1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:06,640 You please find in your Bibles tonight Second Timothy chapter 2 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:14,040 3, Second Timothy chapter 3, and I want to commence to read at 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,600 verse 10. Second Timothy chapter 3 4 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:30,200 beginning to read at verse 10. And when you find the place, 5 00:00:32,200 --> 00:00:37,880 then we will read together God's Word that is now here, the 6 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:44,960 reading of God's precious Word. But thus fully known, my 7 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:51,840 doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, 8 00:00:52,600 --> 00:01:00,280 charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions which came unto me 9 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:06,120 at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, for persecutions I 10 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:09,680 endured. But out of them all the Lord 11 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,000 delivered me. Yeah, and all that will live 12 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:18,960 godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but evil men 13 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:24,280 and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being 14 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:27,760 deceived. But continue thou in the things 15 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:33,080 which thou has learnt and has been assured of, knowing of whom 16 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,840 thou hast learnt them, and that from a child. 17 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,520 Thou has known the Holy Scriptures which are able to 18 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:45,160 make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ 19 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:49,000 Jesus. All Scripture is given by 20 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,520 inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for 21 00:01:54,520 --> 00:02:00,080 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 22 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:04,240 that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished 23 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,960 unto all good works. I know that God will be pleased 24 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:13,640 to bless his reading, the reading of His word tonight. 25 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:18,120 For Jesus sake. We'll just bow again for prayer. 26 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:25,840 Dear Lord, we're gathered here before thee tonight. 27 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:32,600 My word is open before us. A congregation is gathered, 28 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:39,040 preachers found in the pulpit, and all we need now is power 29 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,360 from heaven. We're thankful for that time 30 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:47,760 that Christ ministered among the people, and the Bible tells us 31 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:53,640 that the power of the Lord was upon him and that the word that 32 00:02:53,640 --> 00:02:58,360 he preached was with power. That's something we can't work 33 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:02,360 up in and over sails. That power is something that 34 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:06,440 comes from above. And so for the time left to us 35 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,760 this evening, as we come to think about this time of the 36 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:15,520 year, about the Protestant Reformation, about the Bible 37 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,400 that was rediscovered, about the great blessing of God at that 38 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,840 particular time when the world really was changed. 39 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:29,400 And we pray that we might be encouraged to look again to the 40 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,800 Lord, to do even a similar thing in our day. 41 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,880 It was a dark, dark time. The wonder they called that 42 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:39,840 period prior to the Reformation, the dark ages. 43 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,120 People lived in darkness. They were ignorant of the 44 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:47,800 gospel, ignorant of truth. And oh God, thou didst do 45 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:52,000 something wonderful that has continued even right up to this 46 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,520 day. And we ask of thee that 47 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:59,520 especially in our day that we will see times of refreshment 48 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:03,840 from the presence of God. Many hearts will be open to the 49 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:10,800 gospel, many blinded eyes will be illuminated, and many 50 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,480 hardened hearts softened, and that many will seek the Lord 51 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,079 while he may be found, and call upon a while is near. 52 00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:22,880 Abide with us now, and bless us together, for we ask these 53 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:28,840 things in Jesus name, Amen. Let me read verses 16 and 17 54 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:34,600 again with you. All Scripture is given by 55 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:40,960 inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for 56 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:45,760 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 57 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:51,280 that the man of God may be perfect, truly furnished unto 58 00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:55,720 all good works. Now for a little time this 59 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:02,760 evening I want to preach about the Protestant Reformation and 60 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,840 the theme is getting back to the Bible. 61 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:14,600 Now, 500 years ago, the world was changed by the Protestant 62 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:20,560 Reformation, and there's a very simple way to remember the 63 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:26,040 reformers, the message of the reformers, and the message of 64 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:30,800 the Reformation. It is simply called the five 65 00:05:30,880 --> 00:05:36,040 solas. Now these are 5 Latin phrases 66 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:41,760 starting with the word sola, which means alone, our own way, 67 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:47,480 and they cover quite a lot of doctrinal and theological ground 68 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:54,560 quickly and in a memorable way that each one of us can clearly 69 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,800 remember. We don't know who thought of 70 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,600 them, when they thought about them, or where they first 71 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:05,400 appeared. But this thing we do know that 72 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:10,320 they were crucial to the 16th century Protestant Reformation, 73 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:17,080 sitting aside the Reformers, setting them apart from the 74 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,080 erroneous teachings of the Church of Rome. 75 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,840 I've mentioned in my prayer that prior to this, that period in 76 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:26,760 history was called the Dark Ages. 77 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:29,440 Now the people lived in darkness. 78 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:33,400 They didn't have a Bible. And even if they did have a 79 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,920 Bible, they couldn't read the Bible because they were 80 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,520 ignorant. They had no education, no 81 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,920 teaching, and so they were just in darkness and left to perish 82 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:47,240 in their sins. But then, at that crucial moment 83 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:52,960 500 years ago, God sent the light in the form of that 84 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:56,640 Protestant Reformation. God intervened in grace. 