1 00:00:00,520 --> 00:00:04,520 We sing Hallelujah, praise the Lord in part. 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,160 We praise the Lord because he has spoken to us. 3 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:12,840 Hear the word of the Lord this morning, following on what Dan 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,200 had read for us was standing at Steven, standing behind before 5 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,280 the council. The high priest said to him, are 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,360 these things so? And Steven said, brothers and 7 00:00:23,360 --> 00:00:27,040 fathers, hear me, the God of glory appeared to our father 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:30,520 Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in 9 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:34,160 Heron. And he said to him, go out from 10 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:37,680 your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will 11 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:41,960 show you. What follows is a 9 minute 12 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,960 speech where Steven summarizes the historical work of the Old 13 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:50,760 Testament and he wraps it up this way in verse 51. 14 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,800 You stiff necked, people uncircumcised, and heart and 15 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,640 ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. 16 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,720 As your Father's did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your 17 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:03,880 father's not persecute? And they killed those who 18 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,320 announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one whom you 19 00:01:07,320 --> 00:01:11,640 have now betrayed and murdered. You who received the law as 20 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,000 delivered by the angels, and did not keep it. 21 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:17,920 And this is the word of the Lord. 22 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:20,760 Thanks be to God. Dear Lord, we do pray that you 23 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,720 would grant to us an understanding of this word, a 24 00:01:23,720 --> 00:01:26,960 transformation of our hearts and minds because of what we have 25 00:01:26,960 --> 00:01:28,640 read and what we have heard here this morning. 26 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,640 We pray through Christ our Lord, we ask, Amen. 27 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:34,080 The grass Withers and the flowers fade, but the word of 28 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:40,200 our Lord, it stands forever. Kudos to Lucas over here and Tim 29 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,680 for filling in a little bit. So thank you guys for that and 30 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:44,360 you may be seated and grab your Bibles. 31 00:01:51,540 --> 00:01:55,940 I am afraid that the sermon today is likely to be somewhat 32 00:01:55,940 --> 00:01:59,280 guilt inducing. That's not my goal. 33 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,440 I I have a goal for most of the time when I get stand before you 34 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,360 in order to be challenging and to be challenging for me means 35 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:12,560 that the Holy Spirit would use the words in which I say to 36 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:14,400 provide conviction into the heart. 37 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:18,680 And now conviction into the heart by the Holy Spirit is very 38 00:02:18,680 --> 00:02:22,920 different than guilt or guilt induced. 39 00:02:22,960 --> 00:02:26,800 I thought process. Guilt for me is something that 40 00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,320 Satan brings into my life in order to lead me into a period 41 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,480 of despair, into a period of general malaise, a sense that 42 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,080 all things are just terrible and I just feel guilty in general 43 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,400 about everything. And rather than drawing me to 44 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:44,600 Christ, it draws me to quit, draws me to stop. 45 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:47,600 Conviction of the Holy Spirit, on the other hand, is very 46 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:49,800 different. It is a very specific idea. 47 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:54,120 It targets me and it specifies there are things in my life that 48 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,880 need to change. And it causes me to lead, to be 49 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,960 led to confession and from confession to repentance and 50 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,440 from repentance to greater faith and reliance upon Jesus Christ. 51 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:09,320 That's normally my goal is to be used by the Holy Spirit to bring 52 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,200 conviction into your life or challenge into your life, not 53 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:18,160 the idea of guilt inducing. However, today is likely to be a 54 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,320 little bit more guilt inducing as we'll see in a few seconds. 55 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:25,040 Here we are continuing on in our series in the book of Acts. 56 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,920 We took a break during Holy Week there for a little bit. 57 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,320 We are catching it up in the book of Acts, as we've seen as 58 00:03:30,320 --> 00:03:34,000 we've come to this point so far has been a discussion of the 59 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,040 Spirit, the church, and the world. 60 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,920 How the Spirit uses the church, forms the church, and uses the 61 00:03:39,920 --> 00:03:42,600 church in order to reach the World, the Spirit, the church, 62 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:44,560 and the world. And the means by which that 63 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,960 happens so often is the Scriptures. 