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What Is The Bible: 2 Peter 1:16-21 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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Please take out your copy of God's Word and join me in 2 Peter chapter 1.
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I believe that we can get the answers with all of their complexities and all of their applications worked out in our minds to these three questions.
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We will have a firm foundation on which to build a life that is pleasing to God.
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I settled in on these three questions after being asked a question many years ago.
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A man that was a missionary, many of you know, Jay Whetstone, asked me over tea at his house one afternoon,
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what do you hope to accomplish with college students in their three to four years in Dahlonega?
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And I didn't really have an answer.
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I could have begun to talk through some things.
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I mean, there was stuff on my mind, oh, well, we want students to do the following.
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But what he was asking was, what's your plan?
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Is there a system in place for young people when they come and give you some of their time while they're at school in Dahlonega?
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So I didn't have a confident answer, but I knew that I should.
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There should be some things, some anchors that I would say, yes, we want to make sure that college students know certain things.
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And so in rolling that around and considering most important things, I kind of settled in on these three questions,
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which we answer all the time around here.
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This is not the first time we've taken up these questions.
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But I thought it would be helpful for us to do so systematically over the next three weeks.
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And those questions are, what is the Bible?
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What is the Bible?
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What is the Bible?
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And what is the church?
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And there's so much confusion about the answer to these three questions.
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You may think already, oh, I know the answer to those three questions.
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You may find that you don't.
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I knew that if we could get answers to these three questions concreted in the minds of college students or anyone for that matter,
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we would be doing quite well together as a church.
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And so we've been about that.
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We weave the answers to these questions in and out of all sorts of things that we do.
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But specifically, I want to stop and think about these things before we get back to our normal verse-by-verse exposition of a book of the Bible.
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So the question that I want to ask and answer, at least in part, right, with the best of my ability, my frailty this morning,
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what is the Bible?
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And I want to look largely at 2 Peter 1, verses 16 through 21.
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And we'll look at some other texts as well this morning.
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So before I read this, beloved, I want to remind you that this is God's Word to us.
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It was written for His glory and our good.
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And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
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Peter writes, verse 16,
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For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
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but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
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For when He received honor and glory from God the Father,
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and the voice was born to Him by the majestic glory,
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this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.
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We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven,
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for we were with Him on the holy mountain.
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And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed,
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to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place
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until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
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Knowing this, first of all,
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that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation,
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for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man,
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but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
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What an astounding text.
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Let's look at its context a bit before we proceed.
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Following Peter's greeting,
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Peter tells his readers in chapter 1, verses 3 and 4,
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that God's divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness
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through the knowledge of Him who has called us to His own glory and excellence,
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by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises,
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so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature,
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having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desires.
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So Peter says to his hearers, those who are in the faith,
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we have been granted power for life and godliness through, what?
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Through knowledge.
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We have been granted precious and very great promises.
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His promises made already, given to us,
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wherever those promises once made in the Scripture.
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We have been granted to become partakers of the divine nature,
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and we have escaped from our sin.
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By the Scripture, this knowledge that comes to us,
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given to us for all things concerning life,
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pertaining to life and to godliness.
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And he goes on then to instruct his readers
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to make their calling and election sure
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by pursuing holiness
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and seeing that holiness,
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the holiness that's being birthed in them as they pursue it,
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as evidence of their standing in Jesus Christ.
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to make sure they're in the faith,
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to be confident of it by pursuing Holy Scripture.
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He says in verse 10 and 11,
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Therefore, brothers,
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be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election,
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for if you practice these qualities,
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you will never fall.
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For in this way there will be richly provided for you
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an entrance into the eternal kingdom
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of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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And so it's in this context that Peter says
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in the beginning of verse 16,
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For we did not follow cleverly devised myths
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when we made known to you the power and coming
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of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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And he goes on to say,
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but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.
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It's a good try, Cheyenne.
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It was good.
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I thought you had her settled too.
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Verse 17,
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For when He, being Jesus Christ,
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received honor and glory from God the Father,
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and the voice was born to Him by the majestic glory,
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This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.
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We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven,
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for we were with Him on the holy mountain.
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And what is Peter referring to?
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The transfiguration of Jesus Christ.
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When they went up with Him,
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James and Peter and John on the mountain,
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and Jesus' image was changed,
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made more glorious,
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they got to see this happen.
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And God spoke over Him,
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This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased.
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What an astounding thing to be able to witness.
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What an incredible thing that these three men,
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the only three in history,
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were able to see.
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And you can read about that in Mark 9,
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2-7,
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Matthew 17,
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Luke 9,
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they're all accounts of what happened.
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It's amazing.
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It's an incredible thing
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that they were witnesses of.
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But then Peter does,
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in verse 19,
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the most astounding thing.
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He says,
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And we have the prophetic word
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more fully confirmed.
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We use, typically,
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I think almost all of us are using
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the ESV translation of the Bible.
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If you have the ESV 2001,
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which I do,
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and my brain went,
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what,
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as I copied and pasted out of Lagos,
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this text,
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ESV 2001 says,
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And we have something more sure,
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the prophetic word.
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We have something more sure,
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or we have the prophetic word
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more fully confirmed.
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Peter is saying,
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We have a greater confidence
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confidence in the Scripture.
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We were with Jesus
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on the Mount of Transfiguration.
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We heard God speak from heaven,
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but we have a greater confidence
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in the Bible.
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It's incredible.
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What an astounding thing
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that he is saying.
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And it has much bearing for us today.
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Oh, wouldn't it have been glorious
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to be on the Mount of Transfiguration?
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It wouldn't have been grand
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to behold such a thing.
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Peter says,
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We have a more sure thing.
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We have a greater confidence
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in this text.
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My prayer for us this morning
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is that we would have
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the same kind of confidence
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that Peter had in his Bible.
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So here's the summary answer
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to the question,
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What is the Bible
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for our consideration this morning?
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The Bible is God's
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inspired,
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inerrant,
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authoritative,
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clear,
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necessary,
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and sufficient word
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to mankind.
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I'm going to break that
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into six statements
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to make it easier to digest.
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And I've included those
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on the back of your bulletin
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to aid you this morning.
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Before I say anything else,
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I just want to point out
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that I misspelled
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the word inerrant,
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which I realized too late.
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It is spelled
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I-N-E-R-R-A-N-T.
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And maybe God,
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in his providence,
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permitted such a thing
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so that I can make the point
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that he's inerrant
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and I am not.
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Such creative ways
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to keep me very humble.
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So, anyway,
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now you know how to spell
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inerrant properly
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and not the way I spelled it.
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First,
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the Bible is God's
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inspired word
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to mankind.
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The Bible is unlike
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any book
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ever written.
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At the most fundamental level,
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it is both
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authored by human beings
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and by God.
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The word Christians
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have commonly used
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to describe this process
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is this word
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inspired.
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This means that the Bible
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is the product
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of God inspiring
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and using
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human authors
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to write
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his perfect
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holy words
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without error
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or defect.
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speaking through
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men's
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personalities,
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through their
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circumstance,
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and through their
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pens.
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Two passages
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that explicitly tell us
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the Bible is God's
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inspired word.
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First,
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2 Timothy,
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chapter 3,
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and verse 16.
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Which is,
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all scripture is
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breathed out
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by God.
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You may be
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familiar with
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this.
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The Greek word
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used there for
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breathed out
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is actually the word
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expired.
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Much the way we say
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that a person dies
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when they expire,
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they breathe their
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last breath.
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The emphasis here
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is that it comes
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literally from God.
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It is God
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breathed.
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And where we pull
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the word inspired
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is breathed
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into.
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God breathed out
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but into
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men who
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pin down
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his
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very
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words.
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The second text
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text is from
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our text this
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morning.
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2 Peter,
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chapter 1,
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verse 20 and
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21.
