[0:00] All right. The spirits are working. I'm just not sure which one's here. More prayer.
[0:14] All right. Good morning. Welcome to kind of our fall kickoff. My name is BK. I have the pleasure of serving as one of the pastors here at SBC. How's the Labor Day weekend? You guys make it okay? All right. Yes, because I know the rest of you were here at church. Anyway, it's kind of the week after Labor Day, just as Jody said, we're kind of getting into our routine. New seasons for kid at school, new seasons for parents, and the reality is it's a bit of a new season for us as well. Today, before we go into the main sermon, I kind of want to bring you guys up on some of the events that are going to be happening in the next month, just so that you can mark them on your calendar. Just kind of get ready for it so you don't show up and there's some issues. So a couple of things that I want us to be praying for. One, next week, in case you didn't know, is a youth retreat. So our kids are heading, I don't know, I think we're sending them down to San Diego or something really fun. No, actually, it's more like Abbotsford, but that's okay. What's it? Chilliwack? Yeah. So anyway, we're sending our kids out. It will be an encouraging time. And just so you didn't, you guys know that we're actually partnering with several churches for many of these type of events because it gives us a better group to call on some teachers. So most of these pastors, if not all, are guys that I'm either friends with or know of. In fact, one of the pastors who's leading this will be preaching here at the end of
[1:47] October. So it's just a great way for us to continue our fellowship with like-minded churches. It provides the kids other opportunities to get to know some of the youth their age. The other thing that I want to bring to note, family conference, and just taking off what Dave said, we need you to sign up. And the reason we need you to register as soon as possible because it's part of the planning, because there's food. Right? The last thing we want to be doing is ordering Domino's pizza at the last minute just to kind of cater. But if you like the Domino's pizza, you can play that game and see how it goes. But there's a lot of people donating their time. They want to be prepared.
[2:25] So we definitely want to make sure we have the numbers. Speaking of the family conference, one of the things that we are doing for this next month, so we're actually filling the month of September with the family theme. And it's not just blood theme, but also what God does, what God calls us to as both families that are flesh and blood and spiritual families. So to that, the next three sermons here, Church on 99 is going to be joining us. So it's kind of hot in here.
[3:04] Praise the Lord, it's not going to be hot next week. Right? It's supposed to be back to the 20s and acting like fall. But my point is, we're going to have to make room. So I'm going to ask you guys to kind of be on the lookout for some of the new people. If they're sitting in your reserved seating area, just deal with it. Love them. Ask them if they want a footstool. It's okay. But as you know, we've been talking about merging with the church, combining our teams together, our people together.
[3:37] And this is a great opportunity for us to connect at a real level for the next three Sundays. So Dave Nannery will be preaching, and Pastor Dave Corrente will be preaching as well. And then as just as we prepare ourselves in that way. The other thing, and Dave brought it up as well, the reality is we need more people on board. One of the mantras that we have is to equip the saints for the work of the ministry. So Pastor Dave Nannery is taking over and teaching this NAB Press course for a couple of times. And that's meant for anybody who's walked in the faith for a time that's developed some maturity, but wants to learn how to walk with a new believer in the faith. And then what happens is after we're done, we're going to partner you up with people that are seeking discipleship. They want help understanding the Bible, the sermons, and all those type of things. So this is a great opportunity for you to connect. And you're kind of going to be like a team with Dave and some of the other people who join. And I'm really praying that this would have, how would I say, an eternal impact on this church. Just doesn't matter where you are in your walk. If you've been walking for some time, and you want to learn more, as you know, BSF is kicking off. Every Man a Warrior is going to be happening as well. And Every Man a Warrior is our men's ministry. Just so you know, once November kicks in, we're going to be doing a Fundamentals of the Faith class. And that's meant for people who've kind of gone through that introduction of the Christian faith and want to learn some of the other pillars of the Christian faith. So that's going to happen in November. And speaking of November, not only are we going back to the Book of Romans, but we're actually going to be introducing a night service. So one of the goals that we've had in that is we've been praying and talking about this for a while. There's a lot of people who work on Sundays. There's a lot of people who are forced to be away.
