1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,120 or contact us at mylibertybaptist.org or just 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,760 look us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,040 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,920 You know, in many ways it's hard to know who to trust anymore, 8 00:00:26,920 --> 00:00:29,360 isn't it? It used to be that there were 9 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,600 certain entities, that there were certain organizations that 10 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:37,000 were standard bearers for trust. Over the centuries, the 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,920 government has proven over and over again that while they 12 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,200 should be obeyed and they should be prayed for, as we are told in 13 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,440 Romans chapter #13, that they cannot be looked anymore as the 14 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,160 authority for truth. May I remind you that it was the 15 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:54,680 government not that long ago that couldn't even define what a 16 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:59,400 woman was. And I have the utmost care for 17 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:01,440 those that deal with gender dysphoria. 18 00:01:01,440 --> 00:01:03,480 I really do. But I do believe that there are 19 00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:07,880 institutions that are fueling this pandemic by not affirming 20 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:11,800 the truth of Genesis chapter. God created man in his own 21 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,400 image, in the image of God created he him male and female 22 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:21,000 created he them. John Adams said in 1798. 23 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,160 Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious 24 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:26,320 people. It is wholly inadequate to the 25 00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:29,680 government of any other. And so where the governor, or 26 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,880 rather the government rather at one time, could be more of an 27 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:35,880 arbiter for truth, that is not necessarily the case. 28 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,560 Or. But downstream from that, 29 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:42,600 government fueled education has often proved that agendas are 30 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,680 far more important than academics in many circles, 31 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:48,640 aren't they? Of course, the Internet full of 32 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,240 truth, isn't it? I'd wait for that, some of you 33 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,760 to catch that. But yes, it's like Abraham 34 00:01:54,760 --> 00:01:58,000 Lincoln once said, 75% of the things on the Internet are 35 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,640 false. I was worried that was going to 36 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:05,520 go right by all right, somebody caught that Abraham Lincoln said 37 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,280 75% of anyway, all right, moving on. 38 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:12,320 But miss truth blogs, podcast, social media, there's so much 39 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:14,000 it's hard to tell what's true, what's not. 40 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,240 And even AI, artificial intelligence that's out there 41 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,400 today, you know, it just gleans off of the Internet and repeats 42 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:23,120 what it finds. And so it cannot be trusted even 43 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:26,680 as it's given the the keys to more and more of our systems 44 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,040 that we deal with and dispenses more and more information. 45 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,440 Now look, I'm not saying that there are not good and godly 46 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,920 people that work in some of these institutions. 47 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,040 I'm thankful for the people who do work in those places and 48 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,520 honor our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 49 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,680 I am so thankful for them. And I'm not trying to take 50 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,520 anything away from them or their testimony whatsoever. 51 00:02:49,800 --> 00:02:54,080 But what I am saying is that as a whole, these institutions 52 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,320 cannot be trusted in the way that they were maybe even just a 53 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,840 generation ago. But we can trust religion, 54 00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,360 right? Because religion is always true 55 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,480 and right, correct. If only that was the case. 56 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:11,440 We're looking at a series right now in Sunday school talking 57 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:15,040 about false religion. And there's more flavors of 58 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,400 false religion than baskin-robbins has flavors, 59 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,000 isn't there? There's just so many different 60 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:24,560 false religions that are out there and even believe it or 61 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,360 not, from doctrinally sound churches. 62 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,040 Some have been disillusioned. There are some people even here 63 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,880 this morning, I wouldn't name names, people who've had 64 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:36,600 testimonies of going to doctrinally sound churches that 65 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,600 overtime changed and at one time would preach one thing and the 66 00:03:40,600 --> 00:03:43,520 pastor would get up in the pulpit a year or two or three 67 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:45,880 later. And to say to disregard what he 68 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:49,720 preached before because he has something new from the Word of 69 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:53,200 God or really something new from his own mind. 70 00:03:55,000 --> 00:03:56,920 It's hard to know who to trust anymore. 71 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,720 So the answer is you can trust me. 72 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,520 Oh, wait, no, that's not. No, that was in there. 73 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,280 Never mind. So who do you believe when you 74 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,960 can't fully trust the establishment, the government, 75 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:12,640 education, centers of knowledge like the Internet or even 76 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:15,600 religion? Who can you trust? 77 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,160 Well, I think you understand where we're going with this 78 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,800 already. In a world where there's so 79 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:26,080 little to trust, be confident this morning that you can trust 80 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,200 the word of God. In a world where there's so 81 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,520 little that's out there to trust, even in the name of quote 82 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:37,400 UN quote, religion or quote UN quote, Christianity, you can 83 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,000 trust this book that you have in your hands this morning. 84 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:44,360 And that ought to give us a lot of confidence and a lot of joy. 85 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:46,560 Would you stand pleased for the reading of God's Word? 86 00:04:46,960 --> 00:05:01,820 Second Peter chapter #1 Second Peter chapter #1 First number 87 00:05:01,820 --> 00:05:08,780 sixteens, where we'll pick up in our series, says, for we have 88 00:05:08,780 --> 00:05:11,580 not followed cunningly divide. Let's try that again. 