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Peter says,
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knowing this,
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first of all,
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that no prophecy
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of scripture
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comes from
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someone's own
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interpretation,
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for no prophecy
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was ever produced
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by the will of
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men,
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but men spoke
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from God
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as they were
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carried along
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by the Holy Spirit,
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as they were
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inspired to write.
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the Bible
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originated
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not with the
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will of its
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human writers,
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but with the
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will of God
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the Holy Spirit.
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Over 3,000
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times,
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biblical writers
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claim to have
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received their
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messages from
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God.
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God the Holy
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Spirit
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inspired,
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breathed out,
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or originated
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the scriptures
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through human
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writers.
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So to be
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clear,
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this does not
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mean that God
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dictated the
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Bible to its
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human authors,
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right?
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That he spoke
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in all cases
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audibly,
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and they just
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pinned down
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exactly what he
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said.
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In some cases,
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this is the way
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we receive the
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text.
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But rather,
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they wrote
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with their own
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creativity,
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and in their
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own styles,
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and their own
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vocabulary,
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accomplishing all
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along exactly
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what God wanted
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them to accomplish.
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The word
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carried along
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in 2 Peter
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is the same
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word used to
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describe Paul's
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ship in Acts
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that's carried
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along by the
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storm,
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and then he's
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shipwrecked,
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and there's a
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wind that drove
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them outside of
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their course.
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A ship has
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sails to catch
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the wind,
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a keel to
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prevent it from
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tipping over,
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a rudder to
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steer it to
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some degree,
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but ultimately,
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a ship goes
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where the wind
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carries it.
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So, this is
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our understanding
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of the
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Scripture being
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inspired,
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given to us
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by God
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Himself.
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And there's a
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lot of doubt
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in our day
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about this.
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How do we
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know?
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How do we
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know that the
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very copy you
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have before you
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is God's
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inspired word
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to mankind?
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I want to make
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briefly,
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I hope,
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for you,
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an argument
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for the
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Old Testament
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and an
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argument for
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the New.
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As I'm doing
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this, if your
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brain is panicking
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because of the
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length of the
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definition I gave
15:47
you, we're
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going to move
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much more
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quickly through
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some of those
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other doctrines
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of Scripture.
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But this one I
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think we need
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to spend some
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time on to
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make sure that
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we can get
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God's inspiration
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of His word.
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So, an argument
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for the Old
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Testament.
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The Lord
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Jesus Christ,
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the one who
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we say to be
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followers of,
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validated the
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Old Testament's
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inspiration by
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quoting from
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all three
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sections.
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The law,
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the prophets,
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and the
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writings.
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Commonly
16:20
understood Hebrew
16:22
categories for
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the Old
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Testament.
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He endorsed
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the inspiration
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and authority
16:28
of the Old
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Testament in
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detail.
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We've studied
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through the
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Sermon on the
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Mount,
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Matthew 5,
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verse 17,
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18.
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He elevates
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it.
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He doesn't
16:38
do away
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with it,
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but He
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helps us
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to properly
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understand it.
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And the
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Old Testament
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promises are
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made,
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and the
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New Testament
16:47
promises are
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fulfilled.
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We get the
16:50
proper lens
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by which to
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view the
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Old Testament
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through.
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We don't
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discard it,
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but we
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continue to
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pick it up
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and understand
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it through
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the lens
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of Jesus
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Christ.
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The Bible
17:05
of Jesus'
17:05
day is
17:06
what we
17:07
call our
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Old
17:08
Testament.
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39 first
17:10
books that
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we have
17:11
in our
17:12
Scripture.
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It was not
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structured the
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same way we
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have it
17:15
structured today,
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but it was
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the same
17:17
nonetheless.
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Luke 11,
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you might
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want to
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turn here
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with me.
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Luke 11
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and verse
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49.
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In this
17:42
text,
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Jesus is
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indicting the
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Pharisees.
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So this is
17:45
what He's
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accomplishing as
17:47
the indictment
17:47
of the
17:47
Pharisees,
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but He does
17:48
something really
17:49
unique,
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something that
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should draw
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our attention
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and help
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us to see
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what was
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Jesus'
17:57
Bible?
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What's He
17:58
referring to
17:59
as He
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references the
18:00
Scriptures in
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His ministry?
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So here's the
18:03
text.
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Therefore,
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verse 49 of
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chapter 11,
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therefore also
18:07
the wisdom of
18:08
God said,
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I will send
18:10
them prophets
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and apostles,
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some of whom
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they will kill
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and persecute,
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so that the
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blood of all
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the prophets
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shed from the
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foundation of
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the world
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may be charged
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against this
18:21
generation.
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From the
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blood of
18:24
Abel to
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the blood
18:25
of Zechariah,
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who perished
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between the
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altar and
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the sanctuary,
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yes,
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I tell you,
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it will be
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required of
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this generation.
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So He's
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saying,
18:34
He's
18:34
indicting
18:35
them for
18:35
all of
18:36
the prophets
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that had
18:38
been killed.
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And He
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uses two
18:41
names.
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Abel,
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who here
18:44
Jesus is
18:44
saying is
18:44
the very
18:45
first prophet.
18:46
Genesis
18:47
chapter 4,
18:47
verse 10,
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And the
18:49
Lord said,
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What have
18:50
you done?
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The voice
18:51
of your
18:52
brother's
18:52
blood is
18:53
crying to
18:54
me from
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the ground.
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Right?
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Here Jesus
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calls Abel
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the very
18:59
first prophet
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who was
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killed by
19:02
his brother
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Cain.
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The second
19:06
is a man
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named
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Zechariah.
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So from
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Abel
19:11
to Zechariah,
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Zechariah,
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and remember
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this was
19:14
not written
19:14
in English,
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so it's
19:15
not A to
19:16
Z.
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It's not
19:16
what Jesus
19:17
is accomplishing
19:17
here for
19:18
us,
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although it's
19:19
cool that
19:20
that happens.
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From Abel
19:22
to Zechariah,
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why is
19:25
he the
19:25
bookend?
19:25
Why is
19:26
he the
19:26
other
19:26
end?
19:26
Why from
19:27
Abel
19:27
to
19:28
Zechariah?
19:31
Here's
19:32
where we
19:32
read about
19:32
the death
19:34
of Zechariah.
19:34
Second
19:35
Chronicles
19:35
chapter 24,
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verse 20
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and 21,
19:38
Then the
19:38
Spirit of
19:38
God clothed
19:39
Zechariah,
19:39
the son of
19:40
Jehoiada,
19:41
the priest,
19:41
and he
19:41
stood above
19:42
the people
19:42
and said
19:43
to them,
19:43
Thus says
19:44
God,
19:45
Why do
19:45
you break
19:45
the commandments
19:46
of the
19:46
Lord so
19:46
that you
19:47
cannot
19:47
prosper?
19:48
Because
19:49
you have
19:49
forsaken
19:49
the Lord,
19:50
he has
19:50
forsaken
19:51
you.
19:52
Very
19:52
prophetic.
19:54
They didn't
19:54
like it.
19:55
They conspired
19:56
against him
19:56
and by
19:57
command of
19:57
the king
19:57
they stoned
19:58
him with
19:59
stones in
19:59
the court
20:00
of the
20:00
house
20:01
of the
20:02
Lord.
20:03
So this
20:03
is the
20:04
Zechariah.
20:05
So Abel,
20:06
Genesis
20:07
chapter 4,
20:08
Zechariah,
20:08
2 Chronicles
20:09
chapter 24,
20:11
but
20:12
chronologically,
20:14
walking through
20:15
history,
20:16
the timeline,
20:16
chronologically,
20:17
the last
20:19
martyr of
20:19
the Old
20:20
Testament was
20:20
Uriah,
20:22
whose death
20:23
is described
20:23
in Jeremiah
20:24
chapter 26.
20:27
Chronologically,
20:29
so Jesus
20:30
isn't following
20:30
chronology then.
