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How to Study the Bible | Session 2 | Rooted Conference | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (2 of 2) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  And our desire. Some people have been asking us
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  lately, what's the goal? What's the goal?
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  For the church, for the ministry of NBC, I can tell you this,
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  we're not looking to grow in size just for the sake of having
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  a bigger ministry. If we can, however, facilitate a
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  greater space for more people to come to receive instruction and
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  guidance and inspiration like what you're hearing today,
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  that's that's our dream that more people would hear the
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  unadulterated word of God being preached and shared and to
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  mobilize and equip more Christians.
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  And so that's been our prayer lately in this time, in this day
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  and age, we want. To see a revival and a revival
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  that we're praying for is not a revival of emotionalism or
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  sensationalism, but a revival of the Bible.
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  You know, the Bible being rediscovered and loved, and if
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  you actually look at the Old Testament carefully every time
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  there's a significant reformation.
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  It always boils down to a rediscovery of the law of the
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  Word of God and, and, and appreciation and irreverence
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  toward it. So thank you so much again for
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  your prayers and for your giving.
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  We, we, we give glory to God for all of them.
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  Why don't we pray before we continue?
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  Lord, we acknowledge that there is such a tangible sense of love
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  in this place. To be amongst people who have
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  the same desire and the same goal of knowing you through Your
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  word is a is a treasure in itself.
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  And as we approach these final moments, we pray that Your
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  Spirit would be with us in a more real way and that we would
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  sense the the grace of God upon our learning.
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  We pray, Lord, that as we leave this place in a few moments, we
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  would leave here with joy. We would leave here with the
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  same testimony as those two on the road to Emmaus.
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  Did not our hearts burn within us when the Scriptures were
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  opened up to us? And so, Lord, may there be no
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  confusion. May there be nothing that would
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  interfere with the transmission of truth that will take place.
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  Now we ask these things in Jesus name, Amen and Amen, Amen.
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  So we are now embarking on a Part 2 for these tools for
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  deeper study in the Word of God. I want to say to begin that
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  everything that you have heard thus far and everything that you
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  will hear. In this last hour are tools that
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  I personally implement on a regular basis.
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  I could have easily, we could have easily just grabbed a
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  famous well known book or seminary kind of hermeneutic.
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  Hermeneutic is just a kind of a fancy word for interpretation.
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  We could have grabbed this science book, this interpretive
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  kind of method and just put it together on the slides and give
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  it to you. But my conviction was I don't
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  want to go beyond anything that I do.
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  So everything that you hear on a Friday and a Sunday stems from
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  what you're hearing here, which means that you may be aware of
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  more tools than what's presented today.
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  And there are same not to say they're not valuable and not to
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  say that there isn't room for growth on my end.
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  But what you're hearing today is what I can think of as a regular
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  kind of approach that I have towards the Bible.
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  And so really. You're seeing my tool belt from
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  Monday to Thursday. And I hope it's something that
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  will inspire you. So just to give you a heads up,
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  we won't be looking at things like Hebrew or Greek.
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  We won't be looking anything in depth with grammar, though.
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  That's very important. We won't be looking anything in
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  depth with Chiastic. Structures.
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  Have you heard of chiastic structures?
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  Yeah, how certain texts are structured in a way where you
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  have a kind of like a mirroring taking place.
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  You have a ABBCCNNX marks the spot where the passage in the
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  center is the main point of the message.
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  That's also valuable in some context.
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  But we're not going to be looking at these things.
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  Once again, what you're hearing is what's deep in my heart and
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  and things that I implement on a regular basis.
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  So we are now at tool number. Six types and shadows.
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  Types and shadows. Have you heard of the phrase?
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  Have you heard people mentioning types and shadows?
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  What does it mean? Well, types and shadows are Old
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  Testament persons, objects, symbols, events, or practices.
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  You can even include their places that prophetically
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  foreshadow New Testament realities, primarily focusing on
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  the person of Jesus Christ and the Gospel.
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  Why say? Primarily is because, as Charles
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  Spurgeon said, listen to this quote.
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  The scriptures are like the swaddling.
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  Clothes of the holy child Jesus, unroll them and there you find
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  your Savior. The essence of the word of God
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  is Christ. That's such a Spurgeon quote,
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  isn't it? Only he can say things like
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  this. The Prince of Preachers for a
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  reason, so that. That is something that we
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  understand. The Spurgeon is not making a
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  unique observation here. We know that Christ himself
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  advocated for. His person, his ministry, his
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  work being the golden thread of the Bible.
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  We see from Genesis all the way to the New Testament.
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  And So what types and shadows permit us to do is to look at
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  the Hebrew Scriptures and to see where can I find Christ?
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  Where can I find gospel truths? But more than that, we can also
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  see things for our own worship, for our own sanctification, for
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  our own personal application, which we'll get into in a
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  moment. But I want us to look at briefly
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  here where types and shadows come from.
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  And what we're going to find is that it is not, again, something
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  external imposed on the reality of the Bible.
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  It is something that is found within the Bible itself.
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  So let's consider this. Look what Paul says in First
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  Corinthians 10/11. He writes, now these things
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  happen to them as an example. Now who is he talking about?
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  He's actually reflecting on the wilderness journey of the nation
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  of Israel, and he's applying it to the consecration of the
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  Corinthians. And he says this, he makes this
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  known. Now these things happen to them
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  as an example. But they were.
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  Written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has
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  come. Now the Greek word for example
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  is 2 posts. Now the Greek speaking people
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  here. If I said that wrong, I
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  apologize, but it's where we get the word type from and it
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  appears many times in the New Testament and this is an
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  exemplary place to consider it. The word example there is a word
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  type, so you can understand in the following way.
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  Now these things happen to them as a type, as a model, as a
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  pattern, as a picture, right? And he's again pointing to the
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  Israelites in the wilderness. What about what he says to the
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  Colossians in Colossians 216? Therefore let no one pass
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  judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard
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  to a festival or a new moon or Sabbath.
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  These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance
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  belongs to Christ. And that's really the main point
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  of the author of Hebrews, where the Jewish believers at the time
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  were making their way back to the Levitical system.
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  And the author of Hebrews is elaborating on what Paul is
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  saying here. Look, you're going back to the
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  shadow. The substance is in Christ.
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  Now, if I see a shadow, depending on where I'm
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  positioned, a shadow in a sense announces the arrival of
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  somebody or the arrival of something.
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  And what the New Testament is saying about the old is as
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  though there is rather practical and historical value to those
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  texts. It ultimately is pointing to a
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  greater. Reality, something to come more
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  more real and more substantial. And this is what we find here.
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  We have types and shadows. So here's some questions that we
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  want to be asking. About types and shadows, very
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  straightforward. Nothing profound about them, but
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  something along the lines of #1 Is there any part of the
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  character story? If I'm looking at a character in
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  the Old Testament, a person in the Old Testament, is there any
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  component about their story, their experience that
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  illustrates a New Testament truth, including Christ?
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  Do we see Paul doing this in Romans?
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  We do. In Romans 514.
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  He compares Christ, or he contrasts Christ rather with
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  Adam, and he makes a different points.
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  One of the points is in the same way that Adam's disobedience led
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  to the fall of all man, Christ obedience leads to the
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  redemption of all man. So you see this type and anti
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  type, right? In the same way that Adam was
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  like a federal head for humanity, that the consequences
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  of his actions impacted his descendants, namely us.
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  In the same way Christ now enters the scene and he's going
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  to perform righteousness and his actions will then impact those
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  who are his lineage, his spiritual descendants.
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  And so we see this practice of is there something in the Old
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  Testament character story that points to Christ and Adam is
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  just the beginning, literally the beginning.
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  And we have permission to look at various characters moving
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  forward with that same principle in mind.
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  Another thing to consider number 2, is there any ceremony, many
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  ceremonies in the Old Testament, any ritual, any feast or symbol
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  that points to a new covenant principle?
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  So Old Testament law is not binding on us.
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  We know that, but that doesn't mean that we can't learn
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  something from them, even the feasts, right?
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  So one way to approach Leviticus, if I can use that
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  example, is what's Leviticus really about in terms of
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  principle? It's about worship.
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  It's about worship. How to approach God in worship.
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  OK, these specific instructions no longer apply, but what themes
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  or motifs or attitudes or approaches about worship can I
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  now make in light of the new covenant?
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  And there's a lot to learn about worship.
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  You have the the burnt offering in the beginning, the whole
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  beast is to be placed on the altar.
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  That says something about our worship, isn't it?
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  At least it should. And that's a very preliminary
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  kind of understanding of these things #3 is there any object or
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  event that foreshadows a gospel truth?
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  Yes. We can even get down to objects
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  and events that seem unrelated to gospel realities but are in
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  fact very much related. So I put 2 references there.
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  One is Hebrews 1310, where the author of Hebrews says we have
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  an altar, right? He's talking to these Hebrew
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  Christians that want to go back to the temple and they want to
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  be brought back into that whole life of Judaism and they don't
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  want to be ostracized anymore. They don't want to be
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  persecuted. They don't want to betray their
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  ancestors. So what does the author do?
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  He goes, you want to go back to the altar so badly.
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  Do you understand that? We have an altar, We have a
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  greater altar that they cannot partake of.
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  And the altar ultimately is the gospel.
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  It's the work of Jesus Christ. What about what the Lord said in
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  John 314 when He points to an event and an object, the brazen
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  serpent that was lifted up, right?
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  And out of all the things that he could have said about that,
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  the only thing that Christ mentions at this point before
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  Nicodemus is in the same way that serpent was lifted up, so
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  the Son of Man will be lifted up, right?
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  Just the lifting up was a point of application, or at least a
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  type and a shadow concerning Christ.
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  Here's a very important rule. If it doesn't fit a strong and
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  clear New Testament paradigm, don't force it.
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  Don't force it. Do people force it?
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  All the time, all the time. And I don't want to sound too
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  subjective here, but in many ways there is a ring to it when,
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  when somebody interprets a type or a shadow or points one out
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  and it's, it's true, it's consistent, it's spirit LED it,
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  it sounds right when it's forced, you can feel it as it's
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  being explained. Like you're going too far,
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  brother. You're, you're, you're, you're
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  looking too deep into this, right?
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  So people ask them, what's the rule for types and shadows?
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  Let the New Testament be your guide.
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  Is this a strong New Testament paradigm that you're trying to
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  apply this to? Is this something that is
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  amplified in the new covenant? Is it complemented well?
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  Does it fit? Does it make sense?
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  Or are you trying to just expound on something for other
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  reasons? So here's a bad example with
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  this. I'm going to pick on the Mormons
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  a little bit today. OK, We heard about the Mormons
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  earlier. I'm going to bring them up again
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  because why? Well, they, they, they appeal to
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  the Bible. That's why.
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  So let me, let me. Before I go here, actually, I'll
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  just keep it. So here I am.
