1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,040 Good morning, happy Sabbath to you all. 2 00:00:05,040 --> 00:00:10,960 Sorry for a more lengthy reading than usual probably, but it's 3 00:00:10,960 --> 00:00:15,200 important. So a couple of questions for 4 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:17,400 you. How many read this book? 5 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:23,760 All right, I would recommend this to everybody to read. 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,440 One of the reasons I'm going to recommend this is because 7 00:00:27,440 --> 00:00:29,840 believe it or not, and some of you may challenge me on this, 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,000 but as you read it, I want you to think of the gospel of Jesus 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:36,640 Christ because it is in here. Amen. 10 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,400 This book is powerful. Not only does it go over the 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:44,160 Reformation and some of the other things, but it is full of 12 00:00:44,160 --> 00:00:47,200 the gospel if you're open to the Holy Spirit leading you. 13 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:51,080 So I highly recommend that. If you don't have a copy, I know 14 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,040 Fred or one of the elders would be happy to or deacons would be 15 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:55,800 happy to get you a copy of that book. 16 00:00:56,240 --> 00:01:00,240 It's also available online. You can listen to it via audio 17 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,680 or you can read it online, but I like paper, personally. 18 00:01:04,959 --> 00:01:09,280 The other thing is my wife and I have a seminar that we're going 19 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,760 to be hosting coming up starting this coming Friday. 20 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,520 It's about the Paleo Hebrew alphabet and how it shows the 21 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:20,160 love and care of God for all of us. 22 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:21,640 It's going to be an online event. 23 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:26,680 I will make sure I send the invite to Fred and Joy and they 24 00:01:26,680 --> 00:01:28,720 can send it out. If you're interested, you can 25 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:30,200 join up. It's an online event only. 26 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:34,480 It'll be it's four weeks. It's a Friday night and Saturday 27 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:36,880 night. I believe it starts at 6:00 each 28 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,680 of those nights and it lasts just an hour. 29 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:44,120 So just to let you know, all right, before we begin, let's 30 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:47,280 bow our heads. Father in Heaven, Lord, we are 31 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,960 so grateful for your Amazing Grace and your patience to us, 32 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:55,200 Father, and we are thankful for the words of life that are in 33 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,520 your holy scriptures. And Lord, as we open the bread 34 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,480 of life this morning, as we review it, we just pray for your 35 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:05,520 presence of your spirit, which inspired the words, and for your 36 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:10,400 angels, Father, to touch our hearts, to open us to hear and 37 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:13,000 to understand. Father, bless us with thy 38 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,760 presence and help us to leave here with a closer relationship 39 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:17,720 with you. I pray in Jesus name, Amen. 40 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:23,880 All right, so one of the things we're going to talk about is 41 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,240 exploring the trustworthiness of the Bible, historical, textual, 42 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:33,600 and personal perspectives. So this book, which is not 43 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:38,640 really just a book, it's 66 books, and then it's more like 44 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:44,160 an encyclopedia that was written by a vast number of people over 45 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,280 multiple continents over a long period of time. 46 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:52,880 And yet it is uniform in the message that it presents. 47 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,560 Now, as you can see from our Scripture reading this morning, 48 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:59,040 we're just going to go back there for a moment from Luke 49 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:05,960 chapter 24, you'll notice in verse 27 that the word of God 50 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,800 says, and beginning at Moses. Beginning where? 51 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,000 At Moses and all the prophets. How many of the prophets? 52 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,080 All right, so that's from Moses. So that's Genesis through 53 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:23,480 Malachi, right? That's all those books he, Jesus 54 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:28,400 expounded to them in all the Scriptures, the things 55 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:33,560 concerning himself. So that means that the vast 56 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:37,640 majority of the Old Testament, somebody correct me. 57 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:39,480 The vast majority, you should have corrected me. 58 00:03:39,480 --> 00:03:41,800 It's all the Old Testament is about who? 59 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,080 It's about Jesus. And the New Testament is about 60 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,800 who, Jesus. Amen. 61 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,440 All right, so let's get into this. 62 00:03:54,440 --> 00:03:56,400 So we're going to begin investigating some of the 63 00:03:56,400 --> 00:04:00,760 archaeological points now. That is probably way too small 64 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:05,040 for any of you to read, even me. Sorry about that. 65 00:04:05,040 --> 00:04:07,400 I'll have to work on my presentation for next time to 66 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:09,040 make sure. The fonts are much, much bigger. 67 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:15,680 Anyway, so the Bible, we have more manuscripts for this book 68 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,360 than any other book that has been written. 