64 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:50,680 And we see that Scriptures very powerfully in today's text in 65 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,120 which we read. So what happens is that Stephen 66 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,600 has been proclaiming the gospel message, and as he's been 67 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:00,880 proclaiming the gospel message, the authorities don't like that. 68 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,280 And the authorities pull Stephen in and examine him. 69 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:06,720 And we're going to look more about what happens with Stephen 70 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:08,760 and how this effects Stephen next week. 71 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,320 So I encourage you to join us next week as we wrap up this 72 00:04:12,320 --> 00:04:14,880 aspect of the book of Acts, the story of Stephen. 73 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,200 But today what we're going to look at is that middle section 74 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:23,480 of how Stephen responds to the council's challenge to him 75 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,000 justify why it is that you are proclaiming the name of Jesus 76 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,800 Christ as you are. And the way that Steven does 77 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,880 that is by giving a 10 minute recitation, a 10 minute summary 78 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:39,360 of the Old Testament Scriptures. He speaks to us about the Old 79 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,400 Testament. Now I need to stop and say 80 00:04:41,400 --> 00:04:44,520 something and confess that I've done something really bad. 81 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:48,760 I've done something really bad. The most important thing you 82 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,920 could hear from me is not my words, but the words of 83 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,320 scripture. And yet what I've done is I've 84 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:58,880 skipped over a big chunk of scripture for us today. 85 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:03,120 All of Chapter 7 of the book of Acts is this story is this 86 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,720 recounting of history that Stephen provides it his his 87 00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:10,520 speech, it's his defense and if anything we should be hearing 88 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,240 from the word of God. That's what we should be 89 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:14,840 listening to and instead I've kind of skipped it and 90 00:05:14,840 --> 00:05:17,200 summarized it. You need to help bail me out 91 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:20,560 because otherwise I'm going to feel really bad that what I've 92 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,640 done is lead you into a bad idea where I'm thinking that my words 93 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,640 are more important than hearing the words of scripture. 94 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,720 The way you do that is you find about 5 to 10 minutes you can 95 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,840 read it a little quicker than you can speak it or about 5 or 96 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:36,640 10 minutes to read Chapter 7 of the book of Acts today. 97 00:05:36,840 --> 00:05:40,280 What you will be reading is an on account of the Old Testament. 98 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,720 What Stephen does is he says, listen, this is the Old 99 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,160 Testament storyline and he lays out the Old Testament storyline. 100 00:05:47,160 --> 00:05:51,040 Now the reason why I find that to be guilt inducing for me and 101 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:55,000 for so many people is because underlying Stephens ability to 102 00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:58,280 summarize the Gospel, summarize the Old Testament like he does 103 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:03,960 is a recognition that he has read the Old Testament that he 104 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:09,320 has become a man filled by the Scriptures, filled with an 105 00:06:09,320 --> 00:06:10,840 understanding of the word of God. 106 00:06:11,880 --> 00:06:14,560 The reason why that I think is so guilt inducing or has a 107 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:18,000 potential of being guilt inducing is because everybody. 108 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:21,880 My guess is that if you are a follower of Jesus Christ or not, 109 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,240 and there are undoubtedly some that are not here in this room. 110 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,960 If you are have been involved in this church for a long time, or 111 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,160 if you're new to this church, my guess is that all of us can 112 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,600 readily agree to the fact that we know that if we spent time 113 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:38,000 reading the scriptures more than what we do, we would be better 114 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,080 off. Reading the Scriptures is one of 115 00:06:41,080 --> 00:06:44,880 those means of of grace that God uses to transform and to shape 116 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:47,160 our lives. And most of us are well aware 117 00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,480 that that's the case. Most of us are also aware that 118 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:51,000 we should be sharing the gospel more. 119 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:53,840 But you know, we've got reasons to be intimidated by that. 120 00:06:53,840 --> 00:06:56,320 We should be more involved in the church, but we've got other 121 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,880 responsibilities. We should pray more, but we 122 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:01,600 sometimes get lost in our own thoughts. 123 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,160 We realize all of those things, but reading the scriptures. 124 00:07:05,920 --> 00:07:08,400 And here's the key. I'm not talking about reading 125 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:11,480 the scriptures for 20 minutes a day or half an hour a day. 126 00:07:11,960 --> 00:07:17,080 I am saying that if you read the scriptures 5 minutes a day, 5 127 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,280 minutes a day, your life will be shaped and molded by the Word of 128 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:23,560 God in ways that you cannot imagine. 