0:02 And our desire some people have been asking us lately, what's the goal? What's the goal for the church, for the ministry of MBC? I can tell you this. We're not looking to grow in size, just for the sake of having a bigger ministry. If we can, however, facilitate, a greater space for more people to come to receive instruction and guidance and inspiration like what you're hearing today, that's that's our dream.
0:23 That more people would hear the unadulterated word of God being preached and shared and to mobilize and equip more Christians. And so that's been our prayer lately. In this time, in this day and age, we want to see a revival. And our revival, that we're praying for is not a revival of emotionalism or sensationalism, but a revival of the Bible. You know, the Bible being rediscovered and loved.
0:46 And if you actually look at the Old Testament carefully, every time there's a significant reformation, it always, boils down to a rediscovery of the law, of the word of God and and and appreciation and a reverence toward it. So, thank you so much again for your prayers and for your giving. We we we give glory to God for all of that. Why don't we pray before we continue? Lord, we acknowledge that there is such a tangible sense of love in this place to be amongst people who have the same desire and the same goal of knowing you through your word is a is a treasure in itself.
1:24 And as we approach these final moments, we pray that your spirit would be with us in a more real way and that we would sense the the grace of God upon our learning. We pray, Lord, that as we leave this place in a few moments, we would leave here with joy. We would leave here with the same testimony as those two on the road to Emmaus. Did not our hearts burn within us when the scriptures were opened up to us? And so, lord, may there be no confusion.
1:50 May there be nothing that would interfere with the transmission of truth that will take place now. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Amen. So we are now embarking on a part two for these tools for deeper study in the word of God.
2:05 I wanna say to begin that everything that you have heard thus far and everything that you will hear in this last hour are tools that I personally implement on a regular basis. I could have easily we could have easily just grabbed a a famous, well known book or a seminary kind of hermeneutic. Hermeneutic is just a, kind of a fancy word for interpretation. We could have grabbed this science book, this, interpretive kind of method and just put it together on slides and give it to you. But my conviction was I don't wanna go beyond anything that I do.
2:41 So everything that you hear on a Friday and a Sunday stems from what you're hearing here, which means that you may be aware of more tools than what's presented today. And there are saying and not to say that they're not valuable and not to say that there isn't room for growth on my end, but what you're hearing today is what I can think of as a regular, kind of approach that I have towards the bible. And, so, really, you're seeing my tool belt from Monday to Thursday, and, I hope it's something that will inspire you. So just to give you a heads up, we won't be looking at things like Hebrew or Greek. We won't be looking anything in-depth with grammar, though that's very important.
3:20 We won't be looking anything in-depth with chiastic structures. Have you heard of chiastic structures? Yeah. How certain texts are structured, in a way where you have a kind of like a mirroring taking place. You have a a b b c c, and then x marks the spot where the passage in the center is the main point of the message.
3:36 That's also valuable in some context, but we're not gonna be looking at these things. Once again, what you're hearing is what's, deep in my heart and and things that I implement on a regular basis. So we are now at tool number six, types and shadows. Types and shadows. Have you heard of the phrase?
3:53 Have you heard people mentioning types and shadows? Well, what does it mean? Well, types and shadows are old testament, persons, objects, symbols, events, or practices. You can even include their places that prophetically foreshadow New Testament realities primarily focusing on the person of Jesus Christ and the gospel. Why I say primarily is because as Charles Spurgeon said, listen to this quote.
4:21 The scriptures are like the swaddling clothes of the holy child Jesus. Unroll them and there you find your savior. The essence of the word of God is Christ. This is such a Spurgeon quote, isn't it? Only he can say things like this.
4:36 The prince of preachers for a reason. So that that is something that we understand. Spurgeon is not making a unique observation here. We know that Christ himself advocated for his person, his ministry, his work being the golden thread of the Bible. We see from Genesis all the way to the New Testament.
4:55 And so what types and shadows permit us to do is to look at the Hebrew scriptures and to see where can I find Christ, where can I find gospel truths? But more than that, we can also see things for our own worship, for our own sanctification, for our own personal application, which we'll get into in a moment. But I want us to look at briefly here where types and shadows come from. And what we're gonna find is that it is not, again, something external imposed on the reality of the Bible. It is something that is found within the Bible itself.
5:26 So let's consider this. Look what Paul says in first first Corinthians ten eleven. He writes, now these things happen to them as an example. Now who is he talking about? He's actually reflecting on the wilderness journey of, the nation of Israel, and he's applying it to the consecration of the Corinthians.
5:44 And he says this. He makes this note. Now these things happen to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has come. Now the Greek word, for example, is. Now the Greek speaking people here, if I said that wrong, I apologize, but it's where we get the word type from, and it appears many times in the New Testament, and this is an exemplary place to to consider it.
6:07 The word example there is a word type. So you can understand in the following way. Now these things happen to them as a type, as a model, as a pattern, as a picture. Right? And he's, again, pointing to the, Israelites in the wilderness.
6:21 What about what he says to the Colossians in Colossians two sixteen? Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. And that's really the main point of the author of Hebrews where the Jewish believers at the time were making their way back to the Levitical system, and the author of Hebrews is elaborating on what Paul is saying here. Look.
6:50 You're going back to the shadow. The substance is in Christ. Now if I see a shadow depending on where I'm positioned, a shadow in a sense announces the arrival of somebody or the arrival of something. And what the New Testament is saying about the old is as though, as though, though there is rather practical and historical value to those texts, it ultimately is pointing to a a greater reality, something to come, more more real and more, substantial. And this is what we we find here.
7:19 We have types and shadows. So here's some questions that we wanna be asking about types and shadows. Very straightforward. Nothing profound about them. But something along the lines of number one.
7:28 Is there any part of the character story? If I'm looking at a character in the Old Testament, a person in the Old Testament, is there any component about their story, their experience that illustrates a New Testament truth, including Christ? Do we see Paul doing this in Romans? We do. In Romans five fourteen, he compares Christ or he contrast Christ rather with Adam.
7:50 And he makes different points. One of the points is in the same way that Adam's disobedience led to the fall of all men, Christ obedience leads to the redemption of all men. So you see this type and antitype. Right? In the same way that Adam was like a federal head for humanity, that the consequences of his actions, impacted his descendants, namely us, in the same way Christ now enters the scene, and he's going to perform righteousness, and his actions will then impact those who are his lineage, his spiritual descendants.
8:22 And so we see this practice of, is there something in the Old Testament character story that points to Christ? And Adam is just the beginning. Literally the beginning. And we have permission to look at various characters moving forward, with that same principle in mind. Another thing to consider.
8:38 Number two, is there any ceremony? Many ceremonies in the old testament, any ritual, any feast, or symbol that points to a new covenant principle? So old testament law is not binding on us. We know that. But that doesn't mean that we can't learn something from them, even the feasts.
8:57 Right? So one way to approach Leviticus, if I can use that example, is what's Leviticus really about in terms of principle? It's about worship. It's about worship, how to approach God in worship. Okay.
9:07 These specific instructions no longer apply, but what themes or motifs or attitudes or approaches about worship can I now make in light of the new covenant? And there's a lot to learn about worship. You have the the burnt offering in the beginning. The whole beast has to be placed on the altar. That says something about our worship, isn't it?
9:27 At least it should. And that's a very preliminary kind of understanding of these things. Number three. Is there any object or event that foreshadows a gospel truth? Yes.
9:36 We can even get down to objects and events that seem unrelated to gospel realities, but are in fact very much related. So I put two references there. One is Hebrews thirteen ten where the author of Hebrews says, we have an altar. Right? He's talking to these Hebrew Christians that wanna go back to the temple, and they wanna be, brought back into that whole, life of Judaism.
