Latest / Admonition Podcast / Back To The Bible Lesson 1 - Aaron Cozort - 06-08-2025
Transcript
- 0:00going to be coming through handing out the green booklets.
- 0:04If you need a large print version, they have a few of those and just request that of them and they will give that to you.
- 0:12uh We're going to be going through the Back to the Bible uh material in our sermons over the next few weeks with a portion of each uh lesson being uh
- 0:28each book, we're going to take a couple of weeks to go through each book just because we recognize the time constraints that we have within the sermon period and the things that
- 0:39need to be discussed.
- 0:40Typically, this study is about an hour to an hour and a half long with each booklet, depends on some of the questions that are asked and some of the discussion that is had.
- 0:52But we're going to go through it.
- 0:53You're gonna see the slides up on the screen and you'll be able to
- 0:57fill in your booklet as we go along.
- 1:01When you're sitting down and studying with someone, just for the sake of the visitors, we're going through and doing some training on how to study the Bible with people
- 1:09utilizing this material, but just in general.
- 1:11Helping people to do what most people will never do with them.
- 1:17Allow them to sit down and open the Bible and read it for themselves.
- 1:22And so if some of the people in the room have sat down and gone through this study with me, ah if there's two or three people at the table, we'll all take turns reading the
- 1:31passages.
- 1:32If it's just me and somebody else and they want to read all of it, I'll let them read all of it.
- 1:36If they're terribly uncomfortable reading in public, I'll do the reading or even amongst others.
- 1:44But the fact of the matter is I'm not going to answer any of the questions.
- 1:49When you sit down and you study with
- 1:52And when you go through back to the Bible with someone, do not answer the questions.
- 2:00It's their job.
- 2:02Because your role is to allow them to open the Bible and read it for themselves.
- 2:10And to not give them your view, your understanding, your belief, your opinion about what the Bible says.
- 2:19simply to let them read it for themselves.
- 2:24We consider this one of the things that I always begin with when I do one of the studies, and now I don't have, up until now, haven't had a fancy survey.
- 2:35On the evangelism table in the back in the foyer, you'll find these little handouts.
- 2:41They have a simple survey on the back, and we're gonna begin there because there are some things that I always ask people uh before the study starts.
- 2:51And for those of you who were here during Rob's training,
- 2:55you know why, but they usually don't.
- 2:58But these are the questions that we ask before we get into booklet one.
- 3:03Number one, do you know God exists, yes or no?
- 3:08Or you're unsure?
- 3:10As you go through and they answer this, you're not trying to judge them as to what they think or what they know, you're trying to understand where they are.
- 3:21Someone calls you up.
- 3:24And they say, I'm headed to Collierville.
- 3:26How do I get there?
- 3:28What's the first question you ask?
- 3:31Where are you?
- 3:34Because if you don't know where they are, you can't answer the question of how to get where they want to go.
- 3:42So this questionnaire is about finding out where they are.
- 3:47If someone who you're sitting down to study the Bible with does not know for sure that there is a God, don't start with this booklet.
- 3:58Okay?
- 4:00There's a different booklet you should start with.
- 4:03There's other material you should go through, but you should first help them come to an understanding as to why they should believe that there is a God.
- 4:13Because otherwise, you're asking them, or they're asking you, how do I get to heaven?
- 4:19And you say, well, let me start you.
- 4:21And they're like, but I'm not at that point.
- 4:23How do I get to that point?
- 4:25Okay?
- 4:25You've got to begin where they are.
- 4:28If you sit down with someone and they say, I firmly believe there's a God, I'm just not sure that truth exists, you need to start at a different point.
- 4:40because you must meet people where they are.
- 4:44So the first question is, do you know that God exists?
- 4:48If yes, why?
- 4:51Just simply an understanding, just picking their brain.
- 4:55Why do you believe God exists?
- 4:58Some people will have a solid answer.
- 5:01Some people will have, well, just always believe that He does.
