WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.060 Heavenly Father, we come before you today with our busy schedules tonight on this 00:00:06.060 --> 00:00:12.120 Wednesday evening. We ask that you are there with us as we open your word, as we 00:00:12.120 --> 00:00:17.600 study it, and as we apply it to our lives. We know that you are in the fine 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:23.480 details of your word, just as you are there with us tonight, with us here 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:30.280 tonight. We pray that we learn a little bit more about the nature, the purpose, 00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:37.640 and the power of your word. Your word is truth, your word is life, and there's 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:43.320 just so much that we can learn together that it's just a great encouragement to 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:48.480 be able to study the Word of God, to read the Word of God, and to ask questions 00:00:48.479 --> 00:00:54.679 together and just really go deeper in the Word. Be with us as we go through these 00:00:54.679 --> 00:01:01.439 set of verses. It's in Jesus' name that we pray together, and we all say 00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:08.879 together, amen. So I'd like to introduce you to our first Bible study 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:14.519 together. So we have these little sheets as we're going over. I'm 00:01:14.519 --> 00:01:21.759 titling this, The Nature, The Purpose, and The Power of the Scriptures. And what 00:01:21.759 --> 00:01:26.719 we're going over tonight is we're going over the divine inspiration of the Word 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:32.799 of God. We're learning about, we're going to go over 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:38.159 and we're going to go over 2 Peter. Now what will be very interesting about 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:44.199 this is how, what does the Word of God have to say about divine inspiration and 00:01:44.200 --> 00:01:49.840 the role of the Holy Spirit? And so there's, what we'll be doing, I will be 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:53.719 recording this, but it's just gonna be focused on me so you guys don't have to 00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:58.359 worry about that. And feel free to answer questions or you know, and we'll just go 00:01:58.359 --> 00:02:03.439 along with it. So the title of our series, yeah, we're gonna go through many 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:09.039 verses. We're gonna start off with the origin of Scripture. We think about the 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:16.479 Word of God. We have to consider how important Scripture is, how God has had 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:24.120 His hand in Scripture. I love how, let's, let's turn together. We're gonna turn to 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:31.359 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, and it's gonna be, I have it on the screen here. 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:40.360 It's gonna be page 1182. I'm just gonna delve right into it. So to start off, 00:02:40.360 --> 00:02:47.360 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, it goes on, it says that all Scripture is 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:56.160 breathed out by God, and it is profitable for teaching, it is for, reproof for 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:02.079 correction, and for training in righteousness. And then it goes on in 00:03:02.079 --> 00:03:07.079 verse 17, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good 00:03:07.079 --> 00:03:13.199 work. And I love how Scripture is saying that all Scripture is breathed out by 00:03:13.199 --> 00:03:20.240 God. And that language is, it's very deep, it's very personal, that you're, you have 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:26.200 this imagery of God breathing His life into the Scriptures, if you will. And I 00:03:26.200 --> 00:03:33.520 want to ask you guys, it's gonna, I'm gonna put it on here. What does the words 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:40.600 divinely inspired, what does that mean to you? It's always interesting thinking 00:03:40.600 --> 00:03:48.120 about how we can answer that, right? When we think of God being divine, God being 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:56.280 light, being life and truth, when He is breathing His breath of life into us, and 00:03:56.280 --> 00:04:04.080 breathing His breath of life into, into Scripture. When we look at that verse, we 00:04:04.080 --> 00:04:10.439 start off with all, right? The word all. And it's talking about everything in the 00:04:10.439 --> 00:04:16.360 Word of God. All of Scripture, not some of Scripture, not, you know, only certain 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:23.319 portions of Scripture, we're talking the entirety of, of our Bible. It says all 00:04:23.319 --> 00:04:29.319 Scripture, and it literally is translated into the things that are written into the 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:35.400 Word of God. When we think about the original Greek language, it's defined as 00:04:35.400 --> 00:04:41.240 talking about the things that are written in a document, or things that we would 00:04:41.240 --> 00:04:48.000 call Scripture, things that are written down. And I think about this word, this 00:04:48.000 --> 00:04:53.439 breathed out by God. It's significant because, you know, what's interesting is 00:04:53.439 --> 00:04:59.319 it is the only time in Scripture where you see that wording like that. There are 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:04.360 different ways that this word's been translated, and I want to actually go 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:10.800 ahead and show it to you on the screen here. You'll see that there's a pattern 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:18.480 here, and the pattern is all Scripture is breathed out by God. You know, we use 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:26.080 our, the ESV standard version, the English standard version. But it's 00:05:26.080 --> 00:05:32.000 interesting, you'll, you'll see the New International saying God breathed, the 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:38.639 King James version, given by inspiration of God. The New American standard is 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:44.879 talking about being inspired by God, and I think most translations are saying 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:53.720 that it's inspired by God. Breathe out by God. I just love that wording of that. 00:05:53.720 --> 00:05:58.199 And the different translations, it's really just a matter of how you're 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:06.120 ordering the words. The main idea, though, the main idea that's conveyed, it's the 00:06:06.120 --> 00:06:11.680 fact that the word of God is divinely inspired. And it's really also a matter 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:17.000 of preference. Some people prefer reading God breathed or the inspired by God. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:25.639 And, you know, when we use our English standard Bibles, I think for me personally, 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:31.879 I identify the most with being breathed out by God, and it's just, it's just 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:38.919 beautiful language. And we have to think that when we think of the idea of 00:06:38.919 --> 00:06:47.599 inspiration by God, think of the imagery of God's hand being an intentionality, 00:06:47.599 --> 00:06:54.759 his life, right, his energy, if you will, being put into Scripture. And I just think 00:06:54.759 --> 00:07:02.439 about that, that how much love we have from God, that the word of God is ever 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:09.000 lasting, and that it's always, it can be applied to us at any time in our life, 00:07:09.000 --> 00:07:15.279 whether we're children or whether we're adults, it helps us with our walk with 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:22.599 the Lord. It helps us on our spiritual journey. And I find that the more we 00:07:22.600 --> 00:07:28.360 really take to heart this divine inspiration, we don't look at Scripture 00:07:28.360 --> 00:07:35.640 like we do, you know, everyday novels, right? When we think of, when I think of 00:07:35.640 --> 00:07:40.240 Barnes and Nobles, or I think of Borders, or even though Borders isn't around 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:44.840 anymore, I think of Tom Clancy, or I think of, you know, certain best-selling 00:07:44.840 --> 00:07:50.920 authors, and certainly their good books. But are they divinely inspired? Was the 00:07:50.920 --> 00:07:57.939 hand of God in that? And so the more you think about how much God worked with the 00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:05.040 writers of Scripture, that's just beautiful when we're thinking about it. 00:08:05.040 --> 00:08:11.080 It's not just a work of humans. And I know sometimes people will think, well, the 00:08:11.080 --> 00:08:18.240 Bible is written by a bunch of people, and that's certainly true. But we're 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:23.040 talking about God working with them, and that's that second point that will go 00:08:23.040 --> 00:08:31.000 into the role of the Holy Spirit in our Bibles, and how important that is. Because 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:38.240 we don't, we believe that the Word of God is divinely inspired, and that it is 00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:44.519 unlike any other book that we have in any of our libraries. I mean, the Bible is 00:08:44.519 --> 00:08:50.799 the most printed book in all of history. I mean, sometimes you you see people, 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:55.399 families who have more Bibles than they do members in their household, and 00:08:55.399 --> 00:09:01.159 there's nothing wrong with that. But I think there's something to say about how 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:10.039 significant the Bible is. The Bible, we use it for wisdom, for insight, the story 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:17.159 of redemption, the story of forgiveness, the story about Jesus Christ. We learn 00:09:17.159 --> 00:09:22.360 about the miracles that Jesus performed. We learn about the fulfillment of all of 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:27.000 the prophecies. I mean, we could go on and on about all the prophecies that Jesus 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:32.879 fulfilled, but it's something that, I mean, 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:40.639 see Spot Run to the Tom Clancy books or whatever it is. Bible has something 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:46.279 that's very different, and I think we always need to be reminded that the Word 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:52.240 of God, that it is from God, it is a gift, and that's what I have in your notes 00:09:52.240 --> 00:09:59.200 here, that Scripture is a gift from God. God being the creator of the heavens and 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:05.520 the earth. You know, if you're ever feeling down, go for a walk. Go out in 00:10:05.520 --> 00:10:12.840 nature. Look at the sun, listen to the birds as they're chirping, or go for a 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:18.120 hike sometime. You know, when you go and you look at the forest, or you look at the 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:24.840 fields, you look at all of the trees, I'm convinced that I don't think any of this 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:32.840 was by chance. I really believe that God made all of this because of his love for 00:10:32.840 --> 00:10:41.600 us, and God made it all of it for his purpose, absolutely, but also for us to 00:10:41.600 --> 00:10:49.560 come to know who he is. You know, I found that in times where I'm sad, or in times 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:57.079 where I'm very upset, if I go out into nature, and I put my phone away, and I 00:10:57.079 --> 00:11:04.159 don't think about, you know, the everyday stresses of life, just taking that deep 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:11.439 breath of air, and looking at a sunrise or a sunset. I remember when I was in 00:11:11.439 --> 00:11:17.239 Hawaii, I would sometimes go for a drive right before the sunrise, I'd look out on 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:24.519 the ocean, and I would think, so this was all by chance, right? I would think that 00:11:24.519 --> 00:11:33.720 there's no way this could have been made for nothing, you know? All of this 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:39.240 had to have been made for a divine purpose, and you know, Scripture talks 00:11:39.240 --> 00:11:43.519 about how God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and then we think 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:49.919 about how God made each and every one of us, every feature that we have, you know, 00:11:49.919 --> 00:11:55.559 the colors of our eyes, how many hairs we have on our head, and how many 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:59.720 sands there are on the sea shore, I always think of that, the stars in the 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:06.399 sky, but we also think, how do we come to know God? We come to know God through 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:13.319 nature, but also through his word, and it's some good encouragement that we 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:20.040 even have our Bible in our hands today. We have so many translations, as you can 00:12:20.040 --> 00:12:27.360 see, I mean, I don't know many people who use the NRSB, but whatever translation 00:12:27.360 --> 00:12:32.800 you prefer, as long as it's leading you towards Christ and it's leading you 00:12:32.800 --> 00:12:37.080 towards a deeper relationship with Him, that's really all that matters. I know 00:12:37.080 --> 00:12:43.800 there's some people that they're more focused on, oh, are you KJV, are you NASB, 00:12:43.800 --> 00:12:50.639 are you ESV, which one are you? At the end of the day, is it helping you in your 00:12:50.639 --> 00:12:56.840 walk with the Lord to get closer to Him? That's really, I mean, if you're, I know a 00:12:56.840 --> 00:13:00.639 lot of people like to say, oh, the message isn't a good translation, but at the 00:13:00.639 --> 00:13:04.680 end of the day, if you came to know the Lord through the message, then so be it. 00:13:04.679 --> 00:13:09.759 That's where you're at. It could change over time and certainly be encouraged to 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:18.120 read the NIV or the KJV. So I want us to turn to, it's going to be 2nd Peter, 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:23.359 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 