WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.440 Well, let's just go ahead and get started. We'll just start off in a prayer and 00:00:04.440 --> 00:00:10.200 then we'll just go ahead and get right to it. Let's bow our heads and pray. 00:00:10.200 --> 00:00:16.800 Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that we are here tonight as we are opening 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:21.839 your Word. We're reading your Word. We're studying your Word. We're learning more 00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:26.960 about who you are. We're learning more about the Holy Spirit, the origin of 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:32.520 scriptures. And tonight we're going to learn more about the authors and more 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:38.760 about the idea of divine inspiration. And these are not the easiest of topics, but 00:00:38.760 --> 00:00:45.280 they're important. And we just ask for your clarity. We ask for your guidance. We 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:52.200 ask that you will reveal yourself to us. You will reveal your wisdom, your insight, 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:58.800 your knowledge. And we're just so grateful that we have the Bible with us. We're so 00:00:58.800 --> 00:01:04.079 grateful that we can open the Bible, that we live in a place where we can 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:10.800 read and study the Bible without much fear, like in other places. And 00:01:10.800 --> 00:01:18.280 whatever have your way with us tonight, we ask that we will learn and grow 00:01:18.280 --> 00:01:23.560 together. There's so much that we can learn that certainly we can have a 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:28.359 lifetime of dedication of learning your Word. And every time we read the pages of 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:33.159 scripture, we might learn something different. And I just pray for everyone 00:01:33.159 --> 00:01:39.200 here tonight that we will just grow together. Be with us. For as your Word 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:46.719 says, where two or three are gathered in your name, there you are with us. So be 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:54.760 with us tonight. It is in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Well, I'm really glad 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:59.280 that you guys are all here tonight as we're doing part two. We're doing the 00:01:59.280 --> 00:02:04.599 origin of scripture. I did mention last week that we were gonna go into 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:12.879 another section, but I had forgotten that we only did part one. So this is part 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:18.879 two of the origins of scripture. So the title of the series we're doing is The 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:25.199 Nature, the Purpose, and the Power of Scripture. And it's very important to do 00:02:25.199 --> 00:02:31.479 a Bible study on the Bible because sometimes it's good for us as Christians 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:36.519 to know where did we get our Bible and what does the role of the Holy Spirit 00:02:36.520 --> 00:02:43.120 have in scripture. So last week we talked about how the Holy Spirit carried 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:50.840 along the writers, and it's just been a very, it's very deep. It's very spiritual. 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:57.320 It's the idea, look, the Word of God is a gift from God. It's a gift from heaven, 00:02:57.320 --> 00:03:03.160 if you will, right? Being the pages of this book being divinely inspired is just 00:03:03.159 --> 00:03:09.120 when we think of God breathing out his breath of life into the words that were 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:13.719 written and that we have this book together. It's just something that's 00:03:13.719 --> 00:03:19.400 inspiring, and I think it really helps me with my faith journey, and I hope it 00:03:19.400 --> 00:03:25.039 helps you with your faith journey. And the first question, I have a question I 00:03:25.039 --> 00:03:31.039 want you to think about this as we start off here, is I know it says how many of 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:36.799 you feel like the Bible has impacted your walk with God, but I guess it's the 00:03:36.799 --> 00:03:42.519 question of do you feel that the Bible has impacted your walk with God? Do you 00:03:42.519 --> 00:03:50.000 feel that way? I hope everyone can say yes, right? That the Bible, it 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:57.319 influences us, right? It helps us with coming to know who God is, what God has 00:03:57.319 --> 00:04:05.079 done for us, right? And we think of the Word of God, the Word of life, right? That 00:04:05.079 --> 00:04:13.639 it breathes life into us, if you will. You know, we learn about how... we're gonna 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:17.719 learn about the authors of Scripture, and I want us to keep in mind the idea of 00:04:17.719 --> 00:04:23.000 the Holy Spirit carrying along with those authors like we did last week. We 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:26.719 learned about the connection with a boat on the water, right? When we're talking 00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:32.840 about the overwhelm power of the ocean, when a boat is there on the water, right? 00:04:32.840 --> 00:04:41.680 A boat, it needs wind, it needs the water, it needs an engine to move around, and 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:47.920 that's how we think of the Holy Spirit. And yeah, we're continuing with... we're 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:53.240 gonna focus on what the Bible reveals to us about the authors. I want us to know 00:04:53.240 --> 00:05:01.280 we're not going over every individual name. We're focusing on the origins and 00:05:01.280 --> 00:05:06.720 the authors that brought forth the Word of God. So you'll see in your notes the 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:12.480 outline of what we have here, the authors of Scripture, and you'll see on here it 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:17.960 says the Old Testament through Moses and the prophets. Now we're not going through 00:05:17.960 --> 00:05:21.960 every single name of the prophets, we're not going through every single name of 00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:28.239 the apostles. This is more of an overview and you'll see why. It's very 00:05:28.239 --> 00:05:33.120 beautiful how everything is connected. When we go through the New Testament, we'll 00:05:33.120 --> 00:05:38.120 see in the same way that the Holy Spirit guided the prophets when they're writing 00:05:38.120 --> 00:05:43.879 the Old Testament, is the same way that the Holy Spirit worked with the apostles, 00:05:43.879 --> 00:05:48.839 right? When you think of Peter, when you think of Paul, when you think of John or 00:05:48.839 --> 00:05:54.199 Matthew, and you think of all of these writers, the book of James, the book of 00:05:54.199 --> 00:06:00.000 Jude, all of them being divinely inspired. And I want us to remember that 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:07.359 this, knowing all of this, is it's foundational to our faith, right? It helps 00:06:07.359 --> 00:06:13.000 us from when we're a baby Christian to when we're an adult, when we're a mature 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:22.600 adult. I want us to think of, when we think of the Bible, it is not one book, it 00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:29.319 is many books, it is a collection of books. And I want to ask, I'm gonna put 00:06:29.319 --> 00:06:36.720 this on the screen, it's how does seeing the Bible as a library rather than one 00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:43.880 book, how does that help you with your understanding of the Bible? It's a good 00:06:43.880 --> 00:06:51.440 question, you know? The Bible is a library of God's Word. We have the prophets, right, 00:06:51.440 --> 00:06:56.920 who are prophesizing about things that are coming in the future. We think of 00:06:56.920 --> 00:07:03.600 prophecy as the coming of Jesus Christ, and how Christ is the fulfillment of the 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:09.439 many, many prophecies that are there. We also think of the wisdom literature, and 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:15.480 we think of ecclesiasties, or we think of Job, we think of the beautiful poetic 00:07:15.480 --> 00:07:21.480 language of Psalms, right? We think of the love story of song of Solomon, right? 