20:32
He's not
20:32
saying from
20:33
the very
20:33
first one
20:34
to the
20:34
very last
20:35
one
20:36
martyred.
20:38
So why?
20:39
Abel to
20:40
Zechariah.
20:41
This is
20:43
cool.
20:45
The Jewish
20:46
Bible of
20:46
Jesus'
20:47
day was
20:47
ordered
20:48
differently
20:49
than ours.
20:52
Our Old
20:52
Testament is
20:53
grouped by
20:54
literary
20:54
type.
20:57
Jesus'
20:57
Bible was
20:58
ordered in
20:59
a different
21:00
way.
21:00
1 and 2
21:01
Chronicles were
21:01
one book,
21:02
just called
21:02
Chronicles,
21:04
and was
21:04
written as
21:05
an overview
21:06
of Israel's
21:07
history with
21:07
a particular
21:08
emphasis on
21:09
David and
21:10
the temple.
21:12
It was
21:12
placed at
21:13
the end
21:13
of Jesus'
21:14
canon,
21:15
this Old
21:15
Testament
21:16
Bible that
21:17
they had,
21:18
to help
21:18
God's people
21:19
look forward
21:20
to a better
21:21
David and
21:22
a better
21:23
worship.
21:24
It was
21:24
placed at
21:24
the end
21:25
there.
21:25
It was
21:25
meant to
21:26
make them
21:26
expectant of
21:27
the coming
21:28
Messiah.
21:31
So in
21:31
Luke 11,
21:32
when Jesus
21:33
says,
21:33
from the
21:34
blood of
21:34
Abel to
21:34
the blood
21:35
of Zechariah,
21:36
he's
21:37
indicting
21:38
the generation
21:39
for the
21:39
death of
21:40
the prophets
21:41
of his
21:42
Bible.
21:44
They would
21:44
have gotten,
21:45
they knew
21:46
in the reading
21:46
of their
21:47
scripture,
21:47
Abel was
21:47
the first,
21:48
Zechariah was
21:49
the last,
21:50
as they would
21:50
have read
21:51
it in order
21:51
as it was
21:52
printed,
21:53
read to
21:54
them in
21:54
that day.
21:57
Are you
21:57
catching
21:57
this?
21:58
This was
21:59
the Bible
22:00
of Jesus'
22:01
day.
22:02
The Old
22:03
Testament is
22:04
the scripture
22:04
that he's
22:05
referring to.
22:05
This is
22:06
the scripture
22:07
that Peter
22:08
is referring
22:09
to.
22:10
He's saying
22:11
you would
22:11
do well
22:12
to pay
22:12
attention
22:13
to it,
22:14
to these
22:14
New Testament
22:14
Christians.
22:16
Catching
22:16
that's
22:17
important.
22:17
There are
22:17
many people
22:18
in our
22:18
day that
22:19
are trying
22:19
to undo
22:20
that,
22:21
that are
22:22
trying to
22:22
say to
22:22
us that
22:22
the Old
22:23
Testament
22:23
ought to
22:23
be used
22:24
merely for
22:25
history and
22:26
inspiration.
22:27
I quote.
22:29
It's so
22:30
much more.
22:32
It's still
22:32
God's
22:33
inspired
22:34
word.
22:35
This was
22:36
the text
22:37
that New
22:37
Testament
22:37
Christians
22:38
had,
22:38
this Old
22:39
Testament.
22:40
Jesus'
22:40
Bible is
22:41
what they
22:42
had in
22:44
their day.
22:45
It is a
22:46
precious book
22:47
that should
22:47
be read
22:48
and rightly
22:49
understood,
22:49
and that is
22:50
not an easy
22:50
thing to do.
22:51
It is an
22:51
ancient,
22:52
ancient text.
22:54
Trying to
22:54
sort through
22:55
promises
22:57
already fulfilled
22:58
and promises
22:59
yet to be
22:59
fulfilled is a
23:00
challenge of
23:01
the Old
23:02
Testament.
23:03
But because
23:04
it's a
23:04
challenge,
23:04
we should
23:05
not dismiss
23:06
it.
23:07
Because it's
23:07
a little
23:08
hard to
23:08
understand.
23:09
We shouldn't
23:09
just do
23:09
away with
23:10
it,
23:10
but we
23:10
should get
23:11
in there
23:11
and do
23:11
the work
23:12
of understanding
23:13
it because
23:13
it's God's
23:14
inspired word.
23:17
The Old
23:17
Testament.
23:18
Okay,
23:19
the New
23:19
Testament.
23:20
Make an
23:20
argument for
23:21
the New
23:22
Testament.
23:24
A little
23:25
more difficult.
23:25
the Lord
23:27
also prepared
23:29
his disciples
23:29
for the
23:30
coming of
23:31
the New
23:32
Testament.
23:33
John 16
23:34
verse 12
23:35
says he'd
23:36
given the
23:36
spirit that
23:37
will lead
23:37
them into
23:37
all truth.
23:39
And so
23:39
he endorsed
23:40
it in
23:40
principle.
23:41
I'm going
23:42
to lead
23:43
you into
23:43
all truth
23:44
in principle
23:45
to the
23:45
apostles.
23:48
Paul received
23:49
revelation
23:49
pertaining to
23:50
redemption.
23:51
Galatians 1
23:52
verses 11
23:53
through 17
23:53
and expected
23:55
his writings
23:56
to be
23:57
received as
23:58
from God.
23:59
2 Thessalonians
24:00
chapter 2
24:01
verse 13
24:02
and verse
24:02
15.
24:04
Peter
24:05
classified
24:05
Paul's
24:06
writings
24:06
with the
24:08
inspired Old
24:08
Testament.
24:09
2 Peter
24:10
chapter 3
24:11
verse 16.
24:14
So we get
24:14
these hints
24:15
in our text
24:16
that's equating
24:17
it with the
24:18
Old Testament
24:18
as the
24:19
scriptures.
24:20
scriptures.
24:22
But how do
24:23
we end up
24:23
with our
24:23
New Testament?
24:25
How were
24:25
the books
24:26
that we
24:26
have,
24:27
the 27
24:28
books of
24:28
the New
24:29
Testament,
24:29
considered
24:30
and put
24:31
into the
24:32
canon of
24:33
scripture,
24:34
giving us
24:34
a total
24:34
of 66
24:35
books?
24:37
Well,
24:37
they were
24:37
considered
24:38
by this
24:38
criteria.
24:41
First,
24:42
the book
24:42
had to be
24:42
written by
24:43
a recognized
24:44
apostle.
24:46
Paul or
24:47
Peter would
24:47
be a fantastic
24:48
example of
24:49
that.
24:50
Secondly,
24:51
it had to
24:51
be written
24:52
by or
24:53
written by
24:54
somebody
24:54
associated
24:55
with the
24:57
recognized
24:57
apostle like
24:59
Luke or
25:01
Mark.
25:04
Third,
25:06
it went
25:06
through the
25:06
criteria of
25:07
truthfulness.
25:09
Deuteronomy
25:10
chapter 18
25:10
verse 20
25:11
and 22.
25:12
If a prophet
25:13
claims to be
25:13
speaking from
25:14
me and what
25:15
he has said
25:15
is not true,
25:16
then he has
25:17
not spoken
25:17
from me.
25:18
So they
25:20
were carefully
25:21
rolled around
25:22
and waited
25:23
and looked
25:23
at,
25:24
examined,
25:25
is this
25:25
consistent
25:26
with the
25:26
truth we
25:26
already have?
25:29
It went
25:29
through that
25:30
filter before
25:30
it was
25:31
considered to
25:32
be part of
25:32
the canon
25:33
of scripture.
25:35
Faithfulness,
25:35
much like
25:36
truthfulness,
25:37
right,
25:38
to previously
25:38
accepted
25:39
canonical
25:40
writings.