69 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,760 Amen. And so that allows the scholars 70 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:29,200 to check and double check and compare and see what this word 71 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,520 has to say. And so we can trust that this 72 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,120 Bible that we have be at the King James. 73 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:37,080 Some of you may be King James only. 74 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,280 I am not a King James only. I happen to use the new King 75 00:04:40,280 --> 00:04:42,080 James. You can call me a heretic if you 76 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:46,400 like, but that's OK. I also like the ESV, the NIV, 77 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,960 the NLT, and a number of other translations. 78 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,320 Why? Because some of the more modern 79 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:56,880 translations make it much easier to understand than the King 80 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,200 James. And for those of you that are 81 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,440 King James only, there are errors in the King James that 82 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:06,240 are corrected in the newer translations, just to let you 83 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:07,680 know. So it is not a perfect 84 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:09,120 translation. Is a good yes. 85 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:11,240 Is it poetic? Yes. 86 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:13,320 Did it help a lot of people over the years? 87 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,680 Yes. Can you be saved by reading it? 88 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,080 Absolutely. Absolutely. 89 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,000 But it is not the one and only. And I'll challenge you on that 90 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,360 because some of you who are King James only, let me ask you a 91 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:26,840 question. How do the Spanish people that 92 00:05:26,840 --> 00:05:29,040 don't read English, what are they supposed to read? 93 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,840 The Russians and the Czechoslovakians and the French 94 00:05:31,840 --> 00:05:34,800 that don't read English, what are they supposed to read? 95 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,440 Is it OK for them to read a translation that's not the King 96 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,400 James? My answer is going to be yes, it 97 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,640 is OK because they can find salvation in their native 98 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:48,320 language. All right, so to move on. 99 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:51,400 So textual integrity, transmission, it's been passed 100 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,520 down. So the people who wrote, who 101 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:57,080 wrote this down, who kept the records, were very, very 102 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,600 diligent in their work. They were called scribes and 103 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:03,640 they took their time. Did they make mistakes 104 00:06:03,640 --> 00:06:08,120 occasionally in a punctuation? Yes, occasionally, but we have 105 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:12,760 enough of the writings down through history to know that 106 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:16,360 this Bible is reliable and accurate to what God was trying 107 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:19,000 to pass down to us. As they compare all of those, 108 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,520 those parchments that they have, they can see the consistency in 109 00:06:24,520 --> 00:06:29,120 the coat, the coherence throughout the Word. 110 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:33,160 So can the Bible be trusted, right? 111 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:41,240 Archaeological has anybody heard of the oh, Fred, help me with 112 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:42,600 this one. What's the video? 113 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,040 We just that pastor just recorded Thunder in the Holy 114 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:47,320 Land. Anybody heard of that video? 115 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,400 Thunder in the Holy Land. All right, so the very first 116 00:06:50,400 --> 00:06:53,560 video. So I just gave Joy a set of 117 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,200 memory sticks that they're going to, you're going to be able to 118 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,200 duplicate. And it has links to the videos 119 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:02,920 and it also has the studies that go along with it. 120 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:05,720 And those studies and the videos are awesome. 121 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,240 They start off with the case of the archaeological evidence that 122 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,080 we have for the validity of the stories in the Bible, Amen. 123 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:19,800 So historically it is reliable. And the more archaeologists 124 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,400 research in Israel and other foreign countries over there, 125 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:31,800 they find remnants to support what this word says, Amen, Amen. 126 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:38,240 So we see all that now, historical reliability. 127 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,560 We know that, you know, one of the books that archaeologists 128 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,440 take with them, when they go over to the Middle East, guess 129 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,080 what book they take? They take the Bible. 130 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:48,320 You know why they take the Bible? 131 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:52,280 Because it has never been wrong when they're doing 132 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:55,920 archaeological digs. It has helped them actually. 