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  When I used to live closer to the city, there was a particular
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  park where I used to live. The park was by the house I used
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  to live in. And I would frequently,
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  especially in the spring or summertime, go out to that park
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  'cause they had kind of like a, a little track, if you would,
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  not a official track, but just just a pathway to walk around
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  and jog. And, and so I would always go
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  there. I was so close and I would just
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  walk and I would just use that time to pray, just walk and pray
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  and sit on the park bench sometimes and just meditate and
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  enjoy nature and just just walk with the Lord.
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  And I won this. On this particular day, I'm
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  walking and what catches my peripheral are two guys with
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  bright white dress. Shirts and bicycles, you know,
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  sound familiar? And so I look over and I
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  realized that they're on the opposite end of the track and
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  they're sitting on the bench. So I thought, OK, I'm on my way
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  there. I'm going to, I'm going to rest
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  by the bench too, you know. And so I make my way there and I
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  plot my side myself beside them. And I just.
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  They were young, 1819 years old. If you don't know anything about
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  Mormon doctrine or Mormon practice, if you're a serious
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  Mormon, you will dedicate 2 years of your life to missions.
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  That you will. You will.
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  Just give up the prime of your life, especially to go to a
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  different nation or state and just.
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  Wherever you go, you're going to preach and you're going to knock
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  on doors and you're going to bike around town and you're
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  going to try to evangelize people.
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  You're going to give up two years of your life just for that
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  goal. And that's what these kids were
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  doing. And they they came to Chicago.
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  That's where they were sent by their elders.
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  And so I just asked some questions, what they're doing
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  around here, this and that. And finally we got.
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  To talk about the differences between Christianity and
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  Mormonism. And finally, one of these young
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  men very innocently said, well, do you understand that the the
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  Bible speaks about the Book of Mormon?
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  I said, really, tell me where I must have missed it.
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  And he goes, it's in Ezekiel 37. I said, where in Ezekiel 37.
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  And he goes, well, when, when Ezekiel receives a vision about
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  two sticks, let me read it to you.
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  Ezekiel 37, verse 15, The word of the Lord came to me, Son of
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  man, take a stick and write on it for Judah and the people of
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  Israel associated with them. And take another stick and write
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  on it for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the House of
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  Israel associated with him. And I'm reading as I'm saying.
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  Tell me where the Book of Mormon is in this.
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  He goes well, the sticks represent books, and the stick
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  for Judah symbolizes the Bible and the stick.
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  For Joseph symbolizes the Book of Mormon, and what you see in
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  this prophecy is that God wants to combine the Bible and the
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  Book of Mormon to be 1 unit again.
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  And I said, did you keep reading the prophecy or did you just
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  stop with verse 15? Did you honor rule #3?
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  He said rule #3 no joke, I didn't go there.
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  I said, did you look? At the before and after the
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  text, what is he talking about? He's talking about the
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  reunification of the nation of Israel.
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  It was divided Northern Kingdom, southern Kingdom, and there's a
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  time coming, this prophecy is sharing that there's a time
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  coming where they'll become one Kingdom again.
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  Where did you get? Books from well, that's that's
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  the literal meaning, but there's a spiritual meaning.
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  Really this is an example of if it doesn't fit strong and clear
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  New Testament paradigm. Don't force it.
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  And that's a really extreme example, right?
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  I mean, a whole cult started from this and that's what it can
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  lead to. And so you have to be, you have
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  to be very understanding where in the new.
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  Testament. Do you find what you are trying
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  to explain or what you're trying to prove?
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  So is there more evidence in the New Testament that Jesus is the
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  Ark of the covenant? Or Mary might have stepped on
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  some toes there. Because what do our Catholic
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  friends want to say that Mary? Is the Ark of the Covenant.
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  So is there any hint in the New Testament that Mary?
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  Is the presence of God on earth, or do we see in John one that
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  Jesus dwelt among men? In the original word for dwelt
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  there is tabernacled. Do we see in Hebrews?
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  How there are all these different facets of the
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  Tabernacle that point to a facet of the ministry of Christ.
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  What one holds more weight, right?
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  So this is a bad example. But let's consider a good
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  example. Joseph.
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  That's not an actual picture of Joseph.
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  Joseph is one of the most compelling cases for Types and
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  shadows concerning Christ. Let's open it up here.
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  What elements of Joseph's story stand out to you to point to a
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  facet of the ministry or the person or the work or the
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  experience of our Lord Jesus? Any idea?
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  Let's let's share this time together.
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  Yes, he suffered. Yes.
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  Yes, he was rejected. Who was he rejected?
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  By? His own brothers?
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  Yes. Anything else?
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  Redemption. Yes, forgiveness.
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  Beautiful. He forgave those who rejected
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  him unjustly. Accused.
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  Sure. He marries A Gentile bride.
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  Is Jesus married? Gentile bride?
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  Yes. The church is a picture of
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  church, yes. Anything else?
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  Say that again. Right hand of power, yes.
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  No sin is mentioned of him. Yes, that's a good point.
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  Betrayed. Absolutely.
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  He's a saviour. Saviour of who?
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  The world, yeah. OK, there is something there for
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  sure. Absolutely.
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  Anything else? He reveals himself to his
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  brothers. Very good.
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  He was loved greatly by his father.
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  So good. I mean, we're everybody here is
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  ready to do an Old Testament study.
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  It's it's on the life of Joseph. This is excellent.
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  Yeah. Anything else?
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  Maybe a couple more. Yes that's a big one actually.
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  Very good. These are all great points.
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  You already mentioned most of them.
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  Like Joseph Jesus was persecuted by his brothers.
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  Like Joseph, Jesus was rejected but sent to the Gentiles.
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  Like Joseph, Jesus rejection led to the salvation of the world.
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  Like Joseph, Jesus's flesh and blood did not recognize him.
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  Like Joseph, this point really excites me.
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  Look at this in Genesis 45 verse one.
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  Then Joseph cannot control himself before all those who
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  stood by him, those were his brothers.
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  He cried. Make everyone go out for me, so
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  no one stay with him. When Joseph made himself known
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  to his. Brothers, did the Jews recognize
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  Jesus today? There's a remnant, but most of
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  them don't. But there's a day coming where
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  he's going to reveal himself, and his brothers will recognize
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  him, and they will mourn after him whom they have pierced
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  right? And they will believe on him,
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  and they will recognize that he was their Savior and the Ruler
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  all along. Doesn't that ring right?
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  Doesn't that feel right? Right.
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  This, this, this is a mess, right?
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  Two sticks means two books. Joseph, because of the word
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  Joseph means Joseph Smith, their prophet.
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  Where are you getting that from #7 We talked about.
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  Types and shadows. This is close to it, but with
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  types and shadows, we're starting from the New Testament,
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  looking to the Old. But we also have to understand
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  that from the Old Testament. We have to look into the new,
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  and that's where illusions come in.
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  Now here's something fascinating.
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  The New Testament contains hundreds of references to the
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  Hebrew Scriptures. Hundreds.
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  But what most people miss is that it also.
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  Includes thousands, and that's not an exaggeration.
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  Thousands of illusions. What's an illusion?
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  An indirect reference? An echo of some sort of subtle
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  passing reference. Why is that the case?
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  Because the New Testament doesn't want to spoon feed us.
• 19:45
  It expects you and I to be acquainted with different
• 19:47
  content and themes of the Old Testament.
• 19:49
  And this is one of the rewards of tool.
• 19:50
  Number one. What was tool #1?
• 19:52
  Read through the Bible. Expose yourself to the verbiage,
• 19:56
  to some known sayings, to repeated prophetic dialogue and
• 20:03
  contents, so that when you come to the new, you're somewhat
• 20:05
  prepared, because not every New Testament author is going to
• 20:09
  give you a reference to something that they're saying.
• 20:12
  It can be a word, it can be a phrase.
• 20:14
  And again, the Holy Spirit expects you and I to have been
• 20:16
  studying the rest of the Bible, not just the right side of it.
• 20:21
  And this is where so many people miss out on the depths of the
• 20:24
  New Testament because they're only just, they're just looking
• 20:27
  for references, quotations, right?
• 20:31
  Failing to. Realize that there are thousands
• 20:33
  of illusions. We can consider a couple.
• 20:37
  Look at this one from Mark 113. This is in the beginning of the
• 20:39
  Gospel of Mark says here. And he was in the wilderness 40
• 20:42
  days being tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild animals and
• 20:48
  the angels were ministering to him.
• 20:50
  Anything stand out to you with this verse?
• 20:52
  It's one verse. You can call it out 40 days.
• 20:57
  Yeah. Is that a significant number?
• 20:59
  Absolutely. What does it symbolize according
• 21:01
  to the Bible? A period of testing, right?
• 21:05
  So yeah, there's that. But I'm not.
• 21:06
  I'm looking beyond that, yes, yeah, sure.
• 21:10
  So we're relating Jesus wilderness experience to the
• 21:12
  Israelites 40 year wilderness experience.
• 21:15
  Yeah, you can definitely derive that.
• 21:17
  Anything else? There's one.
• 21:23
  Specific thing, that's one too sure.
• 21:26
  The angels are ministering to him.
• 21:28
  We see that in more than one place.
• 21:30
  Wild animals. Why do I need to know that Jesus
• 21:33
  was with the wild animals? Again, you're asking the test
• 21:37
  text questions, but I'm doing more than that now.
• 21:40
  I'm trying to put pieces together because the author is
• 21:43
  brilliant, because the author is led by the Holy Spirit.
• 21:45
  So I see wild animals, but I see other ingredients that might
• 21:48
  lead me to something. I see temptation mentioned, I
• 21:52
  see Satan mentioned, and now I see animals mentioned.
• 21:57
  Is there any other scene in the Bible where I can find these
• 22:00
  three ingredients? Temptation, Satan, animals, the
• 22:07
  Garden of Eden, talking about the beginning of time, right?
• 22:12
  But there's some differences as well.
• 22:13
  So now things are starting to go off here.
• 22:17
  I see temptation, I see Satan, I see animals.
• 22:21
  Again, if the wild animals were not there, I may be just staying
• 22:25
  in the lane of 40 days, 40 years.
• 22:28
  Tempted, tempted. Christ succeeds where Israel
• 22:30
  failed. And that is, that is true.
• 22:32
  But there's a deeper thing being applied here.
• 22:35
  Temptation, Satan, animals. So I'm thinking the Garden of
• 22:38
  Eden, I'm sure, and that's not wrong, but there's also some
• 22:41
  differences. OK, so you have temptation and
• 22:44
  you have Satan and you have animals in the Garden of Eden.
• 22:46
  But was was the Garden of Eden in a wilderness?
• 22:49
  No, it was a luscious, beautiful place.
• 22:52
  Were the animals wild in the Garden of Eden?
• 22:55
  No, they were tamed, right? And I mean, Adam was able to
• 22:59
  name them. So I see some differences now,
• 23:02
  and I think now there's something being conveyed here.
• 23:06
  Did Christ succeed in the setting?
