Pastor Brad DeLong - A Case For The Bible

you can be seated this week I've come to the conclusion all over again that we are a blessed Church we're blessed people of God and we are blessed continually by what we're feeling right now and experiencing the presence of God that we encounter every Sunday and every Wednesday aren't you thankful think about this that you don't show up and walk into church wondering is he going to be here tonight am I going to get to feel the presence of God tonight that is not the case everywhere and there are many places where people walk in

and it's an anomaly for them to feel and experience the glory of God and have a moment of worship like we've had so constantly so I'm in this season of Thanksgiving counting those blessings thankful that we never have to wonder but he's here and along with his presence I also say that some of the conversations I've had even this week have reminded me of how blessed we truly are as the people of God as the apostolic church yesterday I met with two men neither of which attend this church and both of the conversations that I

had with them were fruitful I hope that in some ways I might have helped them both but in both of those conversations Church came up and the Bible came up as well in one of the conversations we did not agree on the Bible or its validity I obviously believe that it's the infallible word of God it's without error he did not believe that for him it was more of an allegorical book in a moving Target it's it's based on the interpretation of the reader and his what a uh it's miserable it's a miserable it really

is and I I don't belittle that there's many people who adhere to that and they never land and I hate that for them and I'm hoping in this case and in others that they will and the other conversation the man stopped for a moment he said I hope I don't offend you but I feel like we have so much teaching and preaching that just tickles the ears and it's not based on the Bible he did not offend me at all his point was he said we we got to base our teachings on the word of

God and if anything contradicts that we need to leave it alone and we don't need to teach it he said in other words there are many other books out there but there's just one book that's this book and I about jumped up and I about ran a lap I obviously felt a kindred spirit in the midst of a world in a culture that frequently rails against and tries to disprove and discredit this word that we all live by and I mentioned last week that this truth has always been embattled and it's always worth defending and

upholding and that premise along with the conversations that I had this week in the direction I landed on for tonight have led me to teach a lesson this evening on the authority of the word of God it's validity and our responsibility to follow it and adhere to it I I noted this last week and I believe that we're staying in this Vain and theme of the word because I believe this and I want to experience this that we we need a Revival of the love or of a love for the word of God and its

principles and we need a Revival of commitment to its principles in the culture at large and all of us need to be reminded of those principles and if we have fallen out of love with this book we need to get in love with this book and its principles so that has been the my heartbeat of late and I believe the Lord has led us here and I want to experience that for myself if I have waned in my love for his word and I believe tonight will help us to head in that direction with that

in mind we're going to take some time to discuss the legitimacy of the word of God why we believe in it the way that we do and now for most this might be uh you what you call simple or basic but we cannot take the basics for granted we can't we cannot take the fundamentals for granted this is a great season to revisit some of the basics that's the focus and the aim of tonight's lesson which uh excerpts of it are based on a series published by PPH and that series is called a case for

the Bible and that's going to be the working title for tonight and in a portion of that series the writer developed a list of questions that the teacher could employ if they so chose sort of a pop quiz to test your basic knowledge of the Bible this is not all required knowledge but it'd be good for you to have this knowledge if you don't have it already you should have a copy of that quiz if you don't raise your hand if you wouldn't mind we've got a couple one right over here I think all right

we got one back there uh like I said just a sort of a pop quiz and I think someone might be oh brother Jason thank you with Jason for helping us out if you have this you can go ahead and begin to fill it in the majority of them are true and false except for question number eight that one you have to fill in some actual words there but majority are true and false we're going to go through these together at the end see how many you get and this is not wasted time because anytime

you spend knowing more about the word of God it's not wasted time so take some time if you've got a pin if you don't have one borrow one from a neighbor and we're going to fill this out and I think we'll all be edified by this so like I said all of them are true or false except for question number eight and hopefully you'll learn something that you've never learned before some of you have some of us rather probably never taken a test or quiz on a Wednesday night bible study so I apologize if this

uh this maybe the shock value of the newness of this but uh it could be fun and edifying at the same time so we'll get through it together and we'll go over the answers in just a moment I already know the answers but uh I may just fill it in for fun true false 50 50 chance for those on live stream we'll have to get you this quiz later so sorry uh we will go through the answer so you can get those together so I know some of you are still working for those that uh

