, 08:13 you find its instructions are good for reproof, 08:16 for correction, for instruction that the man of God, 08:19 the woman of God may be thoroughly equipped. 08:21 We cannot go out into this world in a sinful battle, 08:24 without the whole armor of God. 08:27 And you can be fully clad, that's the defensive weapons, 08:30 but the Spirit of God, 08:32 the sword of God is the only offensive weapon 08:34 you have. 08:36 If you are not sufficiently capable in using it, 08:38 you're just a beautiful soldier with no weapon at all. 08:42 Certainly, the Bible is a living book. 08:44 The more we read, the brighter it gets. 08:48 Fourthly, the Bible is a book of gradual revelation, 08:51 until the day dawns. 08:53 I mean, we've all read the Bible 08:55 and somewhere along the way, we said, unbelievable. 08:57 I saw that, I didn't get that. 08:59 That happened to me just recently 09:01 about the message to Pharaoh that God had raised up Pharaoh 09:04 for a purpose. 09:06 I read the Bible for many years and never caught that. 09:08 It's the dawning of the Bible, it gets brighter and brighter. 09:11 The other part the Bible does not just inform 09:14 but the Bible is intended to transform. 09:17 Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 09:20 And next, the Bible is the product 09:21 of direct communication 09:23 between humanity and divinity. 09:25 Taking the divine element into consideration 09:27 alters our approach to God's Word. 09:30 You know, if you get a letter from the President, 09:32 you don't just deal with that like you got a letter 09:35 from your local bill collector. 09:37 You say, "Where's that from? 09:38 Oh, the United States? The what? 09:42 Who's it from?" 09:44 "The President of the United States." 09:45 "Wait, wait, wait, wait, put the bills down. 09:47 I got to read this. Why would he write me?" 09:49 Well, friends, the Bible is from the God of the universe. 09:53 When we understand, 09:54 it alters our approach to the reading of the Bible. 09:58 Notice what Paul said to Timothy, 10:01 the protege, he said in 2 Timothy 3:15, 10:04 the Bible is not just scriptures, 10:05 it is holy. 10:07 Notice what he said." 10:08 And that from childhood you have known 10:11 the Holy Scriptures, 10:13 which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith 10:16 which is in Christ Jesus." 10:18 I've learned and we all have learned 10:19 when you study the Bible, 10:21 you know, you can fit into any circle, 10:23 no matter what the qualifications, 10:25 no matter what the educational achievements, 10:27 I feel comfortable in any circle, 10:29 as I said to one prime minister, 10:32 that said to me, "Why are you not afraid?" 10:33 I said him respectfully, 10:35 the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, 10:37 He said, "Why you not afraid?" 10:39 I said, "Because I answer to an even higher authority." 10:42 And he looked at me in a very somber way 10:43 until he smiled and said, "I like that." 10:45 You know, the Bible 10:47 is connected to an even higher authority 10:48 than any dignitary or any prelate on earth. 10:51 That's why Paul, in Romans 1:2 it says, which he promised, 10:55 speaking about the Bible, "Which he promised before, 10:59 through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures." 11:03 Next the Bible is a cooperative work. 11:05 It is not the product of a single entity. 11:08 Daniel 12:4, Daniel says, "But you Daniel, 11:12 the Lord told him to speak, 11:13 "You Daniel shut up the words 11:16 and seal the book until the time of the end, 11:18 many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." 11:22 This cooperative work between God and Daniel 11:26 became a light for future generations. 11:28 And we are thanking the Lord 11:30 that Daniel was humble enough 11:32 to do what God had instructed him, 11:33 but I want to make it very clear, 11:35 God never told John, shut up Revelation. 11:37 It's a continuing, Revelation has never been shut. 11:40 The third thing the Bible directs, 11:42 the Bible is a book of direction. 11:44 Isaiah 30:21. 11:46 Here's what the Bible says, "Your ears shall hear a word 11:51 behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it. 11:55 Whenever you turn to the right hand 11:56 or whenever you turn to the left.'" 11:59 That's why 1 John 1:7 says, 12:01 "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, 12:04 we have fellowship with one another," 12:06 deeper than friendship, 12:07 Koinonia, but you have to walk in the light. 12:09 And He'll tell you, "If you go left or go right, 12:11 He'll say, "This is the way, walk in it." 12:14 The Bible is not human invention. 12:17 In 2 Peter 1:16. 12:19 "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, 12:22 when we made known to you the power 12:24 and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 12:26 but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty." 12:30 The Bible is not a human dimension. 12:33 We did not follow cunningly devised fable. 12:36 And we know the Bible is inspired. 12:37 I went past that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, 12:40 we made that point before. 12:41 Also our faith and trust in God's Word 12:44 are based on the belief that it is of divine origin. 12:49 James 1:21 and this is actually has been 12:53 so much a part of our Sabbath School openers, 12:56 receiving with meekness the implanted Word 13:00 which is able to save your souls. 13:02 Divine origin, receding with meekness, 13:05 the implanted Word. 13:06 I like that word because something 13:08 that's planted will not fail to continue to grow. 13:11 And the other one, 13:13 we are not obligated to its contents, 13:15 we are obligated to its author. 13:17 That's right. That's quite different. 13:19 Amen. It's good. 13:20 1 Thessalonians 2:13, which is the passage we read, 13:22 it effectively works in those of us who believe. 13:26 And finally, we don't trust the Bible, 13:29 because it's a good book. 13:31 We trust the Bible because it's written by a good author. 13:34 That's right. Okay. 13:36 That's right. 13:37 Deuteronomy 32:4, "He is the rock, 13:40 His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice, 13:44 a God of truth and without injustice, 13:47 righteous and upright is He?" 13:51 Jill? Amen. 13:52 Thank you so much, Pastor John. 13:54 You had some good lists going on there. 13:56 Okay. 13:57 I didn't do a list but you thought it. 13:59 That was good. 14:00 The divine revelation of the Bible. 14:01 I have Monday's lesson, the Process of Inspiration. 14:05 So, before we jump in, 14:06 I want to tell you where we are going. 14:09 Hopefully we'll lend some clarity 14:11 because we're going quite a few different directions. 14:13 We're looking at inspiration versus revelation. 