21, it's going to be 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:45.320 1207. So it's 2nd Peter chapter 1 verse 21. So it goes on to say, 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:53.200 for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as 00:13:53.200 --> 00:14:01.360 they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. And in this section in 2nd Peter, 00:14:01.360 --> 00:14:08.440 Peter is writing about the whole context of 2nd Peter is talking about false 00:14:08.440 --> 00:14:16.520 teachers, people who are infiltrating and influencing the early church. It's a 00:14:16.520 --> 00:14:23.280 reminder for us to be on the lookout for false teachers then as we do now. What 00:14:23.280 --> 00:14:29.520 Peter is talking about, he's talking about the prophecies of the Old Testament, 00:14:29.520 --> 00:14:37.720 that they were not just made up by men, but they were divinely inspired. They too 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:45.240 were led by the Holy Spirit. The prophecies of the Old Testament were not 00:14:45.240 --> 00:14:51.920 produced by the will of man. So when we're reading the will of man, that's man's 00:14:51.920 --> 00:14:57.960 efforts, right? Man's efforts to make something. So he's saying that's not the 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:04.720 case. Not by the will of man, but men who spoke from God as though they were 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:12.000 carried by the Holy Spirit. And the idea is because the Bible is divinely inspired, 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:20.960 it's not a book that can be made by man. We think of all of, in this context, the 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:27.360 prophecies, the Holy Spirit would have had to guide them in the writing of 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:34.360 Scripture. When we think of prophecy, sometimes you see people nowadays who 00:15:34.360 --> 00:15:39.800 say when the world is going to end. The year 2000, the world's going to 00:15:39.800 --> 00:15:47.399 end. The year 2012, the world's going to end. And we're still here. What we need 00:15:47.399 --> 00:15:52.440 to, when we think of nowadays, we don't know the time when Jesus Christ will come 00:15:52.440 --> 00:15:58.080 back. And one of the big things in Scripture is how we have to prepare for 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:05.520 Christ's return. When we're looking at what Peter's saying is that somehow 00:16:05.520 --> 00:16:08.759 there might have been people who are thinking, oh, these Old Testament 00:16:08.759 --> 00:16:15.040 prophecies are just made up. And Peter's saying, no, these prophets 00:16:15.040 --> 00:16:21.400 were led by the Holy Spirit. So think about the connections in Scripture, the 00:16:21.400 --> 00:16:27.840 fulfillment of the prophecies that Jesus Christ did by him being born, by the 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:34.960 miracles he performed, by feeding the hungry, by his crucifixion on the cross. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:41.040 One thing I can immediately think of is how the soldiers were casting lots 00:16:41.040 --> 00:16:45.399 with his garments on the cross. That was a fulfillment of a 00:16:45.399 --> 00:16:51.399 prophecy. And certainly we can go on on many, many of the prophecies that Christ 00:16:51.399 --> 00:16:57.040 fulfilled. But there's no way man could have come up with that. How could 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:05.599 the prophets back then know about Jesus if it wasn't for the Holy Spirit, giving 00:17:05.599 --> 00:17:10.960 them that insight, giving them that inspiration, if you will, to write down 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:17.159 to guide them in the writing of Scripture. And you're talking about a book 00:17:17.159 --> 00:17:23.079 that's been written over thousands of years. And think of, like I said, that 00:17:23.079 --> 00:17:28.000 connectedness to each other. Things that are in Psalms, are in the book of Matthew, 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:33.119 or things that are in Nahum, are usually found in, you know, other wisdom literature. 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:39.039 And it's all connected with each other. And that helps me personally with my walk. 00:17:39.039 --> 00:17:45.039 And I always tell people, I hope it helps with their walk. That they see 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:52.039 that there is something special about Scripture. Because things being connected 00:17:52.039 --> 00:17:58.680 to one another, that's very interesting. It's not like any book I've ever read 00:17:58.680 --> 00:18:03.279 that can do that. I mean, they might reference one thing, but they don't 00:18:03.279 --> 00:18:14.519 reference nearly, nearly the things that are in there. So we have to think the 00:18:14.519 --> 00:18:21.480 interconnectedness of the Bible. That is something that we as Christians are to 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:28.240 discover. Something that I find of great encouragement is that, you know, you read 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:34.120 about artificial intelligence, or you read about atheists who are reading the 00:18:34.120 --> 00:18:44.000 Bible. But you know, some things that we find in Scripture are meant for the 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:51.360 believer, the Christian, to discover. I didn't put this in your notes, but there 00:18:51.359 --> 00:18:58.799 are, there are verses that talk about how God will protect Scripture. It's part of 00:18:58.799 --> 00:19:03.839 the reason why we think that Scripture has lasted for so long. How it's been 00:19:03.839 --> 00:19:12.039 able, how is it we have copies of, you know, manuscripts over the centuries, and 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:20.759 we're still able to pull from those manuscripts. To say something is done by 00:19:20.759 --> 00:19:26.519 the will of man, that would imply that the Bible is full of errors, because man 00:19:26.519 --> 00:19:34.759 is imperfect. So one thing you hear from non-believers, or you find from atheists, 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:40.319 agnostics, or people who are critical of Christianity, is they'll say that, well, 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:45.879 because it's written by man, man is imperfect, and therefore the Bible is 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:53.080 imperfect. Well, if we believe that, and I believe, I hope you do as well, that the 00:19:53.080 --> 00:19:59.360 Bible is divinely inspired, then would it be imperfect? Well, I don't think so, 00:19:59.360 --> 00:20:05.760 because if you're being led by the Holy Spirit to write, to pen it, right, to 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:16.160 write down the Word of God onto paper, if you will, just writing it down, I don't 00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:22.200 see how there would be error in that. And that's something we have to really kind 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:28.720 of take to heart, that that's what Peter is addressing, is people are saying, if 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:33.039 it's written by man, therefore it's incorrect, well, we're rejecting that. And 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:39.359 I want to put this on the screen here. So I want to ask you, why do you think it 00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:46.639 was important for Peter to