I know that in Bible Bible lessons on Wednesday nights when I was younger I would always work ahead so some of you sat down and started working on this as soon as you got in here you're already shaking your heads yeah others needed to wait for the instructions and that's okay too you got those looks like quite a few are done some are still working I don't want to leave anyone behind but you will have plenty of time to finish this as we review some of these answers okay if you feel so confident in your

answer that you want to speak that answer out you're in a Pentecostal church and you don't ever have to be afraid of speaking out at any point uh just as long as it's not a distraction so here we go question number one the Bible is the best-selling book of all time true or false true okay all right number two the Bible is the most shoplifted book of all time it is true people need the Bible so much they are stealing it this is according to a couple different sources and uh hopefully they are accurate I

believe that they are but question number three when writing the Bible the authors included chapters and verses false that is false verses were added by Jewish scribes after the time of Christ modern chapter divisions were added in the 13th century as far as we know question number four the Bible was authored over a period of at least fifteen hundred years that is true aha as far as we know again uh let's see question number six Adam wrote the Book of Genesis false many believe that it was oh question number five so sorry did I skip

five ah I see you all passed the test I'm joking I just missed it uh number six Adam wrote the Book of Genesis is false many believe that it was Moses there's still some speculation there number five the Bible was written by more than 200 different people true or false false uh they estimate around 40 different people there you go 40 different authors all right let me make sure I'm in the right one number seven the Bible was originally written in three languages Hebrew Greek in a little bit of Aramaic true yeah it's pretty specific

there number eight was most likely written on three continents what were those continents Asia yes Europe someone said someone said Africa all right they think that um parts of Jeremiah were written in Africa and uh uh might have been parts of the pentateuch but uh so yes three continents Asia Europe and Africa all right you all are doing you're doing well okay number nine some of the books of the Bible are actually Epistles or letters true okay some of these are a little more softball-ish the Bible is not one book number ten but it's 66

books put together true okay and then the biggest softball of them all and what we're here to discuss tonight number 11 the Bible is God's true and inspired word the Bible is God's true and inspired word thank you thank you thank you did anyone get all 11 of those anyone okay all right all right we got a couple but they're even asked me if there was a prize before service and I thought that would have been a great idea in other words uh we could come up with something well yeah Thomas has mints in the

back we'll take care of you this last question as I mentioned this is the one we're going to address tonight because the world has grown more and more uncertain on the validity of this book that we all follow the one that we love the one that we live by in fact more than likely many of our newest family members that are coming in and guests even Saints who've got at some point have all questioned the authority of the word and they're not alone they're not alone there's a there's a lot of people that are questioning

this book right now it's not a new or recent phenomenon either some have have wondered if it's still valid others wonder if it's still applicable to a 21st century people in church some have determined that it isn't valid at all and they have picked it apart so to speak and either don't follow it at all or they've only follow the parts that they feel are relevant today as I said there's a whole lot of people who attempt to discredit and cancel the Bible which is why it's so important that we have discussions like the one

we're having right here and now we've got to revisit these things discussions that focus on the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible and we believe that it is inspired we believe that it is authoritative but it's one thing to say that and another thing to live by it another thing to uphold it uh when it's questioned to your face it's easy for us to say that the Bible is inspired of God but how do we know that what is it about the Bible that makes us believe that it's absolutely true and infallible or without error

put another way if someone came you tonight and they asked you why do you believe the Bible what do you tell them what do you say to him why do you believe the Bible what's your response and if if you haven't thought through that response are they able to poke a hole in it and if they can what's your response to that we've got to know it typically if someone would ask me that I would probably talk about what the Bible says about itself which we'll get to in just a moment but if they don't

