WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:16.000 So, it's good to be back. I was not feeling well last week and so I needed some time for myself to get better and then with the kids getting sick and everything, that's eventful. 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:29.000 So, it's going around and I noticed I was going to get sick when Ariela was laying on me and she felt so warm. 00:00:29.000 --> 00:00:39.000 I want to hold her but I know you're going to get me sick. She was so sweet though. She was just wanting to cuddle. 00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:56.000 She's a cuddly one though. Yes, she is. But they all got it. We're all better now. I think I'm just at the last stages of it and so is Erin but it's all back to back and that's very hard. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:07.000 So, we are continuing with our series. This is part eight of The Nature, The Purpose and The Power of Scripture. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:25.000 So, we've gone over quite a lot together. We've talked about the origin of Scripture. We've talked about the divine, the authority of Scripture, the authors, the role of the Holy Spirit, the names, the descriptions. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:38.000 We've just gone over quite a lot and we are drawing to an end on the descriptions of Scripture and I also would like to let you guys know this will be our last Bible study for the year. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:52.000 We'll probably start off with a new Bible study. It might be continuing from this or it will be a Bible study called God at the Center. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:58.000 But before we go any further, what I want us to do is go ahead and open in a word of prayer and we will begin our study. 00:01:58.000 --> 00:02:07.000 So, let's bow our heads and pray together. Father God, we come before you tonight. We're hungry for your word. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:18.000 We've been learning so much about your word, the origin, the inspiration of your word. Learned about the authors and the purity of Scripture. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:31.000 We've learned about how your word is significant and how you provided Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:40.000 For it is in Christ, He is the Word and we're in awe at this complexity, but we're just in awe of who you are. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:52.000 You sent your Son to be born, to live, to perform many miracles, to teach us so much through parables and through action as well. 00:02:52.000 --> 00:03:00.000 To live and to die on that cross, to be buried and to be resurrected on the third day. 00:03:00.000 --> 00:03:11.000 All of this because of your divine plan, so that we can have salvation in Him through faith. Such a wonderful story. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:20.000 And even though we may not always understand everything about who you are, everything about your word, we know one thing's for sure. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:32.000 And that is that you love us. And just through your love, through learning about you, how can we not be in awe of who you are for loving us first and foremost? 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:40.000 We ask Father that you are with us and that you help reveal truth, the truth of your word to us. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:54.000 We ask that you provide clarity, you provide insight, and you just help us grow in your holy name. And through that growth, we ask that we can implement what we've learned in our everyday life, 00:03:54.000 --> 00:04:05.000 so that people, others, our neighbors, our friends and our families will know who we are, for our identity is in you. 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:11.000 It is in Jesus' name that we pray and we all say together, Amen. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:18.000 So in your notes, we're going to go over a few verses. We have four verses total. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:25.000 Mainly the focus is going to be on Psalms 19-7 and Hebrews 4-12. 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:33.000 And there will be additional verses on Proverbs 8-5 and Philemon 1-6. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:39.000 Okay, so let's see here. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:44.000 The nature and the description of the word. 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:51.000 Let's turn to our first verse in Psalm 19. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:56.000 And it's going to be, I'm going to put that on the screen. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:02.000 Psalm 19 verses 7-11. 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:06.000 So we'll start off in verse 7. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:14.000 It says, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:21.000 The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 00:05:21.000 --> 00:05:26.000 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:31.000 The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 00:05:31.000 --> 00:05:35.000 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. 00:05:35.000 --> 00:05:40.000 The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:48.000 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.000 Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.000 Moreover, by them is your servant warm. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:03.000 In keeping them, there is great reward. 00:06:03.000 --> 00:06:06.000 And so that comes with our first question. 00:06:06.000 --> 00:06:10.000 Our question for reflection and discussion. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:15.000 That should be up on the slide is, how does the description of God's law, 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:21.000 or God's word in these verses, how do they resonate with your understanding of scripture, 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:24.000 your understanding of the Bible? 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.000 There's truth in the word. 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:34.000 In verse 7, I love how it says, reviving the soul. 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:39.000 You see later in that verse 7, making wise the simple. 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:42.000 We'll go a little more into that in just a moment. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.000 But it's just kind of this general overview. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:51.000 Now, what's very interesting, I want to let you guys know that 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:56.000 a couple weeks ago we studied Psalm 19.9, 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:03.000 where we talked about the fear of the Lord being clean, enduring forever. 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:08.000 The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:14.000 And it's interesting, you see this connection with cleanliness, right? 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:16.000 The purity of scripture. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:24.000 And then we go into the perfection and the surety of scripture. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:34.000 Now, in the context of Psalm 19, we see that light flickering right there. 