["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Good evening. Good evening. Tonight we're in 2 Timothy, Chapter 2.
2 Timothy, Chapter 2, the Bible reads,
Thou, therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus,
and the things that thou hast 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 warth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life,
that it may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully.
The husbandman that laboureth 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 seed of David,
was raised from the dead according to my gospel,
wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds,
but the word of God is not bound.
Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake,
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 him, we shall also live with him.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him, he also will 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 Philetus,
who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already,
and overthrow the faith of some.
Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure,
having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his,
and let everyone that nameth 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 purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor,
sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace,
with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart,
but foolish and unlearned questions avoid,
knowing that they do gender strifes.
The servant of the Lord must not strife,
but be gentle unto all men apt to teach, patient,
and meekness instructing those that oppose themselves,
if God peradventure 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.
Let's pray, dear Lord God, just thank you for every soul
that's able to come to this service right now.
Lord, we pray that you bless this service, Lord.
Please bless the preaching.
Fill paths from here with your Holy Spirit, Lord,
as he preaches unto us your word,
and that us and the congregation can be attentive, Lord,
and just take these truths from your word and apply it to our lives, Lord.
We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
Okay, we're in 2 Timothy 2 this evening,
and the title of my sermon tonight is guidelines for studying the Bible.
Guidelines for studying the Bible.
The Bible tells us in verse 15 of 2 Timothy chapter 2,
study to show thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth.
And of course, God wants us, commands us to study the Bible,
and in like manner, he also wants us to do this in verse 16,
but shun profane and vain babblings,
for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
So it goes without saying that God wants us to avoid heresy.
He wants us to avoid misinterpretation of the word of God.
He wants us to avoid vain janglings and vain babblings.
Why? Because it will just increase unto more ungodliness,
meaning that it will simply evolve into more heresy,
more false teaching, more false doctrine,
and God wants us to be accurate when we study the Bible.
He wants us to know what the Bible is actually teaching.
And so tonight, I'm going to give you seven guidelines
to study the word of God
so we could avoid false doctrine, avoid heresy,
avoid teaching something and believing something that's wrong,
a misinterpretation of the Bible.
Now, when you hear a sermon like this,
you may think to yourself,
well, this doesn't really apply to me
because I'm not really planning to be a pastor.
I'm not planning to be a deacon.
I'm not planning to be an evangelist.
You know, I'm a woman,
so I'm definitely not going to be a pastor one day.
I'm not striving to be like Joyce Meyers or anything like that.
You know, so this doesn't really apply.
But here's the thing is that there's a difference
between understanding the Bible and teaching the Bible.
You know, God wants pastors
and those who are going into the position of a bishop,
of a deacon, to be apt to teach, right?
In other words,
they not only have to have an understanding of the word of God,
but they also have to have the ability
to communicate the word of God, right?
Whereas all Christians are commanded to understand the Bible, okay?
You know, there's a big difference between understanding the Bible
and imparting that which you understand to someone else.
And so teaching the Bible obviously requires,
you know, having the skill of teaching it
and imparting that knowledge.
But you know, God wants us all to understand the word of God.
He wants us all to have the capability
of rightly dividing the word of truth,
understanding what's on the page,
even if you're not going to communicate it to someone else.
He wants us to acquire that knowledge,
even if we're not going to impart it to another person.
So this does apply to you.
Now, obviously it applies to people who want to be pastors.
It applies to the men who want to be able to teach other people
and things of that nature.
But in reality, generally just applies to every Christian
because we are supposed to be reading the word of God
and be students of the Bible.
And therefore, this is very much important.
Now, let me give you some preliminary thoughts
before I get into my main points.
And the first thing I want to mention here by way of introduction
is that in order for us to be successful
at being students of the Bible,
we need to read the right Bible.
And by the right Bible,
I'm referring to the King James Version of the Bible.
And you have students of the Bible out there, so-called,
but they're using the wrong versions.
They're using the NIV. They're using the ESV.
And it's essentially a fool's errand
to try to learn right doctrine from wrong Bibles.
Why?
Because a lot of these modern versions of the Bible
remove verses, they add content,
they teach false ways of salvation,
they're not faithful to the underlying texts of Greek and Hebrew,
so therefore, they should be shunned.
That is the vein and profane babblings, right, of modern day.
So if you truly want to understand the Bible,
you need to make sure that you're reading the correct word of God,
the only word of God, for the English-speaking people,
which is the King James Version of the Bible.
But also, let me also say this by way of introduction,
is that when we read the Bible,
in order for us to understand it,
we actually have to read it in faith.
Meaning, you've got to read the Bible believing the Bible.
Don't approach the Bible in a critical manner,
wondering if there's any mistakes or contradictions.
We need to approach the Bible in faith.
He that cometh to God must believe that he is
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
And so when we open up the word of God,
we should approach the word of God knowing full well,
this is God's word.
This is inspired.
This is divinely preserved for me to read.
This is exactly what God wanted me to understand and read in 2025.
And so we need to make sure that we do that.
And the reason that's important is because
if you've been reading the Bible for any length of time,
you can attest to the fact that you've come across a passage
that you don't understand.
Or you've come across a passage that seems to contradict
the overall narrative of the Bible
in regards to some specific doctrine that we believe.
And it kind of perplexes you, right?
I know when I first got saved, I would read passages,
and I'd think to myself, whoa, this kind of threw me for a loop.
I don't really understand this.
This would almost contradict what I believe about salvation
or what the Bible's narrative is about salvation.
This seems to be out of place
of the general narrative of the word of God.
But here was my resolution.
Here's my solution to that, and that is,
I'm going to believe it anyways,
and someday I will understand what this means.
And I know that this verse is true.
This verse is right,
and it's my interpretation of this verse that's incorrect, okay?
If I felt like it was contradicting
other portions of Scripture.
And I think of the song.
I forgot what the song is called.
It's about the Bible.
But the verse in the song says this.
If you find when you read it that there's something wrong,
there's something wrong with you, right?
You know, when you read the word of God
and you feel like there's something wrong in the Bible,
just come to this conclusion.