25:42
Again,
25:42
is it
25:43
contradictory in
25:44
any way to
25:44
other writings
25:45
that we've
25:46
already
25:46
affirmed
25:47
as
25:47
scripture.
25:50
Fifth,
25:52
confirmed
25:52
by
25:53
Christ,
25:55
prophet,
25:56
or an
25:57
apostle.
25:58
We have
25:58
some examples
25:59
of that.
25:59
Luke
25:59
chapter 24
26:00
verse 44,
26:01
2 Peter
26:01
chapter 3
26:01
verse 16.
26:03
Peter talks
26:04
about,
26:04
in that case,
26:05
2 Peter,
26:06
Paul's writings
26:07
being scripture.
26:09
And six,
26:11
the church's
26:12
usage
26:13
and
26:14
recognition.
26:16
The church
26:16
used these
26:17
writings,
26:18
these New
26:18
Testament
26:18
writings,
26:20
and was
26:20
deeply
26:21
edified by
26:22
them.
26:23
They were
26:23
believed
26:24
over time
26:25
that they
26:25
were from
26:25
God.
26:27
And so
26:27
the final
26:28
acceptance
26:28
of the
26:29
recognition
26:30
of the
26:30
66 books
26:31
of the
26:31
Bible
26:32
as
26:33
scripture
26:33
took place
26:34
at a
26:35
gathering
26:36
of church
26:37
leaders
26:37
called the
26:38
Senate of
26:38
Carthage
26:39
in
26:39
A.D.
26:40
397.
26:41
So quite
26:42
a bit
26:42
of time
26:43
after
26:43
Jesus'
26:44
life,
26:45
death,
26:45
and
26:46
resurrection.
26:48
Now,
26:49
there could
26:50
be much
26:50
criticism
26:51
of the
26:51
Bible
26:52
at this
26:53
point.
26:54
Oh,
26:54
so many
26:55
years
26:55
later,
26:56
I would
26:57
counterpoint,
26:57
but look
26:58
at the
26:58
time they
26:58
gave
26:59
to
26:59
carefully
27:00
weigh
27:00
and measure
27:01
and see
27:02
these works
27:02
out,
27:03
see them
27:04
edify in
27:05
the church.
27:06
The claim
27:07
is always
27:07
that the
27:08
church
27:08
made the
27:09
Bible,
27:11
selected
27:11
what it
27:12
did and
27:12
didn't
27:12
want to
27:13
be
27:13
contained
27:13
within
27:14
it,
27:15
but we
27:15
like to
27:16
rather think
27:16
in these
27:17
terms,
27:17
the church
27:18
did not
27:18
make the
27:18
Bible,
27:19
but rather
27:19
the Bible
27:21
made the
27:21
church.
27:23
And they
27:24
were merely
27:24
recognizing
27:26
that,
27:26
verifying
27:27
its use
27:28
and its
27:29
veracity.
27:32
Now,
27:32
to be added
27:33
to this,
27:34
in much
27:35
less measure,
27:37
it's worth
27:38
mentioning
27:38
our own
27:39
experience
27:40
with the
27:41
scriptures,
27:42
what John
27:42
Piper calls
27:43
a peculiar
27:43
glory.
27:45
The longer
27:46
I spend
27:47
studying the
27:48
Bible,
27:50
the more
27:52
flawlessly
27:53
I see it
27:54
fit together.
27:56
Even
27:57
pieces written
27:57
thousands
27:58
of years
27:59
apart,
28:01
the more
28:01
it feels
28:02
like the
28:03
work of
28:03
God.
28:03
how
28:04
would
28:05
such
28:05
a
28:05
magnificent
28:06
work
28:07
come
28:07
together
28:08
in
28:08
this
28:08
way,
28:09
written
28:09
by so
28:09
many
28:10
people
28:10
across
28:10
so
28:11
much
28:11
time,
28:12
if it
28:12
were
28:12
not
28:13
inspired
28:13
by
28:14
God.
28:15
The
28:16
more
28:16
I
28:16
study it,
28:17
the more
28:17
astounded
28:18
I am
28:18
by its
28:19
interconnectedness
28:21
and all
28:22
of its
28:22
beauty.
28:25
I know
28:26
that's not
28:27
something you
28:27
can break
28:28
your life
28:28
on,
28:29
me saying
28:29
it feels
28:30
like God's
28:31
word.
28:32
You
28:32
shouldn't
28:32
bank your
28:33
life on
28:33
that.
28:35
But for
28:35
me,
28:35
in addition
28:36
to more
28:36
objective
28:37
arguments,
28:37
I have
28:38
to say
28:38
it feels
28:39
like what
28:39
it claims
28:40
to be.
28:42
God
28:42
illuminates
28:43
the text
28:44
to me.
28:45
He makes
28:46
it come
28:47
alive as
28:48
I pick
28:48
it up
28:48
and read
28:49
it.
28:51
Paul wrote
28:51
in 1 Corinthians
28:52
chapter 2
28:52
verse 14,
28:54
the natural
28:55
person does
28:56
not accept
28:57
the things
28:57
of the
28:57
Spirit of
28:58
God,
28:58
for they
28:58
are folly
28:59
to him,
29:00
and he's
29:00
not able
29:01
to understand
29:01
them because
29:02
they are
29:02
spiritually
29:03
discerned.
29:05
So those
29:05
of us who
29:06
have the
29:06
Spirit of
29:06
God,
29:07
and I
29:08
know this
29:08
is a
29:08
difficult
29:08
claim to
29:09
make to
29:09
someone who's
29:09
not a
29:10
follower of
29:10
Christ,
29:11
we have
29:12
the Spirit
29:12
of God,
29:12
and the
29:12
Spirit of
29:13
God leads
29:13
us to
29:13
the truth,
29:14
and where
29:14
do we
29:14
find the
29:15
truth?
29:16
God's
29:16
inspired
29:17
word.
29:19
So what
29:20
we do is
29:20
we put the
29:21
truth in
29:21
front of
29:21
people as
29:22
often as
29:22
we can,
29:23
that the
29:24
Spirit might
29:25
awaken them
29:26
to the
29:26
truth of
29:28
the gospel.
29:29
So we
29:31
contend that
29:31
the Bible is
29:32
God's
29:32
inspired word
29:34
to mankind.
29:37
If then
29:37
the Bible is
29:39
God's inspired
29:40
word, then it
29:40
follows that it
29:42
is also his
29:43
inerrant word,
29:46
spelled properly
29:47
I-N-E-R-R-A-N-T.
29:50
Inerrant.
29:52
Just to prove I
29:53
wouldn't get out
29:53
in a Bible
29:53
bee on that
29:54
one.
29:54
The Bible is
29:56
God's inerrant
29:57
word to
29:58
mankind.
30:00
To say that
30:00
the Bible is
30:01
inerrant is
30:01
to say that
30:02
the Bible in
30:03
the original
30:04
manuscripts does
30:05
not contain
30:06
any error.
30:08
Because the
30:09
Bible is God's
30:09
inspired word,
30:10
then it cannot
30:11
contain error.
30:13
If we are
30:14
not able to
30:15
reconcile something
30:16
that seems to
30:16
be an error in
30:17
the Bible,
30:18
it must be
30:19
assumed that
30:19
there is
30:20
something wrong
30:20
with us,
30:22
not that there
30:23
is something
30:23
wrong with
30:24
the Bible.
30:26
Numbers 23,
30:27
verse 19,
30:29
says,
30:30
God is not
30:31
man that
30:32
he should
30:33
lie,
30:33
or a son
30:33
of man that
30:34
he should
30:35
change his
30:36
mind.
30:38
Has he
30:38
said,
30:39
and will
30:39
he not
30:40
do it?
30:40
Or has
30:41
he spoken,
30:42
and will
30:42
he not
30:43
fulfill it?
30:45
God can
30:46
not lie.
30:47
He would
30:48
not be
30:48
God if
30:49
he could.
30:49
He is
30:50
truth.