emphasize that prophecy wasn't just man-made, that it 00:20:46.639 --> 00:20:52.759 was divinely inspired? Why do you think Peter needed to do that? We think 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:59.920 about the early church. It's very interesting that Peter is addressing 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:06.200 this even back then, and we even deal with that now. People who are saying that, 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:12.680 oh, well, isn't it just man? He's probably addressing it because it's 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:16.920 been, well, a lot of times it's in Scripture, yes, because God wanted it to 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:22.560 be in the Bible, but also because it had to have been a problem. A lot of 00:21:22.560 --> 00:21:28.960 people questioning the letters that were written, even people who were 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:37.039 criticizing the Old Testament, even the old Jewish books, even. And so I 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:48.400 think that's a good answer. Prophecy comes, it needs to come from God. I 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:54.640 can't say it always comes from God. When we think nowadays, we have to 00:21:54.640 --> 00:22:03.240 always think about modern prophets and we'll go to the biblical prophecy. When 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:10.280 you see someone who is, they say they're a prophet or they're prophesizing, 00:22:10.280 --> 00:22:17.360 Scripture always talks about the testing of the Spirit. And certainly, you know, 00:22:17.360 --> 00:22:22.480 throughout history there have been times where there have been false prophets 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:28.599 or antichrists, if you will, who taught something that was contrary to what 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:33.680 Scripture teaches. An example of this would be throughout history there have 00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:39.759 been people who have taught that Jesus is just a man. There have been others that 00:22:39.759 --> 00:22:45.240 have taught that Jesus was just God. Those are some of the great heresies that 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.720 have been taught over the years, which are clearly false. You just have to go to 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:55.759 Scripture to find that. But if you ever have someone who has a word from the Lord 00:22:55.759 --> 00:23:01.880 or they have something to prophesy on, make sure it aligns with Scripture. 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:09.079 Because could I say that every single prophecy is invalid and we should ignore 00:23:09.079 --> 00:23:14.680 it? I wouldn't say that. I would say that, well, let's hear them out and let's make 00:23:14.680 --> 00:23:20.480 sure it aligns with Scripture. Are there times that someone makes a prophecy and 00:23:20.480 --> 00:23:26.080 it's completely false? Well, then we know the prophecy was incorrect. Are there 00:23:26.080 --> 00:23:32.720 times where a prophecy is fulfilled and it's fruitful and it's in line with 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:37.519 Scripture? Absolutely. That is certainly possible. We just have to be very mindful 00:23:37.519 --> 00:23:44.720 when we're thinking of prophecy in the modern context. When we think about 00:23:44.720 --> 00:23:51.759 prophecy in a biblical sense, it reminds us even now that it's not about 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:59.319 man's or human kind's agenda. It's not about their will or what we try to impose. 00:23:59.319 --> 00:24:03.960 If you think of, like I mentioned, the guy who's saying the world's going to end, 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:09.360 they may have the heart, you know, making sure people are prepared for Jesus' 00:24:09.360 --> 00:24:17.559 second coming. Absolutely. But there are some things we can't force. We can't 00:24:17.559 --> 00:24:24.360 force the end times when they're going to happen. That's on God's timing. So we 00:24:24.360 --> 00:24:30.559 can't force man's agenda, will or intention. Certainly have the heart, but 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:36.759 we just have to remember that. It's not just about the prophets writing silly 00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:43.519 ideas. That's what I put in here. It's the idea of being carried along and going 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:50.200 back into that 2nd Peter passage. It says, no prophecy was ever produced by the 00:24:50.200 --> 00:24:56.679 will of man. So we went over that. Not man's agenda, not man's will. But men 00:24:56.680 --> 00:25:03.799 spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Think of the 00:25:03.799 --> 00:25:09.039 words that were spoken by the prophets and the words that were written in 00:25:09.039 --> 00:25:17.880 Scripture. And I want us to turn to, we're going to take a slight deviation here. 00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:29.560 We're going to turn to Psalm 119, 160. And you'll see why. Because I'm, it, the 00:25:29.560 --> 00:25:34.880 2nd Peter passage is talking about men spoke from God as though they were 00:25:34.880 --> 00:25:42.960 carried from the Holy Spirit. The speaking and the written word, right? Because 00:25:42.960 --> 00:25:48.640 the word is talking about the words that were spoken from the prophets. So let's 00:25:48.640 --> 00:26:03.120 go ahead, I'm gonna go ahead and turn on there. Page 611 in here. So it's Psalm 119, 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:17.759 verse 160. I love this verse. The sum of your word is truth. And every one of your 00:26:17.759 --> 00:26:26.439 righteous rules endure forever. It's talking about how the word of God, right? 00:26:26.439 --> 00:26:32.679 The Scripture is truth. And every one of, right, he's talking about the righteous 00:26:32.680 --> 00:26:37.600 rules. Contextually, it's talking about deliverance and salvation, right? A lot of 00:26:37.600 --> 00:26:44.080 Old Testament language in there. But it's the idea that it endures forever. I 00:26:44.080 --> 00:26:49.000 think that's very powerful. Because sometimes we think, well, what's gonna 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:53.720 happen in the future? What's gonna happen with the Bible? Well, no matter what 00:26:53.720 --> 00:27:01.440 happens, even despite persecution, even from Emperor Nero, the word still carries 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:07.640 on. And to me, that's just, that's encouraging, that's refreshing. The next 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:15.279 one, I didn't put that in the slide either. First Peter chapter 1 verse 25. So 00:27:15.279 --> 00:27:32.119 we're going back to First Peter. And that's page 1204. So once again, First 00:27:32.119 --> 00:27:41.480 Peter chapter 1 verse 25. It says in here, but the word of the Lord remains 00:27:41.480 --> 00:27:52.000 forever. That's beautiful. This is the word. This is the good news that was 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:56.640 preached to you. These are just two little side notes when we're talking 00:27:56.640 --> 00:28:04.640 about the prophecies, right? Of what the prophet spoke from God, also being written, 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:09.039 right? Because the words that were spoken were written down in Scripture. They were 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:16.480 carried along by the Holy Spirit. The