Turn to our first hymn, 147, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms, 147, 147, Leaning on the
Yes, if there's what a piece is mine.
Weeping on the everlasting arms.
Weeping, weeping.
Staying friends to shore from all alarms.
Weeping, weeping.
Weeping on the everlasting arms.
What's up here?
Heavenly Father we thank you just again for this day. Lord I just thank you for
leading us to those that accepted salvation today that you'd be with those
that accepted your word and also with those that heard and received the word
hopefully that it that would be a good seed planted that could be watered in
the future. I pray that you would just continue to be with us with our church
and with the service that everything would be done decently and in order.
These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Alright for our next hymn this
I will praise him.
One hundred sixty-six, one six six, I will praise him.
One hundred sixty-six starting there on the first.
When I saw the fencing fountain
explain. Give him glory, all the people, for his blood can wash away the each thing.
Though the waist seems great and narrow, all our things were stepped away.
Watch out, baby.
and Usher will bring you one.
On the front is our Bible memory passage of the week,
Galatians chapter number one, verse 11.
On the inside, you'll see our service times
listed there, Sunday morning at 10.30,
Sunday evening at 4.30,
and our Wednesday evening Bible study at seven.
Below that are our soul winning times listed there,
as well as our nursing home ministry schedule.
Below that is our year to date statistics and praise the Lord we had five salvations today
So great job out soul winning this afternoon on the right is our list of expecting ladies
Please be in prayer for Mrs. Reed as that dates getting really close for them upcoming events April 13th
We'll have another men's preaching night for the PM service followed by a church potluck
April 19th is our Easter soul winning marathon in Oklahoma City
That's going to be in the southeast area of town that we're going to go to there
May 16th through the 18th is the King James Conference at Sher Foundation Baptist Church
in Vancouver, Washington.
May 31st is the Durant Oklahoma Soul Winning Marathon.
And we're gonna be teaming up with steadfast Baptist church for that and we should have a ton of
Labors for that because you know praise the Lord our sending church steadfast Baptist church
Broke their attendance record today, and I don't remember the exact number, but I know it was in the 270s
So praise the Lord for that. I know there was a couple of families that moved there today
I believe so yeah praise Lord their church is doing really really well
So we should expect to have a lot of labors for Durant and we are looking forward to it for sure
June 28th. That's a Saturday. We're gonna be going to the Tinker air show
Just as a fellowship event and then the next day on Sunday brother Ben naeem from steadfast
We'll be preaching both services for us. So we're excited to have him brother Ben is a great preacher
You know, he's not ordained or anything like that, but he preaches better than a lot of pastors in this country
So you won't be missing out on Sunday. He's gonna be bringing all he has. I know that for sure
August 27th through 31st is Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship in Texas, and October 6th through the 11th is the Bahamas Mission Trip.
Make sure if you want to go to that that you get your passports and you know there's new rules with like the real ID if you want to fly.
So make sure that your IDs are up to date, passports, all that stuff, and then once you have your flights purchased, send that itinerary to Steadfast Baptist Church so they can make sure that they're getting all the logistics planned for that mission's trip.
If you'd like to give online to our church, there is a QR code there or you could give
by check in person.
Another thing I just wanted to mention is I'm aware of the issue with the hot water.
Last week I called maintenance and we're getting a plumber to replace that hot water heater.
So Lord willing by Wednesday or next weekend that should be 100% fixed and good to go.
There is a prayer list there on the back.
email me there's a QR code for first time visitors and you could even scan it just to
check it out what it looks like for them but just ask for some basic information from them so we
could keep up to date with them. Below that I talked about our SWAT team our new soul winning
action team that we're doing and even this afternoon we sent a group back to that same
apartment complex I was telling you about this morning and praise the lord we did get another
and we're not done yet there's still another building there so like I said
this morning it can kind of push people two directions tragedy could make them
hardened can make them receptive but I think that the sooner we go the better
of a chance we could catch them when their heart is not hardened so we
definitely want to keep that going and you know if you hear about something
throughout town that happens feel free to message me we can consider sending
teams there I don't know if you realize but one of the places that we were soul
When it was really cold the apartment complex just across the street from here one of the units burned down completely
and so like stuff like that when it happens we can go and talk to the neighbors there
and it's kind of a way to bring up the gospel that's very relevant to them you could be like
hey you know you heard what happened to your neighbors you never know when your last day is
are you 100 sure and it might give a chance for them to want to listen so I had someone
tell me this morning that they saw the SWAT team insignia and was like what's going on no no we're
not buying any land in Waco we're not getting any grenades or anything like that we're sending
That's it for announcements.
We'll go ahead and go to our third song.
All right, our third hymn this evening, 173,
Love Lifted Me.
173, Love Lifted Me.
173 there on the first I was sinking deep and sin far from the peaceful shore very deeply stained
within sinking to rise no more but the master of the sea her might is nearing cry from the waters
Love lifted me, love lifted me When nothing else could out, love lifted me, love lifted me Love lifted me, love lifted me When nothing else could out, love lifted me
clean. In his blessed presence live ever his praise and sing. Love's so high, he
and so true. Married by soul's best songs. Faithful, loving service do to him be.
As the offering plates are being passed, turn if you would to 2 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 2.
Good evening 2nd Timothy 2 the Bible reads
Thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that thou has heard of me among many
Witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also
Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ
No man that war with entanglement himself with the affairs of this life
that he may please him who have chosen him to be a soldier.
If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully. The husband men that laboreth
must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say,
and the Lord give the understanding in all things.
Remember that Jesus Christ of the seat of David was raised from the dead
As an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.
Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation
which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with
If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He will also deny us.
If we believe not, yet He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself.
Of these things, put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord,
that they strive not about words to no prophet, but to the subverting of the hearers.
study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings,
for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as
doth a canker of whom is Hymenaeus and Phyletus, who concerning the truth have
aired, saying that the resurrection is past already and overthrow the faith of
some.
Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, and having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his, and let every one that nameeth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
But in a great house, there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and
of earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
If a man therefore purged himself of these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
Flea also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the name of the Lord out of a pure heart.
but be gentle unto all men apt to teach, patient, and meekness, instructing those that oppose
themselves if God per adventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth
and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by him
at his will." That's about our heads for prayer, Father in Heaven. Thank you for this day and we
Our church, the souls that were saved out today.
And we ask that you look over the families in here
that you help us apply this image to your lives
and that you fill our past with the Holy Spirit
and use it in the prayer.
Amen.
Amen, all right.
Well, second Timothy chapter two.
The Bible says in verse number 15,
study to show thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
So we have a commandment in the Bible
that we are to study to show ourselves approved unto God.
And we do that by studying the Bible
and showing ourselves a workman rightly dividing
the word of truth.
And the title of my sermon this evening
is How to Understand the Bible.
how to understand the Bible.
It's kind of the theme of this Sunday.