10:01 And they don't wanna be ostracized anymore. They don't wanna be persecuted. They don't wanna betray their ancestors. So what does the author do? He goes, you wanna go back to the altar so badly?
10:08 Do you understand that we have an altar? We have a greater altar that they cannot partake of and the altar ultimately is the gospel. It's the work of Jesus Christ. What about what the Lord said in John three fourteen when he points to an event and an object? The brazen serpent that was lifted up.
10:23 Right? And out of all the things that he could have said about that, the only thing that Christ mentions at this point before Nicodemus is in the same way that serpent was lifted up so the son of man will be lifted up. Right? Just the lifting up was a point of application or at least a type in his shadow concerning Christ. Here's a very important rule.
10:43 If it doesn't fit a strong and clear New Testament paradigm, don't force it. Don't force it. Do people force it? All the time. All the time.
10:53 And I don't wanna sound too subjective here, but in many ways, there is a ring to it. When when somebody interprets a type or a shadow or points one out and it's it's true, it's consistent, it's spirit led, it it sounds right. When it's forced, you can feel it as it's being explained like, ugh. You're going too far, brother. You're you're you're you're looking too deep into this.
11:17 Right? So people ask them, what's the rule for types and shadows? Let the New Testament be your guide. Is this a strong New Testament paradigm that you're trying to apply this to? Is this something that is, amplified in the new covenant?
11:32 Is it complimented well? Does it fit? Does it make sense? Or are you trying to just expound on something, for other reasons? So here's a bad example with this.
11:41 I'm gonna pick on the Mormons a little bit today. Okay? We heard about the Mormons earlier. I'm gonna bring them up again because why? Well, they they they appeal to the Bible.
11:50 That's why. So let me let me before I go here actually, I'll just keep it. So here I am when I used to live closer to the city. There was a particular park where I used to live. The park was by the house I used to live in and I would frequently, especially in the spring or summertime, go out to that park because they had kind of like a, a little track if you would, not a official track, but just just a pathway to walk around and jog.
12:13 And and so I would always go there. It was so close and I would just walk and I would just use that time to pray, just walk and pray and sit on the park bench sometimes and just meditate and enjoy nature and just just walk with the Lord. And on this on this particular day, I'm walking and what catches my peripheral are, two guys with bright white dress shirts and bicycles, you know. Sound familiar? And so I look over and I realize that they're on the opposite end of the track and they're sitting on the bench.
12:40 So I thought, okay, I'm on my way there. I'm gonna I'm gonna rest by the bench too, you know. And so I make my way there and I plop my side my myself beside them and I just they were young. 18, 19 years old. If you don't know anything about Mormon doctrine or Mormon practice, if you're a serious Mormon, you will dedicate two years of your life to missions.
13:00 That you will, you will just give up the prime of your life especially to go to a different nation or state and just wherever you go, you're gonna preach and you're gonna knock on doors and you're gonna bike around town and you're gonna try to evangelize people. You're gonna give up two years of your life just for that goal. And that's what these kids were doing. And they they came to Chicago. That's where they were sent by their elders.
13:22 And so I just asked some questions, what they're doing around here, this and that. And finally, we got to talk about the differences between Christianity and Mormonism. And finally, one of these young men very innocently said, well, do you understand that the the Bible speaks about the Book of Mormon? I said, really? Tell me where.
13:39 I must have missed it. And he goes, it's in Ezekiel 37. I said, where in Ezekiel 37? And he goes, well, when when Ezekiel receives a vision about two sticks. So let me read it to you.
13:52 Ezekiel 37 verse 15. The word of the Lord came to me, son of man, take a stick and write on it for Judah and the people of Israel associated with them, then take another stick and write on it for Joseph, The stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him. And I'm reading this up saying, tell me where the Book of Mormon is in this? He goes, well, the sticks represent books. And the stick for Judah symbolizes the bible.
14:22 And the stick for Joseph symbolizes the book of Mormon. And what you see in this prophecy is that God wants to combine the bible and the book of Mormon to be one unit again. And I said, did you keep reading the prophecy or did you just stop with verse 15? Did you honor rule number three? He said, rule number three.
14:41 No. I'm joking. I didn't go there. I did. I said, did you look at before and after the text?
14:48 What is he talking about? He's talking about the reunification of the nation of Israel. It was divided. Northern Kingdom, Southern Kingdom. And there's a time coming, this prophecy is sharing that there's a time coming where they'll become one kingdom again.
15:00 Where did you get books from? Well, that's that's the literal meaning, but there's a spiritual meaning. Really? This is an example of if it doesn't fit strong and clear New Testament paradigm, don't force it. And that's really extreme example.
15:18 Right? I mean, a whole cult started from this. And that's what it can lead to. And so you have to be you have to be very understanding. Where in the New Testament do you find what you are trying to explain or what you're trying to prove?
15:32 So is there more evidence in the New Testament that Jesus is the ark of the covenant or Mary? Might have stepped on some toes there. Because what do our Catholic friends wanna say? That Mary is the ark of the covenant. So is there any hint in the New Testament that Mary is the presence of God on earth, or do we see in John one that Jesus dwelt among men and the original word for dwelt there is tabernacled?
15:58 Do we see in Hebrews how there are all these different facets of the tabernacle that point to a facet of the ministry of Christ? What one holds more weight? Right? So this is a bad example, but let's consider a good example. Joseph, that's not an actual picture of Joseph.
16:16 Joseph is one of the most compelling cases for types and shadows concerning Christ. Let's open it up here. What elements of Joseph's story stand out to you to point to a facet of the ministry or the person or the work or the experience of our lord Jesus? Any idea? Let's let's share this time together.
16:32 Yes? He suffered. Yes. Yes. He was rejected.
16:37 He was rejected. Who was he rejected by? His own brothers. Yes. Anything else?
16:42 Redemption. Redemption. Yes. Forgiveness. Forgiveness.
16:46 Beautiful. He forgave those who rejected him. Unjustly accused. Sure. He marries a gentile bride.
16:54 He marries a gentile bride. Does Jesus marry a gentile bride? Yes. The church is a picture of church. Yes.
17:01 Anything else? Say that again. Right hand of power. Right hand of power. Yes.
17:11 No sin is mentioned of him? Yes. That's a good point. Betrayed? Absolutely.
17:18 He's a savior. Savior of who? The world. Yeah. Okay.
17:23 There is something there for sure. Absolutely. Anything else? He reveals himself to his brothers. Very good.
17:33 He was loved greatly by his father. So good. I mean, we're everybody here is ready to do an Old Testament study. It's it's on the life of Joseph. This is excellent.
17:41 Yeah. Anything else? Maybe a couple more?
17:44 Kind of concealed the identity.
17:46 Yes. That's a big one actually. Very good. These are all great points. You already mentioned most of them.
17:55 Like Joseph, Jesus was persecuted by his brothers. Like Joseph, Jesus was rejected, but sent to the Gentiles. Like Joseph, Jesus' rejection led to the salvation of the world. Like Joseph, Jesus' flesh and blood did not recognize him. Like Joseph, this point really excites me.
18:14 Look at this in Genesis 45 verse one. Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. Those were his brothers. He cried, make everyone go out from me so no one stay with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. Did the Jews recognize Jesus today?
18:30 There's a remnant, but most of them don't. But there's a day coming where he's gonna reveal himself, and his brothers will recognize him, and they will mourn after him whom they have pierced. Right? And they will believe on him, and they will recognize that he was their savior and their ruler all along. So doesn't that ring right?
18:47 Doesn't that feel right? Right? This this this is a mess. Right? Two sticks means two books.
18:54 Joseph because the word Joseph means Joseph Smith, their prophet. Where are you getting that from? Number seven. We talked about types and shadows. This is close to it.