89 00:05:13,180 --> 00:05:16,400 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when 90 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:20,120 we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus 91 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:23,680 Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. 92 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:28,240 For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when 93 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:30,800 there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory. 94 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:35,080 This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 95 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,840 This voice which came from heaven, we heard when we were 96 00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:43,920 with Him in the Holy Mount. We have also a more sure word of 97 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,120 prophecy, where until you do well, that you take heed as unto 98 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,880 a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and 99 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:56,640 the day star arise in your hearts, Knowing this first, that 100 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,200 no prophecy of the Scriptures of any private interpretation. 101 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:03,400 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but 102 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,640 holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 103 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:12,400 You could trust the Word of God because it is the Word of God. 104 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:14,800 Why don't you be seated? And we'll look at this more as 105 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:22,240 we pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you 106 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:24,240 for this morning. And once again we come to you 107 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,760 asking you to do in Your Word what we cannot do on our own. 108 00:06:28,600 --> 00:06:32,240 Lord, it's not my idea. It's not my plan to allow my 109 00:06:32,240 --> 00:06:35,920 personality or my own thoughts to be what changes people's 110 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,320 minds here today. And Lord, it's if that's the 111 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,760 case, then it'll be very short lived, if anything at all. 112 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:44,920 Lord, I do ask that Your word is what shines through. 113 00:06:45,480 --> 00:06:49,080 Your word is what convicts us, is what changes us, what 114 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,880 encourages us. And Lord, what may very well 115 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:55,560 grab the heart and attention of someone here today who is not 116 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,800 saved to help them to understand that they need salvation through 117 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:02,240 Christ alone. Thank you for this time and 118 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,600 blessed as we continue. And we ask it in Christ's name, 119 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,600 Amen. In our text, Peter pivots the 120 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:12,480 conversation that we've had really for this whole text thus 121 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,920 far about adding to our faith. And he talks about the 122 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:18,760 foundation upon which we are to add to our faith. 123 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:20,480 How do we know what the faith is? 124 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,240 How do we know what to add to? How do we know what we can 125 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,920 trust? And so as we get into verse #16 126 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,360 and beyond, Peter starts with what the Scriptures are not. 127 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,200 And he says this first. He says these Scriptures that 128 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,720 you have here are no fable. What you are seeing here is not 129 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:39,720 a story. In fact, I try to be careful 130 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,320 sometimes to not even call these Bible stories. 131 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:44,360 And listen, I'm not trying to be weird about it. 132 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,240 I know that we can call them Bible stories and it's not 133 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,440 wrong. But these are accounts from the 134 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,280 Word of God because they are. Because they are. 135 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:54,920 I can't even catch that. All right. 136 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,080 Hopefully they didn't until I just made it even worse. 137 00:07:57,960 --> 00:07:59,240 Don't translate any of that, all right? 138 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:01,640 But what I would realize is this. 139 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:04,360 These are real things that happened here. 140 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:07,160 These are real things. That word fable here in the 141 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:09,280 Greek is the word mythos. Guess what? 142 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,360 We get that word from myth. That's what we derive it from 143 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,200 today. So what are some common myths 144 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:17,720 from antiquity? We have the Iliad and the 145 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:20,320 Odyssey. You have Thor and his hammer, 146 00:08:20,640 --> 00:08:23,760 Hercules and his strength, and many, many others. 147 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,520 But you can go to today and there's still some myths out 148 00:08:26,520 --> 00:08:29,480 there today, isn't there? The Sasquatch. 149 00:08:30,560 --> 00:08:32,760 The Loch Ness Monster. Sorry, Diane. 150 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,159 The Bermuda Triangle. The Bridgewater Triangle, 151 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,720 there's some myths out there even today. 152 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,840 They're fables, they're stories. And what Peter is saying here, 153 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:49,440 in essence, is we're not hunting Sasquatch. 154 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:53,480 We're not chasing legends, spinning fables, or passing down 155 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:56,920 campfire stories that when it comes to the issue of Jesus 156 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:01,120 Christ, he really lived, He really died, He really rose 157 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,440 again and really lives today. And every single one of us must 158 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,240 call upon Jesus Christ to save us. 159 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:11,760 This is no fable, friend. Now why would he say this? 160 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,840 Well, in many ways it's just common sense. 161 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:20,080 Ask yourself this question. If this wasn't true, why did 162 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:24,920 nobody recant specifically of those disciples who are being 163 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,600 spoken of here? If this was true, why didn't 164 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:32,200 they recant specifically when 10 out of the 11 original apostles 165 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:35,520 died? Now, we know the Bible doesn't 166 00:09:35,520 --> 00:09:37,880 tell us how all of them died. In fact, it doesn't tell us how 167 00:09:37,920 --> 00:09:41,200 most of them died. However, 10 out of 11, other 168 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,120 than John, who died of old age and exile, I believe other than 169 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,680 that, we find that history tells us 10 out of 11 of these. 