God's Word

beginning course the in in january the foundation topic has been god's word and um i have thoroughly enjoyed i have there's a lot of data a lot of info you may want to get a notepad out or have fast thumbs that you can take notes with this let's turn in our bible second timothy we'll go there second timothy chapter three this has been our uh study verse or where we've started our study we're going to continue in this theme i welcome all of you for lesson three i'm gonna dig deeper into the word i enjoy digging into the scriptures amen we're gonna find out about important things for life uh how many know the bible is your road map to heaven it's the story of god's love to humanity right so when we look at the scriptures and we read and we study them and we try to dig out meanings and purposes and whatnot what we are doing is is we are developing a relationship with the author with the one who made sure that it was put together properly so the scripture according to second timothy 3 16 if it's on the board you'll follow along with me all scripture everybody say all all scripture is given by inspiration of god and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness 17 says that the man of god may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good works okay according to the letter written to the young preacher the purpose of the breathed word of god god's word inspiration the purpose in it is simply this it is profitable for doctrine teaching okay theology things that put a basis upon who god is according to humanity but also notice it's profitable for reproof it's profitable for correction profitable for instruction in righteousness and there's a reason for it that the man of god may be perfect now that doesn't mean pristine exact it means in the act of maturing may be made to be mature you realize that when you're born you do not know everything contrary to a teenager's belief system you have to learn things well maybe to a three-year-old that thinks they know everything yeah you got to learn things right you got to adapt grow learn how to get in and out do things survive if you will okay so as we are looking at the word of the lord i i don't know if it's dawned on you yet if you've been sitting through these sessions but the the the word of god has been through a lot i mean a whole lot all right now in 443 bc was the completion of the old testament we know that from history uh from that time there have been a lot of ideas there have been a lot of incidents that occurred throughout the generations and every generation every if you will every group every social group every culture if you will every nation there have been battles fought there have been challenges that have come all wrapped around these words that were pinned okay again under the inspiration of god somehow some way in whatever reason that i don't know and maybe you're smarter than me and this not sure but i don't know how it survived except it's god's word all right we have noticed from the historical accounts again we're talking god's word we're trying to give us some greater understanding and a greater appreciation for the word of god and what it's come through i think that we need to understand church that the word of god has it's been through a lot when 70 80 this is incredible when jerusalem burned it should have destroyed all the writings but they weren't that we know of through all the wars and all the famines and all the the pestilences if you will all the the inquisitions the crusades all of that that went on the written word of god should have been wiped away but it wasn't in fact it was alive and thriving it may have been a small here or small there or whatever but last week we picked up and did a lot of the historical things of the church and tonight we're going to pick up again and begin where last week we left off in 1517 a.d right that's when martin luther presented his 95 points it's considered in history the 95 thesis uh he had contention with the catholic church okay luther of course he was a catholic priest he worked in the catholic church his job was i told last week was to go around these small villages and places and to draw money from them to pay into the church to support the church and what the word for the diet is indulgences were the church could indulge themselves into things okay now we found here that luther he is the fundamental fundamental reason for the protestant movement basically that word protestant in the root is protest he protested the church and in doing so he began what is known today as the protestant movement it is against different contrary what everyone call it to what the catholic religion if you will of that day was now there was an incredible movement to step away from the system of the catholic church in that day anybody remember why people gave up on the catholic church what happened in history we talked about last week yeah black plague the bubonic plague killed a million people and so people all across the world got very disgruntled with the church because it didn't help and so in in the 1500s what we notice is that there's people that are now trying to pull away from the catholic church remember it was also split into an eastern a latin and a greek different different directions so when luther comes along instead of killing him it would have caused an uprising the catholic church basically just let him go and so then he began to establish christianity if you will in the protestant movement now luther he triggered so many questions because of each point that he listed you can go online and read all 95 of them incredible incredible to read what happened though was in for an example in 1526 william tyndale translated the first english bible from the greek it was a new testament word he translated into english his writing stay with me his writing was used as a paramount reference when the king james version was actually going to come out years later okay so you got martin luther who establishes um we're not going to do this catholic this universal church we're going to go a different direction we're going to protest what they teach and what they believe and he began to talk and study what scriptures he knew and in so doing 