85 00:06:57,560 --> 00:07:00,920 May the Lord be pleased to do the same for us in our day, the 86 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,800 day in which we live now. These principles stand at the 87 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:10,640 heart of our faith, affirming the authority of Scripture, the 88 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:16,360 centrality of Christ, and the doctrine of salvation by faith 89 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:21,000 through grace, all for the glory of God. 90 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:25,080 Now, what are these five souls? I'm sure Mr McLaughlin, from 91 00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,000 time to time has drawn your attention to these five 92 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,240 important matters. Well, first of all, there is 93 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,200 soul. The Scripturia. 94 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,040 Scripture alone or Scripture only. 95 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:41,360 Then there is sola Christos, Christ only, or Christ alone 96 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:48,240 solely, Phaidae, faith alone solely, gratia, grace alone, 97 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:53,920 sola de la Gloria, That is, to God be the glory. 98 00:07:54,240 --> 00:08:00,480 The glory belongs to God alone. So these five solas show us the 99 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:04,240 foundation of our faith, namely the Bible. 100 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:08,520 And of course we know the Bible to be the Word of God. 101 00:08:08,520 --> 00:08:14,200 They bring us also to the means of our salvation by grace 102 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:18,160 through faith. Then they go to the centre of 103 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,960 our faith, that is Christ Jesus, because Christ Jesus came into 104 00:08:22,960 --> 00:08:27,360 the world to save sinners. And finally, we are reminded 105 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:32,039 that whatever we do, we do to the glory of God alone. 106 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:38,360 Now, above all else, the Reformation was a return to the 107 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:41,360 Bible. And the Reformers, they're 108 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:45,760 focused, they focus on making the Bible accessible to ordinary 109 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,440 people. And that was a tremendous step 110 00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:54,240 forward, a tremendous move. And they did that through the 111 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:59,000 translation of the Scriptures into the common language like 112 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:04,360 German and English. And the key aspects include the 113 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:09,800 principle of Sola, Scripturia and the reformers, men like 114 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:14,360 Martin Luther and others. Martin Luther, for example, 115 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:17,400 translated the New Testament into German. 116 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:24,080 William Tyndale, he was one of the men who gave to us the 117 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,920 English translation of Scripture, along with John 118 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,840 Rogers, who followed in his footsteps. 119 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:33,720 And this movement that these men were involved in, they 120 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:39,120 challenged the Roman Catholic Church's authority and LED to an 121 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:46,080 increase in lay literacy, an individual study of the Bible. 122 00:09:46,880 --> 00:09:52,200 You see, at that time the Church of Rome was the only authority, 123 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:56,680 the main authority, the old powerful authority, and they 124 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:01,360 kept the ordinary people in darkness, They kept them chained 125 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:06,480 in their bondage to sin. But Sola Scripturia emphasises 126 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:12,240 the Bible as the sole source of religious authority, leading as 127 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:17,240 it did to the translation into the vernacular languages. 128 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:23,160 Now society today has by and large rejected the Bible. 129 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,600 That's sad, sad times in which we live. 130 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:32,120 Even among professing believers, some doubt the authority, the 131 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:36,080 authenticity, and the accuracy of the Bible. 132 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,000 I can't understand that, but that's the way it is. 133 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:43,360 Some things just never change. There has been a constant 134 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:48,960 attempt and attempts over the centuries to erode our 135 00:10:48,960 --> 00:10:51,040 foundational belief in the Bible. 136 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,600 Now, although it may come from different and different forms, 137 00:10:56,800 --> 00:11:01,240 it's aim remains the same. To deprive the people of God of 138 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,280 their great heritage. Having an open Bible, having the 139 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:11,040 book of God, having the truth. Can you imagine not having a 140 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:13,840 Bible? Can you imagine what it would be 141 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:16,720 like without the Bible? Now? 142 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:21,520 It's sad to say that many of our churches are quite small, or 143 00:11:21,520 --> 00:11:25,440 some of our churches are quite small and some of them happen to 144 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:31,000 be in Protestant area, so-called Protestant areas and they sit 145 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:33,240 just with a handful of people week after week. 146 00:11:33,320 --> 00:11:35,640 That shows you the state of Protestantism. 147 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:40,120 It's dead, it's bankrupt of truth, it's apostate, it's 148 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:45,840 turned away from God and that's the state of Protestantism in 149 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,800 these days. And yet we hear from different 150 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:53,240 lands of missionaries declaring the gospel of people who have 151 00:11:53,240 --> 00:11:57,720 been in darkness for decades now, for centuries, are 152 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:00,720 embracing the gospel, coming to a knowledge of the truth. 153 00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:06,520 God is not. It doesn't seem that he's moving 154 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:10,440 here, but he is. It may not be to the same extent 155 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,680 that we'd like to see him work, but on the other hand, God is 156 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:17,200 moving in these places, gathering in a great people for 157 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:22,560 the glory of the Saviour's name. So the church and the Christian 158 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:26,680 people need to be on alert today of what is happening now. 159 00:12:26,680 --> 00:12:31,000 The purpose of my message is not to defend the Bible. 160 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:34,000 We do not have to do that, Spurgeon said. 161 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,880 And I like the way he put it. There's no need to defend the 162 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:42,760 lion when he's been attacked. All we have to do is open the 163 00:12:42,760 --> 00:12:47,160 gate and let him out. He will defend himself. 164 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,280 And that's what I want to endeavour to do tonight for a 165 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,640 very short time. I want to talk to you about the 166 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:57,240 Bible. Not necessarily the history of 167 00:12:57,240 --> 00:13:00,720 the Reformation, but I want to talk to you about the Bible 168 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,320 itself. And what was said of Goliath's 169 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:10,200 swords can truthfully and rightly be said about the Bible. 170 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:17,600 There is none like it and there is nothing quite like the Bible. 