word of God is timeless. It is ever 00:28:16.480 --> 00:28:22.200 lasting. It is divinely inspired. And we must remember that the Holy Spirit 00:28:22.200 --> 00:28:30.279 guided those writers. I find it of great encouragement that no matter how old or 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:36.159 young, rich or poor, whoever you are, you can learn about who Jesus Christ is. You 00:28:36.160 --> 00:28:44.240 can learn about God. You can grow in your faith through Scripture. Now, I keep 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:50.759 saying carried along, or some translations say driven along. Now those 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:55.680 words are very interesting because we'll find a connection with Acts 27. We're 00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:59.920 not going to go there yet. I want you to think about this before we turn there. I 00:28:59.920 --> 00:29:06.759 want you to think about a boat that's on the water. It could be a lake, it could be 00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:15.600 a boat at sea, just any sort of vessel on the water, right? Well, let's 00:29:15.600 --> 00:29:23.120 think of a sailboat. It doesn't necessarily drive on its own. It needs the 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:31.199 power of wind, or it needs to rely on the current, right? To go lead it where it 00:29:31.199 --> 00:29:36.919 needs to go, or it needs power on the little engine, right? To push them along 00:29:36.919 --> 00:29:44.079 the water. It must rely on these things to carry it along, and that is the 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:52.839 language that's used in that 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 21, and also in Acts 00:29:52.839 --> 00:30:00.919 27 verses 15 through 17. I'm going to put that up there. It's the idea of being a 00:30:00.919 --> 00:30:10.079 boat at sea. It's a very interesting connection. It's a reminder. This is how 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:19.119 we have to think of the Old Testament prophets being carried by the Holy 00:30:19.119 --> 00:30:26.079 Spirit like a boat on the water. I just found this to be very, very interesting. 00:30:26.079 --> 00:30:42.799 It's on page so Acts 27 verse 15 through 17. It's on page 1115. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:54.200 Acts 27 verse 15 through 17. The ship was caught and could not face the 00:30:54.200 --> 00:31:00.680 wind. We gave way to it and were driven along. Running under the lee of a small 00:31:00.680 --> 00:31:07.159 island called Cara, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. 00:31:07.160 --> 00:31:14.960 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that 00:31:14.960 --> 00:31:21.560 they would run around on the citrus, they lowered the gear and thus they were 00:31:21.560 --> 00:31:27.360 driven along. So they were, even though there's a storm going on, they were being 00:31:27.360 --> 00:31:34.759 led by the water. I brought this verse up in Acts to show you. There's that 00:31:34.759 --> 00:31:40.960 connection with the Holy Spirit guiding writers to be divinely inspired to write 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:47.039 in the pages of Scripture just like treacherous waters or good waters 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:53.599 leading a boat. Wind, water, power, whatever it is. There needs to be some 00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:59.359 sort of energy, some sort of power that is greater than the ship to lead it to 00:31:59.359 --> 00:32:08.159 where it needs to go. So it's this idea of being carried along or driven along as 00:32:08.159 --> 00:32:16.159 that Acts 27 passage is saying. The people on the boat were overpowered, right? If 00:32:16.159 --> 00:32:20.479 you think of the old and the New Testament, the waters that they had to 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:30.319 deal with, right? The Mediterranean Sea. Just how powerful any storm can be. So 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:34.360 it's something that's far greater and I tend to think when we're looking at 00:32:34.360 --> 00:32:40.440 this that it's kind of the overwhelming power, if you will, of the Holy Spirit to 00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:45.319 lead these writers to write what they need to do. And I'm like, that's, if you're 00:32:45.319 --> 00:32:52.000 looking at it compared to the strength of water on a boat, think of how 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:59.759 overwhelming the Holy Spirit must be as if it were the water. So the Holy Spirit 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:06.079 was that greater force that would guide the writers to write the prophecies, but 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:12.559 also the writers of all of Scripture. That we have that that guidance from the 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:17.960 Holy Spirit. That's where divine inspiration, that's how we get scriptures. 00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:22.799 That's why in that first point on your notes, the origin of scriptures, it 00:33:22.799 --> 00:33:29.759 comes from God by the guidance of the Holy Spirit to the writers to write down 00:33:29.759 --> 00:33:35.960 in the pages of Scripture. It's wild. It's absolutely when you think about it. I 00:33:35.960 --> 00:33:43.519 can't imagine having that overwhelming, the Holy Spirit being that overwhelming 00:33:43.519 --> 00:33:49.759 force coming upon me, but guiding me to fulfill what God has in store for my life 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:56.640 or whatever, is to fulfill that purpose. It's just powerful language and it is a 00:33:56.640 --> 00:34:03.840 reminder for us of how involved the Holy Spirit was in the writings of this. So 00:34:03.839 --> 00:34:11.079 the next question I have on here, how does the tie-in with Acts 27, right, the 00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:18.599 the boat on the water, how does that help with our understanding of Second Peter? 00:34:18.599 --> 00:34:26.360 Yeah, yeah, when in preparing this, finding that connection I thought was very 00:34:26.360 --> 00:34:32.159 very interesting, because when you first look at it on the surface you just think 00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:37.359 oh, the Holy Spirit guided it. No big deal. And that's true, that's accurate, but 00:34:37.359 --> 00:34:45.039 there's more to it. That ties in very nicely when we're thinking about the 00:34:45.039 --> 00:34:51.199 context of all of Second Peter, that you have, you know, one of the things when 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:56.920 you think about false prophets. I know there's a lot of pastors that love 00:34:56.920 --> 00:35:02.720 talking about, you know, who's false and who's right, who's wrong, but I think one 00:35:02.720 --> 00:35:11.280 way to simplistically look at it is, are you letting God or the Word of God mold 00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:17.800 you, or are you trying to do the opposite? If you think of the Garden of Eden, when 00:35:17.800 --> 00:35:25.000 the snake is saying you will be like God, right, trying to put man or humans as 00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:31.679 God when they're not, and trying to, that's why when you think of sin, right, 00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:38.199 it's you hear that language, oh, doing things on your own. Well, just as this 00:35:38.199 --> 00:35:43.559 passage when we're talking about acts, right, well they can't