170 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,800 Or rather, yeah, 10 out of 11 gave their life and martyrdom. 171 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:57,480 Peter was crucified upside down in Rome under Nero's reign. 172 00:09:58,080 --> 00:10:01,920 James, the son of Zebedee was killed by the sword on orders of 173 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,320 Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem. We find that in the book of 174 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,640 Acts, Andrew was crucified on an X shaped cross in Greece. 175 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:13,400 Philip was martyred by crucifixion or hanging. 176 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:18,720 Bartholomew flayed alive and then beheaded in Armenia or 177 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:21,680 India. Matthew was killed by the sword. 178 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,720 Thomas was speared to death. James clubbed to death. 179 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,600 Thaddeus killed with arrows or club in Persia. 180 00:10:31,080 --> 00:10:37,160 Simon Zolotes martyred, probably by crucifixion or by being sawed 181 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,360 in half. You don't think if this was a 182 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,120 fable that one of them wouldn't have said, don't kill me? 183 00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:47,560 It's not true. Yet every single one of them, 184 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:52,200 firm in their faith, firm in what they saw and what they 185 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:56,000 heard and what they believed, were willing to go to death. 186 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:57,480 Why? Because there's no fable. 187 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:03,360 Even Paul, who died at Nero's command, said this, which could 188 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:06,720 apply really to all these men in Acts 2024. 189 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:11,400 But none of these things move me, neither count I life my life 190 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,240 dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy 191 00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:19,320 and the ministry which I've received of the Lord Jesus to 192 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,520 testify the gospel of the grace of God. 193 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:26,000 Paul knew to some extent what was coming down the Pike. 194 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:29,800 He didn't know at what time, he didn't know in what manner, but 195 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:32,600 he knew the Holy Spirit had revealed that there were some 196 00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,120 troubles ahead. But he said this, It doesn't 197 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,040 move me. Why didn't it move him? 198 00:11:37,160 --> 00:11:40,640 Because it wasn't a fable. Because it was real, just as 199 00:11:40,640 --> 00:11:43,840 real as the air that's coming into your lungs right now, just 200 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:47,600 as real as this metal building that we sit in, just as real as 201 00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:51,560 the ground upon which our feet is on, is the reality of who 202 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:55,320 Jesus Christ is. And Peter says in verse #16 203 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:58,520 right out the chute, this is no fable. 204 00:11:59,760 --> 00:12:02,040 But he continues, and he says this. 205 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:07,000 He says they were eyewitnesses to what happened with Jesus 206 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,000 Christ. Go back to verse #16 Let's read 207 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:14,000 starting from verse #16 Once again it says, For we have not 208 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,200 followed cunningly devised fables. 209 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,360 We may don't unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus 210 00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:22,280 Christ. But why witnesses of His 211 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:24,960 Majesty? For He received from God the 212 00:12:24,960 --> 00:12:28,560 Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him 213 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:31,920 from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom 214 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,600 I'm well pleased. This voice which came from 215 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:38,040 heaven, we heard when we were with him in the Holy mountain. 216 00:12:38,480 --> 00:12:40,880 Now these disciples watch Jesus work. 217 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,280 They watched him live, they watched him preach, they watched 218 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:46,640 him teach, they watched him perform miracles. 219 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:49,760 They were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. 220 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,880 The word majesty is a word that we often use when we talk about 221 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,440 the word of God, but it's one of those, I think we don't always 222 00:12:56,560 --> 00:12:59,960 truly understand what it means. The word majesty, according to 223 00:12:59,960 --> 00:13:03,880 the 1828 dictionary, says it's greatness of appearance, 224 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:09,320 dignity, grandeur, dignity of aspect or manner, the quality or 225 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:15,680 state of a person or thing which inspires all or reverence in the 226 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:20,760 beholder and applied with particular propriety to God and 227 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,280 His works. When those disciples saw Jesus 228 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,920 Christ, you know what they saw? Majesty, they saw something that 229 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,640 no one else had ever done before, and by the way, that no 230 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:33,440 one's ever done since. Why? 231 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:39,040 Because He was very God. But it wasn't just that they 232 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,160 sold this. Did you catch in verse 17 and 18 233 00:13:42,480 --> 00:13:44,800 that it seems to be talking about a specific event? 234 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,840 It talks about the voice of the Father being heard. 235 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:51,560 It talks about the Holy Mount, and we ask ourselves what 236 00:13:51,560 --> 00:13:55,800 exactly is it Speaking of here? And we would see that it's 237 00:13:55,800 --> 00:13:58,600 talking about the amount of transfiguration. 238 00:13:58,600 --> 00:14:03,760 Do you remember when Peter and James and John saw Jesus 239 00:14:03,840 --> 00:14:07,440 transformed and got a glimpse of Him and his full glory? 240 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,880 Save your spot here, but go over to Mark chapter #9. 241 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:14,560 So put your ribbon there and go down to Mark chapter #9 I know 242 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:17,160 we I exhausted you this morning, Sunday school, going from 243 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,080 chapter to chapter, but I think we need to see this Mark chapter 244 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:25,120 #9. Now the account of the Mount of 245 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,760 Transfiguration is found in Matthew and Mark and Luke. 246 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:31,880 We'll just look at the book of Mark here this morning. 247 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:41,440 Mark Chapter 9, verse #2 it says, and after six days Jesus 248 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:42,720 taketh with him. Peter. 