15 17 just a few years later tyndale comes along and translates the scriptures into english so that people could read it and have access to it now his writing for an example caused something very very interesting in in in the work in 1536 he was killed by the government of the day because they determined that he was a heretic he they decided that he was against the church and so the church had him killed in fact it says that he was flayed and burned alive at the stake now underst again i've told you from the beginning that the word of god has gone through so many things and here we are now we started way back now we're in the 1500s something else happened in 1530 in the same time frame a gentleman by the name of john calvin he took over what was then called the reform church of switzerland he was in geneva switzerland okay he had left the catholic church disgruntled he was in the same group if you will of the luthers and and his his instructions and stuff that he was going through was trying to somehow some way establish a common man's religion remember in the catholic church in this time that we're talking about everything would have been wrapped around money everything would have been wrapped around your ability to please the priest okay you could pay tax your indulgences that that you could make sure they had money for and so forth this was all rhythm this is what they did it was just how it was and then something began to transpire and the splinter began to happen and in this protestant protest in this reformation this reformed church it was calvin then that was anybody know where what religion he started or what church group he started no who yeah who though what's the name of the group there's several here in chattanooga they're the presbyterians they're the presbyterians okay the church also and the congregational church he is the basis of the one who started that baptist comes later that's a good one because we're going to talk about anabaptists first but anyway um this is interesting john calvin he had a young man that was in the work trying to help him michael cervedis killed because he too was preaching this message this this young man was preaching the same message calvin had been killed because cervez taught that baptism should be done in water by immersion in the name of jesus christ he had gone back two scriptures of old testament new testament of the old writings and began to study and discovered that there was not indeed father son holy ghost mother mary saint mary but instead it was all done in the name of jesus and he was killed for that now calvin thought him to be a heretic and so had him done away with the protestant movement listen to this carefully the protestant movement introduced five beliefs for the newly founded christianity okay number one scripture can only be used as a guide only the word of god can guide you that was the first thing remember catholic church didn't have that the pope is who led all of the decrees and all of the direction right secondly faith alone in god was sufficient as an individual you could believe in god and that was sufficient number three grace alone salvation is an unearned gift from god all right number four christ alone no other salvation except in jesus and number 5 all the glory belongs to god no man woman or child should be lifted up in those five points this protestant movement begin to move forward in other words they begin now to look into the scriptures the old writings those things that have been put together in series and in sequence and people common man could now go to scripture if they could find one or they had access to one and they could research what it says and they could decide at that point without the help of the priest they could begin to decide what they believed all the teaching that they began was to let people know that every individual could have a closer relationship with god and you did not have to go through the priest that of course did away with the confessional it did away with infant baby there's a lot of things that it did away with in this in this newly formed way of thinking now stay with me 15 to 1600 a.d the anabaptist comes along they came on the scene with a doctrine that was stated that when you're baptized as a child because they believed in infant baptism that then you had to be re-baptized as an adult because of all the things that you'd get yourself into growing up so as a baby infant you were baptized but then as you became an adult you were required to be baptized again 1534 the church of england separated itself from the catholic church 1534 the church of england is known as the anglican church all right after a lot of issues begin to be seen and felt and so forth between leadership now of these different beliefs and these different startings if you will that was happening in 1555 a.d the catholic and the reformed churches were established with teachings that would satisfy both groups now stay with me the interesting thing about this is other denominations begin to start out of this they separated themselves church of england and the catholic church but because of the rift that was there certain parts of the world just a few short years later they brought themselves back together to instruct and teach on what they believed and then basically they ran parallel with each other and so in the 50 early mid 1500s um there to satisfy everybody that was religious everybody that was a politician everybody that had money or didn't there was some place in these two forms of these two lines that they could attach themselves now 1539 a.d was the translation of what has been called the great bible 1539 the great bible was ordered by king henry viii to be used and to be read out loud in public service okay this particular bible contained portions from the original vulgate that we talked about in our first lesson it also contained german translations the fact of the matter the great bible was not based on the original greek hebrew and aramaic text instead it took what was already translated and began to put them in an order to where they could be read in public out loud at every single time they met together interesting thing about the great bible this may not mean much