• 23:09
  Overcoming temptation? Did Adam succeed?
• 23:14
  So here's one potential lesson. The conditions.
• 23:17
  Of Jesus tests were far less favorable than those of Adam in
• 23:21
  the garden, yet he's still triumphed over temptation.
• 23:25
  Adam had a garden. Adam had animals that weren't
• 23:30
  wild, that weren't dangerous, and so he was in paradise.
• 23:35
  And he still. Fell.
• 23:38
  Jesus, he was in a desert. Jesus, he had looming danger all
• 23:43
  around him, including wild animals.
• 23:46
  And with all that discomfort and all that ugliness and all more
• 23:50
  reason. To perhaps disobey Christ
• 23:55
  succeeds where Adam fails. It's potentially another lesson.
• 24:00
  The curse not only infected those made in God's image,
• 24:02
  right? But it also transformed glorious
• 24:05
  gardens and peaceful animals at the terrifying wastelands and
• 24:08
  wild beasts. But what do we find in the
• 24:10
  beginning of Mark that Christ is reversing?
• 24:13
  He's beginning to reverse the curse of Adam's disobedience.
• 24:17
  Through his obedience. He's going to be restoring not
• 24:20
  just us. He's going to be restoring
• 24:23
  gardens that became wildernesses and Beautiful Creatures that are
• 24:27
  now wild. And this is the beginning of
• 24:30
  what's going to come into full effect.
• 24:31
  And now you can, you can put in Isaiah's prophecy where the wolf
• 24:34
  will lie down with the lamb, right?
• 24:36
  We're going to see a restoration of what was lost.
• 24:39
  And not just the restoration. It's going to become more, more
• 24:41
  glorious, more permanent. And we're getting a hint here of
• 24:44
  both the past and the future. The past is Christ is greater
• 24:48
  than Adam. And we're seeing a future here
• 24:51
  too, that Christ is restoring what was broken through Adam.
• 24:55
  He's entering into our failure, He's entering into the
• 24:58
  destruction that we caused, and he's beginning to restore it.
• 25:01
  And it's only through His obedience you see.
• 25:04
  But he's giving us hints here. He's giving you a picture.
• 25:11
  We we find this even in the epistles when I'm speaking about
• 25:14
  allusions. Look at this in Philippians 210
• 25:17
  very known passage, so that at the name of Jesus every knee
• 25:20
  should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and
• 25:23
  every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of
• 25:26
  God the Father. Anything stands out to you from
• 25:28
  this one verse. Is it a powerful verse?
• 25:33
  Absolutely. It's amazing.
• 25:36
  But there's more to it because of illusions.
• 25:44
  Look at this. So that the name of Jesus every
• 25:48
  knee should bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and
• 25:50
  every tongue confess. Is Paul making this up?
• 25:57
  Is Paul maybe? Better explained, saying
• 26:01
  something that's never been said before.
• 26:02
  Is this something that he was writing by the inspiration of
• 26:05
  the Spirit for the first time, or is?
• 26:07
  Paul making reference to something that you and I should
• 26:10
  be familiar with in the Old Testament.
• 26:11
  You know the answer, right? Look what Yahweh says about
• 26:14
  himself in Isaiah 4523. By myself I have sworn from my
• 26:19
  mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall
• 26:21
  not return to me. Every knee shall bow, every
• 26:25
  tongue shall swear allegiance. You know the Septuagint, which
• 26:27
  is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures that actually
• 26:30
  reads to me. Every knee shall bow every.
• 26:32
  Tongue shall confess you are God.
• 26:37
  Is this coincidence? Or is Paul borrowing from
• 26:40
  Isaiah's prophecy A prophecy that is exclusive to God, and
• 26:44
  now he's applying it to you, to who in verse 10, so that at the
• 26:47
  name of Jesus? What does that say about Jesus?
• 26:50
  According to Isaiah 45, he's Yahweh, you see.
• 26:55
  Now the Paul hearsay. According to the prophet Isaiah,
• 26:59
  every knee should bow and no, but he expects you to know it.
• 27:04
  What about this one? Second Thessalonians 28 And then
• 27:08
  the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus
• 27:10
  will kill with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nothing by
• 27:13
  the appearance of his coming. Breath of his mouth I mean,
• 27:21
  there are so many ways somebody can kill somebody else out of
• 27:25
  all the ways we read here that he will do it with the.
• 27:27
  Breath of his mouth again. Is this a new, fresh idea about
• 27:32
  Christ that Paul is presenting to us?
• 27:34
  Perhaps, and there are instances of that in the new, but this is
• 27:38
  a case of Paul also making an illusion again in Isaiah.
• 27:43
  Listen to these words about the Messiah in Isaiah 11, one of
• 27:46
  the. Features of Messiah Isaiah 11,
• 27:49
  verse 4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and
• 27:52
  decide with equity for the meek of the earth, and he shall.
• 27:55
  Strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath
• 27:59
  of his lips. He shall kill the wicked with
• 28:02
  the breath of his lips. So what's Paul doing here with
• 28:05
  this? Reference he is showing that
• 28:09
  Jesus is the is the Messiah in a very unique way.
• 28:15
  I don't think I would automatically say can I prove to
• 28:17
  you how Jesus is the Messiah according to the New Testament.
• 28:20
  This wouldn't be one of my go to.
• 28:21
  You know that Messiah will kill people with the breath of his
• 28:23
  mouth. Just the authority of His Word,
• 28:25
  but it just adds a layer to how Christ fulfills what the Old
• 28:28
  Testament expects. And then you have another layer.
• 28:31
  I didn't highlight it, but right before it says he shall strike
• 28:33
  the earth with the rod of his mouth.
• 28:34
  That's that's a reference to Revelation too.
• 28:36
  So now you're seeing the interconnectedness of the whole
• 28:38
  Bible. But the point I want to convey
• 28:40
  is that even this truth of illusion is not just found in
• 28:43
  narratives. It's not just found in Gospel
• 28:44
  accounts, but even in the epistles for those who come here
• 28:47
  on Sundays with with our study in Revelation.
• 28:49
  You and I see this over and over again that there are obvious
• 28:52
  references to the Old Testament. There are many more illusions
• 28:56
  that John expects us to know in order to properly interpret his
• 28:58
  prophecy. So I believe now we're going to
• 29:04
  come to number 8 and this is our last point.
• 29:07
  We're going to expound on each of these points.
• 29:10
  We can't have a discussion. About studying the Bible without
• 29:13
  outside resources, and I want to mention four of them to you.
• 29:19
  Commentaries, Concordance, quality books, emphasis on
• 29:25
  quality and community. So let's look at these things
• 29:30
  separately, shall we? Commentaries.
• 29:34
  Commentaries are not infallible. So they must be evaluated and
• 29:37
  compared. And as I showed earlier,
• 29:40
  commentary should never do the thinking for you, and
• 29:44
  fortunately they do for many people.
• 29:46
  So sometimes people will ask, where do commentaries play?
• 29:49
  In my knowledge and my growth of understanding of Scripture,
• 29:53
  commentaries are consultants. Paul told Timothy.
• 29:57
  Think over what I say in the Lord will give you understanding
• 29:59
  and everything. What commentaries do is that
• 30:02
  after you've done the heavy lifting of thinking and trying
• 30:05
  to understand the text and doing all that you can with your tool
• 30:08
  belt to then see, are there others who can shed light on
• 30:11
  this? Are there others who confirm
• 30:13
  what I am coming to? Are there others who can say
• 30:15
  yes, this is in fact what the Holy Spirit has shown?
• 30:19
  This author, this author, this theologian?
• 30:22
  So that's what you want to do you you don't want to run to
• 30:24
  commentaries right away because it robs you of the experience of
• 30:27
  God giving you understanding, right?
• 30:29
  And and he promises to give us understanding we.
• 30:31
  Should approach the scriptures prayerfully depended on the Holy
• 30:34
  Spirit and as much as we might, this might be like a quick fix.
• 30:38
  This might be something that gets us to answers quicker.
• 30:41
  It doesn't substitute the worship of the Word, of being
• 30:45
  able to engage with God through the written word and.
• 30:48
  Seeing him bring things to the surface.
• 30:51
  That being said, there are two extremes.
• 30:53
  There are some, and I remember when I first got saved, people
• 30:56
  around me were saying you should never look at a commentary that
• 31:00
  the Holy Spirit should teach you everything.
• 31:02
  And they're almost implying that if you're really spiritual, it
• 31:04
  would just be you and your Bible and nothing else.
• 31:08
  But then the Bible also shows us that God has gifted us teachers.
• 31:12
  The Bible has shown us that God has gifted certain men to be
• 31:15
  able to bring even greater clarity and instruction and
• 31:18
  insight into the Scriptures. And we should we should delight
• 31:21
  in seeing those expressions of gifts as God's.
• 31:24
  Grace to us, and so. Yes, there's the extreme of
• 31:28
  people only relying on outside sources and never doing the
• 31:32
  heavy lifting themselves. And then as I mentioned, there
• 31:34
  are those who think you should never do that and we need the
• 31:36
  proper balance. You engage with the scriptures
• 31:38
  first, and then you consult with the wider community, namely the
• 31:42
  commentaries. Here are some free resources
• 31:46
  that I recommended that I use all the time and a couple
• 31:48
  examples of ones that if you're willing to pay for they're,
• 31:51
  they're worth having. studylight.org has any.
• 31:54
  Can you just lift? Your hand.
• 31:55
  If you've never heard of Study Light, that's most of us here.
• 31:58
  Study Light is a wonderful resource.
• 32:00
  You can write down the the domain here, but let me tell you
• 32:03
  how to use it. You go to Google, for example,
• 32:07
  and you'll write study light. And this is the important
• 32:09
  keyword verse by verse, study light, verse by verse.
• 32:13
  And then you put any verse of the Bible beside that.
• 32:16
  And what it'll do is usually the first option after the Google
• 32:20
  search is entered will be the one that you want to click on
• 32:23
  and when you click on it. It will give you a list of
• 32:28
  faithful, reliable integral commentators all on one page.
• 32:34
  Give me an explanation for that one verse.
• 32:36
  So it's it's. Really on a silver platter for
• 32:38
  you. And you can easily just compare
• 32:40
  the different thoughts about that one verse.
• 32:42
  And you have to understand some of these commentators have
• 32:45
  theological dispositions. They have a different
• 32:48
  theological backgrounds and framing, so they're going to
• 32:50
  interpret verses differently. This is where you have to
• 32:52
  evaluate and compare and be careful.
• 32:53
  But Study Light is a amazing resource that is freely
• 32:58
  accessible to anybody who has the Internet.
• 33:01
  David Guzik. Has anybody heard of David
• 33:02
  Guzik? Yeah, most people here based out
• 33:05
  of Calvary Chapel, a wonderful teacher of God's Word.
• 33:08
  All you have to do is look up Guzik and put in any chapter of
• 33:11
  the Bible or any verse of the Bible and it will come up
• 33:14
  usually on Blue Letter Bible, which we'll talk.