249 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,760 So here's the connection to what we just read. 250 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,840 And James and John and lead them up into a high mountain apart by 251 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:54,840 themselves, and he was transfigured before them. 252 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,040 His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow, so is 253 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:00,920 no fuller on earth can wipe them. 254 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,880 And there appeared unto them Elias, Elijah with Moses, and 255 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,000 they were talking with Jesus. And Peter answered and said to 256 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,480 Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make 3 257 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,120 tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for 258 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:19,720 Elias. For he wished not what to say, 259 00:15:19,960 --> 00:15:21,880 for they were so afraid. By the way, this isn't my 260 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:24,080 message, but when you don't know what to say, sometimes it's good 261 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,920 just to not say anything. Peter says I can't think of 262 00:15:27,920 --> 00:15:29,280 something to say, so I'm going to say it. 263 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:31,960 And that was pretty good summary of Peters life, wasn't it? 264 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,520 At least before Acts chapter 2. And there was a cloud that 265 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:37,880 overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the 266 00:15:37,880 --> 00:15:41,400 cloud saying, This is my beloved son, hear him. 267 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,120 And suddenly when they looked roundabout, they saw no man 268 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:47,720 anymore, save Jesus, only with themselves. 269 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:50,160 And if they came down from the mountain, he charged them that 270 00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:52,800 they should tell no man what things they had seen till the 271 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,760 Son of man were risen from the dead. 272 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:03,440 Can you imagine what it would be like to see Christ in just a 273 00:16:03,480 --> 00:16:07,160 portion of his gloriousness? It says He's transfixed. 274 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,760 Before them. He was shining, exceeding white 275 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:12,040 as snow, as no fuller. That that would be someone who 276 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:15,560 would dye cloth, that no one would be able to dye cloth in 277 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,960 such a way to make it that radiant white that Jesus was 278 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,360 right there. And it says, Can you imagine? 279 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,120 Could you imagine what it would be just to see a little bit of 280 00:16:25,120 --> 00:16:27,640 that? And here is Peter back in first 281 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,280 Peter, rather second Peter chapter #1 and he says, listen, 282 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:34,480 this is no fable. We saw it with our own eyes. 283 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,840 And not only did we see His Majesty of his life within our 284 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:43,920 eyes, but we were on the mount. It was me and James and John, 285 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,640 and we weren't together. We saw him standing with Elijah, 286 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:49,200 and we saw him standing with Moses. 287 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:52,520 And by the way, that'd be pretty incredible to see Elijah and 288 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:54,360 Moses standing there. But you know what? 289 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:58,440 None of it was important compared to seeing Jesus there. 290 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:02,240 And what does God say? The Father says listen, hear 291 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:05,319 him. And in the companion passage, as 292 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,319 he mentions in second Peter chapter one, this is my beloved 293 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:11,839 Son in whom I am. Well, please. 294 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,480 They saw him like this. You know, you think about it. 295 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,520 How could you ever doubt him again if you saw him in that 296 00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:22,720 moment? How could you ever doubt? 297 00:17:23,560 --> 00:17:25,560 I never feel like that. Like man, if I saw Jesus like 298 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:28,720 this, that would get that would get my spiritual batteries 299 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,520 charged for the rest of my life. I'd never doubt again. 300 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,520 But may I remind you that we have a little bit of a problem 301 00:17:37,680 --> 00:17:40,480 with our memories when we see God works. 302 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,440 May I remind you that was the Israelites that about a week or 303 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:48,400 so after the Red Sea that said we're going to die. 304 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:54,360 We have no water and you want to just grab one of them by the 305 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:57,080 robe and say, what's the matter with you? 306 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:01,000 Do you not remember what you saw last week? 307 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,440 But their memory was short. Later they would build a golden 308 00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:10,000 calf while the mountain still smoked from God's presence. 309 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:14,960 And they said, Moses is gone. What are we going to do? 310 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,520 Let's build a calf. Elijah. 311 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:20,760 Remember Elijah we just saw a moment ago? 312 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,000 He saw the fire fall down from heaven and a couple days later 313 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,240 he's running away from Jezebel and says, Lord, take my life. 314 00:18:28,960 --> 00:18:33,680 I'd rather be dead than alive. And of course, the disciples, 315 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:40,240 Peter saw this and it wasn't that long after that he denied 316 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,880 Christ three times. Now before we start to think, 317 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:46,760 boy, those people are pretty lousy. 318 00:18:46,760 --> 00:18:50,320 I'm glad I'm not like them. We have to get to a place where 319 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:54,000 we remind ourselves we have a difficulty with our memory as 320 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,840 well. Can I remind you, if you're a 321 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,880 child of God today, God's been good to you. 322 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,840 Every single person, man, man, Even though even the Baptist 323 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,560 have to say Amen to that, right? I mean, God's been good to you. 324 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:09,960 Amen. I can say it. 325 00:19:10,280 --> 00:19:11,560 I can say Amen. All right. 