14:16 We're going to start with that, then what inspiration is not, 14:21 then theories of inspiration, forms of inspiration 14:25 and finally, evidence for inspiration. 14:29 Lord willing, we're going to get through all of that. 14:31 So let's look at inspiration versus revelation. 14:35 Revelation is the act of communicating 14:37 divine knowledge to the mind. 14:41 Inspiration is the act of the same spirit, 14:45 guiding those who make that knowledge 14:48 known to someone else, 14:50 guiding those who make that knowledge known to others. 14:53 Revelation, in other words, is the Holy Spirit 14:56 or God speaking directly into the individual. 14:58 That would be like Abraham. 15:00 He was granted a revelation when God came and said, 15:03 "Look up at the sky 15:04 and your descendants are going to be 15:07 like the sand of the sea or the stars in the heavens." 15:11 Now, He didn't communicate that 15:13 and He clearly didn't write a book, 15:14 he received the revelation and that was it. 15:17 Moses received a revelation 15:19 that was at the burning bush, right? 15:21 And God came and communicated to him. 15:24 But in addition, Moses communicated to others. 15:27 We know he wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 15:30 Deuteronomy. 15:32 He had inspiration, 15:33 the Holy Spirit inspired him to communicate 15:37 and write down that message. 15:39 What inspiration is not? 15:41 Inspiration is not revelation, we just discussed that. 15:44 Inspiration is not illumination. 15:47 Every born again Christian is to be illuminated 15:50 by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 15:53 Does that mean every born again Christian is inspired? 15:56 No. 15:57 Does that mean every born again Christian is to be a prophet? 15:59 No. 16:01 So inspiration is not illumination. 16:03 Inspiration is not human genius. 16:07 You could say, 16:09 "Oh, that person is a really good writer." 16:10 Human genius might be a natural qualification. 16:13 But inspiration 16:14 is a supernatural qualification. 16:18 And finally, inspiration is not on the writer, 16:22 it is on the writing. 16:24 What I mean by that, 16:26 the Holy Spirit definitely uses the writer. 16:28 We're not discounting them. 16:30 But think about Paul, the Apostle Paul. 16:33 Was he a perfect man? Absolutely not. 16:36 We know he killed a few people before he became converted. 16:39 But even after he was converted, 16:41 Pastor Kenny, he withstood Peter to his face. 16:44 So there was still some of the old man in there. 16:47 Just because the authors in the Word of God 16:50 they were human, we know that, 16:51 and they made mistakes. 16:53 The fact that their books in the Bible 16:55 were divinely inspired does not mean that 16:57 they themselves were infallible. 16:59 The inspiration is on the writing. 17:02 It falls on the writer, 17:03 but it's specifically on the writing. 17:05 Let's look at some theories of inspiration. 17:09 You might recognize some of these. 17:10 First theory is called natural inspiration, 17:13 which we do not subscribe to. 17:15 And this theory, 17:16 there is no supernatural element. 17:18 People who believe this say that 17:20 Bible was written by great men who often erred. 17:23 That is not true, because we know 17:24 the Word of God says in 2 Peter 1:20 and 21, 17:27 we have referenced this before, 17:30 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture 17:32 is of any private interpretation, 17:35 for prophecy never came by the will of men, 17:37 but holy men of God spoke 17:39 as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 17:41 So natural inspiration is not biblical. 17:44 Second theory is partial inspiration. 17:47 That's the theory 17:49 that the Bible contains God's words, 17:51 but they must be sorted out 17:53 or somehow demythologized to find them. 17:56 In other words, some parts would be human 17:58 and some parts would be divine, 18:00 we do not subscribe to that either 18:02 because 2 Timothy 3:16. 18:04 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, 18:07 not parts, but all. 18:09 Third theory is conceptual inspiration. 18:13 That's where the thoughts of Scripture are inspired, 18:16 but the actual words are not. 18:18 There is some factual or scientific error. 18:22 We do not subscribe to that either, 18:23 because all scripture, 18:24 we just read that scripture is given by inspiration of God. 18:28 The fourth theory is called 18:30 the verbal dictation theory of inspiration. 18:34 This is where the writer passively sits back 18:36 and just records God's Word without any participation 18:40 of their own style or their own interpretation. 18:44 Now, clearly, God inspired holy men to write. 18:47 This theory was held years ago 18:50 and by time Martin Luther came on the scene, 18:52 and Calvin and others of the Protestant Reformation, 18:55 this theory was rejected. 18:58 We're subscribing to theory number five, 19:00 verbal plenary inspiration, 19:03 which means all the actual words of the Bible 19:06 are inspired, 19:07 yet written by individual authors 19:10 in their own language, context and personality. 19:15 We see that, in Great Controversy 19:17 actually page seven. 19:18 This is a quote from Ellen White. 19:19 "The Bible points to God as its author, 19:21 yet it was written by human hands. 19:24 And in the varied style of its different books. 19:27 It presents the characteristics of its several writers. 19:30 The truths revealed are all given by 19:32 inspiration of God, 19:34 yet they are expressed in the words of men." 19:37 So let's look at the forms of inspiration. 19:40 And that was the theories of inspiration. 19:42 Let's look at the forms of inspiration. 19:44 There's several different forms. 19:46 The first form would be when God directly says 19:49 something to a prophet say to say 19:51 and they write it down. 19:54 Zechariah 7:12. 19:56 "Yes, they made their hearts like flint, 19:58 refusing to hear the law in the words 20:01 which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit 20:03 through the former prophets." 20:04 Did you catch that? 20:05 It says the word that the Lord spoke 20:07 through the prophets. 20:10 Jonah 1:1 and 2, "The word of the Lord 20:13 came to Jonah saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh.'" 20:16 So there's places in the Word of God words, 20:18 actually a direct, you could say 20:20 transcription of what God said. 20:23 God spoke a certain thing 20:24 and you read that in the prophets, 20:26 the word of the Lord came to me and I said, 20:28 and then you read that. 20:29 Now, there's other times when God influenced, 20:33 directed and superintended the writing of men 20:37 who wrote what God intended. 20:38 This is where they might use their own words, 20:41 their own phrases. 