• 33:16
  About in a moment. But David Guzik, I mean, I've
• 33:18
  just been blessed by him over the years and he's faithful and,
• 33:21
  and God has used them to bless so many people and I can just, I
• 33:25
  can truly recommend him. He he's just a, he's a wonderful
• 33:28
  teacher of God's word. Who can forget about Matthew
• 33:30
  Henry? I think Matthew Henry is one of
• 33:34
  the. Greater greatest commentators
• 33:36
  and theologians of all time. And I'll tell you why, because
• 33:39
  he he merges the academic with a devotional.
• 33:43
  He's more on the devotional side actually.
• 33:45
  And that's that's what I prefer. So Matthew Henry is just a
• 33:49
  remarkable man of God and. You want to look up his complete
• 33:52
  commentary because if you don't include that, then you might get
• 33:55
  his summary of his explanation of passage of scripture.
• 33:58
  But the complete commentary is where you you get the meat.
• 34:01
  And so look up Matthew Henry complete commentary and again,
• 34:04
  just refer to that as a reflection point after you've
• 34:07
  done your own research in the word.
• 34:09
  If you want to pay for commentaries or different sets,
• 34:13
  I mean there are many. I can recommend just a couple
• 34:16
  that come to mind, especially Warren Weirsby for those who are
• 34:19
  more inclined to benefit from the practical.
• 34:22
  Warren Weirsby. He was a pastor at Moody Church.
• 34:25
  He he has much more to his resume than that, but.
• 34:28
  He has a complete set of both Old and New Testament
• 34:30
  commentaries. And again, Warren Weirsby does a
• 34:33
  wonderful job and making his points devotional and practical.
• 34:37
  And just look at different, you know, Christian publications.
• 34:40
  His sets go on sale. It fluctuates from time to time.
• 34:43
  I recently got the physical copy of his study.
• 34:46
  I was looking at it online on one of my software's for years.
• 34:49
  But this one is something that worth buying and adding to your
• 34:52
  library. And if you're if you're more
• 34:54
  inclined or you're more wanting to open up to the academic side
• 34:57
  of things, the New American. Commentary is a great set to
• 35:00
  have as well. And again, this is something
• 35:03
  that will really help you, it will really bless you, and it's
• 35:07
  worth investing money in, you know, So if your birthday's
• 35:10
  coming up. Somebody asks you what you want
• 35:11
  for your birthday. Maybe you I want a new American
• 35:14
  commentary on, you know, these books are the New Testament or
• 35:16
  these books on the Old Testament.
• 35:17
  If you want even more of your thing, I already have those you
• 35:19
  have any more Just come see me after these last slides and I
• 35:23
  would gladly recommend others to you.
• 35:24
  So commentaries, any questions about commentaries before we go
• 35:26
  on to the next point? Yes, and.
• 35:35
  You feel like there's somewhere else in the Bible where it
• 35:38
  exists, but you don't know yourself, but you feel like,
• 35:43
  yeah, this has to be. Where do you normally go?
• 35:46
  Over. Did you have a look at my
• 35:47
  slides? Because that's the very next
• 35:49
  point. Concordance.
• 35:53
  Hopefully this will answer your question.
• 35:55
  Yes, One moment, brother. We're going to go through this
• 35:57
  and I'll and I'll. I won't forget you, I promise.
• 35:59
  With a concordance, it's exactly that.
• 36:01
  A concordance is an index of biblical words and phrases where
• 36:06
  you will find a survey of where that verse or that word or
• 36:12
  phrase is found throughout the entire Bible.
• 36:14
  Now, they're exhaustive concordances and they're concise
• 36:17
  ones. Some translations have them in
• 36:19
  the back of the Bible, some don't.
• 36:21
  But if you have like an ESV, you'll have a concordance found
• 36:23
  back there. You've probably seen it before.
• 36:25
  Concordances and maps don't get as much attention as they
• 36:27
  deserve, but they're there and they're wonderful for, for our
• 36:31
  for our aid and our guide. So I'm looking at my Bible right
• 36:34
  now. I'm looking at the word wisdom
• 36:36
  and it says here and God gave Solomon W Usually it will it
• 36:39
  will just kind of add the 1st letter of that word and then it
• 36:42
  gives me the reference right beside it and it goes to 1st
• 36:44
  Kings 4. The next one in wisdom.
• 36:46
  You have made them all. It's a reference to Psalm one O
• 36:49
  4. So concordances are wonderful
• 36:51
  tool. The beauty of the age that we
• 36:53
  live in is that you can have one on your phone.
• 36:55
  You don't have to buy physical copies.
• 36:57
  The one I strongly recommend is Blue letter Bible.
• 37:02
  It's an app that you can download.
• 37:03
  It's something that you can search on a Google engine, but
• 37:07
  what you want to do with Blue Letter Bible, if you do use the
• 37:09
  Google search bar, you put in BLB.
• 37:11
  I don't even write blue letter Bible.
• 37:12
  I just do BLB and it'll pick it up and then you write a verse
• 37:16
  and then the Blue letter Bible website will pop up with the
• 37:18
  verse in the link. You click on it and when you
• 37:21
  click on it again, if you, if you're really not taking you
• 37:24
  want to step by step, just see me after the session and I'll
• 37:27
  show you exactly. How it works and then there's
• 37:29
  there's a button where you click in a linear and it'll take the
• 37:31
  verse and split it up in it. Let's say it's an Old Testament
• 37:34
  verse. It will split up every word and
• 37:36
  it'll have. The Hebrew Strong's Concordance.
• 37:39
  That's the concordance you want Strong's Concordance and Blue
• 37:42
  Letter Bible applies it automatically.
• 37:44
  But in case you want to buy the physical copy, Strong's
• 37:46
  Concordance is the go to and it'll break it up and I'll have
• 37:49
  the reference and then when you. Click.
• 37:50
  Let's say I'm looking for the word love in John 316.
• 37:53
  I click on the Greek concordance reference there and then it will
• 37:56
  give me all the references of that same Greek word love.
• 37:59
  From Old to New Testament. So that's great for topical
• 38:02
  studies, for word studies, and it's something that I think
• 38:05
  everybody should have in their toolbox.
• 38:08
  Concordances. This is a great thing that I
• 38:11
  think is not emphasized enough. Quality books.
• 38:15
  Quality books. And why do I promote books?
• 38:17
  Because books help us explore and expand our mind to how
• 38:22
  others have discovered, connect, and explain and applied
• 38:25
  scripture. And I emphasize devotionally.
• 38:28
  Devotionally. And if you've been here for the
• 38:32
  past few months, you know that I've been more vocal about the
• 38:34
  Puritans than ever. Because as I've been growing in
• 38:37
  my understanding of the Puritans, I just can't hold it
• 38:41
  back. I can't keep it to myself.
• 38:43
  The Puritans, I won't get into their history too much, but they
• 38:46
  were Christians and pastors in the 1500s, in the 1600s
• 38:51
  primarily. And they were Christians who
• 38:56
  were under the Anglican system and they thought that the
• 39:01
  Anglican Church needed reviving and they were persecuted by the
• 39:04
  Anglican Church. And so they had to find a way to
• 39:07
  preach and teach God's word to those at a very high price.
• 39:11
  And they were around for a good solid 100 to 150 years.
• 39:14
  But their their writings and their sermons and their
• 39:17
  commentaries have been preserved by God's grace.
• 39:20
  And why I recommend the Puritans is because.
• 39:23
  They have a hold on scripture, a grip on scripture.
• 39:26
  They have a way of putting a scriptures together that are
• 39:29
  unmatched and in my estimation and that's why I recommend them
• 39:33
  more than even modern authors though God is using many modern
• 39:37
  authors today. I think that there's something
• 39:39
  unique about this group of believers in history.
• 39:43
  For me personally, when I read the Puritans, they make me
• 39:46
  excited to read the Bible. That's why I want people to to
• 39:49
  feel that same joy as well other.
• 39:51
  Books. You may be drawn to the author,
• 39:53
  or their style, or their anecdotes.
• 39:55
  What the Puritans do is they mine areas of the the Bible that
• 40:00
  are rarely explored, and they bring them to your attention and
• 40:04
  they make you. Convinced I shouldn't skip
• 40:07
  Obadiah because I didn't think that I can learn from Obadiah in
• 40:10
  this way. I didn't think that Amos can
• 40:12
  can. Touch my heart with that one
• 40:13
  verse. It's amazing how they're able
• 40:15
  especially to take the Old Testament and apply it again to
• 40:17
  New Testament principles and not just their their illusions and
• 40:23
  their references, just the way they talk about doctrine or they
• 40:26
  talk about Christ. Kindle something in your heart.
• 40:29
  So what I thought to do is just give you a few quotes just to
• 40:32
  give you an idea of how they can stir you as they have stirred
• 40:35
  me. So this is from John Flavel and
• 40:37
  his word, his work keeping the heart.
• 40:39
  Notice what he says your quote suppose.
• 40:41
  That by revenge you might destroy one enemy, yet by
• 40:45
  exercising the Christians temper you might conquer 3.
• 40:49
  Your own lust, Satan's temptation, and your enemy's
• 40:52
  heart. Isn't that beautiful?
• 40:57
  So you can say you should forgive others and not take
• 41:02
  vengeance because vengeance is God's.
• 41:04
  Is that true? Sure, but look at the poetry.
• 41:06
  Look at the depth here. What's the temptation of taking
• 41:09
  revenge? That we want to destroy our
• 41:11
  enemy. We want to get back at him and
• 41:12
  he goes, OK, if you're so ambitious to destroy, let me
• 41:14
  give you 3 enemies you can. Destroy if you do it God's way.
• 41:19
  One, is your own lust, 2 is Satan's temptation, and three,
• 41:22
  your enemy's heart, right like burning coals on their head.
• 41:26
  When you show mercy and love and kindness, though they don't
• 41:28
  deserve it, you can. Actually conquer them the way
• 41:30
  Christ would want to conquer them.
• 41:32
  Isn't that beautiful? George Swinnik from his work The
• 41:37
  Fading of the Flesh and the Flourishing of Faith.
• 41:39
  This is him using an Old Testament character to make a
• 41:42
  point about discontentment. Haman from the Book of Esther.
• 41:45
  Notice what he says here. Quote Haman.
• 41:47
  Although he has the favor of the king, the adoration of the
• 41:51
  people and the sway over 127 provinces was discontent because
• 41:56
  he wanted Mordecai's knee. You know the story with Heyman,
• 42:01
  right? I mean, he was so privileged.
• 42:03
  He was so honored by the king and by again, the provinces.
• 42:06
  But what made him boil inside? He wanted that one Jew to bow
• 42:09
  his knee, and he wouldn't. Everybody else was bowing before
• 42:12
  him, but just that. One person wasn't, and we find
• 42:15
  George here using as an example as an illustration for how
• 42:20
  discontent is so powerful and how foolish.