believe a word of what the Bible says they may not accept that as being true so it's important to recognize that first of all our belief in the Bible and its Authority is just that it starts with faith just like it does with any other belief system we choose to believe that the Bible is true just like some choose to believe that it's not true although they cannot prove that so whether you believe the Bible is true or false each belief is just that it starts with faith it's a belief now thankfully our belief doesn't

stand on its own entirely because the Bible has a track record of thousands of years it's been proven on so many different levels despite man's attempt to prove otherwise and to my point earlier man has attempted for centuries to try to do that in fact in the early 1900s in particular there's some archaeologists they really thought they had something the Silver Bullet at least in terms of Evolution and the countercreation argument there's one specific case was it was called the pilt down Mayors in the early 1900s scientists wholeheartedly believe that this skull found in 1912

was the missing link as they caught between man and apes which is obviously not a Biblical teaching and they held that theory for decades and they touted it even though Skeptics were saying you know what that just kind of looks like someone took an ape skull and a human skull and put those together it doesn't look all that vowel and that's exactly what had happened it was later disproved completely so archeology even at their best and brightest in the scientific method to this point have not been able to disprove the Bible over hundreds of years

but they have affirmed many aspects for the Bible in 1947 it was an amazing Discovery there were some Arab Shepherds who found 2nd Century BC copies of all the books of the Old Testament excluding the Book of Esther they found him in caves near the Dead Sea you might know them as the Dead Sea Scrolls these manuscript copies were from a library of Jewish a Jewish religious group who lived around the time of Jesus who probably would have ascended around 80 30 to 80 40. this remarkable find to this day it still confirms the Old

Testament that we have has been preserved with amazing accuracy those archaeologists were able to unearth something that points to the Bible and many of them are trying to point to the exact opposite of the Bible not only that but I've taught along these lines I remember one of our professors saying that scientists have used passages in books like the Book of Job which is many believe is the oldest book in the Bible they've used it to affirm patterns in nature that the Lord describes at the end of the book If you recall the Lord tells

job hey Job stand up like a man and defend yourself can you imagine stand out I got some things to say to you and then the Lord begins to go through he talks about the storehouses of heaven and he talks about different patterns in the animals and in the animal kingdom and there were some scientists who got to looking at that and thought we're going to test this and they found every word of it to be true go figure God knows what he's talking about it affirms that the Bible just seems to check out or

check on so many levels Beyond just our faith and beyond just what we believe it also affirms that our faith in his word is well founded today his word's been proven it's been tested continually probably no other book on the planet has been tested like this book and no other book has stood up to the test like this book even those who stand against it have tested in its past those tasks consistently so so yes our lives and our actions are built upon faith in a belief in the word of God but that is not

a blind faith it's not a blind belief his word has passed the test and not only that but we believe in and we have faith in the God who wrote that word in the first place we have faith that Jesus was actually who he said he was and he wasn't a liar and he wasn't some lunatic who who happened to pull off the greatest hoax of all time generally accepted that Jesus was actually a real person who walked the Earth most would agree that he actually existed but there's obviously great controversy surrounding him but someone

actually they said like this they said Jesus is either a liar a lunatic or he's Lord and we believe that he's Lord we believe that he's the king of kings and the Lord of lords and if he is the Lord if he is truly God and He Is We can also trust that his word and what he says is true as well the Bible describes Our God as being omniscient all-knowing Psalm 147 says his understanding is infinite Psalm 139 says he knows it all a chuckle a little bit when I thought about that he he

knows it all you know it all is in the room you don't know as much as he does okay Titus 1 we discussed last week says he cannot lie he cannot speak falsehoods or fiction but Bernard a couple years ago was teaching he put it like this and it it blew my mind and I make sure to cite him because I couldn't come up with anything like this but he said if God is God it means that everything he says is true even if God said what we believed is a lie because he said it

it's now true so for example this is my example if you follow this line of thinking then if God said the Earth is flat we know that it's not we know it's round it's it's a globe but if God said it's flat it's flat because he's God if God says it it has to be true because he's God if God says you're healed and your sins are forgiven you are healed and your sins are forgiven if God were to say on a Wednesday evening that you'd be healed completely in your body you'd be healed completely

