back to indexBerean Community Church Wednesday Night Bible Study 2 Peter 1:16-21
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For those of you guys who are near the cafe bar, 00:08:17.220 |
We will start our Bible study in just about half a minute. 00:08:51.560 |
Would you all please join with me in a word of prayer, 00:09:06.840 |
you would continue to grant to us sufficient supply, energy 00:09:15.880 |
Lord, each week, we have our own troubles, burdens, worries, 00:09:22.240 |
But we pray, Father God, that you'd help us to depend on you 00:09:25.400 |
each step, each day, and cause us, Lord, to look to you. 00:09:29.400 |
Lord, we want to thank you for the opportunity to gather 00:09:36.280 |
And we pray, God, that our joined voices would, again, 00:10:30.280 |
There is a Redeemer, Jesus, God's own Son, precious Lamb 00:10:57.080 |
Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son, 00:11:10.080 |
and even your spirit's ill, the work on earth is done. 00:11:40.680 |
precious Lamb of God, Messiah, all for sinners slain. 00:11:54.120 |
Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son, 00:12:07.120 |
and even your spirit's ill, the work on earth is done. 00:12:21.960 |
When I stand, when I stand in glory, I will see his face. 00:12:34.440 |
There I'll serve my King forever in that holy place. 00:12:51.320 |
Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son, 00:13:04.120 |
and even your spirit's ill, the work on earth is done. 00:13:17.960 |
Thank you, O my Father, for giving us your Son, 00:13:30.960 |
and even your spirit's ill, the work on earth is done. 00:14:13.320 |
I'll be all else to Thee, save that Thou art. 00:16:40.760 |
I reach heaven's choice, O bright heaven's sun. 00:17:43.440 |
I want to just give a couple quick reminders. 00:17:46.200 |
So for all the sisters who signed up for the Sisters 00:17:51.280 |
the filmership is happening at 9 AM here at church. 00:17:58.080 |
So those of you guys who are in the cry room currently, 00:18:00.880 |
you can leave your tables there because they're 00:18:03.600 |
going to be using that during the event on the weekend. 00:18:06.720 |
Also for all the guys, the following week on the 15th, 00:18:09.560 |
we have our men's ministry event starting also at 9. 00:18:12.760 |
So please make sure you just carve out a little time 00:18:16.600 |
This Sunday will be the last call on that, OK? 00:18:22.120 |
we're having our members meeting and service fair. 00:18:31.320 |
mark it on the form so that we know where you're at, OK? 00:18:36.040 |
At this time, please go ahead and start your discussions. 01:00:55.660 |
>> Okay, if we can get back together in two minutes. 01:01:03.660 |
>> All the people in the room can come back out. 01:03:43.460 |
Dear God, we thank you for giving us as a church to come together and continue to study 01:03:54.180 |
I pray that you would help us to truly fix our eyes upon Christ through your word. 01:04:01.220 |
We ask that you would help us to glean from it what your intent is, that you give us understanding 01:04:07.220 |
in context, understanding of your heart and your spirit. 01:04:17.160 |
So this text actually has quite a few, even though it's only a few verses, there's quite 01:04:26.460 |
Hopefully you are able to cover some of it in your Bible study. 01:04:31.120 |
If you look at the text, I divided it up into what I think is a chiastic structure. 01:04:40.180 |
How many guys know what a chiastic structure is? 01:04:46.860 |
Hopefully you had some opportunity to talk about it. 01:04:48.980 |
A chiastic structure, like if you're writing, for those of you who don't know what it is, 01:04:53.860 |
most of us who grew up in the West, when you think of your key point, main point, you'll 01:04:59.460 |
usually find it either in the introduction or in the conclusion, right? 01:05:04.240 |
And then it'll tell you the story and then it'll say the moral of the story is this, 01:05:08.100 |
or it'll say, here's my point, here's my thesis, and this is how I'm going to back it up. 01:05:11.900 |
A chiastic structure, the main point is found right in the middle. 01:05:16.340 |
And so the way that they would argue a point is the first section would make a point and 01:05:22.700 |
then you would have the main point at the center and then it would reiterate the mirror 01:05:30.460 |