19:06 But with types and shadows, we're starting from the New Testament looking to the old, but we also have to understand that from the Old Testament, we have to look into the new. That's where allusions come in. Now here's something fascinating. The New Testament contains hundreds of references to the Hebrew scriptures. Hundreds.
19:24 But what most people miss is that it also includes thousands, and that's not an exaggeration. Thousands of illusions. What's an illusion? An indirect reference, An echo of some sort. A subtle passing reference.
19:40 Why is that the case? Because the new testament doesn't wanna spoon feed us. It expects you and I to be acquainted with different content and themes of the old testament. And this is one of the rewards of tool number one. What was tool number one?
19:52 Read through the bible. Expose yourself to the verbiage, to some known sayings, to repeated, prophetic, dialogue and content so that when you come to the new, you're somewhat prepared because not every New Testament author is gonna give you a reference to something that they're saying. It can be a word. It can be a phrase. And again, the Holy Spirit expects you and I to have been studying the rest of the Bible, not just the right side of it.
20:21 And this is where so many people miss out on the depths of the New Testament. Because they're only just they're just looking for references, quotations. Right? Failing to realize that there are thousands of illusions. We can consider a couple.
20:36 Look at this one from Mark one thirteen. This is in the beginning of the gospel of Mark. Says here, and he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan, and he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Anything stand out to you with this verse? It's one verse.
20:54 You can call it out. Forty days. Yeah. Is that a significant number? Absolutely.
20:59 What does it symbolize according to the bible? A period of testing. Right? So, yeah, there's that. But I'm not I'm looking beyond that.
21:07 Yes. Yeah. Sure. So we're relating Jesus' wilderness experience to the Israelites' forty year wilderness experience? Yeah.
21:15 You can definitely derive that. Anything else? There's one specific thing. Angels. That's one too.
21:26 Sure. The angels are ministering to him. We see that in more than one place. Wild animals. Why do I need to know that Jesus was with the wild animals?
21:36 Again, you're asking the test text questions. But I'm doing more than that now. I'm trying to put pieces together because the author is brilliant, because the author is led by the Holy Spirit. So I see wild animals, but I see other ingredients that might lead me to something. I see temptation mentioned.
21:52 I see Satan mentioned. And now I see animals mentioned. Is there any other scene in the bible where I can find these three ingredients? Temptation, Satan, animals, the garden of Eden. We're talking about the beginning of time.
22:11 Right? But there are some differences as well. So now things are starting to go off here. I see temptation. I see Satan.
22:20 I see animals. Again, if the wild animals were not there, I may be just staying in the lane of forty days, forty years tempted tempted, Christ succeeds where Israel failed. And that is that is true, but there's a deeper thing being implied here. Temptations, Satan, animals. So I'm thinking the Garden of Eden, I'm sure, and that's not wrong, but there's also some differences.
22:43 K. So you have temptation and you have Satan and you have animals in the Garden Of Eden, but was was the Garden Of Eden a wilderness? No. It was a luscious, beautiful place. Were the animals wild in the garden of Eden?
22:55 No. They were tame. Right? And, I mean, Adam was able to name them. So I see some differences now.
23:02 And I think now there's something being conveyed here. Did Christ succeed in this setting overcoming temptation? Did Adam succeed? So here's one potential lesson. The conditions of Jesus' tests were far less favorable than those of Adam in the garden, yet he still triumphed over temptation.
23:25 Adam had a garden. Adam had animals that weren't wild, that weren't dangerous. And so he was in paradise, and he still fell. Jesus, he was in a desert. Jesus, he had looming danger all around him including wild animals.
23:46 And with all that discomfort and all that ugliness and all more reason to perhaps disobey, Christ succeeds where Adam fails. It's potentially another lesson. The curse not only infected those made in God's image. Right? But it also transformed glorious gardens and peaceful animals into terrifying wastelands and wild beasts.
24:09 But what do we find in the beginning of Mark? That Christ is reversing. He's beginning to reverse the curse of Adam's disobedience through his obedience. He's gonna be restoring not just us. He's gonna be restoring gardens that became wildernesses and beautiful creatures that are now wild.
24:28 And this is the beginning of what's gonna come into full effect. And now you can you can put in Isaiah's prophecy where the wolf will lie down with the lamb. Right? We're gonna see a restoration of what was lost and not just more glorious, more permanent. And we're getting a hint here of both the past and the future.
24:46 The past is Christ is greater than Adam. And we're seeing a future here too that Christ is restoring what was broken through Adam. He's entering into our failure. He's entering into the destruction that we caused and he is beginning to restore it and it's only through his obedience. Do you see?
25:04 But he's giving us hints here. He's giving you a picture. We we find this even in the epistles when I'm speaking about illusions. Look at this in Philippians two ten, very known passage. So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father.
25:27 Anything stands out to you from this one verse? Is it a powerful verse? Absolutely. It's amazing, but there's more to it because of illusions. Look at this.
25:46 So that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess. Is Paul, making this up? Is Paul maybe better explained saying something that's never been said before? Is this something that he is writing by the inspiration of the spirit for the first time? Or is Paul making reference to something that you and I should be familiar with in the old testament?
26:11 You know the answer. Right? Look what Yahweh says about himself in Isaiah forty five twenty three. By myself, I have sworn from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return. To me, every knee shall bow.
26:24 Every tongue shall swear allegiance. You know, in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, it actually reads, to me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess. You are God. Is this coincidence? Or is Paul borrowing from Isaiah's prophecy, a prophecy that is exclusive to God and now he's applying it to you to who in verse 10?
26:46 So that at the name of Jesus. What does that say about Jesus according to Isaiah 45? He's Yahweh. Do you see? Now did Paul here say according to the prophet Isaiah, every knee should bow and every no.
27:00 But he expects you to know it. What about this one? Second Thessalonians two eight. And then the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. Breath of his mouth.
27:20 I mean, there are so many ways somebody can kill somebody else. Out of all the ways we read here that he will do it with the breath of his mouth. Again, is this a new fresh idea about Christ that Paul is presenting to us? Perhaps. And there are instances of that in the new.
27:38 But this is a case of Paul also making an illusion. Again, in Isaiah, listen to these words about the Messiah in Isaiah 11. One of the features of Messiah. Isaiah 11 verse four, but with righteousness, he shall judge the poor and decide with equity for the meek of the earth, and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips, he shall kill the wicked. With the breath of his lips.
28:04 So what's Paul doing here with this, reference? He is showing that Jesus is the is the Messiah in a very unique way. I don't think I would automatically say, can I prove to you how Jesus is the Messiah according to the New Testament? This wouldn't be one of my go to. You know that Messiah will kill people with the breath of his mouth, just the authority of his word, but it just adds a layer to how Christ fulfills what the Old Testament expects.
28:29 And then you have another layer. I didn't highlight it, but right before it says, he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth. That's that's a reference to revelation too. So now you're seeing the interconnectedness of the whole bible. But the point I wanna convey is that even this truth of illusion is not just found in narratives.
28:43 It's not just found in gospel accounts, but even in the epistles. For those who come here on Sundays with with, our study in revelation, you and I see this over and over again, that there are obvious references to the old testament. There are many more allusions that John expects us to know in order to properly interpret his prophecy. So I believe now we're gonna come to number eight, and this is our last point. We're gonna expound on each of these points.
29:10 We can't have a discussion about studying the Bible without outside resources, and I wanna mention four of them to you. Commentaries, concordance, quality books, emphasis on quality, and community. So let's look at these things separately, shall we? Commentaries. Commentaries are not infallible, so they must be evaluated and compared.
