Heavenly Father, we come before you today with our busy schedules tonight on this
Wednesday evening. We ask that you are there with us as we open your word, as we
study it, and as we apply it to our lives. We know that you are in the fine
details of your word, just as you are there with us tonight, with us here
tonight. We pray that we learn a little bit more about the nature, the purpose,
and the power of your word. Your word is truth, your word is life, and there's
just so much that we can learn together that it's just a great encouragement to
be able to study the Word of God, to read the Word of God, and to ask questions
together and just really go deeper in the Word. Be with us as we go through these
set of verses. It's in Jesus' name that we pray together, and we all say
together, amen. So I'd like to introduce you to our first Bible study
together. So we have these little sheets as we're going over. I'm
titling this, The Nature, The Purpose, and The Power of the Scriptures. And what
we're going over tonight is we're going over the divine inspiration of the Word
of God. We're learning about, we're going to go over 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16,
and we're going to go over 2 Peter. Now what will be very interesting about
this is how, what does the Word of God have to say about divine inspiration and
the role of the Holy Spirit? And so there's, what we'll be doing, I will be
recording this, but it's just gonna be focused on me so you guys don't have to
worry about that. And feel free to answer questions or you know, and we'll just go
along with it. So the title of our series, yeah, we're gonna go through many
verses. We're gonna start off with the origin of Scripture. We think about the
Word of God. We have to consider how important Scripture is, how God has had
His hand in Scripture. I love how, let's, let's turn together. We're gonna turn to
2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, and it's gonna be, I have it on the screen here.
It's gonna be page 1182. I'm just gonna delve right into it. So to start off,
2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, it goes on, it says that all Scripture is
breathed out by God, and it is profitable for teaching, it is for, reproof for
correction, and for training in righteousness. And then it goes on in
verse 17, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good
work. And I love how Scripture is saying that all Scripture is breathed out by
God. And that language is, it's very deep, it's very personal, that you're, you have
this imagery of God breathing His life into the Scriptures, if you will. And I
want to ask you guys, it's gonna, I'm gonna put it on here. What does the words
divinely inspired, what does that mean to you? It's always interesting thinking
about how we can answer that, right? When we think of God being divine, God being
light, being life and truth, when He is breathing His breath of life into us, and
breathing His breath of life into, into Scripture. When we look at that verse, we
start off with all, right? The word all. And it's talking about everything in the
Word of God. All of Scripture, not some of Scripture, not, you know, only certain
portions of Scripture, we're talking the entirety of, of our Bible. It says all
Scripture, and it literally is translated into the things that are written into the
Word of God. When we think about the original Greek language, it's defined as
talking about the things that are written in a document, or things that we would
call Scripture, things that are written down. And I think about this word, this
breathed out by God. It's significant because, you know, what's interesting is
it is the only time in Scripture where you see that wording like that. There are
different ways that this word's been translated, and I want to actually go
ahead and show it to you on the screen here. You'll see that there's a pattern
here, and the pattern is all Scripture is breathed out by God. You know, we use
our, the ESV standard version, the English standard version. But it's
interesting, you'll, you'll see the New International saying God breathed, the
King James version, given by inspiration of God. The New American standard is
talking about being inspired by God, and I think most translations are saying
that it's inspired by God. Breathe out by God. I just love that wording of that.
And the different translations, it's really just a matter of how you're
ordering the words. The main idea, though, the main idea that's conveyed, it's the
fact that the word of God is divinely inspired. And it's really also a matter
of preference. Some people prefer reading God breathed or the inspired by God.
And, you know, when we use our English standard Bibles, I think for me personally,
I identify the most with being breathed out by God, and it's just, it's just
beautiful language. And we have to think that when we think of the idea of
inspiration by God, think of the imagery of God's hand being an intentionality,
his life, right, his energy, if you will, being put into Scripture. And I just think
about that, that how much love we have from God, that the word of God is ever
lasting, and that it's always, it can be applied to us at any time in our life,
whether we're children or whether we're adults, it helps us with our walk with
the Lord. It helps us on our spiritual journey. And I find that the more we
really take to heart this divine inspiration, we don't look at Scripture
like we do, you know, everyday novels, right? When we think of, when I think of
Barnes and Nobles, or I think of Borders, or even though Borders isn't around
anymore, I think of Tom Clancy, or I think of, you know, certain best-selling
authors, and certainly their good books. But are they divinely inspired? Was the
hand of God in that? And so the more you think about how much God worked with the
writers of Scripture, that's just beautiful when we're thinking about it.