30:52
Therefore,
30:52
anything written
30:53
by him
30:53
must be
30:54
true.
30:57
So the
30:57
Bible can
30:59
be trusted,
30:59
and it
31:00
should be
31:01
trusted,
31:02
even when
31:03
it's difficult
31:03
to understand.
31:05
We put
31:05
ourselves
31:05
under it
31:06
and say,
31:08
I'm not
31:09
the most
31:10
brilliant person
31:10
to have
31:10
ever lived.
31:12
I hope you
31:12
know that
31:13
of yourself.
31:13
Many of us
31:14
act like we
31:14
don't.
31:16
But even
31:17
the most
31:17
brilliant person
31:18
to have
31:18
ever lived
31:18
is not
31:19
God.
31:20
God.
31:21
So we
31:21
do the
31:22
labor of
31:22
getting in
31:23
there and
31:23
trying to
31:23
work this
31:24
thing out.
31:26
Understand it
31:27
as we
31:27
should.
31:30
So the
31:31
Bible is
31:31
inspired,
31:32
and because
31:32
it's inspired,
31:32
it's an
31:33
error.
31:33
And it
31:33
also means
31:34
that the
31:34
Bible is
31:35
authoritative.
31:36
The Bible
31:36
is God's
31:37
authoritative
31:38
word to
31:39
mankind.
31:41
When we
31:41
speak of the
31:41
Bible's
31:42
authority,
31:42
we are
31:42
saying that
31:44
the words
31:44
of the
31:45
Bible
31:45
carry God's
31:46
authority
31:47
since he
31:47
is their
31:48
author.
31:49
That makes
31:50
sense,
31:50
doesn't it?
31:51
God wrote
31:52
the book,
31:52
therefore,
31:53
it's
31:53
authoritative.
31:54
It carries
31:54
his weight
31:55
behind it.
31:57
So then,
31:57
to disbelieve
32:00
or disobey
32:01
the Bible
32:01
is to
32:02
disbelieve
32:03
or disobey
32:04
God
32:05
himself.
32:07
2 Thessalonians
32:08
3,
32:09
13-15.
32:12
Paul writes,
32:13
As for you
32:13
brothers,
32:14
do not
32:14
grow weary
32:15
in doing
32:15
good.
32:16
If anyone
32:17
does not
32:17
obey what
32:17
we say
32:18
in this
32:18
letter,
32:18
take note
32:19
of that
32:19
person and
32:20
have nothing
32:20
to do
32:21
with him
32:21
that he
32:22
may be
32:22
ashamed.
32:23
Do not
32:23
regard him
32:24
as an
32:24
enemy,
32:25
but warn
32:25
him as
32:27
a brother.
32:28
We ought
32:29
to tremble
32:30
when we
32:30
open up
32:31
this text.
32:33
When the
32:33
holy writ
32:34
comes out
32:34
before us
32:35
because it
32:35
is God
32:36
himself
32:36
speaking
32:37
to us,
32:39
directing
32:39
our lives
32:40
for our
32:41
good and
32:42
for his
32:43
glory.
32:44
We ought
32:44
to endeavor
32:45
to obey
32:46
it in
32:46
every way,
32:48
every jot
32:49
and tittle.
32:50
It ought
32:50
to bring
32:51
us great
32:51
pleasure to
32:52
do such
32:53
a work.
32:55
God's
32:55
word is
32:55
inerrant,
32:56
excuse me,
32:57
it is
32:57
inspired,
32:59
therefore it is
32:59
inerrant,
33:00
and it is
33:01
authoritative.
33:04
Fourth,
33:04
the Bible
33:06
is God's
33:06
clear word
33:07
to mankind.
33:09
The
33:09
clarity
33:10
of the
33:12
scripture
33:12
is a
33:14
doctrine
33:14
that I
33:15
run to
33:15
often as
33:16
I am
33:16
confused,
33:17
as I am
33:18
perplexed
33:18
by a
33:19
text.
33:19
I go,
33:19
oh,
33:20
but we
33:20
believe that
33:21
the Bible
33:21
is clear,
33:22
right?
33:22
That it
33:23
can instruct
33:23
simple
33:24
people.
33:26
The Bible's
33:27
clarity means
33:28
that those
33:28
who seek
33:29
to know
33:29
the truth
33:30
can know
33:30
it
33:31
by the
33:32
help of
33:32
the Holy
33:32
Spirit.
33:33
Those who
33:34
seek to
33:34
know it
33:35
can
33:35
by the
33:36
help
33:37
of the
33:38
Holy
33:38
Spirit.
33:39
A couple
33:39
of Old
33:40
Testament
33:40
texts
33:40
speak to
33:41
that.
33:41
Psalm
33:41
19,
33:42
verse 7,
33:44
the law
33:45
of the
33:45
Lord is
33:45
perfect,
33:46
reviving
33:47
the soul.
33:49
The
33:49
testimony
33:49
of the
33:50
Lord is
33:50
sure,
33:51
making
33:52
wise
33:53
the
33:53
simple.
33:54
Isn't
33:55
that good?
33:56
Isn't
33:56
that good?
33:57
And
33:57
throughout
33:57
the history
33:58
of the
33:58
church,
33:59
people who
33:59
most often
34:00
most readily
34:02
turn to
34:03
faith in
34:03
the gospel
34:04
of Jesus
34:04
Christ are
34:05
the simplest
34:05
of people,
34:06
not the
34:06
most brilliant
34:07
of people.
34:08
The most
34:09
brilliant of
34:09
people seem
34:09
to be their
34:10
own worst
34:10
enemies,
34:11
but people
34:12
who come
34:12
humbly
34:12
to the
34:14
text.
34:15
Lord,
34:15
make me
34:16
wise.
34:16
I am
34:17
but
34:17
simple.
34:20
Psalm
34:20
119,
34:22
verse
34:22
130.
34:25
The
34:25
unfolding of
34:26
your words
34:27
gives light.
34:28
It imparts
34:29
understanding
34:30
to the
34:32
simple.
34:33
Blessed
34:34
promises
34:34
found
34:35
in the
34:36
scripture.
34:38
That is
34:38
not to
34:38
say that
34:39
it is
34:39
always
34:39
easy.
34:40
It is
34:40
certainly
34:41
not.
34:42
As I
34:42
said before,
34:43
the Bible
34:43
is an
34:43
ancient
34:43
book.
34:44
It was
34:45
written
34:45
across
34:45
centuries.
34:46
It was
34:46
written in
34:47
languages
34:47
and cultures
34:48
that we
34:48
are not
34:49
first-hand
34:49
familiar
34:50
with.
34:51
Some
34:51
of our
34:51
great
34:51
difficulty
34:52
is trying
34:53
to
34:53
understand
34:53
the
34:53
context
34:54
into
34:54
which
34:55
the
34:55
text
34:56
was
34:56
written.
34:57
picking
34:58
up
34:59
translative
35:00
challenges
35:01
in the
35:01
text.
35:02
Although I
35:02
will tell
35:03
you that
35:03
more often
35:04
than not
35:04
when you
35:05
try to
35:05
deep dive
35:05
the
35:06
Greek,
35:06
the
35:06
English
35:07
words
35:07
are
35:07
really
35:07
great.
35:08
They
35:08
did a
35:08
good
35:08
job.
35:09
You
35:10
think,
35:11
I'm
35:11
going to
35:11
unlock
35:11
some
35:11
magic
35:12
in this
35:12
verse.
35:13
And you
35:13
go,
35:14
no,
35:14
that's
35:15
what the
35:15
Greek
35:15
word
35:15
means.
35:16
It's
35:16
what they
35:16
translated
35:17
it
35:17
in
35:17
English.
35:19
But there
35:19
is work
35:20
to be
35:20
done.
35:21
We have
35:21
to see
35:22
that the
35:22
Bible
35:22
wasn't
35:23
inspired
35:23
in
35:23
English.