133 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,640 So we see archaeological evidence supporting ancient 134 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:05,400 cities that have on earth inscriptions collaborate history 135 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:08,640 and artifacts validate events. They've found all sorts of 136 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,000 stones. And if you watch the the first 137 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:14,520 episode of Thunder in the Holy Land, they will go over a 138 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,640 massive amount of archaeological evidence that support the 139 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:21,520 scriptures and they'll explain what they found over the years. 140 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,480 Now there's been more found since that video was produced, 141 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,160 so the evidence continues to grow. 142 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:33,159 When they compare it with external historical records, 143 00:08:33,159 --> 00:08:36,760 they find that the biblical accounts are accurate and then 144 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,200 right. They find the historicity is 145 00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:44,200 reliable, that the civilizations that the Bible talked about 146 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:48,240 actually did exist, even though for a while some of them were 147 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,640 only listed in the Bible. But as archaeologic, well, digs 148 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:55,320 happen, they found evidence of the things that the cities and 149 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,160 the places that the Bible talked about. 150 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,040 So it gives it validity even though the naysayers said they 151 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,120 didn't exist. Well, lo and behold, the 152 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:05,640 archaeologists found evidence over time, and they continue to 153 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:07,960 find evidence. Amen. 154 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:11,920 Preservation of ancient manuscripts. 155 00:09:11,920 --> 00:09:13,760 There's centuries of preservation. 156 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:20,200 They found the Dead Sea Scrolls a number of years ago, which as 157 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,160 they examine them actually matched up to the translations, 158 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:28,160 the scripts that they had that predated those and those that 159 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,880 came after. So there's validity that keeps 160 00:09:31,800 --> 00:09:37,720 coming up as they go through all those textual integrity and 161 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:41,200 transmission process of copying. We talked about the little 162 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:44,720 earlier. The scribes use very meticulous 163 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:48,200 methods to copy what they wrote down. 164 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:51,040 Occasionally there would be, as I said, a little difference. 165 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,040 But of all the little differences, they don't add up 166 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:58,240 to changing the story, right? There are change challenges in 167 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,840 translation. So when you translate the Greek 168 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,600 and the Hebrew and the Aramaic into other languages, there are 169 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,320 some challenges because it's not always an exact translation. 170 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,840 Sometimes you have to go thought for thought right to use a 171 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:16,560 little language to embellish to help it under us understand what 172 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:20,320 they were trying to say. But the meaning is still there. 173 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:24,600 So they are very, and there's a lot of rigor in the 174 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,640 translations, cause causes of manuscript variations, hand 175 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,280 copying of the manuscripts. The scholars do comparisons and 176 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,360 they use specific techniques to validate the translations that 177 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:40,120 they have to reconstruct the original text as it is. 178 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:43,960 When they go through all those manuscripts, they use what's 179 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:49,000 called textual criticism seeks to identify the the original 180 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,440 text through careful manuscript evaluation. 181 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,560 So they compare it all. You know, it's sort of like if 182 00:10:55,560 --> 00:10:58,840 anybody's ever seen the movie God's Not Dead, Anybody see 183 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:00,160 that? See that movie? 184 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,520 Well, there was a series, and in one of the series, I think it 185 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,880 was the second or the third one, they actually had an 186 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,720 investigator, a former police investigator who looked into 187 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,280 dead cases, right? And he said the reason he became 188 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:18,840 a Christian was because when he read the Scriptures, especially 189 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:23,040 Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, they were not exactly the same. 190 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,640 And as an investigator, he had the experience to realize when 191 00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:32,760 you talk to witnesses, if their story is exactly the same, guess 192 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,080 what that means that they probably planned it. 193 00:11:36,360 --> 00:11:39,520 But when the stories vary a little bit and there's minor 194 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:44,640 differences here or there in the way it is, it gives validity to 195 00:11:44,680 --> 00:11:49,600 the witness's testimony, right? And that's from somebody who did 196 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:53,000 the dead case research. So the scholars use rigorous 197 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,080 rigor. Yeah. 198 00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:59,240 Good analytical techniques to access manuscripts. 199 00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:02,680 Sometimes I just can't get those words out right. 