20:42 The biblical authors still using their own style 20:45 and personality and background, 20:47 yet God is still over all inspiring them 20:51 what to write. 20:53 You notice you read the scholarly epistles of Paul. 20:56 He clearly writes vastly different than say, John Mark, 20:59 who wrote the Book of Mark, 21:01 or the writings of John who had experienced 21:04 and walked with God. 21:05 You see the differences in personality, 21:08 yet the same God over all. 21:11 Finally let's look at evidences 21:14 for the inspiration of the Bible, 21:16 and I want to close 21:17 with five evidences for inspiration of the Bible. 21:20 There's more than five, but we'll just touch on five. 21:22 Number one is the written word in the Bible. 21:26 In other words we believe the Bible 21:28 is inspired because God said it is. 21:30 God's Word claims divine inspiration and origin. 21:34 We already read 2 Timothy 3:16. 21:36 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." 21:40 Number two, the second evidence 21:41 for the inspiration of the Bible 21:43 is the fulfilled prophecy in the Word of God. 21:47 Last lesson, Pastor John talked about 21:49 the prophetic word. 21:51 And we see just a couple 21:52 I think of the 70-year prophecy of Babylonian captivity 21:56 found in the Book of Jeremiah. 21:58 And 70 years was prophesied 22:00 and it came to pass just as God said. 22:02 I think of Daniel Chapter 2, Daniel Chapter 7, 22:05 Daniel Chapter 8, 22:07 where the four successive kingdoms 22:09 and world empires, 22:10 all came true exactly as God predicted 22:14 years before it was to take place. 22:17 I think of Ezekiel talking about the destruction 22:19 of the city of Tyre. 22:21 That came to pass, just as God predicted. 22:25 I think of the hundreds 22:26 of prophecies in the Old Testament 22:28 predicting the coming Messiah. 22:30 And they came true exactly as God said. 22:33 Number three, third evidence for inspiration 22:35 of the Bible is the unity of the Bible. 22:38 Amen, that's right. 22:40 Many different authors, many different, 22:41 spanning many years 22:43 and yet there is an amazing cohesive 22:47 unity found in the Word of God. 22:51 Isaiah 28:10 precept must be upon precept, 22:55 precept upon precept line upon line, 22:57 line upon line, here a little and there a little, 22:59 but it is all cohesive in one because 23:02 God is the single author over all. 23:06 Number four, 23:07 evidence for inspiration of the Bible 23:09 that the Word of God has life giving power, 23:12 that by reading the Word of God 23:14 and by preaching the Word of God, 23:17 people's lives are converted. 23:20 We saw this in Acts Chapter 2, when Pentecost. 23:23 Now, of course, the Holy Spirit was poured out. 23:25 So we're not putting aside 23:27 that working of the Holy Spirit, 23:29 but 3,000 people were converted in one day 23:31 from hearing the preaching of the Word of God. 23:34 And the fifth evidence for the support 23:36 of the inspiration of the Word of God 23:38 is archeological support for the Bible. 23:41 Ryan talked about that. 23:43 Both in history and archaeology, 23:45 these finds they uncover things that people before said, 23:48 "No, just the Bible says that," 23:50 but now we find evidence that supports 23:53 the validity of the Word of God. 23:55 That's right. 23:56 Well, thank you Jill, that was powerful. 23:59 Now you started to fire. 24:00 Pastor Kenny, we're going to come to you 24:02 in a moment but we're going to just 24:03 take a short break and don't go away. 24:05 We'll be right back. Amen. 24:12 Ever wish you could watch 24:14 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 24:16 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:19 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 24:24 A clean design makes it easy 24:26 to find the program you're looking for. 24:29 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:32 so you can follow along. 24:34 Sharing is easy. 24:35 Just click share and choose your favorite social media. 24:38 Share a link, save a life for eternity. 24:42 Welcome back to our Sabbath School Lesson Study. 24:45 We'll go now to Tuesday. 24:46 Pastor Kenny, the written Word of God. 24:48 Amen. 24:50 To me that's a good, 24:51 it's a good lesson here because, 24:52 again, God speaks and the text in our lesson 24:55 just starts out with Exodus 34:27, you know, 24:58 I'll read it from the King James. 25:00 It says, "And the Lord said unto Moses, 25:01 write thou these words, 25:04 for tenor of these words 25:06 I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel." 25:09 So the question is asked, why the Lord said to Moses, 25:12 why do you say write it down. 25:14 That's what it is the written Word of God. 25:15 Why tell Moses, write the word down? 25:19 I mean, their minds were very good back then. 25:21 God can impress on the mind any of us, you know, 25:23 there's passage of scripture, the whole Bible, 25:25 if they wanted to by the Holy Spirit, 25:26 you just spit it out. 25:28 But interesting, God said to write, 25:30 He told him to write it down. 25:32 He told Moses, now He didn't say Moses, 25:35 just you know, you write it down. 25:37 He told him, you know, you can recite this 25:39 if you want to, and you want to do it 25:40 after it's written down you can recite it. 25:42 But He told him, you need to write it down. 25:45 So there was a reason to write it down. 25:46 I don't know if any of you learned 25:47 by writing things down. 25:49 I do, I write things down, 25:50 it helps my memory and then you go back 25:53 and you can read and so on. 25:54 The first we know it's God, then who's responsible? 25:57 God is in charge. 25:58 It's God who speaks, 25:59 the Holy Spirit empowers and brings to our remembrance. 26:02 It's God who created 26:03 the human language and He did it. 26:05 Why did He communicate and think about, 26:07 why did He have us to have human life? 26:09 Why do we speak, if it's not to speak for Him? 26:12 You know, I think it is to communicate His love 26:14 and communicate the truth. 26:16 That's the purpose of it. 26:17 The divinely inspired Word of God. 26:19 It needed to be, when He said speak, 26:21 it needed to be at least in my opinion, 26:23 a reliable source, 26:25 something that would be there, 26:26 more than just spoken, we know it need to be, 26:29 but something that could be there 26:30 something you could go refer back to. 26:32 You know, what if God's Word was just say just spoken 26:37 and not written down? 26:38 I wonder how it would be today 26:41 if He didn't say write it down and if it was just spoken? 26:44 I think about that when you hear all the time. 26:47 You know, would it be possible to keep this message straight? 