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Hey everybody, this is Pastor 
John Ewart from Inglewood 

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Baptist Church in Rocky 
Mountain, North Carolina. 

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Thank you so much for tuning 
into our podcast. 

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You're going to hear from God 
today as we share from His word 

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about important issues facing 
your life that can guide you 

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according to the Bible. 
All right. 

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So thanks for being here 
tonight. 

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Really, seriously, thank you for
coming out tonight. 

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I know that not being here on 
Sunday was probably frustrating 

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for you, and it was for me too. 
There's nothing more enjoyable 

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than preaching to a camera. 
But I've done a lot of online 

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class stuff over the years, so 
it's a little too normal for me.

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But I had flashbacks to COVID. 
But anyway. 

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So hopefully we'll be able to 
meet this week. 

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But thanks for joining us. 
Thanks for those who are 

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listening online later to this 
session. 

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Appreciate you being here. 
Let me just call your attention 

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to a couple things. 
There are some podcasts, Jean 

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mentioned that here live, there 
are some podcasts out that are 

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that are out already and some 
coming out that really do 

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dovetail with what we're talking
about. 

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On Wednesday nights, Doctor 
Aiken and I did a podcast 

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together, Dylan and I've done 
some on the engaging the Bible. 

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Allen Mosley and I just did one 
on how do I personally study the

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Old Testament? 
Well, we just did that the other

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day. 
It's probably not out quite yet.

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I've got another scholar coming 
in. 

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We're going to do the same thing
with the New Testament. 

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So just walking you through this
is all about personal Bible 

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study. 
How do I, how do I dive in 

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deeply in my personal Bible 
study? 

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How do I address some of these 
things like like I'm in the 

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middle of the minor prophets. 
Tony Vick and I were out making 

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a visit today and we were 
talking about this. 

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So you know, you're, you're, 
you're in a minor prophet and 

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this, this chapter says God's 
going to judge you and God's 

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going to judge all the nations. 
Then you go to the next chapter 

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and God's going to judge you and
judge all the nations and you go

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to the next chapter and God's 
going to judge you and judge all

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the nations. 
I mean. 

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Just because because that's the 
whole almost all the minor 

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prophet work. 
So how do you make that 

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meaningful? 
What does that mean? 

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How do you apply that in your 
life? 

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So so there's some good podcasts
out there. 

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I hope that I just kind of 
regulated and these guys. 

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I did so listen to those things 
as well as the other podcasts. 

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All that we're doing on on 
midweek as well, Sundays are 

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being podcasted out. 
There's also a good podcast that

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Dylan does for students and 
parents of students. 

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And so listen to that one. 
Too, for those of you that that 

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would apply to. 
So here we are talking about 

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engaging the Bible, how to 
interpret the text. 

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I was asked last session about 
some. 

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Tools or some books? 
And I'm going to talk more about

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those tonight, but I'm just 
going to share a few of them. 

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You won't be able to necessarily
see them or keep up with it. 

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All those of you who are live 
all day my hair if you really 

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want to see them. 
These aren't the only ones in my

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office. 
I could have brought probably 

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10, I think it was something 
like that probably, but these 

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and these are not the light 
reading some of them to be 

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honest with you. 
But if you really do want to 

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understand the Canon process, 
how the Bible came to be, the 

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canonization process that we've 
talked about a few sessions ago,

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FF Bruce, the Canon of 
Scripture. 

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It's a detailed book, not light 
reading, but very informative. 

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If you're really interested in 
that, FF Bruce is there. 

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And then a couple of other 
books, some by my some friends 

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of mine and then some others. 
David Dockery. 

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If you don't know who David 
Dockery is, he's now the 

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president of Southwestern 
Seminary. 

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He's been the president at Union
University in Tennessee. 

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Great scholar and wonderful man,
a Southern Baptist leader. 

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He wrote a book called Biblical 
Interpretation then and now 

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Contemporary Hermeneutics and 
Light of the Early Church. 

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Doc anything by Dockery is good 
stuff. 

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And so he's a strong Baptist 
leader. 

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And so that one then these guys 
are friends of mine. 

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I served with both of them at 
Southern Seminary in Kentucky. 

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One of them is Robert or Bob 
Stein. 

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This is a very basic, if you 
want a basic hermeneutic, like 

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if you're a teacher and you want
some basic guides to 

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hermeneutics, this would be the 
book I'd pick up first, A Basic 

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Guide to interpreting the the 
Bible, Playing by the Rules by 

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Robert Stein. 
Great, great tool to use. 

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And then this is out of a. 
Series. 

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Ben Merkel, who's a professor of
Southeastern, is the editor of 

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this series, and different 
people write the different 

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books. 
It's the 40 question series. 

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If you don't know anything about
the 40 question series, this 

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would be an interesting series 
to you because I don't know if 

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there's probably 20 something. 
Books. 

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Now Or something in this series.
So you might have 20 questions 

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about the second coming, or 
20/20/20 questions about heaven,

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or 20 questions about hell. 
There's just all kinds of a 

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variety of subject matter. 
And what happens is, is they're 

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at the table contents is 
actually responding to. 

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I said 20, that's 40. 
I don't know why I kept saying 

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2040 questions. 
I don't know what I was saying. 

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40 questions, 40 questions 
series. 

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It's the 40 questions series. 
That's 40 questions. 

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Anyway, the table contents would
actually be responding to 40 

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questions. 
And so Rob Plummer, who's an old

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friend, a professor, smart guy, 
wrote on how to interpret the 

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Bible. 
And this would be an interesting

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book to refer to because it 
would break it down to short 

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chapters and different topics. 
So there's just a few of them. 

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There are others. 
There's some classics out there,

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MacArthur's written, John 
MacArthur's written in the field

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as well as others. 
So if you're interested more in 

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interpretation and then and 
hermeneutics and you want to go 

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a little deeper and especially 
if you're a teacher, you might 

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enjoy some of that. 
All right, I'm going to break 

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out the Greek here later. 
So buckle up butter cups and 

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let's get going here on your 
listening guide. 

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So let's talk about we've been 
asking various questions. 

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To be honest with you, it may 
not seem that way, but that's 

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what we've been doing. 
And these these sessions build 

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on one another. 
So this is your first time here.

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Thanks for coming. 
We're having a good time on 

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Wednesday nights. 
If you've missed some of the 

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sessions and engaging the Bible,
I really would go back and 

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listen to them. 
You can listen to them online. 

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We have folks who are 
administering all around the 

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building right now in other 
ways. 

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And so we make sure we have 
these recorded so they can hear 

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them as well as other people. 
And, and I'd go. 

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Back and listen because they do 
build on one another. 

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Because if you missed some of 
the earlier stuff, I'll be 

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honest with you, I don't think 
this. 

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Works. 
The same way and so, and I'll 

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refer back to that and again, 
I'm assuming a few things as we 

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dive into this. 
I'm assuming that the Bible is 

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God's special revelation that is
uniquely inspired. 

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That's an assumption. 
I'm not making that argument 

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tonight. 
I'm just assuming that I've made

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that argument in the past. 
If you need to go back and 

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listen to a a lesson on the 
authority of Scripture, I did 

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that back in the summer and you 
can pick that up where I talk 

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about revelation and I talk 
about inspiration, things like 

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that. 
But Second Timothy 316, many of 

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you would know that verse. 
All Scripture is what yeah is, 

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is breathed by God and 
profitable. 

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And it's profitable for several 
things. 

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This wouldn't be the only things
it's profitable for. 

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But in this passage, it's 
profitable for teaching, for 

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reproof, for the correction, and
for training and righteousness. 

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And it's. 
Key that it says all Scripture, 

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not just parts of Scripture, not
just the parts I like, not just 

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the parts I want to believe in, 
not just the parts that don't 

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challenge me, but all parts of 
Scripture are inspired. 

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And so this makes the Bible 
authoritative for all times and 

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for all peoples. 
And that's really crucial when 

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you start talking about 
interpretation, which we're 

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going to deny. 
This is not just an authority 

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for us. 
It's always been an authority, 

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and it will always be an 
authority. 

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And so it's the ultimate 
standard of truth, not only 

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about God, but about his plan 
for us. 

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And that's a crucial thing and 
an important thing to remember. 

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Jesus taught this in John 1717. 
He said sanctify them and the 

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truth, your word is truth. 
Jesus would often refer to 

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passages of Scripture and so 
God's word provides several 

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things for us and we recognize 
this, that it provides the 

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essential source for salvation. 
We we recognize that then Acts 4

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bears that out says this. 
Let it be known to all of you 

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and to all the people of Israel 
that by the name of Jesus Christ

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of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
whom God raised from the dead, 

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there's your gospel. 
By him this man is standing 

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before you. 
Well, this Jesus is the stone 

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that was rejected by you, the 
builders, which has become the 

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cornerstone. 
And there's salvation and no one

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else. 
For there is no other name under

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heaven given among men by which 
we must be saved. 

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So we recognize that Jesus is 
the only way to be saved with 

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the way we know. 
That is because the Bible tells 

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us this, this and, and we read 
it there. 

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The Bible also obviously is 
explicit instruction for how we 

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ought to live our lives. 
And there are many, many 

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passages obviously that we could
read. 

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That's not what we're going to 
do tonight. 

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But Matthew 44 says, but he 
answered, it is written, man 

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shall not live by bread alone, 
but by every word that comes 

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from the mouth of God. 
So we are to live in a certain 

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way. 
We're saved this way. 

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We're also going to live this 
way. 

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So. 
So in other words, there's no 

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equally authoritative 
revelation. 

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It's a good phrase. 
There's no equally authoritative

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revelation given by God to us, 
which we must turn to for our 

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help and our guidance. 
So we better know what to do 

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with it. 
Now, in that session I shared a 

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long time ago about the Bible, 
about its authority. 

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I mentioned to you 3 views of 
Scripture. 

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I'm just going to review them 
very quickly. 

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You just have a let them listed 
there. 

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So there there are at least 
three views of scripture. 

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These are very generalized. 1 is
the human constructivist view. 

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This is where people believe the
Bible is just a human book. 

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It's no different than any other
fantasy book. 

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It was written by man. 
There's nothing supernatural 

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about it. 
This is a work of fiction and 

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it's simply an expression of 
that fantasy. 

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So and this is would be a very 
liberal, non believing, you 

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know, view of the Bible. 
I've mentioned to you then I'll 

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just say it again that you could
probably go to any one of our 

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major universities and take a 
class on the Bible as literature

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best selling book of all time. 
Nothing about that is slowing 

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down. 
And so you have the greatest 

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book of literature ever written.
For some that's all it is, but 

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it's worth studying just as a 
great book of literature, just 

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like you'd study the Odyssey or 
you'd study English LED or 

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something. 
The second one is human 

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response. 
This is more complicated, also 

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more common in the church as 
well as in some what we call 

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moderate theology to liberal 
theology. 

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So God spoke in part, man 
responded and wrote the Bible. 

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And so the Bible delivers God's 
word, but is not literally God's

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word. 
And so the Bible contains errors

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as well as God's Word in that 
view. 

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And that's a pretty common view 
out and a pretty sometimes a 

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common view in, frankly, to 
where people believe the Bible's

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full of errors. 
I always find it fascinating 

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when people tell me that I've 
said this to you 14 times, 

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probably to where somebody says 
the Bible's full of errors. 

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I say I want. 
I look at them and say name. 

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Three of them for me. 
They've heard that, they've been

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told that, and they're basing. 
A lot of eternal, you know, 

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frankly, life on it. 
And they don't even know what 

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you're talking about. 
And for some, the errors include

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how come one gospel said there 
were this many angels at the 

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tomb and another gospel said 
there were that many angels at 

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the tomb. 
And they don't understand 

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perspective. 
You know, there, there's nothing

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theological about that at all. 
So anyway, it's interesting. 

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The third view is where I stand.
I pray most of you do. 

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I think you do. 
And that's just divine 

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inspiration. 
So I I do believe with all of my

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heart, without any reservation, 
with complete faith, that the 

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Bible is infallible, inspired, 
inerrant, and the literal. 

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Word of God so to help us 
properly handle such a thing as 

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the Bible. 
Especially if you believe that 

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00:12:16,560 --> 00:12:18,400
about it, it's a pretty big 
deal. 

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It's pretty important. 
So how do I properly handle this

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00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:23,560
word? 
Of truth. 

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00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:26,960
Is a pretty big deal and we've 
discussed some things already in

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previous sessions. 
Let me remind you, especially if

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you haven't been here. 
So don't neglect these things 

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00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:35,320
because interpretation builds 
upon these things. 

251
00:12:35,800 --> 00:12:38,360
Good interpretation depends upon
these things. 

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00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:42,320
So the first thing that we 
talked about was preparation to 

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where God has inspired and. 
Prepared the Bible for us. 

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00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:47,560
We had a couple different 
sessions. 

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00:12:47,560 --> 00:12:48,960
We talked about how do we get 
the Bible. 

256
00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,960
So it's a miracle story that you
have the Bible then in the form 

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00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,840
it's is and that is such a 
unified, consistent story 

258
00:12:56,840 --> 00:12:58,400
because of the way it was 
developed. 

259
00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,520
And so it's an amazing thing 
which ought to be a testimony to

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00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,440
its inspiration and its 
infallibility because it is a 

261
00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,080
miraculous story. 
But we also have to prepare 

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ourselves so we we recognize God
has prepared his message for us.

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00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,040
God has prepared this revelation
for us. 

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00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,920
But I also have to be prepared 
spiritually. 

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00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:20,920
I have to be prepared personally
to be able to receive the 

266
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,680
revelation that God has for me 
through his word. 

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00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,520
And this is a much bigger deal 
than. 

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00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:31,480
We might spend time on So we're 
talking about if we go all the 

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00:13:31,480 --> 00:13:34,360
way back to my evangelism study.
We're talking about. 