So this is kind of like, you see a lot of this, especially in the Old Testament, a lot 01:05:36.780 |
And then if you, the more you study the chiastic structure, you can understand why the chiastic 01:05:42.020 |
structure is so effective because it makes, it builds up to the point and then it gives 01:05:48.460 |
the second part of that point kind of builds backwards so that the emphasis on it actually 01:05:52.980 |
has an impact to me, has a greater impact because it's not just making, here's 0.1, 01:06:00.100 |
It says 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and this is the reason why. 01:06:03.640 |
And as a result of this 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and it mirrors the other in other words, right? 01:06:09.460 |
Remember the text that we looked at, a book that we looked at in the Old Testament that 01:06:13.980 |
the whole book was written in chiastic structure? 01:06:20.700 |
The whole book was written in a chiastic structure. 01:06:21.700 |
And remember what was at the center of the chiastic structure in Leviticus? 01:06:34.740 |
So everything led up to the Day of Atonement and everything kind of stems from the Day 01:06:39.860 |
So if you look at this chiastic structure, you may or may not agree, but I think the 01:06:43.540 |
points are pretty clear, or at least I think it is. 01:06:50.220 |
If you look at it, it starts by saying, "For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when 01:06:59.740 |
we made known to you the power in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 01:07:11.580 |
And then the other side of it is, "For no prophecy was made by an act of human will, 01:07:17.020 |
but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." 01:07:21.780 |
You see it kind of mirrors the opposite side? 01:07:24.100 |
And then he says, "But we were eyewitnesses of His majesty for when we received honor 01:07:29.500 |
and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the majestic glory." 01:07:37.220 |
Then he says, "But know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter 01:07:44.420 |
Do you see how he says, "We are eyewitnesses. 01:07:54.340 |
I need you to see it because I need you to agree with me that you see a chiastic structure 01:08:03.380 |
And then the other part, "This is my beloved Son, whom I am well pleased and we ourselves 01:08:09.820 |
heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the mountain." 01:08:13.540 |
So this is the actual utterance, right, that was revealed to them. 01:08:18.700 |
"A lamp shining in a dark place until day dawns and the morning star rises." 01:08:42.260 |
So it seems like to me it's written in a chiastic structure, which means verse 19 is the main 01:08:53.380 |
So if verse 19 is the main point, the main question in this text is, what does verse 01:09:01.500 |
I told you I was going to give some guidance last week and I forgot to post it. 01:09:12.100 |
If you don't see anything by Saturday, it means I forgot. 01:09:17.380 |
So somebody text me and email me and say, "Hey, you forgot." 01:09:21.820 |
So if 19 is the main thing, if you looked at verse 19, how many of you looked at verse 01:09:27.020 |
19 and compared it with other texts, other translations? 01:09:31.980 |
And if you did, did you notice any difference? 01:09:38.700 |
If you did your homework, right, you should have noticed the difference in the way that 01:09:45.060 |
So Pastor Peter Chung sends you the different translations of these texts and you should 01:09:48.860 |
have noticed the meaning of how it was translated in different translations says something completely 01:10:00.580 |
If you did look at it, you would have found this. 01:10:06.700 |
So in NASB it says, "So we have the prophetic word made more sure." 01:10:15.220 |
Meaning, what he said prior to this, which was the transfiguration, transfiguration made 01:10:26.340 |
If you read it, if you translate it this way. 01:10:28.340 |
Okay, I'm going to say it again so you guys can follow. 01:10:34.220 |
So if you translate it, "So we have the prophetic word made more sure." 01:10:48.540 |
And they said, "We heard this utterance and this utterance from God that confirmed for 01:10:52.580 |
us his identity has made the prophetic word more sure." 01:10:58.260 |
If you're looking at this for the first time today, it's going to be going over your head. 01:11:04.220 |
But if you wake up, I think you will be able to know why this is so important. 01:11:18.820 |