We're talking a lot about the Bible itself,
but recently I've been trying to make some more content
for our church, make some reels,
and trying to engage people out there
that have different beliefs than us,
and especially during Lent as it's known in Catholicism,
I've been trying to do my best
to expose that false religion for what it is.
And in doing so, I've been reminded of how true it is
that most people don't understand the Bible.
and that the world doesn't understand it, false religions don't understand it,
and I thought it'd be a good reminder for us to just remind us, remember,
how it is that we understand the Bible. So, I have some six principles this evening to help us
understand the Bible. If you would first go to 1 Corinthians chapter number two. 1 Corinthians chapter
And my first point this evening on how to understand the Bible is get saved.
Number one, get saved.
And, you know, in making these videos about Catholicism,
I did have at one point a Catholic that I was kind of going back and forth with,
and I was just thinking like, hey, if it drives engagement and views to our, you know, channel, no big deal.
You know, obviously I know that this person needs the Gospel and I tried to point them to that.
But in doing that, I mentioned...
about getting saved and the idea of salvation.
And this Catholic respond to me,
he says, what do you mean, get saved?
And it's just like, wow, like we're not even at step one here.
You don't even know what it means to get saved.
No wonder you don't understand the Bible.
No wonder you can't understand these videos that I'm making
where I'm just showing clear scripture.
You need to get saved before you understand the Bible.
Now, where am I coming up with this?
First Corinthians 2 verse 11.
The Bible says,
Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.
It's like, how is it that we as human beings are able to communicate with each other and
understand each other?
It's because we're both human beings, right?
We have the Spirit of man that enables us to communicate.
Well, when it comes to the things of God, it's saying in the same way, even so, the things
of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.
So to know the things of God, to understand the word of God, you must have the Spirit of God.
It's not optional, it is a necessity to understand the Bible, you have to have the Spirit of God.
It says in verse 12,
Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God,
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the holy ghost teacheth,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Verse 14,
But the natural man, that's just your regular unsaved guy, the natural man,
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him.
Notice this next phrase, neither can he know them.
because they are spiritually discerned.
Just like it would be literally impossible
for me to try to have a conversation with a horse.
You know, like, I'm just going to speak to a horse and this horse is going to understand me
and the horse is going to neigh and I'm going to understand it back. That's not possible.
It's just not going to happen, right? It's the same thing with the carnal man,
the unsaved man. He is not going to be able to understand the Bible because it is a spiritual
book and the words of God are discerned spiritually. We have to have that same spirit of God
in order to understand these things. Now, obviously, we don't want to take this so far to think that
someone can't read the Bible and glean some general truth from it. Of course they can.
Of course they could learn about how Noah built an ark. It's just a carnal truth that you could
read. It doesn't take any spirituality to discern that. You could learn how that God is the creator
of the world, right? But when it comes to deep spiritual truths, those things require you to be
saved and require you to have the Spirit of God. Go to Ephesians chapter number one, Ephesians
And the Bible explains to us how we get the Spirit of God.
Because again, to someone who's unsaved, this would all be new to them.
I mean, just like, what do you mean salvation?
What do you mean spiritually discerned?
What do you mean Spirit of God?
What do you mean getting the Spirit of God?
You know, we get these things from the Bible.
Verse 13 says,
After that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that holy spirit of promise.
So notice, after you hear the gospel and decide to put your trust in the gospel,
which the Bible uses the word trust and believe interchangeably,
that's what it means to believe in Jesus, it means that you trust
that his death, his burial, his resurrection
is the only thing taking you to heaven.
Not your own works, not going to church or anything like that.
Once you've put your trust in him,
then God seals us with the Holy Spirit of promise.
And so now after that happens,
after we've trusted in Christ,
we now have the Spirit of God.
And so now by having the Spirit of God,
we're able to discern spiritual things.
Now you actually have the ability to read the Bible.
and glean deep truths, and study these things, and understand the scripture.
Now, when you get saved, a light bulb doesn't go off and you just automatically are just
imported with all this knowledge, that's not how it works, but now you have the ability to learn.
Now you can open the Word of God, and now rivers of water are going to be flowing.
Now you're really going to have things clicking because you have that Spirit of God.
You know, by the way, this idea that people could just read the Bible and get saved is ridiculous.
because salvation is a spiritual transaction.
And you know, you cannot just get this deep spiritual truth
by just reading the Word of God.
It has to be preached by another spirit-filled person, okay?
Salvation is from faith to faith.
Romans chapter one, verse 16, teaches.
So where do we end off 13? Let's look at verse number 14 says which is the Holy Spirit which is the earnest of
our inheritance
until the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the praise of his glory. So God gives us the indwelling of
and the ceiling of the Holy Spirit as like an earnest payment because when we get saved we still have our carnal flesh.
We have the new man, you know, we have the spirit of God, but nothing has changed about our bodies.
But you know, the Bible does teach that someday all of God's people are going to be resurrected
and that God is going to give us a new glorified body. And so God showing us that he's serious
about this transaction has given us like an earnest payment like you would do when you buy a house.
You pay like $2,000 to where that you're saying I'm serious about going through with this.
you lose the two thousand dollars but if you follow through then that goes towards
whatever the cost of the house right. So this earnest payment God gives us this Holy Spirit
ceiling to show that he's serious about redeeming us and someday he's going to fully redeem us
by our bodies being new right. We have spiritual salvation right now but someday it's going to
be spiritual and physical. We're going to have a new body and so God gives us that Holy Spirit and
Acts chapter number 8, and I'm going to read for you John chapter 14 verse 26, Jesus said,
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things.
You know, this is where there's a huge divide between biblical Christianity and Catholicism.
And let me tell you why there's this big divide is because Christians are saved and Catholics are not.
So because we're saved, we have the Holy Spirit of God.
And Jesus said that the comforter, when he comes, he's going to teach us all things.
And so when we're reading the Bible, the God himself, the Holy Spirit himself is teaching
us and showing us things from the scripture.
But Catholics, because they're not saved, they don't have this.
What they teach is that there has to be a human authority to define to you what the
Bible says.
Catholicism, this has been one of the biggest things in Catholicism for thousands and thousands
of years and it's no different today is that they don't trust people to interpret the Bible,
to read and study the Bible and here's the thing, they themselves are not saved so I understand
why they think that. But they're like okay we need prose, we need the Catholic clergy,
we need the cardinals and the pope and the bishop and all these people to tell you what
Here's where they're right.
The Catholic prisoner who's unsaved
is not gonna be able to understand the Bible,
but neither is the Pope, neither is the Bishop,
neither is the Cardinal, because neither of them are saved.
But here's the difference with biblical Christianity.
And here's the thing, I have no motivation to tell you this,
because if anything, this truth could kind of be harmful
to a pastor or to a church,
but I'm just gonna be honest with you,
you do not need me.