200 00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:08,560 There is consistency across all 66 books telling the same story, 201 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:11,120 right? Despite the diverse authors and 202 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:14,600 context, the Bible maintains consistent themes such as 203 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,400 redemption, justice, faith, creating a coherent narrative 204 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,480 through its books. The New Testament consists of 205 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,640 about 27 books, mainly written in Greek, right? 206 00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:27,360 And who wrote the majority of those books? 207 00:12:27,560 --> 00:12:29,480 Who can tell me? Paul. 208 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:32,720 Paul wrote the majority of those books, right? 209 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:35,520 And we also have fulfillment of prophecies. 210 00:12:35,520 --> 00:12:37,160 Has anybody read the book of Daniel? 211 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:39,200 Anybody out there read the book of Daniel? 212 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:42,440 Well, if you read the book of Daniel and you follow those 213 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:47,800 prophecies, you can see that the Bible has been 100% accurate as 214 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,240 far as what it's said up to date. 215 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:55,240 And that tells you that the statue in Daniel two, who can 216 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:57,440 tell me where we are in that prophecy? 217 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,520 In the Daniel 2 prophecy, who can tell me where we are? 218 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:06,880 Anybody the toes, I would say the toenails, right? 219 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,600 I think we're about in the toenails right now. 220 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,680 So if you want to get some encouragement, read Daniel 221 00:13:14,680 --> 00:13:20,040 chapter 2 and ask Fred or Joe or Phil or one of the leaders in 222 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:24,000 the church to have a study with you to show you how the Bible 223 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:28,640 has shown us down through history what is about to happen. 224 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,960 Amen. So we have prophetic 225 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,880 reliability, multiple authors, all unified in what they say, 226 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:38,920 the core teachings, right? The Bible shows remarkable 227 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:41,080 agreement on the core teaching and historical events, 228 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:47,880 indicating A unified message. Despite its complexity, personal 229 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,520 and societal impact has changed people's lives. 230 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,960 Anybody ever met a drug addict who's been set free by the Lord 231 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:58,000 Jesus personally? All right, right. 232 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:01,200 Jesus has done many things. Anybody experienced Jesus in 233 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:02,960 their life, setting them free from something? 234 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:06,400 Anybody. All right, for the rest of you, 235 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,360 let Jesus help you because he can do amazing things. 236 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:12,400 Amen. Amen. 237 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,720 I can only, I won't even give any time to the devil and what 238 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:20,800 he had me in years ago, but I can tell you that Jesus sets us 239 00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:22,440 free. Amen. 240 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,680 All right, so it has influence on law and ethics. 241 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:29,840 You know, most of the laws in the United States, Guess what? 242 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:32,600 They're based on most of them. They're based on the 243 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:34,600 commandments and what the scriptures teach. 244 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,080 It has impact on art and literature, and it has a role in 245 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,600 social movements. Testimonies of transformation, 246 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:47,440 power, personal testimonies. I have met countless people who 247 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:50,720 have had an experience with Jesus who has totally 248 00:14:50,720 --> 00:14:54,920 transformed their life, right? Unlike any other book. 249 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,480 And yet people say this book is just an old book from 2000 years 250 00:14:58,480 --> 00:15:01,920 ago. No, no, no, no, it is powerful. 251 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:03,360 The word is powerful. We're going to look at some 252 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:05,840 scriptures in just a moment about that. 253 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:13,920 So Psalm 119 one O 5 says your word is a lamp to what? 254 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:19,480 My feet and a what a light to my past, so that this word will 255 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:23,160 show us where we should be walking right in the safe path. 256 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,720 Proverbs 30 verses 5 and six said Every word of God proves 257 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,520 true. He is a shield to those who take 258 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:36,520 what refuge in him. Do not add to His words, lest He 259 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:38,320 rebuke you and you be found a liar. 260 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,080 So the word gives us a pathway to walk. 261 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,720 And why does God want to give us a pathway to walk? 262 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:47,520 Why does he want to show us the way to walk? 263 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:49,280 Why would he? Anybody. 264 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,800 This is a teaching session. I'm not just lecturing here. 265 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:54,520 You got a you got a dialogue with me? 266 00:15:54,520 --> 00:15:59,080 A little bit, yes. In the back to see salvation. 267 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:00,760 All right. Anybody else? 268 00:16:02,640 --> 00:16:04,480 He loves us, right? What? 269 00:16:04,480 --> 00:16:06,240 How does a parent treat their children? 