171 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:21,920 And so we want to have a look, and I want to focus your 172 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:25,960 thoughts upon these two verses that we've read from Second 173 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,120 Timothy, chapter 3. And I have some very simple 174 00:13:30,120 --> 00:13:31,560 things that I want to leave with you. 175 00:13:31,560 --> 00:13:37,920 First of all, there is a defined extent of an inerrant Bible. 176 00:13:37,920 --> 00:13:40,960 An inerrant Bible is a Bible without error. 177 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:46,360 And I believe that what we have in the word of God is a Bible 178 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,120 without error. And you'll notice the words 179 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,000 there, verse 16. All Scripture is given by 180 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:56,040 inspiration of God, and that little word all is very 181 00:13:56,040 --> 00:13:58,960 inclusive. Do you know what that little 182 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,240 word all means? That means all. 183 00:14:03,280 --> 00:14:07,680 And I think of Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5, where we read every 184 00:14:07,680 --> 00:14:10,840 word of God is pure. It's true. 185 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:15,440 It's inspired. We can trust every word of God. 186 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:21,120 Now there's some people who say I believe part of the Bible, but 187 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,920 not all the Bible. That's interesting. 188 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,080 I wonder what part they believe. Is it the part that suits them? 189 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:31,440 What's the part they don't believe? 190 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,440 Is it the part that that doesn't, that doesn't suit them? 191 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,160 And there's some people, that's the way they operate. 192 00:14:37,160 --> 00:14:38,760 That's the mindset that they have. 193 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,440 If it suits me, that's OK. If it doesn't suit me or fit 194 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,640 them with my plan, well, I, I, I don't want to know about it. 195 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:50,880 Others say the Bible contains the word of God, but it is not 196 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:55,880 the word of God. But let's open the gate and let 197 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,000 the lionoid, let the Bible speak for itself. 198 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:05,000 And here the Bible says that all scripture is given by 199 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:09,160 inspiration of God. That now Protestants 200 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:15,120 historically have used 3 keys or three terms to describe what we 201 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:20,440 believe about the Bible. We speak of verbal plenary 202 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:25,360 inspiration and that word plenary simply means all. 203 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:31,560 There may be different degrees of worse in the Bible, but there 204 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,040 are certainly no different degrees of inspiration. 205 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,280 For example, let me explain myself there. 206 00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,800 One may get more out of reading the Sermon on the Mount of 207 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:46,840 Matthew, chapters 5 through 7 than one would from reading the 208 00:15:46,840 --> 00:15:53,360 genealogy of Matthew chapter 1. The genealogy is very dry and 209 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:57,720 it's hard going to read through a book full of genealogies. 210 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:01,720 For example, over in Chronicles, you have chapter after chapter. 211 00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:05,480 How many of you have come to those chapters and said, will I 212 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,720 leave that for some other day or some other night? 213 00:16:07,720 --> 00:16:10,040 You never get back to it. Let's try reading. 214 00:16:10,040 --> 00:16:13,200 But then when you do start to read, you come across a name 215 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,080 like Jabez. What a wonderful little story 216 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,320 there in the list of names God gives. 217 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,880 Whet's the appetite, if you like, and just gives us that 218 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:27,680 grace to continue on. Because every word of God is 219 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:32,640 inspired of the Lord. So the genealogy is just 220 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:36,240 inspired as the Sermon on the Mount. 221 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,720 The genealogies are just every bit as inspired as John 3 and 222 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:45,640 16. Because every word of God is 223 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,240 inspired. It's all inspired of God. 224 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:53,120 And then that word verbal, it simply means every word. 225 00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:55,880 It comes from a Latin word meaning word. 226 00:16:56,760 --> 00:17:00,320 And this means that it's not thoughts that are inspired, it's 227 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:05,440 not phrases that are inspired, but every word is inspired. 228 00:17:06,319 --> 00:17:12,040 And Jesus adhered to this when he said, there, Matthew 5/17/18 229 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:17,560 Verily, verily, I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, not 230 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:22,520 one jot or title shall at no wise pass from the law. 231 00:17:22,680 --> 00:17:26,599 That's interesting. The jot is the smallest 232 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:31,040 character in the Hebrew alphabet, and the title is the 233 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:37,000 smallest smaller than a comma, and it is used to distinguish 234 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:39,920 consonants. Now this can be illustrated, and 235 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:44,520 it was illustrated by another preacher from the English 236 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:47,920 alphabet, and this is the way he illustrated that. 237 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:55,160 You have the small A, you go back to school, you have the A's 238 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,520 there, and then you have the dot at the top. 239 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,360 Can you see the drawing up here at the front the line? 240 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:08,400 There's the dot. So that is what the preacher 241 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:11,400 said about the jot. It's just like the dot on the A. 242 00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:16,360 And then what about the cross? I'd better draw this arrow way. 243 00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:27,390 Now I'm I'm drawing AT can you see it down this here? 244 00:18:27,390 --> 00:18:29,750 And then there you see the big cross at the top there. 245 00:18:31,390 --> 00:18:35,470 So you have the dot like the dot on the eye. 246 00:18:36,030 --> 00:18:38,790 And then you have the title. That's like that little bit of 247 00:18:38,790 --> 00:18:44,310 cross on the top of the T. So what Jesus saying that the 248 00:18:45,110 --> 00:18:49,880 dot on the eye and the cross and the teeth shall not have passed 249 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:52,720 away from the holy, inspired, infallible word of God, the jot 250 00:18:52,720 --> 00:18:55,600 and the tell, it will not disappear. 251 00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,280 That's what God has said here in his precious word. 252 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:02,600 And then you come to that word inspiration. 253 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:07,680 And that simply means that the text of Scripture is God 254 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,280 breathed. It's breathed out by God. 255 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:17,040 God breathed out, and the man that God chose, they took down 256 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:21,160 what God breathed out and they inscribed it in the originals. 257 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:26,760 It's inspired of God. So all the Bible, every word in 258 00:19:26,760 --> 00:19:31,880 the Bible, in the original manuscripts are breathed out by 259 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:35,800 God. And men wrote down what God told 260 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,400 them to write down. Some say God gave the thoughts, 261 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,520 allowing man to write down them and his own words. 