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00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,840
Relationship #1 where we're 
intentionally involved in a 

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00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:39,280
relationship with God and His 
people. 

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The closer I'm walking with God,
the closer I'm abiding with Him.

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00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,640
The closer I'm abiding in 
Christ, the more this word's 

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00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:47,160
going to speak to me, and I'm 
going to be. 

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Able to receive it and, and this
is this is extremely important. 

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00:13:51,720 --> 00:13:53,240
I'll talk more about that a 
little bit later. 

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00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:58,880
So then we open our Bibles. 
We go to our personal Bible 

278
00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:04,280
study moment, our quiet time, 
our our personal experience with

279
00:14:04,280 --> 00:14:08,160
God and the word and we open our
Bibles and we focus on a 

280
00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:10,400
specific text. 
That's where we are. 

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00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,560
So whatever we're studying, I'm 
studying this, this is the text 

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00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:16,440
I'm in for the day, whatever 
happens to be. 

283
00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:20,240
So then I said, now the first, 
the first step is observation. 

284
00:14:20,240 --> 00:14:21,240
So what we talked about in the 
last. 

285
00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:24,560
Session and we were trying to 
answer the question of what does

286
00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:27,200
it say? 
And so if you were here last 

287
00:14:27,200 --> 00:14:29,640
time, you heard several steps. 
If not, go back and listen to 

288
00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,120
that, because we discussed the 
questions that you ought to ask,

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00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:37,280
how you should be initially 
reading and observing, asking 

290
00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:38,960
certain questions. 
About the text. 

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00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,720
Then you come that where we are 
tonight for this session and 

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00:14:43,720 --> 00:14:47,840
that's interpretation. 
So I've I, I've prepared, I've 

293
00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,040
observed, now I have to 
interpret, and now we're 

294
00:14:51,040 --> 00:14:53,280
answering the question of not 
just, what does it say? 

295
00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:57,800
But what does it mean? 
What does this passage mean? 

296
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:01,760
And this is a, this is the root,
this is the core of 

297
00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:05,520
hermeneutics, the study of God's
Word, the interpretation of 

298
00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,600
God's Word. 
Now, there are going to be 

299
00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,480
statements that I make that you 
frankly may not like initially 

300
00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:15,320
and and that that's OK. 
You have the right to be wrong, 

301
00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:20,040
but I hope you'll listen so. 
So I need you to understand. 

302
00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:24,680
That we need that a primary goal
here. 

303
00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,480
And you may not think like this 
and I'll show you why in a 

304
00:15:27,480 --> 00:15:30,080
minute. 
I'll probably may nail some of 

305
00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:32,800
you to the wall, but I won't 
call out names. 

306
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:35,560
I'll just stop you in the lobby 
and tell you but. 

307
00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,000
Because there's a. 
Situation that I think we fall 

308
00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:42,920
into that you're going to see in
a minute, which is why we 

309
00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:45,360
believe sometimes not what I'm 
about to say. 

310
00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:50,200
Now let me tell you something. 
So what we're trying to do is 

311
00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:53,760
we're seeking to determine the 
author's original purpose, 

312
00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,880
thought and meaning. 
Now, most people don't really 

313
00:15:56,880 --> 00:16:00,040
want to do that. 
See what people want to do. 

314
00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,200
Many people, none of you all 
here on a midweek because you 

315
00:16:03,200 --> 00:16:04,760
know, you are the cream of the 
croppers. 

316
00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:07,040
You know what I'm saying? 
I mean, you wouldn't be here in 

317
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:10,040
the cold, so I don't. 
You know, every single one of 

318
00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:11,400
you. 
Here would never. 

319
00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:16,280
Do what I'm ready to talk about,
but so many people want to skip 

320
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,640
the preparation. 
So many people want to skip the 

321
00:16:19,640 --> 00:16:22,240
observation. 
A lot of people even want to 

322
00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:25,160
skip the interpretation and they
want to hop to the application. 

323
00:16:26,040 --> 00:16:28,240
You know, what's this got to do 
with me? 

324
00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:34,680
Now we're going to get there, 
but if you start with guess who,

325
00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:40,320
me, you're often going to miss 
the purpose of what God wanted 

326
00:16:40,320 --> 00:16:43,720
to say. 
Say when you're me centric and 

327
00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:45,640
there's a name for that and 
we'll talk about it in a minute.

328
00:16:46,160 --> 00:16:48,120
But if you're going to be me 
centric and that's all that 

329
00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,160
matters. 
And in our world today, that 

330
00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:56,360
that's our world today, right? 
Listen, over 80% of every single

331
00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:01,080
social media post in our culture
today is about the person 

332
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,000
posting. 
It's not about anything else. 

333
00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,640
I, I, I, I know that some of you
are deeply into that. 

334
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:11,119
God bless you. 
I don't understand why I should 

335
00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:12,520
care about what you had for 
breakfast. 

336
00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:14,400
You know what I mean? 
I don't. 

337
00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:17,760
I've never understood that. 
Here I am eating this sandwich 

338
00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:20,359
at lunch. 
Yay. 

339
00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:25,440
Why don't you stuff it in your 
mouth and put your phone up you.

340
00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:28,760
Know what I'm saying? 
But anyway, so so. 

341
00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:30,880
When you start off in that. 
Place it's just going to. 

342
00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:33,400
Lead you down the wrong Rd. 
So so we're. 

343
00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:37,240
Seeking to determine the 
author's original purpose, 

344
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:39,880
thought and meaning, and the 
Bible's co-authored. 

345
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:41,480
You think about it the right 
way, right? 

346
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,840
So God's inspiring using a 
person. 

347
00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,440
To receive that inspiration and 
you know, somebody's actually 

348
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:50,160
writing on a parchment or a 
papyrus or somewhere along the 

349
00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:52,360
way, writing down what's being 
said. 

350
00:17:53,080 --> 00:17:57,240
So a huge question, which often 
gets left behind. 

351
00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,560
And, and part of it is to be 
honest with you, is we're lazy 

352
00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:03,360
or we, we don't, I don't have 
enough time to do that in my 

353
00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:06,640
personal Bible study or that's 
think about that dangerous 

354
00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:09,360
statement. 
I don't have time to actually do

355
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:11,360
this the right way. 
I'm just going to skim over some

356
00:18:11,360 --> 00:18:13,360
passages and then I can check 
off. 

357
00:18:13,360 --> 00:18:15,920
I read my Bible today. 
And that's not what we're here. 

358
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:17,360
That's not what this study is 
about. 

359
00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,280
This study is I'm going to take 
my time and I'm actually going 

360
00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:24,200
to have a quality Bible study. 
All right, because what we 

361
00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,680
really want to do is how would 
the original recipients have 

362
00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,200
understood this message? 
The very. 1st. 

363
00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,840
People who ever read what was 
written, how did they interpret 

364
00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:36,960
it? 
How did they receive it? 

365
00:18:37,360 --> 00:18:39,720
And that's a far more important 
question and it's often 

366
00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:41,880
overlooked in our culture today 
because we don't care. 

367
00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:47,720
We don't care about them. 
Who do we care about me? 

368
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:52,320
And that's our culture today. 
So there's this whole thing is 

369
00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,320
counter cultural. 
The whole idea of having a 

370
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:59,440
quality personal quiet time with
God is counter cultural in our 

371
00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:01,200
world today. 
And you can understand Satan's 

372
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,320
going to fight you. 
Satan's going to the world's 

373
00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:04,680
going to fight. 
Everything's going to fight you.

374
00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:07,000
This is this is about what I can
get out of this. 

375
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,560
This is what I need to get. 
And this and we got to think 

376
00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:11,400
differently than this. 
We got to reprogram. 

377
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,840
Ourselves a little bit. 
So interpretations necessary, 

378
00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:17,920
but frankly, it's not always 
clear. 

379
00:19:19,520 --> 00:19:21,320
It's sometimes difficult in 
certain passages. 

380
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,360
What did the biblical writer 
actually mean when he wrote what

381
00:19:24,360 --> 00:19:27,080
he wrote? 
And so there are tools and 

382
00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,360
principles and practices we're 
going to talk about here to help

383
00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:31,960
us figure that out. 
All right. 

384
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:35,200
And you got to think about this.
So God, through these human 

385
00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:40,840
authors, writes the biblical 
texts to be timely to their 

386
00:19:40,840 --> 00:19:44,440
original recipients. 
As well as to us through the 

387
00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:46,560
generations. 
So you got this whole double 

388
00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:48,880
whammy thing going on. 
He's originally writing to 

389
00:19:48,880 --> 00:19:51,920
people in the Middle East 
thousands of years ago. 

390
00:19:52,080 --> 00:19:54,320
And it's supposed to be 
meaningful to them in their in 

391
00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:58,920
their situations, right? 
And so these were these original

392
00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:01,080
represents. 
So these biblical texts address 

393
00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,240
sometimes very specific 
situations and very specific 

394
00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,240
questions. 
And unfortunately, especially 

395
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,280
when you get into some of the, 
the New Testament, for example, 

396
00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:12,760
we don't even know what the 
questions are. 

397
00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:15,760
When you when you read the 
Johns, I've mentioned this 

398
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,680
previous sessions, so I'll just 
keep tagging to that. 

399
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,680
You don't necessarily how do I 
know he's writing about 

400
00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,200
Gnosticism? 
The word Gnosticism doesn't ever

401
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:25,520
show up. 
So how do I know that? 

402
00:20:25,640 --> 00:20:26,760
So these are the kinds of things
we're. 

403
00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:30,120
Going to talk through together. 
So often this makes 

404
00:20:30,120 --> 00:20:31,920
interpretation a challenge, 
frankly. 

405
00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:35,000
And because it's hard, sometimes
we don't want to do it and we 

406
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,120
don't do it because I'd rather 
just read and observe and apply 

407
00:20:37,120 --> 00:20:38,800
to my own life and see what I 
got out of it. 

408
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,400
And then I often times I'll sit 
in a group of. 

409
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:42,920
People. 
Hey, I've got to be nice. 

410
00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:44,880
Should be nice. 
So I'm not going to look at my 

411
00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,480
wife. 
So, So I've been in many, many, 

412
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:50,480
and I've shared this before. 
I've been in many, many a small 

413
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:52,440
group where frankly it was just 
group therapy. 

414
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:54,640
It had nothing to do with the 
Bible. 

415
00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:56,240
It wasn't biblical 
interpretation. 

416
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:57,920
It's not this is what I think 
this means. 

417
00:20:57,920 --> 00:20:59,480
Well, this is what I think this 
means. 

418
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:02,000
And this is what and I'm sitting
on the back row saying it never 

419
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,400
meant that. 
That's not what it means at all.

420
00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,800
But we're just applying so much 
and reading for ourselves. 

421
00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:11,520
There's a word for that. 
I'll give it to you in a minute.

422
00:21:12,120 --> 00:21:16,360
So it can be hard sometimes to 
determine that original meaning 

423
00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:18,240
because there's so much distance
between us. 

424
00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:21,080
I mean, you know, think about 
the multiple levels of 

425
00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:22,880
interpretation that are taking 
place. 

426
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:26,760
You got a biblical culture, and 
then you got you and your own 

427
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:29,280
culture and you got the culture 
surrounding you. 

428
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:31,080
And you're trying to weave in 
and out of these three 

429
00:21:31,080 --> 00:21:32,560
different. 
Areas to figure out how this. 

430
00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:33,840
Is you know. 
So what? 

431
00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,640
Which is going to be, by the 
way, applications next session. 

432
00:21:37,760 --> 00:21:41,440
So what? 
So the Bible teaches truth in 

433
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,000
the ways and the manners of 
expressing truth. 

434
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,320
You got to realize this, that 
there were things, way words 

435
00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:50,760
were structured, the way things 
were put together. 

436
00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,840
These were ways of expressing 
truth in ancient times. 

437
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,320
You don't necessarily speak in 
parables today, right? 

438
00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,320
You probably wouldn't call 
yourself a prophet or a 

439
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,160
prophetess. 
Those of you who do come see me,

440
00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:09,760
tell me about whether it's going
to snow or not. 

441
00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:14,600
If you get that right, I might 
listen to what you have to say 

442
00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:18,560
next. 
So might or not? 

443
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,320
So. 
But so we got to. 

444
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:26,400
Recognize there's barriers to 
interpretation, and barriers can

445
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:30,120
include language because you're 
reading a translation for the 

446
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:31,480
most part. 
I got the Greek right here. 

447
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,840
I don't imagine too many of you 
could take this Greek New 

448
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,120
Testament and read it. 
Maybe some of you could. 

449
00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,960
I don't imagine most of you know
Hebrew or Aramaic or Syriac. 

450
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:44,280
And so there's language that's a
barrier. 

451
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,880
There's there's geography that's
a barrier. 

452
00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:49,960
There's culture that's a 
barrier. 

453
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:51,720
There's time. 
That's a barrier. 

454
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,200
But then we bring other. 
Things. 

455
00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:55,880
And then we'll harp on this even
more later. 

456
00:22:56,280 --> 00:23:02,760
We bring presupposition, we 
bring prejudice, we bring bias 

457
00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,800
to where we already think. 
This is the, this is what I 

458
00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:07,040
believe. 
So now I'm going to make this 

459
00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,280
Scripture match what I already 
believe. 

460
00:23:09,640 --> 00:23:14,080
There's a word for that. 
So these barriers become 

461
00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,600
important. 
So This is why preparation is 

462
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,440
crucial. 
This is why observation is 

463
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,200
important. 
I need to be prepared 

464
00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:27,240
spiritually so that I can depend
upon the Holy Spirit to help me 

465
00:23:27,240 --> 00:23:29,400
really understand what this 
passage is saying. 