326 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,800 I know that. Hey, God's been good to you. 327 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:18,640 He saved you. He's cared for you. 328 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:21,440 He's not just provided for your needs, He's provided for your 329 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:24,480 wants to. It seems like everybody got here 330 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:29,760 in a car that semi worked. It seems like everyone's going 331 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:31,200 to go home and probably have something to eat. 332 00:19:31,200 --> 00:19:34,480 Seems like everyone's going to go home and there's going to be 333 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:38,840 a home that's there. God's been good to us, it's so 334 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:42,160 good to us, but then we get into a little bit of trouble and we 335 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:44,120 say, well, what's he going to do this time? 336 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:48,800 I feel like we have some of the same problems that the 337 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:53,440 Israelites have. And if we were to base our faith 338 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:59,800 on human experience, the problem with that is this is that human 339 00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:03,440 experience starts to fade. It starts to dim. 340 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,880 We start to forget some of the details, and over time what 341 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,120 happens? We start to doubt. 342 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:14,680 I'm so glad that our Heavenly Father does not require us to 343 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,400 live. On human experience, to be able 344 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,200 to truly understand what the Christian life is all about. 345 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,440 So what do you mean by that? That we don't live by human 346 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,360 experience? I mean, listen, I know we have 347 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:29,440 experience. That's part of being a person, 348 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:30,720 right? We experience things. 349 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:36,800 But do you realize that Peter is saying here, listen, I saw a 350 00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,240 Jesus Christ and I didn't just see him, I saw him glorified. 351 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,240 And he could probably even add here, and I'm not trying to add 352 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,920 to the word of God, but understand He could say I saw 353 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,280 him for those 40 days before he ascended into heaven. 354 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:57,600 I saw him in His Majesty. But when he comes down to human 355 00:20:57,600 --> 00:21:00,680 experience and all those things, he says this, you know what you 356 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,120 can really trust? You could trust God and His Word 357 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,160 and you realize that we may not have had the experiences of 358 00:21:09,160 --> 00:21:11,680 Peter. You may not have had the 359 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,200 experiences of Paul. We may not have seen the things 360 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:17,000 the Israelites saw in the Old Testament. 361 00:21:17,960 --> 00:21:22,200 But you have a more sure word of prophecy right in front of you 362 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:30,400 in the Word of God, the combined Canon of 66 books that Paul did 363 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:35,640 not have, that Peter did not have, that those Old Testament 364 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:40,240 Saints did not have, that you have with you today. 365 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:46,200 What a privilege and what a joy to be able to have the Word of 366 00:21:46,200 --> 00:21:48,080 God. And So what does Peter say? 367 00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:51,520 He says you can trust God and His word. 368 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,200 Our faith and the word is not based upon myths. 369 00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,920 It's not based upon second hand testimonials. 370 00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,320 It's not even based upon what we can remember within our own 371 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,040 brain. No, no, verse 19 says back in 372 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:07,520 our text, if you want to go back to second Peter chapter #1 we 373 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:10,480 have a more sure word of prophecy. 374 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:15,280 See that word sure doesn't mean sure as in Are you sure about 375 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:17,160 it? Although I would say that the 376 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:20,400 word of God should make us sure. But when it talks about that 377 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,440 word sure, a more sure word of prophecy, it means this 378 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,440 something that's firm, as in you're on sure footing. 379 00:22:28,160 --> 00:22:30,760 Listen, if you're trying to live the Christian life by what you 380 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,360 see and experience, that's not sure because experience is 381 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:38,120 again, dim. Memories forget. 382 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:44,360 We doubt, but we have a sure word of prophecy here. 383 00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,240 I remember after my surgery about four years ago, some of 384 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:52,520 most of you knows, maybe some do not, that surgery on my jaw and 385 00:22:52,520 --> 00:22:56,280 that they had to remove 7 inches of bone in my leg and not 386 00:22:56,280 --> 00:23:00,040 replace it to be able to rebuild my jaw. 387 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:04,680 And I remember it was about maybe a month after my surgery 388 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,760 that we went to Lake Winnipesaukee. 389 00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:15,240 We went to a lake, sorry, Marsha, we went to a lake and 390 00:23:15,240 --> 00:23:17,040 there's a beach there at Weirs Beach. 391 00:23:18,560 --> 00:23:21,680 And I remember walking out in the sand, and I hadn't really 392 00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:26,480 thought about the fact that my leg wasn't right, you know, And 393 00:23:26,480 --> 00:23:31,160 it was the first time I had walked on ground that was not 394 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,160 sure. And because my leg was not sure 395 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,440 and the sand was not sure, it was one of the most miserable 396 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:43,840 experiences that I've had in my life because I couldn't walk in 397 00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,880 the sand. Just about anybody can walk in 398 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:51,320 sand. But I realized I can't go any 399 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,280 further because if I keep walking, I'm going to fall flat 400 00:23:54,280 --> 00:23:55,320 on my face. Why? 401 00:23:55,680 --> 00:24:00,520 I was not sure in my footing and the ground itself was not sure. 402 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,080 It wasn't firm like the ground that we have here or like the 403 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,280 road or like a sidewalk or even your lawn. 404 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,080 It was not sure. Listen, this word that we have 405 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,760 upon us is so sure that it's the solid rock that you can build 406 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:20,000 your life upon. It's not going back and forth. 407 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,960 It's not vacillating. It's not here one day and there 408 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:24,640 the next. It's not the thoughts of man 409 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:30,480 that change about every two minutes, but it's a sure word of 410 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:32,400 prophecy. You can be sure in it, but 411 00:24:32,400 --> 00:24:37,840 understand you can be on a right footing because of this prophecy 412 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:42,360 verse #20 says this. It's so sure that you can't make 413 00:24:42,360 --> 00:24:46,120 it say what you want it to say. You see that knowing this first, 414 00:24:46,120 --> 00:24:48,720 that no prophecy of the Scriptures of any private 415 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,360 interpretation. You know what this means. 