262 00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:45,960 But we believe in verbal inspiration. 263 00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:52,520 God gave the words and these individuals chosen by God, they 264 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:57,520 wrote down what God said. So there's the defined extent of 265 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,120 the inerrant Bible. And then the second place, there 266 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,760 is the detailed evidence of an inerrant Bible. 267 00:20:04,840 --> 00:20:09,920 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, so Scripture 268 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:14,520 is given. It's supernatural because it 269 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,600 came from God. It came from above. 270 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,720 It originated with him, not with man. 271 00:20:20,840 --> 00:20:22,960 None of the apostles ever thought of it up. 272 00:20:23,640 --> 00:20:28,120 None of the prophets either. It was of God. 273 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:32,160 It was God breathed. And the detailed evidence of 274 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:36,200 this fact is found in the unique nature of the Holy Bible. 275 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:43,360 The Bible is not really a book. The Bible is a library of 66 276 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:49,440 different books written over a course of about 1500 years by at 277 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,600 least 40 different writers from all walks of life. 278 00:20:53,840 --> 00:20:57,440 Some were fishermen, some were prophets, some were kings, some 279 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:01,560 were shepherds, some were doctors who came from three 280 00:21:01,560 --> 00:21:06,400 different continents, Asia, Africa and Europe. 281 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:11,560 Yet the Bible has come together with one theology, one plan of 282 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:16,560 redemption, 1 theme running throughout its pages, leaving no 283 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:22,040 explanation for its unique nature outside of God Himself. 284 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:24,880 It's given by inspiration of God. 285 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,560 Everything's tied together in a most amazing fashion. 286 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,200 Can you not see this? This is one of the evidences 287 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:36,880 that the Word of God is inspired. 288 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:42,880 Then also it's evidenced by the way in which it can change 289 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,280 people. Now, there are people here 290 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,960 tonight. I don't know you all, but I 291 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:49,880 assume that quite a number of you are saved. 292 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,200 You're not what you used to be. But what brought about the 293 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:55,000 change? Well, the grace of God. 294 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:56,800 You heard a message from the Bible. 295 00:21:57,280 --> 00:22:01,080 It gripped your heart. It broke down your resistance to 296 00:22:01,080 --> 00:22:03,280 the gospel. It brought you to the cross. 297 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,200 You repented. You believed you're not the 298 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,520 person you used to be. You're changed by grace. 299 00:22:09,160 --> 00:22:13,880 So hearing the Word of God and when you think of millions and 300 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:17,200 millions of people all down through church history have been 301 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:19,560 changed by the grace of what you think about the millions in 302 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:23,400 heaven. They're not in hell today, but 303 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,280 they're in heaven because of the message that came to their 304 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,640 hearts, The message of full salvation in Christ through 305 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:36,120 grace. And heaven will continue to be 306 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:40,880 populated until the purpose of God comes to an end and every 307 00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:43,920 rejoicing soul is brought home to glory. 308 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:48,720 But I think that the greatest proof that the Bible is indeed 309 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:53,240 the word of God, as in the way prophecy has been fulfilled down 310 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:57,240 through the centuries, through it as pages, the pages of truth. 311 00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:04,640 For example, Isaiah, who wrote about 700 years before the birth 312 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:08,320 of Christ, he wrote that the promised Messiah will be bored 313 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:15,400 of a virgin who would have come up with that idea, something 314 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,240 that never had happened and never would have been apart from 315 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:21,280 what we read of in Matthew's Gospel. 316 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:27,480 A virgin would become the mother of the promised Messiah, a 317 00:23:27,480 --> 00:23:31,400 teenager at that. That's an amazing thing. 318 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:37,680 A lowly teenager would become the mother of the promised 319 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,560 Messiah. And yet 700 years before the 320 00:23:40,560 --> 00:23:46,840 event, the servant of God, Isaiah, received from God of 321 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:51,920 breath that cultivated his mind. He took up the parchment and 322 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:53,680 began to write a book. This verse. 323 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:57,280 Behold, a virgin will be the child. 324 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,520 That's an amazing thing in Michael. 325 00:24:03,560 --> 00:24:08,080 In Michael's book, 500 years before the birth of the Lord 326 00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:15,080 Jesus Christ, he foretold that the Messiah would be born in a 327 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:19,880 little town called Bethlehem. Now when the wise men came from 328 00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:22,440 the east, they made their way to Jerusalem. 329 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:26,320 That was the place they expected a king to be born in the capital 330 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:27,920 city. So they made their way to 331 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:30,080 Jerusalem. They thought that's where they 332 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:32,480 would find. Where is he that is born king of 333 00:24:32,480 --> 00:24:33,720 the Jews? This cried. 334 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:38,800 And then the scribes, they started to search the scriptures 335 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,440 and they turned over, and they turned over and they came to 336 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,160 Micah, and there's the red mic. And they discovered that the 337 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,120 Child, the promised Messiah, would come to a place called 338 00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:51,960 Bethlehem. And so 500 years before it 339 00:24:51,960 --> 00:24:57,680 happened, this man was moved of God to take up the pen and to 340 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:01,000 write it down the parchment that the Messiah would be born in a 341 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:04,120 place called Bethlehem. No one ever expected the child 342 00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:07,480 to be born there. Sure, it's got to be Jerusalem. 343 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:11,240 No, it was Bethlehem because God said it was to be in Bethlehem. 