- 5:05I look at the world around me and I think there must be a God.
- 5:10Do you know who the Holy Spirit is?
- 5:14that you're trying to, through these questions, get an evaluation of what's their knowledge level of the Bible?
- 5:22What have they heard about?
- 5:24What do they know about?
- 5:25What have they read?
- 5:27Yes, no, unsure.
- 5:29Don't spend a great deal of time on these.
- 5:30Just ask the question.
- 5:32Let them answer it.
- 5:33Do you believe the Holy Spirit is God?
- 5:37One of the reasons why this is important in these particular questions, the next one is, do you know who Jesus
- 5:44is, do you believe Jesus is God?
- 5:47Even among those individuals who might claim to be Christians by way of how they describe themselves, they may come from a Jehovah's Witness background.
- 5:57They may come from a Mormonism background where the beliefs about the Holy Spirit and about Jesus are entirely different based upon Mormon doctrine and Jehovah's Witness
- 6:08doctrine and even other doctrines as well.
- 6:10And so you may need to begin in a different discussion.
- 6:14If they say, well, I'm quite certain that Jesus was real and I think he was a prophet, but I don't believe he was God.
- 6:22Okay?
- 6:22You're going to begin in a different point.
- 6:25Do you believe the entire Bible is God's Word?
- 6:29If you're studying with a Jew, that's going to be a different answer than if you're studying with someone who perhaps comes from a Christian background.
- 6:40Do you believe the Bible contains contradictions, mistakes, and or false statements?
- 6:45And if they say, yes, it's okay, just keep studying.
- 6:50Everything will be okay.
- 6:53But you want an idea of what's their understanding of the Bible.
- 6:57Do you believe God will do everything He has stated in His Word?
- 7:04They may believe that God exists, but how sure are they about what God has said?
- 7:10And maybe if you go back to some individuals in American history, you might have uh read concerning Thomas Jefferson and his general belief that God existed.
- 7:21but was pretty much a hands-off God.
- 7:24It wasn't a God that interacted with the world.
- 7:28Next question, are you saved?
- 7:31Yes or no?
- 7:32Unsure.
- 7:34If yes, at what point were you saved?
- 7:37What did you do to become saved?
- 7:41Those are important questions to get them to answer before the study starts.
- 7:46Because they already have a firm belief on it.
- 7:48Find out why.
- 7:50Find out what they believe.
- 7:51They may believe that they're not saved and they may be certain as to why.
- 7:56They may believe that they are saved and they may be certain as to why.
- 8:00They may be uncertain about all of it.
- 8:02Find out.
- 8:02Get them to write it down.
- 8:04How old were you when you were saved?
- 8:06If they say, yes, I'm saved, how old were you when you were saved?
- 8:10Have you been baptized?
- 8:11Yes, no, or unsure.
- 8:13How old were you when you were baptized?
- 8:16Circle the word that best describes your baptism.
- 8:19Sprinkling, pouring, immersion.
- 8:22A lot of different doctrines out there concerning baptism and what it is.
- 8:26If you have been baptized, were you saved before or after baptism?
- 8:32if you allow people to answer these things for themselves.
- 8:39and they will tell you the truth.
- 8:45If you were to die tonight, do you know where you would go for eternity?
- 8:51And they may answer one way in the top of the chart.
- 8:57They may get down to this question and answer a different way.
- 9:01A lot of conviction about whether or not they're saved, not a whole lot of conviction about where they'd go if they died tonight.
- 9:08Or maybe the other way around.
- 9:11Either way, you give them an opportunity, fill out the survey.
- 9:15Having done that.
- 9:17Depending upon how they answer, do they believe God exists?
- 9:21Yes.
- 9:21Do they know who the Holy Spirit is?
- 9:23Yes.
- 9:23Do they believe that Jesus is God?
- 9:25Yes.
- 9:27Then it's a good time to start.