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.000 David is speaking in regards to the Old Testament, right? 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.000 He's speaking to the Torah or the Pentateuch. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:47.000 And many of these verses from the Psalms, it helps us with this, 00:07:47.000 --> 00:07:51.000 it's this very poetic language, right? 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:55.000 The cleanliness of scripture, the purity of scripture. 00:07:55.000 --> 00:08:01.000 And we've gone over the idea before of the rules being true. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:07.000 It was more common for the Jewish people to have the law of the Old Testament, right? 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:12.000 They had the law back in that time and they would study scripture, 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:16.000 they would meditate, or at least you were supposed to meditate on the scripture. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:23.000 And we are very blessed not only to have the law, the prophets, or wisdom literature, 00:08:23.000 --> 00:08:27.000 but the fulfillment of scripture. 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:31.000 And that's kind of the really cool thing of having our Bibles nowadays, 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:36.000 is that we get to read about the fulfillment of prophecy, 00:08:36.000 --> 00:08:41.000 the fulfillment of the law, just like how Christ says on the cross, 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:43.000 it is finished. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:51.000 It's such a beautiful word from Christ, you know, that it's all part of God's divine plan. 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:56.000 And as we've discussed before, the sum of God's word, right? 00:08:56.000 --> 00:09:00.000 The entirety of God's word being true. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:08.000 Now, when we're thinking of that, I want us to focus on Psalm 19.7, right? 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:12.000 So those words, the law of the Lord, right? 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:18.000 Being perfect, the testimony of the Lord, right? 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:24.000 The law of the Lord, as I'm saying, it's mentioning the Pentateuch, the Torah, right? 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:29.000 The law of the Lord, the law of Moses, so to speak, the law that was given by Moses. 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:34.000 Now, clearly David didn't live to know the writings of the apostle Paul, 00:09:34.000 --> 00:09:38.000 or he didn't have the writings of Peter, just as we do today, 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:43.000 but we can extend this to the sum of all scripture, right? 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:45.000 The entirety of scripture. 00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:49.000 It's very important seeing here, okay, law of the Lord is perfect, 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:57.000 reviving the soul that it's giving life to those who read it, those who study it. 00:09:57.000 --> 00:10:01.000 The testimony being sure. Now, that's very interesting. 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:06.000 So I want to ask you, as we're kind of going along here, 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:11.000 why do you think it's important to view the Old Testament laws as a blessing? 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:15.000 Because you have some people that kind of disregard the Old Law, right? 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:17.000 The Old Testament law. 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:23.000 Even in light of the New Testament teachings, why is that important? 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:24.000 So let's think about it. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:26.000 Why is it important to have the Old Testament, right? 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.000 Why is it important to see these laws even as a blessing? 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:31.000 So I want to ask you guys that. 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:34.000 Take a moment to really reflect on that. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.000 I know that can be a challenging question. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:39.000 I've met some Christians, and I'm sure you have as well, 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:41.000 that are like, oh, well, the Old Testament, it's old. 00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:43.000 We shouldn't really care. 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:46.000 Well, it is important as it's part of scripture. 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:52.000 So like I said, take a moment with that, rejoicing the heart, right? 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.000 And then further when it's saying enlightening the eyes, right? 00:10:56.000 --> 00:11:00.000 That's such beautiful language there, right? 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:02.000 Is that what all of your translations say? 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:07.000 Rejoicing the heart enlightening the eyes? 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:12.000 Some Christians, I'm not going to point name names or anything, 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:16.000 but some people will say the Old Testament is invalid. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.000 Well, the law is fulfilled, therefore why should we care? 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:27.000 Well, we should care because the Old Testament is pointing to Christ, right? 00:11:27.000 --> 00:11:32.000 It's, you know, when we're talking about scriptural revelation, right? 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:35.000 Or divine revelation, the revealing of Christ. 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.000 It's saying you have the Levitical law, for example. 00:11:39.000 --> 00:11:44.000 Laws that were made that, well, I don't think anyone can follow 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.000 every single law of the Old Testament. 00:11:47.000 --> 00:11:52.000 But the point of that was to show that there had to be a better way 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:55.000 and that better way was through Christ. 00:11:55.000 --> 00:12:01.000 Because when you had the Levitical priests who would have to sacrifice 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:07.000 annually every single year, well, that was to atone for sin, so to speak. 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:12.000 Well, the idea was that when you're reading Hebrews, for example, 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:20.000 that Christ, his sacrifice, his death, his burial and resurrection on the cross, 00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:25.000 that was done so that there's no longer the need for the Levitical system. 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:35.000 So it points back to how things were pointing to the future of how things will be, right? 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:44.000 That Christ being the fulfillment of prophecy and the ending of the Old Law, so to speak. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:51.000 But to disregard the Old Testament or to say, oh, well, we shouldn't care about that, 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:54.000 you're missing a big part of history. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:58.000 You're missing a big part of, well, how did we get here? 00:12:58.000 --> 00:13:00.000 And what was the way it used to be? 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.000 You know, I mean, yeah, we can go on into the creation account. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:14.000 But when I'm talking specifically about the law, it's showing this is how things work on a temporary basis, so to speak. 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:20.000 But God was going to provide a better way through His divine timing of things. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.000 So that's just something to keep in mind with that. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:30.000 And so going back to that verse in Psalm 19.7, 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:34.000 the reviving of the soul. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.000 It's this idea of being refreshed, being renewed, right? 00:13:37.000 --> 00:13:40.000 Just like how we've talked about before. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:43.000 The renew a right spirit within me, right? 00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:51.000 There's that sense of being refreshed, new life that comes from God and comes from the Word of God. 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:58.000 And now, what's interesting, there's different translations of, 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:03.000 I want us to focus on the law of the Lord is perfect. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.000 The testimony of the Lord is sure. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:15.000 Now, there may be different variations specifically after the law of the Lord is what? 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:23.000 So I always find it's always good at times to kind of look at the difference in translation. 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:25.000 So you okay, what is it saying here? 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.000 The NIV is saying the law of the Lord is perfect. 00:14:29.000 --> 00:14:32.000 The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:36.000 The new living translation, the instructions of the Lord are perfect. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.000 The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy. 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:45.000 The King James version says the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. 00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:48.000 The testimony of the Lord is sure. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:51.000 And the new King James, why that? 00:14:51.000 --> 00:14:52.000 That's weird. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:54.000 The law of the Lord is perfect. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.000 The testimony of the Lord is sure. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:15:02.000 So there's a pretty good consistency in there. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:07.000 The new American standard, the law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:14.000 So you'll also see the law of the Lord is perfect, right? 00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:18.000 Pretty much all of them are saying it's perfect, which is great. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:24.000 Now, new international version says it's refreshing to the soul. 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:27.000 New living translation, reviving the soul. 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:30.000 King James converting the soul. 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:32.000 New King James converting the soul. 00:15:32.000 --> 00:15:36.000 New American standard is restoring the soul. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:42.000 So it kind of gives us a good idea of what is happening here, right? 00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:47.000 It refreshes us, reviving us, giving us life. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:54.000 Now converting is also a good translation in it for someone who may not know the Lord, right? 00:15:54.000 --> 00:16:01.000 When you're studying the word, so to speak, or the law of the Lord, that it can convert you, right? 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:10.000 When we talk about how that's consistent is when we talk about having knowledge of saving knowledge of the Lord, right? 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:17.000 You have to have that knowledge, which there would be the conversion that happens through the word. 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:23.000 So then we have, yeah, let's see. 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:31.000 Yeah, when we're looking at the word perfect, the perfect, the law of the Lord is perfect. 00:16:31.000 --> 00:16:39.000 It means complete, full, the perfect, it's sound, whole. 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:50.000 The law of the Lord, or in our case, as Christians nowadays, the entirety, just as we've talked about before, the sum of God's word is perfect. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:57.000 We allow for the word to work through us, right? 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:00.000 Give us that holistic self, right? 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:10.000 That the word of God will complete us, that the word of God will give us this sense of wholeness in our everyday life, 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:13.000 which should encourage us to open God's word, right? 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:17.000 It would encourage us to study the word of God. 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:27.000 Now, in looking at these different words that were used for refreshing, reviving, converting, and restoring, 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:33.000 reviving the soul, our soul can come to life by God's word. 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:41.000 Refreshing the word of God can refresh your soul, give you a sense of calmness, of joy and peace. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:48.000 The word restoring is that God's word has restorative power. 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:55.000 It can be for someone who is lost, someone who is broken, or someone who's even fallen away. 00:17:55.000 --> 00:18:02.000 And we have to always have a heart for people who have fallen away, some who have walked away from, 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:10.000 whether that's a bad experience or whatever it is, that the word of God can still work through someone who has fallen away. 00:18:10.000 --> 00:18:13.000 And I always have a heart for people who have walked away. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:21.000 I know many people, unfortunately many people my age, who have walked away from the church, and whatever their reason is, 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:31.000 we still pray for them and we still love on them, just like we love on anyone who may not know the Lord, 00:18:31.000 --> 00:18:37.000 or someone who may not fully understand who the Lord is, we still exhibit that love. 00:18:37.000 --> 00:18:45.000 So, restoration, the converting power, right? Faith comes through the word of God, just how I'm reminded of. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:53.000 Faith comes through hearing, right? Faith comes through hearing the word of God, 00:18:53.000 --> 00:19:01.000 whether that's being preached or whether it's being taught, or I think of the evangelist on the street who's holding the sign 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:09.000 and saying, Jesus saves, it could be that. There's many different ways of the seed being planted, right? 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:12.000 The seeds that are being scattered to people. 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:18.000 So, the next part of the verse is the testimony of the Lord is sure. 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:24.000 So, I want us to focus on that sure, right? To establish. The testimony of the Lord is sure. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:30.000 It is established. It is verified. It is built up. It is supported. 00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:36.000 It's that Hebrew word is talking about the things that are done from the Lord. It is verified. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:42.000 I think of that famous saying, it's tried, tested, and true, right? It's that there's that verification. 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:50.000 It's established. It is supportive. It is sure. The testimony of the Lord is to be trusted. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:56.000 It is worthy to be trusted. So, that question makes a lot more sense. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:03.000 How does the trust worthy, I'll put that on the screen, how does the trustworthiness of God's testimony, or God's word in our sense, 00:20:03.000 --> 00:20:10.000 how does that impact how you live out your faith? Isn't this Psalm written very interesting? 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:18.000 The law of the Lord being perfect, right? So, in our, for us, it would be, right, the word of God. 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:21.000 We're talking about the context. It would be the Pentateuch, the Torah, right? 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:28.000 It's perfect, that it revives the soul, right? It gives life to those who read, who study, meditate on the word. 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:34.000 It's the testimony of the Lord, right? Being tried, tested, and true, being sure, right? 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:42.000 Now, that's very, very interesting, right? Where you're seeing about the word and the testimony of the Lord. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:46.000 And I'm just like, oh, there's a nice tie-in right there. 00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:54.000 Yeah. Yeah, so God's testimony is worthy to be trusted. It's just, I'm flipping it intentionally there. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:06.000 But yeah, the, how does the, how you would reword that is, how is God's testimony trustworthy? 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:12.000 How does it impact how you live out your faith? Okay. 00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:20.000 So, God's testimony is worthy to be trusted. And I'll go a little further into why that is, 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:27.000 because this can mean two different things. When you first read it, are you, okay, are you saying the testimony of the Lord 00:21:27.000 --> 00:21:34.000 as those who give testimony to the Lord, or are you talking specifically the testimony of God? 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:41.000 So, I'll go, since you're bringing that up, I'll, and I hope this will answer your question. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:44.000 We're talking about the idea of the testimony of the Lord. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:51.000 Contextually, we're talking about the things that have happened throughout the Old Testament, right? 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:55.000 The things that were written in the Old Testament time period. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:01.000 This can be applied to the entirety of Scripture, right? The fulfillment of the prophecy, the coming of the Lord Jesus, 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:10.000 the miracles that were performed, the writings of Paul, and the Pauline epistles, right? All of that. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:18.000 These things, they testify that the Word of God is tried, tested, and true. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:26.000 So, the things from the Word, they testify, they make a testimony to the Lord. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:34.000 So, does that make sense? So, I was trying to have some discussion before expanding into that, right? 00:22:34.000 --> 00:22:41.000 So, when we give testimony to how God's worked in our life, we're pointing to the Lord. 00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:50.000 Well, here we're talking about that the Lord is giving testimony in the things that have been done in Scripture, right? 00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:56.000 So, when we're looking at the context of the Pentateuch or the Torah, right? 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:03.000 The Old Testament, there's miracles that have happened that testify to what the Lord has done, right? 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:07.000 The promises that He keeps, the creation account, for example. 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:12.000 We're looking at the entirety of Scripture, like I'm saying, the coming of Jesus Christ. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:18.000 Well, that would testify to the work of God, right? That should be the greatest one right there. 00:23:18.000 --> 00:23:22.000 So, it's just very good language, right? 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:29.000 We testify to the Lord, and the testimony of the Lord is His Word, right? 00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:35.000 So, I hope that clears it up, but yeah, I wanted to kind of get you to think a little bit on there. 00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.000 So, yeah, the things that testify... 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:42.000 Let me go back to verse 7 here. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:49.000 The testimony of the Lord is sure, that last part, making wise the simple. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:58.000 Now, we see in Proverbs, we see in Psalms, we see throughout the Old Testament, there's this idea of... 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:05.000 When you've read Proverbs, you've probably heard about the wise and the foolish, right? 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.000 The categories of the two types of people. 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:15.000 Well, I would like to propose to you, there's a third type of person, which is the simple. 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:22.000 So, let's turn our Bibles to Proverbs 8-5. 00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:32.000 Because this is interesting, because this Psalm is talking about the simple becoming wise, right? 