129 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:28,040 And most of us realize that. We know that, and what's so 130 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,600 guilt inducing is the fact that though we know it, so 131 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,520 infrequently do we follow through on something that is so 132 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:36,560 simple. Most of us have the capability 133 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:40,640 of reading and all of us can find 5 minutes a day in order to 134 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:44,640 read the scriptures. And so here we have Steven so 135 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,560 immersed in the scriptures that he's able to read it, so he's 136 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:53,040 able to shape his ministry and his defense of the gospel around 137 00:07:53,040 --> 00:07:56,400 the scriptures. This is something that we all 138 00:07:56,400 --> 00:08:00,200 are capable of doing simply by doing that which we have been 139 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:02,720 skilled and trained to do through our entire lives. 140 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:05,520 The ability to read and to find. 5 minutes. 141 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:09,640 So why don't we do so? Why is it that that is so hard 142 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,240 to car? OK, some of it is the busyness 143 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:16,880 of life and carving out time and the, the the problems of other 144 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:18,520 things pushing out. We know that. 145 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:24,720 But 5 minutes, folks, 5 minutes. Why do we have such a difficult 146 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:27,520 time with this? Well, some of it is the 147 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:30,360 foreignness of the material. Some of the material is, of 148 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:32,440 course, talking about ancient times. 149 00:08:32,440 --> 00:08:35,480 And some of them aren't familiar with the material and, and the 150 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:39,039 names are all difficult and you get kind of lost in the line. 151 00:08:39,039 --> 00:08:42,480 And OK, I understand that's a problem, but you can you can 152 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:45,920 conquer that problem. Some of it is a problem of, of 153 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,720 simply being intimidated by the book as a whole. 154 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:53,080 I mean, this thing is thick and not knowing where to start and 155 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,680 not knowing where to go. Sometimes the problem is just 156 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:59,800 getting started, being aware of will to begin and how we begin 157 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,840 in the storyline. Some of it is an unfamiliarity 158 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:05,320 with the scriptures as a whole. You stay, you're a young 159 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,280 believer. You haven't been to the church 160 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:10,200 or worship a lot or you haven't been schooled in these kind of 161 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:12,600 things. The the material can be kind of 162 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:14,960 off putting. You start reading it and you 163 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:16,720 don't even know what you're reading, those kind of things. 164 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:18,600 All of those are understandable reasons. 165 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:20,960 I get that. But I think that the largest 166 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:26,160 reason why people don't read the scriptures is because they don't 167 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,920 know what they're reading. They don't know what the Bible 168 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:32,680 is. As a matter of fact, it's not 169 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:33,840 that. It's that they they have the 170 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:38,280 wrong idea of what the Bible is. Having the wrong idea about the 171 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:42,720 by what the Bible is prevents you from taking the time to read 172 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,680 it the way that it's intended. Imagine that your beloved sends 173 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:51,440 you a love letter and you are absolutely convinced that she 174 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,800 has given you a shopping list. And you read the love letter 175 00:09:56,240 --> 00:09:59,880 like a shopping list. And I guarantee you that no 176 00:09:59,880 --> 00:10:03,200 matter how much time you spend looking at this love letter, no 177 00:10:03,200 --> 00:10:07,000 matter how long you parse it, no matter how much focus you put on 178 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:10,680 the love letter, if you think it's a shopping list, you will 179 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:14,040 forever have trouble. You will never grasp the essence 180 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:15,960 of what your beloved is trying to say to you. 181 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:19,240 Does that make sense? Simply understanding, having the 182 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:23,360 wrong impression about what The thing is, is going to lead you 183 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,800 into wrong assumptions about this, about what the point is. 184 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:30,480 I believe that one of the greatest challenges that we have 185 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:33,720 to get over when we come to reading the scriptures and being 186 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:36,400 committed to reading the Scriptures is a failure to 187 00:10:36,400 --> 00:10:40,280 understand what the Bible is. If we understand what the Bible 188 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:43,160 is reading, it becomes so much easier. 