It's not just a work of humans. And I know sometimes people will think, well, the
Bible is written by a bunch of people, and that's certainly true. But we're
talking about God working with them, and that's that second point that will go
into the role of the Holy Spirit in our Bibles, and how important that is. Because
we don't, we believe that the Word of God is divinely inspired, and that it is
unlike any other book that we have in any of our libraries. I mean, the Bible is
the most printed book in all of history. I mean, sometimes you you see people,
families who have more Bibles than they do members in their household, and
there's nothing wrong with that. But I think there's something to say about how
significant the Bible is. The Bible, we use it for wisdom, for insight, the story
of redemption, the story of forgiveness, the story about Jesus Christ. We learn
about the miracles that Jesus performed. We learn about the fulfillment of all of
the prophecies. I mean, we could go on and on about all the prophecies that Jesus
fulfilled, but it's something that, I mean,
see Spot Run to the Tom Clancy books or whatever it is. Bible has something
that's very different, and I think we always need to be reminded that the Word
of God, that it is from God, it is a gift, and that's what I have in your notes
here, that Scripture is a gift from God. God being the creator of the heavens and
the earth. You know, if you're ever feeling down, go for a walk. Go out in
nature. Look at the sun, listen to the birds as they're chirping, or go for a
hike sometime. You know, when you go and you look at the forest, or you look at the
fields, you look at all of the trees, I'm convinced that I don't think any of this
was by chance. I really believe that God made all of this because of his love for
us, and God made it all of it for his purpose, absolutely, but also for us to
come to know who he is. You know, I found that in times where I'm sad, or in times
where I'm very upset, if I go out into nature, and I put my phone away, and I
don't think about, you know, the everyday stresses of life, just taking that deep
breath of air, and looking at a sunrise or a sunset. I remember when I was in
Hawaii, I would sometimes go for a drive right before the sunrise, I'd look out on
the ocean, and I would think, so this was all by chance, right? I would think that
there's no way this could have been made for nothing, you know? All of this
had to have been made for a divine purpose, and you know, Scripture talks
about how God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and then we think
about how God made each and every one of us, every feature that we have, you know,
the colors of our eyes, how many hairs we have on our head, and how many
sands there are on the sea shore, I always think of that, the stars in the
sky, but we also think, how do we come to know God? We come to know God through
nature, but also through his word, and it's some good encouragement that we
even have our Bible in our hands today. We have so many translations, as you can
see, I mean, I don't know many people who use the NRSB, but whatever translation
you prefer, as long as it's leading you towards Christ and it's leading you
towards a deeper relationship with Him, that's really all that matters. I know
there's some people that they're more focused on, oh, are you KJV, are you NASB,
are you ESV, which one are you? At the end of the day, is it helping you in your
walk with the Lord to get closer to Him? That's really, I mean, if you're, I know a
lot of people like to say, oh, the message isn't a good translation, but at the
end of the day, if you came to know the Lord through the message, then so be it.