35:24
no
35:25
version
35:25
of it
35:25
no
35:26
matter
35:26
what
35:26
somebody
35:26
will
35:26
tell
35:27
you.
35:28
This
35:29
is a
35:29
translation
35:30
of the
35:31
original
35:32
inspired
35:32
text.
35:33
And so
35:33
there is
35:33
work to
35:34
be done
35:34
in there.
35:35
And praise
35:35
God,
35:36
there's
35:36
great
35:36
kindness
35:37
toward us.
35:38
He gives
35:38
us people
35:39
who are
35:39
smarter
35:40
than us,
35:41
who do
35:41
this kind
35:42
of work
35:42
and put
35:42
it in
35:43
books
35:43
and let
35:43
us
35:43
reference
35:44
it
35:44
and
35:44
create
35:45
amazing
35:45
computer
35:46
programs
35:46
and
35:47
teach
35:47
and teach
35:48
and teach
35:48
and teach.
35:49
It's a
35:50
blessing
35:50
that we
35:51
get to
35:51
sit under
35:52
other
35:53
teaching.
35:53
I hope
35:53
it's a
35:54
blessing
35:54
to
35:54
you
35:54
that
35:54
you
35:54
sit
35:54
under
35:55
my
35:55
teaching
35:56
and I
35:56
labor
35:56
across
35:57
texts.
35:58
I joke,
35:58
although I probably
35:59
shouldn't because I should know Greek better than I do,
36:01
but that I learn Greek a week before you do.
36:05
I'm getting into it and working out meanings and trying to bring it to you in its greatest
36:11
accuracy.
36:12
So the clarity of Scripture doesn't mean that it's always an easy thing to do.
36:16
Christianity is itself an education as we try to pick up this book and know it and
36:21
understand it and understand it and understand it and understand it and that we might be obedient to our God.
36:25
This means that there are times that it will take a lot of work to sort out its meaning.
36:29
I'll give you the example of the issue of divorce and remarriage that we've been dealing with in the past months.
36:37
I won't say months, years, but I'm going to say months that I've been diligently working on it.
36:44
And we might, at the end of all of that, still not agree on exactly what the text
36:48
teaches.
36:49
But those things that are most important for life and godliness,
36:55
we can know
36:56
with great certainty.
36:59
What did Peter say in 2 Peter?
37:01
His divine power is granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness
37:06
through the knowledge of Him.
37:09
I'm back in 2 Peter chapter 1.
37:12
And then later he says, we have this more sure thing, this prophetic word,
37:17
which we will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place.
37:23
It lights our way, illuminates our path to the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts.
37:32
So the scripture is clear and it can be understood with the help of the Holy Spirit.
37:38
Fifth, the Bible is God's necessary word to mankind.
37:46
God created mankind to be in a relationship with Him,
37:49
walking under His instruction.
37:54
After the record of God creating man and woman in Genesis chapter 1,
37:59
we read in verses 28 through 30,
38:02
God blessed them and God said to them,
38:04
Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea
38:09
and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
38:12
And God said,
38:13
Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth
38:16
and every tree with seed in its fruit.
38:18
You shall have them for food.
38:20
And every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens
38:22
and to everything that creeps on the earth,
38:23
everything that has the breath of life,
38:25
I have given every green plant for food and it was so.
38:29
So God gives Adam and Eve instruction.
38:34
He tells them what to do.
38:35
Be fruitful.
38:36
Multiply.
38:37
Fill the earth.
38:38
Rule over it.
38:39
He says subdue it.
38:41
Have dominion over it.
38:43
He gives them in the very beginning good instruction.
38:48
He tells them to have children and to care for the earth.
38:52
He'll state it again in Genesis chapter 2 verse 15.
38:55
Then God,
38:56
Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it.
39:02
And then in Genesis chapter 2 verse 16 and 17,
39:06
God gives them a command to not do.
39:11
He says,
39:11
You may surely eat of every tree of the garden,
39:14
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.
39:17
For in the day that you eat of it,
39:20
you will surely die.
39:21
Again, good instruction.
39:24
I want good for you.
39:25
I put you on the earth for a purpose.
39:29
Do this, but don't do this.
39:33
And it's in chapter 3 of Genesis that the fall of man is recorded.
39:37
Adam and Eve decided not to follow the good word of God,
39:42
which is rebellion against him.
39:44
We are all guilty of this.
39:45
So you see that even prior to sin entering the world,
39:50
we were designed to live in relationship with God,
39:55
receiving his loving word to us and obeying it.
40:00
How much more needful we are now living with the repercussions of the curse.
40:07
We all the more need God's good instruction.
40:13
It is necessary for us.
40:18
Epistemology is the study of how we know what we know.
40:21
If you've been here long, you've heard me do this.
40:22
I'm going to do it super fast.
40:23
So if you've not been around,
40:25
I'll give you a fuller explanation sometime.
40:27
How do we know what we know?
40:31
And all of us have some framework that we come to the world with.
40:36
And it tends to run generationally.
40:38
So across the past generations,
40:40
my parents, some of you in this room,
40:42
not many of you in this room,
40:43
but some of you in this room,
40:44
would be considered modernists.
40:45
It's out of modernism that the scientific method arose.
40:48
So anything that could be measurable, tangible,
40:52
that's what's true.
40:54
It helps us to define truth.
40:55
It's measurable.
40:57
It's tangible.
40:59
And modernists tend to think in this way,
41:01
fairly locked in to this kind of thinking.
41:04
Faith becomes a challenge to them in that regard.
41:08
Or in some cases, some of the older generation,
41:11
they saw that church, quote unquote, worked.
41:14
And that became the very evidence for them.
41:17
Society's going well.
41:18
Church is part of that.
41:19
I will be part of church.
41:21
Church.
41:22
After the modernists emerged the postmodernists.
41:27
Creative names.
41:28
I fall into that category, postmodernists.
41:30
Believe that there is truth,
41:32
but we want to define truth for ourselves.
41:34
Truth is what we experience to be true.
41:37
So it's still based in something factual,
41:39
but I'm going to decide what is and isn't factual.
41:42
I want to feel it to be true.
41:44
A lot of weaknesses in that as well, to be clear.
41:50
I don't want to pick on the modernists.
41:53
Many of you in this room are now what we call post-postmodernists.
42:00
Post-postmodernists aren't sure that truth can be arrived at at all.
42:05
This is the age in which we live.
42:09
And just dip your toe in the world of social media,
42:12
and you will see that everyone seems to know, but no one really knows.
42:16
And there's a great deal of misplaced confidence in what is true.
42:22
And no matter how you arrive at what you think is true,
42:27
none of us are going to get it right,
42:29
apart from the revelation of God.
42:31
We need God to define for us what is true,
42:35
what is objective, what is absolute.
42:38
We all need a hook to hang our hat on.
42:42
Probably only the modernists get that in the room.
42:45
We need to go to something that is absolute,
42:49
something that speaks from without,
42:51
speaks into our lives and tells us what is true
42:54
and what is good and what is beautiful.
42:58
The Bible does this.
43:00
The Bible is necessary for our salvation,
43:03
and it's necessary for our sanctification.
43:07
Romans 10, verse 17,
43:09
So faith comes from hearing,
43:11
and hearing through the Word of Christ.
43:14
This is how we come to faith in Jesus Christ.
43:18
The Scripture, whether preached,
43:20
or shared one-to-one,
43:21
or read,
43:23
is the Word of God
43:24
that is used as the tool
43:26
by the Holy Spirit
43:27
to birth faith in the Christian.
43:30
That I'm sharing with you
43:31
what the Word of God says,
43:33
that I'm reading to you
43:34
the Word of God,
43:35
that you're hearing it proclaimed,
43:37
sitting in a sermon,
43:38
listening to it on the radio.
43:40
This is the sword that the Spirit wields
43:43
to bring about salvation of God's people.