Oh, there's something wrong with me, okay?
I'm not interpreting the word of God correctly.
There's something wrong with my interpretation
because there are no contradictions.
The word of God is without error.
It's inerrant. It's infallible.
It's indestructible.
And so you need to give it some time, okay?
The last thing I want to mention is that
in order for us to understand the Bible,
we have to be saved, okay?
That's a pretty obvious point there, right?
You know, the Bible tells us,
And according to the Bible,
once you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Holy Spirit comes to reside within you.
He's sealed within you.
And the Bible calls him the spirit of truth
that teaches you the word of God.
Let me read to you from John 16 in verse 13.
You don't have to turn there.
It says,
So part of studying the Bible is submitting yourself
to the ministry of the Holy Spirit,
meaning that when you read the word of God,
you're to pray for understanding
and not rush the Holy Spirit
to understand certain things, okay?
It's just like, well, I'm not understanding,
so the Holy Spirit's not doing his job
or something like that.
Well, here's the thing.
Sometimes I know in my personal life
as a new believer years ago,
it's probably because I can't handle it yet.
You know, my mind isn't saturated
with enough word of the word of God
and Bible doctrine
to quite understand the deep things of God
because the Bible tells us
that he shows us the deep things of God, right?
The Holy Spirit does.
And so part of understanding the Bible,
you have to be saved.
Now, with that being said,
let me give you these seven guidelines
to studying the word of God
to rightly divide the word of truth.
We'll come back to that in just a bit.
And go to John chapter 14, if you would,
John chapter 14.
Guideline number one
to understanding and studying the word of God,
this is very basic.
My first two points are pretty basic.
Number one is that the Bible
should be read repeatedly.
In order to study the Bible,
a good guideline to study the Bible,
a standard for studying the Bible
is that you need to read the Bible
every single day from cover to cover.
Now, I'm not saying Genesis to Revelation
in one day, I'm just saying
you should endeavor, make it your goal
to read from Genesis to Revelation
repeatedly
all the days of your life.
This is a life-long process.
Now, why is that important to even mention?
Well, because sometimes people will have this
attitude of studying the Bible,
but they're actually not reading the Bible.
They only study passages of Scripture in the Bible.
They want to study a specific passage
or a specific Scripture,
so they only go to that particular passage
and the passage that
reference that particular topic,
but they kind of avoid just reading the Bible
holistically, whereas
we should be reading the Bible entirely
holistically. You know, to gain
a comprehensive and holistic
understanding of the word of God,
the mind needs to be frequently saturated
with the Bible.
And as students of the Bible,
we need to familiarize ourselves with its content.
And, you know, the best way to do this
is by repeatedly reading it
day in, day out, week in, week out,
month in, month out, year in, year out.
And this is why it's important, my friends, that you
follow the Bible reading schedule.
You know, I hope that you haven't fallen behind,
but if you have, it's okay. We're still in January.
Okay?
You have tonight to catch up.
You have tomorrow to catch up.
Catch up, you know, just make sure
that you do it before February. Okay?
Because then it begins to turn into a monster,
and then at that point, you're going to
go back to just studying the passage of Scripture
and not actually reading the Bible holistically.
And if you don't have a Bible reading schedule,
get one from me or from one of the ushers after the service.
You know, you should have a systematic manner
in which you are reading the Bible,
but the point is that you need to read it
repeatedly throughout your life.
Okay?
And this is one of the major differences between
fundamental Baptist churches and many other churches
is that a lot of churches don't really
emphasize or push reading the Bible.
Why is that?
Well, if we were to think of the nefarious reason why,
it's possible because the pastor
doesn't want you to understand the Bible
so that he can just teach you any kind of false doctrine
and you just believe it.
But it's important for you to read the word of God
day in and day out, cover to cover holistically.
Let me read to you from Colossians chapter 3
and verse 16, it says here,
Let the word of Christ
dwell in you, listen to this,
richly
in all wisdom, teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Now, I want you to notice that it says that the word
of Christ should dwell within us
richly. What does richly mean?
It means in a generous manner,
plentifully. Now,
what conclusion can we come based upon
that verse? Well, as a Christian,
we should endeavor to
saturate our minds with the Bible
through either listening to it,
reading it in the morning, playing it
in your house,
listening to songs that emphasize the Bible.
It's kind of like the Bible should be the
centerpiece of your life.
You start off the mornings by
reading the Bible and maybe you're on your way to work
or you're on your way somewhere and you can turn on
an Alexander Scorby or turn on
some preaching. What I'm saying is
the word of God should be saturating
the mind on a consistent basis.
The Bible talks about
that this book of the law shall not
depart out of thy mouth, but thou
shall meditate therein day and night
that thou mayest observe to do according to
all that is written therein, for then
thou shalt make that way prosperous
and then thou shalt have good success.
And obviously as a student of the Bible,
we would define prosperity
as understanding the Bible.
So in order for us to be prosperous in that
manner, we have to meditate upon the
word of God. How do we do that?
By saturating our minds with
it. The Bible also says in Psalm 119
in verse 30, the entrance
of thy words giveth light
it giveth understanding
to the simple. Look at John chapter
14 and verse 26
if you would. John chapter 14 verse 26
but the Comforter
referring to the Holy Spirit. Comforter is
just another name for the Holy Spirit.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost
whom the Father will send in my name
He shall teach you all
things, and I want you to
notice this, and bring all things
to your what? Remembrance.
Whatsoever
I have said unto you.
Now go to Deuteronomy chapter 17
Deuteronomy chapter 17
So it says here
that the Comforter, the Holy Spirit
will teach us all things, right?
He will minister to us the word of God
as we read the Bible. But it
also says that He's going to bring all things
to our remembrance.
Now in order for the Holy Spirit
to remind us of the Bible
there needs to be content to remember.
Right?
How is He going to remind you
of biblical content that you have never read
or meditated upon
and needs to be already
in the vessel, it needs to be in the mind already.
So
when you read the word of God and you don't
understand certain portions, don't worry about it
the Holy Spirit can bring that into remembrance
and make connections
as you read other portions of Scripture.
