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GOD Breathed - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 · Mount Eaton Church

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It's good to be here. I like coming here. I look
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forward to being here. I look forward to seeing
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Joe and all of you. I know some of you from being
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here before. I know some of you from marriage
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retreat that we have, which will be in four weeks.
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So if any of you are still interested, let me
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know. Even if you can't commit yet, just let
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me know so we can plan. There's some papers in
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the back for it. But we feel like family when
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we're here with all of you. Joe actually is family.
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My daughter married his son, and so we share
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grandchildren. It's a joy watching them grow
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up. But, you know, as you watch them grow up,
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you can't help but realize they're growing up
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into a much different world than I grew up in,
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and probably you also. They're growing into a
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world that is very, very full of change. When
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I was in public school, I remember every morning
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we'd read the Bible, somebody'd pray, and teachers
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who could sing would lead us into hymn. Don't
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do that anymore. Things had totally changed.
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The content of music, movies, TV, all, everything
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with gay rights and a whole gender confusion
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and drugs. Everything has been changed. The whole
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atmosphere of the country has changed. And that's
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because the morality has changed. Used to be
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standards of morality were based on the Bible.
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Not that everybody believed in God. Not that
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everybody was a Christian. But the Bible was
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still the standard that people went by. The Ten
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Commandments were the moral absolutes that were
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in our law and that others followed. But things
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have changed. Standards of morality now is based
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on man. Instead of finding the Bible as a standard,
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it's up to each person. What do you want to believe?
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What's true to you? What's your truth? Everything
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has become relative. Follow your heart. If it
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feels right, do it. Be true to yourself. Choose
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love. That's how people decide their morals,
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their sexual involvement, their gender, if they're
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going to be honest or not. It all depends on
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what they want. And so they pick what they want,
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and that becomes their absolute, and everything
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has to revolve around it. Only that doesn't work
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too well. It brings chaos, it brings despair.
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It's kind of like playing Monopoly, when everybody
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can make up their own rules. And you play by
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your rules, and you play by yours, and I'll play
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by mine. I know we can change our rules anytime
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we want. What kind of a game would that be? That'd
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be chaos, kind of like what we're living in now.
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But we can't make our own rules, because there
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are absolutes. God gives them to us in His Word.
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And that's what we want to look at this morning.
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So turn to 2 Timothy 3 .16 in your Bibles, please.
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2 Timothy 3 .16 All scripture is God -breathed
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and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting,
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and training in righteousness, so that the man
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of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good
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work. All scripture. Every verse, not just the
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parts you like, not picking and choosing what
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means something to you and rejecting the rest.
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All. Old and New Testament. It's all. God breathed.
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God breathed. That in Greek means that it's God's
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breath that was put into the word. God's thoughts
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coming out through his breath into the word.
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I have my thoughts. I think them. I speak them
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through my breath to you. God has his thoughts.
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He spoke them. He breathed them into the minds
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and hearts of the writers and into the Bible
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so that his truth is there. In Latin, the word
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that it's translated into is inspired, which
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you might be a little more familiar with. But
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it's God's very words, God's authority, which
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means it's important. It's true. It's what we
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need to do. Timothy has some things he wants
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to tell. Paul has some things he wants to tell
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Timothy to pass on others. But anybody can tell
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anybody to do things. And you wonder, well, what
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right do you have? Who are you to tell me this,
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to do this? And Paul realizes that. So Paul gives
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his authority. He says, what I'm telling you,
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Timothy, it's not just my ideas. It's not just
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what I want. This comes from God. So it has authority.
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So you need to do it. So he tells him that all.
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Of what he's saying. What he's going to be saying.
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Are the very words of God. They come from God
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himself. But just because the Bible says that.
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Does that mean it's true? Sure it's written in
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the Bible. The Bible says this is God's book.
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But couldn't anybody write a book and say that?
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I mean if you wanted to fool people. If you wanted
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to make up something. Of course you'd say this
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is from God. That's what the Mormons did. That's
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what the. Muslims have with their Koran, how
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do we know that this book truly is from God?
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I mean, if you're going to base your whole life
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on it, everything you believe, everything you
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do and don't do, your whole hope of heaven and
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eternity, you ought to make sure you're basing
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it on something true, right? Not just something
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that somebody came up with. The Bible is God's
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Word, and we can show that it's God's Word. First
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of all, Do you think it's possible that if God
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wanted, he could write a book that would come
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down to us, that would contain his word and be
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accurate through the ages? Is that too hard for
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God? Is that out of the realm of possibility?