189 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,640 Of course, it's still filled with difficult names and it's 190 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,480 still filled with some terrible stories and it's still filled 191 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:51,800 with some boring parts and stuff like that. 192 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:55,520 But you can read those things and you can understand them once 193 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,800 you understand what the Bible, Bible is all about. 194 00:10:59,520 --> 00:11:02,400 And I believe that the reason why Stephen gets himself into 195 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,840 such hot water here with the Pharisees and this and the 196 00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:09,160 Sanhedrin is because he understands what the Bible is 197 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,840 about. And as he summarizes it for us, 198 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,240 he is using the Scriptures the way the Scriptures are intended 199 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:18,240 to be used. And yet so much of the problem 200 00:11:18,240 --> 00:11:21,560 that we have today is that we approach the Scriptures with the 201 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:23,760 wrong assumption of what the Bible is. 202 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,200 We think the Bible is this, and that shapes and molds our 203 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:29,800 approach to it. And so we forever misunderstand 204 00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:31,480 it. Again, it's like reading a love 205 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:33,480 letter, like it's a shopping list. 206 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:38,200 So what are some ways that we shouldn't read the Scriptures? 207 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:42,120 What are some ways in which we not supposed to understand the 208 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,040 purpose of the Bible? For a lot of people, the purpose 209 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:50,840 of the Bible is simply history, Particularly it's religious 210 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,040 history. So the purpose of the Bible is 211 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:56,480 some kind of an exploration of religious history. 212 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,920 If you've ever taken a seminar, not a seminar, a college class 213 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,240 on the Bible, it's probably oriented itself towards this way 214 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,400 in some some regard. What's the history of Israel? 215 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,520 How did Israel come into existence? 216 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:12,000 And specifically, what's the history of the way in which they 217 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:14,680 thought about God? How did they think their way 218 00:12:14,680 --> 00:12:18,160 around their relationship with God and and connect with the 219 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,440 their divine being? In other words, a cultural 220 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:22,920 exploration. What's in some of you have done 221 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:25,440 this in the in other situations where you've explored other 222 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,960 cultures over international cultures or something like that, 223 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,080 You're traveling overseas, you want to learn a little bit about 224 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:32,040 the culture. OK. 225 00:12:32,040 --> 00:12:34,440 A lot of people approach the Bible exactly that way. 226 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:36,920 Tell us a little bit about Israel's culture. 227 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,160 What, what's history? How did they develop? 228 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:41,560 How did that? Why did they sacrifice animals? 229 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:45,920 Where did they get this idea of, of sin and where did they get 230 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,040 the idea of redemption and all these kind of things? 231 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:50,800 And so you study the Bible as though it's a historical 232 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:53,600 document. It is a historical document. 233 00:12:54,360 --> 00:12:57,920 And of course you can learn some great insight into that. 234 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,680 But again, if you're looking at a love letter like a shopping 235 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:05,040 list, you're forever going to have trouble. 236 00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:08,520 If you're looking at the Scriptures as though it intends, 237 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:11,720 the purpose of the Scripture is to communicate the development 238 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,400 of the religious idea of the Israelites, you will forever 239 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:18,360 miss the point of the Scriptures. 240 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:22,960 Another way that a lot of people approach the scriptures is 241 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,800 though it's a collection of inspired stories. 242 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:32,440 OK, so I want to be inspired. So I grabbed the Bible and I 243 00:13:32,440 --> 00:13:35,720 read about David, or I read about Moses, or I read about 244 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,560 Abraham, and by reading about their life I get inspired to 245 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:41,280 live my life a little bit differently. 