26:50 Because we realize what we went you know, 26:52 years ago when you say when I'm going to whisper 26:53 something in Pastor John's ear, 26:56 and John when I get done and you tell like to Jill 26:58 and then you know going down. 26:59 And time it gets to the end, 27:01 just four or five people in there, right? 27:02 Sometime it's a completely different thing all together. 27:06 It makes no sense. 27:07 So God knew exactly what He was doing. 27:09 God commanded, 27:11 He commanded the holy men of God, 27:13 notice this as He did Moses. 27:15 He said, "Write these words." 27:17 And I think it's been very clear 27:18 on this panel so far, 27:20 that when God says something, we need to honor it, 27:22 and we need to do it. 27:24 There's a reason for it. 27:25 God never asked us to do something 27:26 unless there's a reason for it and it's for our own good. 27:29 God doesn't need it. He can remember it. 27:31 We need it, I need it. 27:33 So why did God say to write down His message? 27:35 I put down six things at least in my little simple mind 27:38 that would bring in my mind. 27:39 Sorry, Jill. That's good. 27:42 Simple answers would be. That's right. 27:45 It's catching on. You see, it's catching on. 27:47 Simple, right. 27:48 So we will not forget them so easily. 27:51 Just in the commandments and the fourth one says what? 27:54 Remember the Sabbath day. Remember why? 27:56 So we would not forget. 27:58 And here God says, "You write down 27:59 so you won't forget them so easily," 28:01 number one. 28:03 Number two, the Bible is a constant reference point. 28:06 We can always go to the Word of God, 28:08 it directs us to Him 28:10 and to His will for us in our life. 28:13 Number three, notice this, it's written on, 28:16 we say documents, it's written down. 28:18 So it can be preserved, you know, 28:20 things that are written down can be preserved, again, 28:22 if it's just talking and passed on and on and on, 28:24 I'm not telling what kind of mess things 28:26 would be in right now but it's not. 28:28 And it's much more reliable, what is written down 28:30 than the oral message is that you know, 28:32 that people repeat over and over and over. 28:34 Number four, the written word can be easily copied. 28:38 But we live in a different society 28:39 now, you know, there's a lot of things, 28:41 I think of audio and video and different things. 28:43 And most of you, forgive me here, 28:44 but almost like it's a written word, right? 28:46 Because it's what? It's recorded, is it not? 28:48 And you can go and you can play it over 28:50 but just for the sake of this lesson here, 28:51 I'm thinking of the written word. 28:53 God said, "Write these things down," 28:54 because they can be copied over and over and over, 28:59 you know, again, If you think, 29:00 if you just think, well, I've got audio and I got video, 29:03 you have to have power for that, right? 29:06 You have to have a player. 29:07 Here, if it's written down, 29:09 you can read it, you can just read it. 29:11 Number five, a person can speak 29:14 only to a certain number of people 29:17 at any given time, 29:18 you can only reach so many in one place at one time. 29:21 But with a written word, 29:22 right, you can read it to countless, 29:25 I love this countless readers around the world, 29:27 and to numerous generations, 29:30 you know, to me that, that's good. 29:32 Number six, and of course, 29:33 you can always read the Word of God 29:36 to someone who can't read. 29:39 So the Word of God simply, you know, goes on 29:40 and we can read it and there are many in the world 29:42 that they can't read or they can't see 29:44 and they need someone to read the Word of God. 29:46 Let's look at just several examples 29:48 where God said to write, you know, 29:52 and if it is important, 29:53 it'll come out in the Word of God. 29:54 Exodus 17:14, God said this, notice, 29:59 "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Write this for a memorial.'" 30:05 That word interesting 30:06 and memorial is an interesting least word to me. 30:08 It's a record is it not? 30:10 A memorial is a record here 30:12 and it's in order to be able to keep it in remembrance, 30:16 to keep it into remembrance here, 30:18 write a memorial in a book. 30:21 And then notice what He says, rehearse. 30:23 Would that not be going over it? 30:25 You would go over after it's written in the book, 30:27 then we go over, it's like, 30:28 many time we read a passage of scripture, 30:30 and then you take time to, 30:31 you know, go into detail about it to explain it, 30:34 line upon line, and so on and so forth. 30:35 So He said, "Write it in the book, 30:37 rehearse it in the ears of Joshua." 30:39 And Joshua would certainly be telling the people. 30:40 Now, there are some critics, there's always critics right, 30:43 in the world, no matter what you do, there's critics. 30:45 You know, some critics pretty much laughed at the idea 30:49 that Moses could have written in Hebrew 30:52 during the second millennial, right, BC? 30:55 Some critics said," No, that's not possible. 30:57 There's no way in which that could be done." 30:59 But first, you know, 31:00 but the first alphabetic form of writing was invented, 31:04 notice this, maybe you knew this, 31:05 maybe you didn't, it's kind of interesting. 31:07 I didn't realize it till I studied this, but it was, 31:10 writing was invented 31:11 in the very region of Mount Sinai. 31:15 It's interesting where Moses received 31:17 the commands of God, isn't that right? 31:20 And God wrote them down, did He not with His own finger? 31:25 And notice that is in the area of Mount Sinai 31:27 where Moses learned to write the new script. 31:31 There's a reason for that 31:33 is why God says to write these things down, no doubt, 31:37 the invention of the alphabetic writing shortly before. 31:41 Now, this was just shortly before the Exodus. 31:44 Now, was that in the design of God? 31:47 Or was it just happened that way? 31:48 God designed it, did He not? Absolutely. 31:51 It's a providential gift. 31:53 You know, God gave it to us and there was 31:56 just as much as far as I'm concerned about the, 31:58 wasn't that the printing press as it were moving type 32:01 just before the Reformation? 32:03 Was that just a coincidence? Absolutely not. 32:05 God wanted this message to go, write it down, get it out is 32:08 what He says to us today. 32:10 So God intended for the Bible to be the book, 32:13 I like it, the book for the people. 32:15 That's right. The book for the people. 32:17 And by these miracles, 32:18 it could never have been written, 32:21 notice, in the complicated, there is a couple of forms, 32:23 whether or not, the hieroglyphics. 32:25 I mean, if you look that 32:26 you can hardly make out, I can't. 32:28 There may be those who can do that. 32:31 But you know, what a form of writing that was. 32:33 It had at least 1,000 distinct characters. 