[5:44] And it's our conviction that they still need that community. And what it'll be, it'll be the same preaching in the morning as it will at night. So we're actually going to be partnering regardless with Church Honey Nine and their music team to help bring this about because we're going to need a few more hands on deck for that. So I'm hoping that you will use that as an opportunity to be able to engage some of your friends and who kind of don't always have mornings available, but they have the nights available. So a lot there, right? So why don't you guys, can you guys stand with me? I'm just going to pray through all those things that are upcoming.
[6:28] Just think that our greatest goal is as we meet here, it's to exhort the Lord Jesus Christ as we pray and worship and come under his word. But our desire is to equip you, the saints, for the work of the ministry. Because we really believe God is calling people to himself. Amen? He's been doing it throughout history and he's doing it now. And if I was to share my eschatology, I believe he's even doing it more now than he was yesterday. So let's just pray. Dear Holy Heavenly Father, I pray for this church. I pray for those that are united in mission with one another here. Father, we just thank you for the youth that have been coming and learning and growing. And just as they're a part of this church, as they serve in youth and learn and grow about you, we ask for your blessings upon them as they attend this retreat. Retreats are great. I know I love them when I was a youth and just to be able to be under some teaching that is directed to my heart and soul at that age. It's a great time to create new friendships and build even stronger bonds with the friends that we already have.
[7:43] Father, we ask that you would uplift just the BSF and every man a warrior as we begin those ministries. We pray for your hand of blessing. We ask that you'd bring the right people who want to grow in the faith to be a part of those fellowships of opening up their hearts to you and to one another as they seek to support and grow in the knowledge of you. Father, we just thank you for Dave and his counseling ministry and just what he's going to be bringing to this new discipleship class, just to walk with us as we seek to help young believers, to help equip them in the faith. Father, we know there are spirits. There is a world system that is against Christ, you. And he works against the church and he works against those new believers, tries to discourage them, to get them caught up in the world and all those things that are lies. So we pray that not only is the leadership show forth, but just that new believers will be willing to join and to be equipped and discipled and to learn how to walk with you. Father, I'm so thankful for these saints who have gathered here this day, who seek to know you, to deepen their worship of you, and long for your coming. So we ask these things in your most holy and precious name. And God's people said, Amen. All right, please be seated.
[9:13] In case you haven't been with us, we've actually been on a short series on the Bible. And my thesis has been, when we look at the Bible, the Bible can be a pretty intimidating book. There's over 600,000 words.
[9:36] There's over 40 different authors who've contributed to our Bibles over a period of over 1,500 years. And I've been pastoring for now just over 15 years. And one of the biggest things that I see in our churches is that people are scared of the Bible. It's complex. We get into different passages. We don't know what it means. We don't know what to do with it. So my goal in this series is to make the Bible understandable for you. I hope that it will encourage you. And just to remind you, in 2 Timothy 2.25, Paul writing to his disciple, Timothy says, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved? A worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
[10:42] So there's this impetus, this command as believers in Christ that we are to handle this Bible, this God's word that he's given us. So if you were here a couple of weeks ago, I talked about 10 ways we misinterpret the Bible. Let's be honest. If we misinterpret the Bible, we develop a false belief leads to a false action, right? Or a useless action. And it can lead us down a trail where we're thinking, hey, you know what? We're pursuing my worship, my fellowship with God. And in fact, you could be undermining your relationship with God, even though your heart may feel, hey, I'm really connecting with God. You might be connecting more with yourself than with God. As I said last week, the Bible is one incredible unified story of God at work throughout history. There is a reason God gave us the Bible.