- 9:29Back to the Bible, lesson one.
- 9:31As we go through this, as I mentioned, we're going to read the verses, we're going to answer the questions, and when you sit down and study with someone, that's exactly what
- 9:39you're going to do.
- 9:41You are not going to give them a doctoral dissertation on every passage that you come to.
- 9:48You're not going to explain every passage that you come to.
- 9:51I do advise, and we'll demonstrate this as we go along, that you help them, especially if they're unfamiliar with the Bible, that you help them understand who's
- 10:01in a passage where maybe you're jumping into the middle of an event.
- 10:07So you help them understand who's talking, who they're talking to.
- 10:11We'll demonstrate that as we go.
- 10:13The instructions are read the scripture aloud, then answer the questions under the scripture.
- 10:19These are the sections.
- 10:20We're only gonna cover the first three in our lesson this morning.
- 10:24Our authority in religion.
- 10:26One of the things that you have on the backside of this little booklet that is also on page 60
- 10:3166 of the evangelism visualized uh book that we have back there that everybody got a copy of during Rob's training.
- 10:39Page 66 has this chart and it's the map of Revelation.
- 10:43Not the book of Revelation, the map of Revelation.
- 10:46How does...
- 10:47God's revelation come to us today?
- 10:53And how did God tell us it comes to us?
- 10:56Because this is important for us to understand.
- 10:59So we'll go through and highlight those things as we go along.
- 11:02We're going to begin in John chapter 8 verse 32, and I encourage you, all of you take your Bible out and turn to these passages with me.
- 11:10We're not going to go so fast that you can't get there.
- 11:13Don't worry so much about filling out the booklet as we go along.
- 11:16You can always
- 11:17do that at home, the answer is right there in the text where we read it.
- 11:22Okay?
- 11:23So you're going home with the answers, they're all in here.
- 11:26All you gotta do is write them out in the paper.
- 11:29John chapter 8 verse 32.
- 11:32And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
- 11:38So if you were studying with me, here's what I would do.
- 11:41Now, Jesus is the one talking and he's talking to the Jews.
- 11:49And he says, and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.
- 11:55Jesus says blank.
- 11:58The blank will make you free.
- 12:01Just write what's in the text.
- 12:03It's the word truth.
- 12:05John chapter 4 verse 24.
- 12:09And I did realize after I said turn in your Bible that all of them are up on the screen, but it's by the way, when you're studying with someone, if you have someone you're
- 12:18studying with who's very unfamiliar with the layout of the Bible, it's very helpful to have another person with you who will help turn to the passages for them.
- 12:28And basically have two Bibles, just keep swapping it out to where they don't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where that book is, where that chapter is, or how to
- 12:37navigate the text.
- 12:39eats up a lot of your time in the study, but it's okay if you do, as long as you're patient and they're patient.
- 12:45John chapter 4 verse 24, Jesus says to the woman of the well in Samaria, God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
- 12:59Write the answer in the blank.
- 13:00Jesus tells us we must worship God in spirit and in truth.
- 13:07John chapter 17, verse 17.
- 13:10As you go through this first booklet, you're going to find out you're in John a lot.
- 13:15And there's a reason for that.
- 13:17John, actually, here in John chapter 17, gives you all the things really that are in this first booklet.
- 13:24He gives almost all of them to you right here in John chapter 17, but that's another study for another time.
- 13:30John chapter 17, verse 17, Jesus, praying to the Father on the night of his betrayal, said, sanctify them, the ones he's talking about are the disciples.
- 13:41Sanctify them by your Father's truth, your
- 13:45word is truth.
- 13:48You see how it does help if you'll help them identify who's being talked about.
- 13:54Whose truth is it?
- 13:55Well, whose word is it?
- 13:56It's the Father's word because Jesus is praying to the Father.
- 14:02Go back to chapter 17 verse 1 if you want certainty of that.