You do not you do not need a preacher to teach you the word of God. You really don't now
Here's the thing God gave it to us
He wants us to have it and I believe that preachers can help people go
Faster in their growth and can kind of accelerate and show things that they weren't thinking of I am not down on church folks
I wouldn't be a pastor if I was down on church, okay?
But what I'm telling you is that any truth that I present from the word of God
You did not need me to tell you that because you could have opened the Bible and gotten it on your own
how? Because the Holy Spirit is there to teach you. And this is where Catholics are just like,
their mind is blown. And I'm just saying like, I'm a pastor and I'm telling you, you don't need me.
Because Jesus said that the Holy Spirit can teach you all things. We don't need an official church
council to say, you know, this is what this Bible verse says and you can ever change it. No, we need
to just go with what the Bible says, what the Holy Ghost teaches us. And they like to play semantics
Well, you know, Catholics weren't really against the translation of the word of God into English,
they were just against the unauthorized translation of the word of God into English.
Translation, Catholics wanted to keep all the power,
they wanted to keep the word of God away from their parishioners,
and so they're like, oh, we can only translate the Bible within the church itself.
Why? Because they want to make sure that the false doctrines that they teach are not going to be exposed by the Word of God.
And so men like William Tyndale come around where he's just faithfully translating what the Bible says in English,
that's a threat to Catholicism because newsflash, everything that the Catholics believe can be easily debunked by the Bible.
You know, it's like, oh, Mary was sinless.
Well, that's weird, because Mary said
that her soul doth magnify the Lord
and her spirit does rejoice in God, her Savior.
It's like, wait a second, why does Mary need a Savior?
Oh yeah, because she's a sinner.
because she's just like every other human being.
Now, she was a godly woman.
She was chosen by God to carry the Lord Jesus Christ.
But Mary is not deity.
We are not gonna pray to Mary.
She's not interceding for us.
Mary needed the Lord Jesus Christ, okay?
And it's like, they don't want you to read those things.
They wanna keep the word of God from people.
Look at Acts chapter 30 Philip sees a man and he's running to preach him the gospel and in verse 30
It says and Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet Isaiah's and said
Understand us thou what thou readest?
So this man he's reading the Bible, but he asked this very important question. Do you actually understand what you're reading verse 31?
And he said how can I?
Accept some man should guide me
And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him.
See, someone trying to read the Bible and understand the spiritual truths found therein
when they are not saved is like handing me a book written in Arabic.
And I could sit there and I could put my eyes on the page and I could pour over it all day long.
But unless someone guides me, I'm never going to understand it.
You know, I'm not going to be able to comprehend it.
That's what he's saying here.
Then it says in verse 32,
the place of the scripture which he read was this.
He was led as a sheep to the slaughter.
And, like a lamb, dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth.
In his humiliation, his judgment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth."
Now, people in this room that are saved, we read that, and it's just so obvious what
this is talking about.
It's so obvious that it's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, but yet to someone who's
unsaved, it's very cryptic.
It's not really intelligible.
But then he asked this question and the eunuch answered Philip and said,
I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this, of himself or of some other man.
Then Philip opened his mouth and began the same scripture and preached unto him
Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water and the
eunuch said, see here is water. What doth hinder me to be baptized?
And Philip said, if thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.
And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
So here we see a really common interaction of what we see all the time out soul winning
is the fact that people don't understand the Bible.
And maybe they go to church and maybe they've even read the scripture and I mean we're in
the Bible Belt here in Oklahoma.
But yet when we talk to them, we realize very quickly that they're unsaved.
You know, I ran into a guy today that told me that he was 100% sure that he was going to heaven.
And he started telling me that it was by faith alone, but then he told me that you could lose your salvation.
So I start preaching the whole gospel because I'm realizing. Hey, he's trusting in itself then towards the end of it
He says oh, yeah, yeah
I was 100% sure when you got here that I was going to heaven because I had a brain aneurysm a few years ago
And that caused me to repent of my sins and now I don't chase women anymore. I don't drink anymore
I don't do all these bad things anymore. You know, I've really changed my life and I've turned things around
And you know, I'm looking at this guy and he probably in his heart thinks like,
hey, I'm doing the right thing and good for him that he's made some changes.
But here's the thing, he's still unsaved.
And because he's still unsaved, because he's trusting in himself,
he could read the Bible all day long, but he's not going to be able to
discern the truths of the Bible.
He's not going to be able to understand salvation when he's unsaved.
So when we see people, we need to realize that we have to guide them.
How can I understand, except some man should guide me?
Don't believe this idea that people could just get saved on their own.
That doesn't happen, folks.
Boy, would that be awesome.
I mean, if we just want to live in ideal la-la land,
wouldn't it be so great if people are just randomly just getting saved on their own,
just reading the Bible? That's not how it works.
This is a doctrine that lazy people like to hear.
They like their ears tickled by this lazy doctrine.
Hey, don't worry, people are just going to get saved on their own.
You don't have to do anything.
No, I'm telling you that if someone's unsaved, they are never going to get saved on their own.
They are never going to get saved by just reading the Bible.
They need a man to guide them.
They need a woman to guide them.
They need a spirit-filled child to guide them.
They need someone.
And we are the people that Jesus Christ gave that responsibility to.
Go to Romans chapter one, if you will.
Romans chapter number one.
Notice what the Bible says in verse 15, the Apostle Paul said,
So as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
So notice, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation,
but what did the Apostle Paul say?
I'm ready to preach the gospel.
Not, I'm ready to hope that you read the gospel.
No, no, he's ready to preach the gospel.
Then he says, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith.
As it is written, the just shall live by faith.
It takes someone who has faith who is saved to preach the gospel,
then that gospel is the power of God unto salvation and can get them saved.
Romans chapter number 10 explains the process by which someone is saved.
Now Romans 10, it explains the process by which someone is saved,
but kind of in reverse order.
So look at verse 13, it says,
That's how you put your faith in Jesus, right?
Verse 14.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?
Notice this.
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
They must have a preacher to hear.
Then when they hear, they could believe.
Then when they believe, they could put their faith in Christ and call upon the name of the
Lord.
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
Look, this is why we go soul winning.
This is why because this is what it takes for people to get to heaven
And this is step one in learning the Bible step one and learning the Bible get saved
How do we do that? We go out and preach the gospel to people. We make it plain. We help them understand
We transfer our faith to them go to Psalm 119 Psalm 119
So number one if you want to understand the Bible you got to get saved
If you're not saved, you're not going to understand the Bible.
If your family members want to argue with you about doctrine,
realize that you need to get them saved first before that could be a profitable discussion.
It's just not going to work.
Number two, pray and ask God to give you understanding.
Pray and ask God to give you understanding.
Look at Psalm 119 verse 18.
Open thou mine eyes.
that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."
You know, God wants, like we talked about this morning,
He's ready to pour out His Spirit upon people.
He's ready to shower people with knowledge and understanding.