in your body because he said so this this has far-reaching implications Beyond just our defense of this book but if we believe that God is God whatever God says is truth and again all of this boils down to whether or not we actually believe that that he's truly God that his word is entirely true it all starts with faith just like it would if we were to choose any other way of life or any other belief system I know that we as Christians are regularly criticized for living by faith and walking by faith but the

truth is every person on earth is walking by faith of some kind they either have a faith that God is real or they have a faith that he's not real because they certainly cannot prove that they can't so they have to believe that he's not real it's a faith thankfully though we don't have Blind Faith without cause Instead This faith we have has been proven for Millennia and it's proven on a regular basis within each of Our Lives I've thought about this earlier this week some of you know part of the testimony when my wife

had Mila and the complications that were there and I watched in a 24-hour span as my wife went to an emergency operation to the ICU and later that evening got up out of that bed and walked across the room and the Lord had touched her body in the miraculous I remember the nurses walking in and looking at her chart and saying how are you doing okay if I had no idea that there was a God or didn't believe that would have showed me that there was I thought about brother skip Pratt's testimony that he shared

if I had no belief in a God that that testimony shared that report that he got that would that would be turning some gears in my heart that would elicit some faith if there's a supernatural power it would cause me to believe and that that uh phrase and that word is the key to belief it all starts with faith it's the way God intended it and we believe that God in his word of true and because we do we can trust that what his word says about itself is true we're going to talk about what

the word says about itself when we do I encourage you write some of these scriptures down memorize them study them for yourself because these help form the foundation for everything that you and I believe and if we don't know them then do we know what our foundation is these help shape that Foundation okay just to clarify what we adhere to and believe we believe that God is real that there's one God we believe that he inspired his holy word so we believe that what the word says about itself is true and this is what the

word has to say second Peter chapter 1 verse 10. he says my brothers and sisters make every effort to confirm your calling and election for if you do these things you will never stumble and you'll receive a rich welcome into the Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ so I will always remind you of these things even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have you know it you already know this but I'm going to remind you of it I'm going to keep telling you about it and

you'll tell someone else about it I'm going to make sure you're establishing it he said I think it's right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body because I know that I'll soon put it aside as our Lord Jesus Christ is made clear to me and I'll make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things whenever I'm off the scene you ought to remember what you learned what you were taught for we didn't follow cleverly devised stories when we told

you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty he received honor and Glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from The Majestic Glory saying this is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased we ourselves heard this voice came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred Mountain verse 19 we also have the prophetic message of something completely reliable completely reliable and you'll do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark place

until the day Dawns and The Morning Star rises in your hearts verse 20 above all you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by The Prophet's own interpretation of things so what I was discussing earlier it's up to everyone else's interpretation no no prophecy came by their interpretation for prophecy never had its origin in the human will but prophets holy men of God though human spoke from God as they were carried Along by the Holy Spirit In other words scripture did not come from man's thoughts and ideas about life not God let me

pause here and say you probably read all kinds of great resources and they all reflect on scripture and they all talk about the word of God and they all have different angles and different views but if those angles and Views do not line up with the word of God if they are man-made you ought not to give voice to them or adherence to them if they tell you that uh the word it's it's all allegory that is not scriptural that is not founded in the word of God if they tell you like I mentioned earlier

that it's totally up to your own personal interpretation of what that text means that is not scriptural either so it doesn't come by the interpretation of men it doesn't it didn't for these men but according to Peter men wrote it they were prompted by the spirit of God almost like a dictation the Bible says his word is God breathed God inspired a direct word from God to humanity through the voice and writings of holy men of God it's what to my point I mentioned a couple months ago rightly dividing or handling the word of Truth