Somebody tell me the difference between NASV and ESV here. 01:12:31.140 |
I literally copied and pasted this from my program. 01:12:35.580 |
So maybe the ESV has an updated version and I have the old one. 01:12:43.680 |
Read that to me again, your false version, ESV. 01:13:12.100 |
Like I said, I just cut and pasted from my Bible program. 01:13:35.660 |
So what is the distinction between NASV and King James? 01:14:17.220 |
If the ESV translated, I'm going to have to go back and check on this because maybe there 01:14:26.980 |
Like I said, my Bible program, it just says ESV. 01:14:40.780 |
Anyway, let's pretend like this didn't happen. 01:14:47.020 |
If you look at the two different ways, okay, before it was three different ways, including 01:14:54.180 |
If you look at it, or sorry, two different ways, it says we have also, I'm reading the 01:14:59.460 |
King James, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. 01:15:02.620 |
It may mean that the prophecy is more sure than what? 01:15:10.880 |
If you read it this way, and we have something more sure. 01:15:13.880 |
If you read the, at least my version of the ESV, right? 01:15:18.740 |
Meaning that the word of God is more sure than the transfiguration. 01:15:24.460 |
If you read it this way, if you read it the other way, the transfiguration is making the 01:15:34.220 |
I need you to get it so I can make my other point. 01:15:37.580 |
If you don't get this, the other stuff's not going to make sense. 01:15:43.220 |
Well, there's nothing in the Greek that you're going to look at and say, well, the grammar 01:15:47.280 |
And there's a reason why it was translated different because the word, let me go back 01:15:55.660 |
The word for greed made more sure is a comparative word. 01:16:00.160 |
So if you were to translate it literally, this is what it would sound like. 01:16:10.860 |
And that's the only thing that exists in the Greek. 01:16:12.660 |
But the reason why the NASB and all the other translation, and maybe the updated ESV version, 01:16:18.340 |
maybe translated this way is because it doesn't necessarily fit the context of what Peter 01:16:25.460 |
That he's saying that he has this transfiguration and then he says that he's not discouraging 01:16:33.040 |
He's basically telling them to add to, to bolster up the word of God. 01:16:39.380 |
So if we go back here, the word of God, that however you view it, the agreement is the 01:16:46.620 |
Whether you translate it to NASB or the King James version, the meaning is the same. 01:16:51.140 |
The meaning is that the vision confirmed the word of God and not the word confirming the 01:16:58.980 |
The order of this is that the word of God is central. 01:17:02.780 |
So he, the only reason why he even mentions the transfiguration is to get to the word 01:17:08.780 |
However you translate it, the word of God is central. 01:17:11.900 |
The conclusion of the encouragement is to pay attention to the word of God and not to 01:17:19.020 |
He's not saying don't pursue vision, but the conclusion of this isn't because we saw the 01:17:24.580 |
transfiguration that you guys should have this personal experience of this transfiguration 01:17:31.380 |
He said we have this transfiguration to confirm, right, even more the word of God. 01:17:37.360 |
So and then he concludes it, the second part of it is therefore pay much closer attention 01:17:44.300 |
And then it doesn't nullify or prohibit your experience, but it must not contradict or 01:17:49.700 |
detract from God's word because the word of God is central. 01:18:05.740 |
My Bible program is very old, so maybe there is an updated version. 01:18:32.500 |
But I don't understand why in my Bible program, the only ESV they have is the anglican version. 01:18:47.060 |
All the more why we need to pay close attention to the word of God. 01:18:55.220 |
So again, these type of things, like while you, if you're taking a closer look at the 01:18:59.660 |
text, can you see how, maybe not in this text, can you see how if you're looking at the text 01:19:05.020 |
and one person looks at one way, another person looks at another way, why they can, two people 01:19:11.580 |
And you say, the word of God, I'm sure the word of God says this. 01:19:14.540 |
It's because the translation sounds a bit different. 01:19:18.260 |