And I think almost everyone
could probably attest to a time in their life
where they read something they
did not understand.
But then somewhere along down the road a couple of years
in as they're reading the word of God
they come across another passage of Scripture maybe in the
New Testament and it's almost as if you're
reminded of that passage
you didn't understand in the Old Testament.
And what happens is you make that connection
and you're like, whoa, now I understand
what that means. That's the Holy Spirit
bringing those things into
remembrance. Okay?
Now memorization of the Scripture
aids with this.
Absolutely. But reading the Bible
repeatedly actually gets the job done as well.
Okay? And so I definitely
encourage people to memorize Scripture
memorize chapters, memorize
passages, but really
one of the most effective ways
to saturate the mind with Bible content is just reading
the Bible every single day for the rest of your
life. The more Bible we read
the greater the recall, the deeper
the understanding.
And you know when the entire Bible
when the entire Bible is read
you actually see the bigger picture.
So this is why you know a lot
of these scholars only want to focus on certain
portions of Scripture, scholars so called.
But at the end of the day
God wants us to see the
bird's eye view of the Word of God.
You know you can't just understand the Word of God by just
reading one portion. You have to have the
holistic view of the Word of God
in order to get the overall purpose
of the Bible. Okay?
The Bible tells us that all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God
it's profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness. And it says that the man of God
may be perfect thoroughly
furnished unto all good works.
So in order for a man of God to be
effective in the ministry, to be a good
spouse, to be a good employee
to have good understanding of the Word of God
what's needed? A small percentage of the Bible?
No, you need all Scripture
in order to be profitable in
those areas. Look at Deuteronomy 17
it's one of my favorite passages of Scripture
here when dealing with reading the Bible
it says in verse 18
and it shall be when he
referring to the king
sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom
that he shall write him a copy
of this law in a book
out of that which is before the priest
the Levites. And it shall be with him
and he shall read therein
all the days of his life
that he may learn to fear the Lord
his God to keep all the words of this
law and these statutes to do them.
There's a wonderful commandment that was given to these
monarchs, right? God is telling them
when you guys have a king
I want them to literally
transcribe the Word of God
a copy for themselves
and they're to read it every single
day. To keep the king humble
to keep the king eternally
minded, to keep the king
from getting involved in
sin and getting involved in covetousness
but also to help the king to fear God
and to keep his commandments.
Now you may look at a portion of scripture like this and think to yourself
well this is for the kings though
well guess what, we're kings too
and so, you know, yeah, okay
so we should just, oh yeah, this is for kings, I can't read
I shouldn't read the Word, this commandment is only for kings
you know, just like
you know, Proverbs 31
where the commandment is given to the king
not to drink alcohol, oh yeah, that's only for kings
you know, but it's okay for us
to do it or something, it's nonsense
obviously we can apply this scripture to ourselves
because of the fact that there's many other portions
of scripture that command us
to give attendance to reading
to exhortation to doctrine
and so just as the king is commanded to read
therein all the days of his life, guess what
that's applicable to you and to me as well
now fortunately
you don't have to transcribe the Bible every single day
now you can if you want to
but one's already made for you, right
you just have to go purchase it, if you don't want to buy one, we can get you one
the point is, read the Bible holistically
let me also say this is that
this is why we as a church
read the entire chapter
every single service, when the sermon goes on
Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday night
we want to give attendance to reading
to exhortation to doctrine
which is the passage of scripture
within its context is telling us
that churches should be reading the word of God
for the people as well
and in fact let me read to you from 1 Timothy chapter 4
you don't have to turn to verse 15
it says
meditate upon these things
give thyself holy to them that thy profiting
may appear to all
take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine
continue in them for in doing this
thou shalt both save thyself and them
that hear thee
so guideline number 1 for studying the Bible
read the Bible repeatedly
and I would hope that
if last year you failed in this area
you fell short in that area of reading the Bible
well you know it's the new year
pick up the Bible, read it through
and don't bite off more than you can chew
if you couldn't read the Bible through
once last year
don't say I'm going to read it through three times this year
I'm going to read it through two times this year
I'm going to make up for last year
just read it through once
don't bite off more than you can chew
pace yourself, use that Bible reading schedule
and read the Bible repeatedly
and look, this isn't a race
this is
I mean you're racing against yourself
but this isn't a sprint, it's a marathon
and so the goal should be
I'm going to read through the Bible
in 2025, but I'm also going to read the Bible through
in 2026, in 2027
and for the rest of my life
that is the goal
guideline number 1, read the Bible through
repeatedly, guideline number 2
study the Bible
with the intent to acquire knowledge
and
apply wisdom
so we should approach studying the Bible
with the intent to acquire
the knowledge of the Bible
but also to apply that
to that which we're learning, go to Psalm 111 if you would
Psalm 111
now this is important because you know
a lot of churches, specifically
fundamental Baptist churches
will often have this attitude of like
hey, you should read the Bible for
inspiration, not information
it's a very common phrase
amongst the old IFB
almost to the point where
they kind of downplay
the importance of just learning
the content and the knowledge of the Bible
but let me just remind you
that the Bible says to grow in grace
and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
and God does not want us to remain
simple when it comes to
the things of God. He doesn't want us
to have a simplistic disposition
when it comes to studying the word of God
He wants us to know the word of God
but in like manner
we're also supposed to apply the word of God as well
now there's going to be instances where you
learn something from the Bible and actually
there's no application to it
right? It's just information you're learning
and that's good. For example
you know, we learn about the wrath of God
in Revelation chapter 8
and on, but we don't have to apply it
because we're not even
going to be here, but it's knowledge
that He wants you to know. Now obviously
we can extrapolate some application
where it's like knowing
therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men
right? Like knowing that the wrath of God
is going to be poured upon this world, that should motivate
us to sow one right? We can
extrapolate that, but in general it's not like
alright man I got to make sure I get saved or
something because I don't want to, we're already saved
it's just knowledge that God wants
you to have and we don't want to downplay
knowledge, we do want to understand that knowledge
puffeth up, charity edifyeth
but we need both okay?