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:28.600 We think of the letters of the Pauline letters, where Paul is talking about, you 00:07:28.600 --> 00:07:33.879 know, how churches should conduct themselves, and you know, guiding them 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:39.720 the early church. We learn about the Acts of the Apostles, the beginning, if you 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:45.060 will, of the early church. And then of course, let's not forget the Gospel, 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:50.680 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John talking about the miracles of Jesus, the life of 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:57.200 Jesus Christ, and how significant his life is. We think of the miracles of 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:02.000 Jesus. We think of him turning water into wine, right? The wedding feast at Cana. 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:08.920 We think of Jesus walking on water. I always love the story when people thought 00:08:08.920 --> 00:08:14.519 Jesus was a ghost when he was walking on the water in the storm. I also think of 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:21.240 how Jesus healing the sick, right? Raising Lazarus from the dead, the feeding of 00:08:21.240 --> 00:08:28.519 the 5,000. All of these miracles, I can't imagine what it, it must have been really 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:35.120 incredible to see how the bread and the fish and how it multiplied and it fed 00:08:35.120 --> 00:08:41.000 the 5,000. That would have been incredible to see. Seeing someone put mud on 00:08:41.000 --> 00:08:46.440 their eyes and being able to see. I remember watching a movie once where you 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:51.440 see mud being put in the blind man's eyes. He's like, what are you doing? Why are 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:56.440 you doing this? And then he's clearing his eyes out and he can see. And it's like, 00:08:56.440 --> 00:09:03.320 I've never seen before and it's just something that is incredible. And so 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:11.160 when we look at that question, I want you to always remember that it's not one 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:18.839 book. It's many books and this library of the Bible is all connected to 00:09:18.839 --> 00:09:26.399 each other. And that should help all of us. The more we read, the more we look at 00:09:26.399 --> 00:09:31.559 the pages of Scripture. It should help us in our faith seeing that pieces and 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:36.799 Psalms is, you know, it's over here in the Gospel or when Jesus is referring to 00:09:36.799 --> 00:09:42.319 the prophets or the prophets are talking about the coming of Jesus Christ. There's 00:09:42.319 --> 00:09:48.839 so much of that. And that is very different than a regular textbook, if you 00:09:48.839 --> 00:09:54.240 will. You think of science and history or you think of Lord of the Rings or you 00:09:54.240 --> 00:10:00.240 think of Harry Potter or whatever book it is. And it's just not the same with the 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:07.680 connections here. And so I want us to turn our Bibles. We're gonna turn, it's on 00:10:07.680 --> 00:10:19.360 the screen. It's gonna be John chapter 1 verse 17. And in these ESV Bibles, it's 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:27.720 gonna be page 1053. So feel free to use whatever Bible you want to use, whether 00:10:27.720 --> 00:10:38.160 that's the Pew Bible or not. And you'll see why we're talking specifically about 00:10:38.160 --> 00:10:44.879 Moses, the prophets, and Christ being a writer. That's interesting. What does that 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:49.920 have to do with this? And then of course the apostles. So we'll see what this says. 00:10:49.919 --> 00:11:00.719 So let's go to John chapter 1 verse 17. It says, for the law was given through 00:11:00.719 --> 00:11:09.319 Moses. We know the law, the Pentateuch, the Torah, came through Moses. 00:11:09.319 --> 00:11:16.559 Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And I want you to, some of us are 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:23.079 aware of the Gospel of John, right? It has a rich language about Jesus Christ 00:11:23.079 --> 00:11:29.279 existing before the creation of the universe. And I want us to think about 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:36.599 this before we go further into this. Jesus being there before the creation of 00:11:36.599 --> 00:11:40.839 the universe. You can answer this if you want or you don't have to. But what 00:11:40.840 --> 00:11:46.639 feelings or thoughts come to your mind when you think Jesus being there with 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:52.000 the Holy Spirit, with God, the Trinity all being there, with the creation of the 00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:56.680 universe? I know we think of God, the Father, being there, right? In the beginning 00:11:56.680 --> 00:12:03.879 God, he spoke. God said, let there be light. Jesus being there though. Feel 00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:12.639 free to answer. Like what thoughts come into your mind? It's kind of a great mystery. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:22.799 We have the idea that Jesus is the Logos, right? Or Logos, known as the word. 00:12:22.799 --> 00:12:28.879 Right? You'll see in your notes, this will be on the back page. If there's any 00:12:28.879 --> 00:12:36.919 verse that's not in the outline, it says, referenced verses for reflection. So, let 00:12:36.919 --> 00:12:46.080 us make man in our image after our likeness. And we think about how we are 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:54.639 made in the image of God. So, in the beginning was the word. When we think of 00:12:54.639 --> 00:13:00.600 John, and there's a connection here. There's an important part here. John 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:07.519 chapter 1 verses 1 through 18, it piggybacks off of this idea that 00:13:07.519 --> 00:13:15.240 Jesus, that Christ is the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. And that's very 00:13:15.240 --> 00:13:20.240 beautiful language describing who Christ is. I'm gonna put this on the screen 00:13:20.240 --> 00:13:27.399 here. And we can look at this together. It might be a little hard to read. I'll 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:31.919 read it so we can kind of see this together. And this is all connected 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:39.759 here. In your notes, you'll see it just shows the verses. I put up the more of 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:48.240 the verses on here. There's a verse in Colossians, which goes on to say, he is 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:55.840 the image of the invisible God. For by him, he's talking about Jesus, all things 00:13:55.840 --> 00:14:01.320 were created in heaven and on earth. All things were created through him and for 00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:09.919 him. So, Jesus as Creator. Okay? So, this helps us with the understanding of that 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:19.039 John chapter 1 verse 17, our first verse, right? The Creator. It also goes on as Redeemer. He is 00:14:19.039 --> 00:14:25.519 the head of the body, so I'm still in Colossians. Through him to reconcile to 00:14:25.519 --> 00:14:33.839 himself all things, making peace by the blood of the cross. It is Christ and his 00:14:33.840 --> 00:14:41.399 redemption for us by the shedding of his blood, by his death on the cross, Redeemer. 00:14:41.399 --> 00:14:48.639 And then sustainer. He is before all things and I love this. In him, all things 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:55.519 hold together. Why am I bringing this up? Because there's a connection with John, 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:03.160 which leads us to understand just that one verse, John chapter 1 verse 17. In the 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:10.360 beginning was the word, right? All things were made through him and without him was 00:15:10.360 --> 00:15:19.919 not anything made that was made. So, Christ being the word, right? The Creator. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:27.000 Redeemer. And it goes on in John chapter 1 verse 12. But to all who did receive 00:15:27.000 --> 00:15:35.080 him, the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. It's 00:15:35.080 --> 00:15:40.279 talking about Christ being Redeemer. Maybe not exactly like how it is in the 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:46.679 Colossians passage, but there we're talking about he is becoming flesh. The 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:54.120 word becoming flesh, Jesus becoming flesh. And sustainer. In him was life and the 00:15:54.120 --> 00:16:00.200 life was the light of men. The light that shines in the darkness and the darkness 00:16:00.200 --> 00:16:06.000 has not overcome it. Sustainer because light is always going to shine in the 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:12.480 darkness. So, what is in the world does this have to do with verse 17? Well, it 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:19.159 helps us to understand when we look at our notes, when we look at these verses 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:25.039 that, well, part of the origin of Scripture is Christ being the word made 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:32.120 flesh. Part of it is Christ being there from the creation of the world. So, it is 00:16:32.120 --> 00:16:39.439 connected here. And we have this idea of the law being given through Moses, like I 00:16:39.439 --> 00:16:45.799 said those first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, the Torah, right? And we 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:49.959 know, obviously, you know, right, we should know Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 00:16:49.959 --> 00:16:55.240 Numbers, and Deuteronomy. I know the law is one of the hardest books, five books to 00:16:55.240 --> 00:17:00.639 go over. Hearing a, doing a sermon series on Leviticus is not going to be a rather 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:07.200 difficult, right? But it goes on saying that God's grace, right? Grace and truth 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:12.720 came through Jesus Christ. Well, God's grace came through Jesus Christ. God 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:20.079 provided a way for salvation through faith, right? For all who believe in Him, 00:17:20.079 --> 00:17:25.680 right? Having that faith in Jesus Christ. I love giving the example in, in 00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:31.120 sermons and just anyone that I talk to. Well, how do I get to heaven? Well, what 00:17:31.120 --> 00:17:38.160 must I do? Well, let's look at the Bible. I always think of the thief on the cross. 00:17:38.160 --> 00:17:49.080 He knew he did wrong. And he turns to Jesus saying, Jesus, remember me when you 00:17:49.080 --> 00:17:52.080 come into your kingdom or when you enter your kingdom, depending on the 00:17:52.080 --> 00:17:58.240 translation. And it's such a profound thing because I think of some churches, 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.400 some people will say, well, you need to do the ABCs. You need to do all of these 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:09.560 certain prayers and certain classes you must take. But do you though? Well, did 00:18:09.560 --> 00:18:15.600 the thief get baptized? The thief did not get baptized. Did the thief say a 00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:19.720 sinner's prayer? I mean, there's nothing wrong with the sinner's prayer. Nothing 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:25.240 wrong whatsoever. But did the thief do that? Well, if Christ himself is saying 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:29.960 that the thief on the cross is going to be with him in paradise, I think we 00:18:29.960 --> 00:18:35.680 should take note of that. That's so important for us. So all of that to say, 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:44.200 in that verse, John 117, grace and truth, so salvation, right? When we make a 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:48.500 decision to have Christ in our lives, we're saying yes to Jesus, right? That 00:18:48.500 --> 00:18:53.840 grace, that salvation that comes from God. And instead of receiving death, instead 00:18:53.839 --> 00:19:00.559 of receiving judgment or punishment, we receive life. We receive freedom in him. 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:08.240 It's just like how I say, you know, we are free from sin, not free to sin. I've 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:13.199 been reading over and studying over the book of Jude. And one of the things that 00:19:13.199 --> 00:19:19.039 sticks out so much is, and you'll find this when you talk about false prophets 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:25.079 or false teachers, is, well, because I'm saved, I can sin. Because I'm saved, I can 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:32.000 do what I want. And Scripture clearly says no. It doesn't mean just because you 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:36.839 have said yes to Jesus, doesn't mean you should murder or steal, or doesn't mean 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:43.799 you should swindle people or, you know, cheat or whatever. It doesn't mean it 00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:48.000 doesn't give you the ticket to ride. But unfortunately, that was very common, was 00:19:48.000 --> 00:19:52.599 okay, I'm saved, therefore I should go do bad things. No, you shouldn't do bad 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:59.160 things. That is a call for you to, you're entering into the new covenant, right? We 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:07.799 are part of the new covenant. We think of how Jesus Christ fulfilled the law. In 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:13.839 the back of your notes, this is in your future reading, right? Further 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:19.799 reading, 2 Corinthians chapter 3 is all about the new covenant. We could have a 00:20:19.799 --> 00:20:25.720 whole series just on that. But that's for you to read in your spare time about 00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:32.319 that. But it's all about how we are ministers of the new covenant. Then we 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:38.399 have this idea of truth, right? Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The idea 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:44.360 of truth is, we know Jesus Christ as the way and the truth and the life. And 00:20:44.360 --> 00:20:50.560 that's also the reference on the back of your page, right? I am the way, the truth 00:20:50.560 --> 00:20:57.240 and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. You know, it's very 00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:03.600 interesting. When I was a kid, I used to watch, you know, the old Bible movies 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:08.919 where you saw a Pontius Pilate. He's dressed in his Roman costume, if you 00:21:08.919 --> 00:21:14.679 will. And I always loved Pilate. He seemed like, you know, a military guy. He was a 00:21:14.679 --> 00:21:20.879 government official, right? He was a very powerful man. And it's very interesting 00:21:20.879 --> 00:21:27.719 when, and this isn't in your notes, but it's just thinking about this. When Pilate 00:21:27.719 --> 00:21:33.319 asks the question, what is truth? And then he goes out and he's saying, I find no 00:21:33.319 --> 00:21:40.639 guilt in this person. He doesn't answer it, but you can kind of gather from that. 00:21:40.639 --> 00:21:46.759 That Pilate's like, oh, maybe this guy is the truth. And so when we're talking 00:21:46.759 --> 00:21:54.240 about going back to the John passage, grace and truth came from Christ. It's 00:21:54.240 --> 00:22:01.679 very powerful, very powerful language. So I want us to go to our next verse. It's 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:09.240 going to be on, it's going to be Luke chapter 24 verse 27. And it's one page 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:17.720 before in our ESV study Bibles, or it's right before Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:23.840 So it's just right at the end of Luke. And you'll see there's a 00:22:23.839 --> 00:22:36.159 connection with this. When you use Pew Bibles, you start getting used to the 00:22:36.159 --> 00:22:42.359 page number instead of, that's the thing I've noticed coming here. And that's okay. 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:52.839 That's okay. So in Luke chapter 24 verse 27, it says in here, and beginning with 00:22:52.839 --> 00:23:00.639 Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the 00:23:00.639 --> 00:23:07.079 things concerning himself. Okay, well, it's clear beginning with Moses and the 00:23:07.079 --> 00:23:13.159 prophets. We see that, okay, there's mention of these authors and the divine 00:23:13.159 --> 00:23:20.079 inspiration of it. But what's interesting in the context of this verse is this is 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:27.079 after the resurrection of Christ, Jesus is appearing to two disciples and they 00:23:27.079 --> 00:23:30.879 don't know who Jesus is at that time. So they're walking with him, right? They're 00:23:30.879 --> 00:23:38.759 on the road to Emmaus. And it says that Jesus interpreted them scripture. So what 00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:45.359 that means is he's explaining to them how the Word of God pointed to Christ. 