32:38 And I say our ABCs if I'm wrong, there's 26? 32:42 That's right. They're 26. 32:46 We certainly say so. There's 26. 32:48 But I'm saying they that we call major. 32:50 They're all important. 32:51 There's 1,000 of these in that so it's very complicated. 32:54 Then you had the cuneiform, 32:57 you know, along a cuneiform write, 32:59 which was the word comes from wedge shaped, 33:03 what was the alphabet? 33:05 You say it was? Character. 33:07 Characters, you know, what that wrote with. 33:10 And how complicated you see that would have been 33:12 because it'd be difficult for us to make it out, 33:15 yet God foreseeing all these things and He said, 33:17 "Write it down." 33:19 So we need to remember write it down. 33:21 And then we're finding out 33:23 from this lesson of the scripture 33:24 we realize constitutes the oldest 33:26 and the most complete historical record 33:30 of the human race 33:32 and certainly God's plan to rescue man from the enemy 33:35 and we count on that, 33:37 we thank God for that, do we not? 33:39 That God is in charge. 33:40 Joshua 24:26, till time bring down, 33:42 it said, Joshua, again, he wrote, Joshua wrote. 33:45 Why did Joshua write? 33:47 Because God's told him to write. 33:48 When God tells us to do something, 33:49 we just need to do it, isn't that right? 33:51 He said, "Write these words in the book of the law.' 33:53 And he took a great stone, 33:55 he set it up there under the oak 33:56 which was by the sanctuary of God.'" 33:58 Joshua wrote the words of the covenant, 34:01 the statutes and the judgment. 34:04 You know, all we have to do, 34:06 again, we're seeing right through there 34:07 someone mentioned a while ago about the unity of Scripture. 34:10 Praise God for the unity of Scripture, 34:11 the power of the Holy Spirit that's in charge. 34:14 And the Bible says this, you know, in Acts Chapter 5, 34:16 somewhere around there it said, 34:17 "The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Him." 34:22 And so God has given the Holy Spirit out. 34:24 There's going to be unity of the Holy Spirit, 34:26 unity of truth, the unity of this message. 34:29 And I'm praying that as Jesus prayed, you know, 34:33 He prayed we may be one and I believe 34:36 even our message we have to get, 34:38 we need to become more one on message, you know, 34:40 and know what truth is, 34:42 be able to give it to the world, 34:44 not in every wind of doctrine, 34:46 but give it out as God says, write it down. 34:49 So every chance you get, write it down. 34:50 Write it down. Thank you. 34:54 Well, I'd like to say something, 34:55 you know, the Bible, 34:58 divinely inspired, God has protected the Bible. 35:02 God has preserved the Bible miraculously 35:05 today we have the Word of God. 35:08 And there are stories of how God 35:11 has preserved the Holy Scriptures. 35:13 We have confidence today 35:14 that the scriptures you read today 35:17 are the Holy inspired Word of God. 35:19 So praise the Lord for that. 35:21 I have Wednesday's part and we're looking at a parallel 35:24 between Christ and the Scripture. 35:26 Now this is very interesting 35:28 because you can find Jesus Christ 35:29 in all the books of the Bible. 35:31 And so we have John 1:14. 35:37 In John 1:14, we have this scripture, 35:40 "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, 35:44 and we beheld His glory, 35:47 the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, 35:50 full of grace and truth." 35:53 So we have here Jesus Christ, 35:55 the divine Son of God became a human being. 36:01 And so when you consider that 36:03 because we're looking at parallels 36:04 between Christ and the Scripture. 36:06 Christ divine becomes human flesh. 36:10 He did not cease to be divine when He became human. 36:13 But consider that the scriptures come directly 36:16 from God divine given to human beings, 36:20 human flesh communicated to us. 36:23 And as we have already heard before, 36:26 God inspired these people to write these things. 36:30 And so as we look at different parallels, 36:32 let me give you another one that is very interesting. 36:36 In John 8:31 and 32, 36:38 I would like to ask someone 36:40 to read John 8:31 and 32 for us. 36:43 Here we have a scripture about Jesus Christ, 36:47 and we're going to look at a parallel. 36:49 Who would like to read? I got it here. 36:50 John 8:31 and 32. 36:53 "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, 36:55 'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 36:59 And you shall know the truth, 37:00 and the truth shall make you free.'" 37:03 Amen. Thank you very much. 37:04 So we hear that the truth, if you abide in the truth, 37:11 it will make you free. 37:13 The Bible, John 17:17, 37:15 sanctify them by Your truth, Your word is truth. 37:21 Thy word is truth." So the Bible is truth. 37:24 Also, consider the words of Jesus 37:26 in John 14:6, 37:28 "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, 37:31 the truth, and the life. 37:33 No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" 37:36 So in the scriptures we have that it is the truth 37:39 and Jesus is the truth. 37:41 We see some parallels in the scriptures 37:43 concerning Jesus and the scriptures. 37:47 Now, here's another one that I like to bring before you 37:50 and that is Psalms 119. 37:53 Pastor Lomacang, if you will help us 37:55 out with John Chapter, 37:56 I mean, sorry, Psalms 119: 105. Okay. 38:01 You may be able to quote it from memory. 38:06 Yeah. Soon as you learn it is. 38:11 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." 38:15 Amen. 38:17 So we have that the Word of God 38:18 is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. 38:21 Now consider Jesus. 38:23 In John 9:5, "Jesus said, 'As long as I am in the world, 38:28 I am the light of the world.'" 38:30 The Scripture's the light, 38:32 Jesus is the light of the world. 38:34 Now, in John Chapter 1, 38:38 John wrote some very interesting words 38:41 concerning Jesus Christ. 38:43 And beginning in verse 6, "There was a man sent from God, 38:48 whose name was John. 38:50 This man came for a witness to bear witness of the Light, 38:56 that all through him might believe, 38:58 he was not that light but was sent to bear witness 39:02 of that light." 39:04 This light is Jesus. 39:06 And now verse 9 says, 39:08 "That was the true light, which gives light 39:11 to every man coming into the world." 39:15 So Jesus lights everybody. 39:20 He gives light to the whole world. 39:22 What you do with the light, it's your decision. 39:24 But He is the light that lights every single person. 39:29 And so we have these different parallels 39:31 you see in the scriptures concerning Jesus 39:34 and concerning the scriptures, they are of divine origin. 39:37 Jesus is divine. 