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No. No. Look at it. God created everything with
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just a word. He could certainly do that. So it
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is very possible that the Bible could be God's
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word. Not only is it possible, but it is necessary.
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Because if he didn't do that, how would we know?
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He can know a little bit about God through nature,
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but not much, not enough. We need this written
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revelation from him. Like a child, how are they
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supposed to know what's going on in life? Well,
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their parent teaches them. They communicate truth
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to them. And God does that to us through his
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word. And when you look at his word, you see
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there's, Proof, plenty of proof that this is
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God's Word. For one thing, it was written by
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44 authors over a period of 1 ,500 years. They
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didn't know each other. They came from different
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backgrounds, different languages, different cultures,
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certainly different times, and yet they wrote
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what was put together and all says the same thing.
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It would be like you take 44 men walking past
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a big pit in the ground. And each one of them
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goes by, throws in a bunch of stones. And then
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a few years later, another stone. Coming from
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another direction, more stones. At the end of
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that time, you look down in that hole, and what
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you have is a modern functioning hospital. Is
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that possible? Does that come about that way?
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No. There has to be something behind it to make
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it, to make it so that it happens. All these
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men saying the same thing. Also, when you look
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at the Bible, you see it's a book that man couldn't
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write if he would and wouldn't write if he could.
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For example, man wouldn't write that everything
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came from nothing. Nothing is a state we don't
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know. Man, evolution, well, it came from something.
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It came from this, from that, from the Big Bang.
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Man wouldn't make that up because nobody would
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buy that. Man certainly wouldn't make up the
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Trinity if he was writing. Well, we got three
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gods, but we really have one. And yet they're
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not the same, but they're different. And who
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would buy that? Why would somebody even think
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of that? Much less trying to sell that if he
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was coming up with a religion. And then the fact
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that man is sinful. People don't like that. Other
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religions don't believe that. Man would not put
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that in. You're not going to sell a religion
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to people by saying, You're sinful. You need
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somebody to redeem you. That's not the way people
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think. And look at the extent of revelation.
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All the Bible has to say about heaven and hell.
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How could man know those things? How could they
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come up with it? And then all of them be the
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same and say the same thing. My favorite proof
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is fulfilled prophecy. Bible has so many prophecies
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that have been made that have come true. For
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example, years ago, Prophet Isaiah, 700 B .C.,
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said there was a man named Cyrus who was going
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to be king, and he's going to rebuild Jerusalem
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and the temple. The thing was, Jerusalem and
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the temple were already there. It would be like
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somebody saying, well, this guy, Joe Brown, is
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going to rebuild Philadelphia and City Hall.
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Well, you know, it's already there. Suppose 100
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years later, the whole thing was destroyed, was
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wiped out. And somebody did come and rebuild
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Philadelphia. And the person's name happened
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to be Joe Brown. You would think whoever came
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up, whoever knew that ahead of time, something
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really special. That's what the Bible says. And
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there's hundreds of prophecies in the Bible.
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Somebody counted 1 ,817 that have been fulfilled.
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None that haven't. The fourth proof is archaeology.
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There's never been an archaeological discovery
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that contradicts a Bible reference. Dr. William
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Albright, who is a well -known, one of the best
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archaeologists, said there can be no doubt that
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archaeology has confirmed the historicity of
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the Old Testament. The number of archaeological
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discoveries that relate to the Bible number in
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the hundreds of thousands. For example, the Hittites.
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The Bible says that there was this nation called
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the Hittites, but nobody ever found any trace
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of them or had anything else in history. So people
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say, well, the Bible's wrong. They got that one
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wrong. Then less than 100 years ago, some archaeologists
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found this huge empire in Asia Minor that were
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the Hittites. Same with the walls of Jericho.
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That never happened. That couldn't happen. Walls
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don't fall out like that. Well, they found that
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they do, and they did. There's no other ancient
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book that has all the archaeological proof that
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the Bible has, nor is scientific accuracy. Can
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you imagine a book written 50 years ago being
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used as a science book today? Or 100 or 200 or
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2 ,000 or 4 ,000 years ago and still being accurate
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scientifically? And yet the Bible is. The life
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of the flesh is in the blood, the Bible said.