do it on their own. 00:35:43.559 --> 00:35:51.400 We can't fight against mother nature, right, the creation of God, right. Now 00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:57.119 certainly, yes, we can climb a mountain, yes, we can go in the depths of the sea, 00:35:57.119 --> 00:36:05.039 but how, we might be able to do that, but that's still pretty, pretty small 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:11.160 compared to the power of an avalanche, or the power of a, you know, huge tidal wave, 00:36:11.160 --> 00:36:16.599 right, or in this context, they couldn't face the wind, right, just how powerful 00:36:16.599 --> 00:36:22.079 that storm must have been to where, to the point where they're like, all right, 00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:26.360 we're not gonna do this, right, we're not even gonna try, we're just gonna let, 00:36:26.360 --> 00:36:33.039 we're gonna go where we need to go, and then you think about kind of this 00:36:33.039 --> 00:36:37.400 overwhelm, and unfortunately, when you think of overwhelm, we always have that in 00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:41.360 a negative context, but I would think that'd be a very positive to have the 00:36:41.360 --> 00:36:48.079 overwhelming power of the Spirit come upon you to guide you in that direction, to 00:36:48.079 --> 00:36:55.559 to write scripture, and certainly, yes, it's talk, he's talking about the prophets, 00:36:55.559 --> 00:37:01.039 but I would go as far as to say that that's really any writer in scripture, 00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:07.280 because we believe that all scripture is breathed by God, so do you see how it's 00:37:07.280 --> 00:37:13.720 all tied in together? So that's, yeah, I think it's a good question to think 00:37:13.720 --> 00:37:21.080 about, that when we find connections like this, it's supposed to help strengthen, 00:37:21.080 --> 00:37:26.480 strengthen your faith, help you in your walk, I'm like, oh, you know, now, now I 00:37:26.480 --> 00:37:33.480 can see that the Holy Spirit is carrying them along, okay, leading them on, but to 00:37:33.480 --> 00:37:39.360 the degree where it's such an overwhelming force to lead me to write, I mean, 00:37:39.360 --> 00:37:45.240 think of, I mean, think of the Apostle Paul when he's in prison, I mean, that 00:37:45.240 --> 00:37:49.599 must have been the most comforting feeling to have been led by the Spirit to 00:37:49.599 --> 00:37:54.960 write down, it makes sense to me when people are going through crisis, or 00:37:54.960 --> 00:38:00.320 they're going through a challenge, a trial, a tribulation, and they're able to 00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:09.440 carry on, because they have God with them. And this leads us to a next question, you 00:38:09.440 --> 00:38:14.320 can answer this if you want, or think about it, it says, can you think of a 00:38:14.320 --> 00:38:21.240 time where you felt carried along by the Holy Spirit in your life, just as the 00:38:21.240 --> 00:38:28.480 prophets were when writing? Because something I think about is that you may 00:38:28.480 --> 00:38:32.320 not have felt the overwhelm to write scripture, but certainly there might have 00:38:32.320 --> 00:38:36.400 been a time in your life where you felt kind of this guidance by the Holy 00:38:36.400 --> 00:38:43.639 Spirit to speak to somebody, or to call a brother or sister in Christ up, something, 00:38:43.639 --> 00:38:47.000 and I kind of want you to think about that, feel that you can answer that if you 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:52.800 want, or not, but I want you to think about that. 00:38:52.800 --> 00:39:03.000 Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's always interesting when Lord is calling you to 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:10.080 speak to somebody, and at first you have, very often, it's like, I'm not sure why 00:39:10.080 --> 00:39:14.880 would I call that person, right? Or I don't know them, or you know, oh no Lord, 00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:20.400 I'm busy, but so often when we do that, it's like there's no way that could have 00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:24.360 been, that could have been you, right? That could have been me, like calling that. 00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:30.400 That was a kind of that divine intervention that God leading you, or 00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:37.119 that carrying along in that, and I think that it's definitely very important to 00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:42.480 be mindful of those moments when God calls you, and sometimes I would further 00:39:42.480 --> 00:39:48.920 add that sometimes you end up calling somebody and you don't realize they 00:39:48.920 --> 00:39:53.880 needed that phone call. I had that very recently, I called someone and just 00:39:53.880 --> 00:40:00.039 checking in, how are you doing? I really needed that phone call, like you have no 00:40:00.039 --> 00:40:07.800 idea, and I'm like, what? I had no intention, and it was, but through me 00:40:07.800 --> 00:40:12.200 at that moment, God was probably answering prayer, and sometimes we're 00:40:12.200 --> 00:40:18.599 aware of it, sometimes we're not aware of it, but it's just very, it's kind of 00:40:18.599 --> 00:40:28.440 one of my favorite verses in scripture is it's Habakkuk chapter 1 verse 5, which 00:40:28.440 --> 00:40:37.960 says that if you, paraphrasing this, if you only knew what was going on behind the 00:40:37.960 --> 00:40:41.880 scenes, you wouldn't believe it if I told you, but then he goes on and tells 00:40:41.880 --> 00:40:47.559 them, what tells Habakkuk what's going on behind the scenes, and it's basically, 00:40:47.559 --> 00:40:52.559 and you find that in scripture a lot, that things are happening even though we 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:57.480 may not be aware of it, and that's something that's real today in the same 00:40:57.480 --> 00:41:03.239 way it was real back then, and it's something we, we should always remember 00:41:03.239 --> 00:41:10.320 those moments, share it as part of our testimony, or to testify on how God works 00:41:10.320 --> 00:41:19.200 in our life, and it's, it really shows just how responsive God is at the right 00:41:19.200 --> 00:41:25.920 moment, you know, like when you're talking about that, that man that you called, I do 00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:30.160 have been the right moment, you know, and it's sometimes hard when we think, oh 00:41:30.160 --> 00:41:35.680 well what if I didn't call him, right? That's hard, that's heavy, right? And so 00:41:35.679 --> 00:41:43.279 it's, it's definitely a, a good, a good question to think about. It seems to 00:41:43.279 --> 00:41:47.440 always happen, I mean, maybe your experience is different, but it seems to 00:41:47.440 --> 00:41:53.199 always happen at the worst time for us, right? When the Holy Spirit's nudging us 00:41:53.199 --> 00:41:57.359 and saying, hey I need you to do this, and like, now wait a minute, I gotta do 00:41:57.359 --> 00:42:04.279 this here, but it's in those moments where, okay you're running late, and now you 00:42:04.280 --> 00:42:12.080 have to, now you have to do something, and you're, it is that obedience, it's will 00:42:12.080 --> 00:42:17.600 you be obedient in this time, even when you're uncomfortable? And then certainly 00:42:17.600 --> 00:42:22.000 sometimes when you are comfortable, it's fine, but I would say more often than not, 00:42:22.000 --> 00:42:33.400 it definitely happens. I want to turn to 2nd Samuel, page 324, and this will be 00:42:33.400 --> 00:42:44.680 our last verse we're looking at for tonight, page 324. 