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:49.359 And I'm like, oh, that's really beautiful when we're talking about the 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:55.279 reference of the authors of the scripture, the origins of the scripture, how 00:23:55.279 --> 00:24:02.519 Christ was part of the origins of the scripture. So Jesus is explaining to the 00:24:02.519 --> 00:24:07.399 disciples how he is supposed to suffer. And I know we always have a hard time 00:24:07.399 --> 00:24:11.959 with the fact that Christ had to suffer and I'm sure they did too. They were 00:24:11.959 --> 00:24:16.479 probably wondering, why does he have to suffer? Well, I would have loved to be 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:21.039 there on the road to Emmaus and hearing him explain it to his disciples and 00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:27.799 them not knowing who it is. That's always amazing to me when you think of, 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:34.160 you know, if Christ came back in bodily form and you didn't recognize him, that 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:40.599 must have been very interesting. In verse 25, Jesus is saying how foolish they 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:47.439 are, but he explains that they should pay attention to the scriptures. 00:24:47.439 --> 00:24:53.879 They need to pay attention to what the prophets have to say. And that's also 00:24:53.879 --> 00:25:03.399 good language. So it's interesting how all of that is connected, right? Christ had 00:25:03.399 --> 00:25:10.279 to explain to his disciples how he had to suffer. He had to suffer to fulfill the 00:25:10.279 --> 00:25:16.599 Old Testament prophecy. And in the back of your notes in Acts chapter 3 verse 18, 00:25:16.599 --> 00:25:26.000 it says, God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets that Christ would suffer. 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:32.879 So this reference in Luke is referencing Acts here. And if you go ahead, 00:25:32.880 --> 00:25:41.440 let's stay on that page. I need to turn it to it again. 1,052. Look at verse 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:58.280 44. Verse 44. So he finally, let's even go back further. Jesus appears to his 00:25:58.279 --> 00:26:05.079 disciples, right? Peace to you, right? And there's doubts that arose with 00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:10.279 the disciples. Verse 39. See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself, touch me 00:26:10.279 --> 00:26:14.039 and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:21.599 And he's going on. Verse 44. He said to them, these are my words that I spoke to 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:27.000 you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law 00:26:27.000 --> 00:26:37.680 of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. This is not in your 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:43.160 notes, but let's go to that next verse. Then he opened their minds to understand 00:26:43.160 --> 00:26:48.480 the scriptures and said to them, thus it is written that Christ should suffer and 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:54.759 on the third day rise from the dead. And that repentance for the forgiveness of 00:26:54.759 --> 00:26:59.240 sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. 00:26:59.240 --> 00:27:03.759 You are witnesses to these things and behold, I'm sending the promise of my 00:27:03.759 --> 00:27:08.799 father upon you. Stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high, 00:27:08.799 --> 00:27:15.440 referencing the Holy Spirit. Wow. So there's a lot in there. These are the 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:19.640 words that I've spoke to you. Everything written about me. So this is all 00:27:19.640 --> 00:27:28.200 connected to Christ. This is all that's why it's kind of like I said, we're not 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:35.280 going over every author, but we're going over how is this? How are the prophets and 00:27:35.280 --> 00:27:40.720 the apostles? How are they all divinely inspired? Right? Remember, let's think of 00:27:40.720 --> 00:27:47.120 the big idea, the origin of scripture, the breath of God, the carrying along of 00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:54.199 the Holy Spirit and how Moses and the prophets and the apostles and the Psalms 00:27:54.199 --> 00:28:01.879 through Christ, how it's all connected to each other. That's, I know it's a lot to 00:28:01.879 --> 00:28:07.119 think about, but it's very, it's wonderful that we get to see these 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:15.399 connections. We find that Moses, the prophets and the Psalms in that verse, 00:28:15.400 --> 00:28:26.160 the verse 44 of Luke 24, verse 44, it's pointing to Christ. It's all connected to 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:30.880 the divine inspiration of the Word of God and the carrying along of the Holy 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:39.400 Spirit to the writers. And this is to show that Christ came to fulfill what was 00:28:39.400 --> 00:28:45.640 written. I love that Jesus had to explain to his disciples, right? I mean, I can't 00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:51.160 imagine how humbling that must be to be a disciple of Jesus and to have it 00:28:51.160 --> 00:28:58.280 explained to me. Oh, that's a ghost. I mean, what are you saying here? Feel my 00:28:58.280 --> 00:29:05.200 sides, feel my wounds. I think of, I think sometimes we give doubting Thomas a 00:29:05.200 --> 00:29:11.759 bad rap because I think, would you question it? Because they didn't know 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:16.840 that he was, they didn't have the full context that we have. So I think that 00:29:16.840 --> 00:29:22.400 when Christ is saying here, here I am, look, this, and now I'm gonna explain how 00:29:22.400 --> 00:29:27.640 all of this is connected. I am a fulfillment of the prophecies from the, 00:29:27.640 --> 00:29:33.039 from the law of Moses, from the prophets and even from the Psalms and I think, 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:41.240 man, the Psalms, that would be a really good study, study the Psalms and see how 00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:47.279 that points to Christ. But we know that it points to Christ. Christ came to 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:51.920 fulfill what was written and many of you may know the famous, it's just on the 00:29:51.920 --> 00:29:58.119 back of your notes, Matthew chapter 5 verse 17 verse that says, I have not come 00:29:58.119 --> 00:30:06.839 to abolish the law or the prophets but to fulfill them. So it's all connected. 00:30:06.839 --> 00:30:14.279 Let's go to Hebrews. It's gonna be, it's on the screen here, Hebrews chapter 1 00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:22.679 verses 1 through 2. I know we're going over a lot of verses here, so you guys 00:30:22.680 --> 00:30:31.799 have any questions? I guess before we continue, I know it's a lot of information. 00:30:33.360 --> 00:30:43.840 Alright, in Hebrews, long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our 00:30:43.840 --> 00:30:47.880 fathers by the prophets. Well, there we have it, right? Divide inspiration, right? 00:30:47.880 --> 00:30:53.880 The leading of the Holy Spirit through the prophets. But in these last days, he 00:30:53.880 --> 00:30:59.640 has spoken to us by his son. So that's where Christ has to do with the divine 00:30:59.640 --> 00:31:05.760 inspiration of Scripture. That's how Christ is an author, if you will, whom he 00:31:05.760 --> 00:31:11.000 appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:14.360 Remember, we're talking about Jesus as the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. 