- 14:06John chapter 14, earlier in the same evening as Jesus is talking with the disciples,
- 14:14We read in John chapter 14 and in verse 23, Jesus answered and said to them, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my father will love him, and we will come to him and
- 14:27make our home with him.
- 14:29He who does not love me does not keep my words.
- 14:33And the word which you hear is not mine, but the Father's who sent me.
- 14:39The teaching of Jesus was from who?
- 14:44the Father.
- 14:45Write it in the blank.
- 14:48So, as you're understanding what Jesus has said, all these passages have identified that the Word of the Father, God, is truth.
- 15:05That it is that which sanctifies us, and that all truth originates with God the Father.
- 15:14But then we also see that God the Father is delivering it to His Son.
- 15:20Turn to Hebrews chapter 1.
- 15:24Hebrews chapter 1.
- 15:37Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 1, God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom
- 15:53He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
- 15:59Today, God speaks to us through His Son.
- 16:07So, Revelation has gone from the Father to the Son.
- 16:14Turn to John chapter three.
- 16:17John chapter three, and as I mentioned, you might want to just put your finger over there in John.
- 16:24You're gonna be back to it a lot.
- 16:27John chapter three, verse 35.
- 16:33Now,
- 16:36This text, it is not Jesus who is speaking, but rather it is discussions concerning the things that were going on.
- 16:48In John chapter 3 and verse 35, the Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand.
- 17:00John the Baptist is describing what God the Father is going to do through the Messiah, His Son, who is coming.
- 17:14John the Baptist says the Father is going to deliver all things into the hand of Jesus.
- 17:24Matthew chapter 28.
- 17:27Matthew chapter 28, Jesus is preparing to ascend back into heaven.
- 17:35And he speaks to the disciples as he's there preparing to go and return back to the Father.
- 17:42And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying to them as the disciples, all power or all authority, your text may say, is given to me in heaven and in earth.
- 17:57Jesus has all blank in heaven and earth.
- 18:03What does he have?
- 18:05all power.
- 18:06There is nothing withheld from His hand.
- 18:09John chapter 17.
- 18:13once again in that prayer that Jesus prayed to the Father in the upper room before He goes to the Garden of Gethsemane.
- 18:22John chapter 17 verse 2, as you He's praying to the Father so that you is the Father, Jesus is speaking – as you have given Him
- 18:34Now that may cause some confusion with some folks.
- 18:36You go, wait a minute, I thought Jesus was speaking.
- 18:38Who's this third person?
- 18:40He's referring to himself in the third person.
- 18:43You just gotta go read verse one to get it.
- 18:46He's talking about the son, okay?
- 18:49As you have given him, the son, Jesus, all authority over, or given him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as you have given him.
- 19:01Jesus has authority over
- 19:05all flesh.
- 19:08Now sometimes it's helpful
- 19:12Draw a circle.
- 19:15Put all flesh in there.
- 19:18Ask the question, how many people are outside of that?
- 19:25Nobody gets it wrong.
- 19:28If it's all that are inside of that, then there's nobody outside of that.
- 19:34eh Little doodles can sometimes help people visualize the impact.
- 19:42There's nobody outside the authority of Christ.
- 19:46Ephesians chapter one.
- 19:49Ephesians chapter one, verse 22.
- 19:59And he, now the he here, is God the Father.
- 20:05And he put all things under his God the Son, Jesus Christ.
- 20:11He, God the Father, put all things under his Jesus' feet and gave him, Jesus, to be head over all things to the church.
- 20:22God has made Jesus head over all things to the church.
- 20:30Question, does this mean Jesus has all authority over the church?
- 20:37Yes, if He's got authority over all flesh and if He's head over the church, then He also has all authority over the church.
- 20:48John chapter 12.
- 20:54John chapter 12.
- 21:02Verse 48, Jesus is speaking to the Jews, and He says, He who rejects Me does not receive My words.
- 21:15Has that which judges him the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day?