But you have to want it.
How does someone know the Bible really well?
They wanted to know the Bible really well.
And so one of the things that you should do
when you read the Bible is pray and say,
God, help me know the Bible.
Help me to understand what I'm going to read.
Open my eyes and show me wondrous things out of your law.
You know, that is a prayer that God will answer.
I'm telling you, God wants you to know the Bible.
If you ask him in faith to get knowledge
from the word of God, he's gonna give it to you liberally.
Go to James chapter number one, James chapter number one.
Why is someone foolish regarding the Word of God?
It's because they love foolishness.
It's because they love being simple.
It's because they didn't ask God for understanding.
James 1, verse five,
if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
that giveeth to all men, notice liberally, and abradeth not, and it shall be given him."
Notice, he's going to give out just liberally.
I mean, if you're asking for knowledge, he's ready to give you a ton of knowledge, and he abradeth not.
He's not going to be like, hey, quit asking me.
Hey, you're asking for too much here.
You know, he's not going to chide you or abrade you for asking for knowledge or wisdom.
He's like, yes, please, here, have as much as you want.
And so people that are really wise in the scriptures, I guarantee you,
They are people that asked God for understanding.
You know, prayer is not just some religious right
or exercise that we do.
Prayer actually changes things.
Prayer actually makes a difference.
And you know, I look up to guys
that I have been looking up to and following
for over a decade like Pastor Anderson
and it's like the guy is so wise in scripture.
And he talks about how when he was a young child
and a teenager, how he would just pray and pray and pray
for wisdom, pray to learn how to win a soul.
that he would pray to understand the Bible and it's obvious that God has answered that prayer.
It's obvious that God has been giving liberally and not abrading and you know what that's not
exclusive to him. We all have the same access to that. You know isn't that encouraging to know all
of us could be extremely knowledgeable in the scriptures because we all have the same Spirit
of God. We all have the same Heavenly Father that we could pray and ask for knowledge from.
for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed, for let not
that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways."
So, of course, when God, when we pray to God, and we ask for knowledge and wisdom, and he
gives it to us, he expects us to take that knowledge that we get and actually apply it.
He expects us to take the knowledge and listen to it and not just harden our hearts, or say
like, I changed my mind, I asked for knowledge, but I don't really want to know that.
People, ignorance is bliss, right?
My life was a lot more comfortable before I learned that if I don't preach the gospel
Never mind. I don't really want to hear that a double minded man is unstable in all his ways
And don't think that if you're asking God for knowledge, but then he gives it to you and you don't care
You don't change. You don't take it to heart. Well, you better expect that he's probably not going to give you much in the future
And again, we look at someone. Why are they dumb? Why are they stupid? Why are they ignorant of the scriptures?
Because they want it to be because they got answers and they didn't listen to it
They didn't care about it. You know, we need to make sure if we ask and he gives it to us. Okay, let's obey what it says
Let's do what God says
Go to 1 Kings chapter 3, you know an example of a man that did this was King Solomon
King Solomon was one who asked God for wisdom and God gave it to him first Kings chapter number three
Look what it says in verse 5 in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night
Now, could you imagine God appearing to you in a dream by night?
I mean, that's a pretty amazing thing.
Today, the Bible teaches us that in times past, God spake by the prophets, but now he
spoken to us through his son.
We have the word of God, but at this time, the Lord actually came to Solomon in a dream.
And God said, What will ask what I shall give thee?
And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David, thy father, my father, great
mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness and in uprightness
of heart with thee.
And thou hast kept for him this great kindness that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne as it is this day and now
Oh Lord my God
Thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father and I am but a little child
I know not how to go out or come in and thy servant is in the midst of thy people
Which thou has chosen a great people that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude
So Solomon is kind of understanding the gravity of the responsibility of leadership and he, he looks at it kind of with all and with respect and kind of with a little bit of fear as to what he has responsible on his shoulders.
And so what he asks in verse 9 says, give therefore thy servant an understanding heart.
to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad, for who is able to judge this, thy, so great a
people. God comes to him in a dream and says ask for me
what do you want? And Solomon he didn't go asking for riches or for whatever it is that man's heart would normally ask for
He just says like, wow God, you've been so merciful to us, you fulfilled your promise to my father,
you gave him a son to sit on your throne, look at this great nation of God's people,
who could judge so great a people. So here's what I want God, I want you to give me an
understanding heart. What a great thing to ask of God. And notice God, his reaction to it in
You know, God is happy, God is pleased with you when you pray and ask Him for understanding
and ask Him for knowledge.
That makes your Heavenly Father happy to hear.
You know, we should take that seriously, that as Solomon pleased God when he asked for wisdom,
so us too, if we ask for wisdom, that's going to make God happy.
That's going to please him, that Solomon had asked this thing.
And God said unto him, because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment, behold, I have done according to thy words, lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart.
And boy is that true because Solomon wrote a lot of the proverbs where it's a book just about wisdom, right?
So that there was none like thee before, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor,
so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
You know, the Bible says that wisdom is the principal thing.
It says, with all thy getting, get wisdom.
And Solomon had this mentality where he has an opportunity from God to ask God anything
and he prioritizes wisdom.
And oftentimes when you prioritize wisdom, God will also bless you with other things
that you like, the other desires of your heart.
But we should first prioritize wisdom.
That's what Solomon did.
That's why he was a great judge.
discerner. Go to Habakkuk chapter number two. Habakkuk chapter number two. So, you know, we
need to take these things to heart that when you read the Bible, hey, sincerely ask God to give you
wisdom, to give you understanding. You already got point one, I hope, down. Get saved. I hope
everyone in here is saved. But point two, you could do. You could work on today. You could ask God for
Base your doctrine on clear statements.
This is such an important principle when it comes to understanding the Bible.
Base your doctrine on clear statements.
Habakkuk 2 2 says...
And the Lord answered me and said,
write the vision and make it plain upon tables
that he may run that read of it.
See, the job of a preacher is to take what the word of God says
and to make it simple so that people could immediately know
how to respond to the word of God.
You know, elsewhere in the New Testament,
in 1 Corinthians 14, it talks about how
you're supposed to blow the trumpet with a sure sound.
so that people aren't wondering like okay is this like a trumpet for you know a battle
or for a congregational assembly like you hear the trumpet and you know oh this is what I need
to do right that's what good preaching is and the truth is is that a lot of the bible is simple
A lot of the Bible is clear.
Now, there are definitely difficult passages in the Bible.
There's no doubt about that.
But a lot of the Bible, it doesn't take all this like,
let's go back to the Greek and find out what it said,
and let's find out what the church fathers interpreted this as.
Sometimes it's just very clear what the Bible says.
And those scriptures that are very clear,
those are the ones that we base our doctrine on.
Those are the verses that we use
to help us interpret other verses that are not as clear.
Right? It's like, hey, Jesus says,
call no man your father upon the earth.