43:46
Not only that,
43:47
He brings about perfection,
43:49
sanctification,
43:50
this process of ever-growing holiness
43:51
in the life of a Christian.
43:55
There is, I would contend,
43:57
a one-to-one ratio
43:59
of people who are actively studying
44:02
and applying the Scripture to holiness.
44:04
And to those who are finding their lives
44:06
are struggling,
44:07
and they're finding themselves
44:08
caught in habitual sin,
44:10
or not doing the other altogether,
44:12
well, they don't do it well at all.
44:15
God has not told us
44:17
everything in the Bible.
44:20
The Bible doesn't contain
44:20
all truth for mankind,
44:22
but He has told us
44:24
everything necessary
44:25
for holiness.
44:27
That's why we call it the Holy Bible.
44:29
It's the absolute resource,
44:31
the authoritative book
44:32
on holiness.
44:34
Deuteronomy 29, verse 29.
44:38
The secret things belong to the Lord our God,
44:41
but the things that are revealed
44:42
belong to us
44:43
and to our children forever,
44:44
that we may do all the words
44:47
of this law.
44:50
He's given us what we need
44:51
to proceed in holiness.
44:56
Jesus prays in John 17.
44:58
Not too long ago,
45:00
Clay preached a series
45:01
through the High Priestly Prayer.
45:03
Jesus pray,
45:04
Jesus prays not that
45:05
God would take His disciples
45:07
out of the world,
45:08
but that He would leave them
45:09
in the world.
45:11
Verse 15, He says,
45:12
I do not ask that you take them
45:13
out of the world,
45:14
but that you keep them
45:15
from the evil one.
45:16
They are not of the world,
45:17
just as I am not of the world.
45:20
Sanctify them in the truth.
45:23
Your word is truth.
45:29
As you sent me into the world,
45:30
so I have sent them
45:31
into the world.
45:33
And for their sake,
45:35
I consecrate myself
45:36
that they also may be
45:37
sanctified in truth.
45:41
There's the word of God
45:42
that gives us what we need,
45:43
equips us to go out
45:45
into the world
45:46
and live for Jesus Christ.
45:48
So, the Bible is necessary.
45:54
Sixth and last.
45:56
I'm moving.
45:57
The Bible is God's sufficient word
45:59
to mankind.
46:00
The Bible's sufficiency
46:06
means that it contains within it
46:09
all of the instruction
46:11
that we need
46:12
for our salvation
46:13
and our sanctification.
46:16
All of it.
46:17
We don't have to go beyond
46:19
the pages of Scripture
46:20
to figure out
46:22
how we ought to live
46:23
as followers of Jesus Christ.
46:25
That includes things like
46:27
how we conduct ourselves
46:28
as a church.
46:29
Many applications
46:31
of our living.
46:32
It has everything in it
46:34
that we need.
46:37
Beloved,
46:37
we far too often run
46:39
to extra-biblical sources.
46:42
Some good
46:42
that points back
46:43
to the Scripture.
46:44
Help us to understand
46:45
the Scripture.
46:46
I'm constantly promoting books.
46:49
Constantly.
46:49
Please be readers.
46:50
That's fantastic.
46:52
But read stuff
46:52
that points you back
46:53
to the Scripture.
46:54
Put you in this text
46:56
because it is sufficient
46:58
for the task.
47:01
We have a culture
47:03
that is looking
47:04
for answers everywhere.
47:07
Oprah Winfrey
47:08
has built a career
47:09
on this.
47:11
People need help.
47:13
She's ready to provide it
47:14
in any way
47:15
that tickles their ears.
47:17
We have pastors
47:18
in our day
47:18
that are doing
47:19
the very same thing
47:21
instead of taking people
47:22
to the text.
47:24
It is sufficient
47:26
for all of this.
47:27
I'll bring you back
47:28
to a text
47:28
that I read earlier
47:29
but I'm going to read it
47:30
in its completion.
47:31
2 Timothy 3
47:32
verses 16 and 17.
47:35
All Scripture
47:36
is breathed out by God
47:37
and profitable
47:39
for teaching,
47:42
for reproof,
47:43
for correction,
47:44
and for training
47:45
in righteousness.
47:46
All the ways
47:46
that we need
47:47
to give application
47:48
of this text
47:49
to our lives
47:49
that the man of God
47:51
may be complete,
47:52
equipped for
47:54
every good work.
47:58
Everything
47:59
that we are meant
48:01
to do,
48:03
all of it
48:03
is given to us
48:04
in this text.
48:07
It speaks to us
48:08
about our various
48:09
kinds of sin,
48:10
our sins of commission,
48:11
the things that we're
48:12
not to do
48:13
and yet we do them
48:14
anyway.
48:16
And then too often
48:16
ignored in the church
48:18
the things that we are
48:18
supposed to be doing
48:19
but we do not do.
48:21
It speaks to us
48:23
about both
48:24
sins of commission
48:25
and omission.
48:27
Shows us the way
48:28
in which we
48:29
should walk.
48:32
So the Bible
48:32
is God's inspired,
48:34
inherent,
48:34
authoritative,
48:35
clear,
48:35
necessary,
48:36
and sufficient
48:37
word
48:38
to mankind.
48:40
I hope you even
48:41
pick some of this up
48:42
each Lord's Day
48:44
when I get up
48:45
to preach
48:45
before I read the text
48:47
and I say,
48:47
beloved,
48:48
this is God's
48:50
word to us.
48:52
It's written for
48:53
His glory
48:53
and our good.
48:56
We would all do well
48:57
to believe its promises
48:58
and obey
48:59
its commands.
49:01
And
49:01
most of you
49:03
don't know
49:04
that I started
49:05
doing that
49:05
when we had a young
49:07
man who was a member
49:08
of our church
49:08
who's now moved away.
49:10
Good member,
49:11
faithful member,
49:12
left on good terms.
49:13
He was really
49:14
struggling with
49:15
the Bible's
49:16
inerrancy.
49:18
Particularly,
49:19
it's inerrancy.
49:20
He had read
49:20
so many garbage books
49:22
that had him
49:23
all confused.
49:25
And at the end
49:26
of it all,
49:26
as I'm speaking
49:27
with him
49:27
and trying to
49:28
bring him back
49:29
to and apply
49:30
the apologetics
49:30
for the Scripture,
49:31
what really came
49:32
down to it
49:32
is that he wanted
49:34
the Bible's promises
49:35
but he did not
49:36
want to obey
49:36
its commands.
49:38
He wanted all
49:39
the good promises
49:40
of God
49:40
but he really
49:41
wanted to live
49:41
his life
49:41
the way he wanted
49:42
to live his life.
49:45
And so,
49:45
the following
49:46
Lord's Day,
49:47
I kind of
49:48
in a flurry
49:48
just ripped
49:49
those two sentences
49:50
out,
49:51
put them at the
49:51
beginning of the text
49:52
to make the point
49:54
to this young man,
49:56
I want you to hear this,
49:57
you can't have it
49:58
your way.
50:00
You've got to take
50:01
God on his terms.
50:03
If you're going to
50:03
have his promises,
50:04
you have to obey
50:04
his commands.
50:05
He gives the evidence
50:06
of his promises
50:06
being fulfilled
50:07
in our lives.
50:09
This is what
50:09
2 Peter,
50:10
that's what Peter's
50:11
trying to communicate
50:11
to us,
50:12
right?
50:13
Live in this way,
50:14
make your calling
50:14
and election sure,
50:17
right?
50:17
And then you'll know,
50:18
you'll never fall away
50:19
because you're God's,
50:20
you belong to him
50:21
and it's this text
50:22
that communicates
50:23
that to us
50:25
and praise God,
50:26
he saw that,
50:27
right?
50:28
By the work of the
50:29
Spirit,
50:29
not because I wrote
50:31
a catchy phrase
50:32
but because I opened
50:32
up the text,
50:34
right?