what you are handling and what we handle every day is the word of God we've got to do it right we've got to do it right Ephesians 2 19-20 now therefore you're no longer strangers and foreigners fellow citizens with the Saints members of the household of God you were built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets Jesus Christ himself being the Chief Cornerstone brother Paul had a great lesson talking about the Cornerstone a couple weeks ago I encourage you to go back and listen it was incredible so the church you and I we are

built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets the same Apostles and Prophets who were moved on by God to pin his word in the first place in this passage someone noted this that the apostles in many ways represent in the New Testament and in its writings they were the ones who wrote and pinned that along with some other authors and of course the prophets or holy men of God representing the old and Jesus is the Cornerstone that holds it all together and lines it all up we were built on the word of God dictated

to and recorded by the apostles and Prophets it's our foundation the whole of scripture second Thessalonians 2 and 15 he said therefore Brethren Stand Fast hold on to the Traditions by which you were taught whether by word or our epistle Paul tells us hold fast to the teachings of the Apostles both what they spoke and what they wrote those words are final and the final Authority in the course we know II Timothy 3 16 memorize this scripture hide in your heart all scriptures given by inspiration of God profitable for Doctrine for a proof for correction

for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be complete lacking nothing the world would like us to believe that we're lacking something you don't have you're naive you don't have the full picture and you are complete in him Colossians says there's not some new revelation that you're missing it's here you're lacking nothing nothing people can say that we're lacking not we've got it all I mentioned in August the word inspiration there it it denotes that me I just talked about being God breathed because of this we know scripture consists of living words it's

it's living breathe from the mouth of God because of this we also know his Word is Alive it gives life any ever had a rough season I know you have and you sat down and you were dejected and you were discouraged and you opened the Bible maybe it was your regular reading maybe you just opened to a page and by the end of that sitting something had shifted and something that maybe it wouldn't maybe you didn't get some word from on high or there was a but you read and you you took in the word

and it just it changed your mindset anyone ever had that happen it's live it's God what other book could do that not many probably hardly any unless they're founded on the word of God and the principles of the word of God it's useful for instruction Doctrine to proof correction we need all of those this is what the Bible has to say about itself Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 he said God who at various times in various ways spoke in times past to the elders by the prophets he's had or has in these last days he's

spoken to us by his son who is appointed the heir of all things through whom also he made the world to notice he tells us that God spoke through the prophets to their forefathers and he also spoke through Jesus in the last days or even the New Testament period this is also significant because there's an argument out there and there's even several movements that would tell us that what the the prophet spoke to the forefathers it's it's not really applicable today at the entire Old Testament we should just do away with it and that's the

old Covenant we don't need anything out of that we should only follow the new and they obviously uh use that to dis discredit some teachings that we abide by there are entire movements that have completely cut out the ultimate Testament saying that the New Testament renders it null and boy now I'll say it's true our New Covenant negates some of the requirements of the law we don't have to sacrifice animals every Sunday thank God you're going to have to bring your spotless lamb in here and I wouldn't know what to do with it okay but

to say that every commandment every principle is no longer required from the Old Testament that's outrageous Thou shalt not murders in there we probably need that one we cannot throw out everything God said in the Old Testament just because of the new instead the Old Testament is the foundation of the new can't read the New Testament without the lens and the background the foundation of the old and the writer of Hebrews tells us that God himself spoke the words of the Old Testament that being the case we cannot write off any part or principle of

the word especially when Jesus and the apostles quoted it so frequently if it was good enough for them it's good enough for us and again I know some of this is basic none of you have probably come in and said I don't believe a word the Old Testament has but that agenda will creep in and if we don't cut it off and if we don't highlight it and if we don't uh discredit that it could have an effect on how we read scripture and how we apply it we need the old and the New Testament

especially if Jesus used them both continuing on this is what Jesus said Luke 24. verse 44 he said to them these are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me and he opened their understanding that they may comprehend or might comprehend the scriptures don't go too far into this but there are generally three divisions in the Old Testament do people divide them up differently but if you look at this