That's a clear statement, folks.
You know, verily, verily, he that believeth on me
hath everlasting life.
That's a very clear verse.
Go to 2nd Peter chapter number three,
2nd Peter chapter number three.
But of course, you know, there are hard things in the Bible.
No doubt about that.
And I for one am glad that there are hard things
in the Bible because I plan on reading this book
every single day until I die.
And if it was just all easy, all super simple,
you could lose some interest in reading it, right?
But every time I read the Bible,
there's something to be learned there.
There's something you didn't know before.
There's a deeper understanding that you could find.
Second Peter 3.15 says,
and account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation,
even as our beloved brother Paul,
also according to the wisdom given unto him,
hath written unto you.
Also, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some
things hard to be understood.
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest.
So, Peter's acknowledging, which Peter's inspired by God,
Peter's an apostle, Peter's a pastor,
he's a great man of God, but even himself,
he's acknowledging, hey, some of the things
that the apostle Paul wrote is hard to be understood.
And he says what people do with that,
those that are unstable and unlearned
is they rest or twist those scriptures, right?
And this is what false prophets and false religion
does. They do not talk to you about the clear scriptures.
Catholics are not going to explain the doctrine of salvation to you using John 3.16.
They're not going to use John 3.18. They're not going to use Ephesians 2.8 and 9.
They're not going to use Romans 3.23. They're going to use James chapter 2.
They're going to base their doctrine on salvation based on a question.
No, you don't base your doctrine off of an unclear statement.
You base doctrine on what's clear, says those that are unlearned and unstable rest as they
do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction.
They do the opposite.
They find the unclear scriptures, the ones where it's kind of muddy, or they'll use
a parable and they'll use those things to interpret the clear scriptures of the Bible.
that it's not of works, that it's a free gift by grace.
And they're like, ah, but James too,
we have to realize that faith actually means work.
No, no, no, no, no.
Romans 11 said it's not that.
It's actually the opposite of that.
Work is not faith.
Faith is not work.
But they'll say, oh, this question here,
it negates the whole rest of the New Testament.
It's insanity.
But this is what people that don't understand the Bible, that are not saved,
this is their method of understanding the Bible.
Find the hardest, most unclear verse and use it to discredit all the clear statements in the Bible.
It's insanity, folks.
Let me tell you something. If you come to a verse and you say,
man, this verse seems like it's contradicting other clear statements.
Folks, chances are you're just not understanding that verse.
If you're a thought about that,
You ever thought about like, hey, man, maybe I just need to study more, maybe I need to read the Bible another time cover to cover, and maybe I'll understand it next time.
But people will read 60, 80, 100 verses about how salvation's by faith through grace, not of works, not by the law, not by the commandments, and then they'll go to Philippians and it says, oh, working out your salvation.
I guess that just discredits the whole rest of the Bible.
Or maybe you just don't understand that verse.
They come to James chapter 2.
Oh, I guess we just throw it out in the rest of the Bible.
No, that's foolish.
You're one of those people that rests the scripture to your own destruction.
And let's go to James chapter number...
Actually, we'll go there in a little bit.
Go to Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians chapter 2.
And I'm just going to read a few verses for you, okay?
Go to Ephesians 2. Let me just read a few verses for you.
John 6, 47.
John 3.18, he that believeth on him is not condemned,
but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Romans 3.28,
therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law.
I mean, that's a clear verse, right?
I sent that verse to a Catholic this week and they said,
huh, a commonly used scripture taken out of contact.
You want to know why it's commonly used?
Because it's clear!
Because it's a clear statement telling you we're not justified by the law, we're justified by faith.
Galatians 2.16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law,
but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law.
For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Are there any questions?
Salvation is by faith. You're not going to be justified. You're not going to have your sins forgiven by doing the works of the law.
Well, how do you know that? Because the Bible says that by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
You see this just clear scripture, right? Look at Ephesians 2-8-9. For by grace, that's something you don't deserve. Are you saved through faith?
And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works.
Let's say any man should boast.
Oh, but here's what you have to understand.
It's salvation is by faith. Yeah.
Oh yeah, it's not of works.
But faith means doing good works.
You're an idiot.
You're not saved.
Folks, the Bible says salvation is by faith.
It is through grace, it is a free gift, and that means that it's not of works, because
guess what?
If you think that doing works and living a good life and doing commandments is getting
you a gift of eternal life, then I hope that you are thanking your employer every payday
You better thank them for your free gift because you're doing work 40 hours a week.
I mean, that's faith.
That's free, right?
I mean, I am not doing anything for my employer.
I just work 40 hours a week and they give me the free gift of a paycheck.
Folks, this is insanity.
This is the carnal mind.
This is what happens when you're not saved.
Is that they can't even understand clear verses in the Bible.
Okay, go to James chapter 2, then keep all that in mind, all those verses that we just read that were so clear.
Then this is what will happen.
James 2 verse 14.
So, here the Bible gives us a question and this question is asking not about salvation.
It's asking what something profits.
What does it profit?
My brethren, though a man say he hath faith and have not works, can faith save him?
Now, if this is talking about spiritual salvation as far as going to heaven, your soul being
Can faith save him?
Well, let's answer that question.
Stay there in James 2.
Romans 4-5 says,
But to him that worketh not,
so this person does no works,
they don't go to church.
They don't confess their sins to a priest.
They don't do the sacraments.
They don't, you know, pray to Mary, whatever stupid works
the Catholics think you have to do to get to heaven.
But to him that worketh not,
But believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, that's Jesus Christ, his faith is counted for righteousness.
There's a clear scripture, right? So can faith save him spiritually? Absolutely.
How do I know that? Because there's a clear Bible verse that says even if you have zero works, but you have faith, you are saved.
You are justified.
Now James 2.14 though, notice the example that it brings up.
The question is, does it profit someone?
If you say you have faith and have no works,
can that faith save him?
Verse 15 gives us an example.
If a brother or sister be naked.
and destitute of daily food.
And one of you say unto them,
depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled,
notwithstanding ye give them not those things
which are needful to the body,
what doth it profit?
If a church member was literally starving
and destitute and naked and just about to die,
and you say, hey brother,
Be ye warmed and filled have a good day as they starve and as they're naked and as they don't have what they need
Does your faith?
Profit them the answer is no and that's what this is teaching if you have faith, but you don't have works
You know what you are you're unprofitable to other people
But if I have faith and no works am I still saved?
Yes, if I have faith and never preach the gospel though. Am I profiting anyone? No, I'm not
If I have faith and just sit in my house and don't ever go to church on Sunday and don't ever come and exhort God's people,
is my faith profiting anyone?
No, it is not.
And if someone was literally naked and starving and I just said,
be you warmed and filled, that's not going to profit them, is it?
No, it is not.
Go to...
I look at verse 17, even so, faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
It's talking about being profitable to other people.