344 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:15,760 This book's a wonderful book, wonderful book even. 345 00:25:15,760 --> 00:25:19,960 To this day, the prophecies found in Zechariah and other 346 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:22,640 places are still being fulfilled and will continue to be 347 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:30,040 fulfilled until the jigsaw puzzle comes together finally at 348 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:33,040 the end. You know what it's like if you 349 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:36,680 have a jigsaw there. And my wife and myself, we 350 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:41,200 bought a few jigsaw puzzles and we got the table up there and we 351 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:43,640 started to build. It took us a long time to build 352 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,120 the first one, you know, bit by bit, but we couldn't get that 353 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:49,160 bit in there. We could get that bit more in 354 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,600 there. Then with the passing of time 355 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:55,040 and things began to come together. 356 00:25:55,040 --> 00:25:59,040 We could see the picture and then it became easier to get the 357 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:01,040 pieces all put into the proper place. 358 00:26:01,040 --> 00:26:04,600 And then it was over. We we called little grandson. 359 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:06,720 He'd been there watching at different times, and we allowed 360 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,880 him to put in the last piece into the jigsaw puzzle. 361 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:12,280 And then we stood back and we can see the picture. 362 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,400 And all down through history God has been put into place. 363 00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,080 All the jigsaw puzzle, all the pieces foretold in the 364 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,880 Scriptures, the inspired Word of God coming together, we can 365 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,800 understand more clearly now than what we were able to understand 366 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:34,600 maybe 30 years ago. With the passing of time, we're 367 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:38,120 seeing more and more of the prophecies of God's Word being 368 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:41,520 fulfilled. The coming of the Lord draweth 369 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,800 nigh. You need to prepare to meet God. 370 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:46,440 That was the message of the Old Testament. 371 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:54,000 Prepare, prepare to meet by God. And this book that we had before 372 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,000 us is a wonderful book in the original for that word 373 00:26:58,000 --> 00:26:59,760 inspiration. I'm not going to attempt to 374 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,560 pronounce the word in the original Greek, but it means God 375 00:27:03,560 --> 00:27:08,440 breathed it's passive and the Bible then as a result of the 376 00:27:08,440 --> 00:27:11,920 breath of God. Now God used men, but he did not 377 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:15,720 breathe in men. He breathed out of men the word 378 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:21,200 of God, just the way a skilled composer creates a score 379 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:25,200 utilising the flute and the tuba and other instruments. 380 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:28,440 So God chose his own instruments, his own men, 381 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:34,480 somewhere different as flutes and tubas, yet he chose them and 382 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:38,200 used them to breathe out to give us his word. 383 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,120 What an honour it is to have the word of God. 384 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:44,720 They're in the bench at home, but sitting there beside the 385 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:48,760 bed, you can imagine a time when there was no Bible, a world 386 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:52,280 where there was no Bible and the darkness and the superstition 387 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:59,160 and the debauchery. I think that we're going back to 388 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,400 times like that because by and large, society has rejected the 389 00:28:03,400 --> 00:28:07,720 Bible, rejected the truth, becoming more Pagan than ever 390 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:12,880 before. And then when you get our king 391 00:28:13,560 --> 00:28:18,240 going to pray with the Pope? Sad, sad times. 392 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:23,160 First time in what, 500 years? Sad. 393 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:25,960 We're talking about the Protestant Reformation. 394 00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:29,720 Change the world. May God be pleased to change 395 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:32,320 things again for the praise of his name. 396 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:37,200 Now, these writers were not mere mechanical dictators giving 397 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:41,880 dictation. The Bible writers were not mere 398 00:28:41,920 --> 00:28:46,600 stenographers, having their minds in neutral and playing the 399 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,440 part and be nothing more than a puppet. 400 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,400 The writers were had their own individual personalities. 401 00:28:55,400 --> 00:28:58,880 They had their obvious styles and that appears in the 402 00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:03,400 scriptures and you can think about that when you read of the 403 00:29:03,400 --> 00:29:08,440 different men. Given this responsibility, God 404 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,960 used their own personalities to get the message across, but God 405 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,360 was in control. God controlled their 406 00:29:15,680 --> 00:29:19,520 environment, their salvation, their call and everything about 407 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:23,160 their lives. God controlled everything. 408 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:29,000 And we read there in second Peter one verse 21, holy men of 409 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,720 God spake as they're removed by the Holy Spirit. 410 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:33,080 We have a wonderful picture there. 411 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:36,280 You go down to Portrush. There's not much of A wind. 412 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:37,640 You see a sailing boat out there. 413 00:29:37,640 --> 00:29:41,880 It's not making much progress. And then all of a sudden there's 414 00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:46,040 a bit of a gust of wind and you can see the sail being filled 415 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,560 with the wind and then it suddenly moves forward. 416 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,760 That's the picture we have here, that the Holy Spirit came and 417 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:57,560 filled the sail of these men that God chose to give to us the 418 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:02,520 Scriptures and moved them along. That's the picture we have here. 419 00:30:02,520 --> 00:30:06,320 It's a wonderful picture. God controlled them. 420 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:11,880 God moved them and as a result of that, then they did a perfect 421 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:17,280 work in the original languages. Sir Isaac Newton did not give us 422 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:22,520 gravity, God did. The writers of the Bible did not 423 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:25,080 give us the Scripture. God gave to us the Scripture 424 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:30,800 because all the scriptures given by inspiration of God, the 425 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:34,040 writings are what were really inspired. 426 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,120 Paul was not inspired to write the book of Romans. 427 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,840 The writings themselves were inspired. 