- 21:24At judgment, we will be judged by the words of Jesus.
- 21:33Revelation has gone from God the Father through Jesus Christ, and we will be held accountable for it.
- 21:42John chapter 6 verse 68.
- 21:48John chapter 6 verse 68, little bit of background here, Jesus has just delivered some teaching that a lot of people when they heard it they said this is too hard and they left
- 22:02and departed from Him and followed Him no more.
- 22:06And Jesus asks the 12, verse 67, Jesus said to the 12, do you also want to go away?
- 22:15But Simon answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
- 22:20You have the words of eternal life.
- 22:24Who has the words of eternal life?
- 22:27Jesus does.
- 22:29Should we go to anyone else, parents, preachers, relatives, friends for eternal life?
- 22:37You don't have to dwell on this one, but there may come a point in the study where someone says, well, but my grandmother was the dearest, most righteous person I've ever known, and
- 22:49that's not what she believes.
- 22:53Don't die on the hill of talking about their grandmother.
- 22:58Don't talk about their grandmother.
- 23:00If they want to talk about their grandmother, let them.
- 23:06But do not miss this point.
- 23:09Peter said, there's no one else we could go to who has the words of eternal life.
- 23:19And Jesus did not say that we would be judged by the words of Aaron Kozor, the preacher at the Collierville Church of Christ, or that we will be judged by the words...
- 23:31of Joe Smith, or by the words of anyone else, or by the words of your grandmother, as dear as she may have been.
- 23:41But rather on the last day you will be judged by the words of Jesus Christ.
- 23:48map of Revelation.
- 23:50Revelation begins with God the Father, and it was handed from the authority of God the Father down to Jesus Christ.
- 23:58But the text isn't done telling us about Revelation.
- 24:02The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all truth.
- 24:06Turn to John chapter 14.
- 24:13John chapter 14, again, the last week of Jesus' is speaking with His disciples.
- 24:23Let's go to verse 25 and read that one as well.
- 24:53them, the disciples, all things and bring all things that Jesus said to their remembrance." Yes or no?
- 25:01Yes.
- 25:03When the Apostles taught by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were they teaching their own words or the words of Jesus?
- 25:14The words of Jesus.
- 25:16Some will say, and I'm giving you some background as to why some of these passages are important.
- 25:22Some will say, I'll obey the words in red, but I don't have to obey all the rest of those words that are in that Bible.
- 25:32Jesus had something else to say about it.
- 25:34Jesus said, everything that's given to the apostles came through the Holy Spirit from me, because He sent the Holy Spirit.
- 25:44And the Holy Spirit is the one who inspired the remainder of the writing.
- 25:48John chapter 16.
- 25:51Verse 13, again, same context, same discussion.
- 26:21Does that mean that we needed to wait about 1700 years for Joseph Smith to get a revelation from an angel in a dark room?
- 26:31No, it means we didn't need to.
- 26:34And that Mormon doctrine and the Book of Mormon is completely unnecessary for salvation.
- 26:42Who has the words of eternal life?
- 26:45Jesus.
- 26:47Who did Jesus deliver those words through?
- 26:50the Holy Spirit to the apostles.
- 26:53So, revelation.
- 26:55We see revelation going from God the Father to God the Son through the authority of Christ from God the Son through the Holy Spirit.
- 27:06But then consider that the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all truth, just exactly as Jesus said He would turn to Jude.
- 27:15There's only one chapter.
- 27:17So if you breeze by it, it's kind of like a small town in Kentucky.
- 27:20You blink once, you miss it.
- 27:25Jude verse 3.
- 27:28By the way, Jude is believed to be the half-brother of Jesus, the physical brother of Jesus through Mary.
- 27:35Jude will write, "'Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly
- 27:48for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.'"
- 27:55Jude says that the faith was delivered in the lifetime of the apostles.
- 28:05He says it's been delivered once for all time, by the way, that's what the Greek actually means.