50:34
Each Sunday,
50:35
I opened up the text
50:37
and I'm forever
50:38
grateful for that
50:39
in his life.
50:41
So some application.
50:45
Read and study
50:46
the Bible.
50:47
I hope that's the
50:48
first and most
50:48
obvious application.
50:51
But you cannot
50:52
read and study
50:52
the Bible
50:52
as if you would
50:53
read any other
50:54
book.
50:55
College students,
50:56
I think this is
50:56
especially entrapping
50:58
for you.
50:59
I know it was for me
51:00
when I was in school.
51:02
There's so much
51:03
you have to read,
51:04
right?
51:04
You're getting
51:04
information pumped
51:05
at you all the time.
51:07
Do not treat
51:08
the Scripture
51:08
like all the other
51:10
texts you have to
51:11
read, right?
51:11
This is a sacred
51:12
text, right?
51:13
Written by our
51:14
God for us.
51:15
He wants to meet
51:15
with you in the
51:17
Scriptures.
51:18
George Whitfield,
51:19
the great evangelist
51:20
on the front of your
51:20
bulletin, said,
51:21
the Scriptures contain
51:22
the deep things of
51:23
God and therefore
51:24
can never be
51:25
sufficiently searched
51:26
into by a careless,
51:29
superficial,
51:30
cursory way of
51:31
reading them,
51:32
but by an
51:33
industrious,
51:34
close,
51:35
and humble
51:36
application.
51:38
I fear
51:40
that the rise
51:41
of the
51:42
information age
51:43
and the way
51:43
information comes
51:44
at us so fast,
51:46
particularly
51:46
through social
51:47
media,
51:49
soundbite,
51:49
soundbite,
51:50
soundbite,
51:50
soundbite,
51:50
soundbite,
51:51
right?
51:51
The 24-hour
51:52
news cycle.
51:53
My word,
51:53
just information
51:54
is coming like
51:55
this all the time,
51:56
that we as a
51:57
people are losing
51:58
the ability
51:58
to sit and be
52:00
quiet and have
52:00
deep thoughts,
52:02
right?
52:02
To sit with
52:03
the text.
52:04
And we might
52:04
need to do
52:05
something dramatic
52:06
to discipline
52:07
ourselves back
52:07
towards being
52:08
able to really
52:09
read and study
52:11
the Bible,
52:13
right?
52:13
Just try to get
52:15
away from your
52:16
technology and
52:18
spend good time.
52:19
If you're ever up
52:20
here during the
52:20
week, you will
52:21
find me at times
52:22
pacing the parking
52:23
lot.
52:23
I've gotten pretty
52:23
good at not
52:24
running into stuff
52:25
and reading while
52:27
walking to get
52:29
away from my
52:30
computer.
52:31
It's constant
52:32
stuff dinging at
52:33
me all the time
52:34
and distracting
52:35
me away.
52:38
What if Satan
52:39
and his great
52:41
mastery of lies
52:43
has promoted
52:44
these kinds of
52:45
things?
52:46
I'm not saying
52:46
anybody who
52:47
invented any of
52:48
these things is a
52:49
tool of Satan.
52:52
But as working
52:53
us into a place
52:55
where we are so
52:56
even unable to
52:58
read God's word
52:58
and to think
52:59
deeply about it,
53:00
to really meet
53:00
with him in the
53:02
scripture,
53:02
right?
53:03
We might read
53:03
it to check a
53:04
box, right?
53:06
Beware the
53:07
Instagram Bible.
53:08
Somebody might
53:08
say, I read my
53:09
Bible every day
53:09
and it's some
53:10
post, some
53:10
meme that
53:11
somebody posts.
53:12
It's a half
53:13
of a verse
53:13
taken out of
53:14
its context.
53:16
You might flip
53:17
open an app.
53:18
These things can
53:18
be helpful to
53:19
us, but we
53:20
don't really
53:20
drink deeply
53:21
of God's
53:23
word.
53:24
It may take
53:25
some serious
53:26
discipline in
53:27
our lives.
53:28
Reading other
53:29
books, I will
53:29
tell you, helps.
53:30
You read other
53:31
books, point you
53:32
to the scripture.
53:34
It's a good
53:34
discipline to
53:35
have.
53:35
So read and
53:36
study the Bible.
53:36
Secondly, meditate
53:38
on and memorize
53:40
the Bible.
53:42
Meditate on and
53:43
memorize the
53:44
Bible.
53:44
And I will tell
53:44
you that if you
53:45
will meditate,
53:46
memorization follows
53:47
really easily
53:48
behind it.
53:49
Right?
53:50
That you really
53:50
roll a text around
53:52
in your brain.
53:53
That you really
53:54
think about what
53:55
it means.
53:57
I have member
53:58
health survey
53:58
results.
54:00
If you're not a
54:00
member of our
54:01
church, this is
54:01
something we're
54:01
trying to do
54:02
every year.
54:04
There's a big
54:04
disconnect between
54:06
everyone's, who
54:07
filled it out, idea
54:09
of what they know
54:09
to be true.
54:10
I read the
54:11
Bible.
54:13
I understand the
54:14
Bible.
54:15
I'm equipped.
54:16
I've got everything
54:17
I've got going on.
54:17
I'm solid on the
54:18
doctrines.
54:19
I totally get it.
54:20
There's a big
54:21
disconnect between
54:22
that and
54:23
obedience.
54:25
There's a lot of
54:26
habitual sin.
54:28
There's a lack of
54:29
sharing the
54:29
gospel.
54:30
There's a big
54:31
disconnect between
54:33
the two.
54:34
And I know that we
54:35
desire.
54:35
I know that we
54:36
are zealous.
54:37
We want to do
54:38
good works.
54:40
I don't think
54:40
anybody in here is
54:41
just lackadaisical
54:42
and lazy.
54:44
I think the
54:44
disconnect,
54:45
though, is we
54:46
say we
54:47
understand, we
54:48
say we read, but
54:50
we don't really
54:51
meet with God in
54:52
the Scripture.
54:53
We don't really
54:54
let Him sink
54:55
truth deep down
54:56
into us.
54:56
Let it take
54:57
root and
54:57
changes as a
54:59
result.
55:01
So there's a
55:01
challenge to our
55:02
church in this
55:03
way.
55:04
So read and
55:05
study it, meditate
55:06
on and memorize
55:07
it, and obey
55:09
it, and then walk
55:10
it out.
55:11
Don't just be
55:11
hearers, but be
55:12
doers of the
55:13
word also.
55:17
In closing, you
55:18
guys are familiar
55:19
with Martin
55:20
Luther.
55:21
October 31st,
55:22
1517, nailed
55:23
the 95
55:24
theses on the
55:24
Wittenberg
55:25
door because he
55:27
was in the
55:27
Scripture, because
55:28
he was meeting
55:28
with God in the
55:29
Bible and saw
55:30
the heirs of
55:30
the Catholic
55:31
Church in this
55:31
day, kicked
55:33
off the
55:34
Protestant
55:35
Reformation that
55:37
cried all
55:38
throughout it, and
55:39
we cry it to
55:40
this day, sola
55:41
scriptura.
55:42
The text, the
55:43
text, the
55:44
text.
55:45
He penned
55:45
this poem.
55:46
Feelings come,
55:48
and feelings go,
55:49
and feelings are
55:50
deceiving.
55:51
My warrant is
55:53
the word of
55:54
God, not
55:55
else is worth
55:56
believing.
55:57
Though all my
55:58
heart should feel
55:58
condemned for
55:59
want of some
56:00
sweet token, there
56:02
is one greater
56:03
than my heart
56:04
whose word cannot
56:05
be broken.
56:07
I'll trust in
56:08
God's unchanging
56:09
word till soul
56:11
and body sever.
56:12
For though all
56:13
things shall pass
56:15
away, his word
56:16
shall stand
56:17
forever.
56:19
Let's pray
56:20
together.