428 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:45,480 God did not breathe on the words of men. 429 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:51,160 God breathed out words himself. That's exactly what Second 430 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:55,840 Timothy 316 is all about, referring to the breath of God, 431 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,120 the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 432 00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:05,280 So God breathed. Isaiah wrote down his prophecy, 433 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:08,800 God breathed. Matthew wrote down his gospel, 434 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:15,160 God breathed, Luke wrote down his gospel, and John wrote down 435 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:22,920 what God gave to him, and God breathed, and Paul wrote down 436 00:31:23,160 --> 00:31:26,200 his epistles. What an amazing picture we have 437 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:30,640 here in the Holy Scriptures. Every one of them, every writer 438 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:36,760 points to Jesus Christ, every prophecy in some way points us 439 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:40,160 to Christ. And did not Jesus say search the 440 00:31:40,160 --> 00:31:45,040 scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life? 441 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:48,880 And they are they which testify of me. 442 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,040 Remember that day in my Mace Rd. The two disciples were downcast, 443 00:31:53,040 --> 00:31:56,760 they were sorrowful. The world just seemed to come to 444 00:31:56,760 --> 00:32:00,040 an end because Christ, they felt, was still dead. 445 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:04,640 They thought he would deliver the people, the nation from 446 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,360 Roman authority and power. But now he was dead. 447 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:10,520 The whole purpose was completely frustrated. 448 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:17,960 But here they are travelling out to Emmaus, 7 or 8 miles and 449 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,160 suddenly a stranger draws near. He was a stranger to them. 450 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:26,360 The rays were holding that they could not know him, and he began 451 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:30,520 that Moses and all the prophets expounded unto them, and all the 452 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,720 Scriptures and things concerning himself. 453 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:37,240 What happened? Did they not say later on? 454 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:41,120 Did not her heart burn within us as He talked with us? 455 00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:44,320 By the way, the word of God preached burned into their 456 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,000 hearts. The Word of God caused to give 457 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:49,680 them a burning heart. It was what He talked to them 458 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,960 about, what He expounded to them, thrilled their hearts, and 459 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:59,080 bless their souls. So you have the defined extent 460 00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:03,160 of the inherent word, the detailed evidence. 461 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:07,000 You have the divine effect. All the Scripture is given by 462 00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:10,440 inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for 463 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:14,120 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. 464 00:33:14,120 --> 00:33:17,640 Now this book that we have before us is profitable. 465 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:23,960 It's profitable for doctrine, teaching us what we never had 466 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:30,240 would have known otherwise. God wrought a miracle when He 467 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:34,400 revealed to us our need of salvation, when He wrought with 468 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:38,960 our hearts the great work of grace, acquitting us with the 469 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:42,200 Scriptures and our need of salvation and our need to repent 470 00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:46,280 and believe the gospel. The book acquaints us with our 471 00:33:46,280 --> 00:33:48,920 fallen condition and God's plan of redemption. 472 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,560 We never would have known about these things had it not been 473 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,040 revealed to us by the Spirit and the Scriptures of truth. 474 00:33:56,320 --> 00:34:00,080 Everything we need to know about doctrine, about how to live for 475 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:05,520 Christ, about the future, about eternity is laid down in the 476 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:08,480 Word of God. Everything we need to know about 477 00:34:08,480 --> 00:34:11,000 how to live a successful Christian life is laid down in 478 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:14,159 the book. It shows us the way to heaven. 479 00:34:14,159 --> 00:34:17,080 It shows us how to repent. It shows us how to get right 480 00:34:17,080 --> 00:34:20,560 with God. That tells us all of these 481 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:23,880 things and much more. How to prevail in prayer, how to 482 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:27,679 get answers in prayer, how to witness, how to tell the good 483 00:34:27,679 --> 00:34:30,760 news, how to win our families for Christ. 484 00:34:30,760 --> 00:34:33,880 It's all laid down in the book. It's profitable. 485 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:42,600 It's profitable for reproof as we send the Bible convicts us. 486 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:48,639 Jeremiah 2329 says is not my word like a hammer that breaks a 487 00:34:48,639 --> 00:34:53,360 rock to pieces. So the Bible says that it's 488 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:59,640 effect is the effect of taking a hammer that continues to beat us 489 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:02,600 with conviction and reproves us over sin. 490 00:35:03,800 --> 00:35:09,000 And so when we do go astray, the word, the inspired word, it's 491 00:35:09,000 --> 00:35:14,680 like that hammer that God uses to break us into obedience. 492 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:21,000 It's always easier to obey the the teaching of the word of God 493 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:25,840 than they have God chasing us. It's better to just accept it as 494 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,000 it is and believe it and exercise faith in it than to 495 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:35,360 hold out against God and to fight him, causing God to send 496 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:38,120 some discipline into the life to chasten us. 497 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:42,280 But that's that's a dangerous place to get to. 498 00:35:43,800 --> 00:35:47,960 So He uses his word as a hammer to to break down the hardness of 499 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,960 our hearts. When we stray from the right 500 00:35:50,960 --> 00:35:56,960 path, He corrects us, showing to us the way back into fellowship 501 00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:59,200 with Him. It's also profitable for 502 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:01,600 instruction. So we do go astray. 503 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,480 He uses the hammer, He corrects us. 504 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:09,280 Once we get that correction, He brings us back into the right 505 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:11,440 path again. And then He instructs us. 506 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:16,000 He trains us in the way we ought to go, how to grow in the things 507 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:18,680 of God, how to develop spiritually. 508 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:27,160 We see proof of this profitable statement, for example, in the 509 00:36:27,160 --> 00:36:30,920 epistles. The book of Romans is profitable 510 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:34,560 for doctrine. It's a deep theological epistle. 511 00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:41,720 The Corinthian letters would be for reproof Galatian. 512 00:36:41,760 --> 00:36:47,440 The Galatian epistle is for correction and the Ephesian 513 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:53,920 letter is for instruction to teach us. 514 00:36:54,040 --> 00:36:58,040 You have the the way it's divided up there. 515 00:36:58,040 --> 00:37:02,560 You have in Ephesians the first 3 chapters that tells us what we 516 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:06,480 have, tells us about our wealth, what we have in Christ. 517 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:09,520 Then you move on to the next part, starting chapter 4. 518 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:14,720 You have our walk in Christ and then you come to the last, the 519 00:37:14,720 --> 00:37:18,800 last verses there in chapter 6 about the warfare we have in 520 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,320 Christ. So there we have instruction 521 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:23,840 given there and the book. Do we, do we know the book? 522 00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,320 Do we ought to know the book? Is it living to us? 523 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,000 Is it our guide? Do we cherish it? 524 00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:32,000 Do we love it? Do we give it first place? 525 00:37:32,920 --> 00:37:36,200 As far as we're concerned, is it just like Goliath sword? 