And so knowledge
is imparted, let me say this
knowledge is imparted into the person
that puts what they have
learned into practice
so a good motivator for you to
understand the Bible is make sure you
do the Bible, when you learn
something put it into practice
even if it's a secondary application
seek to put that
have the intention to put
what you're learning into practice
even if it's in a small way, why?
Because the more you practice what you
learn the more it gets ingrained
in who you are
and you're able to recall it that much the more
I'm going to read to you from James chapter 1
before we go to Psalm 111
James 1 verse 22 says, but be doers
of the word, not hearers only
deceiving your own selves
for if any be a hearer of the word
and not a doer he is like unto a man
beholding his natural face in a glass
for he beholdeth himself
and goeth his way and straightway
forget it with manner of man he was
but whoso looketh into the perfect law
of liberty and continueth therein
he being not a forgetful hearer
but a doer of the work this man
shall be blessed in his deed
I want my Bible study to be blessed
well in order for that to happen I need to make
sure that I'm actually applying
that which I'm reading, look at Psalm 111
and verse 10
it says here
the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom and I want you to notice this
a good understanding
have all they that do
his commandments
his praise endureth forever
hey do you want good understanding
then do his commandments
if you want a plenary thorough
understanding of the scripture
apply that which you are
learning, go to 2 Corinthians chapter 3
2 Corinthians chapter number 3
let me give you
just a practical example
of this particular point
regarding doing what you've learned
you know the Bible tells us that the fruit of the righteous
is a tree of life and he that
winneth souls is wise
you know one thing I've learned
in my personal life
and observing other Christians
the people who know the Bible the best
are those who go sowing
those who go and actually preach the gospel
are often the people who have a very
good understanding of the
scriptures, now why is that
well obviously from a
divine perspective we can say God
imparts knowledge to those
who are actually doing the work, it's like a reward
it's like a reward
you read the word of God
you go sowing and God just gives you
knowledge of the Bible and that's absolutely
true
but here's the thing is that you know
the reason why Christians actually
know the word of God because they go sowing
is because they're always confronted with situations
with people who are people asking them questions
so they're constantly exercising
that muscle of learning the word of God
people are asking them questions
about different topics, about different doctrines
forcing them into a position
where they have to learn
what the Bible says about that specific topic
therefore you're actually
learning the word of God and applying
it in real time
because how many of you have ever been stumped at the door
with the Bible question
I know I have, those of you who have not
you're just perfect, you just do
the commandments of God all the time
but I know I've been stumped
where it's just like, that was a curve ball
I didn't expect that one
but you know what, I'll tell you something
when that happens to me
you know what I do, I'm like
I will never get stumped with that ever again
I'm going to go back and I'm going to learn that
and I'm going to put that in my arsenal
and make sure that I'm ready
for the next time, so it causes me to
study the Bible with the intent
to put myself in that situation again
so that I can teach the Bible to that person
or answer that particular question
so this is why Christians who are actively
sowing can recall
Bible stories or passages
because they're constantly using them
and look
don't take this for granted
because you'd be surprised how many people out there
they can't even find the book of Romans
they can't find certain passages
of scripture, they don't know where they're at
whereas I'm sure your
soul winning Bible has that
little stain there
because you've referenced that passage of
scripture so many times, it's just like
your Bible's dirty from just your thumb
because you've got dirty thumbs
and you constantly flip into that passage
you're actually applying
the portions of scripture
that are being mentioned
so this is important
so guideline number one we said
the Bible should be read repeatedly, read the Bible
guideline number two, study the Bible
with the intent to acquire knowledge
and apply wisdom
guideline number three
understand the divisions
of the Bible
understand the divisions
of the Bible, we started off the sermon
in 2 Timothy chapter 2
that commands us to rightly
divide the word of truth
now let me explain
what that doesn't mean
because this
phrase, rightly dividing the word of truth
has been perverted
by the dipsticks of this world
named the dispensationalist
who will pervert
2 Timothy 2.15 to mean that
God has divided history into
7 different dispensations
7 different ways of
getting saved, 7 church
ages, and there's all these
types of divisions in the Bible that they impose
upon the word of God that don't exist
and
I'm not saying that every dispensationalist
is just a damnable heretic because that's not
true because there's some
light dispensationalists out there
who just are obsessed with Jews
and they believe we can
disappear at any moment or whatever
and if that's what they want to believe then they can be wrong about that
but then there's some hardcore
dispensationalists, we would call them
hyper dispensationalists
who pervert
the doctrine of salvation
because they say there's different manners of ways of getting
saved throughout history
and that's wrong, and they'll point to
2 Timothy 2.15 by saying
well you have to learn how to rightly divide the word of truth
you gotta reference Clarence Larkin's
book on
rightly dividing the word of truth
use his charts, that's how you can
get a plenary understanding
of the different dispensations of the
Bible even though the word dispensation
is only mentioned like three times
but there's seven different dispensations
apparently, okay
that's not what it's referring to
now is the Bible divided? Absolutely
okay, first and foremost
the Bible is divided into two
sections, right? Old Testament
New Testament, let me read to you from
2 Corinthians, or you're in 2 Corinthians
verse number 3, verse number 5 says
not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything
as of ourselves, but our
sufficiency is of God
who also hath made us able ministers
of the New Testament
not of the letter, but of the Spirit
for the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth life, so first and foremost
I want you to understand that
according to the Bible, we are
New Testament Christians, okay
not only that, but the Bible
divides it between the letter
and the Spirit, the letter referring
to the Old Testament, the Spirit
as actually referring to the
New Testament, so the Bible
is divided into two main sections
each further organized
into distinct categories
okay, Old New Testament
Old Testament, you have the books of the law
Genesis through Deuteronomy
then you have the historical books
which is Joshua through Esther
poetical books, Job, all the way through
Song of Solomon, then you have the major
prophets Isaiah through Daniel
then you have the minor prophets Hosea
all the way to Malachi
then you jump into the New Testament
broken up also into different sections
you have the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles
which would be considered somewhat of a historical
account, you have the Epistles
and then you have Eschatology with the book of Revelation
now turn with me if you would to
Daniel chapter 9, Daniel chapter 9 if you would
now this is important, right
understanding the divisions of the Bible
and the fact that each
section is further organized
into distinct categories
is very important to understand
when it comes to studying the Bible
why is that? Well this leads me into my
fourth guideline and that is that
subjects should be studied
within the category
that majors on those
themes and doctrines
let me repeat that again, guideline number 4
is that subjects
should be studied within the
category that majors
on those themes
and doctrines
you see there are certain books of the Bible
that specialize
in particular topics and doctrines
you should know what books
of the Bible to reference
when you're studying a specific subject
why is that? Well because
if we're talking about salvation we don't want
to reference the book of Proverbs
it's a poetical book that has nothing to do with
salvation
now let's look at an example of this, look at Daniel 9
verse 2, it says here
Daniel 9 verse 2 says
in the first year of his reign
I Daniel, listen to this
understood by books
the number of the years
where of the word of the Lord
came to Jeremiah the prophet
that he would accomplish 70 years
in the desolation of Jerusalem
so I want you to notice that
in order for Daniel to understand how
long the captivity, the Babylonian
captivity was, he didn't
reference the Pentateuch
he didn't reference Genesis, Exodus
Leviticus, Numbers, and John, what is he referencing?