[11:47] There is a reason why God commands us to know the Bible. There is a reason why God commands us to meditate on his words in the Bible. There is a reason why God tells us that we are to let it richly dwell in us. You know, and I think as believers of Christ, we like that idea. But as soon as we turn to that text, how do I make sense of this? What happens? If you were with us last week, I'm kind of giving you the story of the Bible starting in Genesis. We made it all the way to Ruth. So just kind of showing where each and every piece of the books of the Bible fit into God's story of redemption. So the original plan for me was to start in 1 Samuel and make it to Malachi. Well, we're not going to do it. All right? So if you had purposely read to Ruth looking forward to 1 Samuel, I'm sorry. We are going to eventually get there. And what I'm going to do throughout this year, as much as we're going to be in Romans, we're going to take these off Sundays, and we're going to go through different sections of the Bible. But what I thought that I wanted to do today is that I want my goal is for you to still understand God's words. But I want to give you four concepts or four truths that are essential for us to connect with the Old Testament. Let's be honest. When we read our Bible, we tend to veer towards the New Testament, right? It's after Jesus.
[13:40] It's after the Gospels. There's clear teaching in there. But sometimes that Old Testament is a mystery. You know, we know there's stories of David and Goliath and Noah and the Ark, but we kind of don't understand how that fits in there. My goal today is in giving you these four concepts, will help you in your understanding of the text. My theme verse today, and please turn with me in your Bibles to Acts 2.39. Dave read that text for us. And as I preach these four truths, you're going to see how important or how real these statements are that Luke wrote for us just shortly after Jesus ascended to heaven. And Peter preached at Pentecost. What he's talking about, and there's a whole wide array of people in Jerusalem at that time. It actually mentions all the different nations represented, but
[14:49] Luke says, and this is Peter saying, he goes, For this promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. Everyone whom the Lord, our God calls to himself. Okay, notice he says, for this promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off. Everyone whom the Lord calls to himself. So my goal for this morning is I don't want you to park that verse in your mind. My absolute goal that I want you to understand is the Old Testament is for you. The Old Testament just wasn't for Jews, but the Old Testament was for you just as much as the New Testament is. You with me on that? I want to give you a hope and an understanding of why, and I'm going to give you four arguments. So the first concept that I need you to understand is salvation is salvation is a work of God. Now, what I mean by that is that salvation actually happens because God is working. You with me on this? If you're to follow another religion or faith, you're putting your faith in a set of tenets or philosophies or ideas, and if you believe in these ideas, you can be a part of that religion. Christianity is completely different. You are being transformed and your faith is based on a moment in history, and that moment was when Jesus Christ died on that cross and rose from the dead three days. If that never happened, there is no Christianity. You with me on this?
[16:56] our faith is based on an activity that God did 2,000 years ago, and I need you to understand this. That means God is at work in history for us. So 2,000 years, God was working for me and for you to bring about your salvation. It's a real event. Not only that, when you guys realize, you open up, you open up, and you guys are familiar with the Christmas story, you've got a genealogy in Matthew, and you have another genealogy in Luke. Not only is our faith based in the resurrection, our faith is based, if Jesus Christ was of the tribe of Benjamin and not the tribe of Judah, guess what? We have a false Messiah. That when you look at the genealogies, I'm going to give you some examples. The fact of the matter is the person who was supposed to die to be our mediator needed to be a man, needed to be flesh and blood. So when you look at the genealogies, you're going to see a link all the way to Adam. That's God telling us that Jesus met the requirement of being human and being attached to Adam. Number two, we also read that he was attached in his lineage as Abraham.
[18:33] So the second thing that Jesus needed to be was a Jew. Because God called Abraham, we're going to get into that a little bit. In Genesis chapter 12, that out of Abraham, this man that he called, God knew before time that this man was going to be a part of our lineage. So Jesus needed to be a man, needed to be a Jew, and then guess what? He had to be a son of David. That's the Davidic covenant, and David read that for us today. So not only did he have to be a man, he had to be a Jew, he had to be of the Davidic line. The other thing is he had to be from the right son of David. And all those things happen. So what's interesting, when we see Mary and Joseph get betrothed, Joseph, his line, gives Jesus Christ the right to rule on the throne of David. Amen? That gives him the legal right.
[19:41] And the Lucan genealogy proves that he's of the bloodline through Mary, that he's related to David, which also gives him the right because of his blood. So he's got legal standing and the other standing.
[19:57] So what I'm getting at is that God made all those actions happen for Jesus to be the perfect Savior of the world. Do you with me on that? If any of those things are wrong, all the prophecies are wrong, and we're still waiting around for our Messiah.