to you but to me this is very intriguing because of the church of england if you will and what it was doing with this bible making it available for everyone to hear they actually pictures you can find online they actually the cover of this book had a metal case on it and it set on the pulpit the podium of the church the main church in england and it had a chain attached to the bottom of it and it was chained to the actual podium so that no one could walk out of the church with the word the word was made for in church only it was attached to the podium therefore the king could say if you're going to get a word from god it's going to be in the church because nobody at home will have this this is the great bible now 1568 there was translated what became known as the bishops bible a little more teaching a little more instruction a few more translations attach themselves into this now bigger bible and then the one that we all know in 1611 a.d was authorized the version of what you and i call the king james bible somebody say amen we started at 4 43 bc and we are now 2 2 000 years if you will further along at 1600s and there is an authorized by the king translation of the bible that anybody could have as long as they had enough money and enough prestige to own one interestingly enough in 1604 the king selected a committee of 45 plus scholars that sat down and it took them almost seven years to come up with genesis 1 1 genesis 2 1 genesis 3 exodus leviticus numbers deuteronomy it took them seven years to correlate and put these words into their proper place okay the common man now has a way that they can have the word of the lord in their lives in 1631 a.d another version was printed this is an interesting bit of information in 1631 there was another printed version called the sinner's bible otherwise known as the wicked bible an example somebody if you have your bible out which i hope you do and exodus chapter 20 will you read verse 14 for me please exodus 20 verse 14. anybody just real loud very well anybody hear that read it again please loud shalt not commit adultery okay this is just one example in the sinner's bible what became known as the wicked bible someone made a mistake and in these commandments for an example instead of thou shalt not commit adultery the word not had been removed it was only in print or only in circulation for a short time but so many begin to read it and now there's more confusion thou shalt commit adultery thou shalt steal thou shalt kill the king was so upset by this for those who printed this that he fined them at that if in today's money he fined them some 70 000 destroyed their presses and said you're not allowed to print anything else let's fix it so they went back and they reprinted and they fixed it and made it correct now that to me is very interesting again remember what i said from the outset of this study the word of god has been through hundreds and hundreds of things up and down groups and and groups and and here and hid there and carried there in just one instance what should have been the established word the important words were pulled out stay with me that said look how quickly things can be mistranslated and you can misguide people that's why the concern for the sake of tonight next week i'll bring dates of all the translations that you and i have access to today the different versions if you will of the bible the the kjv and then there's the niv and then there's the the english standard yeah there's the rick james bible there's all these different trans the young kids didn't know that anyway now here's an interesting interesting information ready for it in 1621 the mayflower arrives in massachusetts and a new world is established with colonies having left the influence on the other side of the church of england the anglican church and its conflicts with the catholic church that was over there puritans and separatists they became known as they came to the new world in search of freedoms to reform the doctrines and the teachings of the church according to history what they would have probably brought with them when they came was a copy or a translated copy of the great bible and then someone would have had portions of what had become known as the king james so that comes to this nation the united states of america and you ever wonder why the puritans and the separatists established the laws and the rules that they had anybody a history buff of american history in that time frame the founding of jamestown all that anybody what's some of the coolest teachings they had if you didn't work you you didn't eat i don't know if you know this but in jamestown in the chapel in the back wall there is an inscription of acts chapter 2 verse 38. that's what they brought to this country somebody needs to know the holy ghost is real that's what our nation was founded on that's why if you re benjamin franklin heard a preacher on the steps of the philadelphia courthouse and that preacher was preached in jesus name baptism ben franklin heard it and said never have i heard such comments history reveals that anybody i used to have years ago when before we went to the mission field i bought at a at a yard sale of all places i bought an old set of books written in like 70 to 1800s and i bought them because they look sharp and i could put them on my bookcase yeah i read all that that's me i'm that smart guy take my picture in front of the bookcase because it looks good right but what it was was it was a series of letters of the presidents the original script put into these books in fact between every page was that thin um we call it real thin paper like tissue paper is what it looked like it was between each of the pages but in there was the original writings of george washington and all throughout all of his speeches throughout all of his comments he would refer to the almighty the creator the majestic one right you may you knew that right and the these founders of our nation when they would write correspondence back and forth they would refer to that if god wills that's where this nation started we're not just to fly by night come along and pick it up in the 2000s no the word of god has been through a whole lot and when the 1600s in this