• 42:23
  It is really. I'm sure you're getting the hint
• 42:28
  right? How about Thomas Brooks?
• 42:32
  Notice how he talks about death? Quote.
• 42:34
  A Christian knows that death shall be the funeral of all his
• 42:39
  sins, his sorrows, his afflictions, his temptations,
• 42:46
  his vexations, his oppressions, his persecutions.
• 42:51
  He knows that death shall be the resurrection of all his hopes,
• 42:55
  his joys, his delights, his comforts, his contentments.
• 43:01
  Isn't that beautiful? If you fear death, if that's a
• 43:06
  nagging thing, if that gives you nightmares, if if you, you know,
• 43:10
  are paralyzed to the thought of you leaving this world and
• 43:12
  leaving your family behind, I can't offer anything apart from
• 43:15
  the Bible. The Puritans talk about death
• 43:17
  like it's something to look forward to for the Christian,
• 43:21
  and this is just an idea of it. And that's why we gave you one
• 43:27
  of many. Puritan books just to give you a
• 43:30
  sample and for you to expose yourself to to these men and how
• 43:34
  they write about the truths of scripture.
• 43:36
  And if you don't know where to begin, the specific kind of
• 43:39
  publication we extended to you is a good place to start.
• 43:43
  The Puritan Treasures for today. There is a set that was on sale
• 43:47
  this past Christmas, I believe. But what Reformation Heritage
• 43:51
  did was. Sometimes the language of the
• 43:54
  Puritans is a little daunting and archaic, so they simplified
• 43:57
  it without stripping the meaning away.
• 43:59
  And it's for anybody who wants to be introduced to this group
• 44:03
  of ministers. To really, really engage with in
• 44:07
  a hopeful manner. And I, I wouldn't say to read
• 44:10
  the Puritans in a way you would read a normal book.
• 44:13
  I would say just like read a chapter a night or a chapter
• 44:16
  every week, maybe even to start out with because it's so dense,
• 44:20
  it's so meaty that you don't. Want to miss anything?
• 44:23
  And here's what I do, and I've mentioned this recently.
• 44:25
  I'll have my notepad open when I read one of these books and I'll
• 44:30
  put down quotes that just. Jump out of me and these are
• 44:33
  quotes from my phone. And if I stumble upon a teaching
• 44:38
  and I think, you know, I'm going to talk about discontentment
• 44:40
  from this text, I might return to my vault and find this quote
• 44:43
  from George Swinnick and apply it to the message.
• 44:46
  Or if you want to offer something as a quote in a
• 44:49
  counseling session, you know. If you're afraid of death, I
• 44:51
  want you to hear what Thomas Brooks has to say and just read
• 44:54
  that. I mean, just hearing it is so
• 44:55
  powerful. And so these men are men that I
• 44:58
  recommend and I hope they they will bless you leaving this
• 45:00
  place. Lastly, community I heard a
• 45:05
  pastor say this and it's still ringing in my ears, but I want
• 45:08
  to flip it. Let me let me tell you the way
• 45:10
  he said it from the pulpit when he was addressing pastors.
• 45:13
  He. He reminded pastors that over
• 45:14
  time, most people in your church will read the Bible the way you
• 45:17
  preach it, that your mode of interpretation.
• 45:22
  That the way you dissect the text, that the way you apply it,
• 45:26
  how you speak about Christ. How you speak about the things
• 45:29
  of God, how you are careful with even if I'm not sure about an
• 45:33
  illusion. And I say, you know, this
• 45:35
  picture reminds me, not saying dogmatically.
• 45:38
  This is a prophetic picture of Christ, but this imagery has the
• 45:41
  perfume of what we find here in the New Testament.
• 45:43
  All of that will be imparted to the people that you preach to
• 45:46
  overtime. And that was a sobering reminder
• 45:49
  for for for me. But I want to flip it and ask
• 45:52
  you because you have a choice to sit under whatever ministry you
• 45:55
  want to sit under. Who is shaping you?
• 45:58
  Who are you allowing to shape your thinking of the Scriptures?
• 46:04
  Not every pastor has the same style.
• 46:06
  Not every pastor has the same depth or insight.
• 46:08
  Everybody's uniquely gifted. Some pastors are more effective,
• 46:11
  effective preaching 30 minutes. Others are more effective
• 46:13
  preaching 55 minutes. That's not the point.
• 46:15
  The point is, are they, are they encouraging you to go back to
• 46:19
  the text? Are they showing you the beauty
• 46:22
  of the text? Because God designed His church
• 46:26
  to be supplemental to your personal journey with the Bible.
• 46:30
  And you have to ask yourself, why do I go to the ministry I go
• 46:33
  to and who am I allowing to inform my family's thinking
• 46:37
  about? The word of God that is so
• 46:40
  crucial. And if you think that you're not
• 46:41
  being affected by that, that's a problem.
• 46:44
  You are, whether you realize it or not, over time.
• 46:47
  For example, I'm and. This is more innocent, but if I
• 46:49
  have the habit. Of going through books of the
• 46:51
  Bible and I cover 2 chapters every Sunday.
• 46:55
  And I do that with every book. Then you are being trained in
• 46:58
  your own reading unless you have great discipline and and you
• 47:01
  have a robust personal devotional life.
• 47:04
  Generally though, for the people who are who are just really
• 47:05
  learning and taking it all in. You're going to read the Bible
• 47:08
  and that kind of scale where you're looking at it more of an
• 47:12
  overview. But if you are sitting under a
• 47:15
  teaching that goes into the verse and you know can.
• 47:19
  Dissect it and bring it apart and connect it to other ports.
• 47:21
  You're going to train yourself to see it that way as well.
• 47:23
  So ask yourself, who am I being shaped by?
• 47:25
  Who am I listening to? Who am I submitting to
• 47:28
  ultimately? But I want to also say community
• 47:31
  goes beyond what kind of church you go to.
• 47:33
  It speaks about your circle of friends as well.
• 47:36
  And I want to encourage every person here to incorporate the
• 47:38
  wonders and the mysteries of God's Word in your fellowship.
• 47:41
  That doesn't mean that everything you talk about is the
• 47:43
  Bible when you get together with your friends, but may I suggest
• 47:47
  that you include it if it's not there at all?
• 47:52
  Some of the greatest insights I've received, some of the most
• 47:56
  powerful balm for my soul that I've experienced, was being on
• 48:00
  the phone with people who are not even in ministry but have a
• 48:02
  love for God's Word. And they're able to apply
• 48:04
  Scripture to my situation in a way that does something deeper
• 48:08
  than just calm me down for the moment.
• 48:13
  And that can only go back to what we heard early from
• 48:15
  Colossians. Let the word of Christ dwell in
• 48:17
  you richly, teaching and admonishing.
• 48:19
  It has to dwell richly in you first.
• 48:22
  And so I've received so much from people.
• 48:25
  Who, who might have sent me something that they have
• 48:27
  written, or who might have called me and asked me what's
• 48:29
  going on. And then they're able to take
• 48:31
  even obscure things in the Bible and relate it to my circumstance
• 48:36
  and it, it keeps me going. There's a force behind it
• 48:40
  because it's God's word. So how can you do this?
• 48:43
  Maybe you're like, I would love to have friends like that.
• 48:45
  I don't. In fact, maybe you have friends
• 48:48
  where it's like you bring up the scriptures to them and they go
• 48:50
  on like screensaver mode, right. You could talk about sports and
• 48:54
  they're like, yeah, oh, did you see that?
• 48:55
  You could talk about money or the business that never saw.
• 48:57
  And then you bring up description.
• 48:59
  They're like, yeah. Amen.
• 49:00
  God bless you. Yeah.
• 49:01
  Yeah. Have you seen that?
• 49:04
  Man? I've seen it so many times so
• 49:05
  maybe it's not just me. I think sounds like it's other
• 49:07
  people too experienced it, but there are some things to maybe
• 49:10
  prime that. And change that without being
• 49:13
  awkward or forceful. Maybe ask your friends after a
• 49:18
  sermon on Sunday what stood out to you from the message instead
• 49:22
  of talking about the weather immediately after, right?
• 49:26
  Maybe when you're downstairs with fellowship.
• 49:27
  Hey, what stood out to you, I mean?
• 49:30
  Yeah. You know, when when Pastor
• 49:31
  mentioned that point, I'd never saw the Scripture that way.
• 49:33
  And it could be just that, you know, or like, I don't know that
• 49:37
  I had a question about that. I have to explore it more.
• 49:39
  You can just start that way. Or hopefully you're reading your
• 49:43
  Bible on a regular basis. Maybe when you're catching up
• 49:46
  with somebody that you talk to multiple times a week, you can
• 49:48
  incorporate, hey, I read, I read Philippians.
• 49:54
  And what stood out to me is that Paul is telling those outside of
• 49:58
  prison. He's in prison and he's telling
• 49:59
  them to rejoice. You would think that they would
• 50:01
  say that to him in prison, but he's telling though, and I just
• 50:04
  ministered to me. Another person could just say
• 50:06
  that's beautiful and that's it. You go on.
• 50:09
  Just little seeds. Right.
• 50:13
  Or relate scriptural examples and observations to real life
• 50:15
  situations. When you do offer counsel, when
• 50:17
  you offer help to a friend. I mean, where can you go better
• 50:21
  than the Bible? I can assure you this.
• 50:26
  There is not one problem in life that the Bible doesn't have an
• 50:30
  answer for. Not one.
• 50:31
  There is not one situation I'm telling you.
• 50:34
  I remember a. Conversation having with
• 50:36
  somebody, and I didn't plan this, but I remember they were
• 50:38
  describing A relational conflict and the example that came to
• 50:42
  mind. You know what it was when Saul
• 50:44
  through his spear toward his son Jonathan.
• 50:47
  And you know what Jonathan's conclusion was, if he's willing
• 50:52
  to kill me, surely he's willing to kill David because Jonathan
• 50:55
  was testing to see if his dad actually want to kill David.
• 50:58
  And I remember this conversation.
• 50:59
  We were going to that reference because we were speaking about
• 51:02
  somebody else who was causing issues, and we're thinking, if
• 51:05
  that person was willing to do it to that person so close to them,
• 51:08
  what makes you think he's not willing to do it to so and so do
• 51:10
  you See, you can apply these things in situations that you
• 51:15
  can't even imagine. And it's so riveting when the
• 51:19
  Holy Spirit brings these things to mind.
• 51:21
  What's the fruit of this? Conversing over the scriptures,
• 51:24
  speaking about the scriptures, mentioning the scriptures, it
• 51:27
  becomes the word. The word becomes contagious.
• 51:30
  The word becomes contagious. It just makes an impression on
• 51:33
  you to think that's amazing how you came to that arrival, that
• 51:37
  conclusion in the Scriptures. That's amazing how you're able
• 51:39
  to relate that to my life. And there's some people when
• 51:41
  they talk about the Bible, I sit there and I'm listening and I
• 51:44
  go, I can't wait to go home and read my Bible, you know?