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:35.000 By the testimony of the Lord. 00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.000 Okay, so, what do you mean by that? 00:24:39.000 --> 00:24:42.000 You know, I want to know more about this. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:48.000 Now, I will say, before we read this verse, 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:58.000 the fool and the simple, they lack wisdom and understanding. 00:24:58.000 --> 00:25:02.000 Okay, so, let's read the verse here. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:07.000 So, Proverbs 8-5. 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:12.000 O simple ones learn prudence. 00:25:12.000 --> 00:25:16.000 O fools learn sense. 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:18.000 Okay, it's a short one. 00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:22.000 And there's not a lot of verses that talk about the simple ones, but they're scattered. 00:25:22.000 --> 00:25:25.000 This is just one example of it. 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:30.000 So, in researching the difference between the two, 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:35.000 well, the simple ones are what you would call the naive. 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:38.000 The ones that...they lack wisdom and understanding, 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:42.000 but they can be molded by God's direction. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:46.000 They can be molded by God's word. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:48.000 Okay? 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:54.000 Well, that's different than the wise who already understands God's instruction. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:55.000 Right? 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:58.000 They already...the wise, they have the wisdom of the Lord. 00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:00.000 They have that understanding. 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.000 Well, what's the difference between a fool and the simple? 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:06.000 Well, the fool is someone who... 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.000 Well, they're foolish, right? 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:12.000 They're rejecting God's direction or they're rejecting God's word. 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:17.000 So, very often you'll hear teachers and pastors saying, 00:26:17.000 --> 00:26:20.000 well, are you a fool or are you wise? 00:26:20.000 --> 00:26:22.000 Well, that may be true for a lot of people, 00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:27.000 but you have to make the case for the third type of person, which is the simple. 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:31.000 The one who doesn't know the Lord, or they're just not there yet, right? 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:35.000 There comes a point where you got to make a decision. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:42.000 You got to make a decision on if you know, if you're going to say yes to Jesus Christ or you're not. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:47.000 So, as I said, there's not a lot of... 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:54.000 Not a lot of verses on the simple ones, but it is scattered throughout Scripture. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.000 So that was one of them. 00:26:56.000 --> 00:26:59.000 So there's a question that comes with that and... 00:26:59.000 --> 00:27:01.000 Or no, there's not. 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:03.000 It's on your notes. 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:04.000 Or is it on your notes? 00:27:04.000 --> 00:27:07.000 No, they're not put it in there. 00:27:07.000 --> 00:27:10.000 Oh, it's right. It's the last one. 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.000 How does the distinction... 00:27:12.000 --> 00:27:23.000 Yep, how does the distinction between being simple and being foolish influence our approach to gaining wisdom? 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:30.000 In other words, the difference between simple and foolish, right? 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.000 How does that influence us when we're gaining wisdom? 00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:36.000 Or how... You could even expand that. 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:39.000 How does that help us understand the difference? 00:27:39.000 --> 00:27:42.000 Like, how do we teach them wisdom? 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:48.000 Yeah, I see... In knowing this, it kind of... 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.000 Maybe for you, maybe not. 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:58.000 I know for me personally, thinking about the simple, I'm not as quick to say, oh, they're just foolish. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:01.000 I'm not so quick to be like, oh, well, you're just a fool. 00:28:01.000 --> 00:28:03.000 Well, no, wait a minute. 00:28:03.000 --> 00:28:06.000 If you don't know the Lord, you're simple. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:14.000 Now, as time goes on, you will either become a fool or wise. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:20.000 But there's that kind of that time period before one of them. 00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:32.000 And so I would really encourage... It encourages me, and I hope it encourages you, that when you meet someone who doesn't know the Lord, 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:39.000 or someone who's never read a Bible, don't be so quick to call them a fool, or to think of them as a fool. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:43.000 Rather, consider, well, maybe they truly don't know. 00:28:43.000 --> 00:28:52.000 Maybe in this sense, they are simple. Instead of someone who says, you know, I don't do that Christian stuff. 00:28:52.000 --> 00:28:55.000 I don't do that Bible stuff. That would be very different. 00:28:55.000 --> 00:29:00.000 And so I think that to me, this is very important in distinguishing the two. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:06.000 Yeah, that gets into... There's a lot of opinions on how to handle that. 00:29:06.000 --> 00:29:10.000 But certainly, I would encourage, always be there for them. 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.000 If you feel that the Holy Spirit is leading you to talk to them, by all means do it. 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:18.000 Because we don't always know what's going on internally. 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:22.000 They may be like, oh yeah, right, and maybe they're open to it. Maybe not. 00:29:22.000 --> 00:29:27.000 You know, it's a really... That's a very difficult one. 00:29:27.000 --> 00:29:31.000 How many of you... I'll just ask a question that's not on our notes here. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:33.000 How many of you have met a simple one? 00:29:33.000 --> 00:29:39.000 Someone who's... They haven't rejected the Lord, but they're not wise. 00:29:39.000 --> 00:29:44.000 Have you ever met someone who would be considered a simple... a simpleton? 