00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:21.599 There's one about the Creator. You don't really learn this as an early 00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:27.879 Christian. Maybe you do. We think of the creation of the world by God the Father, 00:31:27.879 --> 00:31:33.759 right? Let there be light and there was light. We don't think of Jesus necessarily 00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:38.679 all the time and even for me, sometimes I'm like, I think it's just one of those 00:31:38.680 --> 00:31:48.640 things that is meant to puzzle us, right? My mother being a devout Christian as 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:51.799 she is, she would always say, there's some great mysteries that we just don't 00:31:51.799 --> 00:31:56.640 understand. And that's a mystery I don't understand and we have to be okay with 00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:02.400 that when we think about that. But isn't that interesting? He appointed the heir of 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:09.120 all things through whom also he created the world. That's why I showed you Jesus 00:32:09.120 --> 00:32:15.240 as Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. That you'll find passages that support this 00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:21.400 part of the attributes, part of the qualities of the character even of who 00:32:21.400 --> 00:32:29.080 Jesus is. The writer of Hebrews, he is speaking to the early Christians. He's 00:32:29.079 --> 00:32:35.480 speaking of the Jews, right? He's speaking to the Jews about their fathers. That God 00:32:35.480 --> 00:32:41.559 spoke to the Jewish people through all of the prophets, right? We know that when 00:32:41.559 --> 00:32:46.359 we look at the Old Testament, we hear about God's people, the Jewish people, 00:32:46.359 --> 00:32:53.799 right? We think of, gosh, the whole history out in the scripture where the 00:32:53.799 --> 00:32:59.960 cycle, they obey God and then they get a little overboard, they disobey God, 00:32:59.960 --> 00:33:04.200 there's repentance, right? Think of 40 days in the wilderness, I think of the 00:33:04.200 --> 00:33:10.079 promised land. We can just think about all of the, just how the Old Testament was 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:14.279 connected to the Jewish people. Now here's the thing though and I want this to 00:33:14.279 --> 00:33:20.240 really resonate, I want this to really stick out to you here. So God spoke to 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:27.799 the Jewish people through the prophets. In this time period, God spoke to us, the 00:33:27.799 --> 00:33:37.200 Gentiles, the Church by Christ. Let me go on. It goes on talking about how Christ 00:33:37.200 --> 00:33:43.400 was their heir of all things, right? So Jesus has authority and power over all 00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:50.200 creation because we learn about Christ as Creator. So Jesus is the Lord of all 00:33:50.200 --> 00:33:58.120 not man and not angels and I say that because it goes on talking about angels. 00:33:58.120 --> 00:34:06.319 So let's think about this, the mystery, right? You'll know why I'm saying 00:34:06.319 --> 00:34:11.079 mystery here when we go further along in here. You'll see when we go to the 00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:17.240 Ephesians passage, so I'm trying to not give you too much here, but okay, so Jesus 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:22.559 is Lord of all, the heir of all things whom He created the world. So He's spoken 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:29.759 to us by His Son, us being the Gentiles, right? So let's go to Ephesians chapter 00:34:29.759 --> 00:34:36.359 3 verse 5. You'll see a connection here and it's really good. So I'll put that on 00:34:36.359 --> 00:34:46.319 the screen. It's Ephesians chapter 3 verse 5 and it's page 1160. Alright, so 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:53.240 Ephesians 3 5. Let's just go from chapter 3, okay, just the beginning of 00:34:53.240 --> 00:34:59.440 chapter 3. For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of 00:34:59.440 --> 00:35:04.320 the Gentiles, hold on to that. Assuming that you have heard of the stewardship 00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:12.120 of God's grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to 00:35:12.119 --> 00:35:19.880 me by revelation. So mystery and Gentiles as I have written briefly. Verse 4, when 00:35:19.880 --> 00:35:24.279 you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ. What is 00:35:24.279 --> 00:35:29.000 the mystery of Christ? Which was not made known by the sons of men in other 00:35:29.000 --> 00:35:35.039 generations as it now has been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the 00:35:35.039 --> 00:35:39.319 spirit. There we go again, divine inspiration through the prophets and the 00:35:39.320 --> 00:35:48.559 apostles. Verse 6, the mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of 00:35:48.559 --> 00:35:53.900 the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the 00:35:53.900 --> 00:35:59.680 gospel. So the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the gospel, when you read that 00:35:59.680 --> 00:36:06.640 what's what are you hiding, right? It's being revealed the truth that the gospel 00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:14.039 is not just for the Jews, it is for everyone, it is for the Gentile and the 00:36:14.039 --> 00:36:21.599 Jew. That's why in verse 6, Gentiles are fellow heirs, right? Remember when we were 00:36:21.599 --> 00:36:28.279 talking about how Jesus is the heir of all things when we read that in Hebrews? 00:36:28.280 --> 00:36:37.560 Well, we talk about the mystery here that we are part of the same body. We are 00:36:37.560 --> 00:36:46.560 included in the salvation plan, the redemptive story for everyone. Because 00:36:46.560 --> 00:36:53.160 when we think of the whole context of the Bible, the Bible as a whole, we think 00:36:53.159 --> 00:37:00.960 of the idea of redemption, we think of restoration, we think of reconciliation, 00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:10.440 we think of how there is a sin problem, right? We think of the separation from God 00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:17.839 when sin entered the world. Well, it appears from here that it looked like 00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:24.000 salvation was only available to the Jews, but because of Jesus Christ, there was 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:30.720 the mystery that was revealed, that God had this plan for redemption for everyone. 00:37:30.720 --> 00:37:37.400 That is why it's so important when we think of John 3.16, for God so loved the 00:37:37.400 --> 00:37:43.240 world that he gave his only son that whosoever believes, it doesn't say that 00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:49.759 only the Jews, it doesn't say only the Gentiles, that whosoever. That's why it's 00:37:49.759 --> 00:37:54.279 so such beautiful language knowing that, okay, it's available to everyone, but to 00:37:54.279 --> 00:38:01.119 know that it was hidden and that it was revealed to the prophets, 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:06.559 right? It's revealed to the apostles now, this mystery. Well, now we know the mystery, 00:38:06.559 --> 00:38:14.440 we know the answer to that. We know that Jesus Christ provides salvation to 00:38:14.440 --> 00:38:20.279 everyone and not just the Jews, and that's such a huge, just a powerful verse 00:38:20.279 --> 00:38:28.599 to think about. And I want us to think about also of how in, did I put this on 00:38:28.599 --> 00:38:35.960 the screen? I guess I didn't. Let's go, I don't have a page, I don't have a 00:38:35.960 --> 00:38:46.280 slide. Let's go to Romans here, okay? It's gonna be in Romans chapter 16 verse 25, 00:38:49.240 --> 00:38:55.639 because Romans is gonna make mention of the mystery of Christ. Like I said, I 00:38:55.639 --> 00:39:00.519 don't have a slide for you, but you'll see. Let's read it together. 00:39:00.519 --> 00:39:06.920 Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching 00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:14.559 of Jesus Christ. According to the revelation of the mystery that was kept 00:39:14.559 --> 00:39:20.840 secret for long ages, but now has been disclosed through the prophetic writings 00:39:20.840 --> 00:39:26.759 that have been made known to all nations, according to the command of the 00:39:26.760 --> 00:39:34.440 eternal God to bring about the obedience of faith to the only wise God, be glory 00:39:34.440 --> 00:39:43.760 forevermore through Jesus Christ. Amen. It's talking again about the mystery that 00:39:43.760 --> 00:39:49.920 was revealed. It was hidden and that's something that we learn about scripture 00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:57.840 so much is that there are things that are hidden in the word of God and as we 00:39:57.840 --> 00:40:04.720 read and as we study, we will learn more from it. And I think it even talks 00:40:04.720 --> 00:40:09.000 about in scripture how scripture is protected from those who don't believe. 