• 51:48
  And it's natural. It's not forced.
• 51:50
  And none of this, I hope, is forced.
• 51:52
  Please don't force it because when you force it, it's
• 51:54
  artificial. I'm saying let it be the
• 51:56
  overflow of your own life. Let it be the overflow of what
• 51:59
  you discovered. But I want to say that there's
• 52:01
  something so valuable community speaking about the things of God
• 52:05
  that can bless you and bless others.
• 52:08
  Here's a bonus thought and it will open up for Q&A.
• 52:10
  Before we end here. Have you ever come to a point
• 52:14
  where you even after this, it's possible that a week from now
• 52:17
  you have 0 motivation to read your Bible and there's some days
• 52:21
  where you have more motivation than others.
• 52:23
  I've discovered something that has never failed.
• 52:26
  That's a big statement, isn't it?
• 52:29
  And when I've offered it as advice to others, so.
• 52:32
  Far. It's a perfect track record if
• 52:35
  you ever lack motivation to read for long periods of time.
• 52:38
  I'm not talking about a day or two.
• 52:39
  I'm talking about a week or two weeks, 3 weeks, maybe even a
• 52:41
  month. Your Bible's collecting dust.
• 52:43
  It's become your vacuum now. You don't know what to do with
• 52:45
  it, so you're ignoring it. This may shock you, but I would
• 52:49
  say. If you want to read again, don't
• 52:52
  read. Memorize.
• 52:58
  Stop your reading and find a text to memorize.
• 53:02
  Saying what? What does that have to do with
• 53:03
  anything so? Let me give you an example.
• 53:04
  If I'm going through Luke and I have, you know, I made it
• 53:07
  through the 1st 6 chapters, but for whatever reason I can't get
• 53:10
  past it. There is no compelling desire
• 53:12
  for me to continue in it. I would tell somebody, stop
• 53:15
  reading Luke for a second and look for a different passage of
• 53:18
  scripture that you think would be valuable to memorize and give
• 53:21
  yourself to memorizing that text, that chapter for the next
• 53:23
  two, 3-4 days, maybe even a week or two.
• 53:26
  And I want to see what's going to happen to your heart.
• 53:29
  So I would I. Would even recommend just
• 53:31
  memorize A Psalm, find a Psalm short enough for you to memorize
• 53:36
  and see what will happen. Even what I found when you
• 53:38
  memorize the scripture, when you when you really you take a
• 53:41
  different approach where you're now compounding the word in your
• 53:43
  heart and you're you're incorporating all your faculties
• 53:46
  to that one discipline. It it revives something in you
• 53:50
  and now you're saying it out loud and you're writing it down
• 53:53
  and there you can't get that much word in you without it
• 53:55
  affecting you to some point. And then it kind of generates
• 54:00
  the energy. For you to be able to return to
• 54:01
  the scriptures, there's nothing in my experience, and this is
• 54:05
  personal so you may disagree with me.
• 54:06
  That's fine. But I can't think apart from
• 54:08
  prayer. I can't think of something as
• 54:12
  energizing to my walk with Christ, the memorizing
• 54:15
  Scripture. And we find this principle in
• 54:18
  the Scriptures. I've hidden thy word in my heart
• 54:20
  that I may not sin against thee, right?
• 54:22
  And we find that throughout where there is a call for us to
• 54:26
  know it, not just because I have a book in front of me, but
• 54:29
  because I'm carrying it with me in my bosom.
• 54:32
  And what that will do though, when you bring it to that?
• 54:35
  Degree of of investment is that it kind of opens up wells.
• 54:40
  That may have been clogged and it just burst forth and now
• 54:45
  there's a drawn attraction to the Scriptures again.
• 54:48
  I can't explain the mechanics of it necessarily in detail.
• 54:50
  All I know is that when you get to the point of looking at
• 54:54
  verses and reciting them and saying them over and over again,
• 54:57
  it's empowering. And you quote it and you share
• 55:00
  it. It does.
• 55:02
  Something to you and then almost revives just your engagement
• 55:05
  with the scriptures overall. So I would say if there's one
• 55:10
  emergency tool to use. In your reading of Scripture,
• 55:12
  and you're saying the Scripture where you find yourself.
• 55:14
  I'm in trouble. I went to a one day conference.
• 55:16
  I got all these valuable thoughts, but why is my heart
• 55:19
  stale? Pause.
• 55:20
  Don't read anymore. Find a text to memorize.
• 55:23
  Psalm 1, Psalm 23, Psalm 11, Psalm, whatever, any Psalm, it
• 55:28
  can be a promise in the new, It can be a benediction.
• 55:30
  It can be a doxology and go over.
• 55:32
  Write it on a piece of paper. If you have a whiteboard, write
• 55:33
  it on the whiteboard. And just see what will happen
• 55:35
  and if it doesn't work for you, e-mail me.
• 55:39
  You'll be the first. And if it doesn't, maybe you're
• 55:41
  the first time I have to find a different strategy.
• 55:42
  But thus far this is my go to. It's worked all these years.
• 55:46
  Brothers and sisters. We've come to the end of our one
• 55:50
  day Bible Study seminar. We have a little bit of time
• 56:01
  here, so I'd love to just answer any questions that you might
• 56:04
  have, any maybe even insights or thoughts that you'd like to
• 56:07
  incorporate. I know there's some things I
• 56:09
  left out, but again, if there are things that you felt like
• 56:11
  maybe, why didn't you touch on that all that I've showed you
• 56:14
  here? Are things that I employ on a
• 56:16
  weekly basis, and you may have additional tools that I'd love
• 56:19
  to learn about as well. Yes, brother.
• 56:22
  Something that has been perplexing to me in the last
• 56:24
  couple of months is that reading scripture, if you remember all
• 56:27
  the Christ referencing salt, right and there is solutions
• 56:31
  based on that New Testament, I believe just the Gospels makes
• 56:35
  references, Psalms, Isaiah, etcetera.
• 56:39
  When I go back in the cross reference and go to the salt
• 56:42
  that that's for example salt 2, right, which is one of the
• 56:46
  biggest like crisis running salts out there.
• 56:48
  If you start to read the Psalm, it doesn't like a like a
• 56:52
  messianic Psalm. What I've noticed that the Bible
• 56:55
  does is it takes the verse almost out of context.
• 56:59
  That makes it a messianic verse. And I want to know what your
• 57:01
  thoughts about that is because sometimes I feel like I'm
• 57:03
  reading that Psalm and it feels like I'm reading about something
• 57:06
  else. And I'm later told, oh by the
• 57:09
  way, that's a. Messianic Psalm.
• 57:11
  That's a good point. I would say that if you do
• 57:14
  believe that the New Testament is indeed God's revelation, then
• 57:19
  if it does make a reference to a Psalm to say that this is
• 57:22
  messianic, then you have to trust that.
• 57:24
  You'd be surprised, however, that if you look at rabbinic
• 57:26
  literature, how many rabbis throughout history affirm the
• 57:30
  same text that we would say are messianic to be messianic.
• 57:33
  So there's a consensus even among those who don't believe
• 57:35
  that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, that texts like Isaiah
• 57:38
  53, Psalm chapter two different parts that may seem a little
• 57:43
  ambiguous or veiled are in fact about Messiah.
• 57:46
  So I would just say New Testament gives us permission.
• 57:50
  Because these are not just men making assumptions.
• 57:52
  These are men led by the Holy Spirit who are again clarifying
• 57:56
  things that might have been mysterious according to Paul's
• 57:58
  old language. So I would just say just trust
• 58:00
  what the New Testament has to say about those texts if.
• 58:03
  You see that there's a difference in wording.
• 58:04
  It's just because the New Testament authors are making a
• 58:07
  reference to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew
• 58:10
  Scriptures, which came about 2-3 hundred years before the time of
• 58:13
  Christ. So there might be a wording
• 58:14
  difference, and I use that argument to actually.
• 58:17
  Push up against the thought that there's only one reliable
• 58:21
  translation of the Bible. You know the.
• 58:22
  King James Version is the only Bible for us.
• 58:26
  Any other translation is a perversion.
• 58:28
  And I remind, do you realize that there's multiple
• 58:29
  translations in the disciples days and they they went to the
• 58:33
  Septuagint to quote scripture. So you can't really use that
• 58:37
  argument for them because they weren't one translation only.
• 58:40
  So I would just say rest on the the wonderful truth that God is
• 58:44
  guiding the New Testament authors to bring illumination to
• 58:46
  the old. Any other thoughts?
• 58:49
  Yes, Yona, it's. A tough one for.
• 58:54
  You it's OK. So I grew up in the Messiah.
• 59:05
  That's putting it nicely. And I find him in my own
• 59:11
  scriptures. What do you think?
• 59:15
  Would you have found Jesus that you couldn't have and didn't
• 59:18
  open on New Testament? I love that question.
• 59:22
  I, I, I don't think, I mean, it's a hard question, I'm sure
• 59:25
  maybe to some, but I think it's a very important question that
• 59:28
  we have to address. When I was in Israel, I've
• 59:30
  shared the story before. When I was in Israel, we had
• 59:32
  some free time in the Holy city and I saw a group of young men
• 59:37
  just kind of, you know, hanging around by the street corner and
• 59:39
  one of them had a Toronto Raptors jersey on.
• 59:42
  And I thought, interesting, a Canadian's here, maybe he's not
• 59:44
  a Canadian, but I'm going to assume that he is.
• 59:46
  And so people were doing their own thing.
• 59:48
  And I approached them and I said, hey, are you Canadian?
• 59:51
  He goes, yeah, I am. And all their friends turn
• 59:53
  around. And they began to tell me how
• 59:54
  they were in Israel for a year to learn a Tanakh, like an
• 59:57
  intensive course for one year. And in this moment, I thought,
• 1:00:00
  this is my chance. This is my chance, right?
• 1:00:02
  I'm in Israel and I get to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ.
• 1:00:08
  But then I realized they don't have the New Testament.
• 1:00:11
  They have the Hebrew scriptures. We have the Hebrew Scriptures,
• 1:00:14
  the same Hebrew Scriptures. So right there and then, for the
• 1:00:17
  first time ever, I had to use the Hebrew Scriptures alone to
• 1:00:20
  prove Jesus Christ was Messiah. And it was one of the most
• 1:00:23
  humbling and exciting experiences I've ever had in
• 1:00:26
  evangelism. How am I going to talk about
• 1:00:28
  resurrection? How am I going to talk about
• 1:00:30
  atonement? How am I going to talk about
• 1:00:31
  heaven and hell? Using the Hebrew Scriptures
• 1:00:33
  alone and leading that conversation?
• 1:00:36
  I believe the Lord used that in my life to impress it upon me to
• 1:00:39
  master the Old Testament and to see where I can find Christ in
• 1:00:44
  the Hebrew Scriptures. We just had a couple of visiting
• 1:00:47
  our church last Friday and one of them was a Messianic Jew from
• 1:00:50
  New York and I asked him about his testimony of how he came to
• 1:00:53
  Christ and he said, well, one of the starting points that got me
• 1:00:56
  thinking was when I used to go to synagogue, at one particular
• 1:00:59
  point the the rabbi read Isaiah 52.