- 28:10Once for all time.
- 28:13Since the apostles were guided into all religious truth in their lifetime, should we expect to receive any new revelations today?
- 28:26Simple questions help people understand the Bible in its simplicity.
- 28:35It does not matter what someone heard in a small voice in the middle of the night because all truth concerning religion has been delivered and was delivered in the lifetime of the
- 28:49apostles in the first century.
- 28:51Everything that's come after it was unnecessary for your salvation.
- 29:01Revelation came from God the Father to Jesus.
- 29:05But it didn't stop with Jesus.
- 29:06Jesus delivered it to the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit might deliver it to the apostles and the prophets in the first century.
- 29:15The inspired word is our only guide in religion.
- 29:21John chapter 20.
- 29:27John chapter 20.
- 29:41John writes concerning his record of Jesus' life,
- 30:09Believe.
- 30:13Does that mean that you can open this book?
- 30:15m
- 30:18and you can read it for yourself, and you can have faith and belief based upon nothing more than this book.
- 30:27Yes, it does.
- 30:29You don't need a miraculous working of the Holy Spirit on your heart.
- 30:32You don't need a religious experience.
- 30:35You need to open the book and read what it has to say.
- 30:40And as a result of that belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you may have what?
- 30:52Life through His name.
- 30:56A word of caution.
- 31:00Don't try and explain everything they don't know yet because they haven't read it yet.
- 31:06You know more about what that passage means than they might.
- 31:11You know more about what is involved in belief than they might.
- 31:15Don't explain it now.
- 31:19Just let them read it, write the answer in the blank.
- 31:25One of the things that was observed, no offense to school preaching students, but one of the things that was observed by one of my instructors when they would go on campaigns is
- 31:40that the Bible studies would have a better result with the first year students than the second year students.
- 31:46If the second year student was conducting the study, they tended to have less progress with the person than if the first year student was.
- 31:54started thinking about it and he realized why.
- 31:57The second year student was trying to tell the person everything they knew, and the first year student didn't know anything, so he didn't try.
- 32:06You are not responsible for conv...conv...get that right.
- 32:12You are not responsible for convincing someone about what the Bible says.
- 32:21You're just there to help them find what it says and let them read it for themselves.
- 32:281 John chapter 5, these things have been written, or I have written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that ye have eternal life and that you
- 32:43may believe on the name of the Son of God.
- 32:46The things written...
- 32:48are written that you may know that you have eternal life.
- 32:54You know, if someone fills out this form...
- 32:58It says, you were to die tonight, do you know where you'd go for eternity?
- 33:03And they put, no or unsure.
- 33:08This verse right here is a very consoling passage because pretty soon they'll be able to know.
- 33:20Pretty soon they'll have assurance because they'll be able to measure their life against…
- 33:28revelation and against what God actually said.
- 33:33Turn to Romans chapter 10.
- 33:37Romans chapter 10.
- 33:43Paul is writing to the church at Rome, and he writes, then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
- 33:55How does faith come?
- 33:58By hearing.
- 34:01James chapter 1.
- 34:09James chapter one.
- 34:15James writes to the Christians, he says, lay aside all filthiness and overflowing of wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word which is able to save your souls.
- 34:27Now here's another one of those verses where the Word in the New King James, the Word in the Old King James doesn't match.
- 34:32The Word in the King James is engrafted.
- 34:37The idea here of implanted is that this is like you would have a tree and someone takes a limb from another tree and grafts it into the tree.
- 34:50God says, I'm taking my word and I'm putting it inside of you and it's going to produce fruit.
- 34:58What is able to save your soul?
- 35:01The implanted word, the engrafted word.
- 35:08James is helping us understand you will not be saved without the revelation of God.
- 35:15And there's only one thing that will save you, the revelation of God.
- 35:30Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.
- 35:45How is one born again according to the verse?
- 35:50Be careful.