00:40:09.000 --> 00:40:19.039 And I think there's something to that. Why would God hide things from people, 00:40:19.039 --> 00:40:24.519 but you can't look at it that way. God is protecting scripture from those who 00:40:24.519 --> 00:40:30.039 don't believe, which is an encouragement for us to be a believer so that we can be 00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:37.039 able to read and study and find more inspiration, go in depth into the word 00:40:37.039 --> 00:40:48.519 of God and really just apply it to our lives. Sometimes things of God, right, it 00:40:48.519 --> 00:40:52.000 says in scripture that things of God are foolishness, right, to those who don't 00:40:52.000 --> 00:40:59.719 believe. Think about that. Things that we understand as Christians, other non- 00:40:59.719 --> 00:41:04.599 believers that are yet to come to faith, they're not ready yet. And that's very 00:41:04.599 --> 00:41:10.480 difficult language for those who may be on the outside. The atheist or the 00:41:10.480 --> 00:41:15.360 agnostic or someone who's never made that decision for Christ, how can you make 00:41:15.360 --> 00:41:19.440 such a connection that doesn't make sense? Isn't the Bible just a book? Well, 00:41:19.440 --> 00:41:24.079 you're not there yet. That's why scripture is so big about starting from 00:41:24.079 --> 00:41:31.840 the the milk of the word to going into solid food. Because you know, as 00:41:31.840 --> 00:41:39.000 Christians, the word of God is going to mold us. It's going to shape us. It's going 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:44.160 to make us into the men and women that God wants us to be. And when we have 00:41:44.159 --> 00:41:48.879 Bible studies like this, there may be people who don't understand anything 00:41:48.879 --> 00:41:53.119 that we're talking about tonight. And maybe they do. Maybe by the grace of God 00:41:53.119 --> 00:42:00.239 they understand certain components. But I do believe that there are things that 00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:06.079 will be revealed to those who desire to be close to the Lord, who walk with the 00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:12.679 Lord and open the word of God and study it. And I know that's a hard thing to 00:42:12.679 --> 00:42:16.279 really think about. It's like, well, why can't everyone understand the Bible 00:42:16.279 --> 00:42:23.239 equally? Well, part of it, I would say it's your heart. Where is your heart at 00:42:23.239 --> 00:42:29.159 when you're reading and studying scripture? So when we think about this 00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:35.879 mystery that was kept secret, it wasn't the right time for God to reveal it. 00:42:35.879 --> 00:42:42.519 Because God had something great in store for his people. To provide salvation 00:42:42.519 --> 00:42:52.000 from Jesus Christ through Jesus Christ. And so when we think about our lesson for 00:42:52.000 --> 00:42:59.039 tonight, we have learned, we've gone over this part two of the origins of 00:42:59.039 --> 00:43:05.920 scripture, and we have learned that God breathed into his word. Because God is 00:43:05.920 --> 00:43:12.360 the giver of life. To think that he breathed, he used the Holy Spirit to 00:43:12.360 --> 00:43:19.400 inspire these writers to overwhelm them, to write on, to write these letters and 00:43:19.400 --> 00:43:26.760 to write, you know, when you're thinking of Moses and the prophets, to... That's 00:43:26.760 --> 00:43:33.880 beautiful language that really goes to show how much higher the Bible is 00:43:33.880 --> 00:43:41.400 than really any other book. On a personal note, I've had many people who 00:43:41.400 --> 00:43:46.519 years of ministry, I've ran into people every so often, they ask me, 00:43:46.519 --> 00:43:52.559 what books do you read? And it's a common question. Sometimes people ask, hey, do 00:43:52.559 --> 00:43:57.639 you read Charles Spurgeon? Do you read C.S. Lewis? Do you read, you know, different 00:43:57.639 --> 00:44:04.880 writers and authors? And certainly reading Christian books or reading, you know, 00:44:04.880 --> 00:44:10.200 mythological stories or, you know, a good action novel and no different than 00:44:10.199 --> 00:44:15.159 watching movies, that's fine. But I remember I used to have such a hard time 00:44:15.159 --> 00:44:23.960 answering that question because one thing I like to answer with other 00:44:23.960 --> 00:44:27.000 Christians, and they like, when they ask who do you read, I'm like, well, I read the 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:30.799 Bible and I feel like that's what you should be reading. And I used to have 00:44:30.799 --> 00:44:33.919 such a hard time when they're like, well, what about, you know, the great writers, 00:44:33.920 --> 00:44:40.760 what about St. Augustine? What about origin? What about, and I'm like, I don't, I 00:44:40.760 --> 00:44:45.880 don't read them and I don't want to read them. And I just, I remember that 00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:51.039 throughout ministry, the years that I've met different pastors and different 00:44:51.039 --> 00:44:58.200 Christians, sometimes I was like, well, yeah, I know what you're asking me and 00:44:58.199 --> 00:45:05.319 the answer is no. And I just, with that situation, I had to learn that it's okay 00:45:05.319 --> 00:45:10.439 to not read them, but it's certainly okay to read them. When we're reading other 00:45:10.439 --> 00:45:19.759 books, we have to remember that it should never triumph. It should never be above 00:45:19.759 --> 00:45:23.639 scripture. And you have to be careful when you have people that are, there's 00:45:23.639 --> 00:45:27.839 nothing wrong with reading the great theologians and the great pastors. But 00:45:27.840 --> 00:45:33.600 when it, if you're a Christian and you're finding that you're reading Charles 00:45:33.600 --> 00:45:39.240 Spurgeon or you're reading a Wesleyan literature or whatever it is, and you're 00:45:39.240 --> 00:45:44.559 reading that more than the Bible, that does cause them to question, well, why are 00:45:44.559 --> 00:45:51.160 you reading these authors more than scripture? And I say all of this because 00:45:51.160 --> 00:45:56.079 there's nothing wrong with just reading the Word of God and there's also nothing 00:45:56.079 --> 00:46:01.039 wrong with reading other authors, but keep your priorities straight on what's 00:46:01.039 --> 00:46:07.199 important to you. So I always think of those days when I would run into other 00:46:07.199 --> 00:46:11.679 Christians and they talk about those kind of things. It's also no different than 00:46:11.679 --> 00:46:16.679 when we think of creeds or when we think of book of prayers. I know there's like 00:46:16.679 --> 00:46:22.960 the Westminster Confessional and there's the different creeds and all of 00:46:22.960 --> 00:46:28.639 those. They're good if they help you in your walk with the Lord, but the moment 00:46:28.639 --> 00:46:36.159 they take over the importance of scripture, you have to be very careful. 00:46:36.159 --> 00:46:40.400 And when I say these things, I know sometimes people get very upset. They're 00:46:40.400 --> 00:46:44.079 thinking, well, why would you tell me not to read Charles Spurgeon? Why would you 00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:48.519 tell me not to care about the creed? I'm not saying that. There's nothing wrong 00:46:48.519 --> 00:46:55.079 with creeds. There's nothing wrong with books of prayers. I know Catholics and 00:46:55.079 --> 00:47:00.519 Lutherans and Anglicans, they have their book of prayers. There's beautiful prayers 00:47:00.519 --> 00:47:04.840 that have been written throughout the centuries that should not triumph what 00:47:04.840 --> 00:47:10.719 scripture has to say. And so when we think of God breathing on to the words, like, 00:47:10.719 --> 00:47:16.679 did God breathe in Harry Potter? Did God breathe in Lord of the Rings? Or did 00:47:16.679 --> 00:47:23.559 God breathe on these other things? And the answer is no. So why would you elevate 00:47:23.559 --> 00:47:33.000 these other things above scripture? So our key takeaways. We've learned that the 00:47:33.000 --> 00:47:45.079 Bible is a library of books inspired by God. Every, you know, to know that all of 00:47:45.079 --> 00:47:54.000 these authors were led by the Holy Spirit. That's inspirational. I mean, sometimes 00:47:54.000 --> 00:47:57.759 when we're in our work and we're just getting in the groove and we're, you 00:47:57.759 --> 00:48:03.519 know, we're working and getting things done, that's just our own. That's our own 00:48:03.519 --> 00:48:07.960 mind, right? Some people call it flow or getting in the zone when you're working 00:48:07.960 --> 00:48:11.079 and working and you're just getting things done. Imagine having the 00:48:11.079 --> 00:48:15.799 overwhelming feeling of the Holy Spirit coming upon you to write things 00:48:15.799 --> 00:48:23.400 down, to write what would become the Word of God. I can't even, I can't even imagine. 00:48:23.400 --> 00:48:28.360 We also have this idea that Jesus existed before the creation of the world 00:48:28.360 --> 00:48:32.400 and that is something that is very difficult for people to fathom, to 00:48:32.400 --> 00:48:39.400 understand. How was Jesus there? Well, we think of let us, right? In that verse, 00:48:39.400 --> 00:48:46.079 let us make man in our image after our likeness. That is part of, yes, there's 00:48:46.079 --> 00:48:53.320 not a lot of verses on that, but that's one of them. Also, the idea that Jesus is 00:48:53.320 --> 00:48:59.240 the Creator, the Redeemer, and the Sustainer, holding everything together, 00:48:59.240 --> 00:49:05.720 being there at the creation of the world and then being the redemption, right? 