39:39 And so when you study the Bible, 39:41 you're going to see 39:42 all these wonderful things coming out. 39:45 And so I want to encourage you to read the scriptures daily. 39:48 Amen. 39:49 You know, sometimes people 39:53 open the Bible for the first time 39:54 when they get to church. 39:57 Oh, that's tragic. 40:00 Don't wait till you get to church 40:02 to open the Bible when the pastor says, 40:03 "Let's turn your Bibles to John 14:6. 40:05 No. 40:07 Read the Bible daily because God wants to feed you daily. 40:10 Pastor Lomacang recently was preaching. 40:12 And he said, "What would it be, 40:14 if you took the study of God's Word 40:17 like you would do eating? 40:19 Would you only eat once a week or once... 40:22 Once a week one hour when you're in church," 40:25 like you know, you're studying the Bible, 40:26 you open the Bible, 40:29 then it's the Bible is going to feed your soul. 40:33 And so I encourage you to read the scriptures 40:36 and live by it thus saith the Lord. 40:39 You know, I remember a gentleman 40:40 that called 3ABN once, 40:41 he wasn't in agreement with something 40:43 that was being presented at 3ABN. 40:46 So we started talking about the topic. 40:48 And I said, "Well, look, you know, 40:49 the Bible says this, 40:51 and I read to him the scriptures." 40:53 And he said this, that was a surprise to me. 40:55 He said, "Well, I know what the Bible says, 40:58 but the Holy Spirit told me..." 41:01 I said, "Wait, wait. 41:04 The Holy Spirit is not going to contradict 41:06 what the Bible says." 41:08 That's right. 41:09 Because the Holy Spirit inspired the scriptures. 41:11 How is he going to contradict what the Bible says? 41:14 No, you live by it, thus saith the Lord. 41:16 And it reminded of the Bereans, you remember the Bereans? 41:19 They heard the sermons, and then they went back home 41:22 and searched the scriptures 41:23 to see if these things were true. 41:25 This we should do today. 41:27 And so the scriptures study 41:29 and led by a thus saith the Lord. 41:32 Now, I want to, of course, 41:35 say that when you're looking at these parallels, 41:37 you know, there's a limit to these parallels. 41:40 Jesus Christ is not the script or the written word, 41:44 He is the living word. 41:45 That's right. 41:46 So, in this book, 41:51 Testimonies to the Church, volume six... 41:54 Oh wait, I wanted to say something else before reading. 41:59 God wants to speak to you through the scriptures, 42:02 and this is why I'm bringing this testimony, 42:05 volume six, page 393. 42:08 Notice. 42:09 "The Bible is God's voice speaking to us. 42:14 Just as surely as though we could hear it with our ears. 42:20 If we realized this, 42:22 with what all would we open God's word, 42:26 and with what earnestness would we search its precepts? 42:30 The reading and contemplation of the Scriptures 42:33 would be regarded as an audience 42:36 with the Infinite." 42:37 Isn't that marvelous? This is marvelous. 42:41 And so I want to encourage you to consider that 42:45 when you open the scriptures, 42:50 the Holy Spirit is ready to help you 42:53 understand the scriptures. 42:56 And this is why we need 42:57 to open the scriptures with prayer and say, 42:59 "Lord, I am placing myself in Your hands, 43:03 I want You to teach me," because when God, 43:06 when we do this, 43:08 we are opening our minds to understand the scriptures. 43:11 And I know everyone here can say, 43:15 "I've read this verse before 43:17 and I've discovered something new 43:19 that I've never seen before." 43:21 The Bible has knowledge and wisdom 43:25 that is going to last us, 43:27 not only our lifetime, but throughout eternity. 43:29 We'll be searching the scriptures, 43:31 because it comes from, 43:34 it's of divine origin, and it's exhaustless. 43:37 It will not say, 43:39 "Well, I know everything there is to know." 43:42 No, God has infinite amount of things to show us. 43:45 You know, it's interesting 43:47 that one of the scriptures that to me, 43:49 I guess I could say, 43:51 I could learn more from is John 3:16. 43:54 And so this scripture has so much packed in there 43:59 that you could study and study 44:02 and still discover marvelous things. 44:05 So in the book, there's a great controversy. 44:10 Well, Counsels to Parents and Teachers, 44:12 I'm just going to read one little part here. 44:14 "There's nothing more calculated 44:16 to energize the mind and strengthen the intellect 44:20 than the study of the Word of God. 44:23 No other book is so potent to elevate the thoughts, 44:26 to give vigor to the faculties, 44:27 as the broad, ennobling truths of the Bible." 44:32 And I encourage you to read the scriptures. 44:35 Well, I wish I had time to share 44:36 one more thing with you, but we don't. 44:38 We're going to have to wait for next time. 44:39 But study the scriptures, 44:41 they are going to make you wise unto salvation. 44:45 This is the book that's going to lead you 44:48 closer to the Lord, study it like no other book. 44:52 Praise the Lord. 44:53 Break out the fire extinguisher. 44:55 Brother's on fire over here. Amen. 44:57 I need some of that fire now 44:58 because this next lesson on Thursday, 45:01 Understanding the Bible in Faith. 45:04 This is probably, I mean all of these things, 45:06 every single aspect that we brought out 45:08 so far as I'm listening each one of you talk, 45:11 it's just powerful and essential to understanding 45:14 and interpreting Scripture correctly. 45:17 And Thursday's lesson, 45:18 Understanding the Bible in Faith, 45:19 we must approach the Scripture, 45:21 we must receive the Scripture in faith. 45:24 And that's what this lesson is about. 45:25 I want to take us directly to 2 Timothy 3:14-17. 45:31 The lesson I don't think particularly brings out 45:33 a couple of these texts, 45:34 but I added verses 14 and 15 in here, 45:36 just because I think it sets a good foundation 45:39 for verse 16 45:40 because Paul is writing to Timothy. 45:43 And, of course, we know that while this instruction 45:45 was given to Timothy, we take this instruction too. 45:47 This is just as much for us as it is for Timothy. 45:50 And so notice what 2 Timothy 3:14-17 says, 45:54 Paul says, "But you must continue in the things 45:58 which you have learned and been assured of knowing 46:02 from whom you have learned, and that from childhood 46:06 you have known the Holy Scriptures, 46:09 which are," and I love this part, 46:11 "which are able to make you wise," notice this, 46:14 "for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus." 46:19 So I like that which is able to make you wise 46:22 for salvation through faith. 46:24 So it's through faith that we must receive this, 46:27 according to here, he says, 46:29 which is in Christ Jesus, but then that famous verse, 46:32 famous text in verse 16, how much Scripture? 