416 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,840 I can't look at the Word of God and say, well, I believe it 417 00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:02,520 means well, hold on a second. I want this to say, well, my 418 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:06,600 opinion about this is no, we have to humbly come to the Word 419 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,880 of God and say this. I am not going to change the 420 00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:13,000 word of God, but I'm going to allow the word of God to change 421 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:15,680 me. Well, pastor, I mean, some of 422 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,960 the things it talks about in this book are pretty old 423 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:20,440 fashioned. Oh, I'd say they're a lot older 424 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:23,080 than you think. In fact, they're so old that 425 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:28,360 they're eternal old. Pastor, this is 2025 and human 426 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:32,560 sexuality has changed and the way people live has changed and, 427 00:25:33,080 --> 00:25:37,080 and people don't live this way. One man and one woman having 428 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,880 having their physical contact within the bounds of marriage 429 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:45,600 that that's, that's not good for 2025. 430 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,960 Well, it may not be good for 2025, but it's eternal truth. 431 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,160 And you can't change it. You can't get around it. 432 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:56,040 I mean, taking God's name in vain. 433 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,280 What's the big deal about taking God's name in vain? 434 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,000 Everything you watch on TV, everywhere you go, everywhere 435 00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,360 people say, I mean, it's not that big of a deal, right? 436 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:06,840 Well, it's big enough of a deal that it remained the top of the 437 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:12,720 10, pretty close to the top. Why? 438 00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:17,720 Because that's an eternal truth and we can't change it based 439 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,360 upon what we, you know. This is a sure word of prophecy 440 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:24,080 and we can't make it of any private interpretation. 441 00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:25,560 Well, this is what it means to me. 442 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:30,400 You know, God, humbly I ask for your Holy Spirit to show me what 443 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:35,680 this word says and show me where I'm wrong in connection to this 444 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:41,320 word so that I can get right. Listen, this is the level by 445 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,200 which you make sure probably could use those things. 446 00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:49,480 This is the level by which you make sure your life is straight 447 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:53,400 because I've told you before when it comes to our house and 448 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,120 hanging pictures and doing things like that. 449 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:56,920 And my wife asked me to do this thing is the only thing she 450 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:58,720 asked me to do around the house because all I need is a hammer 451 00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:00,040 and a nail. That's all I need. 452 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,800 And I still can't do that right? Because I'll look at it and I'll 453 00:27:03,800 --> 00:27:05,400 say that's straight. She said, did you get out the 454 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:06,720 level? I don't need the level. 455 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,960 Anyone with two eyes can tell that that's straight. 456 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:11,520 She goes, I really think you should pull out the level. 457 00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:15,160 And then we've done this for over 20 years and we still have 458 00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,480 the same conversation. I pull out the level, the 459 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:20,080 bubbles off to the side. We don't talk for a few days. 460 00:27:20,080 --> 00:27:21,160 And that's just the way it works. 461 00:27:25,120 --> 00:27:30,120 But it looks right. But it's not how many people 462 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:32,240 say, you know what? I, I feel like I'm pretty good. 463 00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,000 I feel like I'm doing all right. I feel like, you know, I love 464 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:37,800 the brethren. I feel like I've got my life 465 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:40,080 under control. I feel like everything's the way 466 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:41,760 it ought to be. But then when you start to get 467 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:47,120 into the level of the Word of God, you say, whoa, I'm not 468 00:27:47,120 --> 00:27:51,880 where I thought I was. So no private interpretation. 469 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:53,720 You don't change it, it changes you. 470 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:59,160 Then look at verse #21 For the prophecy came not in old time by 471 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,800 the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by 472 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,400 the Holy Ghost. Why is it so firm? 473 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:08,360 Why should we keep our hands off of twisting it? 474 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:14,040 Because the human authors were simply human penman who were 475 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:18,480 inspired by none other than the Holy Spirit himself. 476 00:28:19,600 --> 00:28:21,720 Now, next week, we're going to look at what the doctrine of 477 00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:24,360 inspiration is. I want to talk about what that 478 00:28:24,360 --> 00:28:26,240 is and why it's important for us. 479 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:30,000 We're going to learn not just that we can trust God's Word, 480 00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:33,360 but why we can trust God's Word. And we're going to focus on 481 00:28:33,360 --> 00:28:37,440 verse #21 more next week, but suffice it for the moment to 482 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,040 understand this. The Bible was written over a 483 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:44,320 period of roughly 2000 years by 40 different authors from three 484 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:46,840 continents who wrote in three different languages. 485 00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:51,920 Shepherds, kings, scholars, fishermen, prophets, a military 486 00:28:51,920 --> 00:28:55,680 general, a cupbearer, and a priest all penned portions of 487 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,880 scripture. And yet it has incredible 488 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:04,800 harmony that it does not contradict itself in one word. 489 00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,720 It is the most popular book that's ever been printed, and 490 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:12,000 the Guinness Book of World Records has said that it's sold 491 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,560 somewhere. Not sold, but has printed 492 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:19,320 anywhere from 5 to 7 billion with AB copies, and the next 493 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,040 highest book hasn't even achieved a billion. 494 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,360 There's no book like it, friend, and there's no book upon which 495 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:29,320 you can trust for this life. And there's no other book that 496 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,720 you can trust for your afterlife than the Word of God. 497 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:37,000 How do we know we spend eternity? 498 00:29:38,120 --> 00:29:40,200 Well, it doesn't come by human reasoning. 