466
00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:34,960
This is a supernatural book. 
I need supernatural help along 

467
00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:37,200
with some practical steps and 
tools. 

468
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:40,920
It's a both end. 
So, so that's why it's easy. 

469
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:44,280
When Paul writes in first 
Corinthians 214, the natural 

470
00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,920
person does not accept the 
things of the Spirit of God, for

471
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,080
they are folly to him. 
You know, people like that. 

472
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,000
I know people like that. 
This doesn't make any sense. 

473
00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,920
This isn't, this is just folly. 
This is just fiction and He's 

474
00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:01,400
not able to understand them 
because they are spiritually 

475
00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:04,680
discerned. 
We need the interpretation of 

476
00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:08,040
the Holy Spirit to help us in 
between. 

477
00:24:08,360 --> 00:24:10,680
So I need to make sure I'm 
walking with him well. 

478
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,560
So we need the Holy Spirit to 
illumine, you know, that's a 

479
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,960
called illumination where He's 
illuminating God's Word for us 

480
00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:19,480
and guides. 
Us to the proper study and 

481
00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:20,560
understanding. 
Of that word. 

482
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:25,400
And it's also helpful on on. 
The practical level, because 

483
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:26,880
there's a partnership at work 
here. 

484
00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,640
On the practical level, it's 
great to have good teachers and 

485
00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:34,560
resources to help us. 
Now, here's what I hear about 

486
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,000
Inglewood Baptist Church. 
I hear that most of our Connect 

487
00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:43,960
group leaders are pretty good. 
I was waiting for any response 

488
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,040
to that statement. 
Of course, that's not what I 

489
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:47,000
heard. 
I've heard that all of our 

490
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:48,800
Connect groups are great. 
Amen. 

491
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:50,720
Yeah. 
If you like your Connect group 

492
00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:52,080
leader, say it. 
Say aye. 

493
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,560
Thank you very much. 
Those of you who opposed, talk 

494
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,960
to me in the lobby. 
Our e-mail, you know, go. 

495
00:24:58,040 --> 00:24:59,840
It's be easier to e-mail. 
e-mail. 

496
00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:02,360
See 
taylor@inglewoodfabulous.com. 

497
00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:04,840
He has nothing to do with any of
that. 

498
00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:07,440
Would it be good? 
No, I mean, that's one of the 

499
00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:10,720
things that you know, of all the
things I'm working through, all 

500
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:12,680
the assessment issues I might 
worry about here. 

501
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,360
I'm so thankful because I'm 
telling you it's not always the 

502
00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:18,720
case, not in Teresa Valance. 
It's not always the case when I 

503
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:19,440
help. 
Churches. 

504
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,440
I'm not sitting around here 
fretting and staying up all 

505
00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,000
night worrying about whether or 
not some connect group leaders 

506
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:26,680
teaching the Bible or not, 
right? 

507
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:31,240
What a blessing. 
And seriously, don't take that 

508
00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:35,920
for granted ever. 
And you test my preaching. 

509
00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:40,120
And if I don't preach the word 
of God, fire me because Hebrews 

510
00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:44,240
512 through 14 says this. 
For though by this time you 

511
00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:46,840
ought to be teachers, you need 
someone to teach you again the 

512
00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:48,840
basic principles of the oracles 
of God. 

513
00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:53,240
You need milk, not solid food, 
for everyone who lives on milk 

514
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,640
is unskilled in the word of 
righteousness, since he is a 

515
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,280
child. 
But solid food is for the 

516
00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:02,840
mature, for those who have their
powers of discernment trained by

517
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,120
constant practice to distinguish
good from evil. 

518
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,680
So it's this interesting mix, 
you know, we're dependent upon 

519
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:11,240
the Holy Spirit to help us 
supernaturally discern things. 

520
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:16,120
We're also training ourselves in
the right steps to to have. 

521
00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:19,200
Practices of discernment that 
are wise and right. 

522
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,640
So there's spiritual maturity, 
there's discipleship that's a 

523
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:25,400
part of this that's going on. 
So the more I interpret well, 

524
00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,440
the more I go through these 
steps, the more I take my time 

525
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,560
and my personal Bible study, the
more mature I'm going to bid. 

526
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:32,400
That helps me even more the more
mature. 

527
00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,600
I'm going to get it's. 
Going to help me even more and 

528
00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,440
you'll cycle yourself up. 
But remember that interpretation

529
00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,840
is a part of your daily life 
whether you believe it or not, 

530
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:44,120
because every English 
translation includes 

531
00:26:44,120 --> 00:26:47,520
interpretation and they don't 
let that scare you. 

532
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,840
That doesn't mean that 
something's bad, but that's why 

533
00:26:50,840 --> 00:26:54,600
different translations are 
different because there are 

534
00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:56,880
there is interpretation taking 
place. 

535
00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,040
So it's helpful, like we talked 
about last time, it's helpful to

536
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,720
compare to have more than one 
translation that are solid good 

537
00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,800
translations that follow 
original language to be able to 

538
00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,720
compare them and to sit there 
and say, oh, that, so so that. 

539
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:15,000
This committee of scholars made 
a choice here in this word to go

540
00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:18,400
this direction, and this 
committee of scholars made a 

541
00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:20,800
choice in this word, and they 
went it doesn't mean the 

542
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:22,400
meaning's different. 
It's not going to change 

543
00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,720
theology, ever. 
But it's like, it's interesting 

544
00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:28,240
that they use that word and they
use this word, right? 

545
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,000
Somebody's going to use anger. 
Somebody's going to use rage. 

546
00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,440
Rage is different than anger in 
my mind. 

547
00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,160
Wrath is different than just I'm
upset. 

548
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,640
So you can see there's 
interpretation taking place 

549
00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:44,200
along the way. 
A good sermon hopefully helps to

550
00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:47,680
do that as well, frankly. 
So so so. 

551
00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,600
Then to find the original 
intent, which is where this 

552
00:27:50,600 --> 00:27:54,440
whole section started, what did 
the author originally mean to 

553
00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:58,320
say right? 
So we must think exegetically 

554
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:00,960
and we got to ask the right 
questions. 

555
00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:04,120
Now, some of those questions are
the questions we talked about 

556
00:28:04,120 --> 00:28:07,880
last time in observation. 
It's going to be hard to do good

557
00:28:07,880 --> 00:28:11,600
interpretation without asking 
those who, what, where, why kind

558
00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:13,640
of questions back. 
We talked about an observation. 

559
00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:15,200
If you missed that, go back and 
listen to it. 

560
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,120
So we're putting that framework 
into place now. 

561
00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:19,480
We're trying to draw out 
meaning. 

562
00:28:20,120 --> 00:28:25,360
Not just facts, but meaning. 
So the goal needs to be to 

563
00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:29,240
understand what the author was 
trying to say to the original 

564
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,360
leaders that readers, that's 
goal number one. 

565
00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:35,720
What did this originally mean? 
Because a couple of truths about

566
00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:42,720
hermeneutics is that God's Word 
to us, God's Word to us today 

567
00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:46,000
was first, his Word to them back
then. 

568
00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:51,320
And got a text can never mean 
what it never meant. 

569
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:53,600
Now, you may not have realized 
it, but I've said that sentence 

570
00:28:53,600 --> 00:28:58,000
about four times in this study. 
A text can never mean what it 

571
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,480
never meant. 
The reason I emphasize that so 

572
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,080
much as I find people in 
churches guilty of something. 

573
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:09,120
Else they're trying to make the 
text say something that it never

574
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:10,760
meant to say. 
OK. 

575
00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:14,920
And so this is hard for a lot of
people because there are. 

576
00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,960
Frankly, some things that we're 
not necessarily supposed to be 

577
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,040
able to completely understand or
predict. 

578
00:29:21,040 --> 00:29:25,440
So the limits of revelation are 
things that we have to accept. 

579
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,920
And people don't like that. 
People like to figure everything

580
00:29:27,920 --> 00:29:29,840
out. 
When's the Second coming going 

581
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:33,640
to happen? 
Not only do you not know, Jesus 

582
00:29:33,640 --> 00:29:35,960
says he doesn't know. 
And frankly, I don't know why 

583
00:29:35,960 --> 00:29:37,520
you're wasting your time trying 
to figure it out. 

584
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,440
I mean, that's seriously my 
perspective. 

585
00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,080
I don't know why you're wasting 
your time trying to figure that 

586
00:29:42,080 --> 00:29:43,640
out. 
I've gotten over the years, you 

587
00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:47,680
know how many color code charts 
I own, how many predictions 

588
00:29:47,680 --> 00:29:49,320
books that were predicting this 
and that. 

589
00:29:49,520 --> 00:29:51,920
Our Job's not prediction our 
Job's proclamation. 

590
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:56,080
Jesus said he doesn't know. 
Why are you trying to figure it 

591
00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:57,560
out? 
But there are people who 

592
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:01,800
theologically treat theology 
like math, and they're letting, 

593
00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,600
they're trying to have facts 
prove their faith rather than 

594
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:07,720
faith determine their facts. 
And that backward formula gets 

595
00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:08,880
them in trouble. 
That's why they don't believe 

596
00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:11,640
the word of God all the time 
because they're putting one 

597
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:13,880
thing ahead of the other and 
they're trying to figure it all 

598
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:15,360
out. 
I got a box it all up over here 

599
00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:17,720
so I can put it on the shelf. 
I know people in theological 

600
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:19,960
circles who have certain 
theological bins who do that 

601
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,400
and, and frankly, they reach the
wrong conclusions. 

602
00:30:23,920 --> 00:30:27,600
I know people who are hyper in 
their views and they reach wrong

603
00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:29,840
conclusions because they're 
they're treating math like 

604
00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:31,320
algebra. 
They're treating math like 

605
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,120
trigonometry. 
I mean, they're treating 

606
00:30:33,320 --> 00:30:36,680
theology that way, not math that
is math treating theology that 

607
00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:38,240
way. 
That may or may not make sense 

608
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:39,160
to you. 
If it made sense. 

609
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:40,360
You know exactly what I'm 
talking about. 

610
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,360
If it didn't, don't worry about 
it. 

611
00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:48,040
But some people chafe at the 
idea that I'm not supposed to 

612
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:49,520
know every single thing about 
every single thing. 

613
00:30:50,640 --> 00:30:53,480
OK, there are issues of faith in
the Bible. 

614
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:57,240
There are mysteries in the 
Bible, and we have to learn to 

615
00:30:57,240 --> 00:30:59,000
accept them. 
And for some of these can't do 

616
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:01,320
that because that because their 
number one priority is their own

617
00:31:01,320 --> 00:31:03,440
brain. 
Their number one priority is 

618
00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:05,560
themself and them trying to 
figure out the facts. 

619
00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:09,160
And it's dangerous. 
So our job again is not 

620
00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,080
prediction, it's interpretation 
and proclamation. 

621
00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:15,720
Some issues must simply be 
accepted by faith and it's hard 

622
00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,040
for some people. 
So what happens then is I'm 

623
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:20,920
going to give you the words for 
this. 

624
00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:26,600
Your beginning presuppositions 
and assumptions can become 

625
00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:32,240
barriers and or become very 
inaccurate filters to prove to 

626
00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,680
proper interpretation. 
I'm bringing what I already 

627
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:38,920
think into the puzzle rather 
than letting the text honestly 

628
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,400
define what I think. 
See. 

629
00:31:42,280 --> 00:31:46,640
So I bring my doubts or I bring 
my strong opinions and I'm 

630
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:48,280
laying it on the scripture 
rather. 

631
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:50,400
Than letting the. 
Scripture determine my strong 

632
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,560
opinions and actually determine 
my truth. 

633
00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:56,720
And it's really hard in our 
culture today because especially

634
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,680
the American culture, because we
are so individual. 

635
00:31:59,880 --> 00:32:02,040
The word is individualistic, 
autonomous. 

636
00:32:02,680 --> 00:32:06,760
We are so individualistic in our
our viewpoint here that we 

637
00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,160
really do think it's about me 
and it's not. 

638
00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:14,080
It never was, and frankly it 
never will be. 

639
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,920
It's about him. 
So we create these theological 

640
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:24,720
lenses and everything it might 
be perceived in a certain way 

641
00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,080
when in fact they were 
originally not intended to mean 

642
00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:32,920
that at all. 
There's an old proverb that says

643
00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,080
if all you have is a hammer, 
everything looks like a nail. 

644
00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,000
So if I start. 
Off with a hammer. 

645
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:41,520
Everything I see, I'm going to 
figure it's going to all be 

646
00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:43,720
interpreted by my hammer. 
All right? 

647
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:48,880
And there are certain viewpoints
that are taught in churches that

648
00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:51,440
are not the only viewpoint, but 
they're taught us the only 

649
00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:53,520
viewpoint. 
And sometimes it can lead to 

650
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:55,880
some real. 
Issues and an honest 

651
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:59,960
interpretation. 
So there are big differences. 

652
00:32:59,960 --> 00:33:03,760
Let me hear the words. 
I appreciated a brother who came

653
00:33:03,760 --> 00:33:07,200
up last week and re emphasized 
one of these to me after the 

654
00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:09,880
after the session. 
But there are big differences 

655
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,800
between exegesis. 
And eisegesis, These are 

656
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:20,040
important if you've been asleep,
wake up, put your coffee down. 

657
00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:22,760
If you're listening to this 
online and take a note or two. 

658
00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:26,920
There's a big difference between
exegesis and isagesis. 

659
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:34,640
Isagesis EISE exegesis is the 
careful systematic study of the 

660
00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:39,120
scriptures to understand the 
original intended meeting. 

661
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:43,440
X means to pull out of. 
So I'm starting with the 

662
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:47,160
scripture and I'm pulling out 
honestly what the scripture is 

663
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,400
saying. 
That's exegesis. 

664
00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:53,320
Exegetical teaching or preaching
pulls out of the scripture. 