29:38 And as I showed earlier, commentary should never do the thinking for you. And fortunately, they do for many people. So sometimes people will ask, where do commentaries play in my knowledge and my growth of understanding of scripture? Commentaries are consultants. Paul told Timothy, think over what I say and the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
30:01 What commentaries do is that after you've done the heavy lifting of thinking and trying to understand the text and doing all that you can with your tool belt to then see, are there others who can shed light on this? Are there others who confirm what I am coming to? Are there others who can say, yes. This is in fact what the Holy Spirit has shown this author, this author, this theologian? So that's what you wanna do.
30:22 You you don't wanna run to commentaries right away because it robs you of the experience of God giving you understanding. Right? And and he promises to give us understanding. We should approach the scriptures prayerfully dependent on the Holy Spirit. And as much as we might this might be like a quick fix.
30:38 This might be something that gets us to answers quicker. It doesn't substitute the worship of the word, of being able to engage with God through the written word and seeing him bring things to the surface. That being said, there are two extremes. There are some, and I I remember when I first got saved, people around me were saying you should never look at a commentary. That the holy spirit should teach you everything.
31:01 And they're almost implying that if you're really spiritual, it would just be you and your bible, nothing else. But then the bible also shows us that God has gifted us teachers. The bible has shown us that God has gifted certain men to be able to bring even greater clarity and instruction and insight into the scriptures and we should we should delight in seeing those expressions of gifts as God's grace to us. And so, yes, there's the extreme of people only relying on outside sources and never doing the heavy lifting themselves. And then as I mentioned, there are those who think you should never do that.
31:35 And we need the proper balance. You engage with the scriptures first, and then you consult with the wider community, namely the commentaries. Here are some free resources that I recommend and that I use all the time and a couple examples of ones that if you're willing to pay for, they're they're worth having. Studylight.org. Has any can you just lift your hand if you've never heard of StudyLight?
31:57 That's most of us here. StudyLight is a wonderful resource. You can write down the the domain here, but let me tell you how to use it. You go to Google, for example, and you'll write study light, and this is the important keyword, verse by verse. StudyLight verse by verse, and then you'll put any verse of the Bible beside that.
32:16 And what it'll do is usually the first option after the Google search is entered will be the one that you wanna click on. And when you click on it, it will give you a list of faithful, reliable, integral commentators all on one page, giving explanation for that one verse. So it's it's really on a silver platter for you, and you can easily just compare, the different thoughts about that one verse. And you have to understand, some of these commentators have theological dispositions. They have, different theological backgrounds and framings.
32:49 So they're gonna interpret verses differently. And this is where you have to evaluate and compare and be careful. But Studylight is a amazing resource that is freely accessible to anybody who has the Internet. David Guzik. Has anybody heard of David Guzik?
33:03 Yeah. Most people here, based out of Calvary Chapel, a wonderful teacher of God's word. All you have to do is look up Guzik and put in any chapter of the Bible or any verse of the Bible, and it will come up usually on Blue Letter Bible, which we'll talk about in a moment. But David Guzik, I mean, I've just been blessed by him over the years and he's faithful and and God has used him to bless so many people. And I can just I can truly recommend him.
33:27 He he's just a he's a wonderful teacher of God's word. Who can forget about Matthew Henry? I think Matthew Henry is one of the greater greatest commentators and theologians of all time. And I'll tell you why, because he he merges the academic with the devotional. He's more on the devotional side actually, and that's that's what I prefer.
33:47 So Matthew Henry is just a remarkable man of God, and you wanna look up his complete commentary because if you don't include that, then you might get his summary of his, explanation of passage of scripture, but the complete commentary is where you you get the meat. And so look up Matthew Henry, complete commentary. And again, just refer to that as, a reflection point after you've done your own research in the word. If you wanna pay for commentaries or different sets, I mean, there are many I can recommend. Just a couple that come to mind, especially Warren Wiersbe for those who are more, inclined to benefit from the practical.
34:22 Warren Wiersbe, he was a pastor at Moody Church. He he has much more to his resume than that, but he has a complete set of both old and new testament commentaries. And, again, Warren Wiersbe does a wonderful job, making his points devotional and practical. And just look at different, you know, Christian publications. His sets go on sale.
34:41 It fluctuates from time to time. I recently got the physical copy of his study. I was looking at it online, one of my softwares, for years, but this one is something that, worth buying and adding to your library. And if you're if you're more inclined or you're more wanting to open up to the academic side of things, the new American commentary is a great set to have as well. And again, this is something that, will really help you.
35:05 It it will really bless you and it's worth investing money in. You know? So if your birthday's coming up, somebody asks you what you want for your birthday, maybe you I want a new American commentary on, you know, these books of the New Testament or these books in the Old Testament. If you want even more, if you're saying, I I already have those. Do you have any more?
35:20 Just come see me after, these last slides, and I would gladly recommend others to you. So commentaries. Any questions about commentaries before we go on to the next point? Yes. Did you have a look at my slides?
35:48 Because that's the very next point. Concordance. Hopefully, this will answer your question. Yes. One moment, brother.
35:56 We're gonna go through this, and I'll and I'll I won't forget you. I promise. With a concordance, it's exactly that. A concordance is an index of biblical words and phrases where you will find, a survey of where that verse or that, word or phrase is found throughout the entire Bible. Now there are exhaustive concordances, and there are concise ones.
36:18 Some translations have them in the back of their Bible, some don't. But if you have, like, an ESV, you'll have a concordance found back there. You've probably seen it before. Concordances and maps don't get as much attention as they deserve, but they're there, and they're wonderful, for for our for our aid and our guide. So I'm looking at my bible right now.
36:34 I'm looking at the word wisdom. And it says here, and God gave Solomon w. Usually, it will it will just kinda add the first letter of that word, and then it gives me the reference right beside it. And it goes to first Kings four, the next one. In wisdom, you have made them all.
36:47 It's a reference to Psalm one zero four. So concordances are a wonderful tool. The beauty of the age that we live in is that you can have one on your phone. You don't have to buy physical copies. The one I strongly recommend is Blue Letter Bible.
37:02 It's an app that you can download. It's something that you can search on a Google, engine. But what you wanna do with Blue Letter Bible, if you do use the Google search bar, you put in BLB. I don't even write Blue Letter Bible. I just do BLB, and it'll pick it up.
37:14 And then you write a verse, and then the Blue Letter Bible website will pop up with the verse in the link. You click on it, and when you click on it again, if you if you're really not techy and you want to step by step, just see me after the session, and I'll show you exactly how it works. And then there's there's a button where you click in a linear, and it'll take the verse and split it up in it. Let's say it's an Old Testament verse. It will split up every word, and it'll have the Hebrew Strong's Concordance.
37:38 That's the Concordance you want, Strong's Concordance. And Blue Letter Bible, applies it automatically. But in case you wanna buy the physical copy, Strong's Concordance is the go to. It'll break it up, and it'll have the reference. And then when you click let's say I'm looking for the word love in John three sixteen, I click on the Greek concordance reference there, and then it will give me all the references of that same Greek word love from Old to New Testament.
38:00 So that's great for topical studies, for word studies, and it's something that I think everybody should have in their toolbox. Concordances. This is a great thing that I think is not emphasized enough. Quality books. Quality books.
38:16 And why do I promote books? Because books help us explore and expand our mind to how others have discovered, connected, explained, and applied scripture, and I emphasize devotionally devotionally. And the if you've been here for the past few months, you know that I've been more vocal about the Puritans than ever. Because as I've been growing in my understanding of, the Puritans, I just can't hold it back. I can't keep it to myself.