270 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:08,840 Well, good parents. How do good parents treat their 271 00:16:08,840 --> 00:16:10,720 children? There are bad parents out there. 272 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,640 A few. Why does a parent try to teach 273 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,680 their child what's safe and what's unsafe? 274 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:20,040 Why do they do that? Because they love them, right? 275 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,680 A parent will tell a child, don't put your hand on the stove 276 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:25,840 when it's the flames there or it's red. 277 00:16:25,840 --> 00:16:28,760 Why would they tell them that? Because they're going to get 278 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,760 injured, right? A parent would tell a child, 279 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:34,760 don't run out into the street unless you stop and look both 280 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:36,800 ways and make sure there's no traffic coming. 281 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:40,920 Why do they tell him that? Because they care, right? 282 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,960 So when God gives us direction in his word, he's giving us 283 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:47,160 direction because he cares about us. 284 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,960 He's not trying to take things away. 285 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:53,160 He's trying to help us be happy and safe. 286 00:16:53,560 --> 00:16:59,840 Amen. Now John 1717, sanctify them 287 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:05,880 through thy truth, Thy word is So what is he saying in in John 288 00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:09,960 1717 that you and I can be sanctified? 289 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:13,920 If we're in this word? This word is powerful. 290 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:16,319 It is A2 edged sword. It's going to cut us to help let 291 00:17:16,319 --> 00:17:19,880 us know what we've done wrong, but it's also going to empower 292 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:24,599 us through the word to be able to walk the way Jesus walks. 293 00:17:24,599 --> 00:17:26,240 And some of you go, no, I don't believe that. 294 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:30,160 Well, then, you don't believe the word because let's skip down 295 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:33,320 to the third verse. Second, Peter 14 says, and 296 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,800 because of his glory and excellence, He has given us 297 00:17:36,800 --> 00:17:41,880 great and precious promises. These are the promises that 298 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:46,560 enable you to share His divine his what? 299 00:17:47,520 --> 00:17:52,080 His divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by 300 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:56,200 human desires. So what is God telling us there 301 00:17:56,200 --> 00:17:58,440 in second Peter one to four? What is he saying to us? 302 00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:04,480 He's saying what? It's only by his work. 303 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:08,920 He's telling us in second Peter one to four, that you and I can 304 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,800 have the same character as Jesus Christ. 305 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:17,960 That means that we can have victory over the besetting sins 306 00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:22,640 that are besetting us right now. Wow, that was really quiet. 307 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:27,480 I know that's sobering, right? Because you're saying I don't 308 00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,000 know how to overcome it. You don't overcome it in your 309 00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,560 own power. You overcome it by the power of 310 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:39,040 the Word of God, right? 1st Thessalonians 213 And we 311 00:18:39,040 --> 00:18:43,760 also thank God consistently for this, that when you received the 312 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,320 Word of God, when you did what? When you receive it. 313 00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:50,440 So you need to receive this to have the victory which you heard 314 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:52,560 from us. You accepted it not as the Word 315 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:57,520 of men, but as what it really is, the Word of God which is at 316 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:02,520 work in you believers. So if we allow this Word to soak 317 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:08,640 in to us, we can have victory. John 539 says you search the 318 00:19:08,640 --> 00:19:10,960 Scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life. 319 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,680 And it is they which bear witness of me. 320 00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:20,120 So Jesus is saying that you and I can have victory if we spend 321 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:22,640 time in this Word. Now I'm going to tell you some 322 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:26,440 things I told my congregation back where I come from, three 323 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:30,560 angels. Is that a lot of us, and I'm 324 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:31,760 going to get down and dirty here. 325 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,000 A lot of us spend a lot of time watching things that are not 326 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,320 helpful to us. Let's be honest, all right, And 327 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:42,280 a lot of us go and watch pre digested things all day long 328 00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:47,480 that are really good. 3 Angels, Hope Channel, some TVI could go 329 00:19:47,480 --> 00:19:48,800 on. There's a whole list of them, 330 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,320 but you know what? It is written voice of prophecy. 331 00:19:51,560 --> 00:19:55,560 Are they good? Yes, but you know what you're 332 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:00,960 eating baby food, you're eating pre digested studies, right? 333 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,800 What we need to do is we need to be in this word. 334 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:07,720 Yes. I'm not saying those programs 335 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:08,840 are bad. They are good. 336 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:13,200 They are uplifting. But if you really, really want 337 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:18,440 to know Jesus, pick up a Bible and get into it. 338 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:21,800 Fred talked about it this morning, right? 