246 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:45,680 By the way, if you have never read Christian biographies or if 247 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:48,480 Christian biographies readings, Christian biographies is not 248 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,560 something that you do once a year, you absolutely should put 249 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:55,480 that into your life. Because there is something 250 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,680 wonderfully inspirational about reading about how God shapes 251 00:13:59,920 --> 00:14:03,120 people's lives through the work of his Scripture and through the 252 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,640 work of his Spirit. And so you can read wonderful 253 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:09,480 things, Elizabeth Elliott's Through Gates of Splendor, or 254 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:15,400 Amy Carmichael's The Chance to Die, or Augustine's Confection 255 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,040 questions, or there's a ton of these things and you read them 256 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:21,560 and you get inspired. And people think that that's 257 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:23,240 what I need from my life as well. 258 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:24,880 That's what the Bible can provide. 259 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,720 And so they turn to the Scriptures and they say inspire 260 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:29,960 me. And you read Ecclesiastes. 261 00:14:31,240 --> 00:14:33,440 That was funny. If you knew Ecclesiastes, you 262 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,040 know, there's nothing inspiring about Ecclesiastes. 263 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:39,920 Or you read Leviticus or something like that, or, or 264 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:43,680 Numbers, and you're like, there's nothing inspiring here. 265 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:46,360 And of course, because you're looking at a love letter like a 266 00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:50,040 shopping list, you're looking at something that God has given to 267 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:53,240 us for one purpose, and you're reading it for something else. 268 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,480 While the Bible is inspiring. And This is why so many people 269 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,520 are attracted to the Psalms, and rightly so, because when you 270 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:03,120 read the Psalms, they are can be incredibly inspiring and 271 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,360 motivational and encouraging. And you see somebody else's 272 00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:09,000 relationship with God and you want to, you want that for 273 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:12,120 yourself and you want to shape your life around so that you too 274 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,320 can capture that kind of a life with the Lord. 275 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,960 That's a beautiful idea. It's a beautiful understanding, 276 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,480 but it's not why the Lord has given us the Scriptures. 277 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,080 And if you approach them that way, by the time you get to 278 00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:27,560 Leviticus, you're burned out. I want to be inspired. 279 00:15:27,560 --> 00:15:30,400 And so you read, you read about Jacob, and the whole time you 280 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:32,600 read about Jacob, you're sitting there thinking, is this what's 281 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,960 supposed to inspire me? And you read about Joseph, and 282 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:37,920 you go, this is what's supposed to inspire me. 283 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,760 And by the time you get to the Exodus or the Leviticus, you're 284 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,680 just totally burned because you're looking at the scripture 285 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:49,360 for all the wrong reasons. The Scripture is not given to us 286 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,080 so that we can have a historical account of Israel. 287 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,280 The Scripture is not given to us so we can read about people's 288 00:15:56,280 --> 00:15:59,480 inspirational connections with God in heaven. 289 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,520 The Scriptures are also not given to us for moral 290 00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,600 directives. It's not given to us so that we 291 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:10,760 can know the right way to live. Now, this throws some people off 292 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:13,400 and well, it should to some extent because Jesus himself 293 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,200 refers to the Old Testament as the law and the prophet. 294 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,520 It is God's law. It is God's word. 295 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:21,960 And so a lot of people approach the Scriptures and say, OK, here 296 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:23,720 I am. I'm going to read the Scriptures 297 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:25,760 to find out how I'm supposed to live my life. 298 00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,520 What am I supposed to do and what am I not supposed to do? 299 00:16:28,720 --> 00:16:31,720 And you run into passages like the 10 commandments and they say 300 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:35,120 do this and do not do this. OK, you run into texts in the 301 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,120 back of Deuteronomy where, hey, you live your life this way and 302 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:40,000 don't live it like this. OK, that's great. 303 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:44,080 And so you think, OK, what the Bible is provided, is given for, 304 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,120 is so that it can tell me how I'm supposed to live my life. 305 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:52,720 But then you run into Proverbs or you run into the prophets, or 306 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:57,320 you run into the apocalyptic literature in Zechariah or in 307 00:16:57,320 --> 00:17:00,400 Daniel or something like this. You run into texts that have 308 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:03,600 nothing to do, that don't direct me in how I'm supposed to live 309 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:05,599 my life. And you get frustrated and you 310 00:17:05,599 --> 00:17:09,319 quit reading the Bible because you're looking at a love letter 311 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:14,520 like a shopping list. If the Bible is not intended to 312 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:17,480 be read so that we have this picture of Old Testament 313 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,599 history, or the Bible's not intended to be read so that we 314 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:24,079 get inspired in our relationship with God, or the Bible's not 315 00:17:24,119 --> 00:17:26,599 intended to be read so that we know all do's and don'ts. 316 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:29,360 And by the way, I should qualify. 