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Man didn't believe that. They would bleed people
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thinking that brought health. The earth is round.
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The earth rotates around the sun, not the sun
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around the earth. All these things. The moon
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is greater, they used to say. We know from the
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Bible it's lesser. The Bible has been true in
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everything that it says scientifically. Okay,
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some say, well, maybe the Bible is pretty good
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back then when it was written. But how do we
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know today we got the same thing that they wrote?
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It's been changed. People have changed a lot
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over the years. Well, that is not true. When
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you look at the ancient manuscripts of the Bible,
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you'll see that it's not true. For example, there
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are seven copies of what Plato wrote. And the
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oldest one is 1 ,200 years after it was written.
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Caesar's writings, there's 10 copies. And the
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oldest of those is 1 ,000 years after it was
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written. Aristotle, Homer, all them. But when
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you look at the New Testament, there's 5 ,600
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copies that are less than 100 years after it
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was written. In the Old Testament, there's 1
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,700 copies. The oldest... Less than 100 years
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also. Without differences. You can look at those
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old original ones, or you can look at the Bible
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today, and you see virtually the same thing.
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When they discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls, they
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saw that there was the same thing in them as
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is in God's Word today. It's in our Bible. Out
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of every 2 ,000 words, there's one... Maybe a
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punctuation or a tense change or something. But
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nothing that affects any doctrine or anything
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of importance. So we can see by the ancient manuscripts.
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And you can look at proof around you. You can
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look at proof in your own life that God's word
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is true. The transformation of lives. Anybody
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whose life has been changed by the Bible? Anybody
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sitting in your seat maybe? Yes, God's Word does
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change lives. Look at the testimonies of murderers
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and drug addicts and atheists and regular people
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like us. The Bible transforms individual lives
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and it transforms cultures. If you study history
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or civilizations, you'll see that civilizations
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that did not have God's Word were very centered
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on one person ruling by power, killing others,
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slavery, women, children didn't have any place,
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no freedom, no prosperity, no safety. But civilizations
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that have had God's word influencing their laws
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and them is entirely different. There's freedom
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and there's government and there's peace and
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there's safety. God's word. transforms cultures.
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Also, we see the Bible is indestructible. It's
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been attacked since the beginning of time, but
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it's still here. Know any other books that have
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been around for thousands of years and are still
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true? Yet man says the Bible isn't true, and
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man attacks it and says, you can't believe that.
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That's just myths. Don't go by what that says.
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Here, we're going to believe in science. That's
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not what happened. And so they attack churches.
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And they burn Bibles. And they kill pastors.
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And they say, we're going to get rid of that
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book. We're going to destroy it and not have
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anything more to do with it. And so every generation
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seems to throw its beliefs, its writings against
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the Bible. But are they able to destroy the Bible?
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Have they been able to do away with it? No, because
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it's God's Word. And God's Word is indestructible.
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And God's Word lasts forever. And it can't be
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destroyed. Seven billion copies of the Bible
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have been printed since Gutenberg. And hundreds
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of thousands written by hand before that. It's
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in thousands of languages worldwide. So we see
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there's plenty of proofs that the Bible is God's
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Word. The number of authors, what it contains,
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fulfilled prophecy, archaeology, science, the
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manuscripts, transformed lives, the indestructibility
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of the Bible. True, we know we can trust this
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book. But okay, somebody says, that's good, you
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can trust your Bible, you take your Bible. But
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I've got this other book over here. And it claims
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to be God's word too. And I'm going to go by
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that. How do we know this is the only book that
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God inspired, that God has for us? Well, there's
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some proofs for that that we can see. The Bible
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itself, for example, in Revelation 22, says if
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anyone adds to these truths, God will add to
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him the plagues that are written in this book.
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And if anyone takes away from the words of this
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book of prophecy, God shall take away his part
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from the book of life, from the holy city, and
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from the things that are written in this book.
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Pretty strong words. The Bible claims to be the
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only one. When you compare it with other books,
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you see the Bible is completely different. Because
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these books contradict each other. They say separate
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things. They say opposite things. So how could
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all of them be right? They can't. Only one of
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them can be right. There has to be the one that
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is 100 % true in history and archaeology and
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science and fulfilled prophecies. And that's
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only the Bible. When you compare it to other
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books, you see how far short it fails. Judaism.