[20:23] But so what I'm telling you that God works or salvation is a work of God, we know that from a theological point, but it's also a physical point. You with me? So what I'm trying to get through to you, history matters. History matters. This is all a part of the story of our Savior. I'm going to give you an example right now. Romans 8 and 11. Paul is writing, he says, if the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. What he's saying is our hope of the resurrection is based on the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Praise the Lord. If he didn't, that's a dead spirit. We have no hope.
[21:22] So our salvation is directly attributed to the same power of the spirit that raised Christ from the dead raises us. And he says this again in Ephesians 119. He says, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power towards us who believe according to the working of his great might? And here it is again, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places. What he's telling us is God did something.
[21:53] God still does things today. Amen. And the record says that God will still do work in the future.
[22:06] It's not like God. We know in creation, he didn't create, wound up a clock and set off our future. And it's supposed to happen that way. That's not how we did it. God, and we're going to get into this, and it's some pretty challenging parts, that some people were given a task. I'm going to use the example.
[22:28] And when you think of this, and I'm going to repeat this example again later on. So after Moses takes the men and women, the nation from Egypt, and he's going to take them into the promised land. God had promised Abraham that his people would have the promised land, right?
[22:46] Remember that? That's Genesis 12, Genesis 15, Genesis 17. Your people are going to have it. So Moses has all his people. They're ready to go into the promised land. And what did they do? They didn't believe. And it got to the point, says they're not going. Their children are going.
[23:04] So what that tells us is God has a will. And when man thwarts it, tough luck. You're off to the side. God's will is still going to be done. You with me on that? You guys couldn't work with me, but guess who will? Your children will work with me. And the children who were born in that wandering were the ones that God gave that blessing of the promised land. God wanted to give it to that first generation people, but they would not believe. They would not trust. So God has a plan, and we're going to get into this. God has a work that God means to do in the future. And what it means to us, we either do it, or God's going to move us aside, and he's going to bring people who will do the work. Amen?
[23:49] We can't stop them. But we can make a choice of whether we're going to be on God's program or our program. And everywhere in scripture, man's program always fails. God's program always wins. We're going to get to that a little bit later. So the point I'm trying to say is that our salvation is due to an activity of God. And the point that I'm trying to raise to you is when you start reading your Old Testament, it's your story too. It's your story too. Just this week, just spending time as I was going through the end of Judges and reading 1 Samuel, my original intention was to take you through to Malachi, the end of the Old Testament. I just got sucked into Eli's life and Samuel and how God calls them.
[24:50] And one was good and one was not so good. And there's this story at the very end, Eli had sons, they were priests, and they were not trusting God. And there was a battle with the Philistines.
[25:08] So they said, hey, you know what, I got a great idea. We're going to get the ark. We're going to put the ark before us, and we're going to go to war because we can't lose. Now their faith was false. Their faith was false. They took the ark, and they were all killed. And the Philistines took the ark.
[25:25] And there's this story about Eli, who was the priest. He was a judge. He falls over and he breaks his neck. He's dead at the news that both his sons are killed. But then there's this verse about his daughter-in-law, who's pregnant, who's pregnant, bears a child, and she named him Ichabod, for the Lord has left me.
[25:53] It's a paraphrase. And you read that. That would be any one of us in that type of a situation. You've lost your family. You've lost your hope of this ark was protecting you. Your whole thought at that time is, God has left me. What hope would I have? So it's connecting us to a real person who existed all those years. And it just, in this one little verse, you can connect with the lostness, the hurt that's there. So when we read those stories, they're there for a reason. You with me on that? So we have this story. So when we read our Bibles, it's not just head knowledge that we're supposed to pull out. We're to pull out life-transforming truths.