00:29:44.000 --> 00:29:49.000 Yeah, and sometimes it's... It might not be you who gets through to them. 00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:55.000 And that's always hard when you want to, you know, lead them to the Lord, have them... 00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.000 You give them the gospel presentation. It might be someone else. 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:04.000 It might be certain timing, but it never hurts to pray for them. 00:30:04.000 --> 00:30:08.000 It never hurts to just let them know that you're there for them. 00:30:08.000 --> 00:30:15.000 I mean, showing that kindness and compassion to them at the end of the day. 00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:22.000 Well, it is their choice, and I know that gets into very difficult territory, you know. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:29.000 Because you kind of wish that foolish ones like that verse is saying. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:34.000 What's it say? Oh fools. What's it say there? 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:39.000 What an interesting thing to say, right? 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:47.000 Be understanding, right? What else does it say and what does your translation say? 00:30:47.000 --> 00:30:50.000 And that's Proverbs 8-5. 00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:52.000 Gain understanding, right? 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:56.000 ESV is saying learn sense, right? 00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:58.000 How interesting is that? 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:03.000 Perhaps it's a prayer for us that they get sense. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:07.000 That they get understanding, right? 00:31:07.000 --> 00:31:13.000 It could be a heart thing. Oftentimes it is. 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:19.000 You know, I think of someone who has a hardened heart, right? 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:23.000 Asking God to soften their heart. 00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:28.000 Right? When we think of a renewed spirit even. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:36.000 So I think in reading that, that should be a prayer for those who are foolish, right? 00:31:36.000 --> 00:31:40.000 Now what about the simple ones? What does it say there? 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:43.000 Mine says learn prudence. What does yours say? 00:31:43.000 --> 00:31:45.000 For the simple ones. 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:51.000 So come to understand, have that prudence, have discipline as some translations say. 00:31:51.000 --> 00:31:56.000 Discipline for what? Discipline in understanding God's word, right? 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:59.000 And being prayerful, so to speak. 00:31:59.000 --> 00:32:08.000 So it's just interesting when we're talking about understanding God's word, understanding the Lord. 00:32:08.000 --> 00:32:12.000 For the foolish ones, it's to get that understanding, right? 00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:19.000 Softening of their hearts so that they can come to understand the simplicity. 00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:22.000 You know, I had a pastor once tell me. 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:28.000 And I didn't realize it's very controversial saying this even now. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:36.000 But this pastor used to tell me that the closer you get with God, the simpler your life will become. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:39.000 Now in hearing that, I used to think, well what do you mean pastor? 00:32:39.000 --> 00:32:41.000 You know, life is not so simple. 00:32:41.000 --> 00:32:45.000 And he looks at me and he says, I didn't say easy. 00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:48.000 Because that's what I thought in simple. 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:54.000 I thought he meant easy. No, simplicity would be very different, right? 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:59.000 And the ability to discern what is right and wrong. 00:32:59.000 --> 00:33:02.000 Having the peace that comes from the Lord. 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:13.000 Having the joy that comes. That's a very simple life compared to the complex life that, well, the fool has. 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:17.000 Think of how they just don't get it. 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:27.000 Oftentimes they may appear to have it together and maybe they do from a worldly standpoint. 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:36.000 But being in the calm of knowing that you're safe and secure in salvation from the Lord is something that's very beautiful. 00:33:36.000 --> 00:33:44.000 Knowing that at the end of my life I know where I'm going, that gives me a sense of security. 00:33:44.000 --> 00:33:49.000 That we don't even have to fear death because we know where we're going. 00:33:49.000 --> 00:33:55.000 I mean, there's a book in my office. I've been hesitant to read it. 00:33:55.000 --> 00:34:01.000 But it's famous. I'll have to go get it. 00:34:01.000 --> 00:34:06.000 It's basically saying famous things, famous last words from famous people. 00:34:06.000 --> 00:34:09.000 And it's ones that were saved and those who were not. 00:34:09.000 --> 00:34:16.000 And it's giving differences. Some of them saying, well, I'll see my relatives in a little bit. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:19.000 And others are saying, you know, like, oh no, what have I done? 00:34:19.000 --> 00:34:28.000 Like those kind of things. It's like, oh, it's a very scary book, but scary if you don't know the Lord. 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:34.000 So certainly things that God has done, right? 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:41.000 It testifies to the Lord. The testimony of the Lord, as I've been saying, it's tried, tested and true. 00:34:41.000 --> 00:34:46.000 And it makes the naive ones. It makes them wise. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:54.000 And what a great prayer for us. What a great encouragement for us as Christians that the fools should learn sense 00:34:54.000 --> 00:35:01.000 and that the simple ones should gain understanding or learn prudence as this verse is saying. 00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:10.000 The same way that we learn about salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, we grow in our faith by developing wisdom from God's word, 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:16.000 the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:27.000 And what a wonderful gift from the Lord that is discernment, having wisdom from the Lord and how you can imply the wisdom of God 00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:31.000 to your everyday life, to your friends, to your family, and even to your work. 00:35:31.000 --> 00:35:43.000 There's a author that I know. I'm trying to remember his name, who wrote a, basically built all of his businesses. 00:35:43.000 --> 00:35:54.000 I think it's Steven Scott. Look him up sometime. I think it's Steven K. Scott built all of his businesses based off of proverbs, 00:35:54.000 --> 00:36:04.000 and they became very successful businesses. I'm like, well, that's really great, you know, when we're talking about testimony. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:10.000 There are many benefits to reading, to study, and applying, and living out the word of God. 