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Only goes by the Old Testament. Rejects Jesus
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and the New Testament. Islam, the Koran, is full
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of errors. It encourages men to beat their wives
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so they will be better women. To kill non -believers
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are rewarded. They say Jesus is not God. He wasn't
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crucified. He didn't die. He didn't come back
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to life. He's not a savior. Totally contradictory
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to what the Bible says. Both cannot be true.
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Look at Hinduism, the Vedas. They say God is
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impersonal. You can't know anything about God.
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He's just a force, a mother nature. That man
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is worthless. There is no salvation. You just
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reincarnate until you finally absorb. Nothing
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like what the Bible says. Buddhism. No God, no
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sin. We're worthless. Everything is empty. No
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hope. So don't feel anything. That's the only
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way you can escape it. Confucianism. Also, no
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God, no forgiveness. Dead ancestors are what
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control things now. That's all there is to it.
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Mormonism, their Book of Mormon. Many changes
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in that. Hundreds of historical and grammatical
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errors in that. They say that our God... was
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a Mormon on another planet who came here with
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a bunch of his wives, called one of them Eve,
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and he was Adam. And so they populated this world,
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and he went up into heaven. He had two kids,
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one named Jesus and one named Satan, who were
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brothers, but no salvation through Jesus. Salvation
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is by being a good Mormon, because if you're
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a good Mormon, then when you die, you can take
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your wives. and you can go to another planet,
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and you will be Adam, and one of them will be
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Eve, and you populate that planet, and then you
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go up in heaven and be God. That make sense?
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That sound like what the Bible says? No, nothing,
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nothing like it. The Bible is the only true book.
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The only one. The Bible really is God's word.
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So if there's so much proof for the Bible, How
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come people don't believe it? How come they reject
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it? How come all these scholars and so many people
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reject the Bible if all these truths are out
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there? Let me tell you a story about this microscope.
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Years ago, there was a man from this country
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who went to Europe and saw a microscope. It just
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had been invented, and he loved it. He put leaves
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of butterflies under it. He put grass, he put
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seeds, he put anything you could find under it,
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and he loved looking through it and seeing what
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he could find. He bought one, brought it back
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to this country, and kept it in his own house,
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fascinated. One day, he was so busy looking at
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things, when it was time to eat, he didn't want
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to leave. He just kept looking, so he asked him
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to bring the food to him, so he did, and he started
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eating his favorite food, and he thought, hey.
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Let's see what that looks like. And so he puts
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him on a slide and he put it under the microscope.
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You know what he saw? He saw a bunch of little
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green wiggly things moving around and stuff crawling
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and all kinds of terrible stuff. So you know
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what he did? He broke the microscope. Got rid
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of it because the microscope was showing evidence
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he didn't want to see. And that's what people
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do with the Bible. The reason people speak against
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the Bible is because the Bible speaks against
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their lifestyle. They don't want to hear what
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the Bible says. And so they find any kind of
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reason, any kind of excuse to reject it. Because
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if you believe this is God's word, you're accountable
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to God, you're accountable to follow it and what
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it says. And people do not want that. Atheism
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is not the knowledge that God does not exist.
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but only the wish that he did not, in order that
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one could sin without reproach or exalt one's
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ego without challenge. The pillars upon which
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atheism mounts are sensuality and pride. I like
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this whole study on apologetics, but that's all
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we'll go over this morning. If you're interested
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and want more, I've written a book on it you
22:59
can find on my website. Or you can email me and
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I'll send you a PDF of it. It's all kinds of
23:06
things online. And if you have any questions
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or anything you're not sure about, anything doubts
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that you have, because Satan does use this to
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put doubts into our minds and try to draw us
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from it. Well, what if this isn't true? And what
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about all this other? If you want a dialogue
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about that, please write to me. I'll gladly do
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that with you. But that's what Paul starts off
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with this verse. He tells Timothy, this is God's
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word. This isn't my words, this is God's words.
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You don't do it because I said so, but because
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God said so. That's the authority behind it.
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What do we do with it now? What's his command
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about it? Well, first of all, he says, That we
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teach it. It's useful for teaching. For learning
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the content. For data input. Because it does
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change lives. Because God's word is what changed
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lives. Individually. Cultures. Everywhere. And
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so we need to see what he would say. You get
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a new piece of electronic equipment. Or a new
24:14
something. You get a manual. You get directions
24:18
on how it works. You don't just. try to guess
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or figure it out or do anything you want with
24:24
it. The manufacturer who made it knows how to
24:27
get the best out of this and how it works best.