00:49:05.719 --> 00:49:12.919 Jesus being the atoning sacrifice, the sacrificial lamb, the lamb that was slain. 00:49:12.919 --> 00:49:17.879 I think of so many songs that talk about worthy is the lamb that was slain. 00:49:17.879 --> 00:49:24.439 I think of what scripture has to say about, I mean, even when we think about 00:49:24.439 --> 00:49:33.679 God providing a sacrifice, we think of Abraham wanting to sacrifice Isaac. You 00:49:33.679 --> 00:49:38.960 read that, you think he's really going to do it. God will provide a sacrifice. 00:49:38.960 --> 00:49:43.679 Well, not only does God provide a sacrifice at that moment, but it's also 00:49:43.679 --> 00:49:48.679 foretelling that there will be a sacrifice. So it's a double whammy, if 00:49:48.679 --> 00:49:57.759 you will. It's truth being set in motion. And obviously, Moses is the writer of 00:49:57.760 --> 00:50:05.000 the Torah, right? In the Pentateuch, that the Bible was carried along, written 00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:10.200 through Moses, the prophets, Jesus and the Apostles. So it might be a strange 00:50:10.200 --> 00:50:19.600 thing to say, well, Jesus is the author. Well, he is. And it's, I would definitely 00:50:19.600 --> 00:50:23.840 say that people will struggle with that. I mean, even I have a difficulty with 00:50:23.840 --> 00:50:29.120 that, but we know that through these verses that Christ was there and that 00:50:29.120 --> 00:50:38.360 Christ's influence is there as the author, if you will. And I want you to take a 00:50:38.360 --> 00:50:46.000 moment, reflect on one thing you can apply to your life this week. And I want 00:50:46.000 --> 00:50:50.559 to ask you any questions you may have or any insight or anything you learn 00:50:50.559 --> 00:51:03.400 tonight. You've probably heard, Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. Sometimes, 00:51:03.400 --> 00:51:13.519 when we get so busy with things, it's focusing only on God's word. And it, it 00:51:13.519 --> 00:51:21.599 gets so easy for us to get distracted by our phones. I mean, even on my 00:51:21.599 --> 00:51:24.759 tabla right here, I got some notifications. I'm like, get out of here. I 00:51:24.759 --> 00:51:30.719 don't, I don't want you there. It's definitely becoming a lot more difficult 00:51:30.719 --> 00:51:38.920 to be able to, when you're, to have that intentionality, to take time to open the 00:51:38.920 --> 00:51:48.720 word of God and to focus on it. You know, we have so many shouting voices in the 00:51:48.720 --> 00:51:54.639 world, right? People who like to scream and yell and they like to, you know, I'm 00:51:54.639 --> 00:52:00.599 louder than you or you're louder than me or whatever. But oftentimes, God will 00:52:00.599 --> 00:52:08.840 speak to you in peace and quiet. When you're in a room and sometimes you just 00:52:08.840 --> 00:52:14.640 have to turn your phone off. Sometimes you have to just really make an effort. I'm 00:52:14.640 --> 00:52:20.039 not gonna have any electronics or, and then if you do that, you got to make sure 00:52:20.039 --> 00:52:23.960 you're not thinking about things you have to do or things that are in process, 00:52:23.960 --> 00:52:30.240 right? You can't think about the laundry. You can't think about, you know, what am I 00:52:30.240 --> 00:52:37.760 cooking tomorrow or, you know, what, what appointments? Sometimes you need to pray 00:52:37.760 --> 00:52:45.160 just to silence your mind and all of the thoughts that are going on. I know many 00:52:45.160 --> 00:52:49.840 times that I might be so busy. I feel like I don't have time for God's word and 00:52:49.840 --> 00:52:54.440 you can't let that happen. You have to really, sometimes there are days where 00:52:54.440 --> 00:53:00.000 it's easy, you know, like a Saturday. There's other days, man, it's so difficult. 00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:08.719 I always think of how, in scripture where it says, do not be conformed to the 00:53:08.719 --> 00:53:12.800 patterns of this age or the ways of the world, depending on what translation, but 00:53:12.800 --> 00:53:18.679 to be transformed by the renewal of your mind. There's so many ways we can look at 00:53:18.679 --> 00:53:25.440 that passage and definitely asking God to strengthen your mind, to renew your mind 00:53:25.440 --> 00:53:33.559 so that you can focus on His word. How do you want to speak to me today? 00:53:33.559 --> 00:53:43.079 How do you want that, God? And it's, it takes practice. It takes a lot of effort. 00:53:43.079 --> 00:53:48.240 And I find that sometimes when we're the most distracted is that's the times we 00:53:48.240 --> 00:53:52.000 need to pray the most or that's the time we need to open the word when we're 00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:57.159 overwhelmed or when we're filled with anxiety or you know, it's like, man, I 00:53:57.159 --> 00:54:03.559 did so much today and I just want to go to bed or I just want to do this. But 00:54:03.559 --> 00:54:09.760 definitely thinking about where your heart is, where your heart is, you could 00:54:09.760 --> 00:54:18.119 say where your mind is and just sometimes I know for me personally, there have been 00:54:18.119 --> 00:54:25.400 times I just sit there and I pray, I just close my eyes, I just pray and I ask 00:54:25.400 --> 00:54:31.440 God to get these thoughts on my head, you know. There's a song out there where it 00:54:31.440 --> 00:54:40.239 says, it's a song called Why Does the Sky? It's by, I think it's Matt Redman and 00:54:40.239 --> 00:54:48.919 the chorus is, let all the other names fade away until there is only you. And it's 00:54:48.919 --> 00:54:54.599 such a powerful verse where they're repeating it over and over. It's a very 00:54:54.599 --> 00:55:01.239 repeated lyric. But I think there's something to that though, where the 00:55:01.239 --> 00:55:06.319 names of other people, right? Where you could mean, you know, the people that 00:55:06.320 --> 00:55:11.559 you're interacting with until you're focusing on God. But it could also mean 00:55:11.559 --> 00:55:18.440 if we're lifting someone else's name over God, let's battle all fade away. 00:55:18.440 --> 00:55:25.559 Singing praises to the Lord, finding different ways to connect with God. How 00:55:25.559 --> 00:55:33.200 we go about that varies from person to person. I know for, I'm very blessed with 00:55:33.199 --> 00:55:39.559 my wife. We connect with the Lord in nature. That's always been the way that 00:55:39.559 --> 00:55:44.399 we, it's kind of how we connect with each other, but also how we connect with 00:55:44.399 --> 00:55:50.439 the Lord. You hike up a mountain and just look at all the, I don't know how many 00:55:50.439 --> 00:55:57.000 trees, I don't even want to try to count them, but you're overwhelmed by the 00:55:57.000 --> 00:56:03.360 splendor, the grandeur, the sights, the sounds, the sounds of the birds and 00:56:03.360 --> 00:56:09.920 hearing the wind through the trees. I feel like that's where I connect with 00:56:09.920 --> 00:56:14.079 the Lord the most. You got to make sure you bring a Bible as well, you know, in 00:56:14.079 --> 00:56:19.719 those moments. And if you don't, make sure you pray and just appreciate, God, you 00:56:19.719 --> 00:56:27.519 really made all this for us. I mean, I know there's a lot of people that don't 00:56:27.519 --> 00:56:33.759 like this world, but there's so much beauty to this world. To come to appreciate, 00:56:33.759 --> 00:56:41.119 you know, every, every plant that grows. I think it's in Job, the book of Job, where 00:56:41.119 --> 00:56:47.799 it says that, it might be Job, I'm trying to remember where it's at, but God is 00:56:47.800 --> 00:56:55.320 asking the question, who grows the crops? And I'm like, who, that's, that's actually 00:56:55.320 --> 00:57:00.200 really hard if you think about it, because we're giving the seeds to crops or 00:57:00.200 --> 00:57:06.240 plants. We put it in the ground and we water it and give it sunlight and give it 00:57:06.240 --> 00:57:13.160 time and do we really grow it though? And it's, it's this idea that is God that 00:57:13.159 --> 00:57:19.799 allows for these plants to grow. And it's, I just, when I think about that, when I 00:57:19.799 --> 00:57:25.879 read something like that, I'm like, okay, there's stuff that we have to do, but 00:57:25.879 --> 00:57:31.839 there's certainly a lot on God's part. And yeah, how, how you connect with God 00:57:31.839 --> 00:57:40.159 though, asking, singing songs, speak to me, Lord, speak to me, you know, I'm ready 00:57:40.159 --> 00:57:44.559 to listen. And sometimes we have to be careful when we ask, we're asking God, you 00:57:44.559 --> 00:57:49.719 know, what do you have for me today? It may not always be the thing we're, we're 00:57:49.719 --> 00:57:55.399 wanting to hear, but the things we're needing to hear. It's just like the famous, 00:57:55.399 --> 00:57:59.759 I'm gonna ask God for patience, well, God, why aren't you giving me an answer? 