38:43 The Puritans, I won't get into their history too much, but they were Christians and pastors, in the fifteen hundreds, in the sixteen hundreds primarily. And they were Christians who were under the Anglican system, and they thought that the Anglican church needed reviving, and they were persecuted by the Anglican church. And so they had to find a way to preach and teach God's word to those at a very high price. And they were around for a good solid 100 to 150 years, but their their writings and their sermons and their commentaries have, been preserved by God's grace. And why I recommend the Puritans is because they have a hold on scripture, a grip on scripture.
39:26 They have a way of putting scriptures together that are unmatched in in my estimation. And that's why I recommend them more than even modern, authors, though God is using many modern authors today. I think that there's something unique about this group of believers in history. For me, personally, when I read the Puritans, they make me excited to read the Bible. That's why I want people to to feel that same joy as well.
39:51 Other books you may be drawn to the author or their style or their anecdotes. What the Puritans do is they mine areas of the the Bible that are rarely, explored, and they bring them to your attention, and they make you convinced, I shouldn't skip Obadiah. Because I didn't think that I can learn from Obadiah in this way. I didn't think that Amos can can touch my heart with that one verse. It's amazing how they're able, especially, to take the Old Testament and apply it again to New Testament principles, And not just their their illusions and their references, just the way they talk about doctrine or they talk about Christ kindle something in your heart.
40:29 So what I thought to do is just give you a few quotes just to give you an idea of how they can stir you as they have stirred me. So this is from John Flavell and his word, his work keeping the heart. Notice what he says here, quote, suppose that by revenge you might destroy one enemy. Yet by exercising the Christian's temper, you might conquer three. Your own lust, Satan's temptation, and your enemy's heart.
40:54 Isn't that beautiful? So you can say you should forgive others and not take vengeance because vengeance is God's. Is that true? Sure. But look at the poetry.
41:06 Look at the depth here. What's the temptation of taking revenge? That we wanna destroy our enemy. We wanna get back at him. And he goes, okay, if you're so ambitious to destroy, let me give you three enemies you can destroy if you do it God's way.
41:19 One is your own lust. Two is Satan's temptation. And three, your enemy's heart. Right? Like burning coals on their head.
41:25 When you show mercy and love and kindness though they don't deserve it, you can actually conquer them the way Christ would wanna conquer them. Ain't that beautiful? George Swinnick from his work, the fading of the flesh and the flourishing of faith. This is him using an old testament character to make a point about discontentment. Haman from the book of Esther.
41:45 Notice what he says here. Quote, Haman, although he has the favor of the king, the adoration of the people, and the sway over a 127 provinces was discontent because he wanted Mordecai's knee. You know the story with Haman. Right? I mean, he was so privileged.
42:03 He was so honored by the king and by, again, the provinces. But what made him boil inside? He wanted that one Jew to bow his knee and he wouldn't. Everybody else was bowing before him, but just that one person wasn't. And we find George here using this as an example, as an illustration for how discontent is so powerful and how foolish it is really.
42:26 I'm sure you're getting the hint. Right? How about Thomas Brooks? Notice how he talks about death. Quote, a Christian knows that death shall be the funeral of all his sins.
42:41 His sorrows, his afflictions, his temptations, his vexations, his oppressions, his persecutions. He knows that death shall be the resurrection of all his hopes, his joys, his delights, his comforts, his contentments. Ain't that beautiful? If you fear death, if that's a nagging thing, if that gives you nightmares, if if you, you know, are paralyzed at the thought of you leaving this world and leaving your family behind, I can't offer anything apart from the Bible. The Puritans talk about death like it's something to look forward to for the Christian.
43:21 And this is just an idea of it. And that's why we gave you one of many Puritan books, just to give you a sample and for you to expose yourself to to these men and how they write about the truths of scripture. And if you don't know where to begin, the specific kind of publication we extended to you is a good place to start. The Puritan treasures for today, there is a a set that was on sale, this past Christmas, I believe. But what Reformation Heritage did was sometimes the language of the Puritans is a little daunting and archaic, so they simplified it without stripping the meaning away.
43:59 And it's for anybody who wants to be introduced to this group of of ministers, to really, really, engage with in a in a hopeful manner. And I I wouldn't say to read the Puritans in a way you would read a normal book. I would say just, like, read a chapter a night or a chapter every week maybe even to start out with because it's so dense, it's so meaty that you don't wanna miss anything. And here's what I do, and I've mentioned this recently. I'll have my notepad, open when I read one of these books, and I'll put down quotes that just jump out at me.
44:32 And these are quotes from my phone. And if I stumble upon a teaching and I think, you know, I'm gonna talk about discontentment from this text, I might return to my vault and find this quote from George Swinek and and and apply it to the message. Or if you wanna offer something as a quote in a in a counseling session, you know, if you're afraid of death, I want you to hear what Thomas Brooks has to say and just read that. I mean, just hearing it is so powerful. And so these men are are men that I recommend, and I hope they they will bless you leaving this place.
45:02 Lastly, community. I heard a pastor say this, and it's still ringing in my ears, but I wanna flip it. Let me let me tell you the way he said it from the pulpit when he was addressing pastors. He he reminded pastors that over time, most people in your church will read the Bible the way you preach it. That your mode of interpretation, that the way you dissect the text, that the way you apply it, how you speak about Christ, how you speak about the things of God, how you are careful with even if I'm not sure about an illusion, And I say, you know, this picture reminds me, not saying dogmatically, this is a prophetic picture of Christ, but this imagery has the perfume of what we find here in the new Testament.
45:43 All of that will be imparted to the people that you preach to over time. And that was a sobering reminder for for for me, but I wanna flip it and ask you because you have a choice to sit under whatever ministry you wanna sit under, who is shaping you? Who are you allowing to shape your thinking of the scriptures? Not every pastor has the same style. Not every pastor has the same depth or insight.
46:08 Everybody's uniquely gifted. Some pastors are more effective effective preaching thirty minutes. Others are more effective preaching fifty five minutes. That's not the point. The point is, are they are they encouraging you to go back to the text?
46:20 Are they showing you the beauty of the text? Because God designed his church to be supplemental to your personal journey with the bible and you have to ask yourself, why do I go to the ministry I go to? And who am I allowing to inform my family's thinking about the word of God? That is so crucial. And if you think that you're not being affected by that, that's a problem.
46:44 You are, whether you realize it or not. Over time, for example, I'm and this is more innocent, but if I have the habit of going through books of the Bible and I cover two chapters every Sunday, and I do that with every book, then you are being trained in your own reading unless you have great discipline and and you have a robust personal devotional life. Generally, though, for the people who are who are just really learning and taking it all in, you're gonna read the Bible in that kind of, scale where you're looking at it more of an overview. But if you are sitting under a teaching that goes into the verse and, you know, can dissect it and bring it apart and connect it to other portions, you're gonna train yourself to see it that way as well. So ask yourself, who am I being shaped by?
47:25 Who am I listening to? Who am I submitting to ultimately? But I wanna also say community goes beyond what kind of church you go to. It speaks about your circle of friends as well. And I wanna encourage every person here to incorporate the wonders and the mysteries of God's word in your fellowship.
47:41 That doesn't mean that everything you talk about is the bible when you get together with your friends. But may I suggest that you include it if it's not there at all? Some of the greatest insights I've received, some of the most powerful balm for my soul that I've experienced was being on the phone with people who are not even in ministry but have a love for God's word, and they're able to apply scripture to my situation in a way that does something deeper than just calm me down for the moment. And that can only go back to what we heard earlier from Colossians. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing.
48:19 It has to dwell richly in you first. And so I've received so much from people who who might have sent me something that they have written or who might have called me and asked me what's going on, and then they're able to take even obscure things in the Bible and relate it to my circumstance, and it it keeps me going. There's a force behind it because it's God's word. So how can you do this? Maybe you're like, I would love to have friends like that.