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So you do, it's good for you to figure out, to
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find what he's saying, right? That's what the
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Bible is. It's a manufacturer's directions to
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us how to live by one who should know. So it's
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important to know the Bible, to know it in your
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head. to know it. Colossians 3 .16 says, let
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the message of Christ dwell among you richly
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as you teach and admonish one another. Let it
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dwell among you richly. You need to know it.
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You need to put it into practice in your life.
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A lot of times Christians say, well, you know,
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I don't seem to have any peace. I don't have
25:11
this joy that people are talking about. There's
25:14
no victory. There's no guidance. There's no direction.
25:19
Something's wrong with Christianity. I'll go
25:22
to another church. Maybe I'll get it there. And
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then another. And I'll try this. You only find
25:27
it in God's Word when you read His Word, put
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it in your heart, meditate on it, when you follow
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it. That's what gives joy and peace and guidance.
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That's what moves us. and works inside of us.
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So you have to know it. You have to know it and
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memorize it, put it into practice. If not, you're
25:54
missing something spiritual. You're not healthy
25:55
spiritually. A couple days ago, I read about
25:59
a young man in the UK that has gone blind at
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17. He went to the doctors when he was 14, and
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he said he was starting to lose his sight, but
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it continued to keep getting worse and worse
26:13
throughout the years, and now he can't see. He
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has optic neuropathy. When they tried to figure
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out where it came from, they couldn't figure
26:23
it out. Eventually, they discovered that he was
26:26
a very picky eater. All he ate was French fries
26:30
and Pringles potato chips for his whole life.
26:35
As a result, he is now blind. You see, it's important
26:39
to have a healthy diet, to have what our body
26:43
needs for health and to function. And that's
26:47
true of your soul too, right? You got to feed
26:50
your soul. You can't feed your soul commercials
26:52
and movies and secular music that dishonors God,
26:57
those things, and expect to be growing and healthy
27:00
spiritually. You need to feed on God's word.
27:03
So you need to know it. And when you know it,
27:07
you need to stow it. Put it in your heart. Not
27:10
just facts in your head, but put it into your
27:13
life. But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
27:17
and on his law he meditates day and night. Think
27:21
about it. Meditate on it. Don't be so busy listening
27:24
to stuff all the time, having something playing
27:27
all the time, that you don't have time to think
27:29
about God. that you don't have time to mull over
27:32
what you read. When you read your Bible verses
27:36
in the morning, try to think of them during the
27:38
day. I don't know about you, but a lot of times
27:41
I'll read something and 15 minutes later you
27:44
ask me, what was that about? And I think, uh
27:47
-oh, I better go back and look. And that's not
27:50
good. That's not nourishing. We need to stow
27:53
it. We need to know what he's saying and put
27:56
it in our heart so that it becomes part of us.
28:00
Psalm 119. How can a young man keep his way pure?
28:04
By living according to your word. I have hidden
28:07
your word in my heart that I might not sin against
28:10
you. God will bring it. God will help. When you
28:13
need it, he'll put it there. When Jesus was tempted
28:17
by Satan in the wilderness three times, how did
28:20
he overcome those temptations? What did he do?
28:25
He quoted scripture. Yeah. What book did he quote?
28:30
Deuteronomy, yes. When's the last time you quoted
28:34
Deuteronomy? Can you say Deuteronomy? That was
28:40
the key to his victory, knowing Scripture, knowing
28:44
it by heart. So you know it, but you also stow
28:49
it. Because you can't stow what you don't know.
28:52
So you learn it, but not just facts in your head.
28:55
So it becomes part of you, part of your heart.
28:59
A go -to forms your worldview. It's there when
29:03
you need it. Sometimes, however, we get wrong
29:07
interpretations. We forget. We twist things.
29:10
Are those others who come and want to make the
29:13
Bible say something else? That's the second thing
29:17
Paul says God's Word is good for. Teaching, but
29:21
also rebuking. I mean, just to point out the
29:25
faults. To show this is wrong, this isn't it.
29:28
Point that spotlight on this sin, on this error.
29:32
It's like going and looking in the mirror and
29:34
you see, uh -oh, dirt here. I need to do something
29:37
about it. James says that's what the Bible is
29:39
like. You ever read something or hear something
29:42
and all of a sudden you're convicted. I shouldn't
29:45
be doing that. Or I should start doing this.