317 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:34,840 Not only do we learn of Israel's history, not only are we 318 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,440 inspired by the Scriptures, not only do we see the way in which 319 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,240 we are supposed to live our lives, but all of those things 320 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:45,440 happen within the greater point and purpose of why we have the 321 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,120 Scriptures as a whole. Why is God-given us the Bible? 322 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:53,640 God has given us the Scriptures so that we see His redemptive 323 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,560 work in saving the world. That's why we have the 324 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:02,200 Scriptures. The scriptures are given to us 325 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:06,160 so that we can see God at work redeeming the world. 326 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:10,320 And the focal point of that work is Jesus Christ. 327 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,440 So when we read the scriptures, we read it with the approach to 328 00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:18,880 say, OK, what is God intending when he provided me the 329 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,640 scriptures? What is God-given this Bible for 330 00:18:21,640 --> 00:18:23,600 me? And for that, with that purpose 331 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:25,280 in mind, I will read the scriptures. 332 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:28,280 And for that purpose in mind, when we read the scriptures, we 333 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,360 are consistent. I enjoy reading mysteries, 334 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:33,320 detective stories, that kind of thing. 335 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:37,520 And when I'm reading detective stories and mysteries, I know 336 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:41,640 that there's a solution to the story, to the mystery. 337 00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:44,560 And the solution I'm going to get to is only going to happen 338 00:18:44,560 --> 00:18:47,600 at the end of the book. But I read the whole rest of the 339 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,800 book to get to that story, get to the mystery. 340 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,600 And as I'm reading the rest of the story, I'm learning 341 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:55,560 different things. I'm picking up the clues. 342 00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:58,160 I'm, I'm paying attention because I know there's a mystery 343 00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:00,880 and I know there's a solution, a puzzle at the end, and I'm 344 00:19:00,880 --> 00:19:05,520 reading to get there. When we have the Scriptures we 345 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,520 are reading to get there, we know the solution to the 346 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,280 problem. We know how God's redemption is 347 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:13,520 intended to work. It is intended to work through 348 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,880 the love and grace of Lord Lord Jesus Christ, through through 349 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,960 his death and resurrection. We know the point that the Bible 350 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:24,000 is pointing at, and as we read the Old Testament, what we're 351 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:27,760 doing is we're reading to gain the clues, to gain the insights, 352 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,800 to gain the direction, to see the way that is that Lord has 353 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,040 shaped history, the way that the Lord has shaped our 354 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,520 inspirational walk with the Lord, the way that the Lord has 355 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:39,920 shaped the moral directives in our lives. 356 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,280 Also, it points to something much greater and beyond our 357 00:19:44,280 --> 00:19:47,000 myself. It points towards Jesus Christ. 358 00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:55,560 Now I encourage you to read the Scriptures in light of God's 359 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:00,400 purpose for the Bible. God's purpose for the Bible is 360 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:03,120 to highlight His redemptive per work. 361 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,760 What is He doing in this world and how is He doing it in this 362 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,320 world? If we read the Bible with that 363 00:20:10,320 --> 00:20:13,720 purpose, it is not that in every page of the Scriptures Jesus 364 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,640 comes jumping off the screen where you're going to be reading 365 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,240 in the book of Exodus about the formation of the Tabernacle or 366 00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:22,520 something along those lines, and you're going to be able to say, 367 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,480 well, where is Jesus on this page? 368 00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:30,360 But just like a novel, just like a, a, a true story, which is 369 00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:35,600 being woven for our purposes, so we can see throughout the Old 370 00:20:35,600 --> 00:20:40,400 Testament the work of Christ, work of God leading us to Jesus 371 00:20:40,400 --> 00:20:42,720 Christ. And so when you're reading the 372 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,000 Old Testament and you're bored silly or you're asking yourself, 373 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:47,640 what does this have to do with me? 374 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:51,000 You have to ask yourself consistently, how does this lead 375 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:55,480 me to Jesus Christ? How is this pointing out God's 376 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,720 work of redemption in leading me towards Jesus Christ? 