Elsewhere in James chapter 2 it says, well, even the devils believe and tremble.
And so Catholics will say, see, the devils have faith alone doctrine,
but since they don't have works, they're going to hell.
No, it says that the devils believe that there's one God.
And no Baptist teaches that believing one God exists is going to take you to heaven.
What it means to believe is what we explained in Ephesians chapter 1,
is that you're trusting in Jesus Christ.
Believing Jesus Christ exists is not going to save anyone.
You have to, yes, believe He exists,
but also trust that His death, burial, and resurrection
are the only things taking you to heaven.
That's what it means to believe in Jesus.
And guess what? The devils don't do that.
The devils believe there's one God. Big deal.
Go to 2nd Peter chapter number one, 2nd Peter chapter number one.
But here's what I've noticed that false prophets and false religions do, is that when there's
a clear statement, just as clear as day, that debunks their false doctrine, they love to
hide behind this magical word called interpretation, where even if the Bible just clearly destroys
their false doctrine, oh, that's your interpretation.
Raise your hand if you've heard this before.
Everyone who's ever gone soul-winning has heard this.
Oh, that's your interpretation.
Okay, 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 19.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy.
Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed
as unto a light that shineth in a dark place
until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture
is of any private interpretation.
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Who gave us the Word of God? God gave
us the Word of God, not man. Catholics like to believe, oh the Catholic Church
gave you the Word of God. No, God gave us the Bible.
And Catholic Church throughout history has tried to censor, and ban, and criminalize people having the Word of God.
But guess what? The Bible says it's not of any private interpretation.
Go to 1 Timothy chapter number three.
Let me show you an example of this.
1 Timothy chapter number three.
Meaning that you shouldn't read the Bible and come away with some personal interpretation that is not shared by other Christians.
Every single thing that I believe is shared by millions and millions of other Christians
because I'm not teaching something that's private to me,
I'm teaching what the clear words of the Bible say.
Okay?
First Timothy chapter 3 verse 1.
This is a true saying.
If a man desired the office of a bishop,
he desired a good work.
A bishop then, notice this word, must.
This is a qualification.
A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife.
Vigilant sober of good behavior given to hospitality apt to teach.
The Bible says, oh, you want to be a bishop?
That's great. You're desiring a good work.
Here's the qualifications.
You must be blameless and you must be the husband of one wife.
So we as Baptists say, hey, check out 1st Timothy chapter 3.
Check it out where it says that to be a pastor,
you have to be the husband of one wife.
Hey, Catholics, why do you teach that to be a bishop,
you must not be married?
You must not be the husband of one wife.
Look at what the clear verse is.
Oh, that's your interpretation.
No, it's not, you false prophet.
This is just clear statements from the Bible.
I'm not interpreting the Bible.
I'm making an observation of what the text says.
Observation, what does the text say?
Interpretation. What does the text mean?
Application. What should you do? Stop doing.
Think. Stop thinking. Feel. Stop feeling. Okay, so it's like
observation. Oh look, to be a bishop you must be married
or you must be the husband of one wife. Interpretation. Hey, you know, you have to
be married to be a pastor
and here's another interpretation. You can't be divorced and remarried either
because it says you have to be the husband of one wife.
So there's an interpretation, but guess what?
My interpretation is shared by millions of other people.
It's not some private interpretation.
Okay, application.
Huh, I should realize that the Catholic Church doesn't believe the Bible.
I should realize that that's a false religion.
Here's the application for Catholics.
You should repent.
You should change your false belief and the false idea
that you have because it's against what the Bible says.
First Timothy chapter 2.
Look at verse 10 of the chapter 2 verse 11 remember we base our doctrine on what clear statements verse 11
Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection man
That is a hard verse to interpret there
They won't have any idea what silence means because man. It's just really hard to understand silence. What is that?
But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man
But to be in silence, I'm just, I'm racking my brain here.
I just can't figure out what this means.
For Adam was first formed, then Eve,
and Adam was not deceived,
but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Folks, it's a clear passage.
Let the woman learn in all silence I suffer not here. Let me interpret that for you. I allow not I
Allow not a woman to teach nor for a woman to usurp the authority over the man
So here's an application. Hey women should not be pastors women should not be clergy. Oh wait
That's your interpretation.
No, it's not.
That's the clear verse that's in front of your face.
And what you've got to realize about people that do this,
when someone just denies a clear verse.
Like, this person is a scorner.
This person is a heretic.
And heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject.
If someone's not going to change their mind by clear verses in the Bible,
there's nothing you could ever do to change their mind.
It doesn't matter if you show them that Jesus Christ had siblings.
They will still believe Mary was a perpetual virgin.
It doesn't matter that the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory
of God.
They will still believe that Mary was sinless.
Doesn't matter that you show them, hey, pastors have to be married.
They will still believe clergy has to be unmarried because they don't care about the truth.
They are heretics and so they must be rejected.
These are clear, clear verses, my friends.
Go to Matthew chapter 24, Matthew chapter 24.
You know, what about end times prophecy?
Well, just like anything else in the Bible,
what do we do?
We make our doctrine based off of clear statements.
Matthew 24 verse 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be
darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the Son
of Man in heaven and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he shall send his angels
with the great sound of a trumpet and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds
from one end of heaven to the other. This is known as the rapture and when is it that the rapture
Huh, I wonder when the rapture happens. It says after the tribulation. Oh, that's your interpretation. What are you talking about?
It's a clear scripture after the tribulation. Go to Revelation 4. Now, here's where pre-tribbers will base their doctrine off of
because you know people who are pre-trib
They're Baptists, and they would agree with my point tonight.
They would just disagree with its application.
They would say, of course we should base our doctrine off of clear scripture.
We're Baptists, right?
That's what all Baptists will tell you.
But yet this verse in Revelation 4-1 is where they would base their doctrine for a pre-trib rapture.
You ask a pre-tribber, show me the pre-trib rapture in the Bible.
They will show you this right here, Revelation 4-1.
Let's see if this is clear after this I that's John in the Isle of Patmos
Looked and be held behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice
Which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said come up hither and I will show the things which must be here after
That was the clear statement
That said, that the rapture happens before the tribulation.
That's where they'll show you.
And, you know, I know a lot of people in here,
they weren't old IFB before they were in this church,
so you may not understand what I'm saying right now.
But those of us who spent time in the old IFB,
we've heard this, Revelation 4-1.
This is the clear verse that says that it's pre-trib.
Folks, you've got John, who's in the Isle of Patmos,
who is in a spiritual vision where he sees these things.
That's not a clear verse whereas Jesus's disciples asked him about the end times and he told them hey after the tribulation of those days
Then the rapture is going to happen. That's a clear statement
Go to Matthew chapter 16 Matthew chapter 16
Let me show you another example
The Catholic Church teaches the office of the Pope, right?