29:49
That's God's Spirit rebuking you through God's
29:52
words, showing you where change is needed. Hebrews
29:57
4 .12, for the word of God is living and active,
30:00
sharper than any double -edged sword. It penetrates
30:04
even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and
30:07
marrow. It judges the thoughts and intents, thoughts
30:11
and attitudes of the heart. It's that sword like
30:15
Jesus used in the wilderness. Like Paul talks
30:18
about in Ephesians 6 when he talks about the
30:21
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
30:23
The only offensive weapon, the only way to have
30:25
victory was through using that sword against
30:28
Satan's lies and deceptions. So we have his truth.
30:33
So God's Word is good for teaching. It's good
30:37
for rebuking, showing error, but then when you
30:39
see that error, it's also good for correcting
30:42
it, showing us the right thing, replacing it
30:45
with something that is right. He corrects it
30:48
in us. When we see that, oh, I shouldn't be doing
30:51
that, and then God's Word shows you what to do
30:54
instead. I've read the Bible and found many errors,
30:59
all of which were in me. First Peter says, always
31:05
be prepared to give an answer to everyone who
31:08
asks you. To give the reason for the hope that
31:11
you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
31:15
It's not only to correct error in us. It's so
31:18
that we know it and can correct error in others.
31:20
Because there's plenty going around today. Plenty
31:25
misuse of God's word. Plenty who don't know or
31:27
ignorant of God's word. And it's up to us to
31:30
correct it. To show them. So we have to know
31:35
God's word is for teaching. You know it and stow
31:38
it. It's for rebuking. To show error. It's for
31:41
correcting. To correct the error. But it's also
31:45
for training in righteousness. To train in righteousness.
31:52
Because God's word transforms. It changes us.
31:56
When you learn it and you know it and you have
31:58
it correct and it becomes part of you, it's going
32:01
to change your life. It's going to transform
32:03
your life. That's what Paul is doing with Timothy.
32:08
That's what Paul wants to tell Timothy here.
32:12
Watch your life and your doctrine closely. Persevere
32:18
in them because if you do, you will save both
32:22
yourself and your hearers. And Jesus' own words.
32:27
It is written, man shall not live on bread alone,
32:31
but by every word that comes from the mouth of
32:33
God. You want to become more like Jesus? You
32:38
start thinking like Jesus. And then you'll act
32:41
like Jesus. And how do you start thinking like
32:44
Jesus? By knowing his word and making it part
32:47
of, by knowing it and stowing it. And then by
32:51
showing it. In everything you do to others. In
32:54
the way you live. You'll be Christ -like. People
32:57
will see that. People will see Jesus in you.
33:00
But it has to be built on his word. Jesus tells
33:03
a story about a man who built a house in the
33:06
sand. And what happened to that sand? Or that
33:09
house? It went down. Instead, he said we should
33:15
build a house on a rock. And that won't happen.
33:19
So what's the rock we build on? On Jesus, yes.
33:24
As revealed in God's word. That's where we learn
33:27
about Jesus. That's where we find out about him.
33:31
So it's important to know it, to stow it, to
33:36
show it, and then to sow it. Not keep it to ourselves,
33:41
but to share it with others. Give it to others
33:44
because everybody needs God's truth. Everybody
33:47
needs his direction. Jesus says in Matthew 28,
33:51
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,
33:55
baptizing them in the name of the Father and
33:58
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
34:01
them to obey everything I have commanded you.
34:03
And surely I am with you always to the very end
34:07
of the ages. So it's for us to know, but it's
34:11
for us to share, to tell other people, to initiate
34:14
conversations, not to think, well, I won't know
34:18
what to say, or they'll ask me a question, and
34:20
I won't know what to answer. There's always a
34:22
good answer when somebody says, asks you something
34:25
you don't know. You know what it is? Call Joe,
34:30
right? No, you tell them, I don't know. But I'll
34:34
find out and get back to you. Nothing wrong with
34:36
that. People don't mind that. You don't have
34:37
to know everything. But you do know more than
34:40
they do. And you do know what Jesus has done
34:42
in your life. And that you can share. And that
34:45
you should share. Share it with others. Just
34:48
like somebody shared it with you. So you know
34:52
it. You stow it. You show it. And you sow it.