this passage Jesus cites the law the prophets Psalms others divide him in a myriad of ways but this is a simple breakdown as represented in Luke 24 Jesus talked about all three of these the Bible says that they're all scripture and they all must be fulfilled so when Jesus mentioned each one of those affirming the law of the prophets of Psalms he validated all of them in Matthew 24 35 he says Heaven and Earth will pass away but my words will by no means pass away we've heard scriptures like that I know I have my

entire life so it can become cliche old hat but like Peter said we often need a reminder of declarations like this one Jesus said by no means by no means by no means there's nothing that could cause my words to pass away that's what the word says about itself that there's nothing in no one that can negate or invalidate the word of God that's significant because even if someone presented a so-called truth or a piece of evidence that would potentially disprove the Bible the pill pilt down man in 2022 it would still not invalidate the

word of God thankfully there is no evidence like that but even if something ever surfaced his word still would not pass away it's forever settled in heaven and I know some would say oh that's a dangerous line of thinking you close yourself off to any other ideas any other supposed evidence but we have all the evidence we need our faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of Things Not Seen and it's not a blind faith there's no evidence to disprove the Bible but our faith along with every one of our testimonies and

endless Miracles and moments in the tangible presence of God is all the evidence we need to know that God is true and his word is true Romans 3 and 4 says it like this let God be true but every man a liar it's almost like God knew about two thousand years ago that mankind would try everything in their power to try to disprove and discredit this book and he did know that okay why he makes it clear that even if every man says it's false God's word is still true even if all Humanity rejects it

it's still true fact of the matter is that man's ideas are subject to change they change as often as the wind but God's word doesn't change and it's steadfast it's not changed it's still the truth and it will continue to affect and change life Isaiah 55 and 10 says this I love this passage just what the word says about itself as the rain the snow come down from heaven and do not return to it without watering the Earth and making it bud and flourish so that yield seed for the sower and bread for the eater

notice all the effects of the word he said so is my word that goes out from my mouth it will not return to me empty or void but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it soil and seed have to respond when water interacts with him they have no they're they're wired that way so when we interact with the word something has to change and respond my dad told me a story just a little while ago he shared this with me a couple times when he was a teenager he

worked for a man named Mark said he was a very intelligent man he knew my dad was a young Christian just got into church and he challenged him all the time uh some of you probably have that you go into work and that person's waiting on you and they're like what about this what about that what about this you know that's what he did he was a much older man he was he's very bright and my dad said he he couldn't ever seem to win any debate you know he said this guy would just he'd

run him over and uh so my dad finally decided okay I'm going to start studying the Bible more go figure you know the Bible says study to show yourself yourself approved in the god a Workman who needs not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of Truth we've got to get this thing for ourselves because somewhere along the line of Mark if there's Sorry by the clean McLean not you but someone's going to be in your life that's going to challenge that I remember leaving on a Sunday afternoon going to JCPenney me and Keenan Bowie

went over there to get five dollar ties any of you remember those five dollar tie it was a wonderful deal they were horrible ties but there was some men in there that saw us dressed up and they said where you guys coming from coming from church what do you believe or appstite Pentecost church I think I was 18. and these men were in their 30s and they started to rail against everything that we stood for any time we would try to give a rebuttal they would cut us off and anytime one of them make a

good point the other one would go whoa and I remember coming back and just feeling rattled couldn't get a word in fact I didn't stand in something in me rose up I'm going to learn this I'm gonna make sure that doesn't happen again you know not because I want to win some debate or argument but because I don't want my faith to be wrapped I want to know it and I want to know why I believe it I want to study to show myself approved unto God so my dad had this man rattle his faith

we started learning scripture and he said he would go back to work and they'd get in a debate and dad said he didn't believe in scripture at all this meant but Dad started to quote scripture to him he said it was remarkable how he began to stutter over his own words he said he didn't even believe in scripture but he could not refute and he could not rebuttal the word of God you know Jesus did this man shall not live by bread alone he was talking to Satan Jesus would rebuttal the Pharisees with the word