48:45 I don't. In fact, maybe you have friends where it's like you bring up the scriptures to them and they go on, like, screensaver mode. Right? You could talk about sports and they're like, yeah. Oh, did you see that?
48:55 You could talk about money. Oh, the business that never and then you bring up a scripture and they're like, yeah. Amen. God bless you. Yeah.
49:01 Yeah. Have you seen that? Man, I've seen it so many times. So maybe it's not just me. I think it sounds like it's other people too who experienced it.
49:09 But there are some things to maybe prime that and change that without being awkward or forceful. Maybe ask your friends after a sermon on Sunday what stood out to you from the message instead of talking about the weather immediately after. Right? Maybe when you downstairs for fellowship, hey. What stood out to you?
49:28 I mean, yeah. You know, when when pastor mentioned that point, I never saw the scripture that way. And it could be just that. You know? Or, like, I don't know that.
49:37 I had a question about that. I have to explore it more. You can just start that way. Or hopefully, you're reading your Bible on a regular basis. Maybe when you're catching up with somebody that you talk to multiple times a week, you can incorporate, hey, I read I read Philippians.
49:53 And what stood out to me is that Paul is telling those outside of prison. He's in prison, and he's telling them to rejoice. You would think that they would say that to him in prison, but he's telling though and that just ministered to me. Another person could just say, that's beautiful. And that's it.
50:08 You go on. Just little seeds. Right? Or relate scriptural examples and observations to real life situations. When you do offer counsel or when you offer help to a friend, I mean, where can you go better than the Bible?
50:25 I can assure you this. There is not one problem in life that the Bible doesn't have an answer for. Not one. There is not one situation. I'm telling you, I remember a conversation having with somebody, and I didn't plan this, but I remember they were describing a relational conflict.
50:40 And the example that came to mind, you know what it was? When Saul threw his spear toward his son Jonathan. And you know what Jonathan's conclusion was? If he's willing to kill me, surely he's willing to kill David because Jonathan was testing to see if his dad actually wanted to kill David. And I remember in this conversation, we were going to that reference because we were speaking about somebody else who was causing issues and we were thinking, if that person was willing to do it to that person so close to them, what makes you think he's not willing to do it to so and so?
51:10 Do you see? You can apply these things in situations that you can't even imagine and it's so riveting when the Holy Spirit brings these things to mind. And what's the fruit of this? Conversing over the scriptures, speaking about the scriptures, mentioning the scriptures, it becomes the word the word becomes contagious. The word becomes contagious.
51:32 It just makes an impression on you to think that's amazing how you came to that arrival, that conclusion in the scripture. That's amazing how you're able to relate that to my life. And there's some people when they talk about the Bible, I I sit there and I'm listening and I go, I can't wait to go home and read my Bible. You know? And it's natural.
51:49 It's not forced. And none of this I hope is forced. Please don't force it because when you force it, it's artificial. I'm saying, let it be the overflow of your own life. Let it be the overflow of what you discover, but I wanna say that there's something so valuable, community speaking about the things of God that can bless you and bless others.
52:07 Here's a bonus thought, and then we'll open up for q and a before we end here. Have you ever come to a point where you even after this, it's possible that a week from now, you have zero motivation to read your Bible. And there are some days where you have more motivation than others. I've discovered something that has never failed. That's a big statement, isn't it?
52:29 And when I've offered it as advice to others, so far, it's a perfect track record. If you ever lack motivation to read for long periods of time, I'm not talking about a day or two, I'm talking about a week or two weeks, three weeks, maybe even a month. Your Bible's collecting dust. It's become your vacuum now. You don't know what to do with it.
52:45 It's you're ignoring it. This may shock you, but I would say, if you wanna read again, don't read. Memorize. Stop your reading and find a text to memorize. Saying, what?
53:02 What does that have to do with anything? So let me give you an example. If I'm going through Luke and I have you know, I made it through the first six chapters, but for whatever reason, I can't get past it. There's no compelling desire for me to continue in it. I would tell somebody, stop reading Luke for a second and look for a different passage of scripture that you think would be valuable to memorize and give yourself to memorizing that text, that chapter for the next two, three, four days, maybe even a week or two, and I wanted to see what's gonna happen to your heart.
53:29 So I would I would even recommend just memorize a psalm. Find a psalm short enough for you to memorize and see what will happen. You know what I found? When you memorize the scripture, when you when you really you take a different approach where you're now compounding the word in your heart and you're you're incorporating all your faculties to that one discipline, it it revives something in you. And now you're saying it out loud and you're writing it down, and there you can't get that much word in you without it affecting you to some point.
53:58 And then it kinda generates the energy for you to be able to return to the scriptures. There's nothing in my experience, and this is personal so you may disagree with me, that's fine. But I can't think apart from prayer, I can't think of something as energizing to my walk with Christ than memorizing scripture. And we find this principle in the scripture. I have hidden thy word in my heart that I may not sin against thee.
54:21 Right? And and we find that throughout where there is a call for us to know it, not just because I have a book in front of me, but because I'm carrying it with me in my bosom. And what that will do though when you bring it to that degree of of investment is that it kind of opens up wells that may have been clogged, and it just bursts forth. And now there's a drawn attraction to the scriptures again. I can't explain the mechanics of it necessarily in detail.
54:50 All I know is that when you get to the point of looking at verses and reciting them and saying them over and over again, it's empowering. And you quote it and you share it. It does something to you. And then it almost revives just your engagement with the scriptures overall. So I would say, if there's one emergency tool to use in your reading of scripture and you're studying a scripture where you find yourself, I'm in trouble.
55:14 I went to a one day conference. I got all these valuable thoughts, but why is my heart stale? Pause. Don't read anymore. Find a text to memorize.
55:23 Psalm one, Psalm 23, Psalm 11, Psalm whatever, any psalm. It can be a promise in the new title. It can be a benediction. It can be a doxology. And go over.
55:32 Write it on a piece of paper. If you have a whiteboard, write it on the whiteboard and just see what will happen. And if it doesn't work for you, email me. You'll be the first. And if it doesn't, maybe you're the first time.
55:41 I have to find a different strategy. But thus far, this is my go to. It's worked all these years. Brothers and sisters, we've come to the end of our one day bible study seminar. We have a little bit of time here, so I'd love to just answer any questions that you might have, any maybe insights or or thoughts that you'd like to incorporate.
56:08 I know there are some things I left out, but, again, if there are things that you felt like maybe why didn't you touch on that? All that I've showed you here are things that I employ on a weekly basis. And you may have additional tools that I'd love to learn about as well. Yes, brother. That's a good point.
57:12 I would say that if you do believe that the New Testament is indeed God's revelation, then if it does make a reference to a Psalm to say that this is Messianic, then you have to trust that. You'd be surprised, however, that if you look at rabbinic literature, how many rabbis throughout history affirm the same text that we would say are Messianic to be Messianic. So there's a consensus even among those who don't believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, that texts like Isaiah 53, Psalm chapter two, different parts that may seem a little ambiguous or veiled are in fact about Messiah. Testament gives us permission, because these are not just men making assumptions. These are men led by the Holy Spirit, who are, again, clarifying things that might have been mysterious according to Paul's old language.
57:59 So I would just say just trust what the New Testament has to say about those texts. If you see that there's a difference in wording, it's just because the New Testament authors are making a reference to the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, which came about two, three hundred years before the time of Christ. So there might be a wording difference. And I use that argument to actually, push up against the thought that there's only one reliable translation of the Bible. You know, the King James version is the only, Bible for us.