34:56
That's what Paul is telling Timothy here. That
34:59
it's good for teaching. It's good for rebuking,
35:04
to show error, and then for correcting those
35:07
errors and for training in righteousness, to
35:10
apply it to life so that it's lived out. And
35:16
then he concludes the verse with the phrase that
35:20
the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for
35:24
every good work. Thoroughly equipped. Actually,
35:27
what he does in the Greek, he uses the word equipped
35:29
twice. In equipping, he'll be equipped, which
35:33
is kind of an intensification of it. Like saying
35:36
you'll be super equipped. God's word doesn't
35:39
just give you the basics. It gives you enough
35:41
of what you need so that you can live for him.
35:45
That the man of God or woman of God will be thoroughly
35:49
equipped, thoroughly prepared, completely equipped
35:53
for whatever God would have for you. Now you
35:57
keep on learning. You keep on growing. And when
36:00
you make mistakes, you repent and you confess
36:03
them and you go ahead again. And it's a process.
36:06
It's not a one -time instant thing. But knowing
36:09
God's Word is the key to it. He is no shortcut.
36:13
There's no way of instant going to some church
36:17
and getting it all or doing this or praying that
36:20
or reading this. It's every day getting into
36:25
God's Word, reading it, remembering it, memorizing
36:28
it, making it part of your life. Day by day,
36:31
on your own, to learn it and to do it. That's
36:36
why God has given it to us. In some ways, it's
36:40
like my cell phone. I like this thing. It got
36:43
me here. The maps got me here. If I need a flashlight,
36:48
it's got a flashlight. It's got a calculator
36:50
that I use. What else does it do? I can email
36:55
people. I can talk on the phone. It's a little
36:57
computer. I didn't know how to use it all at
37:00
first. I'm still learning, I guess, as you progress.
37:04
But it's become an important part of my life.
37:08
You ever lose your phone for a day? What does
37:12
it do to your life and everything? Yes. You depend
37:16
on it. It's an important part of life and living.
37:19
You know, the Bible's that same way. The Bible's
37:23
something that it might take time for you to
37:25
get into and to learn how to use it all, but
37:28
the Bible also is something we need and we need
37:31
every day for guidance and for direction, for
37:34
something to teach us and rebuke and correct
37:37
us, for something to train us, for something
37:40
to help us share with others. So while the phone's
37:44
important, God's Word is even more important
37:47
because that's... What he gives it to us for.
37:52
Suppose you treated your Bible like a cell phone.
37:55
And you read it that often. And you went to it
37:57
that much. And it was that important. And you
37:59
had to have it with you. And you always knew
38:01
where it was. And if you went a day without it.
38:04
Uh oh. That's the way it should be with God's
38:07
word as well. Do you use your scriptures? Do
38:11
you read your Bibles regularly? You miss a day
38:15
or so sometimes, but do you have an appetite?
38:18
Do you do it because you want to do it? Or just
38:20
because you feel guilty if you don't, so you
38:22
knock it off your list? Ask God to make it alive
38:26
for you that you want to do it. And it does take
38:29
work, because we've got an enemy that makes us
38:31
not want to do it. To be lazy, to be busy, to
38:34
have distractions, because he knows how important
38:38
it is. Use your Bible. Depend on it. Because
38:43
that's your connection with God. It is God's
38:46
breath to us. God breathed his truth into this
38:50
book. And thank God we've got all the copies
38:53
in this country and we're free to have them and
38:55
share them and read it anytime we want. But many
39:00
parts of the country don't, the world don't have.
39:03
So, learn your God breathed book. Let's pray.
39:13
Father, we thank you for your word. We thank
39:16
you for your truth in it. I pray that you would
39:20
help us to remember to read it, not because we
39:23
have to, but because we want to. Give us a desire,
39:26
a hunger and thirst to know you better in your
39:29
word and you personally in the beginning of our
39:33
relationship that grows and wants to be more
39:36
intimate with you and worship and share to others.
39:40
Help us to appreciate this book. Sometimes we
39:43
have so many, we just take it for granted. But
39:46
that the God of the universe who created all
39:49
this with the word would communicate truth to
39:53
us for our sake, for our benefit. How can we
39:58
not want to learn it? How can we not want to
40:01
follow it? Father, we thank you for it. In Jesus'
40:05
name we pray. Amen.