499 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:43,160 It doesn't come through philosophies. 500 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:46,560 It doesn't come from natural observation. 501 00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,360 What we understand about salvation has been revealed to 502 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:55,920 us through the Word of God. You know, I trusted religion to 503 00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:57,960 be able to give me the answers for salvation. 504 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:03,240 Just religion in general. That's how I grew up in the 505 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:07,840 Lutheran Church. You do enough, you get baptized, 506 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:12,160 you take the Lord's Supper, you keep your nose clean, you'll be 507 00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,520 in heaven. It's only one problem. 508 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:19,960 I found out that's not what the Bible says, that it's not about 509 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:24,200 what I do, but it's about what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 510 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:29,600 And perhaps today you are putting your faith in yourself 511 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,720 or in some other doctrine to achieve salvation. 512 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:38,720 Friend, the answers to this life and the answers of the life to 513 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:43,120 come are all found in this book. This book says that sin is real. 514 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:45,720 It's a violation of the holiness of God. 515 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:48,680 This book says there's consequences for sin. 516 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:50,520 It's a place called the lake of fire. 517 00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,720 This book said that Jesus Christ showed his love toward us and 518 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,920 that He died for us so that no one has to go there, so that all 519 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:03,160 we have to do is accept the gift of eternal life through Jesus 520 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:08,680 Christ our Lord. If you were trying to find what 521 00:31:08,680 --> 00:31:13,080 the answers to life and the life to come are, there's no other 522 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,320 place than you can look than this book. 523 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,120 See, Pastor, there's got to be other truth out there than 524 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,480 what's in this book. And the answer is there is. 525 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,080 But the truth that's out there doesn't violate the truth of 526 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:28,400 this book. If the truth out there violates 527 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:31,200 what this book says, then it's not truth because it doesn't 528 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:34,560 come from God. So you, you sound pretty certain 529 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,040 of that. Oh, I'm not trying to be cocky 530 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:39,120 about it. I'm not trying to be arrogant 531 00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,400 about it. I just know this truth is real. 532 00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:49,760 It has to be somewhere and we find it in the word of God. 533 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:56,160 And to me it's indisputable. You know, the good news about 534 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,600 this morning and we're getting ready to close. 535 00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,480 That's not the good news, by the way, but the good realize that 536 00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:04,880 came out. She said, well, pastor, that is 537 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:06,960 good news. You're going to find out. 538 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:08,480 It's not as good news you thought, because I probably 539 00:32:08,480 --> 00:32:12,640 still have a few more minutes. But the good news this morning 540 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,640 is this. I believe many of you already 541 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:17,760 believe this. I don't know that you would be 542 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:21,200 here this morning if you didn't already believe that the Bible 543 00:32:21,200 --> 00:32:25,120 has the answers to life. I really do, unless you're 544 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:27,760 searching for salvation. In that case, I want you to 545 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:30,520 understand you're amongst friends here today that want you 546 00:32:31,080 --> 00:32:34,280 to be born again. And we want to help you with the 547 00:32:34,280 --> 00:32:36,280 Bible. Not with any other book, not 548 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:39,960 with some sort of theology that's apart from the Bible or 549 00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:43,080 in some catechism, but the Bible and the Bible alone will tell 550 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,280 you how to be saved. And we'll help you by just 551 00:32:45,280 --> 00:32:48,520 taking you to the Bible. But I believe probably this 552 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:50,880 group is pretty firm on this already. 553 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:54,640 But there's a couple thoughts I want to give you before we go. 554 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:02,120 You know we're supposed to live this book, right? 555 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:04,200 I mean, that's what we're supposed to do. 556 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,720 It's not just a, it's just a book of facts. 557 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:11,640 It's not just a textbook. It's a life book. 558 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,040 But you know, you can't live what you don't know. 559 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:18,880 You can't live what you don't know. 560 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,360 Sure, you might believe that this this book is what you're 561 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:26,680 supposed to base your life upon, but how can you do that if you 562 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:30,040 don't know it? First Timothy, or rather Second 563 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,240 Timothy 215 study to show thyself approved unto God, a 564 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,880 Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the 565 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,920 word of truth. Do you make it your life's 566 00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:45,120 business to be someone who studies this book? 567 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,760 You want to know it better than your favorite TV show, Then your 568 00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:54,240 team starting lineup, the lyrics to your favorite song, your 569 00:33:54,240 --> 00:33:57,360 daily schedule, or even your phone's home screen. 570 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,840 You got to be familiar with this book, by the way. 571 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:04,120 You have to start from somewhere. 572 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,360 You don't just absorb it by osmosis. 573 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:12,239 Wouldn't that be nice? But you start somewhere and you 574 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:16,120 start small. But over a lifetime, God will 575 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:19,320 help you to grow through the power of His Holy Spirit. 576 00:34:20,639 --> 00:34:24,080 But if it's important to you, you want to learn, don't you? 577 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:28,360 You know, if it's important to you, you want to learn. 