2nd Samuel chapter 23 00:42:44.680 --> 00:42:52.920 verse 2, I love this because it's in the Old Testament here, and how often do we 00:42:52.920 --> 00:43:06.400 find Holy Spirit verses in the Old Testament, right? So it says here, the 00:43:06.400 --> 00:43:16.320 Spirit of the Lord speaks by me, His word is on my tongue. Now I didn't know where 00:43:16.320 --> 00:43:21.880 to put that verse on here, but when we've been talking about the prophets of the 00:43:21.880 --> 00:43:27.519 Old Testament, the Spirit of the Lord, I'm like, wow, talking about the Holy Spirit, 00:43:27.519 --> 00:43:33.760 right, speaks by me, His word is on my tongue. So when we're talking about the 00:43:33.760 --> 00:43:40.599 carrying along in the writing, the carrying along in the speaking, knowing 00:43:40.599 --> 00:43:51.360 that the Holy Spirit was with, well, His word on my tongue, that's very powerful 00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:57.480 language, and I think, you know, when you read about the prophets who are, you know, 00:43:57.480 --> 00:44:03.480 they're speaking to the nation of Israel, or whoever it is they're speaking to, 00:44:03.480 --> 00:44:08.240 their word being on their tongue, knowing what to say and when to say it, and 00:44:08.240 --> 00:44:14.640 knowing what to write down as, you know, evidence of God working through the nation 00:44:14.640 --> 00:44:19.039 of Israel, throughout history and scripture, all of that is all tied together, 00:44:19.039 --> 00:44:27.519 and it's definitely something that, you see, it's all connected, and you know, as 00:44:27.519 --> 00:44:33.360 we study scripture, it is a good reminder, and this is on your key takeaways 00:44:33.360 --> 00:44:41.199 towards the end, is that recognizing that the Word of God is divinely inspired 00:44:41.199 --> 00:44:46.679 by God, that God is breathing onto scripture, right, just how we have the 00:44:46.679 --> 00:44:54.440 breath of life, if you will, so it's, God must have really good breath when you 00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:58.919 think about it, right, that He gives that breath of life to us in the same way He 00:44:58.919 --> 00:45:05.599 gives life to the Word, and the second key takeaway is the writers were being 00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:10.679 carried along by the Holy Spirit, I think that's very powerful language, the next 00:45:10.679 --> 00:45:18.319 time you read that passage, think about that, having that sense of like someone 00:45:18.319 --> 00:45:25.199 who's at sea being overwhelmed by a storm, that's how the writers were, and I just 00:45:25.199 --> 00:45:33.679 think, wow, that must have been an intimidating but very good feeling. 00:45:33.679 --> 00:45:42.519 Number three, like a boat at sea, we too are guided by God and His Word for our 00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:50.239 lives, you'll find that as you read and you study scripture, that very often 00:45:50.239 --> 00:45:55.719 you'll be moved to action, you'll be moved to make a decision for Christ, you'll be 00:45:55.719 --> 00:46:01.480 moved to share what you've learned with other people, and I think that's part 00:46:01.480 --> 00:46:07.360 of that overwhelm, it's in a different degree, right, in a different way, but it's 00:46:07.360 --> 00:46:12.599 something that that's a way that God can reach through to you, right, we call that 00:46:12.599 --> 00:46:18.519 nowadays conviction, right, or I was moved to do something, right, isn't it 00:46:18.519 --> 00:46:23.800 interesting, we say, oh God is convicting me to do something, it's almost as though 00:46:23.800 --> 00:46:31.280 you're being overwhelmed by the Lord to repent of your sin, right, or to talk 00:46:31.280 --> 00:46:37.640 to somebody, right, there's a tie in there, but yes, we're guided by 00:46:37.640 --> 00:46:44.680 the Lord and His Word for our lives, and then finally, despite being written over 00:46:44.680 --> 00:46:50.480 thousands of years, the Bible remains constant in our ever-changing world, and 00:46:50.480 --> 00:46:55.360 I put on there those those extra verses when we took a little bit of a slide, a 00:46:55.360 --> 00:47:06.400 side route for you on there, and we think of God and Scripture being our 00:47:06.400 --> 00:47:11.760 constant, right, you know, I know so many pastors that talk about how much 00:47:11.760 --> 00:47:17.400 culture is changing, I try not to talk a lot about how much the world's 00:47:17.400 --> 00:47:23.440 changing, but the encouragement is that no matter how much the world changes, no 00:47:23.440 --> 00:47:29.840 matter what legislation is passed, or what politician is elected, or you know, 00:47:29.840 --> 00:47:36.119 what technology is coming out, is that we have our confidence in God, we have our 00:47:36.119 --> 00:47:43.720 trust in that firm foundation, that which stands the test of time, compared to 00:47:43.720 --> 00:47:49.760 something that is fleeting, something that is vain, as Solomon says, right, 00:47:49.760 --> 00:47:55.520 something that fades away, and you know, a lot of these things are fads, right, 00:47:55.520 --> 00:48:01.040 maybe not, maybe they're not fads, but regardless, we still have that foundation 00:48:01.040 --> 00:48:09.800 in the Lord, and I think that in the Word of God and in our Lord, it gives me 00:48:09.800 --> 00:48:15.840 great confidence to know that no matter what changes come, you know, there comes 00:48:15.840 --> 00:48:22.800 a point where you're like, it doesn't surprise you anymore, but that's okay, you 00:48:22.800 --> 00:48:25.880 know what you believe in, you know what you stand for, and you have that 00:48:25.880 --> 00:48:32.559 foundation in your life, and it's just all, it's good knowing, I know where I'm 00:48:32.559 --> 00:48:39.920 going when I die, so with that, I want to take this time, if you have any 00:48:39.920 --> 00:48:44.280 thoughts or questions, or otherwise we'll go ahead and close out in prayer, but I 00:48:44.280 --> 00:48:51.920 want to give you time to ask any questions or any... 00:48:52.320 --> 00:49:02.160 Yeah, absolutely, yeah, that's, I think that's very, that's very good, I think that 00:49:02.160 --> 00:49:09.360 knowing that we have that constant in our lives, you know, I mean, how many, how 00:49:09.360 --> 00:49:15.360 many fashion trends and, you know, movements, social movements that have 00:49:15.360 --> 00:49:21.120 happened, I'm not saying all social movements are bad, but we have to be 00:49:21.120 --> 00:49:27.320 mindful, just like testing of the Spirit, be mindful of changes that happen in our 00:49:27.320 --> 00:49:32.160 lives, certainly there's some that are good, some that are great, I wouldn't say 00:49:32.160 --> 00:49:38.680 that's every one of them, but yes, having God is our constant as the giver of life, 00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:48.480 as someone that provides redemption and forgiveness, I think that's one thing I've 00:49:48.480 --> 00:49:56.319 learned a lot recently, is just how I feel that culture just doesn't forgive, I 00:49:56.319 --> 00:50:04.239 feel like it, maybe it used to, maybe more so, but I feel now if you do any 00:50:04.239 --> 00:50:11.199 wrong, it's, you're gone, you know, and I think that's, I've said this to a lot of 00:50:11.199 --> 00:50:16.279 people that, I think that's one of the greatest opportunities for Christians 00:50:16.279 --> 00:50:21.799 now, is to show them that there is forgiveness for sin or mistakes they 00:50:21.799 --> 00:50:27.719 have made, or the wrong that they've done with people, but see, God's always been 00:50:27.719 --> 00:50:35.799 that way, and if