And that's why we need to take a closer look and then to see what's actually going on. 01:19:24.540 |
And so when you actually see what's going on, they might, there might not be a slam 01:19:28.380 |
dunk conclusion, but you can decipher and filter to see how much of this is someone's 01:19:33.940 |
opinion and how much is, is a direct quote from the Bible. 01:19:39.060 |
So you think about it, like how much of the things that you are taught on a day to day 01:19:42.340 |
basis is somebody who looked at it and interpreted a certain way, but because they're presenting 01:19:47.700 |
you as the word of God, you're looking at it and say, Oh, that's what the Bible says, 01:19:53.260 |
But there's something going on in, in the text that when you look at the different translations, 01:19:57.700 |
you know that even the scholars had some disagreement of how this should sound. 01:20:03.420 |
That's why inductive Bible study is important. 01:20:08.020 |
So the central point here, right, is a prophetic word made more sure, meaning pay attention 01:20:15.900 |
The word of God is central, not your experience, right? 01:20:19.660 |
Not how you feel, not your own interpretation, not your denomination, but what does the word 01:20:27.580 |
Make sure that your faith and your life is founded upon clear teaching of the word of 01:20:35.580 |
Not, not your church, not your nomination, not some pastor that you like, but what does 01:20:42.180 |
So having said that, how does he make his argument? 01:20:53.040 |
If you remember, if you did cross-referencing, right, how often does it come out where Apostle 01:20:58.700 |
Paul and the apostles, they're saying like, "Oh, this is a myth." 01:21:02.820 |
And he cautions Timothy, like, "Don't follow, you know, don't give in to endless genealogies." 01:21:08.260 |
So one, one of the ways that they were trying to nullify the gospel is saying, "Oh, that's, 01:21:15.420 |
And today, even today, people are saying that about the Bible. 01:21:19.940 |
All just human beings, they say that Jesus wasn't real. 01:21:21.740 |
They say all of this stuff, even though there's historical evidence. 01:21:26.060 |
But especially in the early church, think about how strange this must have sounded. 01:21:32.420 |
That the son of God took on human form and died for you, and if you believe in him, you'll 01:21:41.620 |
And if you grew up in the church, it doesn't sound crazy to you, but think about it from, 01:21:44.980 |
from 2000 years ago, where they're all polytheists. 01:21:49.220 |
They believe in all kinds of God, and all of a sudden, just the fact that you're saying 01:21:55.460 |
But on top of that, think carefully about what this means. 01:21:59.860 |
And so he's saying, "We didn't follow cleverly devised tales." 01:22:03.380 |
And then the version of that is, "No prophecy." 01:22:31.460 |
Because when we typically think about the gospel, we think about the love of Christ. 01:22:35.100 |
But he says, "We made known to you the power of Christ." 01:22:40.140 |
Remember we talked about what is power associated with in the Bible? 01:22:58.780 |
Now, do you see the chiastic structure a little bit better? 01:23:04.700 |
He's kind of making a mirror argument here that it wasn't cleverly devised tales when 01:23:14.100 |
It wasn't by human will, but by the Holy Spirit. 01:23:17.660 |
He said, "But we were eyewitnesses of his majesty for when we received honor and glory, 01:23:22.660 |
when he received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was 01:23:29.180 |
You notice how he mentions how Jesus' majesty. 01:23:38.260 |
So Peter is equating, at least in verbiage, Jesus with God. 01:23:44.780 |
And he says, "But know this, that first of all, no prophecy of Scripture is a matter 01:23:56.060 |
"We didn't, this was not by our own interpretation." 01:24:00.340 |
Then lastly, he said, "My beloved son, whom I am well pleased, and we ourselves heard 01:24:06.380 |
the utterance made known from heaven, and we were with him on the holy mountain." 01:24:11.580 |
And so basically, this is what his eyes were opened. 01:24:29.900 |
Was it before the transfiguration or after the transfiguration? 01:24:38.300 |
The confession happens before the transfiguration. 01:24:40.820 |
So Peter, when he was asked, "Who do men say that I am?" 01:24:43.900 |
He said, "Well, some say you're Elijah, some say you're the prophet." 01:24:59.420 |