• 1:01:02
  He skipped Isaiah 53 and he went to Isaiah chapter 54.
• 1:01:09
  And then he went home. And he asked his dad, hey, why
• 1:01:12
  did the rabbi skip over Isaiah 53?
• 1:01:14
  And this is what his dad said. Honestly, because it's too
• 1:01:17
  similar to the description of Jesus Christ that the Christians
• 1:01:19
  believe in. It's true.
• 1:01:23
  It's. True right, it's known as the
• 1:01:24
  forbidden chapter. And so that began to spur him on
• 1:01:27
  to consider more than he came to Christ in college.
• 1:01:29
  So to answer your question, the the New Testament authors appeal
• 1:01:34
  continually to the Scriptures to prove their gospel truths.
• 1:01:37
  And what scriptures did they have at the time?
• 1:01:39
  Primarily the Old Testament. So if they can find, according
• 1:01:42
  to First Corinthians 15, the truth of the death, burial and
• 1:01:45
  resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures, as he tells
• 1:01:48
  tells the Corinthians, then I should be able to find the
• 1:01:49
  death, burial and resurrection of Christ in the Hebrew
• 1:01:51
  Scriptures as well. I would say begins there even
• 1:01:55
  you need to go to the old. Testament because if you don't
• 1:01:57
  go to the Old Testament, then how do you understand the
• 1:01:58
  concept of atonement and life being in the blood and and all
• 1:02:02
  these different facets? So I would say it's totally
• 1:02:05
  possible and I and I think it's the the job of the Gentile
• 1:02:09
  believers to show our fellow Jewish brethren that we have the
• 1:02:14
  Christ of the Hebrew Scriptures. Amen.
• 1:02:17
  Yeah, we're going to have more conversations about that, I'm
• 1:02:20
  sure later. Yes, you've been.
• 1:02:22
  Raised in the church or you become familiar with the Bible
• 1:02:26
  for a long time, which is great. I wonder if this is something
• 1:02:30
  that you struggled and then sometimes you can just get your
• 1:02:33
  passages because you it's becomes a familiarity.
• 1:02:35
  So how do you how do you challenge yourself and never
• 1:02:38
  lose respect and wonder or never lose the freshness of.
• 1:02:42
  Scripture. That's a beautiful question.
• 1:02:44
  It's by faith. Our justification is by faith
• 1:02:48
  and our sanctification is by faith according to Galatians
• 1:02:51
  Chapter 3. Every time I come to a new text.
• 1:02:55
  So I just finished Daniel. I'm going into Jose again.
• 1:02:58
  I've read Jose many times, but every time I'm about to enter
• 1:03:01
  through the threshold of a new book, I prepare myself in
• 1:03:05
  excitement to say I believe that God is going to show me
• 1:03:08
  something new. I believe it.
• 1:03:10
  I tell myself that. I pray about that, and sometimes
• 1:03:13
  the new is just something I've forgotten about.
• 1:03:15
  And he reminds. Me of sometimes it's something
• 1:03:17
  maybe you've experienced this, especially if you underline your
• 1:03:19
  Bible. You're there in a passage of
• 1:03:20
  Scripture and this part is blue. Then you skip over some and then
• 1:03:23
  it's red or whatever colors you use.
• 1:03:25
  And then this time around you're reading it and you're like, why
• 1:03:27
  didn't I highlight that part? Right?
• 1:03:30
  The Lord is illuminating things to you.
• 1:03:31
  So I would just say. There is no bottom to the ocean
• 1:03:34
  of the Bible. You have to believe that no
• 1:03:36
  matter how many times you have visited it.
• 1:03:38
  And I'll tell you this, even when I think personally that I,
• 1:03:41
  I've got a firm grasp on a certain doctrine, God never
• 1:03:45
  fails to remind me, no, there's, there's a, there's a component
• 1:03:48
  of it that you totally missed. And then I hear and I go, how
• 1:03:52
  did I miss that? And so the way you combat that
• 1:03:55
  is you have faith that it's a never ending source of
• 1:03:59
  revelation. There is no bottom to that
• 1:04:01
  treasure. Chest of the Bible, and as long
• 1:04:03
  as you have that in your forefront of your mind, it'll
• 1:04:05
  never be a dull moment. Maybe a couple more before we
• 1:04:09
  send you off here. Any other thoughts, questions?
• 1:04:12
  Yes, what? Was your advice be a brother to
• 1:04:20
  talk to, a sister in Christ to talk to?
• 1:04:22
  What would be your? Recommendation.
• 1:04:27
  Two ways to go about it. Maybe you can be the pioneer for
• 1:04:30
  that, right? So maybe with your friend group,
• 1:04:34
  you can introduce that kind of element to your relationships
• 1:04:38
  and hopefully it goes in that direction.
• 1:04:40
  And if it doesn't, then pray and ask the Lord for such friends.
• 1:04:44
  Lord, bring people in my life that feel this way about your
• 1:04:48
  word that we can sharpen one another.
• 1:04:50
  And you'd be amazed to know how the Lord will put people in your
• 1:04:52
  path. And I've seen it in my own life.
• 1:04:55
  So I would just say maybe, maybe this is God challenging you to
• 1:04:58
  be that person, to lead a group of friends or siblings to
• 1:05:02
  entertain those kind of conversations.
• 1:05:04
  And if it doesn't go anywhere, then pray, say, Lord, I really
• 1:05:07
  want this. And that's a gift that he's
• 1:05:09
  willing to give. It's a great question, though.
• 1:05:11
  Yes, Erica, you want? To apply everything yourself
• 1:05:21
  rather than the line on the overly studious.
• 1:05:37
  But then you you may sway the other way or perhaps overly rely
• 1:05:42
  on the Holy Spirit. So where do you?
• 1:05:48
  Find Yeah, it's a great question.
• 1:05:49
  And you brought this up earlier and I asked Erica to ask it
• 1:05:52
  publicly because I think it's a very important question.
• 1:05:54
  It is very possible for each of us to leave this place and to be
• 1:05:57
  kind of over stimulated. And I'm telling you these tools
• 1:06:01
  here are things that can be expounded on.
• 1:06:04
  You can imagine and we can add more things and that's why I
• 1:06:06
  kept it as concise as possible. You would do exceptionally well
• 1:06:10
  if you apply these things, but two things to keep in mind, one,
• 1:06:14
  be patient. Be patient with the process and
• 1:06:18
  two there. Are going to be times where
• 1:06:21
  remember, here's the visual. It's a tool belt and for every
• 1:06:24
  project you don't need every single tool.
• 1:06:27
  That would be sometimes unnecessary.
• 1:06:29
  So not everything that you heard today has to be applied every
• 1:06:31
  single time you come to the scriptures.
• 1:06:33
  That would be overwhelming, and maybe even.
• 1:06:34
  Discouraging. I would just say though from
• 1:06:37
  time to time, pull those tools out to begin with and see where
• 1:06:40
  it takes you. But at the same time, there's
• 1:06:43
  also nothing wrong when it comes to reading.
• 1:06:45
  If we go back to tool #1, reading through the scripture
• 1:06:48
  doesn't mean you have to apply all the other following.
• 1:06:50
  Tools in order to do it well. Sometimes reading the scripture
• 1:06:54
  just means that just read. Don't, don't pull out the
• 1:06:58
  concordance. And log on to Blue Letter Bible.
• 1:07:01
  You know it's 7:00 in the morning whenever you wake up,
• 1:07:03
  and sometimes it just looks like you having that cup of coffee
• 1:07:06
  with an open Bible. And just letting the word wash
• 1:07:09
  over you, that's it. And there's power in that and
• 1:07:12
  there's, there's a, there's a, there's a joy in that as well.
• 1:07:16
  And so one of the ways I do this personally, and I mentioned this
• 1:07:18
  to you earlier, is when I have, I mean, I prepare at least 2
• 1:07:22
  messages a week for Friday and for Sunday, and all the tools
• 1:07:27
  are coming out for those every single time.
• 1:07:30
  But I determined early on in ministry that I will never
• 1:07:34
  substitute my preparation for my personal reading of God's Word.
• 1:07:37
  And So what that looks like is before I do anything else, I'm
• 1:07:39
  opening this Bible and the tool belt is to the side and I'm just
• 1:07:43
  going through the Word of God to just let the Word minister to me
• 1:07:46
  directly. And sometimes things stand out
• 1:07:48
  and sometimes that they don't. But here's the thing, I don't
• 1:07:50
  remember what I ate last week. All I know is that I ate.
• 1:07:54
  Right. And I don't.
• 1:07:54
  Remember everything I read, but I know I ate right.
• 1:07:59
  And so for example, I'm going I was telling you I just entered
• 1:08:01
  into Hosea. I was reading Daniel earlier
• 1:08:03
  this week and one of the I mean. Daniel, you want to talk about
• 1:08:05
  you. You need tools for Daniel.
• 1:08:07
  Beast horns, little horn, goat. There's the goat.
• 1:08:11
  Again, but I don't think it applies RAM.
• 1:08:16
  But then what I found with Daniel is a simple point.
• 1:08:19
  Gabriel visits him. He's so overcome by the vision.
• 1:08:22
  He's so overcome by the manifestation.
• 1:08:24
  More accurately, he faints. And all I read in that moment
• 1:08:28
  was he was touched and strengthened.
• 1:08:32
  And then he confessed that he needed to be strengthened again,
• 1:08:34
  that he couldn't even lift himself up.
• 1:08:35
  So he was touched again and he was brought to his feet.
• 1:08:38
  And we see this repetition where Daniel admits his weakness and
• 1:08:42
  there's this impartation of strength.
• 1:08:43
  And all I left with this was on Tuesday morning, and I'm still
• 1:08:46
  riding on that truth today, that God.
• 1:08:49
  Is willing to provide more than one touch to strengthen us when
• 1:08:53
  we ask for it. He is not selfish in his
• 1:08:55
  empowering grace. I like Daniel can come to say
• 1:08:58
  Lord, I need more than one touch.
• 1:08:59
  Thank you for the touch. But I still feel weak in the
• 1:09:01
  knees my soul is tired I'm over I'm just overwhelmed.
• 1:09:05
  Can you give me a fresh touch again?
• 1:09:06
  And what you find in that small little description, this
• 1:09:09
  interaction between Daniel and the Angel, is that the Angel,
• 1:09:12
  being the conduit of God, is strengthening the servant every
• 1:09:15
  time you requested it. Do you see that?
• 1:09:16
  I didn't have to, you know, pull out anything.
• 1:09:18
  It just stood out to me, ministered to me, as tempting as
• 1:09:21
  it was to look at. OK, now let's get into this
• 1:09:23
  vision. Sometimes God's Word just wants
• 1:09:25
  to minister to your heart. Not so that you can teach it,
• 1:09:29
  just so you can find some fresh. Strength.