00:57:59.759 --> 00:58:06.879 Right? It's no different than when we're asking God to speak to us. I know that 00:58:06.880 --> 00:58:14.680 next, these next coming weeks, we will be doing the titles and the name of 00:58:14.680 --> 00:58:21.960 scriptures, as I mentioned, so the word, right? The word of God, the word of Christ, 00:58:21.960 --> 00:58:27.480 the word of truth, the holy scriptures, the oracles of God, that'll probably be 00:58:27.480 --> 00:58:34.200 next week. Then there's the name and the characteristics of scripture, how the 00:58:34.199 --> 00:58:40.000 word is pure, the word is true, it's perfect, it's living and active. And then 00:58:40.000 --> 00:58:45.279 I'm not sure how long this one, this, there's two other ones. The purpose of 00:58:45.279 --> 00:58:52.199 scripture, revealing the law of God, understanding humanities, lost state, how 00:58:52.199 --> 00:58:55.439 Christ is the Savior, there's a lot of depth in there. I don't think we'll be 00:58:55.439 --> 00:59:00.719 able to do that in one, that'll probably be two or three. And then the truths and 00:59:00.719 --> 00:59:08.519 the misconceptions about scripture, how, what happens if we ignore scripture or 00:59:08.519 --> 00:59:15.279 how we need to embrace the word, how we, you know, the Holy Spirit's role in 00:59:15.279 --> 00:59:21.439 interpretation or what is the consequence for rejecting God's word. I think 00:59:21.439 --> 00:59:27.079 it's all of that is, you know, it goes with our title, right? The purpose of 00:59:27.079 --> 00:59:31.559 our scripture, the nature of the scriptures, the power of the scriptures. 00:59:31.559 --> 00:59:37.239 And that's why we have that on our title here, right? The nature, the purpose, and 00:59:37.239 --> 00:59:44.840 the power of scripture. And I just, I like that a lot. I think it's definitely 00:59:44.840 --> 00:59:49.759 in depth. I know there's a lot of, there's lots of different styles of Bible 00:59:49.759 --> 00:59:54.759 study, right? Some will do revelations, some will do a topic, and I just felt, 00:59:54.760 --> 01:00:00.920 it's definitely a lot, and I do appreciate everyone, you guys all being here 01:00:00.920 --> 01:00:06.840 tonight. Any other thoughts, any other questions? I mean, well, it's when we 01:00:06.840 --> 01:00:12.800 think of when the apostle Paul is saying grace and peace from God our Father, 01:00:12.800 --> 01:00:19.720 right? It's the peace that is surpassing all understanding, right? The peace that is 01:00:19.719 --> 01:00:26.519 a result, a byproduct from the grace that we receive. It's one of the unique 01:00:26.519 --> 01:00:32.679 things about being a Christian is how there is a peace, right? It surpasses 01:00:32.679 --> 01:00:37.119 all understanding. Well, you can lose everything and still have the joy of the 01:00:37.119 --> 01:00:43.799 Lord. And that is something that to an outsider, an unbeliever, or someone 01:00:43.799 --> 01:00:48.439 hasn't believed, will not understand. How do you still have the joy of the Lord in 01:00:48.440 --> 01:00:53.960 your house when you just lost everything? Think of the book of Job. That's a 01:00:53.960 --> 01:01:03.079 perfect example. I mean, in one day he lost everything. Job lost everything, and I 01:01:03.079 --> 01:01:12.360 can't imagine, maybe that'll be a heavy sermon series one day, but then having 01:01:12.360 --> 01:01:18.000 your friends say, oh well, you know, are you praying enough or you know, what's 01:01:18.000 --> 01:01:28.199 wrong with you, Job? Yeah, and it's just thinking about that, but sure, Job got 01:01:28.199 --> 01:01:35.360 depressed. He felt his human emotions, but he was still faithful. And thinking 01:01:35.360 --> 01:01:41.920 about that is, although we, it's still very hard to understand. Like, whoa, you 01:01:41.920 --> 01:01:46.920 have a man who lost everything. I'd hate to lose everything. Would I be like 01:01:46.920 --> 01:01:52.240 Job? That's a much more difficult question to answer. 01:01:52.240 --> 01:02:01.039 Yeah, well, does it when this servants come up to Job one by one, like, oh man, I 01:02:01.039 --> 01:02:07.680 just, but definitely, yeah, there is that peace that comes from the Lord. There's 01:02:07.680 --> 01:02:15.400 the wisdom that comes from the Lord. When, you know, the idea is that receiving 01:02:15.400 --> 01:02:22.480 that peace, receiving that, having that sense of calm, knowing that, knowing 01:02:22.480 --> 01:02:25.599 where you're going, right? The famous question, do you know where you're gonna 01:02:25.599 --> 01:02:29.559 go when you die? Well, yeah, there's a peace that comes to that. It's like, I have 01:02:29.559 --> 01:02:35.360 nothing to fear, right? Yeah, I mean, the only fear we should have is the fear of 01:02:35.360 --> 01:02:43.240 the Lord. Having that awe and reverence for who God is and his creation, but also 01:02:43.239 --> 01:02:50.919 just knowing that no matter what politician, what changes happen in this 01:02:50.919 --> 01:02:57.759 country, what the wrong people do to us, yeah, it still hurts us absolutely, but 01:02:57.759 --> 01:03:03.759 it's not. There's something that is beyond. There's a love that's beyond me. 01:03:03.759 --> 01:03:10.959 There is peace that is beyond me that comes from God. And I think that's the 01:03:10.960 --> 01:03:14.440 most powerful thing about being a Christian. It's the most reassuring 01:03:14.440 --> 01:03:22.599 thing of being a Christian is having that peace. It's, you know, we think of how the 01:03:22.599 --> 01:03:27.920 world does things, you know, Ecclesiastes, there's nothing new under the Sun. How 01:03:27.920 --> 01:03:33.639 often do people want to do the eye for an eye thing, right? You stole from me, I'm 01:03:33.639 --> 01:03:38.679 gonna steal from you, or you did wrong to me, I want to do wrong to you. Yet God's 01:03:38.679 --> 01:03:45.639 provided a much better way of loving us and forgiving us, even when it's 01:03:45.639 --> 01:03:50.440 difficult for people to love themselves, even when it's difficult for people to 01:03:50.440 --> 01:03:56.199 forgive themselves, you know, when you work with teenagers or you work with 01:03:56.199 --> 01:04:02.839 adults even, sometimes we're harder on ourselves than God is. Knowing that God's 01:04:02.839 --> 01:04:08.359 going to forgive us, he forgives us of our sins, why are we so hard on ourselves? 01:04:08.360 --> 01:04:14.960 Just like when we did the Jonah series, right? When Nineveh was saved, right? It's 01:04:14.960 --> 01:04:19.280 a wonderful thing. The whole city of Nineveh repents and turns to God, but yet 01:04:19.280 --> 01:04:27.840 Jonah is angry, and God asks him, why are you angry Jonah? Well, because he was so 01:04:27.840 --> 01:04:31.960 entrenched, he was so full of anger that he didn't see the good that was 01:04:31.960 --> 01:04:40.360 happening. So it's just definitely a lot. Well, let's go ahead, let's close in 01:04:40.360 --> 01:04:49.639 prayer, and Father we thank you for bringing us here tonight. You are the 01:04:49.639 --> 01:04:58.079 divine author, the inspirer of the writings of scripture. You sent your Holy 01:04:58.079 --> 01:05:04.920 Spirit to overwhelm the writers, to inspire them to take the pen if you will, 01:05:04.920 --> 01:05:11.119 and to write down your word. We've learned tonight how in the beginning was the 01:05:11.119 --> 01:05:17.920 word, learn about Jesus Christ as the word, such complicated language, but 01:05:17.920 --> 01:05:26.319 beautiful language. We learn more about how your son Jesus is the creator, 01:05:26.320 --> 01:05:31.800 redeemer, and sustainer. Very beautiful language and how you hold all of us 01:05:31.800 --> 01:05:38.280 together. We ask that you are with us as we go from this place, and we may 01:05:38.280 --> 01:05:46.080 grow in faith, continue to grow. We're always learning about you, we're always 01:05:46.080 --> 01:05:54.039 growing. May we continue to grow closer to you, and we just are in awe and in 01:05:54.039 --> 01:06:01.119 wonder of your word, who you are, what you have done, and what you continue to do. 01:06:01.119 --> 01:06:05.880 Providing a way of salvation through faith in Jesus is the most beautiful 01:06:05.880 --> 01:06:11.880 thing, and as we've learned tonight, the mystery of Christ, the mystery of the 01:06:11.880 --> 01:06:18.320 gospel that you had a plan all along to provide salvation for all who believe in 01:06:18.320 --> 01:06:26.559 you. Be with us as we go from this place. May we live in love like you. May we, 01:06:26.559 --> 01:06:36.320 our love shine upon others. May the peace of God, may your peace God be with us. 01:06:36.320 --> 01:06:45.960 And as we've read in Romans, you are able, the mystery that was kept for 01:06:45.960 --> 01:06:52.599 secret so long ago has been disclosed through the prophets, through the 01:06:52.599 --> 01:07:01.039 apostles. To you be the glory and the honor, and we just are in awe and 01:07:01.039 --> 01:07:09.079 thankful for your word, for salvation. May we be beacons of hope for others. It is 01:07:09.079 --> 01:07:18.119 in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.