339 00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:27,640 So. One of the people that started 340 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:32,840 the revolution of Bible, William Miller. 341 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:36,440 Here's your challenge. Guess how many times a year he 342 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:42,440 he read through this word 4 * a year cover to cover. 343 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,880 He would read this right. And Fred told a very good story 344 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:47,800 this morning and I'm going to share that for those of you who 345 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:50,120 missed it. Right, you need, I'd suggest you 346 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:51,440 come to Sabbath School. It was great. 347 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:53,840 Fred, thank you for that class. Right. 348 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:58,480 So here's William Miller and he's basically a farmer. 349 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,200 He was in the military, doesn't have a lot of education. 350 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,640 And a pastor goes, I don't want that guy to come into my church. 351 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:09,840 He's he did never been to theology school. 352 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:13,640 Many heard him speak and he's like, wait a minute, what did 353 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,280 Fred say? He goes, I want to see this 354 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,080 guy's library. Where is he getting all this 355 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:21,920 information from? So he goes and he visits William 356 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,120 Miller. William Miller had two books in 357 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:27,680 his library, in his study, two books. 358 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,000 Guess what? He had the Bible and a 359 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,040 concordance. That was it. 360 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:40,560 And through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit, a 361 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:46,600 great awakening happened because one man was willing to get into 362 00:21:46,600 --> 00:21:49,960 the Word. He didn't just read this four 363 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,320 times a year. He started in Genesis 11 and 364 00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:58,920 William Miller his self says that he would not proceed to the 365 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,960 next verse until he understood the verse he was on. 366 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,680 So not only did he read this, but he studied it from cover to 367 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:13,360 cover, one verse at a time, using his concordance to help 368 00:22:13,360 --> 00:22:17,400 him understand what the Greek or the Hebrew or the Aramaic said. 369 00:22:17,840 --> 00:22:21,000 And he studied. And because he studied, he was 370 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,400 able to be used by the Holy Spirit to start a great 371 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:26,720 awakening. Amen. 372 00:22:28,080 --> 00:22:30,880 So I want to read something to you that I found in another book 373 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,800 I'm reading. And it's interesting. 374 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,120 And I'm going to be, I'm going to be frank. 375 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:41,000 Some of the people I know very well may disagree with me. 376 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:47,200 But you know, as Avenus, sometimes we are so focused. 377 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:50,240 Well, let's do a quiz. Let's see. 378 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:53,440 Let's let's do a quiz. Turn to read if you have your 379 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,400 Bibles or your phones. Revelation 14. 380 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,080 Who can tell me what Revelation 14 is? 381 00:23:00,320 --> 00:23:02,640 The three angels messages, right? 382 00:23:03,280 --> 00:23:05,200 It gets into the three angels messages. 383 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:10,680 So let's do a quiz. I've been taking a class from 384 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,480 the Pennsylvania Conference on the three angels messages, and 385 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,120 it's a radical class. I do mean radical. 386 00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:20,520 It really is. So Revelation 14, starting in 387 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,720 verse 6. Then I saw another Angel flying 388 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:25,960 in the midst of heaven. So what is the Lord saying here 389 00:23:26,360 --> 00:23:29,200 through His Word, right? There's an Angel flying in the 390 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,240 midst of heaven, right? Having the what? 391 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:36,960 The everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, 392 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:41,800 to every tribe, tongue and people, and saying with a loud 393 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:44,960 voice, fear God and give glory to Him for the hour of his 394 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:48,600 judgement, has come and worship him who made heaven and earth 395 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,840 and the sea and the springs of water. 396 00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:56,360 So what is the main message of the first Angel flying in the 397 00:23:56,360 --> 00:23:57,800 midst of heaven? What's his main message? 398 00:24:00,680 --> 00:24:04,440 This is not A to worship God. What else? 399 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:14,760 Somebody else to share the gospel the Great Commission most 400 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:19,400 Adventists right and I've done this test before most Adventists 401 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:22,480 are going to go well. The first message is fear God 402 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:28,520 and give glory to him. No read the verse verse 6. 