He's referencing the book of Jeremiah
that specialized
in the Babylonian captivity
Daniel had the discernment that
if you wanted to know how long they were going to be
in captivity for, he needs to reference
the book of Jeremiah because that's a
book that specializes on the captivity
and specifically how long they were going to be
gone for
go to John chapter 20 if you will
John chapter 20, we also see
let me read to you from Matthew 24 and verse 15
Jesus Christ
when addressing the end times
says when he therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation
spoken of by Daniel the prophet
stand in the holy place
listen to this, who so readeth
let him understand
when Jesus Christ is addressing
the subject of end times
he addresses what? He references what?
the book of Daniel, why? Because the book of Daniel
is a book that specializes
on end times Bible prophecy
okay
now why is this important?
well let me explain to you why this is important
false prophets like to use books of the Bible
that have little or nothing to do with a particular subject
that they are trying to pervert
Jehovah's Witnesses
like to use Ecclesiastes
to teach on the doctrine of salvation
repent of your sins
the repent of your sins crowd
he likes to quote from Matthew, Mark, and Luke
but not from John, they avoid John
why? Because Matthew, Mark, and Luke
has the phrase repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
that term repent for the kingdom
that phrase repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
is not found in the book of John
why? Because the book of John
is one of the four gospels
that really hones in on
and majors on how to communicate the gospel
in a very simplistic manner
that the entire world can understand
look at John chapter 20 verse 30
and many other signs truly
that Jesus in the presence of his disciples
which are not written in this book
but these are written
referring to the book of John
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ
the son of God and that believing
ye might have life through his name
I mean how many times have you gone into
an argument or a debate
with someone who believes in a
repent of your sins false gospel
and they never quote the book of John
I can't tell you
I don't even recall
a conversation that I've had with someone
who believes in a false gospel
that ever addresses the book of John period
John 3.16
which is the most famous verse in the Bible
especially when it comes to salvation
and the book of John
is very
it communicates, it puts the cookie on the bottom shelf
when it comes to salvation
because let's just be honest
the doctrine of justification and salvation
can be very deep
there's portions of the Bible
for example a very systematic book
on justification would be what?
the book of Romans
and it goes deep into
this subject of justification
glorification, sanctification
salvation, by faith
imputation
requires a little more maturity
in that subject but here's the thing though
is that in order for someone who just doesn't
know any of that to get saved and to understand
the Bible the book of John is great
it's very elementary
very rudimentary
when it comes to its language
communicating the gospel, just believe
he that believeth on the son hath everlasting
life, he that believeth not the
son shall not see life but the wrath of God
abideth on him, I mean a child can understand
that, it's written in a very simplistic
manner, therefore the book of John
majors on the doctrine of
salvation by grace through faith
all you have to do is believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, that is a book that needs to be
referenced for salvation, not Matthew
Mark, Luke and John
now are there verses, can we
explain those verses in Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John? absolutely, but they need
to be explained in light of the clear
scriptures such as the book of John
not be referenced as the main scriptures for
salvation because people can get confused
okay
we're gonna have you to go to Romans chapter 4
Romans chapter 4
you know, Judaizers
like the Hebrew roots
the Hebrew movement, the 7 day Adventists
and the like will use the Old Testament
to teach you
that you have to keep the law
but will avoid books such as Romans
Galatians, Colossians and Hebrews
so a lot of these Hebrew roots
type Judaizers, they love
the Old Testament, they love the book
of Exodus, they love Leviticus, they love numbers
in Deuteronomy, but they will avoid
the epistles of Paul like the plague
you know, it's funny
how a lot of these Judaizers
just love, they claim to love
the word of God, they claim to love
the Bible, but you know, they just never
talk about what Jesus said
about Jews and about the synagogue
of Satan, they avoid that like the plague
even though that is a very
clear portion of scripture
I mean, he's like the authority, if all
we had was Jesus, if we're just supposed to listen
to Jesus, that's all we needed right there
right, to give clarification
as to what he thinks about that
liberal churches will use
the book of John to teach the love of God
but will ardently avoid
the Old Testament books that major
on the moral laws
you know, they love sticking to the New Testament
if they go to the
Old Testament, it might be for what, the book of Psalms
right
maybe Psalm 23
maybe Psalm 1
maybe the book of Proverbs
but God forbid you should study Leviticus 18
Leviticus chapter 20
Deuteronomy
or any other portion of the scripture in the Old Testament
and they'll say, well that's Old Testament
then why didn't you just throw it out then, huh
it's crazy how people are like
yeah, but that's Old Testament, so are you saying
we should just tear out that portion of our Bible
and never reference it ever again
no, because the Old Testament
though we're New Testament Christians
the Old Testament has its place in the life of a
Christian
and that's why the Bible says that all scripture is profitable
and so yeah, we're not going to address
we're not going to cite
the book of Leviticus
for verses on salvation
we're not going to cite it for
how to read the Bible
we're not going to cite it for how to resolve
or maybe you can't resolve it for a certain conflict
but you know, certain Christian
New Testament practices, how to conduct
the administration of a church
but you know what, it has its place
and there's a reason why God
put it in the Bible
so it's nonsensical to say we can never reference
these scriptures because it's Old Testament
you're basically saying God you made a mistake
by putting this book in the Bible
it has its place
and so we need to understand that each book
has its major
that it
talks about
and let me also say this is that the fundamentals
of the faith, meaning salvation
the resurrection
the doctrine of hell, heaven
the trinity, the word of God
the fundamentals of the faith
should be primarily learned
from the New Testament
when you want
to learn the fundamentals of the faith
you do not go to the Old Testament
you go to the New Testament
and here's one of my favorite phrases
the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed
the New Testament is the Old Testament
revealed
and let me just say this, and it's not sacrilegious to say it
the New Testament is better
than the Old Testament
and if all we have for the rest of history
any section, we'd go with the New Testament
we thank God that we have both
but the Bible literally calls
the New Testament a better covenant
established upon better promises
with a better mediator
so you need to make sure that whatever
systematic doctrine you're learning
you're getting it first
from the New Testament
and then you get the Old Testament passages
to reinforce those
clear teachings
let me read to you from Mark chapter 9
before we go into Romans chapter 4
this last verse here
for this point that I'm making
about
subjects being studied in the category
with the books that major on those specific themes
Mark chapter 9
is the Mount of Transfiguration
I'm not actually going to read the whole thing
but it's the Mount of Transfiguration
Jesus goes to the mount and who shows up?