nation began to be established when they began to put colonies together it was those men who established within themselves we will do this according to the teachings of the word and now here we are short how many years later much of our nation if you will in one shape form or fashion has become religious instead of relationship but the word of god is still the word of god hear what i'm saying to you if we understand the word of god if we believe truly that god breathed by inspiration his word then we've got to understand through all of the historical dates over the last couple of weeks and tonight that i've given you and some of you are bored saying wow that's just too much information no the fact is this there's a whole lot of things that you and i can take for granted and if we'll learn why and how and where we are today it's for a purpose uh may i i'm not at all ashamed or afraid or scared of what's about to happen in our nation i am convinced god is still god now righteousness exalts a nation we believe that and there are people still in this great nation that believe the word of god gonna die believe in the word of god and then for an example fox's book of martyrs i referenced it a couple weeks ago if you've got time you need to check that book out you need to read it it'll blow your mind what people went through in years gone by let me tell you something those things may actually happen again i don't think so but because it's for oil is too expensive to boil it and you know and probably a lot of people today would know how to start the fire to we need 17 propane tanks you know because that's like a grill i don't even stay with me when the nation was established we're in 2021 we are looking back at what our great nation was founded on and the word of god was the principal influence in the founding and the establishment of our nation with all the crazy and outlandish ideas going on in our world it almost seems like the scriptures the bible is irrelevant and been pushed out pushed aside but the bible is needed now more than ever before listen to me carefully if you think for a moment that the word of god can be pushed aside you are wrong you need to understand something and the end of it all god's word will stay and not one jot nor tittle will have changed in that word revelations mentions that you change it and i'm out all the plagues you read about back then i'm going to put them on you and what it says all the stuff that negative and all that stuff that you i want it's coming to you so you better know the word what we have in 2021 i am certain doesn't look like what it did back when it was written thank the lord i don't have to read little parchment paper or animal skins or copper or whatever or pieces of wood that they jotted notes down with in fact this is cool i i got a bible right here ain't that neat some of y'all have them smaller than this on your phone i would too but i can't read it so i got glasses to read this big one listen to me carefully mom and dad when you make your children you ask your kids to memorize verses you need to know you are putting the greatest weapon in them when you quote the scripture to them and you let them know what it means understand you are putting something in them that will last for all eternity notice it this way understand it the book of deuteronomy this was given to the people of god given to them so that they could live and so that they could thrive and be successful in the world in which they were living in now these are the commandments the statutes the judgments with the lord your god commanded to teach you that ye might do them in the land whether ye go to possess it that thou mightest fear the lord thy god to keep all his statutes and his commandments which i command thee thou thy son thy son son all the days of thy life and that thy days may be prolonged hear therefore o israel and observe to do it that it may be well with thee and that ye may increase mightily as the lord god of thy fathers hath promised thee in the land that floweth with milk and honey hear o israel the lord our god is one lord and thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thine heart with all thy soul and with all thy might and these words which i command thee this day shall be in thine heart and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house when they walketh in the way and when they'll lie us down and when they thou risest up and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes and thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house and on thy gates this was the command if you're going to follow god and you're going to trust god and you're going to wrap your life around god then you've got to take the statutes and the commandments and apply them to your life teach them to your kids write them in places of prominence speak about it when you're sitting in the chair speak about it when you're getting out of bed talk about it when you're sitting around the fireplace at night whatever it is talk about the things of god mom and dad you want your children to be successful you plant the word of the lord in them i promise it will not return void you let them have a passion and a hunger for the word of god and their lives will forever be changed listen to me i've said multitudes of times how the lord has used his word in my personal life when i've quoted the scriptures of the word and it happened things moved the situations unfold i know what it's like to be faced with the enemy and then look at the word of god and peace come into the situation i know what it's like to see blood trickling out of my kid's forehead and i began to quote a scripture that my mother and my grandmother gave me and the blood stopped from flowing i know what it's like when there's not enough to go around but you pray and you some reason afterwards there's leftovers that's not because of us it's because of the word how many want your children to be successful then let them get an education let them learn a trade but for crying out loud before any of that get the word of god in them have a love for the word of god mom and dad so that your kids have a chance come on there's a lot of times that i don't know what else to do or say but