of God if Jesus knew it and if he used it and if it affected the Pharisees and if it affected Satan and cause him to cease it will affect you and I and when we employ it it will help and affect others and when Satan comes against us or someone tries to challenge our faith and we know the word and we know why we believe it it will be a defense for us and it will stand up to any attack the word of God is infallible it has no errors many argue that sometimes or all

the time the Bible can be wrong or God he didn't write it for the 21st century or that may be your truth but it's not my truth the case I mentioned yesterday my friend told me it's not entirely accurate because of human error that it's mostly allegorical what's remarkable is they say that in the face of the fact that in over 1500 years in the three continents on which it was written and through the 40 different authors it doesn't contradict itself it doesn't air it's cohesive throughout what other book could do that 40 different people

in a room would have 40 different opinions but the word of God is cohesive this doesn't mean the Bible doesn't ever use figures or speech or things that may not make sense to us Isaiah 55 says the trees will clap their hands trees don't have hands it's allegories idioms that may not make sense to us in our culture which is all the more reason to study it it remains true and forever settled and that's because it's been given to us by a god with whom there is no variables neither a shadow of changing and his

word by an extension of himself is settled without controversy Matthew 5 says this don't think that I've come to abolish the law of the prophets I haven't come to abolish them but I've come to fulfill them for truly I tell you until Heaven and Earth disappear not the smallest letter not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished in other words you can trust every last pinstroke in letter how the word of God and even after thousands of years have passed and generations have come and

gone it will still be applicable it is still applicable it's without air and it was authored by a God who himself is without error when we stand together I mentioned a moment ago that I'm I'm hoping that this season in this time where I feel like the Lord has circled us back to his word over and over again I know for me it has elicited just a love for the word of God a Revival for the uh in my spirit and I want to know it more I want to study it more I want to

hide it in my heart other more that's what I'm hoping will happen for each of us hoping that something inside of you if it hasn't resonated just yet something inside of you Stern that would compel you to say you know what I'm going to spend extra time I'm going to find a different study technique or I'm going to ask some questions I'm going to find someone who's accountability partner we're going to study this together and we're going to share our our thoughts on the word of God we're going to go deeper than we have already

because someone on the line you'll have a conversation like I had a couple weeks ago right back near that back door we had an electrician who came by the church to take a look at our baptistry which thank God is warm and ready for anyone who needs to get baptized tasted by the Keenan Bowie for all his work on that this electrician is standing right back there with me and we're talking about different things and he stopped and he said hey let me ask you something and I know that's usually means an interesting questions coming

you know and let me ask you something oh boy here we go I I was all for it it's from a different denomination he started telling me he said they're not teaching the word in my church he said they begin to walk back some teachings that clearly defined gender distinction healthy marriages between a man a woman holiness he said they're going the exact opposite way it wasn't sitting right with him he said what do you believe on that I don't know if I've ever been more thankful to say this because I didn't have to come

up with some man-made ideology and some man-made solution to the ever you know complex problems that we're facing I was able to walk him through some things and and he said it's what we need he said we he just just like the man I talked to you yesterday he said we got to get back to the electrician that came in on a Tuesday hungry for the word of God starve for this book that I so often can take for granted so tonight again I feel the Holy Ghost helping us inspiring us no this word hide

it in your heart and know why you believe it we're going to take a moment ask God for his help and we're also going to thank him for his word that he's given us would you do that with me right now Lord thank you thank you for Apostolic teaching thank you that I know your word Lord and I know the truth of your word and I'm not in the dark and I'm not lost about what I believe but I'm so thankful that I can land squarely and safely in truth and I pray you'd help me

not to take for granted this word that I have oh but beloved Lord to hide in my heart that I might not sin against you to study in Jesus to rightly divide it whether I'm sitting behind a Pulpit or I'm sitting in a chair at home help me to rightly divide the word of Truth help me to study to show myself approved or I pray you'd help me Lord to get this word down deep in my spirit to know it for myself and to know why I believe it we need your help Lord to continue

to be people of the word of God and people of Truth and we thank you for it tonight we thank you for it in Jesus name Jesus name