You got Moses and you got Elijah
and of course
Peter is there, Peter, James and John
they see this and they're amazed by it
Peter puts his foot in his mouth and he's like
can I make three tabernacles?
and it's just like, what's that for?
and it's a very notable
miracle that takes place here
but it's very interesting because
once it's all said and done
verse 7 says this
and there was a cloud that overshadowed them
and a voice came out of the cloud saying
this is my beloved son, hear him
and obviously this is
elevating and exalting the fact that
Jesus is the ultimate authority
but isn't it interesting that
it doesn't necessarily negate the authority of Moses
or the authority of Elijah
it's just saying that Jesus Christ
of the New Testament is far more important
you know, think about this, Moses represents the what?
the law
Elijah represents the what?
the prophets
but when it comes to Jesus, hear ye him
showing us that the emphasis should always be placed
upon Jesus Christ
this is why when we study the Bible
we study it seeking out Jesus Christ
even in the Old Testament
because it all revolves around him
so what are the guidelines?
guideline number 1 is the Bible should be read repeatedly
number 2, study the Bible with the intent to acquire knowledge
and to apply wisdom
number 3, understand the divisions of the Bible
number 4
is that subjects should be studied within the category
that majors on those themes and doctrines
guideline number 5
is this
fundamental doctrines are firmly
established through clear
teachings in the Bible
what is a clear teaching?
John 3.16 is a clear teaching
and you know, I've never met a
heretic that can really explain to me what John 3.16
means
when they're just like, no, you gotta
you know, faith without works is dead
and you quote John 3.16
I can explain to them James chapter 2
but they can't seem to explain
John 3.16, why? because it's too easy
it's too clear
it's just right
there
it's the verse that even
unsaved people can quote
the only unsaved people
that can quote James 2 are the ones
that think that they're saved
but people who are not saved
who don't even claim the name of Christ
they can quote you John 3.16
because God wants all the world to know
look at Romans
chapter 4
in verse number 1 it says
Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found
for if Abraham were justified
by works he hath whereof to glory but not
before God
for what saith the scripture
Abraham believed God
and it was counted unto him
for righteousness
not to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of
grace but of debt
but to him that worketh not but believeth on him
that justifieth the ungodly
his faith is counted for righteousness
now verse 5 of Romans 4
there's a very clear portion of scripture
that teaches us
that it's not by works
and it's so clear and concise
it's so blatant
that it even uses the phrase
but to him that worketh not
which is a very
because you know people can say well we're not saved by works
but if you don't work you're not saved
well here it says but to him that worketh not
so it's even given the example
if this person just never
does any works he's still
justified because he believed
and quite frankly I've never met a
heretic that can explain that verse to me
they always jump around and go to different
portions of scripture but they can never
actually correctly interpret
this portion now while
stories dark sayings
and what I mean by dark sayings
I mean you know these
portions of scripture that are
enigmatic they're hard to understand
that's what a dark saying is
while stories dark sayings and
variables can reinforce doctrines
they should not be used
as the foundation for establishing
them okay so you should
never go to some enigmatic
dark saying of the Old Testament
in order to prove a doctrine
it only reinforces
doctrines that are already clearly stated
in the New Testament
that are already clearly said
okay and in fact you know
even in the New Testament by the way
because who's the writer
of the New Testament that has some of the
darkest sayings the apostle Paul
I mean when you read for example
second Corinthians he has so many
run-on sentences it's just
like you kind of lost me for a bit there all right let me
let me read this again because this is so you know he
just writes in that style where it's kind of
dark not dark like in
dark humor I'm talking about like dark as in like it's
hard to understand okay
and in fact second Peter chapter 3
verse 15 says all 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 meaning that they twist
as they do also the other scriptures
unto their own destruction ye
therefore beloved seeing you know
these things before beware
lest he also being led away with the
error of the wicked fall from your own
steadfastness what is this telling us
it's telling us that wicked people false prophets
actually know what they're doing
when they take these very
enigmatic scriptures they do
with the intent to twist them
because you know there's a lot of dark sayings
in the Old Testament where you can kind of
extrapolate any interpretation
you can pretty much use it to teach
anything because it's not clear
right and
so false prophets will use
that instead of going to
John 3 16 John 3 36
Romans 4 5 you know the book of
Romans they rather go to the very
dark portions of scripture where you can
pretty much pull out any type of interpretation
ok
and so fundamental doctrines are firmly
established through clear teachings
in the Bible
so what are we saying here let me
repeat these guidelines here the Bible should be read
repeatedly you should study