We talked about the Pope a few weeks ago.
And you ask a Catholic, show me a Pope in the Bible.
Like, where do you guys get this idea of the office of a Pope, right?
There's apostles, bishops, deacons, evangelists, pastors.
I see all that. Where's the Pope?
They'll say, oh, okay.
Matthew 16. So let's see if this is real clear, all right?
And Simon Peter answered and said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona,
for flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter,
and upon this rock will I build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
You guys realize that Peter was the first Catholic pope, right?
I mean, wasn't that clear?
I'm Jesus, you're Peter, and you are going to be the first pope of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
I mean, that was really clear, right?
But yet this is what Catholics will tell you.
You think I'm joking.
This is literally their verse that they'll hang their hat on and say,
here's where a pope is in the Bible.
Thou art Peter.
Folks, what have I told you that Peter was a pastor?
What have I told you that he was, yes, an apostle, but he was also a pastor?
You want to find me the word pope in the Bible.
You'll never find it.
I'll eat my toe if you show me where
pope is in the Bible because guess what?
You'll never find it.
There's no verse where it teaches that.
Now go to 1 Peter chapter number two.
1 Peter chapter two.
I think, funny enough, what was written by Peter
can kind of shed some light on what this is talking about here.
Now, of course, we know in 1 Corinthians, the Bible does tell us that that spiritual rock that the fathers followed in the wilderness was Jesus.
And I do believe Jesus is the rock like capital T, H, E, capital R rock. Like Jesus is the rock.
But notice what it says right here in 1 Peter 2.5, ye also as lively stones. You know what those are? Those are rocks.
He also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house in holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Wherefore, also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, that chief rock, the rock, right?
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded."
So, amen, Jesus is the big rock, okay?
Don't misconstrue what I'm about to say here, but verse 7 says,
unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same as made the head of the corner, and a stone of
stumbling in a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient,
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
and holy nation, a peculiar people,
that ye should show forth the praises of him
who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
So notice how Peter said that ye also are lively stones.
And so when Jesus says to him, thou art Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my church
and the gates of hell will not prevail against it,
Peter was the first, if not one of the first.
pastors ever, right?
A pastor is a New Testament office.
There's no pastors in the Old Testament.
You have apostles,
those existed at the time of Christ
and shortly thereafter,
people who saw the risen Christ.
There are no apostles today.
But, today we have pastors, and Peter was one of those, and he's telling them,
hey, thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.
New Testament Christianity was just kicking off, and the apostles had to lay the foundation
and build upon that foundation of Christianity, and the apostle Peter was a huge mover and shaker in that.
And so he's Jesus ordained Peter as a pastor.
And he's saying, hey, I'm giving you power.
I'm giving you authority.
And by the way, you're a pastor, you have real authority.
What you bind on earth, I've got your back.
I'm going to bind it in heaven.
And whatever you loose on earth, I'm going to loose it in heaven.
Just like today, pastor is a position in the church that has authority.
And you know what, that was the same thing with Peter.
Upon that rock, he will build his church.
these rocks too, and upon this rock too, you know, we are lively stones that are building up the
foundation of the kingdom of God. And every generation, we're just building on that last
generation of stones, building, building, building. But of course, who is the chief cornerstone?
It's the Lord Jesus Christ. I have no problem when people say, Jesus is the rock. Of course,
He's the rock.
But in this specific passage when he says Thou art Peter and upon this rock, I do believe he's primarily referring to the Apostle Peter.
So here's where Catholics and I can agree. Hey, this is talking about Peter.
But you know what's funny is that the Bible actually says elsewhere that he's a bishop.
The Bible teaches that he's a pastor. You know, it's funny. Where is it where it says he's a pope?
Where's the where's the office of a pope? There's no scripture having that office.
First Timothy chapter 3 I'll show you the qualifications of a bishop Titus chapter 1
I'll show you the qualifications of a bishop. There's no qualifications of a pope because it's a damned office
It is a false office. It's not godly. It's not of God
It's wicked as hell the vicar of Christ the vicar of Satan and you know what?
I'm still praying that this stupid Pope Francis dies and goes to hell
burning hell Pope Francis
Go to Matthew chapter 19
While you're turning there Proverbs 26 verse 7 says the legs of the lame are not equal
So is a parable in the mouth of fools, right?
And this is what people who don't understand the Bible do they twist
parables
Also, you know, you don't want to use stories in the Bible to base your doctrine.
Again, you want to use clear statements.
Here's an example of people that did this, Matthew 19 verse 3.
The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him and saying unto him,
Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?
And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning
made them male and female, and said for this cause shall a man leave father and mother
and shall cleave to his wife?
And they twain, shall be one flesh.
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.
What therefore God have joined together?
Let not man put us under.
Oh, but there are stories in the Old Testament
of people practicing polygamy.
It's a story.
It doesn't mean it was right.
Jesus said that those twain shall be one flesh.
So you use the clear statement of the scripture
to interpret the story.
By the way, stories, they're interesting.
You can learn things from them, but you don't base doctrine off of stories.
I had a Catholic church ask me, well, if you don't call clergy father, are you just going
to ignore thousands and thousands of years of God's people calling clergy father?
Yes, I am, because history is not doctrine.
Oh, but people have done this for thousands of years.
That's not proof.
What does the Bible say?
And man, Baptists, what's the biggest difference between Baptists and Catholics?
This is our final authority.
For Catholics, it's the Roman Catholic Church that's their final authority.
It's man's opinion.
It's the Pope, which is why Catholicism is a cult, and it's the largest cult on planet
earth.
They don't follow the Bible.
Clear statements from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Number four this evening, let the New Testament interpret the Old Testament.
This is another really important idea when it comes to understanding the Bible,
is that if you're struggling with something in the Old Testament,
you let the New Testament commentary tell you what the Old Testament means.
Hebrews 12 verse 19,
for the law made nothing perfect,
but the bringing in of a better hope did.
by the which we draw nigh unto God, verse 20, if Hebrews 12,
and inasmuch as not without an oath, he was made priest.
For those priests were made without an oath,
but this, with an oath by him that said unto him,
the Lord swear, and will not repent,
thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek,
by so much was Jesus made a surety notice of a better testament.
The new testament is the better testament.
Hey, I love the Old Testament, you should read it, you should believe it, but you know
what the better Testament is?
It's the New Testament.
Jesus made a surety of a better Testament.
Now let's look at an example of what I'm teaching.
Go to Genesis 12 and Galatians chapter 3.
Genesis 12 and Galatians chapter 3.
We use the New Testament to comment on the old, not vice versa.
We need to take advantage of the scripture that we have access to now.
Genesis 12 verse 1.
Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing.
Verse 3, we've all heard this one, and I will bless them that bless thee.
And curse him that cursed at thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
Boy, oh boy, this has to be like the most quoted verse in independent fundamental Baptist churches.