526 00:37:36,200 --> 00:37:39,000 There's nothing like it. We just can't leave it down. 527 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:42,680 We can't leave it on the shelf. We can't abandoned it. 528 00:37:43,400 --> 00:37:47,280 Sometimes when we get down and discourage the first thing we do 529 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,480 is abandoned the book. We're getting nothing from it. 530 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:53,760 Let's try I'll try praying about it. 531 00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:57,080 Try get it on your knees. When it doesn't open up, try 532 00:37:57,080 --> 00:37:58,600 again. Keep on at it. 533 00:37:58,800 --> 00:38:01,880 Keep on praying, keep on on your knees seeking the face of God 534 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:04,720 and eventually it will open up. Is that the way it is with you? 535 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,160 Oh, I I didn't get anything from my Bible readings tonight. 536 00:38:09,160 --> 00:38:12,240 I'm not bother with it anymore. I'll just give it a few days and 537 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:14,280 so on. And then it turns into a week 538 00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:16,800 and a month in there for you where you end up bad. 539 00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:19,600 Just down a loaded bar, the place of no pasture. 540 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,680 Lost heart, lost interest, things of God. 541 00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:28,440 Oh, this book's a wonderful book because it reveals to us Christ. 542 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:30,560 Yeah, he has all together lovely. 543 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:34,480 What a wonderful picture we have of him, the shepherd coming to 544 00:38:34,480 --> 00:38:38,120 seek the sheep. He follows the sheep out into 545 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:40,400 the wilderness. Not dangerous place. 546 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:44,320 And then he finds the sheep and he places the sheep on the 547 00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:46,480 shoulder. That's a place of strength. 548 00:38:47,520 --> 00:38:49,760 He brings his back into the fold, and there's great 549 00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:52,480 rejoicing in heaven when that happens. 550 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:55,600 Have you grown cold at heart? Have you lost your way? 551 00:38:55,960 --> 00:38:58,240 Get to this book. Get on your knees before this 552 00:38:58,240 --> 00:38:59,520 book. Begin to pray. 553 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:04,880 Let it come alive. Lord, use this word to thrill my 554 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:08,080 soul, to instruct me, to teach me in the way that I ought to 555 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:13,040 go. The Bible just like God's road 556 00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:20,720 map. 1st we begin with doctrine, the way that we begin the road 557 00:39:20,720 --> 00:39:23,880 with Christ. He tells us about the way of 558 00:39:23,880 --> 00:39:29,320 salvation, how to be saved. That's great doctrinal truth. 559 00:39:29,920 --> 00:39:33,960 And then he moves on to teach us along the way how to walk, how 560 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:38,400 to serve Him. And when we obey and come to 561 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,080 Christ, we get on the right Rd with him. 562 00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,720 But what happens when we get off the right Rd? 563 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:53,080 It's profitable for reproof. David should have been out 564 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:58,920 leading his army in battle. Instead he's lying upon the bed. 565 00:39:59,320 --> 00:40:04,120 The time of ease in this palace he sees a woman bathing. 566 00:40:06,040 --> 00:40:08,480 He sent for her. He sent with her. 567 00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:15,440 He suffer for her. Until one day, Nathan the 568 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:18,000 prophet came into his presence with a parable. 569 00:40:18,360 --> 00:40:20,360 David, I've got a message from God for you. 570 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:24,440 And Nathan told David the parable. 571 00:40:24,440 --> 00:40:26,880 And David shook his head. That's a terrible thing that 572 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:30,680 person did in the parable. And then the preacher stepped up 573 00:40:30,680 --> 00:40:33,800 and said to the king, thou art the man. 574 00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:37,640 Thou art the man that broke David. 575 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:40,520 He'd been holding out for a year. 576 00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,760 Some believe that he had actually contacted leprosy. 577 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:49,880 He was having trouble physically, mentally. 578 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:54,560 They weren't the man. And as a result of the challenge 579 00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,160 of the Word of God, the reprisal came from the Word of God. 580 00:40:57,160 --> 00:41:01,160 He gives to us Psalm 51, Psalm 32, other psalms as well. 581 00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:03,760 Psalm 23. He restores my soul. 582 00:41:03,760 --> 00:41:07,920 He says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the 583 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:13,120 days of my life. What about the the blessed man 584 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:16,680 of someone? He's a blessed man because of a 585 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:18,400 separation. There's certain things God's 586 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,680 people don't do, you know. Oh, that might offend some 587 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:24,080 people. They think, oh, I'll get right 588 00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:28,080 with God and I can do whatever I jolly well want to do. 589 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:32,680 I know that I'm not going to be inhabited by any restrictions 590 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:35,360 placed upon me. I'm under grace, I'm not under 591 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:38,880 law. But the Bible does say thou 592 00:41:38,880 --> 00:41:43,120 shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shall not commit 593 00:41:43,120 --> 00:41:47,400 adultery and so on. That's the law of God. 594 00:41:48,080 --> 00:41:51,720 It's never been withdrawn. Still in place, you can find all 595 00:41:51,720 --> 00:41:54,920 of these things and some people say you can't find a law about 596 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:57,880 the Sabbath. Hebrews 9 tells me one of the 597 00:41:57,880 --> 00:41:59,600 verses there. I think it could be maybe verse 598 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:02,880 10, I'm not sure. There's something remains from 599 00:42:02,880 --> 00:42:06,320 the old dispensation. It's the keeping of a Sabbath. 600 00:42:06,800 --> 00:42:10,920 So all of the 10 commandments are mentioned again in the New 601 00:42:10,920 --> 00:42:14,000 Testament. Some things just never change. 602 00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:15,640 There's some things you don't do. 603 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:19,920 You don't walk in the council of the ungodly and you don't stand 604 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:21,400 there with sinners. You don't sit down with a 605 00:42:21,400 --> 00:42:25,080 scornful no. So that's the negative side of 606 00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:26,720 the Christian life. But then there's the positive 607 00:42:26,720 --> 00:42:31,680 side that comes in verse 2. It's the study of the man of 608 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:34,640 God, has the lighters and the law of the Lord. 609 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:38,920 And then as Lord of the meditate day and night, there's a book 610 00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:42,120 that restores his joy. He's separated unto God. 611 00:42:42,240 --> 00:42:44,880 He's a man of study. And then where do we find that 612 00:42:44,880 --> 00:42:46,800 man? He's pandered by the rivers of 613 00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:50,000 water. There's plenty of refreshment 614 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:51,840 there by the Spirit of God in his life. 615 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:54,160 He's been fruitful. He's multiplying. 