665
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,040
I said Jesus the word, the the 
prefix ice. 

666
00:33:57,040 --> 00:34:00,040
Means to put into. 
I'm starting off with a 

667
00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:03,520
presupposition over here, and 
I'm pretty pushing that into the

668
00:34:03,520 --> 00:34:07,000
scripture to proof text what I 
already believe. 

669
00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:11,480
So the mistake of interpreting a
text in such a way is to 

670
00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:13,600
introduce one's own 
presupposition, agendas or 

671
00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:18,920
biases you read into the text 
rather than allowing the text to

672
00:34:18,920 --> 00:34:20,840
speak to you. 
This is probably the number one 

673
00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:22,920
mistake of it of good 
interpretation. 

674
00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:28,320
So I have a viewpoint of blank. 
I'm going to make every 

675
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,280
scripture agree with my blank 
whether it really did or not. 

676
00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:36,320
I'm going to force that in there
and there are a lot of different

677
00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:37,920
ways that happens. 
I'll talk about more of that in 

678
00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:39,360
a minute. 
So. 

679
00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,639
So it's. 
Often done to justify. 

680
00:34:42,639 --> 00:34:47,520
It's often done to confirm the 
position you already had. 

681
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:52,080
Now another one. 
Which may just be a subset of 

682
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:54,159
isagesis. 
Is a term. 

683
00:34:54,159 --> 00:34:56,400
It's it's an informal, you're 
not going to find this in 

684
00:34:56,400 --> 00:35:02,200
academic text, but it's 
Narcissus and Narcissus. 

685
00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,320
Is where the. 
Bible is all about me in my 

686
00:35:04,320 --> 00:35:08,440
opinions and my interpretations 
and I think this is a leading 

687
00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:13,400
sin in American church. 
We have a lot of narcissistic or

688
00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:16,040
narcissistic. 
How do you say that word 

689
00:35:16,160 --> 00:35:19,560
Narcissus narcissistic. 
That's but not bad 

690
00:35:20,680 --> 00:35:25,000
interpretations. 
We make it, we make move. 

691
00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:27,440
Put me right at the centre and 
everything has to be about me 

692
00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:29,320
and my issues and my problems 
and everything I'm going 

693
00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,360
through. 
Now, don't get me wrong, the 

694
00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:33,320
Bible speaks to your problems 
and everything that you're going

695
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:37,600
to, but it's got to honestly, 
and sometimes it might not agree

696
00:35:37,600 --> 00:35:41,600
with where you want to end up. 
It might challenge you. 

697
00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,360
You got to be over here. 
Well, I don't want to be over 

698
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:44,120
there. 
I want to be over here. 

699
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:45,800
So I'm going to make the Bible 
prove I'm over here. 

700
00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,560
This is a great sin of the 
prosperity gospel to where I'm 

701
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:53,000
going to I'm going to manipulate
God. 

702
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:54,760
I'm going to manipulate 
scripture. 

703
00:35:54,960 --> 00:35:56,400
I'm going to manipulate the 
text. 

704
00:35:56,400 --> 00:36:00,080
I'm going to proof text my way 
to where I get everything I 

705
00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:02,000
want. 
Out of this. 

706
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:06,040
That's magic. 
I've said this to you before. 

707
00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,000
The prosperity gospel is magic. 
It's not theology. 

708
00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:14,160
Magic is where I have the power 
to manipulate the forces for my 

709
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:16,720
own will. 
I'm going to, I'm going to do 

710
00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:19,440
something good or bad, and I can
manipulate the forces to my own 

711
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:22,880
whim and way. 
That's magic, the prosperity 

712
00:36:22,880 --> 00:36:25,720
gospel would say, and naming it 
and claiming it, it's just 

713
00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:28,760
magic. 
God might not want you to have 

714
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:32,240
it, and he might have a better 
reason than you could ever dream

715
00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:35,360
of for not having it. 
He might be protecting you from 

716
00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,200
something you think you want. 
But now I can, I can proof text 

717
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:39,480
it. 
I can make it sound like I 

718
00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:41,960
should get everything I want, 
all right? 

719
00:36:43,240 --> 00:36:45,920
I know people who see things 
under every Bush in Scripture. 

720
00:36:46,360 --> 00:36:48,200
They're not there. 
They were never there. 

721
00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:49,840
That Bush is naked. 
They didn't have anything under 

722
00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:51,800
it. 
But they'll, they'll put 

723
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,280
something in there. 
Because they already have this 

724
00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,400
presupposition, this idea of 
what I want the Bible, what I 

725
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,920
want the Bible to say for me, 
for me or about me. 

726
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,760
So the reader imposes these 
personal agendas, these 

727
00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:07,560
experiences, the perceptions 
into a biblical passage. 

728
00:37:07,920 --> 00:37:10,640
And so Narcissus treats every 
verse as though it revolves 

729
00:37:10,640 --> 00:37:15,080
around the individual producing 
the self focus lesson rather 

730
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,680
than seeking the original lesson
that God had intended for his 

731
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:22,240
people. 
Sometimes the lesson I want is 

732
00:37:22,240 --> 00:37:23,800
not the lesson that God's 
teaching. 

733
00:37:25,760 --> 00:37:30,360
Sometimes God's lessons are 
things like stop it, repent, 

734
00:37:30,720 --> 00:37:36,480
confess, you know, But I can 
just make God love if I want to.

735
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,120
I can make God nothing but love 
if I want to. 

736
00:37:40,120 --> 00:37:44,840
And anything that says God's not
love, I can, I'll just tear it 

737
00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:46,720
out. 
I don't like that part. 

738
00:37:46,720 --> 00:37:50,240
I don't like holiness. 
I don't, I don't want judgment. 

739
00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:53,320
I don't want accountability. 
I don't want any accountable. 

740
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:55,280
I don't want accountability. 
I don't want accountability. 

741
00:37:56,920 --> 00:37:59,920
Wait till Sunday's sermon, you 
know, might not want to be here.

742
00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:03,880
Not you all. 
Cream of the crop. 

743
00:38:06,720 --> 00:38:12,280
So we all bring our knowledge, 
we all bring our hopes, we all 

744
00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:15,760
bring our dreams, we all bring 
our wants to Scripture, we also 

745
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:19,720
bring our culture and we bring 
our biases to the table when we 

746
00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:22,880
begin to interpret. 
And this can result not always, 

747
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:28,600
but can result in eisegesis or 
narciegesis all right if I don't

748
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:30,360
understand certain principles. 
That must be. 

749
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:33,560
Followed in interpretation, then
I can reach wrong conclusions. 

750
00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:36,920
So we need to talk about some 
healthy practices, some sound 

751
00:38:36,920 --> 00:38:39,760
hermeneutical principles that 
will help you avoid some of 

752
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:41,280
this. 
How can I reach an honest 

753
00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,120
interpretation, a real 
interpretation? 

754
00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:48,000
So one of them is literary 
context. 

755
00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,360
Now, this stuff may sound 
boring, but it's important. 

756
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:55,000
And so the meaning of any 
passage is going to be 

757
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:57,800
consistent, normally with what 
comes before it or after it. 

758
00:38:58,000 --> 00:38:59,960
Now, different kinds of 
literature are not always true 

759
00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:01,600
that way. 
There can be proverbs. 

760
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,200
That one proverb has nothing to 
do with any of the proverbs. 

761
00:39:04,400 --> 00:39:06,160
It's all about wisdom. 
But this proverb has a 

762
00:39:06,160 --> 00:39:08,080
completely different statement 
than the one before the one 

763
00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:09,680
after. 
You can have that in the Psalms,

764
00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:12,000
you can have that in certain 
literature, but most of the 

765
00:39:12,000 --> 00:39:14,960
passages are going to be 
consistent with what comes 

766
00:39:14,960 --> 00:39:17,720
before it or after it. 
So we don't proof text. 

767
00:39:17,720 --> 00:39:20,440
We don't take a verse out of 
context, quote UN quote. 

768
00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:24,560
You don't ever take a verse out 
of context to support an 

769
00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:28,080
argument or belief that is 
isagesis or it could be 

770
00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:31,520
narcgesis. 
So a danger. 

771
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,240
It doesn't mean every single 
time, but to be careful. 

772
00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,600
The smaller the passage you're 
studying, the greater the 

773
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:41,360
likelihood of it being taken out
of context because I'm not 

774
00:39:41,360 --> 00:39:45,600
reading what's around it. 
And so we you need to graduate 

775
00:39:45,600 --> 00:39:48,880
out in your study of context and
you're going to say, I don't 

776
00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:50,680
have time for this man. 
This is going to take an hour of

777
00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,560
my life. 
This going so easy. 

778
00:39:53,600 --> 00:39:56,560
Learn the habits. 
You'll get them down to do them 

779
00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:00,640
quicker, but the immediate 
context, what verses are just 

780
00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:02,160
right around it. 
It's very helpful. 

781
00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:04,840
But then you got to go to 
chapter. 

782
00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:08,360
What's the whole chapter about? 
Because often to be able to 

783
00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:10,680
interpret that little passage, I
really do need to understand 

784
00:40:10,680 --> 00:40:12,320
what is that? 
What has he been talking about? 

785
00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:14,920
There are many times I've 
mentioned Colossians 3 to you 

786
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:16,440
have 1000 times in different 
things. 

787
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:19,360
You can't read with Colossians 3
without reading beforehand. 

788
00:40:19,360 --> 00:40:21,880
In Colossians 2, he's talking 
about a description of the 

789
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:23,480
Christian life. 
That's the context. 

790
00:40:25,120 --> 00:40:27,280
And so then you have the whole 
book context. 

791
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:30,440
What's this whole book about? 
Very important to understand. 

792
00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:34,200
After Nehemiah, I'm going to 
preach through Romans. 

793
00:40:34,520 --> 00:40:36,520
It's going to take 12 years, but
I'm going to preach through 

794
00:40:36,520 --> 00:40:38,480
Romans. 
It's not going to take that 

795
00:40:38,480 --> 00:40:41,760
long, but. 
There's a sermon in every phrase

796
00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:45,000
in the book of Romans. 
But it's going to take a little.

797
00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:48,600
While but I was. 
Reading through just. 

798
00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:50,920
What would I say about the 
introduction to the book of 

799
00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:53,000
Romans, even though this is 
still a few months or a couple 

800
00:40:53,000 --> 00:40:55,560
months away or whenever it is 
after Easter, because we're 

801
00:40:55,560 --> 00:40:56,840
going to do some Easter stuff 
too. 

802
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:01,080
But I'm like, you know, how 
would I introduce to you in a 

803
00:41:01,080 --> 00:41:03,880
Sunday morning sermon A brief 
introduction for the book of 

804
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:05,320
Romans? 
And I was reading about 

805
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,600
everything. 
It's helpful to read that. 

806
00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:08,840
Every now and then it's helpful 
to write. 

807
00:41:08,880 --> 00:41:12,280
This is what this book's about. 
This is why Paul wrote Romans, 

808
00:41:13,280 --> 00:41:14,600
and there's a reason behind 
that. 

809
00:41:14,720 --> 00:41:18,280
There was actually a church at 
Rome, and he was writing to the 

810
00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:22,000
church at Rome about Roman 
issues that they had at Rome, in

811
00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:23,840
Rome, for those Romans who were 
in Rome. 

812
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:26,720
Don't ignore that. 
That doesn't mean that doesn't 

813
00:41:26,720 --> 00:41:30,080
have anything for me, that's the
miracle of the living word. 

814
00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:33,680
But I better understand what it 
meant for those Romans in Rome 

815
00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:35,480
when they were in Rome and he 
was writing to Rome because they

816
00:41:35,480 --> 00:41:37,000
were in Rome and they had Roman 
issues. 

817
00:41:38,560 --> 00:41:41,880
Because it helps me to 
understand and it will actually 

818
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:45,120
help me apply better when I know
that truth. 

819
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:49,240
So that book context or the 
Testament, where does this fit 

820
00:41:49,240 --> 00:41:52,320
into the New Testament? 
This is especially true in the 

821
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,800
Old Testament. 
So I've gone from Zechariah 

822
00:41:56,640 --> 00:42:03,000
context, Ezra, Nehemiah to 
Zephaniah and one day I went 

823
00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:07,280
from Zechariah to Zephaniah, my 
personal Bible study the next 

824
00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:08,720
sound exciting. 
Aren't you excited? 

825
00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:10,760
Once you, once you dive into the
minor prophets with me, 

826
00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:14,560
Zechariah is condemning them, 
you know, talking about why they

827
00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:16,400
were condemned in Babylon. 
And you better come back and you

828
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:18,320
better do what you're supposed 
to do because God sent you into 

829
00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:19,280
exile. 
If you don't know what you're 

830
00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:20,720
supposed to do, God's going. 
To get you again. 

831
00:42:22,280 --> 00:42:23,200
Happy, happy, joy. 
Joy. 

832
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:26,240
Zephaniah has nothing to do with
that. 

833
00:42:27,720 --> 00:42:30,600
Zephaniah was written in the 
time of Josiah the king, when 

834
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:33,160
Judah was trying to go through 
some reform and. 

835
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:34,640
When? 
Josiah finds the book, he's 

836
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:36,120
reading the book. 
He's trying to be a good king. 

837
00:42:36,120 --> 00:42:38,240
He's trying to bring. 
Revival Zephaniah is written in 

838
00:42:38,240 --> 00:42:41,280
that time frame. 
Completely different story. 

839
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:45,080
If you're you're reading through
your Old Testament, you're just 

840
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:47,880
going to hit these books in an 
order of size, not an order of 

841
00:42:47,880 --> 00:42:50,440
chronology, not an order of 
purpose, not an order of. 

842
00:42:51,280 --> 00:42:52,560
So the Old Testament is 
especially. 