the Bible with the intent to acquire knowledge
and apply wisdom
understand that the Bible excuse me
understand the divisions of the Bible
subjects should be studied within the
category that majors on
those themes and doctrines
fundamental doctrines are firmly established
through clear teachings in the Bible guideline
number 6 and we're almost done
here's a very obvious one but
it's very important and that is study
verses within their
context
context by the way is just another way of saying
within its text ok
now that I have you turned somewhere
did I have you go anywhere
go to Deuteronomy chapter
30 Deuteronomy chapter 30
I'm
going to read to you from 2 Peter chapter 1
verse 16 says for we have not followed
cunningly devised
fables
when we made known unto you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ but were eye witnesses
of his majesty notice that he says
cunningly devised
fables the Bible also
talks about that we henceforth be no more children
tossed about carried about with every wind
of doctrine by the slight of men and
cunning craft in us whereby
they lie in wait to deceive
the Bible also says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2
when talking about the interpretation
of scripture it says in verse 13
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
this is when we say that you need to
interpret scripture with
scripture not isolate
a verse and build up an
entire argument off of
that one verse but rather already
have an established doctrine
and use other portions to reinforce
those doctrines okay not
isolate scriptures now passages
what are some of the passages that people
take out of context Matthew 7
that's a major
one I mean that entire
chapter is just butchered by people
judge not
that you be not judge and just
scribble out the rest of that chapter
you know you shouldn't judge anybody because
the Bible says judge not
lest ye be judged they didn't even quote
you got one verse to quote
you couldn't even get that one right you said less
there's no less there
judge not that you be not judged and it's
just like that's the all
end scripture to never
be mean to anybody to never
call out sin to never
call out any false doctrine
just never judge
that's a verse that's taken
it's completely ripped out of context
right
James 2 faith without
works is dead being alone
one of the most notorious passages to be
taken out of context okay
and so you know people
use this all the time I mean just mark
it down if you ever post anything on social
media about grace getting saved
by grace through faith alone just mark it down
if some false prophet sees it they're
gonna put James 2
just mark it down it's always
gonna happen you always have someone put
faith without works is dead being or
some some variation of that right
faith without works is
unalive you know whatever whatever they
say nowadays
but here's the thing is that you say
well that is in its context well the
context of the chapter is not about salvation
you know the context of the book
itself is actually written to believers
it's actually about being a respecter
of people okay
and quite frankly the
the vast majority of the people who
quote James chapter 2 to preach a
false gospel if you gave them the Bible
and said find me James chapter 2 they wouldn't be able to do
it they're just parroting
with other people say
they rip Matthew 7 out of context
they rip James chapter 2 out of context
has nothing to do with that Matthew
chapter 7 has to do with false prophets
you know and it's crazy
by the way in Matthew because Matthew 7 also
you know the mid part of Matthew
7 they take out of context
talking about you know many
was saying to me that day Lord
Lord and so they mock
and criticize the sinners prayer
they mock and criticize
calling upon the name of the Lord for salvation
using Matthew chapter 7
many will say to me in that day
Lord well first of all I'm saying unto
him Lord save me today if I'm
not saved not then
secondly that portion of scripture
is addressing false prophets
who are depending on their works
so the very false doctrine
they're promoting
is the very false doctrine
that Matthew chapter 7 is fighting against
right
they're like oh you can't just believe
and call upon the name of the Lord
many will say unto me in that day
Lord Lord yeah but what else do they say
done many wonderful
works cast out devils in thy name
prophesied in thy name
these are all works
they're doing the things that you do
and they're not saved
why do they do that
because they're ripping it out of context
okay
James 2 out of context let me give you another one that they rip out of context
Genesis chapter 12
you know when they want to
worship the Jews and Israel
and you know
one of the funniest me obviously what's
going on in Los Angeles isn't funny
you know I believe God is judging it but there's
righteous people there it's sad
it's taking place there
but you know I enjoy a good meme every once in a while
okay forgive me
but one of the memes I saw I love
is just like oh man it's so devastating
all these fires let's send
a billion dollars to Israel
it's just like that's the solution to every problem
it's just like oh man something catastrophic
happened let's send money to
Israel right now you know
I saw another let me
deviate from the sermon just to tell you about another
meme
but it said one of these videos are real
but reals are kind of like memes now
and this real was just like if
movies were actually accurate
and it's just like Mr. President
Mr. President you know the aliens have come
and they destroyed you know Washington D.C.