- 35:52Only write down what's in the verse.
- 35:57Don't let them write down something that's not in the verse either.
- 36:01How is one born again by the Word of God?
- 36:07Should you go to any other source to learn how to be saved?
- 36:15No.
- 36:20People won't always know the repercussions of the answer.
- 36:24But they'll know the answer.
- 36:27One of the things that I love about this study
- 36:32is I've studied with a lot of people, some of them very astute, very knowledgeable, very scholarly in their knowledge, and some people who could barely read.
- 36:47I've never met anyone who misunderstood the study.
- 36:52It's too easy.
- 36:54It's too simple.
- 36:562 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16 and 17.
- 37:00Paul, as he is writing to young preacher Timothy...
- 37:06writes in 2 Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness
- 37:24that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
- 37:32Does the Bible thoroughly furnish or equip us for every good work?
- 37:40Yes.
- 37:42Do we need additional revelations to make us complete before God?
- 37:46No.
- 37:50Do we need the Book of Mormon to make us complete spiritually?
- 37:55No.
- 37:57Do we need church traditions, manuals, grade books, confessions of faith to make us complete spiritually?
- 38:08No.
- 38:11Does that mean that we can't learn anything from anyone else?
- 38:14I hope not.
- 38:15I'd be out of a job.
- 38:19But if I ever disagree with the book, you better stick with the book.
- 38:27If a church creed, tradition, or manual ever disagrees with the book...
- 38:35Who should you hold to?
- 38:38The book.
- 38:412 Peter chapter 1 verse 3, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain into life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that has called us to
- 39:00glory and virtue, Peter writes.
- 39:02Has God given us all things that pertain to life and godliness?
- 39:06Yes or no?
- 39:08Since God has us all things that pertain to life and godliness in the Bible, should any other source be used as our religious authority?
- 39:18No.
- 39:23If all the people who claim to be Christians actually believed and practiced everything we've said up until this point right here,
- 39:39There wouldn't be thousands upon thousands upon thousands of different groups all claiming to be Christians, all believing different things.
- 39:52The difference between the church that belongs to Jesus and a church that doesn't is what we've just gone through.
- 40:04They either believe in the authority of the Scriptures or they don't.
- 40:08They either believe in the authority of Revelation as delivered from God the Father to Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles or they don't.
- 40:19and everything they believe after that stems from that.
- 40:25You're studying with someone.
- 40:30And they look at this and they go through this and they say, well, I understand that's what it says, but that's not what I believe.
- 40:40You don't need to go to book two.
- 40:45Because here's what I know.
- 40:48You'll be talking about the same thing and you'll be saying something that neither person understands what the other one's saying.
- 40:57until you are on the same page about authority in the Scripture.
- 41:05All the discussion of Scripture doesn't matter.
- 41:09Because if we can't agree about the standard, if we can't agree that we will be held to the standard and that we will be judged by the standard because we read it and we answered
- 41:21it,
- 41:25We can't agree on that.
- 41:26There's no reason to continue any further.
- 41:33because on that hangs everything.
- 41:37And if someone won't be honest with the Word of God that they could so easily open and read and answer the questions to.
- 41:48then there is no reason to study the Bible.
- 41:52If you're outside the body of Christ this morning and you maybe filled this out, went through these questions and thought, I've never been taught that.
- 42:10then maybe it's a good opportunity to sit down and have a Bible study.
- 42:15Because we'll pick up right there in page five, and we'll continue.
- 42:24If you're outside the body of Christ this morning, if you're not sure if you were to die tonight, whether or not you would go to heaven or hell, or if there is even an eternity.
- 42:38Why leave here unsure?
- 42:41Why not ask for help?
- 42:43Because I can give you this assurance, you won't be told anything that doesn't come right out of the Bible that you can't read for yourself.
- 42:53If you have need of the invitation to put Christ on in baptism or to restore your walk with God, why not come forward now as we stand and as we sing?