843
00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:55,240
True. 
And how's this fit into the 

844
00:42:55,240 --> 00:42:59,600
whole Bible story? 
How does what I'm reading today,

845
00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:01,840
what does it have to do with 
what we would call the meta 

846
00:43:01,840 --> 00:43:04,440
narrative or the grand 
narrative, the whole? 

847
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,600
Story of Scripture. 
What does it have to do with 

848
00:43:07,600 --> 00:43:09,400
that? 
How does it fit into that? 

849
00:43:09,600 --> 00:43:12,880
How does it apply to that? 
And and how am I going to 

850
00:43:13,000 --> 00:43:18,560
understand it that way? 
So the best always reliable 

851
00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:22,840
commentary on the Bible is the 
Bible. 

852
00:43:24,600 --> 00:43:29,920
So understanding that the Bible 
will never contradict itself and

853
00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:33,080
cross referencing passages is 
always helpful. 

854
00:43:33,680 --> 00:43:35,560
Some of you have Bibles that'll 
do that for you. 

855
00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:37,520
You got there used to be 1 
called the Thompson. 

856
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:39,520
Anybody ever have a Thompson 
chain reference Bible? 

857
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:40,520
You remember that when some of 
it. 

858
00:43:40,720 --> 00:43:42,960
It was a really helpful tool if 
you know, it's kind of small 

859
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,360
print in there, but man, you'd 
have a verse and then have all 

860
00:43:45,360 --> 00:43:47,680
these other verses that kind of 
tied into that verse and you 

861
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:49,760
could just run that chain. 
I could go from this verse and 

862
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:51,720
I'm going to read that verse and
this verse and they're all going

863
00:43:51,720 --> 00:43:54,080
to loop together in a, in a 
purposeful meaning. 

864
00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:56,360
It's a helpful tool, helpful 
study Bible. 

865
00:43:56,360 --> 00:44:00,680
A lot of them you'll have little
things in your margins they'll 

866
00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:06,040
cross referencing, but study the
the the the. 

867
00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:07,200
Purpose of the book? 
What? 

868
00:44:07,400 --> 00:44:09,880
What other time frame is it? 
Is there another book in the 

869
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:11,800
Bible that was around the same 
time? 

870
00:44:12,360 --> 00:44:14,800
Be helpful to then cross 
reference those two books and 

871
00:44:14,800 --> 00:44:17,120
see what they're saying. 
Some of these books might relate

872
00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:20,200
to, You might have a historical 
book and then you might have 

873
00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:23,160
more of an epistle or a 
prophecy, but they're actually 

874
00:44:23,160 --> 00:44:24,880
talking about the same place, 
same time. 

875
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:27,200
That could happen in the book of
Acts and Paul, or that could 

876
00:44:27,200 --> 00:44:29,440
happen in the Old Testament. 
You know, think about first and 

877
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:31,760
Second Kings, first and second 
Chronicles, and some of the 

878
00:44:31,760 --> 00:44:38,000
stories that go along with it. 
So three types of information 

879
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:40,760
from the context can help you 
correctly interpret. 

880
00:44:41,520 --> 00:44:44,520
Does the interpretation fit the 
stated or apparent? 

881
00:44:44,520 --> 00:44:47,480
Purpose of the book. 
And if it doesn't seem to do 

882
00:44:47,480 --> 00:44:48,920
that, you got to ask yourself 
why? 

883
00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:51,400
What am I? 
Am I right or wrong? 

884
00:44:51,400 --> 00:44:53,560
Am I missing something? 
Am I reading something into it? 

885
00:44:53,560 --> 00:44:56,000
Does it fit the flow of thought?
We're going to talk more about 

886
00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:58,640
that in a minute. 
And do parallel passages shed 

887
00:44:58,640 --> 00:45:00,360
any light on the passage you're 
studying? 

888
00:45:02,880 --> 00:45:09,960
I hope that you're gathering 
from me that for you to have 

889
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:12,720
this deep engagement of the 
Bible with a humble and 

890
00:45:12,720 --> 00:45:14,880
teachable spirit, which is one 
of our essentials of 

891
00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:18,280
discipleship at Inglewood, that 
this is more than you just 

892
00:45:18,280 --> 00:45:22,280
reading the Bible. 
I hope you're gathering that 

893
00:45:23,160 --> 00:45:25,640
this is this is how I'm picking 
the Bible apart. 

894
00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:29,320
This is how I'm, I'm actually 
actually understanding and 

895
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:31,440
pulling out of this every single
thing I can. 

896
00:45:31,440 --> 00:45:35,560
I'm ringing it for every. 
Ounce of truth I can get that 

897
00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:37,720
takes discipline it. 
Takes time. 

898
00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:41,400
It's not something that might 
come easily in the beginning. 

899
00:45:41,560 --> 00:45:45,360
So find parts of this at least 
that you can do #2 the 

900
00:45:45,360 --> 00:45:47,880
historical, cultural background.
I've alluded to this, but. 

901
00:45:48,520 --> 00:45:50,760
All the books of the Bible were 
written in a specific time, 

902
00:45:50,760 --> 00:45:55,880
specific place, for specific 
people with specific issues, and

903
00:45:55,880 --> 00:45:59,800
so these aren't just books. 
For us, these were books for 

904
00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:03,520
them, you know, and if we're 
going to understand what was 

905
00:46:03,520 --> 00:46:05,720
written, it's helpful to know as
much as we can about this 

906
00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:08,000
historical and cultural 
background of the writing. 

907
00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,880
So try to spend the proper 
amount of time and observation 

908
00:46:11,880 --> 00:46:16,480
asking those basic questions and
ask the right questions and this

909
00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,600
is where good study. 
Bibles and commentaries. 

910
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:21,280
Could be really helpful to you. 
To where they have some of that 

911
00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:23,320
information. 
About the book at the beginning 

912
00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:26,080
of your book or they have notes 
along the margins. 

913
00:46:28,120 --> 00:46:30,240
And so a good study Bible would 
be helpful. 

914
00:46:30,560 --> 00:46:33,960
But to understand some of the 
cultural elements, right? 

915
00:46:34,880 --> 00:46:37,040
And, and, and there'll be 
debates about some of those 

916
00:46:37,040 --> 00:46:41,840
cultural elements, right. 
There are some some things that 

917
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:43,880
I could talk about right now 
that probably get me in trouble.

918
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:49,760
So let's just do that. 
So, for example, there are 

919
00:46:49,760 --> 00:46:53,240
things that Paul would write 
about women in the church. 

920
00:46:54,040 --> 00:46:56,000
I'm not talking about teaching 
or pastoring. 

921
00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:58,640
I'm not even going to go down 
the road of being silent. 

922
00:46:58,680 --> 00:47:03,920
I'm smarter than that. 
Might not look like it, but I 

923
00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:07,680
got good teachers at home. 
But should a well, should a 

924
00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:12,360
woman wear pearls and gold? 
You know, there are passages 

925
00:47:12,360 --> 00:47:14,400
about the way women adorn 
themselves. 

926
00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,640
Is that, is that still something
we should talk about today? 

927
00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:21,600
Is that is that is that a 
cultural element of the moment? 

928
00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:25,600
Is that is that a more general 
lesson about modesty and 

929
00:47:25,600 --> 00:47:27,560
humility? 
What, you know, where's the 

930
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:31,120
interpretation? 
Land cultural stuff is handy. 

931
00:47:32,480 --> 00:47:36,120
You know, there's some backdrops
to some of these people who. 

932
00:47:36,120 --> 00:47:37,640
Came from very Pagan 
backgrounds. 

933
00:47:39,520 --> 00:47:43,320
And the temple worship that they
were exposed to all the time and

934
00:47:43,320 --> 00:47:46,320
the way people acted and the way
people dressed and the way 

935
00:47:46,320 --> 00:47:48,320
people spoke. 
And some of the temple worship 

936
00:47:49,200 --> 00:47:53,720
infiltrated their pasts and they
were bringing it to the church. 

937
00:47:55,080 --> 00:47:58,560
So what do you, what do you need
to get rid of from that? 

938
00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:03,000
And what's OK to keep that would
play a part in some of those 

939
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:06,080
conversations. 
Understanding context is 

940
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:08,440
important. 
I'm not here to pick on whether 

941
00:48:08,440 --> 00:48:10,960
women wear jewelry or not. 
I buy jewelry for my wife all 

942
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:12,880
the time. 
So you can see how I interpret 

943
00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:16,800
the passage, but at the same 
time you. 

944
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:19,840
Could talk about what does it. 
Mean for a camel to go through 

945
00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:23,840
the eye of the needle? 
Is that just an illustration of 

946
00:48:24,240 --> 00:48:26,520
how impossible it is for the? 
Rich man to go to heaven. 

947
00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:29,240
Is it really a literal needle? 
And the fact that the camel's 

948
00:48:29,240 --> 00:48:31,280
too big and it's absurd. 
It's just total absurdity. 

949
00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:34,520
Or is it the gate? 
There's a gate that was 

950
00:48:34,520 --> 00:48:35,440
referred. 
To as the eye. 

951
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:38,800
Of the needle on the wall of 
Jerusalem and the and a camel 

952
00:48:38,800 --> 00:48:40,360
would have to stoop on his 
knees. 

953
00:48:40,360 --> 00:48:42,040
To crawl. 
Through that gate, it was so 

954
00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:44,280
small. 
What's he talking about? 

955
00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:51,680
Is that what he's talking about?
You know, so when a when Jesus 

956
00:48:51,680 --> 00:48:55,960
spoke, spoke in parables, what 
kind of what kind of stories 

957
00:48:55,960 --> 00:48:57,680
would he often tell? 
Just shout it out? 

958
00:48:57,680 --> 00:48:59,480
What what were many of the 
parables? 

959
00:48:59,480 --> 00:49:02,000
What kind of, what kind of 
culture, what kind of background

960
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:04,800
were a lot of the parables 
agriculture? 

961
00:49:04,920 --> 00:49:08,720
Why? 
Because that's what they were, 

962
00:49:09,160 --> 00:49:11,440
right? 
A lot of you aren't farmers, 

963
00:49:11,440 --> 00:49:13,760
some of you are, some of you 
very skilled farmers, some of 

964
00:49:13,760 --> 00:49:16,240
you are not. 
And so these agricultural terms 

965
00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:19,600
to somebody who lives in a big 
urban centre might not carry as 

966
00:49:19,600 --> 00:49:22,880
well or be understood as well as
others. 

967
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:26,600
So, so what's cultural, what's 
historical, right? 

968
00:49:27,000 --> 00:49:30,680
I, I don't, I'm going to talk 
Sunday about shaking off your 

969
00:49:30,680 --> 00:49:32,720
garment and dusting off your 
sandals. 

970
00:49:33,240 --> 00:49:36,560
Well, many of you, many of you 
men are probably not wearing 

971
00:49:36,560 --> 00:49:39,080
sandals Sunday. 
You're probably not going to 

972
00:49:39,080 --> 00:49:41,640
wear a robe that you can shake 
the dust off of. 

973
00:49:42,360 --> 00:49:45,920
So what does that mean? 
What does that talk about, you 

974
00:49:45,920 --> 00:49:47,800
know? 
If some of you men show up in 

975
00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:50,720
robes and sandals on Sunday, 
please come see me in the lobby.

976
00:49:53,600 --> 00:49:57,960
It's going to be cold. 
I'm expecting no snow. 

977
00:49:58,320 --> 00:50:01,600
I'm expecting to meet in in 
person on Sunday. 

978
00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:05,800
Yeah, that that's not prophetic.
That's just I've been telling 

979
00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:07,560
God this Gene was alluding to 
this earlier. 

980
00:50:07,800 --> 00:50:09,480
I've been praying with the staff
all week that I'd. 

981
00:50:09,480 --> 00:50:14,280
Appreciate it, God. 
So sometimes it's context, but 

982
00:50:14,280 --> 00:50:15,720
then let's get in. 
Let's get into something else. 

983
00:50:15,720 --> 00:50:18,800
What about #3 word meetings? 
In our last session, we talked a

984
00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:20,880
little bit about words, but we 
got to go deeper than that. 

985
00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:24,040
So we talked about noting key or
repeated words. 

986
00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:25,840
That's important. 
You're making notes of that. 

987
00:50:25,920 --> 00:50:28,920
Here are words that he repeats. 
These are seem to be keywords in

988
00:50:28,920 --> 00:50:30,720
these sentences. 
These are key things he's 

989
00:50:30,720 --> 00:50:34,960
talking about because each word 
could have a possible range of 

990
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:38,200
meetings. 
Greek is an incredibly rich and 

991
00:50:38,200 --> 00:50:41,280
expressive language. 
In English, you might have a 

992
00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:44,000
single word for something. 
In Greek they would be able to 

993
00:50:44,000 --> 00:50:45,640
spell that 14. 
Different ways. 

994
00:50:46,760 --> 00:50:49,360
In fact, one of the things you 
do in basic Greek is if you 

995
00:50:49,360 --> 00:50:51,760
actually learn to decline. 
It's called declension. 

996
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:54,360
Don't worry about it. 
You take a common verb, and 

997
00:50:54,360 --> 00:50:56,640
here's every single form of that
common verb. 

998
00:50:56,880 --> 00:50:58,960
And often they'll use a verb 
called Luo. 

999
00:50:58,960 --> 00:51:03,280
Which means to save it can mean 
physical salvation or spiritual 

1000
00:51:03,280 --> 00:51:05,920
salvation. 
And so now it'd be a thing from 

1001
00:51:06,080 --> 00:51:07,960
throwing a life preserver out to
sharing the gospel with 

1002
00:51:07,960 --> 00:51:10,200
somebody. 
So Luo, how do you decline every

1003
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:14,680
single version possible of Luo? 
And you open up this 17 by 24 

1004
00:51:14,680 --> 00:51:17,000
page and it's the IT goes down 
the entire. 