That's where you're at. It could change over time and certainly be encouraged to
read the NIV or the KJV. So I want us to turn to, it's going to be 2nd Peter,
2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 21, it's going to be
1207. So it's 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 21. So it goes on to say,
for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as
they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. And in this section in 2nd Peter,
Peter is writing about the whole context of 2nd Peter is talking about false
teachers, people who are infiltrating and influencing the early church. It's a
reminder for us to be on the lookout for false teachers then as we do now. What
Peter is talking about, he's talking about the prophecies of the Old Testament,
that they were not just made up by men, but they were divinely inspired. They too
were led by the Holy Spirit. The prophecies of the Old Testament were not
produced by the will of man. So when we're reading the will of man, that's man's
efforts, right? Man's efforts to make something. So he's saying that's not the
case. Not by the will of man, but men who spoke from God as though they were
carried by the Holy Spirit. And the idea is because the Bible is divinely inspired,
it's not a book that can be made by man. We think of all of, in this context, the
prophecies, the Holy Spirit would have had to guide them in the writing of
Scripture. When we think of prophecy, sometimes you see people nowadays who
say when the world is going to end. The year 2000, the world's going to
end. The year 2012, the world's going to end. And we're still here. What we need
to, when we think of nowadays, we don't know the time when Jesus Christ will come
back. And one of the big things in Scripture is how we have to prepare for
Christ's return. When we're looking at what Peter's saying is that somehow
there might have been people who are thinking, oh, these Old Testament
prophecies are just made up. And Peter's saying, no, these prophets
were led by the Holy Spirit. So think about the connections in Scripture, the
fulfillment of the prophecies that Jesus Christ did by him being born, by the
miracles he performed, by feeding the hungry, by his crucifixion on the cross.
One thing I can immediately think of is how the soldiers were casting lots
with his garments on the cross. That was a fulfillment of a
prophecy. And certainly we can go on on many, many of the prophecies that Christ
fulfilled. But there's no way man could have come up with that. How could
the prophets back then know about Jesus if it wasn't for the Holy Spirit, giving
them that insight, giving them that inspiration, if you will, to write down
to guide them in the writing of Scripture. And you're talking about a book
that's been written over thousands of years. And think of, like I said, that
connectedness to each other. Things that are in Psalms, are in the book of Matthew,
or things that are in Nahum, are usually found in, you know, other wisdom literature.
And it's all connected with each other. And that helps me personally with my walk.
And I always tell people, I hope it helps with their walk. That they see
that there is something special about Scripture. Because things being connected
to one another, that's very interesting. It's not like any book I've ever read
that can do that. I mean, they might reference one thing, but they don't
reference nearly, nearly the things that are in there. So we have to think the
interconnectedness of the Bible. That is something that we as Christians are to
discover. Something that I find of great encouragement is that, you know, you read
about artificial intelligence, or you read about atheists who are reading the
Bible. But you know, some things that we find in Scripture are meant for the
believer, the Christian, to discover. I didn't put this in your notes, but there
are, there are verses that talk about how God will protect Scripture. It's part of
the reason why we think that Scripture has lasted for so long. How it's been
able, how is it we have copies of, you know, manuscripts over the centuries, and
we're still able to pull from those manuscripts. To say something is done by
the will of man, that would imply that the Bible is full of errors, because man
is imperfect. So one thing you hear from non-believers, or you find from atheists,
agnostics, or people who are critical of Christianity, is they'll say that, well,
because it's written by man, man is imperfect, and therefore the Bible is
imperfect. Well, if we believe that, and I believe, I hope you do as well, that the
Bible is divinely inspired, then would it be imperfect? Well, I don't think so,
because if you're being led by the Holy Spirit to write, to pen it, right, to
write down the Word of God onto paper, if you will, just writing it down, I don't
see how there would be error in that. And that's something we have to really kind
of take to heart, that that's what Peter is addressing, is people are saying, if
it's written by man, therefore it's incorrect, well, we're rejecting that. And
I want to put this on the screen here. So I want to ask you, why do you think it
was important for Peter to emphasize that prophecy wasn't just man-made, that it
was divinely inspired? Why do you think Peter needed to do that? We think
about the early church. It's very interesting that Peter is addressing
this even back then, and we even deal with that now. People who are saying that,
oh, well, isn't it just man? He's probably addressing it because it's
been, well, a lot of times it's in Scripture, yes, because God wanted it to
be in the Bible, but also because it had to have been a problem. A lot of
people questioning the letters that were written, even people who were
criticizing the Old Testament, even the old Jewish books, even. And so I
think that's a good answer. Prophecy comes, it needs to come from God. I
can't say it always comes from God. When we think nowadays, we have to
always think about modern prophets and we'll go to the biblical prophecy. When
you see someone who is, they say they're a prophet or they're prophesizing,
Scripture always talks about the testing of the Spirit. And certainly, you know,
throughout history there have been times where there have been false prophets
or antichrists, if you will, who taught something that was contrary to what
Scripture teaches. An example of this would be throughout history there have
been people who have taught that Jesus is just a man. There have been others that
have taught that Jesus was just God. Those are some of the great heresies that
have been taught over the years, which are clearly false. You just have to go to
Scripture to find that. But if you ever have someone who has a word from the Lord
or they have something to prophesy on, make sure it aligns with Scripture.