46:34 All. 46:36 He says all Scripture was given by inspiration of God, 46:39 and it's profitable for doctrine, 46:41 for reproof, for correction, 46:44 for instruction in righteousness, 46:46 that the men of God may be complete, 46:48 thoroughly equipped for every good work. 46:51 But this text does not really mean anything 46:55 to the skeptic mind. 46:57 It doesn't really mean anything who takes a methodological, 47:02 doubting, approach to the Word of God 47:05 because you can read all of this. 47:07 And if you do not receive it in faith, 47:09 then is the Bible going to be profitable for doctrine 47:12 to a person who's skeptic? 47:14 Who does not receive it in faith? 47:15 Are you going to receive the reproof humbly 47:17 that the Scripture is giving you 47:18 if you're not receiving that word in faith? 47:21 Absolutely not. 47:22 I used to be the biggest skeptic 47:23 in the world years ago. 47:25 I was raised in the Christian church, 47:27 but I found myself often really struggling 47:32 in my walk with the Lord 47:33 because I didn't really understand faith. 47:36 I didn't really understand what that meant, 47:37 I didn't really understand the reality of 47:39 what a Christian must experience 47:42 in approaching the Word of God 47:43 and receiving the Word of God in faith. 47:45 And I would question every little thing, 47:47 I was one of the biggest skeptics. 47:49 I needed a proof text for everything, you know, 47:51 and you got people like this 47:53 who approach the study of the word, 47:55 the reading of the word, 47:56 the understanding of the Word of God, 47:58 they question every little thing 47:59 because they have to have that proof for every little thing. 48:02 For instance, did the Lord really create 48:04 the world in six literal, 24 hour periods? 48:07 I mean, can we really trust that, right? 48:09 You know, did God really split the Red Sea? 48:13 You know, the actual sea itself? 48:14 Or was it the Sea of Reeds, which is about a six inch, 48:18 you know, body of water, you know. 48:21 It's powerful when you really consider all of this. 48:24 We have to learn to receive the Word of God in faith. 48:27 If God provided proof for everything 48:29 and evidence for everything, would we exercise faith? 48:32 Absolutely not. 48:34 And so that's why I put in here a note here, 48:36 very simple, but very profound. 48:38 Jesus should be our prime example. 48:40 Amen. Amen. 48:41 Now, that's interesting to say that 48:43 because most people are going to hear me say that, 48:45 Jesus is our prime example and say, "What? 48:46 I mean, come on. 48:48 Jesus is the Son of God, right?" 48:49 Of course, He has faith. 48:50 He's the epicenter of faith, right? 48:52 But notice, 48:53 take in consideration Luke 2:52, 48:55 the Bible says in Luke 2:52, says 48:59 "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature 49:03 and in favor with God and men." 49:05 Now why would I read that text, and why is it pertinent 49:07 to this particular subject of faith? 49:10 Jesus increased in wisdom 49:11 and stature in favor with God and men. 49:13 When He was robed in flesh and He came to this earth, 49:16 He left His divinity, 49:18 He left his pre-knowledge behind. 49:20 And literally, we're told in Desire of Ages Chapter 7, 49:23 that Jesus had to relearn everything. 49:26 Wow. 49:28 That's powerful, your mind begin to fail. 49:30 He had to relearn everything, He had to relearn who He was, 49:32 why He's come and that had to taken 49:35 an amazing amount of faith. 49:37 Therefore, notice 49:38 when His mother was teaching Him 49:40 like all children, consider the faith of a child 49:42 we should have as Jesus said, 49:44 we should have the faith of a little child 49:45 because a child, I mean, they strive, 49:48 they long to receive the parent's word in faith. 49:52 They believe in their parent, they trust in their parent. 49:55 And so like all children, He accepted Christ, 49:57 He accepted by faith that things 49:59 His mother taught to Him of the kingdom of God. 50:02 And you notice this, 50:03 not being able to physically see 50:05 His heavenly Father, again, 50:07 that concept of faith, you know, not seeing, 50:09 not, being able to physically see His father, 50:11 it was by faith that He received instruction 50:13 and guidance when His father spoke to Him, 50:16 He, while He might have heard a voice, 50:18 while there were angels ministering to Him, 50:20 He had to receive that word by faith. 50:23 We had to trust that this is really from My Father, 50:25 and this is for Me. 50:27 So we cannot talk about faith in the Word of God 50:29 unless we go to Hebrews Chapter 11. 50:31 We got to go to that faith chapter. 50:33 So let's go there. 50:34 I may not be able to cover all of what it is 50:35 that I have here in my notes, 50:37 but we're going to highlight some things here that 50:38 I think are foundational to understanding 50:40 how to receive the Word of God in faith. 50:45 So Hebrews Chapter 11, 50:46 we're going to start right there in verse 1. 50:49 Because I think the thesis statement 50:51 of this whole passage here verses 1 and verse 3, 50:55 is just powerful and understanding 50:57 how important faith is. 50:58 So now verse 1 says, 51:00 "Now faith is the substance of things 51:02 hoped for the evidence of things not seen." 51:06 And when I read that text, I think of, you know, 51:08 the encounter that 51:09 Jesus had with Philip on resurrection 51:11 or excuse me was it Thomas on Resurrection Day. 51:14 Thomas is like you know, I see Jesus standing there. 51:16 Is it really Him or perhaps it's a ghost, 51:18 you know, I don't know if that's really Him?" 51:19 And Jesus is like, "Come on, man. 51:21 It's me, right?" 51:22 I'm going to have to put my, 51:24 my hand had to physically tangibly 51:26 touch this guy to be able to tell that it's Jesus. 51:28 And Jesus is like, okay, 51:29 but then He tells him something vitally important. 51:31 He says, bless, you know, you believe 51:33 because you have seen 51:34 but blessed are those who believe in Me, 51:36 who have not seen, right? 51:38 Faith receiving by faith, the word of the Lord. 51:41 Verse 2 says "For by it, 51:43 the elders obtained a good testimony." 51:45 And then I love verse 3 here it says, 51:47 "By faith, we understand that 51:49 the words were framed by the Word of God, 51:52 so that the things which are seen 51:54 were not made of things which are visible." 51:58 And then the Bible begins here in the 11th Chapter of Hebrews 52:02 and giving us some examples. 