1005
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:20,800
Here's all the different. 
Ways a a form of speech, the 

1006
00:51:20,800 --> 00:51:23,840
word Luo could be used. 
Because if it's used. 

1007
00:51:23,840 --> 00:51:26,640
As an object, it's spelled one 
way if it's used As an active, 

1008
00:51:26,640 --> 00:51:28,240
it's spelled a different way if 
it. 

1009
00:51:28,240 --> 00:51:29,920
And so there, I mean literally 
it'll cover. 

1010
00:51:30,200 --> 00:51:34,440
This whole poster. 
In, in single, in, in single 

1011
00:51:34,440 --> 00:51:38,760
spaced. 8 fonts of all the 
different versions of a basic 

1012
00:51:39,040 --> 00:51:43,240
Greek verb, right? 
In English we'd say save. 

1013
00:51:44,920 --> 00:51:49,040
We could say saving, and we 
could say saved, but that's all.

1014
00:51:49,040 --> 00:51:51,960
Every part of that. 
Depending upon how it's used 

1015
00:51:51,960 --> 00:51:54,200
when it's used. 
So this is a very rich 

1016
00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:56,480
expressive language. 
So when you're translating or 

1017
00:51:56,480 --> 00:51:59,720
interpreting, there can be some 
range of discussion. 

1018
00:51:59,920 --> 00:52:03,440
So words you don't understand, 
words that seem to be central, 

1019
00:52:03,720 --> 00:52:07,520
words that again that are 
cultural, and words that are 

1020
00:52:07,520 --> 00:52:09,640
repeated that we said before 
should all be. 

1021
00:52:09,640 --> 00:52:13,560
Examined and then after. 
Considering the possible meaning

1022
00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:17,840
of the words, choose the meaning
that fits the immediate context.

1023
00:52:18,080 --> 00:52:21,280
This is why when I talked last 
time about translations, it's 

1024
00:52:21,280 --> 00:52:24,000
always better to have a 
translation done by a group of 

1025
00:52:24,000 --> 00:52:27,360
scholars, not a single scholar. 
Because that group of scholars 

1026
00:52:27,360 --> 00:52:31,240
will argue and debate over that.
They'll argue based upon the 

1027
00:52:31,240 --> 00:52:33,360
context. 
This is how this word. 

1028
00:52:33,720 --> 00:52:35,560
Ought to be. 
Translated, and you're just 

1029
00:52:35,560 --> 00:52:37,880
going to get the better 
interpretation that way. 

1030
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:40,640
And so how does it fit the 
context? 

1031
00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:43,160
Don't isolate one of these 
things from the other. 

1032
00:52:43,160 --> 00:52:44,760
All of these things fit 
together. 

1033
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:46,960
And then again. 
Trustworthy resources. 

1034
00:52:46,960 --> 00:52:51,360
Word studies can be very 
helpful. 

1035
00:52:52,320 --> 00:52:54,720
Now let me really bore you and 
use the word grammar. 

1036
00:52:54,720 --> 00:52:56,160
Isn't that an exciting word to 
you? 

1037
00:52:57,040 --> 00:53:00,600
Laid on a on a Wednesday night 
listening to grammar? 

1038
00:53:01,280 --> 00:53:03,440
But listen, this is important 
and I'll prove it to you. 

1039
00:53:04,800 --> 00:53:09,120
Words are put together in a 
certain way in the Bible for 

1040
00:53:09,120 --> 00:53:14,440
certain reasons, and they form 
sentences, they form paragraphs,

1041
00:53:14,440 --> 00:53:17,400
right? 
So you need to note punctuation.

1042
00:53:18,480 --> 00:53:20,240
You really need to note the. 
Lack of it. 

1043
00:53:21,000 --> 00:53:23,880
And and don't allow, as I've 
said before, don't allow the 

1044
00:53:23,880 --> 00:53:26,400
verse or the chapter numbers to 
stop you. 

1045
00:53:26,840 --> 00:53:30,880
Always read Beyond and say, did 
the story actually end right 

1046
00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:32,600
there? 
Is that really the end? 

1047
00:53:32,600 --> 00:53:34,680
I've, I've preached one of my 
very first sermons to you 

1048
00:53:34,680 --> 00:53:38,640
probably was Matthew 9 and 10. 
Matthew 9 doesn't end the story.

1049
00:53:38,640 --> 00:53:41,480
You got to go into chapter 10. 
It's a continuation. 

1050
00:53:41,480 --> 00:53:44,440
That number shouldn't be there. 
The monk on the horse shouldn't 

1051
00:53:44,440 --> 00:53:48,360
have stumbled. 
So, So what we see. 

1052
00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:50,640
Is is that you need to look at 
all. 

1053
00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:52,360
Of us so. 
Take your Bibles for a moment. 

1054
00:53:53,960 --> 00:53:56,160
However, you can do it on a 
screen or in hard copy and turn 

1055
00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:59,520
to Ephesians chapter 1. 
Want to spend a minute here? 

1056
00:54:00,400 --> 00:54:03,920
Because your English translation
will be different than the Greek

1057
00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:08,720
text, right? 
Ephesians chapter 1, beginning 

1058
00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:16,040
in verse start and three. 
Now here's what I want somebody 

1059
00:54:16,040 --> 00:54:20,000
to do real out loud. 
And whatever English translation

1060
00:54:20,000 --> 00:54:22,560
you have, I want you to real 
loud out loud. 

1061
00:54:22,560 --> 00:54:24,600
Somebody with a booming voice, 
somebody who should be the 

1062
00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:29,360
stadium announcer of the night. 
I want you to read beginning in 

1063
00:54:29,360 --> 00:54:31,560
verse 3 until you hit a a 
period. 

1064
00:54:32,240 --> 00:54:34,120
Just stop at the. 
Period Now it's important that 

1065
00:54:34,120 --> 00:54:35,600
you stop at that you need to 
know what a period is. 

1066
00:54:35,600 --> 00:54:36,840
Stop at the period. 
It's a little dot. 

1067
00:54:36,840 --> 00:54:41,800
Blessed be the God and Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ who has 

1068
00:54:42,240 --> 00:54:46,480
blessed us with every spiritual 
blessing in the heavenly places 

1069
00:54:46,480 --> 00:54:53,400
in Christ, just as He chose in 
Him the born foundation of the. 

1070
00:54:53,400 --> 00:54:56,120
World that we should be holy and
blameless before. 

1071
00:54:57,040 --> 00:54:58,080
Him. 
There's a period right there. 

1072
00:54:59,200 --> 00:55:02,000
Now, here's what I want to do. 
So there's period #1 everybody 

1073
00:55:02,000 --> 00:55:03,600
got a period right there in 
their translation. 

1074
00:55:04,720 --> 00:55:07,640
OK, I want you to start looking.
Don't say anything out loud, but

1075
00:55:07,640 --> 00:55:08,960
I want you to look at the rest 
of it. 

1076
00:55:08,960 --> 00:55:12,560
All the way through verse 14. 
How many other periods do you 

1077
00:55:12,560 --> 00:55:16,280
have between that first period 
and all the way through verse 

1078
00:55:16,280 --> 00:55:18,480
14? 
Count all your periods in a 

1079
00:55:18,480 --> 00:55:19,440
minute. 
I'm going to ask you for a 

1080
00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:32,160
total. 
So all the way. 

1081
00:55:32,160 --> 00:55:35,440
You got that one period. 
How many other periods till you 

1082
00:55:35,440 --> 00:55:38,560
get to the end of verse 14? 
All the way. 

1083
00:55:38,560 --> 00:55:42,560
To the end, 3-4 different 
translations. 

1084
00:55:42,560 --> 00:55:49,480
They'll do this differently. 3-4
How many periods, really? 

1085
00:55:49,560 --> 00:55:51,720
That's fascinating. 
I don't know what translation 

1086
00:55:51,720 --> 00:55:54,120
that is. 
So I got to seven, look for an 

1087
00:55:54,120 --> 00:55:56,280
8, looking for 8 1/2, looking at
8 1/2, getting for 9. 

1088
00:55:57,400 --> 00:56:01,000
All right, so do you know how 
many periods are in the original

1089
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:03,760
Greek language? 
Zero. 

1090
00:56:04,960 --> 00:56:10,000
That's one sentence. 
Paul had a skill of run on 

1091
00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:14,360
sentences and and it's a very 
Greek thing. 

1092
00:56:14,440 --> 00:56:16,080
It's not, it's not uncommon in 
Greek. 

1093
00:56:16,080 --> 00:56:18,640
You can also have double 
negatives in Greek very proper. 

1094
00:56:18,640 --> 00:56:21,200
You can you have triple 
negatives in Greek at times very

1095
00:56:21,200 --> 00:56:24,320
rare, but double S are not a 
double negative in Greek is to 

1096
00:56:24,320 --> 00:56:28,080
emphasize the negativity of it. 
So you can say no, not never. 

1097
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:30,600
And it would be very proper in 
Greek. 

1098
00:56:31,400 --> 00:56:34,800
But there's from, from verse, 
the beginning of verse, from the

1099
00:56:34,800 --> 00:56:38,720
end of verse 2 to the end of 
verse 14. 

1100
00:56:39,160 --> 00:56:42,920
There's no period. 
That's one sentence in the 

1101
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:46,080
original language. 
So the translators have to make 

1102
00:56:46,080 --> 00:56:49,400
some decisions. 
It's not just words, it's also 

1103
00:56:49,400 --> 00:56:50,400
punctuation. 
It's. 

1104
00:56:50,400 --> 00:56:54,120
Structure because that would be 
way too much. 

1105
00:56:54,840 --> 00:56:58,680
It wouldn't make sense to us, so
they break it up into English 

1106
00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:00,680
sentences now. 
None of the none of the 

1107
00:57:00,680 --> 00:57:01,720
meanings. 
Lost. 

1108
00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:05,520
None of the emphasis is lost. 
No theology changes, but there's

1109
00:57:05,520 --> 00:57:07,680
just structural decisions that 
they're making. 

1110
00:57:08,480 --> 00:57:10,960
But it's also helpful when you 
think about when Paul's first 

1111
00:57:10,960 --> 00:57:13,520
writing this, he's trying to get
a point across. 

1112
00:57:14,120 --> 00:57:17,000
And if I know that that's one 
long Pauline sentence, and I 

1113
00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:19,600
would, because I'd be looking at
Greek, I could sit there and 

1114
00:57:19,600 --> 00:57:22,040
say, man, he's really driving 
something home here. 

1115
00:57:22,600 --> 00:57:24,000
And you can even begin to 
interpret. 

1116
00:57:24,000 --> 00:57:29,960
Emotion into that at times and 
so grammar matters how people 

1117
00:57:29,960 --> 00:57:32,680
are saying things why they're 
saying things how they even 

1118
00:57:32,680 --> 00:57:36,720
structure things so again it's 
helpful it's helpful to have a 

1119
00:57:36,720 --> 00:57:40,520
good study Bible it's helpful at
times to read commentaries there

1120
00:57:40,520 --> 00:57:44,800
are so many apps online today 
Tony Vick was telling me again 

1121
00:57:44,800 --> 00:57:46,800
Tony and I had a good visit 
today and Tony was telling me 

1122
00:57:46,800 --> 00:57:49,960
about an app he's using to help 
him with Hebrew words that 

1123
00:57:49,960 --> 00:57:52,120
brought on his phone and so 
there's a lot of. 

1124
00:57:52,120 --> 00:57:54,640
Tools out there now. 
Some of them are free, some of 

1125
00:57:54,640 --> 00:57:57,160
them aren't. 
If you want to know more about 

1126
00:57:57,160 --> 00:57:59,160
that, we can talk more about 
that again. 

1127
00:57:59,560 --> 00:58:01,120
But then you also get the 
literature type. 

1128
00:58:01,120 --> 00:58:02,360
We talked about this a little 
bit. 

1129
00:58:02,480 --> 00:58:05,120
Alan Mosley and I talked about 
this on the podcast in the Old 

1130
00:58:05,120 --> 00:58:06,280
Testament. 
A. 

1131
00:58:06,280 --> 00:58:08,600
Different literature types 
actually have some different 

1132
00:58:08,600 --> 00:58:11,560
interpretation rules. 
And so we discussed that so. 

1133
00:58:11,720 --> 00:58:15,320
The way I interpret poetry, the 
way I might interpret wisdom 

1134
00:58:15,320 --> 00:58:18,600
literature like the Proverbs, is
different than the way I might 

1135
00:58:18,600 --> 00:58:23,240
read a narrative like Kings or 
Chronicles or Acts or something 

1136
00:58:23,240 --> 00:58:24,000
like that. 
And so. 

1137
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:26,800
There's, there's different rules
that are at play there, but you 

1138
00:58:26,800 --> 00:58:28,360
want to follow the logical 
order. 

1139
00:58:28,360 --> 00:58:30,920
What's the plot? 
What's the plot of the story? 

1140
00:58:30,920 --> 00:58:33,160
There's a, there's a story going
on in the narratives. 

1141
00:58:33,400 --> 00:58:36,120
What's the plot? 
What may be the prophetic 

1142
00:58:36,120 --> 00:58:39,280
symbolism that's happening? 
Is is that symbolism just for 

1143
00:58:39,280 --> 00:58:41,880
that moment? 
In time or is he projecting into

1144
00:58:41,880 --> 00:58:45,280
the future because that's where 
the exception of original 

1145
00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:48,360
meaning and future meaning 
sometimes get get played around 

1146
00:58:48,360 --> 00:58:49,800
a little bit in the area of 
prophecy. 