58:26 Any other translation is a perversion. And I remind you, do you realize that there is multiple translations in the disciples' days? Days? And they they went to the Septuagint to quote scripture. So you can't really use that argument for them because they weren't one translation only.
58:40 So I would just say rest on the the wonderful truth that God is guiding the New Testament authors to bring illumination to the old. Any other thoughts? Yes, Yona? It's a tough one for you. It's okay.
58:56 So I grew up in a house without a bible, without a new testament. I love that question. I I don't think I mean, it's a hard question. I'm sure maybe to some, but I think it's a very important question that we have to address. Story before.
59:31 When I was in Israel, we had some free time in the holy city, and I saw a group of young men just kind of, you know, hanging around by the street corner, and one of them had a Toronto Raptors jersey on. And I thought, interesting. A Canadian's here? Maybe he's not a Canadian, but I'm gonna assume that he is. And so people were doing their their own thing, and I approached them.
59:49 And, I said, hey. Are you Canadian? He goes, yeah. I am. And all their friends turned around, and they began to tell me how they were in Israel for a year to learn a Tanakh, like an intensive course for one year.
59:59 And in this moment, I thought, this is my chance. This is my chance. Right? I'm in Israel, and I get to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ. But then I realized they don't have the New Testament.
1:00:11 They have the Hebrew scriptures. We have the Hebrew scriptures, the same Hebrew scriptures. So right there and then, for the first time ever, I had to use the Hebrew scriptures alone to prove Jesus Christ was Messiah. And it was one of the most humbling and exciting experiences I've ever had in evangelism. How am I gonna talk about resurrection?
1:00:29 How am I gonna talk about atonement? How am I gonna talk about heaven and hell using the Hebrew scriptures alone? And leading that conversation, I believe the Lord used that in my life to impress it upon me to master the Old Testament and to see where I can find Christ in the Hebrew scriptures. We just had a a couple visiting our church last Friday, and, one of them was a messianic Jew from New York. And I asked him about his testimony of how he came to Christ, and he said, well, one of the starting points that got me thinking was when I used to go to synagogue, at one particular point, the the rabbi read Isaiah 52.
1:01:02 He skipped Isaiah 53, and he went to Isaiah chapter 54. And then he went home, and he asked his dad, hey, why did the rabbi skip over Isaiah 53? And this is what his dad said, honestly, because it's too similar to the description of Jesus Christ that the Christians believe in. That's true. It's true.
1:01:23 Right? It's known as the forbidden chapter. And so that began to spur him on to consider more, and then he came to Christ in college. So to answer your question, the the New Testament authors appeal continually to the scriptures to prove their gospel truths. And what scriptures did they have at the time?
1:01:39 Primarily the Old Testament. So if they can find according to first Corinthians 15, the truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus according to the scriptures as he tells the tells the Corinthians, then I should be able to find the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ in the Hebrew scriptures as well. I would say it begins there even. You need to go to the Old Testament. Because if you don't go to the Old Testament, then how do you understand the concept of atonement and, life being in the blood and and all these different facets?
1:02:03 So I would say it's totally possible, and I and I think it's the the job of the Gentile believers to show our fellow Jewish brethren that we have the Christ, of the Hebrew scriptures. Yeah. We're gonna have more conversations about that, I'm sure, later. Yes. That's a beautiful question.
1:02:44 It's by faith. Our justification is by faith and our sanctification is by faith according to Galatians chapter three. Every time I come to a new text, so I just finished Daniel, I'm going into Hosea again. I've heard Hosea many times. But every time I'm about to enter through the threshold of a new book, I prepare myself in excitement to say, I believe that God is gonna show me something new.
1:03:09 I believe that. I tell myself that. I pray about that. And sometimes the new is just something I've forgotten about and he reminds me of. Sometimes it's something maybe you've experienced this, especially if you underline your Bible.
1:03:19 You're there in a passage of scripture and this part is blue, then you skip over some and then it's red or whatever colors you use. And then this time around you're reading it and you're like, why didn't I highlight that part? Right? The Lord is illuminating things to you. So I would just say, there is no bottom to the ocean of the Bible.
1:03:35 You have to believe that, no matter how many times you have visited it. And I'll tell you this, even when I think personally that I I've got a firm grasp on a certain doctrine, God never fails to remind me, no, there's there's a there's a component of it that you totally missed. And then I hear and I go, how did I miss that? And so the way you combat that is you have faith that it's a never ending source of revelation. There is no bottom to that treasure chest of the Bible.
1:04:02 And as long as you have that in the forefront of your mind, it'll never be a dull moment. Maybe a couple more before we send you off here. Any other thoughts? Questions? Yes.
1:04:27 Two ways to go about it. Maybe you can be the pioneer for that. Right? So maybe with your friend group, you can introduce that kind of element to your relationships and hopefully it goes in that direction. And if it doesn't, then pray and ask the Lord for such friends.
1:04:44 Lord, bring people in my life that that feel this way about your word that we can sharpen one another, and you'll be amazed to know how the Lord will put people in your path. And I've seen it in my own life. So I would just say maybe maybe this is God challenging you to be that person to lead a group of friends or siblings to entertain those kind of conversations. That's a gift that he's willing to give. It's a great question.
1:05:11 Yes, Erica. Yeah. It's a great question. And you brought this up earlier, and I asked Erica to ask it publicly because I think it's a very important question. It is very possible for each of us to leave this place and to be kind of overstimulated.
1:06:00 And I'm telling you these tools here are, things that can be expounded on. You can imagine, and we can add more things. That's why I kept it as concise as possible. You would do exceptionally well if you apply these things. But two things to keep in mind.
1:06:14 One, be patient. Be patient with the process. And two, there are gonna be times where remember, here's the visual. It's a tool belt, and, for every project, you don't need every single tool. That would be sometimes unnecessary.
1:06:29 So not everything that you heard today has to be applied every single time you come to the scriptures. That would be overwhelming and maybe even discouraging. I would just say though, from time to time, pull those tools out to begin with and see where it takes you. But at the same time, there's also nothing wrong when it comes to reading. If we go back to tool number one, reading through the scripture doesn't mean you have to apply all the other following tools in order to do it well.
1:06:53 Sometimes reading the scripture just means that. Just read. Don't don't pull up the concordance and log on to Blue Letter Bible. You know, it's 07:00 in the morning whenever you wake up and sometimes it just looks like you having that cup of coffee with an open Bible and just letting the word wash over you. That's it.
1:07:11 And there's power in that. And there's there's a there's a there's a joy in that as well. And so one of the ways I do this personally, and I mentioned this to you earlier is, when I have I mean, I prepare at least two messages a week for Friday and for Sunday. And all the tools are coming out for those every single time. But I determined early on in ministry that I will never substitute my preparation for my personal reading of God's word.
1:07:37 And so what that looks like is before I do anything else, I'm opening this bible and the tool belt is to the side, and I'm just going through the word of God to just let the word minister to me directly. And sometimes things stand out and sometimes that they don't. But here's the thing, I don't remember what I ate last week. All I know is that I ate. I don't remember everything I read, but I know I ate.
1:07:58 Right? And so for example, I'm going I was telling you, I just entered into Hosea. I was reading Daniel earlier this week. And one of I mean, Daniel, you wanna talk about you you need tools for Daniel. Beast, horns, little horn, goat.
1:08:11 There's the goat again, but I don't think it applies. Ram. But then what I found with Daniel is a simple point. Gabriel visits him. He's so overcome by the vision.
1:08:22 He's so overcome by the manifestation more accurately. He faints. And all I read in that moment was, he was touched and strengthened. And then he confessed that he needed to be strengthened again, that he couldn't even lift himself So he was touched again, and he was brought to his feet. And we see this repetition where Daniel admits his weakness, and there's this impartation of strength.