Because could I say that every single prophecy is invalid and we should ignore
it? I wouldn't say that. I would say that, well, let's hear them out and let's make
sure it aligns with Scripture. Are there times that someone makes a prophecy and
it's completely false? Well, then we know the prophecy was incorrect. Are there
times where a prophecy is fulfilled and it's fruitful and it's in line with
Scripture? Absolutely. That is certainly possible. We just have to be very mindful
when we're thinking of prophecy in the modern context. When we think about
prophecy in a biblical sense, it reminds us even now that it's not about
man's or human kind's agenda. It's not about their will or what we try to impose.
If you think of, like I mentioned, the guy who's saying the world's going to end,
they may have the heart, you know, making sure people are prepared for Jesus'
second coming. Absolutely. But there are some things we can't force. We can't
force the end times when they're going to happen. That's on God's timing. So we
can't force man's agenda, will or intention. Certainly have the heart, but
we just have to remember that. It's not just about the prophets writing silly
ideas. That's what I put in here. It's the idea of being carried along and going
back into that 2nd Peter passage. It says, no prophecy was ever produced by the
will of man. So we went over that. Not man's agenda, not man's will. But men
spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Think of the
words that were spoken by the prophets and the words that were written in
Scripture. And I want us to turn to, we're going to take a slight deviation here.
We're going to turn to Psalm 119, 160. And you'll see why. Because I'm, it, the
2nd Peter passage is talking about men spoke from God as though they were
carried from the Holy Spirit. The speaking and the written word, right? Because
the word is talking about the words that were spoken from the prophets. So let's
go ahead, I'm gonna go ahead and turn on there. Page 611 in here. So it's Psalm 119,
verse 160. I love this verse. The sum of your word is truth. And every one of your
righteous rules endure forever. It's talking about how the word of God, right?
The Scripture is truth. And every one of, right, he's talking about the righteous
rules. Contextually, it's talking about deliverance and salvation, right? A lot of
Old Testament language in there. But it's the idea that it endures forever. I
think that's very powerful. Because sometimes we think, well, what's gonna
happen in the future? What's gonna happen with the Bible? Well, no matter what
happens, even despite persecution, even from Emperor Nero, the word still carries
on. And to me, that's just, that's encouraging, that's refreshing. The next
one, I didn't put that in the slide either. First Peter chapter 1 verse 25. So
we're going back to First Peter. And that's page 1204. So once again, First
Peter chapter 1 verse 25. It says in here, but the word of the Lord remains
forever. That's beautiful. This is the word. This is the good news that was
preached to you. These are just two little side notes when we're talking
about the prophecies, right? Of what the prophet spoke from God, also being written,
right? Because the words that were spoken were written down in Scripture. They were
carried along by the Holy Spirit. The word of God is timeless. It is ever
lasting. It is divinely inspired. And we must remember that the Holy Spirit
guided those writers. I find it of great encouragement that no matter how old or
young, rich or poor, whoever you are, you can learn about who Jesus Christ is. You
can learn about God. You can grow in your faith through Scripture. Now, I keep
saying carried along, or some translations say driven along. Now those
words are very interesting because we'll find a connection with Acts 27. We're
not going to go there yet. I want you to think about this before we turn there. I
want you to think about a boat that's on the water. It could be a lake, it could be
a boat at sea, just any sort of vessel on the water, right? Well, let's
think of a sailboat. It doesn't necessarily drive on its own. It needs the
power of wind, or it needs to rely on the current, right? To go lead it where it
needs to go, or it needs power on the little engine, right? To push them along
the water. It must rely on these things to carry it along, and that is the
language that's used in that 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 21, and also in Acts
27 verses 15 through 17. I'm going to put that up there. It's the idea of being a
boat at sea. It's a very interesting connection. It's a reminder. This is how
we have to think of the Old Testament prophets being carried by the Holy
Spirit like a boat on the water. I just found this to be very, very interesting.