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:20.000 We've learned about how God breathed into the word, right, or how the word was divinely inspired, written into the pages of Scripture. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:30.000 The Bible works in and through us to come to have that knowledge of the Lord, to be sanctified where we grow in our faith. 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:38.000 And that leads us into our final verse, which I'm going to put on the screen here, which is going to be Hebrews 412. 00:36:38.000 --> 00:36:44.000 The famous verse here, Living and Active. 00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:53.000 And we've gone over this verse before. 00:36:53.000 --> 00:37:06.000 The last time we went through this, we talked about specifically the two-edged sword, right, the division of the soul and the spirit. 00:37:06.000 --> 00:37:16.000 And how sharp and how deadly as it were, the word of God can be. 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:22.000 In other words, just be mindful when you're using the word of God. 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:27.000 You can use the word for many good things. 00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:30.000 Hebrews 412. 00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:33.000 Let's see here. 00:37:33.000 --> 00:37:50.000 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:52.000 So what does your translation say? 00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:55.000 For the word of God is what and what? 00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:56.000 The living part. 00:37:56.000 --> 00:38:00.000 The word of God being alive, living quick. 00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:13.000 It is defined as, well, basically it breaks down to really any of those definitions, right, that it can be quick, quick as in lively. 00:38:13.000 --> 00:38:16.000 Like when you think of a quick animal, right, it's very lively. 00:38:16.000 --> 00:38:20.000 It can be very quick in movement, right. 00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:29.000 It being living just as the word of God is divinely inspired, right, how God breathed life into it. 00:38:29.000 --> 00:38:36.000 So we're considering the living part to live to be lively or to be quick. 00:38:36.000 --> 00:38:40.000 So really any of those translations would be accurate. 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:43.000 We're looking at the active part of the verse. 00:38:43.000 --> 00:38:51.000 It can mean active, effective, powerful. 00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:54.000 There's different meanings in that. 00:38:54.000 --> 00:39:00.000 But really at the end of the day, it being active as an active in our lives and powerful. 00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.000 It has powerful influence into our lives. 00:39:04.000 --> 00:39:23.000 And it helps us with our understanding because what's interesting about this, I want you to think of the effectiveness being another definition here because if you turn to Philemon, put that on the screen, Philemon 1.6. 00:39:23.000 --> 00:39:37.000 That same word that is used for powerful, active, right, the word of God being alive and active, right, that second word active, powerful, it can also mean effective. 00:39:37.000 --> 00:39:47.000 And here's why Philemon 1.6. 00:39:47.000 --> 00:39:54.000 Right, we have the apostle Paul writing to Philemon, talking about Onesimus. 00:39:54.000 --> 00:40:01.000 Right, verse 5, I hear of your love and the faith you have towards the Lord Jesus Christ and all the saints. 00:40:01.000 --> 00:40:07.000 And I pray that the sharing of your faith may become what? 00:40:07.000 --> 00:40:11.000 So, mine says effective, right, but it's the same idea. 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:16.000 That's the same word as we find in the Hebrews 412. 00:40:16.000 --> 00:40:19.000 The same Greek word that's being used here. 00:40:19.000 --> 00:40:27.000 So, the word of God being active, powerful, effective, right, effectual as you were reading in there. 00:40:27.000 --> 00:40:30.000 So, there's the effectiveness of the word of God. 00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:32.000 There's the power in there. 00:40:32.000 --> 00:40:35.000 I mean, you could even use any of these, right? 00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:38.000 I pray that the sharing of your faith may be powerful. 00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:41.000 I pray that the sharing of your faith may be active. 00:40:41.000 --> 00:40:44.000 I pray that the sharing of your faith may be active. 00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:46.000 It can be any of these things. 00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:58.000 So, it's very good seeing this where it's like, wow, that's kind of, it helps us with that, right? 00:40:58.000 --> 00:41:02.000 It's the same Greek word that's found. 00:41:02.000 --> 00:41:07.000 So, I just find it really interesting that when we're seeing the apostle Paul writing to Onesimus, 00:41:07.000 --> 00:41:13.000 that Paul is praying that his faith may become effective. 00:41:13.000 --> 00:41:19.000 We should pray that our faith in the Lord, that it may become effective. 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:26.000 Effective for us sharing our testimony and sharing the gospel message to others. 00:41:26.000 --> 00:41:35.000 We should pray that our faith may be active and not stagnant, not dead, as it were, right? 00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:41.000 Just like how it says in Scripture that faith without deeds is dead. 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:44.000 We are saved by grace through faith, absolutely. 00:41:44.000 --> 00:41:50.000 And by receiving salvation, we need to go out and do good in the name of the Lord, right? 00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:53.000 That our faith may be active. 00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:59.000 We should pray that our faith becomes powerful as a powerful testimony, 00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:05.000 that we can minister to others, that we can share in the love of Christ. 00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:12.000 And we even find this in the Word of God as we've been studying the Word of God being effective. 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:15.000 The Word of God being active in our lives. 00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:23.000 It being effective by affecting us to be converted, to come to know who the Lord is. 00:42:23.000 --> 00:42:25.000 The Word of God being powerful. 00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:30.000 And in all of these things, we must be mindful. 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.000 We certainly must be mindful of the power of the Word of God. 00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:37.000 That can mean a good thing, that can also mean a bad thing. 00:42:37.000 --> 00:42:42.000 May we be reminded of cults that are out there that misuse the Word of God. 00:42:42.000 --> 00:42:45.000 May we use the Word of God for good. 00:42:45.000 --> 00:42:50.000 And may we ask God to guide us for a correct understanding of His Word. 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:57.000 So as we close for tonight, I want us to keep in mind of the ideas that we are learning tonight. 00:42:57.000 --> 00:43:01.000 The Word of God being tried, tested, and true. 00:43:01.000 --> 00:43:08.000 The Word of God being alive, it is living, it is quick, quick to move in our lives. 