[26:51] That's why it says, let the word of God rich, dwelling rich. I can't even say that word. Let it dwell richly in you. And this is the Bible where we learn it. The more you understand the Bible, the more you understand about God and how he works right from the very beginning. And this is why we need it. This is why we read it. It not only informs us about God, but it shows us that God has been working for centuries to bring redemption to us. Now here's the thing we need to know. When did this work of redemption happen? Revelation 13, 8, it's on the end, on the screen. It says, and all who dwell on earth will worship it. Everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the lamb who was slain. Notice the foundation of the world. God knew that Adam and Eve were going to fail. And his work was already put in place before the foundation, before it even started. And we're going to read why in a bit, because the big questions are, why did he do that? You know, why didn't he just replace Adam and Eve with BK and
[28:05] Daniela? Or Chris and Lisa, or someone like that, right? You know, we're all going to fail. We're all, there was no getting around that, but we're going to see why in a bit. So the application to this point is, so how does this apply to you? If God's work is recorded in the Bible, then reading the Bible is how we get to know God and understand what he's doing. Amen? Listen, we live in a complex world.
[28:34] There's a lot of crazy things that are going on. In the Bible, even though it was written thousands of years, still speaks truth to even today. Amen? It's not just about checking off my daily reading plan.
[28:46] It's about discovering what is the very heart of God. What did God mean to do in those times? So what I'm saying is, when we read, these are the things we need to understand. When you start reading in your Old Testament, you want to put that in the back of your head, right? This is history. This is real. There's a purpose for this. You see, the Bible, is the living record of God's activity, and he invites us to see his work on every single page.
[29:16] If God didn't want us to know, there'd be no Bible. He would not have created the prophets. He would not have had them write down what he wanted us to know. This is a gift, and it's a beautiful gift. So my encouragement to you is don't be afraid of its size or its depth.
[29:40] Just start reading, knowing it, that it was God's action plan for redemption, and that plan includes you. Amen? It is to speak to you who you are today. If you have a living, breathing relationship with Jesus Christ, this is your story. If you don't, it's still your story.
[30:01] So that's the first truth. The second truth that I want you to understand when you go through your Bible is that God works progressively. God works progressively, right? So let's talk about the nature of the Bible. And I said one reason people get intimidated by the Bible is that it's long, and sometimes it feels disconnected. But here's the key. The Bible is a progressive revelation of God's work. God did not reveal everything in book one. And we get this. Anybody who's read Genesis 1 to 11, right? We're reading about creation of languages, peoples, creation of the family, Adam and Eve, all these things that are really exciting. But it doesn't tell us about Satan that much.
[30:48] You know that? It just tells us there's a serpent. It doesn't tell us how evil entered into the world. It doesn't tell us how old the earth is. Like there's some questions that it just doesn't matter.
[31:02] It's just this wide scope of what happened. We read about a fall, a flood, a tower of Babel.
[31:12] But then all of a sudden, Genesis 12 gets to a story about one man in all the earth. Why one man? Everything to one guy. And for the rest of the book, we follow this man and his family.
[31:29] In some things, it's an absolute disaster. But at the same time, there's this faithfulness that's transpiring. Why? Because the truth of the matter is God's plan for redemption starts small and it grows. It began with a promise in Genesis 3.15.
[31:50] I will bring a Savior from your line who will redeem you, right? That's the first promise of a Redeemer. So he calls Adam one man. He starts to build his family who Jesus, like I said, will be a part of that family. And then we get to the end of Genesis. We read that Abraham and 69 other people go into Egypt. There's just 70 of them. They come out in the next book with over 2 million. So all of a sudden, that family is now a nation. By the time we get to the promised land, they're developed into 12 tribes. When we get to 1 Samuel, we'll find out that the 12 tribes are disorganized. So they put a king, Saul, and he unifies them. Then David comes and he expands the land as they go through. And then, of course, we have Solomon, who not only expands the land, but builds the temple. And we kind of have the pinnacle of all the promises that God had for the
[32:56] Jewish people. And that only lasts 11 chapters in. And then it all comes crashing down. Why? Because they all needed Jesus. Amen? There still was a hope and a need for a Savior. But God uses all that to bring to bear Jesus Christ. So when we read our Bibles, we need to see this progressive revelation. We need to see God's plan, starting with Abraham and continuing through the prophets, leading to Christ, and then spreading through this early church.
[33:35] So what is the application? Here's where this matters to your Bible reading. If you start in Genesis or anywhere else in Scripture, my advice is don't get discouraged. The fact of the matter is you're not going to understand or see the whole picture right away.