It's on page so Acts 27 verse 15 through 17. It's on page 1115.
Acts 27 verse 15 through 17. The ship was caught and could not face the
wind. We gave way to it and were driven along. Running under the lee of a small
island called Cara, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat.
After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that
they would run around on the citrus, they lowered the gear and thus they were
driven along. So they were, even though there's a storm going on, they were being
led by the water. I brought this verse up in Acts to show you. There's that
connection with the Holy Spirit guiding writers to be divinely inspired to write
in the pages of Scripture just like treacherous waters or good waters
leading a boat. Wind, water, power, whatever it is. There needs to be some
sort of energy, some sort of power that is greater than the ship to lead it to
where it needs to go. So it's this idea of being carried along or driven along as
that Acts 27 passage is saying. The people on the boat were overpowered, right? If
you think of the old and the New Testament, the waters that they had to
deal with, right? The Mediterranean Sea. Just how powerful any storm can be. So
it's something that's far greater and I tend to think when we're looking at
this that it's kind of the overwhelming power, if you will, of the Holy Spirit to
lead these writers to write what they need to do. And I'm like, that's, if you're
looking at it compared to the strength of water on a boat, think of how
overwhelming the Holy Spirit must be as if it were the water. So the Holy Spirit
was that greater force that would guide the writers to write the prophecies, but
also the writers of all of Scripture. That we have that that guidance from the
Holy Spirit. That's where divine inspiration, that's how we get scriptures.
That's why in that first point on your notes, the origin of scriptures, it
comes from God by the guidance of the Holy Spirit to the writers to write down
in the pages of Scripture. It's wild. It's absolutely when you think about it. I
can't imagine having that overwhelming, the Holy Spirit being that overwhelming
force coming upon me, but guiding me to fulfill what God has in store for my life
or whatever, is to fulfill that purpose. It's just powerful language and it is a
reminder for us of how involved the Holy Spirit was in the writings of this. So
the next question I have on here, how does the tie-in with Acts 27, right, the
the boat on the water, how does that help with our understanding of Second Peter?
Yeah, yeah, when in preparing this, finding that connection I thought was very
very interesting, because when you first look at it on the surface you just think
oh, the Holy Spirit guided it. No big deal. And that's true, that's accurate, but
there's more to it. That ties in very nicely when we're thinking about the
context of all of Second Peter, that you have, you know, one of the things when
you think about false prophets. I know there's a lot of pastors that love
talking about, you know, who's false and who's right, who's wrong, but I think one
way to simplistically look at it is, are you letting God or the Word of God mold
you, or are you trying to do the opposite? If you think of the Garden of Eden, when
the snake is saying you will be like God, right, trying to put man or humans as
God when they're not, and trying to, that's why when you think of sin, right,
it's you hear that language, oh, doing things on your own. Well, just as this
passage when we're talking about acts, right, well they can't do it on their own.