And this was what God said to, remember in last sermon, right? 01:25:05.060 |
At baptism when he came up, the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus and rests on him like 01:25:09.260 |
a dove and God opens up heaven and says, "You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." 01:25:17.140 |
So this was not the first time, but he says this for what purpose? 01:25:29.460 |
"A lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your 01:25:41.860 |
So you see a clear, to me, there seems to be a clear chaotic structure that Peter must 01:25:46.540 |
have been thinking this in order to get to this point. 01:25:51.020 |
To pay much closer attention to the word of God. 01:25:56.220 |
So the central point of what he is trying to tell us is do not stray from his word. 01:26:04.260 |
It doesn't mean your experiences don't count, but your experiences have to be tested by 01:26:11.060 |
If sometimes your feelings are going to take you away, sometimes your own convictions are 01:26:15.420 |
going to take you away, sometimes your own prejudices, your paradigm, certain things 01:26:21.980 |
And sometimes simply because it's inconvenient. 01:26:25.060 |
And so instead of judging, allowing the word of God to judge you and change you, what ends 01:26:41.740 |
So one thing I want to point out here, he says in verse 20, before I move on, but know 01:26:48.620 |
first of all that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. 01:26:55.140 |
Know first of all, you notice how he emphasizes first of all, above everything else, that 01:26:59.140 |
you need to know that scripture is not man-made. 01:27:07.940 |
So if you are not confident about the word of God being the word of God, what ends up 01:27:15.840 |
How does that, how is that fleshed out in your walk with God? 01:27:22.920 |
How will it change your approach, your attitude, your application of the word of God, if your 01:27:27.840 |
conviction of this being the word of God is not sure? 01:27:39.800 |
Because he says first of all, before anything else, you have to be convinced that this is 01:27:48.360 |
Because if you're not convinced this is God's word, what are we doing today? 01:28:14.800 |
No, it's not going to change you because your real reason you're here is not to hear the 01:28:24.620 |
It just happens you are among friends who are studying the word of God. 01:28:29.800 |
But that's not your main reason why you're here. 01:28:33.360 |
If you're not convinced this is the word of God. 01:28:37.420 |
Anything that the Bible says is inconvenient, says your life, you're not going to take it 01:28:44.640 |
Because it doesn't come to you with authority. 01:28:50.480 |
It's to kind of give you some boundaries of what you should and should not do, or maybe 01:28:54.920 |
to kind of fit into the social group that you're in. 01:28:57.400 |
But it doesn't speak to you like God says this. 01:29:02.840 |
It won't come to you with that kind of authority. 01:29:04.960 |
So you'll end up picking and choosing what you think is beneficial in your life, and 01:29:09.280 |
whatever you think isn't going to be beneficial, you just, you're not going to say, "I reject 01:29:15.200 |
it," because rejecting the word of God publicly means you're going to reject the community 01:29:23.880 |
So therefore, you kind of study the word of God, go through the motions, right? 01:29:31.020 |
But it doesn't have the kind of impact that it should. 01:29:40.840 |
Imagine if God, these were actually the words of God to you personally. 01:29:49.720 |
Every time Paul writes a letter, he said, "I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ." 01:29:57.040 |
Not apostle, not cleverly devised interpretation, not from the will of man, but God is speaking. 01:30:05.040 |
So you and I do not get to choose, "I like this and I don't like this." 01:30:11.280 |
If the Bible says women shouldn't preach, we don't stand there and say, "That doesn't 01:30:29.680 |
Is that what we're actually supposed to apply? 01:30:31.880 |
But you can't, by your prejudice, say, "I choose not to accept that." 01:30:37.880 |
If this is God speaking, you don't come to God and say, "You know what I mean? 01:30:41.440 |
I know you made me, but I don't know if I agree with this." 01:30:45.440 |
If he's the creator and he said it, it comes with authority. 01:30:49.560 |
So the application question is a different question. 01:30:59.140 |