[33:51] But if you start that A, God is working in history, and two, his revelation is piece by piece, be encouraged because that's the way you're meant to understand it. It's kind of like a beautiful flower that starts to come out, right? Just a green little bulb. And all of a sudden, when it finally comes to fruition, we've got Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. And I think I've told the story about this late. This girl was in her college ministry, astrophysicist, probably one of the smartest people I'd ever met. This is when I was at Caltech. And one Christmas, she just took her Bible. She had been invited out, and she just started. And she said, I skipped Christmas with my family because I wanted to know, like we're talking about Christmas morning and the gifts. She says, I had to know what was going to happen. Like she was hungry for Jesus. She knew the Old Testament.
[34:46] She got it. And then she just had to know what happened, right? That's the purpose of the story. It creates that need. We need to know. We need to understand why.
[34:59] Why? God's story builds over time. And the more you read, the more the pieces will fit together. If you're just starting out, I encourage you to read with the understanding that the Bible's unfolding his plan piece by piece. Keep reading. Keep learning. And then you'll start to connect the stories as they're woven together. You with me on that? So we've got this understanding that God is at work. God's, he progresses in the story. And the third truth we need to understand is God is not random. God is not random. In fact, God is purposeful to the point that his desire is to see the glory fill the earth. So why does this matter? What's the purpose of all this revelation and unfolding of God's plan? Let's take a look at Numbers 14 21.
[35:58] This is God speaking. As surely as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. Does that mean anything to you? That's God's desire right from the very start.
[36:17] That God's glory is to fill the earth. This isn't a conditional thing. This is something that is going to happen. Revelations 21 3 gives us a glimpse at the end of the story. It says, behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them and they will be his people. And God himself will be with them as their God. Do you get that? That's the end goal of it all. Our whole lives, when you're trying to make a decision, what am I going to do with my life? You got a decision to make. Because one, God's glory is going to fill the earth and his desires to walk with us as our God. That affects how I spend my free time, my spare time. It affects what I study, why I study, why I know, why I want to grow.
[37:22] So, as a Christian, if we can't get our minds around that, you're going to find yourself kind of like on one of those training bikes that's not going anywhere. Right? You're just in place. You're on your Peloton bike and you're working really hard, but you're not going anywhere.
[37:41] The sincere question is, where are you going? Because God knows exactly where he's going.
[37:55] You see, the Bible is the story about how God is accomplishing that goal. From the garden in Genesis to the new creation in Revelation, it's all about God restoring his creation.
[38:07] Do you not think this is probably Adam and Eve's biggest thing? Right? They're put out of the garden. They recognize what it was like to walk with God in the cool of the day.
[38:25] That would have been hard. And I'm sure they would have begged God, tell us what to do. Anything to recapture that time where I can walk with you.
[38:37] I think if we're honest, some of us in our lives have had that prayer, right? You've known the truth. You chose to go your own way for a time. And you pleaded with God, let me taste the goodness, the sweetness that I used to know about you.
[38:55] And then you confessed and repented and it was there. But that was your greatest longing. You wanted to be connected to God. Amen? Amen? Am I out to lunch? Does anybody ever had that?
[39:07] I can count the times where I just pleaded with God. God's final goal is to dwell with us in this earth that is filled with his glory.
[39:27] See, God is God. God is alive. And God will make everything happen that he wants to happen. That is his good. That is his purpose. These stories aren't random. They're purposeful.
[39:43] So my application to you is if this is the ultimate purpose of the Bible, then we need to read it with that goal in mind. Every time you open your Bible, remember, this is about God's glory.
[39:56] What's interesting, and our greatest, I'm not going to say our greatest sin, but one of our predominant sins, and I'm sure all of you can relate to this, is sometimes we want to rush ahead of God. Amen?
[40:14] We think it's good. We're going to pursue it. Abraham was told he was going to have a son. Guess what? His wife's getting old. You know what? I'm going to do it my way here, Lord.
[40:26] Right? Like, that's always what goes on. We start going down God's path, but then we kind of start to wobble. I'm going to meet with Hagar, the handmaiden, and I'm going to have a child with her.