616 00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:58,200 He's growing in grace the things of God. 617 00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:02,320 The Bible is profitable. Oh, we need to be under the 618 00:43:02,320 --> 00:43:07,440 control of the Holy Spirit of the Lord to be filled with the 619 00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:12,320 Spirit. Now, some people think wrongly 620 00:43:14,080 --> 00:43:19,880 about a certain thing. They feel that when they pray 621 00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:24,200 that God will fill them with the Spirit, that they're getting 622 00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:26,920 some more of the Spirit's power into their life. 623 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:33,920 The thing is, when we are regenerated by the Spirit, the 624 00:43:33,920 --> 00:43:39,320 Spirit of God baptises us into Christ and we receive a person. 625 00:43:39,560 --> 00:43:41,640 The Holy Spirit is a person, not a net. 626 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:43,720 The holy, the Holy Spirit is a person. 627 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:48,120 We receive the person who comes to take up his residence in our 628 00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:52,200 hearts and our lives. So we can't get any more of the 629 00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,520 Holy Spirit. We get all of the Spirit at the 630 00:43:55,520 --> 00:44:03,360 time when we are baptised into the body of Jesus Christ and 631 00:44:03,360 --> 00:44:07,000 when we pray for power, we're simply praying that the Holy 632 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:11,640 Spirit will get more of us, that we would surrender to Him, that 633 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:13,400 He will take more control of the life. 634 00:44:13,400 --> 00:44:17,080 He's there all along, the whole person, the third person of the 635 00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:21,360 Trinity and wells us. So we don't get any more of the 636 00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:24,080 Spirit. The point is this, when we pray 637 00:44:24,080 --> 00:44:27,120 for that enabling of the Spirit, the Spirit of God gets more of 638 00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:32,720 us, less of self, less of the flesh and more of us. 639 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:37,040 That's when we have power. And, and you read in the book of 640 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:41,960 Acts of the same disciples and apostles been filled with the 641 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,840 Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And then later on they're filled 642 00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:48,640 again for service to give them boldness to preach. 643 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:52,360 It's the Spirit of God taking more and more control of them. 644 00:44:53,840 --> 00:44:59,720 They have matured, they grow, and then the Spirit flows 645 00:44:59,720 --> 00:45:01,640 through them to the glory of God. 646 00:45:07,890 --> 00:45:09,810 And so we have these three things. 647 00:45:09,810 --> 00:45:13,370 Another point, but I just mentioned it to you, the desired 648 00:45:13,370 --> 00:45:18,050 end of an inerrant Bible, that the man of God may be perfect, 649 00:45:18,330 --> 00:45:28,600 truly furnished onto good works. This is where we arrive at when 650 00:45:28,600 --> 00:45:33,680 the Spirit of God is taking control, the whole man is 651 00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:38,400 completely revolutionised, brought to that place where God 652 00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:42,320 wants him or her to be. When the Word of God is in 653 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:49,560 control, when we are completing him, then the Lord takes us and 654 00:45:49,560 --> 00:45:55,480 He fills us with the Spirit. We can't go anywhere, we can't 655 00:45:55,480 --> 00:45:59,280 do anything without the Word of God. 656 00:45:59,680 --> 00:46:03,520 We can never be the people God intended for us to be without 657 00:46:03,520 --> 00:46:05,080 the Word of God. It's our guide. 658 00:46:06,400 --> 00:46:09,960 It's the Holy Spirit that uses His Word in all things. 659 00:46:10,120 --> 00:46:14,040 And Jeremiah said, thy words were found, and I did eat them, 660 00:46:14,040 --> 00:46:17,280 and they became the joy and rejoicing of my heart. 661 00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:25,160 Now, a Bible that is falling apart usually belongs to someone 662 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:29,000 who isn't. Now, if you see an old Bible 663 00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:34,400 sitting there by the bedside or in the living room, it's been 664 00:46:34,400 --> 00:46:37,880 tattered and worn and written on and falling to pieces. 665 00:46:38,240 --> 00:46:42,480 You can be absolutely sure that the person who owns it is not 666 00:46:42,480 --> 00:46:47,120 falling apart. They're often found in the Holy 667 00:46:47,120 --> 00:46:50,600 Scriptures, reading and studying the Word of God. 668 00:46:53,320 --> 00:46:58,760 Oh, let's cherish what we have. Let's cherish the wonderful, 669 00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:04,120 blessed book that we have before us because all of it is 670 00:47:04,120 --> 00:47:07,880 inspired. Every word is inspired in the 671 00:47:07,880 --> 00:47:11,720 original documents. It's what God has been pleased 672 00:47:11,720 --> 00:47:15,080 the best down through these 500 years of history. 673 00:47:16,960 --> 00:47:21,200 May the Lord be pleased to move again and send to us time for 674 00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:23,320 refreshment from the presence of God. 675 00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:28,840 And let us always cherish this tremendous book that we have 676 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:34,520 before us, all structure that's given by inspiration of God and 677 00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:38,040 is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 678 00:47:38,040 --> 00:47:41,480 instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be 679 00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:46,400 perfect, truly furnished unto all good works. 680 00:47:46,440 --> 00:47:48,240 May God be pleased to bless His word. 681 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:59,000 We'll close now in prayer. Father, we do pray that Thou 682 00:47:59,000 --> 00:48:01,440 will bless Thy word to all of our hearts this evening. 683 00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:06,440 We're thankful for the treasure that we have in the Holy 684 00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:10,080 Scriptures. We're thankful for the way that 685 00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:18,880 there has been pleased to use thy truth to rescue millions of 686 00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:23,560 lost sinners on the road to hell by bringing to their hearts that 687 00:48:23,560 --> 00:48:27,920 message of salvation from the Holy Word of God, that Christ 688 00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:32,760 receive a sinful man. We thank thee for the way God 689 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:39,640 has manifested his power even throughout the generations of 690 00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:43,120 church history. We're thankful for the great 691 00:48:43,120 --> 00:48:45,760 exploits of God. What he did in Old Testament 692 00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:50,560 times, what he did in those early New Testament times, what 693 00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:54,480 he did at the time of the Reformation, what he did in 694 00:48:54,480 --> 00:49:00,040 times of reviving, times of reviving in Wales and Scotland 695 00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:05,320 and England and here in Ulster further afield, Oh God, do it 696 00:49:05,320 --> 00:49:07,040 again. May there be a reviving of 697 00:49:07,040 --> 00:49:11,200 gospel preaching, a reviving of Bible readers. 698 00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:15,400 May the Lord be pleased to move in and power in these dark times 699 00:49:15,800 --> 00:49:20,240 against all of the odds. Be pleased to move and continue 700 00:49:20,240 --> 00:49:23,120 to bless faithful servants of thine who do faithfully, 701 00:49:23,400 --> 00:49:27,560 fearlessly declare the whole council of God that will deal 702 00:49:27,560 --> 00:49:31,520 with those who oppose the going forth of the Word, those who 703 00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:37,360 oppose those who stand in the open air, those who seek to tear 704 00:49:37,880 --> 00:49:41,920 in pieces the the old scriptures of truth that we love and 705 00:49:41,920 --> 00:49:44,440 cherish. O God, send us times of 706 00:49:44,440 --> 00:49:46,680 refreshment from the presence of God. 707 00:49:46,680 --> 00:49:49,880 Dismiss us now with Thy blessing, and then thy fear. 708 00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:53,240 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the 709 00:49:53,240 --> 00:49:56,520 fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest in the night upon all of 710 00:49:56,520 --> 00:50:00,400 God's believing people now and forevermore, for we ask these 711 00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:05,760 things in Jesus name, Amen. I don't intend to go to the 712 00:50:05,760 --> 00:50:10,320 door, but May God bless you and may you be encouraged in His own 713 00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:12,240 precious truth tonight. Amen.