We don't get to come to the word of God and say, "I'm not sure. 01:31:09.200 |
That's why he says, "No first of all, that this prophecy is not a matter of one's own 01:31:19.360 |
This was not a bunch of people got together who put wise words together. 01:31:23.440 |
But men moved by the Holy Spirit, by the power of God, spoke from God." 01:31:30.680 |
His main point is he's telling, as Apostle Paul, Peter is facing death, all kinds of challenges 01:31:38.740 |
are coming into the church, persecution, and even the cost of their life. 01:31:49.000 |
He said, "Remember justification by grace, sanctification by grace, glorification by 01:31:55.840 |
"Live your life to pursue holiness, love, sanctification. 01:32:01.640 |
And as you're pursuing sanctification, God will supply everything that you need," right? 01:32:06.280 |
"In your journey to glorification in heaven." 01:32:09.320 |
And then now he says, "I've heard all of these things and it makes the word of God even that 01:32:15.920 |
Because everything that we've seen and experienced, it points to the word of God being the word 01:32:22.000 |
Not man's words, not something that we created, not just some fancy history, but this is the 01:32:29.340 |
And because this is the word of God, he said, "Pay very close attention to it. 01:32:36.640 |
This is not just some random letter that you're getting. 01:32:39.720 |
This is a matter of life and death until a lamp shining in the dark places, not just 01:32:48.080 |
The things that you've allowed darkness into your heart, into your thinking, into your 01:32:55.000 |
Until the lamp shining in the dark place, until the day dawns, until you see the truth 01:32:59.680 |
and the morning star rises in your own heart, until the word of God changes you. 01:33:05.480 |
And you begin to see the truth as God says it, because this is not made up. 01:33:15.240 |
You're not studying this like you're studying at school. 01:33:33.680 |
Does your experiences, do your experiences in life confirm the word of God more, or do 01:33:39.240 |
you have a hard time reconciling the word with your life? 01:33:48.000 |
Has some of you guys been Christians for a long time? 01:33:49.960 |
Some of you guys have been Christians for a short period of time, but have you seen 01:33:54.760 |
the word of God confirming it to be true in your life? 01:34:02.080 |
Or you're studying these things and then you're living life and it doesn't seem to be true. 01:34:09.160 |
What has your experience said about the word of God? 01:34:12.920 |
How has the word of God caused you to have a complete paradigm shift of something about 01:34:16.120 |
God yourself and the world and et cetera, right? 01:34:20.320 |
If you've been a Christian for any period of time and you've never had any paradigm 01:34:24.800 |
shift of any kind, it probably means you're not either studying the word of God or the 01:34:31.280 |
word of God is having no effect on you, right? 01:34:35.540 |
Number three, what gives you the confidence that God's word is God's word and that it's 01:34:40.220 |
If somebody challenged you about that, well, you say this is the word of God. 01:34:43.900 |
I mean, I heard that it was, you know, the church put it together, right? 01:34:48.260 |
You probably heard some professor somewhere or maybe some atheist or somebody tell you 01:34:53.540 |
that the church just kind of gathered these books together and they stamped it, right? 01:35:02.180 |
Why are you, why do you keep quoting the word of God? 01:35:05.020 |
It's just, it's just a bunch of people who are flawed put it together. 01:35:08.660 |
What makes you so confident this is God's word, right? 01:35:12.340 |
Because until you're convicted that this is the word of God, you're not standing on solid 01:35:20.340 |
When temptation comes, struggle comes, and when persecution comes and it's going to cost 01:35:25.180 |
something for you to stand with Christ, what's going to cause you to say, even if I die, 01:35:34.180 |
But if that's not the case, when your faith starts to cost something, you're not going 01:35:40.820 |
to be able to withstand the test if your conviction doesn't come from here. 01:35:45.420 |
So what, what gives you this confidence, right? 01:35:48.740 |
Now there's probably going to be different degrees of confidence. 01:35:51.460 |
Some of you guys are absolutely convinced for various reasons, right? 01:35:54.940 |