52:04 And I may not mention all of these but think of Abel. 52:07 Verse 4 says, "Abel offered to God 52:09 a more excellent sacrifice than Cain." 52:11 You know, he offered that 52:13 based on his trust in the word of the Lord 52:15 that came to him and said, do this. 52:18 You see it brought the opposite in Cain. 52:20 Cain did not trust in the word of the Lord. 52:21 He did not have that faith 52:23 when he heard the word of God give him instruction 52:25 on what type of sacrifice to bring. 52:28 And so we see a drastic difference there. 52:29 Abel exercised faith. 52:31 He received faith, 52:33 received the word of God in faith. 52:34 Also think of Enoch it says Enoch was taken away 52:37 so that he did not see death, even though 52:39 the Bible says that he walked and talked with the Lord. 52:41 I mean, he had to trust in His Word, 52:43 he had to receive the Word of God in faith, 52:45 you know, is this guy really going to do 52:47 what he says he's going to do? 52:48 You know, is all of this going to come 52:50 to pass as the Lord has said. 52:52 I think of Noah, Noah being a... 52:54 That is verse 7. 52:55 By faith it says, Noah, being divinely warned 52:57 of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear." 53:00 And so Noah had to have faith for 100, that's a lot of faith. 53:04 One hundred and twenty years of preaching, 53:06 you know, he believed in the Word of God, 53:08 he received it in faith, and he preached it 53:10 according to the Word of God. 53:12 I think probably the prime example 53:15 that just gives me chills when I think about this, 53:17 the story of Abraham. 53:19 Consider Abraham, this is Hebrews 11:17. 53:24 It says, "By faith Abraham, 53:26 when he was tested, offered up Isaac, 53:29 and he who had received the promise offered up 53:32 his only begotten son, of whom it was said, 53:34 'In Isaac your seed shall be called.'" 53:37 This is phenomenal in considering, 53:41 and a prime example of receiving 53:43 and understanding the word in faith. 53:45 Because this man, I love that story there, 53:47 Isaac, he's looking around, he's like, 53:49 "Hey, you know, where's the lamb?" 53:50 You know, he says, 53:52 God's going to provide the lamb. 53:53 This man had faith in God's word, 53:55 even though he did not know 53:56 exactly how God was going to deliver. 53:58 He also believed that 53:59 even if He did take the life of his son, 54:01 that God would resurrect his son. 54:03 It's very powerful indeed. 54:05 That all being said, 54:07 we have to come to a point in our life, 54:10 in our walk with the Lord, 54:12 where even though 54:13 there may not be that physical evidence 54:16 and proof for every little single thing, 54:18 the Lord has brought me in my walk with God 54:20 and I want to encourage you at home, 54:21 the Lord has brought me in my walk with Him 54:23 where I can say, you know what, Lord, 54:24 You know what's best. 54:25 You know, the end from the beginning, 54:27 Your ways are not my ways, 54:28 Your thoughts are not my thoughts, 54:30 and I may find a text and go, "What in the world?" 54:31 It's like a curveball. What? 54:32 What is it? Why did God do this? 54:34 Why did this happen? 54:35 But the Lord has brought me in my walk where I'm like, 54:37 you know what, God, 54:38 I don't I can't explain this now. 54:40 And I don't understand this now. 54:41 I don't know why You done this or why you said this. 54:43 But at the end of the day, God, You know what's best, 54:45 and in faith by faith, I want to receive this word, 54:49 because you are worthy, O God. 54:50 And I just praise the Lord that we have this word 54:53 and we can indeed receive it in faith. 54:56 Amen. Absolutely, yes. 54:58 Pastor Dinzey, thank you, Pastor Kenny. 55:00 Jill, begin with our closing comments. 55:02 Psalm 119. 55:04 The entire Psalm focusing on the Word of God. 55:08 Psalm 119:18, "Open my eyes, 55:11 that I may see wondrous things from Your law." 55:15 So I just want to encourage you 55:17 to spend time in the Word of God. 55:18 You might have never even opened the Bible. 55:21 You might be afraid of the Bible, 55:22 you might be unsure if you can trust 55:25 the validity of the Word of God. 55:27 Spend time in the Word of God and ask God, 55:30 open up my eyes, so that I can discern 55:33 what You have for me in Your work. 55:35 That's right. Pastor Kenny? 55:37 In Joshua 24:27, said, 55:41 "Joshua said unto all the people, 55:42 behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us, 55:46 for it hath heard all the words that the Lord 55:49 which he spake unto us: 55:50 it shall be therefore a witness unto you, 55:54 lest ye deny your God." 55:57 You know the written Word of God, 55:59 we're talking about living by faith. 56:01 We don't want to deny God. That's right. 56:05 When we look at the Bible, we have light, in this world, 56:10 there's darkness. 56:12 But God wants to bring us 56:13 His light to bring us out of darkness. 56:16 And I want to encourage you to daily spend time 56:20 with the Lord reading the scriptures. 56:22 When you do this, you're going to be transformed. 56:25 Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord. 56:27 You know, considering that faith chapter, 56:29 as I was contemplating on that, 56:31 the common theme that you see among every single 56:33 one of those people listed is that 56:35 they all learn to trust in God's Word. 56:38 And I think of John 3:16, that famous, 56:40 probably the most quoted verse of all time, you know, 56:43 they that believe in him, 56:46 that Greek word is pisteuo in the Greek 56:48 and it means to trust, to put trust in. 56:51 And so when we trust the Word of the Lord, 56:53 our faith will grow 56:55 and then we can learn to receive 56:56 God's Word by faith. 56:58 Well, thank you all for that and you know, 56:59 this study has been a wonderful study, 57:02 as we've seen the nature of the Bible, 57:04 the relationship of prophecy in the Bible, 57:05 the forensic aspects of it. 57:07 All of that are reminders that God is an unfolding God, 57:11 a revelation that really wouldn't be fully understood 57:15 until we make it to the kingdom of God. 57:17 I believe the thought with you that came to my mind 57:19 about the attitude we must have 57:22 along the lines of understanding the Bible. 57:24 Napoleon said, "The Bible is no mere book, 57:28 but a living creature with a power 57:31 that conquers all that oppose it." 57:35 That's the power in the Word of God. 57:36 And the Bible says in Psalms 119, 57:39 as you pointed out, verse 89, 57:40 "Forever O Lord, 57:42 Your word is settled in heaven." 57:44 Well, friends, I hope you enjoyed 57:45 our study today. 57:46 But I'd like to encourage you 57:48 to get ready for our next lesson 57:49 which is entitled, 57:51 "Jesus and the Apostles' View of the Bible." 57:54 We pray that you've been blessed. 57:56 But until we see you again, 57:57 may the Word of God dwell in you richly. 58:00 Have a blessed day. 58:01 Amen. Amen. |
Revised 2020-04-09