[40:37] Right? And we know how that turned out. That fighting between Hagar's descendants and Elizabeth's descendants is still going on in the Middle East today. In case you didn't know, Ishmael's the father of the Arab people.
[40:50] Then we have one of the stories that you guys might not know. Saul is going to battle. It's King Saul, and he's supposed to wait for Samuel, the prophet, priest, to come and offer the sacrifices in the temple.
[41:06] He gets impatient. He goes and does what God has forbidden the king to do. God had set the king and priests in different roles, and only the priest could go into the inner sanctum to offer the sacrifice.
[41:20] Saul, you know, it looks good. Hey, we're offering a sacrifice to you, God. That was the end of Saul's reign. There was no turning back for Saul. Saul had made some pretty big boo-boos, and God still worked with him, and at that point, no more.
[41:37] And it's interesting, because Saul begged for that blessing to be put back on him. He begged, don't take your spirit away from me.
[41:51] So sometimes, even in what we think is God-ordained, or what God would really want, we need to wait on God, and let him do the work.
[42:09] You read this story in the Bible over and over. Jacob and Esau, the golden calf and Moses, they're all stories of people not wanting to be patient. See, the Bible is about his plan to fill the earth with his presence, his righteousness, and his love.
[42:27] So when you start reading, don't get bogged down and the details are overwhelmed by the length of the book. Remember that every page is contributing to a bigger story.
[42:40] And the most encouraging thing about it is that God invites us to be a part of that story. When you read your Bible, you're stepping into an ongoing work of God's glory filling the earth.
[42:54] Amen? And the last one, truth that you need to understand, and this is a redundant statement, in order to get in sync with God's plan through Scripture, God's word is the key.
[43:12] God's word is the key. The question that I had brought up just a few minutes ago, and this is where it gets personal, are you living in sync with God's plan?
[43:24] Are you living for your glory or God's glory? You know, I thought about this just even reading 1 Samuel and how God uses people.
[43:40] God sometimes raised up prophets through parents that were unbelievers or fruitless followers. And here's the thing.
[43:52] If God plans to do a mighty work in your child and you're not a part of that work, God will move you aside and bring someone else in. You with me on that? If you don't do what God has called you to do, God will move you aside and bring someone else in.
[44:10] Could be a grandparent, could be a friend, a pastor, a youth leader. And you're going to lose on those blessings that God intends you to have.
[44:23] That's the truth all through scripture. If you're not coinciding with God's work, God always moves you aside because God's will is going to be done. Amen? That's providence.
[44:34] It's not by accident. 2 Peter 3.13 says, According to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
[44:52] This is our calling. That's the future we're moving toward. And how? But how are we living right now? Is it for that or themselves?
[45:03] The Bible shows us how to live today in light of God's ultimate plan. The Bible teaches us what it looks like to live as God's people reflecting His glory in the world.
[45:17] But how can we live in sync with God's plan if we don't know what it is? If I don't read my Bible, how am I going to get in sync with it? That's why I'm trying to communicate the Bible is not some random commands or just this ancient wisdom.
[45:32] It's actually a roadmap as how to live as God's people. It's how we learn to walk in step with God's purposes.
[45:47] So here's my challenge to you. If you want to live in sync with God's plans, you have to know what the plan is. And you learn this plan by reading the Bible.
[45:58] My encouragement to you is don't be intimidated by it. Don't ever think I'll never understand it. That's a whisper and lie from Satan. Start reading.
[46:10] That's why we offer support. That's why we have handbooks. There's study Bibles that will help you understand those curious questions that we have. But my encouragement to you is to start reading and trust that God will reveal His plan to you as you go.
[46:27] The more you read, the more you'll see how your life fits into the bigger story. Finally, I want to step back and see the big picture.
[46:42] One of the biggest barriers to reading the Bible is that it feels overwhelming. It's long. It's full of different genres, laws, prophecies, and stories. But if we can understand that the Bible simply tells us one story from beginning to end, that it's the story of God redeeming His creation from Genesis to Revelation, that it's about God's work, about bringing His people back to Him so He can dwell with us, I couldn't think of a bigger motivator to read my word.