Some of you guys may have, may have conviction, but maybe you can't articulate it. 01:35:59.400 |
But again, maybe in your small group, you can take some time to, to hear, right? 01:36:04.060 |
Sometimes hearing other people's convictions will help you with yours. 01:36:08.100 |
And number four is a practical application question. 01:36:10.020 |
In what way can you better commit to pay closer attention to God's word on a daily basis? 01:36:16.420 |
So as I conclude, before I pray and let you guys go into your group, again, this was a 01:36:20.780 |
struggle that I had early on in my Christian faith because I started running into Jehovah 01:36:25.700 |
Witnesses and Catholics and, and I started to, even though I was already a Christian, 01:36:30.220 |
I started asking myself, how can I be certain that the Jehovah Witnesses Bible isn't true? 01:36:35.900 |
How can I be certain if the Mormons were not true? 01:36:38.180 |
And so as I was wrestling with this, the conclusion that I came to is, is the reliability of the 01:36:47.460 |
How can I be certain that what it says is true? 01:36:49.980 |
So that's why back in college I took, you know, Buddhism, you know, anytime I had an 01:36:55.940 |
opportunity to ask questions and to study on different religions, I did. 01:37:00.860 |
And the end conclusion that I came to was that all the other religions, again, you know, 01:37:07.500 |
if there's more time I will go into detail, but all the other religions, you have to try 01:37:15.100 |
I mean, you have leaders who went to jail, who are, you know, caught in besiegment, they 01:37:22.220 |
I mean, all kinds of stuff and all, and usually it's just one guy came out of the woods and 01:37:28.620 |
He just happened to be a very gifted, charismatic guy, but his background is so shady, right? 01:37:34.060 |
Even Buddhism, right off the bat, if you study Buddhism, you go back to Gautama, the last 01:37:39.380 |
Buddha that they say they had, all the disciples say something completely different, right 01:37:45.140 |
They don't have a central teaching thing that started from the beginning. 01:37:48.180 |
So that's why if you, if you look at Buddhism in Thailand, Buddhism in China, Buddhism in 01:37:51.860 |
Japan, they all sound very different because right off the bat. 01:37:55.420 |
So anyway, I took plenty of time to go and study all of this stuff and the end conclusion 01:37:59.100 |
was word of God, even if you're not a Christian, you end up with a lot of questions. 01:38:10.660 |
How come, how come there's, the things in here are so accurate? 01:38:14.940 |
Why a bunch of people who are trying to tell lies from the beginning, why do they give 01:38:19.140 |
their life, all of them telling the same lie? 01:38:28.380 |
Everybody went to jail, got beheaded, crucified upside down if they were telling a lie, right? 01:38:38.140 |
How come if they're telling a lie that every other historical fact, archeology is written 01:38:43.700 |
I mean, it just piles up one after another and the end conclusion is even if you're not 01:38:48.180 |
a Christian, you come out thinking this is not an ordinary book, right? 01:38:53.300 |
Obviously as Christians, there's reasons why there's so much evidence because this is true, 01:38:58.780 |
Again, all of this is, that's the journey that I took but at the end of the day, all 01:39:05.580 |
The real evidence is in the word of God itself, right? 01:39:08.760 |
I can tell you about God but until you meet God, it's just my testimony, right? 01:39:14.300 |
And so because the text is driving us to the word of God, the end conclusion is where do 01:39:25.760 |
I know most of you guys are members of this church and superficially, you may say, "I believe 01:39:35.200 |
Do you actually read it, study it and apply it like God is speaking to you? 01:39:45.680 |
Gracious Father, we pray that you would bless this time, bless our discussion. 01:39:53.320 |
Help us to be honest with our struggles, with our doubts so that we would have opportunities, 01:40:01.600 |
Help us, Lord, not to simply present ourselves to be godly but that we would be seekers of 01:40:08.640 |
Whether we are young in our faith or whether we have been walking for a long time, I pray 01:40:13.080 |
that you would reconvict us of these truths that we may be lovers of you and lovers of 01:40:21.120 |
we're going to do a little bit more stretching.