We can't fight against mother nature, right, the creation of God, right. Now
certainly, yes, we can climb a mountain, yes, we can go in the depths of the sea,
but how, we might be able to do that, but that's still pretty, pretty small
compared to the power of an avalanche, or the power of a, you know, huge tidal wave,
right, or in this context, they couldn't face the wind, right, just how powerful
that storm must have been to where, to the point where they're like, all right,
we're not gonna do this, right, we're not even gonna try, we're just gonna let,
we're gonna go where we need to go, and then you think about kind of this
overwhelm, and unfortunately, when you think of overwhelm, we always have that in
a negative context, but I would think that'd be a very positive to have the
overwhelming power of the Spirit come upon you to guide you in that direction, to
to write scripture, and certainly, yes, it's talk, he's talking about the prophets,
but I would go as far as to say that that's really any writer in scripture,
because we believe that all scripture is breathed by God, so do you see how it's
all tied in together? So that's, yeah, I think it's a good question to think
about, that when we find connections like this, it's supposed to help strengthen,
strengthen your faith, help you in your walk, I'm like, oh, you know, now, now I
can see that the Holy Spirit is carrying them along, okay, leading them on, but to
the degree where it's such an overwhelming force to lead me to write, I mean,
think of, I mean, think of the Apostle Paul when he's in prison, I mean, that
must have been the most comforting feeling to have been led by the Spirit to
write down, it makes sense to me when people are going through crisis, or
they're going through a challenge, a trial, a tribulation, and they're able to
carry on, because they have God with them. And this leads us to a next question, you
can answer this if you want, or think about it, it says, can you think of a
time where you felt carried along by the Holy Spirit in your life, just as the
prophets were when writing? Because something I think about is that you may
not have felt the overwhelm to write scripture, but certainly there might have
been a time in your life where you felt kind of this guidance by the Holy
Spirit to speak to somebody, or to call a brother or sister in Christ up, something,
and I kind of want you to think about that, feel that you can answer that if you
want, or not, but I want you to think about that.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's always interesting when Lord is calling you to
speak to somebody, and at first you have, very often, it's like, I'm not sure why
would I call that person, right? Or I don't know them, or you know, oh no Lord,
I'm busy, but so often when we do that, it's like there's no way that could have
been, that could have been you, right? That could have been me, like calling that.
That was a kind of that divine intervention that God leading you, or
that carrying along in that, and I think that it's definitely very important to
be mindful of those moments when God calls you, and sometimes I would further
add that sometimes you end up calling somebody and you don't realize they
needed that phone call. I had that very recently, I called someone and just
checking in, how are you doing? I really needed that phone call, like you have no
idea, and I'm like, what? I had no intention, and it was, but through me
at that moment, God was probably answering prayer, and sometimes we're
aware of it, sometimes we're not aware of it, but it's just very, it's kind of
one of my favorite verses in scripture is it's Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 5, which
says that if you, paraphrasing this, if you only knew what was going on behind the
scenes, you wouldn't believe it if I told you, but then he goes on and tells
them, what tells Habakkuk what's going on behind the scenes, and it's basically,
and you find that in scripture a lot, that things are happening even though we
may not be aware of it, and that's something that's real today in the same
way it was real back then, and it's something we, we should always remember
those moments, share it as part of our testimony, or to testify on how God works
in our life, and it's, it really shows just how responsive God is at the right
moment, you know, like when you're talking about that, that man that you called, I do
have been the right moment, you know, and it's sometimes hard when we think, oh
well what if I didn't call him, right? That's hard, that's heavy, right? And so
it's, it's definitely a, a good, a good question to think about. It seems to
always happen, I mean, maybe your experience is different, but it seems to
always happen at the worst time for us, right? When the Holy Spirit's nudging us
and saying, hey I need you to do this, and like, now wait a minute, I gotta do
this here, but it's in those moments where, okay you're running late, and now you
have to, now you have to do something, and you're, it is that obedience, it's will
you be obedient in this time, even when you're uncomfortable? And then certainly
sometimes when you are comfortable, it's fine, but I would say more often than not,
it definitely happens. I want to turn to 2nd Samuel, page 324, and this will be
our last verse we're looking at for tonight, page 324. 2nd Samuel chapter 23
verse 2, I love this because it's in the Old Testament here, and how often do we
find Holy Spirit verses in the Old Testament, right? So it says here, the
Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, His word is on my tongue. Now I didn't know where
to put that verse on here, but when we've been talking about the prophets of the
Old Testament, the Spirit of the Lord, I'm like, wow, talking about the Holy Spirit,
right, speaks by me, His word is on my tongue. So when we're talking about the
carrying along in the writing, the carrying along in the speaking, knowing
that the Holy Spirit was with, well, His word on my tongue, that's very powerful
language, and I think, you know, when you read about the prophets who are, you know,
they're speaking to the nation of Israel, or whoever it is they're speaking to,
their word being on their tongue, knowing what to say and when to say it, and
knowing what to write down as, you know, evidence of God working through the nation
of Israel, throughout history and scripture, all of that is all tied together,
and it's definitely something that, you see, it's all connected, and you know, as
we study scripture, it is a good reminder, and this is on your key takeaways
towards the end, is that recognizing that the Word of God is divinely inspired
by God, that God is breathing onto scripture, right, just how we have the
breath of life, if you will, so it's, God must have really good breath when you
think about it, right, that He gives that breath of life to us in the same way He
gives life to the Word, and the second key takeaway is the writers were being
carried along by the Holy Spirit, I think that's very powerful language, the next
time you read that passage, think about that, having that sense of like someone
who's at sea being overwhelmed by a storm, that's how the writers were, and I just
think, wow, that must have been an intimidating but very good feeling.