culture was like that, or is like that, or is not like that, it 00:50:35.799 --> 00:50:42.199 doesn't matter, because God's like that, and certainly we should show others that 00:50:42.199 --> 00:50:50.119 it's, there's another way, there's a path to life, so I really like how you 00:50:50.119 --> 00:50:58.279 showed that, right, we talk about the peace that surpasses all understanding, and 00:50:58.279 --> 00:51:05.359 it's something part of God being the constant, is knowing that he provides 00:51:05.359 --> 00:51:15.199 peace for us, you know, I joke around sometimes, I wonder why is it a lot of, 00:51:15.199 --> 00:51:21.119 and I can't say all, why is it a lot of people who are away from God, 00:51:21.119 --> 00:51:28.199 deconstructionists, or atheists, or people who've walked away, fallen away, or 00:51:28.199 --> 00:51:35.399 apostates, if you will, they're so angry, they're so filled with hatred, and with 00:51:35.399 --> 00:51:43.599 bitterness, yet you meet a man, or a woman of God, and there is a peace there, and 00:51:43.599 --> 00:51:49.759 I'm thinking, that's not a coincidence, like that is, there's something to that, 00:51:49.759 --> 00:51:55.920 like at first you think, is there a, the joke is, is there such thing as a 00:51:55.920 --> 00:52:04.839 peaceful atheist? Maybe, maybe there might be, but not, it's not common, or ones 00:52:04.839 --> 00:52:11.199 that have become like the Pharisees, I mean, people who have become legalistic 00:52:11.199 --> 00:52:18.919 in their practice, oh, you know, watching sermons, all men must shave their, their 00:52:18.919 --> 00:52:25.919 beards, well, Christ had long hair, I'm sure Christ had a beard, but yet you're 00:52:25.919 --> 00:52:32.239 treating it as though that is the key that'll lead to your salvation, and so 00:52:32.239 --> 00:52:42.239 it's, the closer you get to God, there's this sense of calm, one pastor I knew, 00:52:42.239 --> 00:52:47.519 used to always tell me that, and it's, it's controversial to say, is the closer 00:52:47.519 --> 00:52:52.879 you get to God, the simpler your life will be, but he would say, I don't mean 00:52:52.879 --> 00:52:58.159 easier, I mean simpler, and people are, how could you say that, you know, life is 00:52:58.159 --> 00:53:03.079 so complicated, he's like, is it though, is life complicated when you have God in 00:53:03.079 --> 00:53:06.839 your life, and I, I just remember like that impact that it had on me, I was 00:53:06.839 --> 00:53:11.960 thinking about that, I'm like, this pastor that I knew, him and his wife, lived 00:53:11.960 --> 00:53:18.399 some of the most peaceful lives I knew, and I'm thinking, compared to the one, the 00:53:18.399 --> 00:53:23.079 person that criticized this pastor, this guy's life was completely out of control, 00:53:23.079 --> 00:53:30.159 I'm thinking, huh, there's, I think there's some truth to what this pastor's 00:53:30.159 --> 00:53:39.360 saying here, but yeah, definitely there is peace that comes from God, and when we 00:53:39.360 --> 00:53:45.239 get overwhelmed in the wrong way, we get overwhelmed by culture in those 00:53:45.239 --> 00:53:51.880 troubling waters, I like to use the language of the fog of culture, but if 00:53:51.880 --> 00:53:58.039 we do get overwhelmed, and rather be overwhelmed by the spirit to lead me, then 00:53:58.039 --> 00:54:04.680 the confusion of culture, the stormy waters of, of society, and just all of 00:54:04.680 --> 00:54:13.800 that, because it's just, man, think of, we can always think about Peter, right, how 00:54:13.800 --> 00:54:19.240 he was sinking in that storm, right, and how often we're probably like that, we're 00:54:19.239 --> 00:54:26.079 we're sinking right in the storm, right, and Jesus pulling us out of the water, 00:54:26.079 --> 00:54:35.119 right, but it's, yeah, exactly, and I think that's probably a way to explain it to 00:54:35.119 --> 00:54:39.719 people that God will carry you through, no matter what happens, I mean, that, talk 00:54:39.719 --> 00:54:45.599 about a, a message of hope for people who are suffering, people that are 00:54:45.599 --> 00:54:51.920 struggling, that God will carry you through, I think that's very beautiful 00:54:51.920 --> 00:55:00.239 language, and certainly it's, it's very true to feel that sense of drowning, right, 00:55:00.239 --> 00:55:09.519 you're very welcome, this next week we're going to do the titles and the names of 00:55:09.519 --> 00:55:18.639 scripture, so the word, the word of God, the word of Christ, the word of truth, the 00:55:18.639 --> 00:55:24.800 holy scriptures, and the oracles of God, so we'll be going over that and there's a 00:55:24.800 --> 00:55:30.320 lot of really good ones on there, so that'll be next week, and then one after 00:55:30.320 --> 00:55:38.920 that, the nature of the scriptures, pure, true, perfect, and sure, living and active, 00:55:38.920 --> 00:55:43.880 so it's, that's why I said it's a Bible study on the Bible, so definitely going 00:55:43.880 --> 00:55:52.400 over that, so absolutely, absolutely, well, let's go ahead and take our time and 00:55:52.400 --> 00:56:00.840 close up and we'll pray together. Father, we thank you for your word, we thank you 00:56:00.840 --> 00:56:06.920 that you have loved us so much, that you sent your Son Jesus Christ, who fulfilled 00:56:06.920 --> 00:56:13.960 the prophecy, who lived, performed miracles, his, his death, his burial, and 00:56:13.960 --> 00:56:21.800 resurrection, all supernatural events that are not easily explained by the common 00:56:21.800 --> 00:56:29.360 person, but you know what you're doing, you have breathed life into each and every 00:56:29.360 --> 00:56:37.280 one of us, and you have breathed into your word, you overwhelmed, you carried along 00:56:37.280 --> 00:56:45.760 the writers of scripture, to write every word, every sentence into scripture that 00:56:45.760 --> 00:56:51.120 we have today, and yes, it took a long time to gather the Bible that we have 00:56:51.120 --> 00:56:58.079 today, but we are privileged, we are blessed to have your word in our hands, in 00:56:58.079 --> 00:57:05.759 our phones, and on our shelves sometimes, at times, we're just so grateful that you 00:57:05.759 --> 00:57:14.559 are that constant, you are everlasting to everlasting, you are, you redeem us, you 00:57:14.559 --> 00:57:20.759 restore us, and you sustain us, you hold us together, and we're so grateful for 00:57:20.759 --> 00:57:26.119 that. Be with us as we go from this place, and we're in the middle of the week, and 00:57:26.119 --> 00:57:34.199 we have a few more days for Sunday, we pray for everyone in our congregation, our 00:57:34.199 --> 00:57:40.400 friends, our families, we ask for protection of this church, protection for 00:57:40.400 --> 00:57:47.319 our congregation, we ask that if there's anyone here tonight, or anyone who was 00:57:47.319 --> 00:57:53.719 not able to make it, that they need to be here and be refreshed in you, we ask 00:57:53.719 --> 00:58:00.799 that you work on their hearts, work on them to be restored and renewed in you, 00:58:00.799 --> 00:58:07.199 we pray for those who are yet to know you, that you will work in their lives to 00:58:07.199 --> 00:58:14.759 come to know who you are, and your Son Jesus Christ. We are so great that your 00:58:14.759 --> 00:58:21.439 Spirit carried along the writers to write, may your Holy Spirit carry us 00:58:21.440 --> 00:58:27.119 through this life leading and guiding us, and may we not be afraid to have those 00:58:27.119 --> 00:58:33.800 conversations when you, when you tell us to, may we be obedient, and may we put our 00:58:33.800 --> 00:58:39.880 faith and trust fully in you, and may you renew us and restore us. It is in Jesus' 00:58:39.880 --> 00:58:54.480 name we pray. Amen.