Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / January 13, 2021 | Chronological Bible Study with Patty Diliberto - Introduction

Transcript

January 13, 2021 | Chronological Bible Study with Patty Diliberto - Introduction · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Chronological Bible study.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so delighted that you have joined me in this journey this year.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you are taking this study again, and some for the second and third time.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I like to call you repeat offenders, but I'm glad that you're here.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also glad for the almost 90 of you who are watching online and doing this for the first time.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm so glad that you're here and joining us.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: You've probably felt the nudge from the Holy Spirit, from the Lord, to dig deeper into the Word of God this year.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I pray that this is what this study does for you.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Reading through the chronological Bible will help you dig deeper and get a more firm foundation.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: I pray that by next December you will love the Holy Spirit, the Father God, and the Son more than you ever thought you could.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's my prayer.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's what I'm going to be asking God for for you.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: God knows how busy all of us are.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we purposefully make time to be in his word, it delights him.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: And when he is is um, when he sees that we have made it a priority, he will pour out blessings upon us and give us more powerful revelation of himself.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm asking you to discipline yourself to this Bible reading and make it the priority of your life this year.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Give it the time and the attention that it so well deserves, and you will receive blessing after blessing.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: God has impressed me to begin this year with the end in mind.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: You've probably heard that phrase, begin with the end in mind.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I'd like to do for just a moment.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: So think with me about the things that we know about the end, the end scripturally, what the end is going to be like.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to have terrible disasters, we're going to have troubles of all kinds.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: During the seven years of tribulation that's going to come on the earth, Satan will be using the Antichrist and he will be bringing more and more deception and distortion of truth.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: There will be no truth.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Anarchy will reign.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: There will be unrestrained evil, and I can't even get my mind around unrestrained evil.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Things will be very bad.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And they will be very bad for a short amount of time.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then the Lord Jesus Christ will come back to earth riding on his white stallion.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: He will make everything right.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: We know that story and the elements of that story because God has given them to us in his word.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: If God hadn't given them to us in his inspired word, we wouldn't know about them.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Everything that happens from the beginning of the Bible to the end and all the way through is a narrative that is revealing God's faithfulness, his presence among his people, his power, his ability, his sovereignty.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the things that we see as we go through the Bible.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: From beginning to end, it's all about God revealing himself to mankind.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The only reason we know any of this is because God wanted us to know it.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: He went to extreme measures to make sure that we would know him and know his faithfulness.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: If we keep the end outcome in mind as we begin, the beginning makes more sense.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Timothy Keller has a great quote.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: He says, We read the Bible as a series of disconnected stories, each with a moral of how we should live our lives.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: It is not.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Rather, it is comprised of a single story or narrative telling us how the human race got into its present condition and how God, through Jesus Christ, has come and will come to put things right.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible repeatedly shows us weak people who don't deserve God's grace, don't see it, and don't appreciate it after they have received it.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: That is the great biblical story arc into which every individual scriptural narrative fits.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: I love that quote.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: The biblical narrative contains two elements, history and theology.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: The biblical narratives reveal real historical events and real people.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: The events in history are not just and in the Bible are not just history-like.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: They reveal real historical events that actually took place.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the more archaeologists discover in the land of Israel, the more it backs up the biblical narrative.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then theology.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: The biblical narratives reveal theological truths about God and his plans.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: The purpose of biblical narrative is to show God at work in his creation and among his people.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: The narratives glorify him, they help us to understand and appreciate him and give us a picture of his providence and protection.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, they also provide illustrations and many other lessons important to our lives.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_00: That's from Gordon Fee.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: The reason I am emphasizing this is because there are theologians, and I'm sure there's brilliant theologians, and there are more than there ever have been before, who believe that the events recorded in Scripture didn't actually happen.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: These scholars teach that the events in Scripture are metaphorical and that they are intended to be show us something through an example.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: That it's not really real, that Noah and the flood did not happen, that it's just meant to be an example to us.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: I do not believe that they are simply metaphorical.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I believe and am convinced that each one of them happened.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: They are historical events.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: They are real people, real events.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And the theological element comes through the historical interaction that God has with these specific individuals that we see in Scripture.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: This narrative reveals God as He is, not as we've thought He was, not as we want Him to be, but as He truly is.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: And there are some troubling and tough things that God calls some of His people to do that we have to wrestle with in Scripture.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, we're going to tackle those really hard, difficult topics and positions, and we're going to cover them.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: So bear with me, we'll get to them.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Not today, but another day.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: As you read each day, you should attentively be listening to the Holy Spirit and assuming that He's going to bring understanding and illumination.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Hebrews 4.12 says, For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is living and it is active right now for all time.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Part of the Holy Spirit's job or function is to illuminate or bring understanding of what God has said through his word and to help us understand what it means.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's his job, his function.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: God wants to disclose himself to us, and he will do it most powerfully through his written, inspired word.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: We have a God, we have a God who is intent on having relationship with us, with his creation.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: If he hadn't revealed himself, we would not know him.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: This will take commitment and discipline on your part.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: The commitment I'm asking you to make is to read the Bible every day this coming year.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: This discipline, the discipline will come in when you are actually forcing yourself to pick up this Bible and to read.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: So commitment and discipline.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: I know this is a huge commitment.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Every year people tell me, this is a huge commitment, and they tell me how scared they are to do this, to actually commit to it.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I understand that.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: But please take it, please make a commitment to read the word as many days as possible this year.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And if you get behind, don't get discouraged, don't stop, don't quit.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Just keep reading.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: If it takes you a year and a half, if it takes you a year and two months, who cares?
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: You're reading the word of God, you're taking it in, you're growing in your faith.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: I want to ask you to do something else too, and that is before you start reading every day, I want you to say just a little prayer to the Lord and just say, Lord, reveal yourself to me.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Show me who you really are.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: Just do that every single day, and then look for the ways that He's revealing Himself to you personally and powerfully.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Here in the beginning of this study, I'm going to be teaching behind where you are reading.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And because this we're taping this today, you're already in Genesis chapter 30, so we're already behind.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: But after a while, I will get in sync with you, and then I will pull ahead of you, and I will be ahead of you for most of the year.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: That may not make sense now, but it will later.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: You stay disciplined and you stay on track, and eventually we'll end up where we're supposed to end up.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: I first wrote this study in 2013, I think, and um I've taught it about six or seven times, and each time I teach it, I learn something new.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: I learn something new and glorious about our great and awesome God.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I incorporate new information.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: As our world changes, I find God's word more relevant, not less.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: More relevant, more um applicable to what we are experiencing and what we are going through.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: I anticipate this year that we will see how relevant it is to our times, to the times that we are currently living through.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that is going to build your faith tremendously.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: It is an honor and a privilege to take this incredible journey with you through the Word of God this year.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining me in this study, and I want to ask you to join me in prayer as we dedicate this year.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Father God, we thank you so much that you have called us to do this, that you've put it on our hearts to want to know you more and to have a better, more firm foundation.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so, God, I ask that through your spirit, you would do that for us.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: That you would just take this information, take this truth that is in your word, and that we would see it, that we would embrace it, that we would, that we would put it deep in our souls so that we can have that firm foundation you want us to have, Lord.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: We thank you so much that you have revealed yourself in and through your written word.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: We give you praise for that, and I ask, Father God, that you that you bless my sisters and brothers with just an abundance of experiences with you through this whole year.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: We offer it up to you, we dedicate it to you, and to um we look to you to do great and wonderful things for us.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: We love you, Lord God, and we pray these things in the name of Jesus.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next time.