Number three, like a boat at sea, we too are guided by God and His Word for our
lives, you'll find that as you read and you study scripture, that very often
you'll be moved to action, you'll be moved to make a decision for Christ, you'll be
moved to share what you've learned with other people, and I think that's part
of that overwhelm, it's in a different degree, right, in a different way, but it's
something that that's a way that God can reach through to you, right, we call that
nowadays conviction, right, or I was moved to do something, right, isn't it
interesting, we say, oh God is convicting me to do something, it's almost as though
you're being overwhelmed by the Lord to repent of your sin, right, or to talk
to somebody, right, there's a tie in there, but yes, we're guided by
the Lord and His Word for our lives, and then finally, despite being written over
thousands of years, the Bible remains constant in our ever-changing world, and
I put on there those those extra verses when we took a little bit of a slide, a
side route for you on there, and we think of God and Scripture being our
constant, right, you know, I know so many pastors that talk about how much
culture is changing, I try not to talk a lot about how much the world's
changing, but the encouragement is that no matter how much the world changes, no
matter what legislation is passed, or what politician is elected, or you know,
what technology is coming out, is that we have our confidence in God, we have our
trust in that firm foundation, that which stands the test of time, compared to
something that is fleeting, something that is vain, as Solomon says, right,
something that fades away, and you know, a lot of these things are fads, right,
maybe not, maybe they're not fads, but regardless, we still have that foundation
in the Lord, and I think that in the Word of God and in our Lord, it gives me
great confidence to know that no matter what changes come, you know, there comes
a point where you're like, it doesn't surprise you anymore, but that's okay, you
know what you believe in, you know what you stand for, and you have that
foundation in your life, and it's just all, it's good knowing, I know where I'm
going when I die, so with that, I want to take this time, if you have any
thoughts or questions, or otherwise we'll go ahead and close out in prayer, but I
want to give you time to ask any questions or any...
Yeah, absolutely, yeah, that's, I think that's very, that's very good, I think that
knowing that we have that constant in our lives, you know, I mean, how many, how
many fashion trends and, you know, movements, social movements that have
happened, I'm not saying all social movements are bad, but we have to be
mindful, just like testing of the Spirit, be mindful of changes that happen in our
lives, certainly there's some that are good, some that are great, I wouldn't say
that's every one of them, but yes, having God is our constant as the giver of life,
as someone that provides redemption and forgiveness, I think that's one thing I've
learned a lot recently, is just how I feel that culture just doesn't forgive, I
feel like it, maybe it used to, maybe more so, but I feel now if you do any
wrong, it's, you're gone, you know, and I think that's, I've said this to a lot of
people that, I think that's one of the greatest opportunities for Christians
now, is to show them that there is forgiveness for sin or mistakes they
have made, or the wrong that they've done with people, but see, God's always been
that way, and if culture was like that, or is like that, or is not like that, it
doesn't matter, because God's like that, and certainly we should show others that
it's, there's another way, there's a path to life, so I really like how you
showed that, right, we talk about the peace that surpasses all understanding, and
it's something part of God being the constant, is knowing that he provides
peace for us, you know, I joke around sometimes, I wonder why is it a lot of,
and I can't say all, why is it a lot of people who are away from God,
deconstructionists, or atheists, or people who've walked away, fallen away, or
apostates, if you will, they're so angry, they're so filled with hatred, and with
bitterness, yet you meet a man, or a woman of God, and there is a peace there, and
I'm thinking, that's not a coincidence, like that is, there's something to that,
like at first you think, is there a, the joke is, is there such thing as a
peaceful atheist? Maybe, maybe there might be, but not, it's not common, or ones
that have become like the Pharisees, I mean, people who have become legalistic