403 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:32,720 I saw another Angel and Joe and a few others got it right in the 404 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:38,640 midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, we are to 405 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:45,800 preach the gospel of Jesus first, leading to reverence for 406 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:47,760 God. Give glory to Him for what He 407 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,240 has done before the judgment comes. 408 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:56,440 We need to start with the gospel as our foundation for every 409 00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:02,760 single Bible study that we do. If we can't show Jesus and how 410 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:07,640 it relates to his character and His love for us, don't teach the 411 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:12,040 lesson because all you're doing as is Jesus said to the 412 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,440 Pharisees, is you're making him twice a son of hell as you are 413 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:19,640 yourself. We've got to be into the Word to 414 00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:23,360 show it about Jesus because from cover to cover in this book, 415 00:25:23,600 --> 00:25:27,440 it's all about Jesus and his love for us. 416 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,320 And if we can show that in our 28 fundamental beliefs, we have 417 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:33,520 no business teaching anybody else anything. 418 00:25:34,120 --> 00:25:38,280 I want to read something to you from one of our founders of this 419 00:25:38,280 --> 00:25:40,600 denomination years ago. And you're saying he sounds a 420 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:42,520 little, I'm sounding a little heretical. 421 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,760 Well, you know, when you study and you look at the history, 422 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:50,480 sometimes you learn things that you didn't know before. 423 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,320 So this is about Elder James White. 424 00:25:55,720 --> 00:25:58,640 So he had an epiphany and I didn't have time to get the 425 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,240 slides, but he had a slide that he put up years ago. 426 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:02,640 Some of you may be familiar with it. 427 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,240 It was called The Way of Life. He gave it to the pastors as a 428 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:10,440 way to teach evangelism. And prominently in that first 429 00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:13,280 slide that he created, it was it was slide, it was a piece of 430 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:17,560 paper about yay big, right? Guess what was prominent in that 431 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:19,200 picture? What was the most prominent 432 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,600 feature in that picture? Anybody remember that has seen 433 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,440 it? That's the second one. 434 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:30,600 The first one was the 10 commandments hanging from the 435 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:33,440 tree. That's the first one. 436 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:39,320 And as he prayed, he came to a conclusion that that was not the 437 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,440 focus that we needed to be presenting. 438 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,200 And he had a big burden. I'll read to you his burden just 439 00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:48,040 a moment. So they commissioned after he 440 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:51,240 died, he had spoken to Ellen White about his burden, about 441 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:54,240 how he wanted to be talking about more of the gospel, right, 442 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,680 and more about Jesus. And he began to teach that he 443 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,520 had a burden for our pastors to personally know Jesus Christ and 444 00:27:00,520 --> 00:27:04,920 present Jesus and not the commandments first, always about 445 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:08,640 Jesus 1st. And so the second Commission was 446 00:27:08,640 --> 00:27:12,000 about the cross was front and center and in way in the 447 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:15,200 background were the 10 commandments because the Bible 448 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:18,640 is all about Jesus. So I want to read a little 449 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,320 something to you about what he went through. 450 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,680 It says with some there is an unutterable yearning for the 451 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,200 soul for Christ. And the writer is 1 in this 452 00:27:31,200 --> 00:27:34,080 class. So this is Brother White, 453 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:37,760 Brother James White and somebody writing about him. 454 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:42,600 With some of us it has been business work and care giving 455 00:27:42,600 --> 00:27:45,880 Christ but little room in the mind and in the affections. 456 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:49,040 So what was happening? They were so busy doing their 457 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,320 stuff that they had little time for Jesus. 458 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,840 With others it has been nearly all theory, dwelling upon the 459 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,080 law and the prophets, the nature and destiny of man, and the 460 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:07,120 messages, while destitute to an alarming degree of the 461 00:28:07,120 --> 00:28:11,440 indwelling Christ. So, and Sister White talks about 462 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,800 this where she said we had become as a denomination as dry 463 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,720 as the hills of Gilboa because we have been preaching the law, 464 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:26,600 the law, the law, and we have forgot the law giver who wants 465 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,800 to have a personal relationship with us and fill us with His 466 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:36,120 Spirit so that we can reveal Him to a world in sorrow and in 467 00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:39,240 need. He goes on. 468 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:41,680 Our preachers need more encouragement. 469 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:47,120 They should preach Christ more, They should know more of Him 470 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:52,400 upon whom all our hopes of success here and of heaven 471 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:57,280 hereafter depend. 