1147
00:58:50,320 --> 00:58:53,880
I believe in their, I believe in
double prophetic meanings to 

1148
00:58:53,880 --> 00:58:56,120
where I believe that some of the
prophets spoke to the people 

1149
00:58:56,120 --> 00:58:57,960
right then about something going
on right then. 

1150
00:58:57,960 --> 00:59:01,240
But it also is because they're 
sitting, you know, I think this,

1151
00:59:01,240 --> 00:59:02,840
this is weird. 
Hang in there with me. 

1152
00:59:02,840 --> 00:59:04,400
This has to do with God's view 
of time. 

1153
00:59:04,400 --> 00:59:07,480
Again, I think the prophets are 
getting a little insight into 

1154
00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:10,320
God's view of time. 
And so for them, when they have 

1155
00:59:10,320 --> 00:59:12,880
this prophetic viewpoint, 
they're seeing a whole lot 

1156
00:59:12,880 --> 00:59:15,120
sometimes. 
And it's not just there on the 

1157
00:59:15,120 --> 00:59:16,760
timeline. 
They're seeing more like God 

1158
00:59:16,760 --> 00:59:18,640
sees. 
And so it could also be 

1159
00:59:18,640 --> 00:59:20,160
something for us. 
It could also be something about

1160
00:59:20,160 --> 00:59:22,520
the end of time all at the same 
time. 

1161
00:59:23,520 --> 00:59:26,280
And so prophecy itself can be a 
little different. 

1162
00:59:27,040 --> 00:59:30,200
So think about how things are. 
Paralleled, especially in the 

1163
00:59:30,200 --> 00:59:32,160
ultimate when you want to see. 
Words. 

1164
00:59:32,160 --> 00:59:34,200
Repeated. 
You'll see phrases repeated. 

1165
00:59:34,960 --> 00:59:38,160
And that's that Hebrew 
parallelism is is strong 

1166
00:59:38,160 --> 00:59:39,840
emphasis. 
I'm trying to get this point 

1167
00:59:39,840 --> 00:59:43,440
across and but there's you'll 
still see some of that in Paul's

1168
00:59:43,440 --> 00:59:45,240
writing. 
Again, I I talked about this 

1169
00:59:45,240 --> 00:59:49,600
last time, but rejoice. 
And again I say rejoice he's. 

1170
00:59:49,640 --> 00:59:51,160
You know he's going to. 
Emphasize words. 

1171
00:59:51,160 --> 00:59:54,400
He's going to emphasize ideas. 
Sometimes it's entire sentences 

1172
00:59:55,120 --> 00:59:56,480
and so that. 
Poetry's there. 

1173
00:59:56,960 --> 00:59:58,880
And the next time we get 
together, we're going to talk 

1174
00:59:58,880 --> 01:00:03,520
about So what? 
So I've prepared myself 

1175
01:00:03,760 --> 01:00:06,000
spiritually to receive the 
revelation. 

1176
01:00:06,440 --> 01:00:08,920
God has prepared the revelation 
for me. 

1177
01:00:09,520 --> 01:00:13,560
Now I have observed the 
revelation to where I'm asking 

1178
01:00:13,560 --> 01:00:15,720
the right question, getting the 
basic facts together. 

1179
01:00:15,720 --> 01:00:17,440
So I have some idea of the 
content. 

1180
01:00:17,600 --> 01:00:19,680
I have some idea of what this is
about. 

1181
01:00:20,160 --> 01:00:23,640
Now I'm interpreting the 
revelation not only for myself, 

1182
01:00:23,640 --> 01:00:26,720
not just for myself, but I'm 
interpreting as to what this 

1183
01:00:26,720 --> 01:00:28,720
originally meant. 
I promise we're going to get to 

1184
01:00:28,720 --> 01:00:31,160
you. 
And that's an application. 

1185
01:00:31,160 --> 01:00:32,760
So. 
So what does this mean to me? 

1186
01:00:33,640 --> 01:00:36,200
What does this mean to me? 
That's an honest part. 

1187
01:00:36,200 --> 01:00:40,080
It can't be the first part 
that's narcissistic, but it can 

1188
01:00:40,080 --> 01:00:42,520
be the output. 
So how does this apply to my 

1189
01:00:42,520 --> 01:00:44,640
life? 
How is this going to help me 

1190
01:00:44,640 --> 01:00:46,640
change? 
Hell, this is going to help me. 

1191
01:00:46,640 --> 01:00:51,000
Grow How's this going to help me
live my life in a different way 

1192
01:00:51,400 --> 01:00:55,960
and so how do I know what to. 
Do and and how to do it? 

1193
01:00:56,200 --> 01:01:00,800
And you've got to recognize for 
some of you here tonight, you've

1194
01:01:00,800 --> 01:01:04,920
been Christians a long time. 
And so some of this is old hat, 

1195
01:01:05,360 --> 01:01:08,480
some of some of this is a 
refresher, some of this is a 

1196
01:01:08,480 --> 01:01:10,400
reminder, some of this might be 
a. 

1197
01:01:10,400 --> 01:01:13,440
Tweak to what you already do. 
And, and, and I hope that's 

1198
01:01:13,440 --> 01:01:15,480
right, but you've got to 
understand this from the 

1199
01:01:15,480 --> 01:01:19,000
perspective of a brand new 
believer who has no. 

1200
01:01:19,000 --> 01:01:22,480
Idea what to do with the Bible. 
I have no idea how to interpret 

1201
01:01:22,480 --> 01:01:24,080
this. 
I can't tell you the number of 

1202
01:01:24,080 --> 01:01:26,520
times I've had conversations 
with brand new believers and 

1203
01:01:26,520 --> 01:01:28,920
they're trying to read the Bible
and they can't understand it. 

1204
01:01:29,120 --> 01:01:31,440
Now, some of them, and I'm not 
knocking it, don't, don't throw 

1205
01:01:31,440 --> 01:01:33,520
things at me. 
Don't say things. e-mail 

1206
01:01:33,520 --> 01:01:36,760
c.taylor@inglewoodbaptist.com. 
But they might be starting off 

1207
01:01:36,760 --> 01:01:39,560
in Genesis and King James or 
something and they can't 

1208
01:01:39,560 --> 01:01:43,200
understand that language, that 
old English language is throwing

1209
01:01:43,200 --> 01:01:44,760
them off. 
They don't know what a thee or a

1210
01:01:44,760 --> 01:01:47,440
thou is because they weren't 
ever raised in that. 

1211
01:01:48,480 --> 01:01:50,960
And I've had people come to me 
and say, I have no idea how to 

1212
01:01:50,960 --> 01:01:54,520
understand the Bible, and I need
help understanding the Bible. 

1213
01:01:55,760 --> 01:01:59,720
The more fascinating stories to 
me are not that that makes 

1214
01:01:59,720 --> 01:02:00,520
sense. 
We've got to help you. 

1215
01:02:00,520 --> 01:02:02,560
And I've told you, I told you a 
story about a young man in 

1216
01:02:02,560 --> 01:02:04,720
Asheville who couldn't believe 
that there would actually be a 

1217
01:02:04,720 --> 01:02:06,640
small group in a church that 
would help him do that. 

1218
01:02:06,640 --> 01:02:10,600
I told you that story one time. 
What's more fascinating to me 

1219
01:02:10,600 --> 01:02:14,080
are new believers. 
It's like they've never really 

1220
01:02:14,080 --> 01:02:17,920
ever read the Bible. 
And suddenly they're reading the

1221
01:02:17,920 --> 01:02:22,040
Bible and they begin to realize 
I'm not supposed to be doing 

1222
01:02:22,040 --> 01:02:27,080
that anymore, am I? 
I need to quit that or I need to

1223
01:02:27,080 --> 01:02:30,120
start this. 
I didn't know that was. 

1224
01:02:30,120 --> 01:02:33,760
I didn't know that was sin. 
I didn't realize that I should 

1225
01:02:33,760 --> 01:02:36,800
not be doing that thing or I 
should be doing this thing. 

1226
01:02:37,040 --> 01:02:40,240
And to walk with them in those 
early moments of walking through

1227
01:02:40,240 --> 01:02:42,520
some of the, it's like a light 
going and you can just see it. 

1228
01:02:42,720 --> 01:02:46,000
It's like a series of lights 
that click on one after the 

1229
01:02:46,040 --> 01:02:48,880
other, illuminating their way to
where suddenly they're 

1230
01:02:48,880 --> 01:02:51,680
recognizing this, oh, this is 
how I need to live. 

1231
01:02:52,240 --> 01:02:55,240
This is what I need to give up. 
This is what I need to 

1232
01:02:55,240 --> 01:02:57,160
surrender. 
This is what I need to confess, 

1233
01:02:57,160 --> 01:03:00,320
or this is what I need so you 
can go to Colossians 3 because I

1234
01:03:00,360 --> 01:03:02,400
beat it to death. 
This is what I got to take off. 

1235
01:03:02,560 --> 01:03:06,600
This is what I got to put on. 
And to walk with people who are 

1236
01:03:06,600 --> 01:03:09,400
actually engaged in that 
process, who are honestly, 

1237
01:03:09,400 --> 01:03:13,400
hungrily doing this and 
realizing this is the most 

1238
01:03:13,400 --> 01:03:15,480
fantastic thing I've ever 
experienced in my life. 

1239
01:03:16,360 --> 01:03:19,080
And it's a it's one of the 
greatest testimonies to me about

1240
01:03:19,080 --> 01:03:20,800
how living and active. 
This word is. 

1241
01:03:21,680 --> 01:03:24,280
That it actually is life 
changing that this isn't just a 

1242
01:03:24,280 --> 01:03:27,320
book, this is really the 
miraculous, incredible, 

1243
01:03:27,320 --> 01:03:31,840
supernatural word of God because
I watch them change their life. 

1244
01:03:32,680 --> 01:03:35,280
Now, I've shared this story sort
of with you, but let me share 

1245
01:03:35,280 --> 01:03:36,920
this with you again because I 
want to share a. 

1246
01:03:36,920 --> 01:03:39,480
Part of it that I don't think I 
emphasized enough for you. 

1247
01:03:39,480 --> 01:03:44,520
So a few years ago, I was in 
Kenya and and we were we were 

1248
01:03:44,520 --> 01:03:47,280
starting a church in the Coffee 
and Tea mountains of Kenya. 

1249
01:03:47,280 --> 01:03:49,480
Long story, that doesn't matter.
But I had a friend who was a 

1250
01:03:49,480 --> 01:03:51,080
veterinarian. 
He was off in a village one day 

1251
01:03:51,080 --> 01:03:52,600
and he's trying to show the 
gospel in the village. 

1252
01:03:53,040 --> 01:03:55,720
And he goes in the village and 
he says, I want to meet the 

1253
01:03:55,720 --> 01:03:57,880
meanest man in the village. 
I've shared part of this with 

1254
01:03:57,880 --> 01:04:00,200
you before. 
I want to, I want the meanest 

1255
01:04:00,200 --> 01:04:02,600
man in the village. 
And the guy says, no, you don't.

1256
01:04:02,600 --> 01:04:04,160
Oh, yeah, I do. 
I want to meet the meanest man 

1257
01:04:04,160 --> 01:04:05,480
in the village. 
That's his opening line in the 

1258
01:04:05,480 --> 01:04:07,160
village. 
That's not necessarily how I 

1259
01:04:07,160 --> 01:04:08,840
would approach the village. 
But that's how he approaches the

1260
01:04:08,840 --> 01:04:10,840
village. 
The guy says, OK, I know where 

1261
01:04:10,840 --> 01:04:12,960
he is, takes him to a bar and 
there's a guy sitting at the bar

1262
01:04:14,480 --> 01:04:16,840
and the guy walks up to him. 
This friend of mine was fairly 

1263
01:04:17,880 --> 01:04:20,000
open. 
He says, I hear you're the 

1264
01:04:20,000 --> 01:04:22,920
meanest man in the village. 
And the guy at the bar starts 

1265
01:04:22,920 --> 01:04:27,160
laughing and he goes no. 
Thanks, but I'm not, but I know 

1266
01:04:27,160 --> 01:04:28,560
who he is and I'll take you to 
him. 

1267
01:04:29,320 --> 01:04:32,200
So then he takes the guy and 
they're walking through the, you

1268
01:04:32,200 --> 01:04:35,640
know, African mud homes, through
an alley. 

1269
01:04:35,640 --> 01:04:38,200
And here comes this woman 
screaming, half dressed, running

1270
01:04:38,200 --> 01:04:40,160
for her life, got some blood on 
her. 

1271
01:04:40,400 --> 01:04:42,720
And there comes a guy run, 
running the corner right after 

1272
01:04:42,720 --> 01:04:44,880
with a knife in his hand, 
screaming at her. 

1273
01:04:45,360 --> 01:04:47,680
And the guy says, that's the 
meanest man in the village. 

1274
01:04:47,680 --> 01:04:52,240
He's who you want to talk to. 
And so, you know, of course the 

1275
01:04:52,240 --> 01:04:55,440
guy freezes because he sees this
American standing in the back 

1276
01:04:55,440 --> 01:04:58,280
alley where no American should 
be, and he freezes in his 

1277
01:04:58,280 --> 01:05:00,360
tracks, kind of forgets the. 
Pursuit. 

1278
01:05:00,360 --> 01:05:03,320
That he obviously was on and he 
says you know, what do you want,

1279
01:05:03,360 --> 01:05:05,000
etcetera. 
Guy shares the. 

1280
01:05:05,000 --> 01:05:08,000
Gospel with him. 
The man's saved right there in 

1281
01:05:08,000 --> 01:05:10,880
the back alley now. 
You know the. 

1282
01:05:10,880 --> 01:05:14,160
Vet was the vet's telling me the
story and he goes. 

1283
01:05:14,440 --> 01:05:15,400
I invited him. 
To the church. 

1284
01:05:15,400 --> 01:05:16,840
Service that night they were 
going to have a church. 