578 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,360 And it's one thing to say I want I, I know this book is a life 579 00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:35,480 book, but you can't live what you don't know. 580 00:34:36,760 --> 00:34:38,880 I've mentioned before a few times that I've had the 581 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,040 opportunity to do baseball play by play the last couple of years 582 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:45,280 for town, for the high school. And I'll be honest with you, 583 00:34:45,280 --> 00:34:48,040 when I started to do it, I knew nothing about it other than 584 00:34:48,280 --> 00:34:50,400 trying to sound like Joe Castiglione. 585 00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:55,199 And you know, that doesn't work very well because he's done it 586 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:59,280 for about 50 years. And I had, you know, played high 587 00:34:59,280 --> 00:35:00,840 school baseball for about 3 minutes. 588 00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:05,240 But I realized I needed to learn. 589 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:08,280 And So what did I do? I found a book. 590 00:35:08,920 --> 00:35:10,000 There's not many books out there. 591 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,760 I found one book and I read it a couple times. 592 00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:15,800 I found an online forum. I joined it and started reading 593 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:19,240 what other people said. I searched and I searched for 594 00:35:19,240 --> 00:35:22,600 every scrap of information that I could find. 595 00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:26,840 Then after every game, I would listen to what I did so I could 596 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:28,560 take notes and do better the next time. 597 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,400 You know why? Because I wanted to represent 598 00:35:31,560 --> 00:35:34,040 myself well. I wanted to represent the team 599 00:35:34,040 --> 00:35:35,440 well. I'll be honestly, this might 600 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:37,240 sound silly to you. I want to represent the Lord 601 00:35:37,240 --> 00:35:41,000 well if I'm going to do it. The Bible says whatsoever you 602 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,160 eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. 603 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:46,080 I wanted to do it right because I was doing it. 604 00:35:47,520 --> 00:35:48,960 But you know what? It was important to me because I 605 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:52,360 didn't want to look like a fool. Now, I still kind of did well 606 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:54,840 anyway, but they want to look like a fool. 607 00:35:56,040 --> 00:36:01,120 Listen, do you have that same thirst for the things of God? 608 00:36:02,280 --> 00:36:04,440 Because that's what we truly need. 609 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,240 We need it with every shred of our being. 610 00:36:08,880 --> 00:36:12,440 You need it just as much as you need to draw that next bit of 611 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,000 oxygen. You need it. 612 00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:20,760 Do you study the Word that way? Do you want to know more? 613 00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:23,160 Again, don't compare yourself to other people. 614 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,880 That's a fool's paradise. Just say, Lord, what will you 615 00:36:26,880 --> 00:36:28,760 teach me today? I want to learn. 616 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:32,280 And before you know it, you'll have 20 years worth of today's 617 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:36,960 and you'll look back and say, thank you, Lord, you've taught 618 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,600 me so much. And some of you realize you'd go 619 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:44,480 a whole lifetime and still not learn all of the riches from 620 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:46,680 this word. You can't live what you don't 621 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:49,520 know. And listen, you can't live what 622 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:53,000 you don't do. What does the Bible say? 623 00:36:53,920 --> 00:36:59,200 Be doers of the Word and not hearers only deceiving your own 624 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:03,760 selves. James 122 You know, it's great 625 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:05,000 to know a lot about the word of God. 626 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,400 It's a lot better to do it. But a lot of people who know a 627 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:12,880 lot about the Bible but don't live much of the Bible, that's 628 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:17,200 not pleasing to God. That makes you an academic, not 629 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:21,840 a Bible believer. I will leave you with this. 630 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:26,680 I taught or I I was in high school and I took three years of 631 00:37:26,680 --> 00:37:28,080 Spanish. It was a two year course. 632 00:37:29,200 --> 00:37:32,000 I took three years of Spanish. I didn't even fail the first 633 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:33,440 year. I just did so poorly. 634 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:36,720 I wanted to learn more. Never mind you, my last name is 635 00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:41,160 Rivero. I went through three years of 636 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:45,440 Spanish. I did all the reports, I did all 637 00:37:45,440 --> 00:37:49,840 the conjugations of my verbs. I did all the homework. 638 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:56,560 I did all the conversations and to this day I only know the food 639 00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:00,720 and how to find a bathroom. That's it. 640 00:38:02,480 --> 00:38:06,560 You know why? Because as I was learning, I 641 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:09,640 really didn't have much of A thirst to learn more. 642 00:38:10,280 --> 00:38:14,520 But also I never practiced it. My dad speaks Spanish. 643 00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:17,840 He would ask me to speak to him in the house in Spanish, but I 644 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,720 didn't want to. I lived in Tampa where everyone 645 00:38:20,720 --> 00:38:24,080 else spoke Spanish. I never used it. 646 00:38:24,800 --> 00:38:26,680 And you know what? I look back today with regret 647 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:32,120 that I could be bilingual and I'm barely unilingual. 648 00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:38,880 How many of us could say what a waste for me to sit in there for 649 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:43,320 three years and I got nothing? It would be a bigger waste. 650 00:38:43,720 --> 00:38:45,760 Now, listen, I'm not trying to be unkind, but I want to probe 651 00:38:45,760 --> 00:38:48,200 your thinking a little bit. I want to provoke your thinking. 652 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:54,280 Wouldn't it be a shame to sit in church for year after year after 653 00:38:54,280 --> 00:38:58,280 year? But to not be different, to not 654 00:38:58,280 --> 00:39:04,000 be changed, to not be better? Oh sure, we believe this word. 655 00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:08,400 It'll change your life. Then let it change your life. 656 00:39:10,000 --> 00:39:14,000 We believe it has authority. That be your authority. 657 00:39:15,240 --> 00:39:16,960 We leave it. We believe it tells us how to 658 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:21,040 live. Then live how it tells you how 659 00:39:21,720 --> 00:39:24,240 to live. This week, as we add to our 660 00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:26,720 faith, make sure that you never forget. 661 00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:30,920 You can trust God's Word. So live it and do it. 662 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:35,240 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 663 00:39:35,240 --> 00:39:38,160 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 664 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,640 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 665 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:46,240 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 666 00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:51,040 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 667 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:53,880 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 668 00:39:53,880 --> 00:39:55,080 grow in His Word.