2 summers. Now this is a different author. 472 00:28:57,520 --> 00:28:59,800 2 summers. I spent with him, James White in 473 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,240 Colorado. During the last few months. 474 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,760 I was with him about 8 weeks, so that I had the best of 475 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:07,760 opportunities to know him thoroughly. 476 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:11,600 In our travels together, he often mentioned the mistakes he 477 00:29:11,600 --> 00:29:15,480 thought he had made in his life, and as we prayed alone together, 478 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:20,400 he would weep over them. Have any of us ever spent time 479 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:24,120 weeping over our mistakes, asking God to forgive us? 480 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:29,040 James White did and pleaded for grace to be a true Christian 481 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,920 man. He often said to me privately, 482 00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:35,520 and also spoke of it over and over in nearly all his sermons 483 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:39,600 this spring and summer, that he felt he must be more tender 484 00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:43,400 toward his brethren, more compassionate toward the erring, 485 00:29:44,000 --> 00:29:48,600 that he must cultivate more love for Christ and more patience in 486 00:29:48,600 --> 00:29:52,320 his trials. As all will remember, whenever 487 00:29:52,320 --> 00:29:57,320 he preached the last few months, he dwelt largely upon the faith 488 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:01,760 in Christ and the boundless love of God. 489 00:30:04,520 --> 00:30:10,200 That was one of our founding Fathers burdens as he came to 490 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:16,240 the end of his life was to lift up Jesus to everyone he met and 491 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:21,040 to embed Jesus in every message he preached from here from the 492 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,760 pulpit. So as we leave ourselves today 493 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:27,840 and we close this service, I want to reiterate Second Peter 494 00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:35,840 1/4 And because of his glory and excellence, he, Jesus, has given 495 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:40,400 us great and precious promises in this word. 496 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:48,320 And these promises will enable you to share in his divine 497 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:51,760 nature. And so I'm going to ask you a 498 00:30:51,760 --> 00:30:52,520 question. Now. 499 00:30:52,520 --> 00:30:56,400 Don't raise your hand, please. I'm not here to embarrass those 500 00:30:56,400 --> 00:30:59,120 who don't raise their hands. But I'm going to ask you a 501 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:03,800 question I asked my Sabbath School class last week, and I 502 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:06,400 want you to think about it. Don't respond hastily. 503 00:31:06,400 --> 00:31:10,640 In your mind, I want you to think about this, but would you 504 00:31:10,640 --> 00:31:15,240 be willing to pray the following prayer? 505 00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:22,880 Lord, do whatever it takes to save me. 506 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,480 I want you to think about that. Don't respond hastily. 507 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:28,480 I want you to think about that question. 508 00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:36,160 Lord, do whatever. That may mean I lose my job. 509 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:39,120 That may mean I get deathly sick. 510 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,800 That may mean I have to go through persecution as Paul did. 511 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,560 I don't know what it means for each of us, but if you want to 512 00:31:47,560 --> 00:31:50,720 get serious about being with Jesus in heaven and having the 513 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:55,360 joy here on this earth as Paul did, study, study Paul and and 514 00:31:55,360 --> 00:31:58,160 Barnabas as they went into prison, as they were, as they 515 00:31:58,160 --> 00:31:59,600 were beaten and whipped. What did they? 516 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,680 They were singing songs of joy. Why? 517 00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:08,000 Because they had an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. 518 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:14,040 And no matter what Paul went through, he knew whom he loved 519 00:32:14,200 --> 00:32:17,840 and who loved him. And so that's the question for 520 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:20,640 us today. As we close, would you be 521 00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:28,240 willing to ask the Lord to do whatever it takes for Him to 522 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:33,880 fill you with His Holy Spirit? That is the thought for today. 523 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:38,000 Father, we are humbled by all those in past history who have 524 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:42,520 taken the time to provide for us and to protect this Word which 525 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,040 we have access to. Lord, there was a time when 526 00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:49,680 anybody who owned the Bible could be killed for owning 1 and 527 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,320 yet we have free access to it, Father, online, on our phones 528 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:56,960 and in written form. And we are so grateful and we 529 00:32:56,960 --> 00:32:59,600 thank you for the promises in there that we can have victory 530 00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:01,960 over sin if we just allow You to live in US. 531 00:33:02,560 --> 00:33:05,320 What I ask for you to bless all those that are here and those 532 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,480 that are online. Speak to them Father, encourage 533 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:12,440 them and help them to see what you can do for them, to bring 534 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,920 them the true joy and the blessings and the happiness that 535 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:19,520 you so much want to do. Bless them and keep them until 536 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:21,600 we meet again. I ask and pray in Jesus name, 537 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:22,520 Amen.