1285
01:05:16,840 --> 01:05:18,920
Service that night they were 
inviting people to that thing 

1286
01:05:19,360 --> 01:05:22,120
and the vet, the vet was going 
to share this a veterinarian, 

1287
01:05:22,120 --> 01:05:23,560
not a military vet. 
I don't know if I made that 

1288
01:05:23,560 --> 01:05:25,920
clear. 
Veterinarian and he and he's 

1289
01:05:25,920 --> 01:05:28,800
going to share. 
And so the service is going on. 

1290
01:05:29,280 --> 01:05:31,920
Service is going on me and this 
man's not there. 

1291
01:05:32,720 --> 01:05:35,680
Service is going on Service, 
service is about over and we're 

1292
01:05:35,680 --> 01:05:38,520
talking this is Kenya. 
Anybody ever been to a Kenyan 

1293
01:05:38,520 --> 01:05:42,480
church service, you know, 3 1/2 
hours long, something like that.

1294
01:05:43,280 --> 01:05:45,240
Every, every choir has 
choreography. 

1295
01:05:45,240 --> 01:05:47,040
Every choir dances. 
It's fantastic. 

1296
01:05:47,280 --> 01:05:49,800
And by the way, and this is 
fine, Jim, we should have done 

1297
01:05:49,800 --> 01:05:52,520
this last year, They don't pass 
the plate. 

1298
01:05:52,520 --> 01:05:55,480
They have a plate down front and
they make everybody dance and 

1299
01:05:55,480 --> 01:05:58,360
put their offering in the plate.
And you keep dancing until the 

1300
01:05:58,360 --> 01:06:00,120
elders think there's enough 
money in that plate. 

1301
01:06:02,560 --> 01:06:09,200
Welcome to Stewardship 2026. 
Anyway, everything's going on, 

1302
01:06:09,200 --> 01:06:12,160
it's about to close, the whole 
service is about to end up and 

1303
01:06:12,160 --> 01:06:15,080
suddenly the back door busts 
open and it's the meanest man in

1304
01:06:15,080 --> 01:06:17,880
the village. 
Well, everybody knows the 

1305
01:06:17,880 --> 01:06:21,560
meanest man in the village and 
he's got an arm full of stuff 

1306
01:06:22,520 --> 01:06:25,040
and he comes running down the 
aisle, down the middle, there's 

1307
01:06:25,040 --> 01:06:27,600
a centre aisle, comes running 
down the middle aisle and just 

1308
01:06:27,600 --> 01:06:29,680
dumps all this stuff right in 
front of the Lord's Supper 

1309
01:06:29,680 --> 01:06:32,400
table. 
And he goes, sorry I'm so late, 

1310
01:06:32,400 --> 01:06:34,120
I had to. 
Gather up all this stuff. 

1311
01:06:35,480 --> 01:06:39,880
He goes, I, I was reading the 
Bible that you gave me and it 

1312
01:06:39,880 --> 01:06:42,400
told me that all this stuff is 
stuff I don't need in my life 

1313
01:06:42,400 --> 01:06:46,720
anymore. 
And so he had his idols, he and 

1314
01:06:46,720 --> 01:06:49,800
then, and this is African, so 
don't go off the deep end here 

1315
01:06:49,800 --> 01:06:52,920
with me, but this is something 
that evangelicals in Africa feel

1316
01:06:52,920 --> 01:06:55,520
very strongly about. 
We could have opinions about it 

1317
01:06:55,520 --> 01:06:58,000
and we do. 
He had his cigarettes and he had

1318
01:06:58,000 --> 01:07:00,760
his alcohol. 
So he uses the. 

1319
01:07:00,760 --> 01:07:04,520
Alcohol to pour all over the 
idols and the cigarettes and he 

1320
01:07:04,520 --> 01:07:06,720
lights it on fire right in front
of the Lord's Supper table there

1321
01:07:06,720 --> 01:07:09,320
on the church floor. 
Because he's going to burn. 

1322
01:07:09,320 --> 01:07:11,640
Because this is not just I'm not
supposed to have this anymore. 

1323
01:07:12,200 --> 01:07:13,640
He goes. 
I've been reading the Bible for 

1324
01:07:13,640 --> 01:07:15,480
the last couple hours and I 
realized I'm not supposed to 

1325
01:07:15,480 --> 01:07:16,480
have this in. 
My life anymore. 

1326
01:07:17,760 --> 01:07:20,120
And, and, and, you know, he'd 
never read the Bible, never seen

1327
01:07:20,120 --> 01:07:23,320
a Bible, never had it, owned a 
Bible, but he's reading a Bible 

1328
01:07:23,320 --> 01:07:26,520
in his own language. 
And I don't know what passages 

1329
01:07:26,520 --> 01:07:28,160
he was hitting, but he was 
hitting the right ones. 

1330
01:07:28,160 --> 01:07:30,440
I guess that just let him down 
this road. 

1331
01:07:30,440 --> 01:07:32,400
He probably was talking to some 
friends too, I guess. 

1332
01:07:33,760 --> 01:07:37,920
But he came to say this has got 
to end and this other stuff's 

1333
01:07:37,920 --> 01:07:43,120
got to start. 
And they the other thing I 

1334
01:07:43,120 --> 01:07:45,040
remember about the story, I 
wasn't there, but the the 

1335
01:07:45,040 --> 01:07:47,360
veterinarian was telling me what
was amazing after that, of 

1336
01:07:47,360 --> 01:07:50,640
course, they were terrified of 
the fire and almost got the 

1337
01:07:50,640 --> 01:07:53,640
offering plate on fire, but 
that's really threw him off. 

1338
01:07:53,880 --> 01:07:56,440
But anyway, so, but after the 
service that he was just telling

1339
01:07:56,440 --> 01:07:59,960
me, they just swarmed this guy, 
you know, with with love and 

1340
01:07:59,960 --> 01:08:02,320
hugs and welcome. 
And and of course in the 

1341
01:08:02,320 --> 01:08:05,560
African, they're dancing and 
chanting and playing music. 

1342
01:08:06,280 --> 01:08:08,320
There's so that they're dancing 
all around him. 

1343
01:08:08,320 --> 01:08:11,920
He's in the middle and this 
whole circle of dance and joyous

1344
01:08:11,920 --> 01:08:14,920
celebrations all around him. 
That's the way we ought to be 

1345
01:08:14,920 --> 01:08:20,640
every time we see somebody make 
a decision and we do that. 

1346
01:08:20,640 --> 01:08:23,960
You all do that. 
Well, listen, gang, one of the 

1347
01:08:23,960 --> 01:08:26,080
things you got to understand 
this weather is driving me 

1348
01:08:26,080 --> 01:08:28,399
crazy. 
We've got as many as seven 

1349
01:08:28,399 --> 01:08:30,160
people waiting to be baptized 
right now. 

1350
01:08:31,560 --> 01:08:33,600
We, I want to be in here. 
So we can do that. 

1351
01:08:34,439 --> 01:08:37,120
We've got new members who want 
to be presented to join the 

1352
01:08:37,120 --> 01:08:40,800
church right now. 
And, and so every time we don't 

1353
01:08:40,800 --> 01:08:42,200
meet, we're knocking this off 
another week. 

1354
01:08:42,200 --> 01:08:45,080
We're putting this off another 
week, you know, and so we won't 

1355
01:08:45,080 --> 01:08:46,800
baptize all seven in one 
service. 

1356
01:08:46,800 --> 01:08:50,080
Well, maybe you'd prefer that. 
It'll leave me zero time to 

1357
01:08:50,080 --> 01:08:51,359
preach. 
It might be the best Sunday. 

1358
01:08:58,200 --> 01:09:04,200
But God's blessing and we need 
to one of those three hours 

1359
01:09:04,200 --> 01:09:07,399
services. 
I listen, I'm used to it, I'm 

1360
01:09:07,399 --> 01:09:09,479
used to it. 
I'm used to being in the service

1361
01:09:09,479 --> 01:09:11,439
an hour and a half and then 
going out with a preacher to 

1362
01:09:11,439 --> 01:09:14,520
pray for 45 minutes and then 
coming in just about the time to

1363
01:09:14,520 --> 01:09:17,120
preach. 
So listen and and and doing it 

1364
01:09:17,120 --> 01:09:20,439
in a full suit coat and tie in 
the middle of about 1000° and 

1365
01:09:20,439 --> 01:09:27,560
150% humidity. 
Psalm 119, verse 25 here's what 

1366
01:09:27,560 --> 01:09:30,439
it says listen to these words 
listen to his word. 

1367
01:09:31,080 --> 01:09:38,160
My soul clings to the dust. 
Give me life according to your. 

1368
01:09:38,160 --> 01:09:42,399
Word. 
When I am told of my ways, you 

1369
01:09:42,399 --> 01:09:47,960
under you answered me. 
Teach me your statutes, Make me 

1370
01:09:47,960 --> 01:09:50,760
understand the way of your 
precepts. 

1371
01:09:51,120 --> 01:09:54,800
That's interpretation. 
Make me understand the way of 

1372
01:09:54,800 --> 01:09:58,320
your precepts and I will 
meditate on your wondrous works.

1373
01:09:58,720 --> 01:10:02,520
Listen to this. 
My soul melts away for sorrow. 

1374
01:10:03,120 --> 01:10:05,040
Strengthen me. 
According to your word. 

1375
01:10:05,600 --> 01:10:10,120
Put false ways far from me and 
graciously teach me Your law. 

1376
01:10:10,880 --> 01:10:12,920
I have chosen the way of 
faithfulness. 

1377
01:10:13,200 --> 01:10:17,560
I set Your rules before me. 
I cling to your testimonies. 

1378
01:10:17,560 --> 01:10:21,200
Oh Lord, let me not be put to 
shame. 

1379
01:10:22,120 --> 01:10:26,640
I will run in the way of your 
commandments when you enlarge my

1380
01:10:26,640 --> 01:10:28,400
heart. 
I just love that last part. 

1381
01:10:29,440 --> 01:10:31,960
Make my heart big enough to 
receive it. 

1382
01:10:33,120 --> 01:10:34,360
Make me. 
Make me. 

1383
01:10:34,480 --> 01:10:39,600
Make me understand that without 
this I am at a loss. 

1384
01:10:40,640 --> 01:10:44,480
Without this, I am weak. 
Without this, I have no real 

1385
01:10:44,480 --> 01:10:48,240
food, no real sustenance, no 
real nourishment in my life. 

1386
01:10:49,440 --> 01:10:52,360
I have no direction. 
I have no correction. 

1387
01:10:53,600 --> 01:10:57,080
I have no training. 
Father, we thank you for your 

1388
01:10:57,080 --> 01:10:59,160
word. 
We thank you that it is alive 

1389
01:10:59,160 --> 01:11:03,000
and active. 
I thank you, Father, for these 

1390
01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:06,000
people who come out on a very 
cold evening and those listening

1391
01:11:06,000 --> 01:11:09,400
online to learn more just how 
they might. 

1392
01:11:10,080 --> 01:11:12,320
Just how they might study your. 
Word in a better way. 

1393
01:11:12,320 --> 01:11:15,080
Some of these folks have been 
studying your word for many, 

1394
01:11:15,080 --> 01:11:18,520
many years and and they don't 
even need these lessons. 

1395
01:11:18,520 --> 01:11:20,520
Father they that they cherish 
them. 

1396
01:11:20,520 --> 01:11:24,000
Father, they, they testify to me
how it's nice to be reminded of 

1397
01:11:24,000 --> 01:11:25,520
things. 
And for others here, they've 

1398
01:11:25,520 --> 01:11:28,280
never heard any of this before 
or they needed to learn 

1399
01:11:28,280 --> 01:11:31,040
something new. 
So father, whatever it is, help 

1400
01:11:31,040 --> 01:11:33,600
us, Father, to not just skim 
over your word. 

1401
01:11:33,800 --> 01:11:38,080
Help us to recognize Your Word 
as life, and Your Word is our 

1402
01:11:38,080 --> 01:11:40,240
nourishment. 
Your Word is our strength. 

1403
01:11:41,040 --> 01:11:46,760
Your Word is our guide. 
It must define us and make us 

1404
01:11:46,760 --> 01:11:49,000
who we are. 
So, Father, thank you for it. 

1405
01:11:49,440 --> 01:11:52,280
I pray, Father, in all 
seriousness, Lord, if at all 

1406
01:11:52,280 --> 01:11:54,720
possible that we could gather 
together on Sunday here. 

1407
01:11:55,640 --> 01:11:57,880
If not, You have a plan and 
purpose for that. 

1408
01:11:58,040 --> 01:12:00,360
Father, I thank you for the 
couple that I'm meeting with 

1409
01:12:00,360 --> 01:12:03,360
tomorrow who want to talk about 
baptism because they watched 

1410
01:12:03,360 --> 01:12:04,440
online last. 
Week. 

1411
01:12:05,400 --> 01:12:07,000
So, Father, I know you're at 
work. 

1412
01:12:07,600 --> 01:12:09,280
And so, Father, we'll trust you 
in that. 

1413
01:12:09,280 --> 01:12:12,560
Help us to have wisdom to make 
good decisions about it, and 

1414
01:12:12,560 --> 01:12:14,760
we'll trust you. 
Thank you, Father in Christ's 

1415
01:12:14,760 --> 01:12:19,600
name, Amen. 
Thank you so much for listening 

1416
01:12:19,600 --> 01:12:21,280
today, and I also hope that 
you'll go to 

1417
01:12:21,280 --> 01:12:25,120
ourwebsite@englewoodbaptist.com 
as well as our app and find many

1418
01:12:25,120 --> 01:12:27,480
other resources that will bless 
you and your families. 

1419
01:12:27,640 --> 01:12:28,680
Thank you once again.