1:08:43 And all I left with, this was on Tuesday morning. And I'm still riding on that truth today. That God is willing to provide more than one touch to strengthen us when we ask for it. He is not selfish in his empowering grace. I, like Daniel, can come to and say, Lord, I need more than one touch.
1:08:59 Thank you for the touch, but I still feel weak in the knees. My soul is tired. I'm over I'm just overwhelmed. Can you give me a fresh touch again? And what you find in that small little description, this interaction between Daniel and the angel is that the angel being the conduit of God is strengthening the servant every time you requested it.
1:09:16 Do you see that? I didn't have to, you know, pull out anything. It just stood out to me, ministered to me as tempting as it was to look at, okay, now let's get into this vision. Sometimes God's word just wants to minister to your heart. Not so that you can teach it, just so you can find some fresh strength.
1:09:32 Yeah. Great question. Be patient with yourself. This is, you know, you could present something like this and expect everybody to just get it. No.
1:09:42 This is years and years and years of observations, of mistakes, of learning,
1:10:50 Yeah. Because I've heard that.
1:10:51 Yeah. So what it means to meditate? I think it looks like you taking one element of what you read and to chew on it, mentally think over it, ask yourself questions like what, where, when, how, what does this mean? And if you don't arrive to a a a conclusion that that you're still meditating on it, I think it means talking about it with others. And it's interesting interesting in Psalm one, the word for meditate actually means to murmur in the Hebrew.
1:11:14 To mutter something. So it's not like even this internal thing. Psalm one speaks about, like you're whispering the law. And I think that conveys the idea of communicating it out loud and even to others. So I would say talk about it with others.
1:11:27 Some point, maybe explore what others have said about it. You're just doing more than just saying, I read it and I'm done. So engaging with it. Throughout the day, I mean, that doesn't mean that you can't think about anything else, but maybe when your headspace is is kind of at a default to revisit what you read. For me sometimes what meditation looks like is I read a passage, maybe I was rushed that morning, so I'm gonna read I'm gonna listen to that chapter as I drive to my meeting twenty minutes from now.
1:11:49 I'll just repeat it, listen to it over and over again. There are different ways of doing it, and I would just say, just engage with the text in different ways. That's what meditation is. It doesn't look like you're sitting in a certain way and just thinking about it and nothing else. It's much more practical and achievable than that.
1:12:04 One more brother, and then we're gonna close. Yes, Jonathan. Yeah. I think that's what you're alluding to, David. Right?
1:12:23 Like, how it relates to Yes. Yes. Yeah. When things seem a little bit more ambiguous or, irrelevant, I think we have to leave it to the New Testament authors to actually do that. I think we should refrain ourselves from trying to make something seem like it's saying something about Christ when it's not there.
1:12:48 So I would say, yeah, there are some portions of scripture where, like, if I read that on my own, I would not have arrived to that conclusion. And when those things happen, to just leave it to the authority of the apostles by the spirit to determine those conclusions. So, yeah. I I would say you're you're you're doing yourself a better service, erring on the side of caution than on exploration because, again, there are some things that just the New Testament says and we have to trust in that alone. Although we can dissect that to see how that applies to Christ more, I would just say as a general rule, be careful trying to force something.
1:13:24 Oh, Jesus was an that's a New Testament thing that clearly, is conveyed. But patterns that are and paradigms that are obvious in the New Testament to, identify what's in the old. We must be tired. Daniel, one more. Yeah.
1:13:44 Here you go. To my own experience in reading the scripture that's in in relation to your question. What I do, I make an effort to read the scripture daily and once a year from cover to cover. Why? I want first to know the scripture well.
1:14:02 I want to be familiar of every book of the scripture. So, yes, I go through the scripture once a year every year from from Genesis to Revelation. Now last year was an exception, by the way. I decided to read the New Testament four times. In Hebrew, in Arabic, it was in English.
1:14:22 So that was an exception. This year, I'm going back to the whole scripture, but I do something else. As I read the scripture, I highlight, and when there is something that I want to study more, I go back to it and study it. So I divide it into two, reading the scripture and studying deeper the scripture where I find prompted by the Holy Spirit to dig deeper. I can do that when I have time during the day or in the weekends, but daily in the morning, and then the first thing in the morning I do.
1:14:54 I have disciplined myself. I have taught myself that every day in the morning, the first thing is read the scripture, cup of coffee and a scripture, so I do three chapters. If it's, Psalms, it could be five, but make an effort to read the Holy Scripture once a year in additional to my deep study of the scripture. So this plus this.
1:15:18 Last warning. Pastor Mark mentioned this, and I I promise you I'll leave you after this. Be careful of AI. Chat GBT is not the Holy Spirit, and Chat GBT has quickly become a replacement for pastors and preparing their sermons. You can ask that thing to do amazing things, and to many it would be indiscernible.
1:15:43 But here's the thing I would say, why chat as remarkable as this technology is, I'm not against using AI, but what I would say is AI gets it wrong a lot, and I've caught it. On many occasions, I've tested AI, chat GBT, Grok, I don't know what the other ones out there are, but I've asked it questions, and sure enough, it it it makes it makes wrong references or wrong conclusions, and then I would correct it. And and you've probably seen it. It goes, yes. You're right.
1:16:10 Sorry. I didn't you know, and I thought I thought this is dangerous. If you're if you're this is good. Even if you're not a pastor, if you're if you're leading a bible study, if you're in charge of a youth group, if you're taking all your information from AI unchecked, and you're going up there then saying things that AI is getting wrong, you and I are gonna be held responsible for that. And so I would say refrain from it.
1:16:31 I think it's there are things that it can offer, but it's not perfect. So to just take it for what it gives you is malpractice. So be careful of that. Okay? Yes, Jim.
1:16:43 Sure. Beautiful. And realize that the quantity will catch up in time. I can't think of a better way to end everything with that thought. Seriously, I think that's go aim for quality not quantity.
1:17:23 Quality always trumps over quantity. And I can't wait to see how God's gonna use this time to bless every single one of you. And I wanna pray that God will use it. Let's do that together before we close. We do thank you, father, for this morning and afternoon that you've gathered brothers and sisters from across the world to be in this place.
1:17:47 And, lord, there's so many other things that we could have explored, but we believe that this session sufficed for today, in this moment of our journey with you. We pray for your great blessing upon those who have made great sacrifices to be here, that they would sense that this was not in vain and that you have equipped them and that you have encouraged them. Lord, we do help we do ask for your help to fulfill the great commission, to teach others what you have taught us, and that you would receive glory in all things. Protect us from the knowledge that puffs up. Oh, lord, please, we don't wanna become arrogant.
1:18:22 We don't wanna become the go to person that knows all these things. Lord, we wanna be humble servants who point people to Christ, who share the joy and excitement that we've experienced in you and take glee in others people experiencing it, not just experiencing it, but excelling in it far beyond us. So we do pray in this place that there will be wonderful, amazing, empowered teachers of God's word, disciple makers, evangelists that would go beyond what any minister in this house has ever been able to do. And we ask, Lord, that what happened here would multiply in our families, in our friend circles, in our churches. And we do pray for what we mentioned earlier.
1:19:06 Lord, sincerely, a revival of the Bible in our pulpits. Move the hearts of our pastors to stay faithful, those who are unfaithful, lord, to to sense your conviction, to get back to the book, and to give the people of god what the word of god says. Lord, we pray that you would go before us for the rest of this time and the rest of this weekend. And as we gather here tomorrow, many of us will be here tomorrow, we pray that you would speak loud and clear and that our amazement will only continue as we hear your voice through your word. In Jesus' name we pray.
1:19:37 Amen. The Lord be with you. Yes. Amen.