• 1:09:33
  Yeah, great question. Be patient with yourself.
• 1:09:37
  This is, you know. You could present.
• 1:09:39
  Something like this and expect everybody to just get it no,
• 1:09:42
  this is years and years and years of observations of
• 1:09:44
  mistakes of learning and and I and I want you to enjoy this I
• 1:09:48
  don't want this to be this fresh sense of duty OK one more maybe
• 1:09:53
  two more than we'll go yes so I've.
• 1:09:56
  Found it. Yeah.
• 1:10:50
  Yeah, yeah. So what it means to meditate, I
• 1:10:53
  think it looks like you taking one element of what you read and
• 1:10:56
  to chew on it mentally, think over it, ask yourself questions
• 1:11:00
  like what, where, when, how, What does this mean?
• 1:11:03
  And if you don't arrive to a conclusion that that you're
• 1:11:05
  still meditating on it, I think it means talking about it with
• 1:11:07
  others. It's interesting, interesting.
• 1:11:09
  In Psalm one, the word for meditate actually means to
• 1:11:12
  murmur in the Hebrew to mutter something.
• 1:11:15
  So it's not like even this internal thing someone speaks
• 1:11:18
  about, like you're whispering the law.
• 1:11:20
  And I think that conveys the idea of communicating it out
• 1:11:23
  loud and even to others. So I would say talk about it
• 1:11:25
  with others. I would say maybe at some point
• 1:11:28
  maybe explore what others have said about it, that you're just
• 1:11:30
  doing more than just saying I read it and I'm done.
• 1:11:32
  So engaging with it throughout the day.
• 1:11:34
  I mean, that doesn't mean that you can't think about anything
• 1:11:36
  else, but maybe when your head space is is kind of out of
• 1:11:38
  default to revisit what you read.
• 1:11:41
  For me, sometimes what meditation looks like is I read
• 1:11:43
  a passage and maybe I was rushed that morning so I'm going to
• 1:11:45
  read. I'm going to listen to that
• 1:11:47
  chapter as I drive to my meeting 20 minutes from now.
• 1:11:49
  I'll just repeat it, listen to it over and over again.
• 1:11:53
  There are different ways of doing it and I would just say
• 1:11:56
  just engage with the text in different ways.
• 1:11:57
  That's what meditation is. It doesn't look like you sitting
• 1:11:59
  in a certain way and just thinking about nothing else.
• 1:12:02
  It's much more practical and achievable than that.
• 1:12:05
  One more brother. I know we're going to close.
• 1:12:06
  Yes, Jonathan. Yeah.
• 1:12:21
  I think that's what you were alluding to, David, right?
• 1:12:23
  Like how it relates to Yes, yes. Yeah, when things seem a little
• 1:12:35
  bit more ambiguous or irrelevant, I think we have to
• 1:12:38
  leave it to the new. Testament authors.
• 1:12:40
  To actually do that, I think we should refrain ourselves from
• 1:12:44
  trying to make something seem like it's saying something about
• 1:12:46
  Christ when it's not there. So I would say, yeah, there are
• 1:12:49
  some portions of Scripture, like if I read that on my own, I
• 1:12:51
  would not have arrived to that conclusion.
• 1:12:53
  And when those things happen, to just leave it to the authority
• 1:12:57
  of the apostles by the Spirit to determine those conclusions.
• 1:13:02
  So yeah, I would say. You're you're you're doing.
• 1:13:05
  Yourself a better service erring on the side of caution than on
• 1:13:09
  exploration because again there are some things that just the
• 1:13:15
  New Testament says and we have to trust in that alone.
• 1:13:18
  Although we can dissect that to see how that applies to Christ
• 1:13:20
  more. I would just say as a general
• 1:13:22
  rule, be careful trying to force something.
• 1:13:24
  Oh Jesus was an that's a New Testament thing that clearly is
• 1:13:28
  conveyed. But stick with what's clear.
• 1:13:31
  Stick with patterns that are and paradigms that are obvious in
• 1:13:33
  the New Testament to identify what's in the old.
• 1:13:39
  We must be tired, Daniel. One more if you.
• 1:13:42
  Don't. Mind.
• 1:13:43
  Yeah, here you go. To my own experience in reading
• 1:13:46
  the scripture, that's in relation to your question.
• 1:13:49
  What I do, I make an effort to read the scripture daily and
• 1:13:56
  once a year from cover to cover. Why?
• 1:13:59
  I want first to know the scripture.
• 1:14:01
  Well, I want to be familiar of every book of the scripture.
• 1:14:07
  So yes, I go through the scripture once a year, every
• 1:14:11
  year from from Genesis to Revelation.
• 1:14:15
  Now last year was an exception, by the way, I decided to read
• 1:14:17
  the New Testament 4 times in Hebrew, in Arabic, twice in
• 1:14:21
  English. So that was an exception.
• 1:14:23
  This year I'm going back to the whole scripture, but I do
• 1:14:26
  something else. As I read the scripture, I
• 1:14:29
  highlight and when there is something that I want to study
• 1:14:33
  more, I go back to it and study it.
• 1:14:37
  So I divide it into two reading the scripture and studying
• 1:14:41
  deeper the scripture, where I find prompted by the Holy Spirit
• 1:14:45
  to dig deeper. I can do that when I have time
• 1:14:48
  during the day or in the weekends, but daily in the
• 1:14:52
  morning and then the first thing in the morning I do.
• 1:14:54
  I have disciplined myself. I have taught myself that
• 1:14:57
  everything that every day in the morning, the first thing is read
• 1:15:01
  the scripture, cup of coffee and the scripture.
• 1:15:04
  So I do 3 chapters. If it's Psalms, could be 5, but
• 1:15:10
  make an effort to read the Holy Scripture once a year in
• 1:15:13
  additional to my deep study of the scripture.
• 1:15:16
  So this plus this. Last morning Pastor Mark
• 1:15:19
  mentioned this and I promise you I'll leave you after this.
• 1:15:22
  Be careful of AI ChatGPT is not the Holy Spirit and ChatGPT has
• 1:15:30
  quickly become a replacement for pastors and preparing their
• 1:15:34
  sermons. You can ask that thing to do
• 1:15:37
  amazing things and to many it would be undiscernible.
• 1:15:43
  But here's the thing I would say why chat?
• 1:15:46
  As remarkable as this technology is, I'm not against using AI,
• 1:15:49
  but what I would say is AI gets it wrong a lot.
• 1:15:54
  And I've caught it on many occasions.
• 1:15:56
  I've tested AI ChatGPT, Gronk. I don't know what the other ones
• 1:16:00
  out there are, but I've asked the questions and sure enough,
• 1:16:03
  it's it makes it makes wrong references or wrong conclusions.
• 1:16:08
  And then I would correct it and you've probably seen it goes,
• 1:16:10
  yes, you're right. Sorry, I didn't you know.
• 1:16:12
  I thought, I thought this is dangerous.
• 1:16:14
  If you're, if you're this is good, even if you're not a
• 1:16:16
  pastor, if you're, if you're leading a Bible study, if you're
• 1:16:18
  in charge of a youth group, if you're taking all your
• 1:16:21
  information from AI unchecked and you're going up there, then
• 1:16:25
  saying things that AI is getting wrong, you and I are going to be
• 1:16:27
  held responsible for that. And so I would say refrain from,
• 1:16:31
  I think it's there are things that it can offer, but it's not
• 1:16:34
  perfect. So to just take it for what it
• 1:16:37
  gives you is malpractice. So be careful of that.
• 1:16:41
  OK, Yes, Jim, Sure. I.
• 1:16:46
  Would offer to my brother in my own personal life when it comes
• 1:16:51
  to reading this. A little overwhelmed in life and
• 1:16:58
  I got to realize that my quality of reading is sometimes more
• 1:17:05
  important than my quantity. And.
• 1:17:07
  Then I keep my quantity in check with my quality.
• 1:17:11
  Beautiful. And realize that the quantity
• 1:17:14
  will catch up in. Time.
• 1:17:16
  I can't think of a better way to end everything with that
• 1:17:18
  thought. Seriously.
• 1:17:19
  I think that's go aim for quality, not quantity.
• 1:17:23
  Quality always Trump's over quantity.
• 1:17:26
  And I can't wait to see how God's going to use this time to
• 1:17:31
  bless every single one of you. And I want to pray that God will
• 1:17:33
  use it. Let's do that together before we
• 1:17:35
  close. We do thank you, Father, for
• 1:17:39
  this morning and afternoon that you've gathered brothers and
• 1:17:41
  sisters from across the world to be in this place.
• 1:17:48
  And Lord, there's so many other things that we could have
• 1:17:49
  explored, but we believe that this session sufficed for today.
• 1:17:55
  In this moment of our journey with you, we pray for your great
• 1:17:58
  blessing upon those who have made great sacrifices to be
• 1:18:00
  here, that they would sense that this was not in vain and that
• 1:18:05
  you have equipped them and that you have encouraged them.
• 1:18:10
  Lord, we do help. We do ask for your help to
• 1:18:12
  fulfill the Great Commission, to teach others what you have
• 1:18:14
  taught us and that you would receive glory in all things.
• 1:18:18
  Protect us from the knowledge that.
• 1:18:19
  Puffs up. Oh Lord please, we don't want to
• 1:18:22
  become arrogant. We don't want to become the go
• 1:18:24
  to person that knows all these things though.
• 1:18:26
  We want to be humble servants who point people to.
• 1:18:30
  Christ, who share the joint excitement that we've
• 1:18:33
  experienced in you and take Glee and other people experiencing
• 1:18:37
  and not just experiencing it, but excelling in it far beyond
• 1:18:39
  us. So we do pray in this place that
• 1:18:43
  there will be wonderful, amazing, empowered teachers of
• 1:18:47
  God's Word, disciple makers, evangelist that would go beyond
• 1:18:52
  what any minister in this house has ever been able to do.
• 1:18:55
  And we asked, Lord, that what happened here would multiply in
• 1:19:00
  our families, in our friends circles, in our churches.
• 1:19:04
  And we do pray for what we mentioned earlier, Lord,
• 1:19:06
  sincerely, a revival of the Bible in our pulpits.
• 1:19:11
  Move the hearts of our pastors to stay faithful, those who are
• 1:19:14
  unfaithful, or to to sense your conviction to get back to the
• 1:19:18
  book. And to give the people of God
• 1:19:20
  what the word of God says. Lord, we pray that you would go
• 1:19:24
  before us for the rest of this time and the rest of this
• 1:19:26
  weekend. And as we gather here tomorrow,
• 1:19:28
  or many of us will be here tomorrow, we pray that you would
• 1:19:30
  speak loud and clear and that our amazement will only continue
• 1:19:34
  as we hear your voice through your word.
• 1:19:36
  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
• 1:19:38
  The Lord be with you. Yes, Amen.