i can say lord you're a lamp to my feet you're a light to my path the word is there showing me what to do there's times when my kids call dad what do i do i don't know here let's go to the word there are times that i ask friends of mine colleagues of mine and i say what do i do in this situation well the word of god says this amen i'm standing here today in this particular session i'm watching the clock to let you know that if you'll allow the word of god notice how history has brought it to even us today i'm convinced when we're dead and gone and off the scene the words still going to be working still going to be active and still going to be very very strong and powerful in our world amen but the truth is is if we don't learn it understand it very quickly it can go by the wayside i'll ask it this way brother jerome would you come please and this is not anything against anyone this is not uh accusing anyone but the bible at your house when's the last time you had it open oh well i use my phone now okay when's the last time you had that program open anybody anybody have their phone out go to the cac app please when you're there raise your hand harper bottom right corner home page what to say touch it please put in a verse now hit play you don't have to read we don't mean excuse to not have the word working it'll play it all won't it you hit start and go walk away and here it is now to hear it you might have to shut the tv off you might have to turn the radio down or the cd or whatever mp3 or whatever you use to spotify but mom and dad young people look at pastor for a minute you better learn the word of the lord before you learn how to use any of those toys because when it all falls apart all you're going to have is the word confession and i'm done several years back in this fair city my wife ended up in the hospital i was out of town middle of the night scared to death all i got was a call from her then i called the kids and ambulance was mentioned and jump in the truck and head home i was smart enough to ask cathy and brother david to go with the kids stephen had just turned 16 if i remember because he was driving i said buddy get in your car get lauren in the car and as fast as you need to drive you stay on that rear end of that ambulance you mean it son yes buddy you get there with them and you answer questions i'm on my way brother daniel i was scared stephen said the emt's dad said she just has a virus her stomach upset her you know i said well okay i don't think so because she wouldn't be doing what she's doing because i can hear in the background when i walked in wee hours of the morning david's sister kathy were there they stayed with the kids and i walked in the room and she's freaking out and that of course causes me to calm down to wax eloquent now sweetheart what is this the thoughts do you know what i did ethan i called on the name of the lord i didn't know how i didn't know what was required what was going on and it was a day or so later that they came in and said she's had five strokes that i can see in her brain scan anybody excited when you hear those words she's asleep in her room now we're at the hospital over in east ridge and i walked out into the parking lot and i said god i have no idea what's about to happen and all i can do is pace your word is true and you've never failed me and if you choose to take her right now i will stand on the word and i will know that you'll never leave me nor forsake me i don't know what else to do all i knew was to get the word out and pray funniest thing everybody that called everybody that checked on her didn't check on me checked on her every one of them pastor raymond god's word's faithful hang on to it i know i know i know you may not know how it's going to turn out we know the word is already settled and nothing will change it stand with me i know a lot of you tonight understand the power of the word because you've used it time and time again in your life can you say amen tonight on this midweek study i want you to take just a moment i want you to begin to remember and reflect what the lord has brought you through lift your hands to him and begin to remember the power of his word i wish somebody in here tonight would grab a passion for the word of god a passion for the spoken word of god we have it as a the bible we can go to it we can study it we can understand it come on lord i need the word in my life i know that you're perfectly right and pure in everything you do i pray right now that a passion for the word would settle upon the church and that we would realize beyond a shadow of a doubt come what may thy word is established everything that it's been through over the last two thousand whatever years it's still established it's still established no one can change it no one can alter it no one lord can wipe it away it is forever settled in heaven come on somebody you need to develop a love for the word lift your voice to him pray right now lord help me god if you're a parent you need to pray that right now help me lord to teach my children your word if you're a young person or a child in here you need to pray it early lord jesus give me a passion and a love for your word so that i can hide it in my heart and i won't sin against you i love you lord i believe in you i trust you my hope is in you the word is powerful the word is powerful lord it can change anything and everything we are holding on to the word i love you jesus and i thank you for your word thank you for the church thank you for the power of the holy ghost that explains and expresses the meaning of the word to us there is enlightenment through the spirit as it reveals itself i pray the church lord would develop a love and a desire for your word bless our church lord we want revival we want to move with the spirit that's why we're praying that's why we're fasting this week that's why we're trusting you for great things let us follow after hunger after you in the name above every name the name the name of jesus we love you lord we're gonna come back this saturday in a prayer chain we're going to come back sunday and worship you help us god lead us show us the road every day show us the way in the name of jesus i pray somebody say amen amen