377 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:03,880 If you, if you read the Bible 5 minutes a day and you ask that 378 00:21:03,880 --> 00:21:08,240 question, I guarantee you if you put any amount of thought into 379 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:12,000 it at all, every passage of Scripture, you will be able to 380 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:14,560 say, OK, I can kind of see something here. 381 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:18,280 I can kind of see, OK, maybe I've exaggerated, maybe it's not 382 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:22,720 every day you will see that. But overwhelmingly you read the 383 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:24,960 most frustrating parts of the Old Testament. 384 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:28,720 The parts where Israel is conquering Canaan land, or the 385 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,200 part where they're sacrificing animals, or where the part where 386 00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:35,560 the prophets are pronouncing doom upon the nation for their 387 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:38,640 idolatry and their betrayal. If you read it as an 388 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:42,160 inspirational story, you will eminently be frustrated. 389 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:45,600 If you read it for the purposes of, well, how am I supposed to 390 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,200 live my life, you will be frustrated. 391 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:52,280 If you read it for the purposes of Israelite history or cultural 392 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,560 understanding, you'll be frustrated because that's not 393 00:21:56,560 --> 00:21:58,560 the purpose. The author has given you that 394 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,600 material. For the author, God himself has 395 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:07,040 given you this material so that it might point to the work of 396 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:11,600 his Son, Jesus Christ. Ask those questions. 397 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,280 If you get a love letter from your beloved and you ask the 398 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,400 questions, how does this letter express her love for me? 399 00:22:19,120 --> 00:22:22,800 The letter makes sense. If you get a love letter from 400 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,080 your beloved and you say, how does this tell me what I'm 401 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:29,160 supposed to go shopping to get? You will always be frustrated. 402 00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:33,080 And people approach the scriptures exactly the wrong 403 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,400 way. We need to approach them the way 404 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:40,640 that Stephen has to be able to say how does this point to Jesus 405 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:44,840 Christ? If you need help getting 406 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:49,160 started, that's part of the reason why we have a staff here 407 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,240 at the church come up and talk to somebody. 408 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,680 Say I have tried to read the Bible, I've tried just 5 minutes 409 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,000 a day and I can't get past this struggle that I have. 410 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:04,360 I can't get talk with somebody and see if indeed having an 411 00:23:04,360 --> 00:23:09,520 understanding of what the author intends doesn't give light to 412 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:11,960 the Bible and to the Scriptures more clearly. 413 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,200 We're going to see how that's the case for Steven. 414 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:17,000 We're going to look at that next week. 415 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,760 By the time we get here next week, I hope that you've been 416 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:27,440 convicted enough, not Guild induced, but convicted enough to 417 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:31,160 spend at least 5 minutes a day with the Scriptures asking the 418 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:34,920 question, how does this lead me to Jesus Christ? 419 00:23:35,440 --> 00:23:41,360 Let's pray, Lord God, we do ask that you would lead us to 420 00:23:41,360 --> 00:23:45,320 yourself consistently, always through the scriptures. 421 00:23:46,840 --> 00:23:50,040 Lord, shape and mold our lives by the scriptures we pray. 422 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,720 We know that you have given them to us to highlight Jesus Christ. 423 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:58,000 Not simply to educate us on history, not simply to direct us 424 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:00,600 in the ways in which we're supposed to live our lives, not 425 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,800 even to inspire us in our relationship with You, but 426 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,200 rather to point us towards Jesus Christ. 427 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:11,520 We need help to do that. We need the work of your Spirit 428 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:14,520 to convict us to read the Scriptures, to come before the 429 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:18,080 Scriptures, and then to explain, to illuminate the scriptures for 430 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:21,640 us so that when we are reading difficult material, then 431 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:25,360 nevertheless we see how that highlights the coming work that 432 00:24:25,360 --> 00:24:28,000 your Son has done on the cross for us. 433 00:24:29,120 --> 00:24:33,200 Christ, we pray and thank you for being the source and the 434 00:24:33,200 --> 00:24:35,720 focus of the scriptural material. 435 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,880 Holy Spirit, we ask that you would work in our hearts, guide 436 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,560 us, and direct us more and more into all truthfulness. 437 00:24:41,560 --> 00:24:44,480 We pray through Christ our Lord, we ask these things. 438 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:45,480 Amen.