in their practice, oh, you know, watching sermons, all men must shave their, their
beards, well, Christ had long hair, I'm sure Christ had a beard, but yet you're
treating it as though that is the key that'll lead to your salvation, and so
it's, the closer you get to God, there's this sense of calm, one pastor I knew,
used to always tell me that, and it's, it's controversial to say, is the closer
you get to God, the simpler your life will be, but he would say, I don't mean
easier, I mean simpler, and people are, how could you say that, you know, life is
so complicated, he's like, is it though, is life complicated when you have God in
your life, and I, I just remember like that impact that it had on me, I was
thinking about that, I'm like, this pastor that I knew, him and his wife, lived
some of the most peaceful lives I knew, and I'm thinking, compared to the one, the
person that criticized this pastor, this guy's life was completely out of control,
I'm thinking, huh, there's, I think there's some truth to what this pastor's
saying here, but yeah, definitely there is peace that comes from God, and when we
get overwhelmed in the wrong way, we get overwhelmed by culture in those
troubling waters, I like to use the language of the fog of culture, but if
we do get overwhelmed, and rather be overwhelmed by the spirit to lead me, then
the confusion of culture, the stormy waters of, of society, and just all of
that, because it's just, man, think of, we can always think about Peter, right, how
he was sinking in that storm, right, and how often we're probably like that, we're
we're sinking right in the storm, right, and Jesus pulling us out of the water,
right, but it's, yeah, exactly, and I think that's probably a way to explain it to
people that God will carry you through, no matter what happens, I mean, that, talk
about a, a message of hope for people who are suffering, people that are
struggling, that God will carry you through, I think that's very beautiful
language, and certainly it's, it's very true to feel that sense of drowning, right,
you're very welcome, this next week we're going to do the titles and the names of
scripture, so the word, the word of God, the word of Christ, the word of truth, the
holy scriptures, and the oracles of God, so we'll be going over that and there's a
lot of really good ones on there, so that'll be next week, and then one after
that, the nature of the scriptures, pure, true, perfect, and sure, living and active,
so it's, that's why I said it's a Bible study on the Bible, so definitely going
over that, so absolutely, absolutely, well, let's go ahead and take our time and
close up and we'll pray together. Father, we thank you for your word, we thank you
that you have loved us so much, that you sent your Son Jesus Christ, who fulfilled
the prophecy, who lived, performed miracles, his, his death, his burial, and
resurrection, all supernatural events that are not easily explained by the common
person, but you know what you're doing, you have breathed life into each and every
one of us, and you have breathed into your word, you overwhelmed, you carried along
the writers of scripture, to write every word, every sentence into scripture that
we have today, and yes, it took a long time to gather the Bible that we have
today, but we are privileged, we are blessed to have your word in our hands, in
our phones, and on our shelves sometimes, at times, we're just so grateful that you
are that constant, you are everlasting to everlasting, you are, you redeem us, you
restore us, and you sustain us, you hold us together, and we're so grateful for
that. Be with us as we go from this place, and we're in the middle of the week, and
we have a few more days for Sunday, we pray for everyone in our congregation, our
friends, our families, we ask for protection of this church, protection for
our congregation, we ask that if there's anyone here tonight, or anyone who was
not able to make it, that they need to be here and be refreshed in you, we ask
that you work on their hearts, work on them to be restored and renewed in you,
we pray for those who are yet to know you, that you will work in their lives to
come to know who you are, and your Son Jesus Christ. We are so great that your
Spirit carried along the writers to write, may your Holy Spirit carry us
through this life leading and guiding us, and may we not be afraid to have those
conversations when you, when you tell us to, may we be obedient, and may we put our
faith and trust fully in you, and may you renew us and restore us. It is in Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.