And again, if you're from the old IFB, this is what you've heard, and this is probably how you've heard it read.
And I will bless him that blessed thee, and curse him that cursed at thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
And what are they talking about? Jews.
This is what the old IFB does.
I mean, here's a clear verse that says that Jews are forever blessed.
There are still God's chosen people today.
But hold on a second.
The New Testament actually interprets this story for us.
I don't have to give you my interpretation.
You don't have to give me yours.
The Bible in the New Testament tells us.
Galatians 3.
Look at Galatians chapter 3, verse 14.
That the blessing of Abraham.
Isn't that what we just read?
might come on the who? What?
What is that? Gentiles?
Every IFB person was like,
What does that say? Who snuck that into my Bible?
Read it, man.
That the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ.
That we might receive the promise
of spirit through faith.
Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if
it be confirmed, no man dissonoleth, or added thereto.
Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He said not, and to seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.
and curse him that curse at thee,
and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
You know what he was referring to?
He was referring to the promise
of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And all families of the earth are blessed through Thy seed to Abraham because that seed was Jesus Christ.
Jesus was physically descended from Abraham and so he is that promise.
That's how the promise could be fulfilled to the Gentiles.
It was because anyone can believe on Jesus Christ.
Jew, Gentile, doesn't matter what nation you're from, you can put your faith in Christ and be saved.
And when someone puts their faith in Christ, they are now God's chosen people.
They now have the Abrahamic Covenant fulfilled in them because they have been blessed through Abraham's seed by believing on Jesus Christ.
Go to Romans chapter 2.
And again, what are we talking about?
We use the New Testament to interpret the old.
You say, no, there's still these special people in the Middle East that have this special
covenant with God.
And some people like John Hagee would take it so far to say that the Jews don't even
need the gospel.
They have a separate covenant.
And how could the Jews be faulted for rejecting that which was never offered unto them, right?
That Jews need to get saved and believe in Jesus Christ
because there's this special group.
Well, look at Romans 2 verse 28.
What is a Jew anyways?
For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly.
Neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh
but he is a Jew which is one inwardly.
And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Being a Jew is not that you live in Israel. Being a Jew is not that you've been circumcised.
Being a Jew is not that you have the law of God or something like that. Being a Jew is one inwardly.
Circumcision is that of the heart. Being a Jew spiritually in the New Testament is someone who believes in Jesus Christ.
It's not someone who believes the satanic religion of what today is called Judaism.
Those are the ones that are called Jews and are not, but lie.
That is what you call the synagogue of Satan.
See, this is how you actually can use the New Testament to interpret the old, to give commentary
on the old.
We'll go to three more scriptures, we'll be done this evening, go to Psalm 119.
Number five, a strategy to learn the Bible is to memorize the scripture.
Memorize the scripture.
Now Psalm 119 verse 97 says, Oh how love I thy law, it is my meditation all the day,
thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation.
How does someone get more understanding than all their teachers?
It says, for thy testimony is my meditation, meaning you're thinking about it over and over and over.
I understood more than the ancients because I keep thy...
precepts. And you know, I'm not going to spend too much time developing this this evening,
but I'll just tell you from my own personal anecdotal experience
is that the chapters in the Word of God that I know the best are chapters that I have committed
to memory. Because there's just something about God's Word being your meditation all the day,
that his testimonies being our meditation that causes us to understand more than our teachers,
more than the ancients.
There's just something about mulling the word of God over,
over and again in your head and in your heart
that really just cements the truth of God's word into your soul.
You know, think about the soul winning verses that you all use every single week.
No one's going to stump you on Ephesians 2-8 and 9.
No one's going to stump you on anything in Romans, no one's going to stump you on these
doctrines that you have just preached and heard and read and memorized over and over
and over again because you've just got it committed to memory.
So I would really encourage you to do the Bible memory verses that our church does because
it will help you understand that chapter more than listening to a sermon about it, more
than just reading it once, quoting and memorizing the Bible will really help you grasp it.
And here's the thing, if you memorize a chapter a year from now, two years from now, you're
probably not going to be able to word perfect, quote it verbatim again in the future.
And that's okay, okay?
I'm a type A kind of guy, kind of drives me crazy.
I want to have it word perfect for all of my life, but I've just told myself, hey, even
if a year from now I don't have it perfectly memorized, it's okay because you know what
I do know, I do understand that chapter now.
I don't have to ever wonder, man, where's that verse about how, like, we have an anchor of the soul?
Because I've memorized Hebrews 6, right?
And if I want to show someone that verse, I'm just like, I know it's Hebrews 6.
Oh, something Romans.
Boom, I know exactly what chapter that is.
That is a skill that is very useful.
And, let me tell you, that's useful as a preacher, you guys that want to preach, to know where
things are in the Bible, and soul winners, which should be every single person in this
room.
You're a preacher too.
You know, having the Bible, the soul winning verses memorized, will help you greatly.
Go back to 2 Timothy 2, while I read for you John 14-26, but the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you.
The Holy Ghost can supernaturally bring Bible verses to your remembrance when you need them,
but in order for the Holy Spirit to do that, he has to have something to work with,
meaning that you had to have heard those verses before, thought about those verses before,
memorized those verses before, then, boom, the Holy Spirit could step in and bring those forth to your remembrance.
Last verse we'll read, we'll go ahead and close with this verse, 2 Timothy 2, verse 15,
study to show thyself approved unto God.
A workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
I don't want to be ashamed.
I want to be a workman that studies hard to know the word of God.
And so, five things we could do to really know the Bible.
Number one, get saved.
Hopefully, everyone's already taken care of that, unless you're real young.
Number two, pray for understanding.
You could do this every time you read the Bible.
At home, you're doing your devotions.
Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."
You could get that wisdom from God.
Number three, base doctrine on clear statements.
Number four, interpret the Old Testament with the New Testament.
Number five, memorize the Scriptures.
Let's have a word of prayer.
Lord, we thank you for the word of God, the great gift that we have of the Bible preserved
in English through the King James Version.
I pray that we would all study every single day the word of God that should help us to
I just pray on behalf of the Anchor Baptist Church that you would give us all wisdom and understanding in the Scriptures,
that you would just pour out your spirit liberally unto us,
that you'd help us to understand even the deep and darker passages of Scripture,
and help us to share it with the world. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
If you'll grab your hymnal, our final hymn this evening, number 180, isn't the love of Jesus
something wonderful? Hymn number 180, 180, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful?
There will never be a sweeter story, story of the Savior's lovely mind,
Love that brought it from the round of glory,
Just to save a sinful soul like mine,
Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful?
Jesus, something wonderful, wonderful it is to me.
boundless as the universe around me, reaching to the farthest soul away,
saving, keeping, loving ones that found me.
That is why my heart can truly say,
Wonderful, oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful?
Wonderful it is to me.
Love beyond our human country and me.
Love of God and Christ again.
something wrong