[47:19] throughout the Old Testament, we see God working through the nation of Israel, setting the stage for the coming of the Messiah in the New Testament.
[47:31] We see Jesus, the fulfillment of all those promises, come to save the world. And in Revelation, we see the final fulfillment of God's plan. Sin and death are defeated, and God's glory fills the earth.
[47:45] The Bible is one unified story of redemption, and when you understand it, it will change the way you read it. Now, one of the things that you might not know is that one of the ways that God is glorified is when we come together and act like Jesus.
[48:09] When we come, we magnify how we're supposed to act, and one of those ways we're supposed to act is to come around this table. That when we come around this communion table, it's communicating two things.
[48:24] That our relationship is in harmony with God, and our relationship is in harmony with one another. That means if your relationship with God is broken, perhaps there's some sin or an issue that you're dealing with, this table's not for you today.
[48:39] It doesn't mean it's not there forever, but today that is something that you need to fix before you and God. If there is a sin that's broken a relationship in the united body of believers, we ask you to also not partake of the table.
[48:59] Because the goal is to remember what Jesus Christ has done for us. Amen? And we come, we say, we're unified in God's ultimate purpose in plan for us, his people.
[49:15] And if we don't remember this, if we don't do these things, we forget. That's why God has called us that when we meet together to celebrate his death, resurrection, and more importantly, he's coming back to make things right.
[49:32] Amen? Amen? He's coming back to fill the earth with his glory. And we get to dwell and walk in him in that glory.
[49:48] Let me pray. Dear Lord, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for your word. We thank you that it's a supernatural word that you used your Holy Spirit with these different authors to pen these stories for us.
[50:08] And although there's certain purposes, when we read 1 and 2 Kings, it was written to a group of people that were in exile because they were experiencing the punishment of God and they wondered why.
[50:24] And then we turn to 1 and 2 Chronicles. The book is written to a group of people who've been returned after exile or are thankful.
[50:36] Yet they look at their ruined city and the temple that is not much like Solomon's and some of them are filled with sadness but God fills them with joy that God does great things with his people.
[50:53] The truth of the matter is, and the Bible is the example, God just doesn't use great people. It's God who is a great God that uses normal people. Normal people who have great faith, great obedience, and who desire to see your glory.
[51:14] Father, as we come around this table, I pray that we would use this as a personal examination of where we're at. Perhaps this is the time where we make a promise, I'm going to read a book of the Old Testament once a month.
[51:28] I'm going to try to understand some of the stories and the narratives that are included. I'm going to look at a study Bible to understand what your purposes were and how I can understand it better and dwell on it and wonder how this speaks to me today.
[51:50] Father, we give you thanks for wanting to communicate with us, wanting to give us this Bible, for blessing us with this treasured gift that allows us to be in harmony with you.
[52:08] So, Father, I pray this isn't a legalistic venture, but it's a true heart's desire of everyone here who wants to walk with God in the cool of the day, without fear of sin, without fear of shame, without fear of being rejected, to know that it's at the cross where our sins were crucified and died with Christ.
[52:37] And our righteousness has been given to us by Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life. And he said, hey, I'll have my life and I'll take your sin and I'll die with them.
[52:53] Father, I pray that we desire rich relationships with one another. I pray that there's too many people who sign up for Dave's class. I pray that people would be anxious to walk with new believers, to teach them the truth of scripture and the good news of all that you have for us.
[53:16] I pray that you'll overwhelm us with those who want to be equipped to glorify you and to be a part of your work here today. So, Father, I pray that we would remember that this work is for us, this Bible is for us, and it tells our story about how you brought salvation, even to the Gentile, the outsider, the non-Jew.
[53:44] We heard our sin was a part of Adam's sin, and although our bloodline wasn't of Abraham, the promise was that through Abraham, there'd be blessings to all nations, and that blessing is you, Jesus Christ.
[54:03] I give you thanks for the grandparents, the friends, the pastors, the leaders who stepped in where others failed to teach and to lead.
[54:22] And all of God's people said, Amen.