00:43:08.000 --> 00:43:15.000 Because God breathed life into it, much like how He breathed life into us. 00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:22.000 And we can learn and conclude, and I hope we apply from tonight, the Word of God is effective. 00:43:22.000 --> 00:43:30.000 It has the transformative power for those who read, study, and apply and live out Scripture. 00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.000 The Word of God, let it be active in our lives. 00:43:34.000 --> 00:43:41.000 We go with what God says in His words, and we follow in the footsteps of Christ. 00:43:41.000 --> 00:43:46.000 And in the following of the Word of God, there is power in the Word of God. 00:43:46.000 --> 00:43:51.000 Much like how there is power in the name of Jesus Christ. 00:43:51.000 --> 00:44:04.000 And I really hope that we are mindful of those who are foolish, those who are wise, but also for those who are simple. 00:44:04.000 --> 00:44:11.000 May we be an example, may we not be afraid to share in our faith to the simple ones, 00:44:11.000 --> 00:44:19.000 and to the fools that we know in our lives, may we pray for them, may we be open to them, may we be present for them. 00:44:19.000 --> 00:44:30.000 Asking for God to work in their lives, to soften their hearts, and to allow for their minds to be open to the Lord, not open to anything. 00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:33.000 It's just like how people say, oh, you know, I'm going to open my mind. 00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:37.000 Well, be careful what you open your mind to, right? 00:44:37.000 --> 00:44:45.000 As a funny joke, there's a, I don't know what movie it was where someone said, 00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:52.000 I'm going to give someone a piece of my mind, and the guy said, well, don't give too much of it, you might not have anything left, right? 00:44:52.000 --> 00:44:59.000 So in the same thing, I'm going to open my mind, well, be careful what you open your mind into, you might get garbage in your mind, right? 00:44:59.000 --> 00:45:06.000 But certainly, if we're talking about having an open mind, have an open mind to God and the Word of God, 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:16.000 not some garbage, whatever that, anything else that's, anything that's contrary to Scripture or the divine plan of the Lord. 00:45:16.000 --> 00:45:24.000 And certainly, may we have that heart for those, the simple ones, may we have a heart for the fool. 00:45:24.000 --> 00:45:30.000 I know it's difficult when we butt heads with people who just don't get it. 00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:36.000 And certainly, we should have respect for those who are wise too. 00:45:36.000 --> 00:45:39.000 Pray for the wise as well, that they don't become fools. 00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:43.000 Doesn't it say in Romans, claiming to be wise, they became fools. 00:45:43.000 --> 00:45:47.000 They exchanged the glory of God for a lie. 00:45:47.000 --> 00:45:49.000 Something along those lines. 00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:54.000 So, we need to check ourselves. 00:45:54.000 --> 00:45:57.000 It's that famous saying, check yourself before you wreck yourself. 00:45:57.000 --> 00:46:02.000 Well, how do you check yourself? Make sure what you are reading, what you're teaching. 00:46:02.000 --> 00:46:06.000 I have to check myself all the time is what I'm teaching in line with the Word of God. 00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:08.000 You always have to check yourself. 00:46:08.000 --> 00:46:11.000 Well, how you check yourself is through God's Word. 00:46:11.000 --> 00:46:15.000 So, with all of that, let's close in prayer. Let's pray together. 00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:25.000 And Father God, we thank you for this time of gathering us here tonight as we've gone over the surety of your Word. 00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:28.000 The trustworthiness of your Word. 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:34.000 For the sum of your Word, the entirety of your Word is divinely inspired by you. 00:46:34.000 --> 00:46:37.000 And it is alive. It is active. It is quick. 00:46:37.000 --> 00:46:39.000 Because you made it so. 00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:42.000 We're in awe of that. 00:46:42.000 --> 00:46:45.000 We ask that your Word, it dwells within us. 00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.000 That it allows for us to come to know you. 00:46:49.000 --> 00:46:52.000 To come to have that saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. 00:46:52.000 --> 00:47:01.000 And upon receiving that gift of salvation, may we grow in our faith to have knowledge, wisdom, and discernment. 00:47:01.000 --> 00:47:05.000 And the ability to testify to you. 00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:14.000 We love you so much. And we thank you for giving us the freedom, the opportunity, and the ability for us to be here tonight. 00:47:14.000 --> 00:47:16.000 We thank you so much. 00:47:16.000 --> 00:47:18.000 We ask that you're with us for the rest of the week. 00:47:18.000 --> 00:47:27.000 And as we leave from this place, may our love be for you and for other people. 00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:33.000 We'd like to pray for the fools in our lives. The ones that have rejected you. 00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:40.000 We pray for softened hearts and open minds to you. Open to you and your Word. 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:43.000 We pray for the simple ones. 00:47:43.000 --> 00:47:45.000 That they may come to know you. 00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:56.000 And whether that's through our everyday action or through us sharing in our testimony, or opening the Word of God and showing John 3.16. 00:47:56.000 --> 00:47:58.000 May they come to know you. 00:47:58.000 --> 00:48:04.000 And for the wise in our lives, we pray for protection. 00:48:04.000 --> 00:48:11.000 That the wise may not become fools and owe how easy it is to become foolish. 00:48:11.000 --> 00:48:21.000 We ask for that protection for our leaders, for pastors in this area, and for those who know the Word of God. 00:48:21.000 --> 00:48:26.000 May their hearts not be hardened and may their minds not be closed off to you. 00:48:26.000 --> 00:48:31.000 Rather, may they remain rooted and anchored in you. 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:37.000 We thank you so much for giving us your Word and the truth that comes from you. 00:48:37.000 --> 00:48:40.000 Father, we pray for this community. 00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:47.000 We pray for the city of Ontario and the surrounding communities, the surrounding towns in the Treasure Valley. 00:48:47.000 --> 00:48:50.000 We pray for revival. 00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:55.000 We know that your Word has reviving ability. 00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:57.000 That it can refresh souls. 00:48:57.000 --> 00:48:59.000 That it can restore people. 00:48:59.000 --> 00:49:03.000 It has that conversion power as we've gone over. 00:49:03.000 --> 00:49:12.000 We just ask that you work in and through us, but Lord, let your will be done. 00:49:12.000 --> 00:49:15.000 We love you so much and we thank you. 00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:18.000 Be with us for the rest of this week. 00:49:18.000 --> 00:49:34.000 It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.