and they're threatening to destroy the rest of the country
he's like what send a billion
dollars to Israel I was like
if movies were accurate that's probably what would happen
I mean Israel or
Ukraine one of the two right
but you know the
people who listen to this who hate this
mostly the people in the south are like brother
you can say that all you want
but Genesis
chapter 12
says bless them that bless
thee you know and it's just
like you're ripping it out of context
yeah let's just go ahead and avoid
Galatians 3 16 then
so are you an Old Testament Christian
because you're acting like you don't know the New Testament
you know
I would get that if you're just
completely confused about it and you're only stuck
in the Old Testament but we're New Testament
Christians here and we have the entire book of Galatians
that literally gives
us the interpretation of Genesis
chapter 12
and if you're a New Testament Christian guess
what the New Testament supersedes
the old
we don't interpret Galatians 3 16
based off of Genesis chapter 12 we
interpret Genesis chapter 12 based off of
Galatians 3 16
there's a slew of scriptures that
destroy Zionism
brother I just believe the Bible
no you don't
I just believe the Bible brother
I just you know I'm just gonna pray for it
find me a verse
in the New Testament that says to pray for Israel
I'll find you one in the Old find me one
in the New because you're a New Testament Christian
find me
one in the New because I look I can
find you verses in the New Testament
that prays against Israel
and so you know passages are taken
out of context so it's important for us to
know the context
and what do we mean by context when you
run into a passage that you don't understand you gotta read the verses
before and the verses after even
the chapters before and the chapters after
I don't think you gotta go too far but
you know you gotta work your way out
of that passage of scripture
why because sometimes
people think you know because we have
the divisions of the chapters
that automatically this thought
is only isolated to this portion
of this chapter but sometimes it just
it's you know it's it's overflow is residual
from the previous chapter
so we gotta study it holistically
in its context okay
so read the Bible in its
context and let me also say this
you also have to read the context of the
entire Bible meaning
that if the Bible holistically
teaches that we're saved by grace through faith
don't interpret all
hundred verses off of
this one verse
it's like you have a bunch of verses that say we're saved
by believing and then one that says
that you know work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling don't just change your
salvation doctrine off of that one
verse you need to realize
that number one this probably has nothing
to do with those other verses you're just
misinterpreting that you
gotta read it in its
context okay
now I like this phrase because it's very true
and that is when when studying
the Bible there's one interpretation
but many
applications
I don't know about that you know
that sounds like ice to Jesus
no
there is one interpretation of the Bible
but because the Bible is very deep
a lot of passages actually have
various applications that you
can have that's not even
within the context of whatever it is you're reading
okay
so let me say this and I don't want you to misunderstand
what I'm telling you right now because obviously I'm teaching you
that you gotta read you gotta interpret passages
within their context
but let me also say this you know I don't think it's wrong
to quote scripture
out of context
at times
as a secondary application for an
already established doctrine
meaning if the Bible already
teaches us something
in the Bible that's very clear
I don't think it's wrong to pull out another scripture
even if it's out of context
to reinforce that teaching because in
general that is what this teaches
you understand what I'm saying? Now let me give you an example
of this okay look at Deuteronomy chapter 30
and as we're
reading this passage
you know just think to yourself what does this
passage remind me of
look what it says in Deuteronomy 30 verse 11
verse 11 says for this commandment which I command
thee this day it is not
hidden from thee neither is afar
off it is not in heaven
that thou shouldst say who shall go up
for us to heaven and bring it
unto us that we may hear it and do it
neither is it beyond the sea
that thou shouldst say who shall
go over the sea for us
and bring it unto us that we may hear it and do it
but the word is very
nigh unto thee in thy
mouth and in thy heart
that thou mayest do it now someone
tell me what does that remind you of?
Romans what?
Romans chapter 10 now
Romans chapter 10 has to do with salvation
Paul wrote down
Romans chapter 10 out of
context using these verses from
Deuteronomy 30 that has nothing to do with salvation
Deuteronomy 30 has to do with just keeping the commandments
of God but the wording
is just so good the
Apostle Paul is like I'm going to recycle this
and use it to talk about salvation
now his
use of
Deuteronomy 30 does not negate
Deuteronomy 30 he's just giving a
secondary application to the words and the statements
that are being made here that applies to
salvation you understand
and so you know sometimes and I'm not saying
this is appropriate to do when
when you're trying to establish a doctrine
I'm talking about reinforcing
doctrines and teachings that are already
well established in the Bible
there's actually nothing wrong with extrapolating
other verses of the Bible to reinforce
those things because at the end of the day
one verse has one application
but it does have many applications
okay
so guidelines for
studying the Bible the Bible should be read repeatedly
study the Bible with the intent to
acquire knowledge and apply wisdom
number three understand the divisions of
the Bible number four
subjects should be studied within the
category that majors on
those themes and doctrines
number five is that fundamental doctrines
are firmly established
through clear teachings in the Bible
number six study verses within
their context and lastly
number seven study the
Bible listen to this with
pulpit commentary
study the Bible with pulpit commentary
go to Ephesians chapter 4
and we're done here Ephesians chapter 4
you see
I'm not necessarily against commentary
I'm just against bad commentary
and the majority of the
commentaries out there are pretty bad
I'm sure there's good ones out there
but one of the best commentaries of the Bible
is the Bible itself first and foremost
there's 66 commentaries right here
one of the best commentators is the
Holy Spirit in fact he is the commentator
he's the author of the Bible
but one of the most
effective yet sanctioned
commentaries is actually the preaching
of God's word in the local New Testament church
look at Ephesians 4 verse 11
it says and he gave some apostles
and some prophets and some evangelists
and some pastors
and some teachers for the
perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry
for the edifying of the body of Christ
till we all come in the
unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the son of God
unto a perfect man unto the measure of the
statue of the fullness of Christ
that we henceforth be no more children
tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine
by the slight of men
and cunning craft in this whereby they lie in wait to deceive
so according to the Bible
God gave us pastors
churches to
reinforce doctrines
that you're already learning but also
to keep you normal in your doctrine
you see if you're watching
online no one's there to tell you
that's a stupid interpretation
you're watching online
from the comforts of your couch
you're about to play Minecraft after you hear
this sermon
you got chips on your stomach on your belly
you got soda you know got pizza on the way
and you're getting all these deep truths
of the word of God but then you're
just like oh man you know
I got this one interpretation you know you
need to express that interpretation to
other people so that people can tell you
that sounds stupid
that sounds crazy
that's not what the Bible teaches
pulpit commentary is necessary
and not just pulpit commentary just
just the commentary of the brethren
right
you know you come to church and you're like hey I got this
got this
doctrine I want to
share with you real quick
hey brother how's it going
now I'm not saying that
pastor me is wrong or anything but
you tell me what you think you know
it's like a cunningly it's not even cunning
it's just like the it's a foolish devised fable
and then you know it gives you
interpretation and you're like that's
not biblical let me explain to you why it's
not biblical and you just shut them down
and then they're just like oh man
I guess I'm not right about that you know
but you can people can't really do that
if they're just always at home listening
to the Bible and let me just remind
everyone in here tonight that
online preaching is not
church
that should be a not controversial
point right there
watching preaching
online is not church
you're watching church
you're watching
other people do church
okay
but you're not in church
oh yeah we do church we just do it
online there's no online
in the Bible you're watching
other people obey the Bible
you're watching other people
obey God
now I get it some people are in certain
remote areas where they don't have a church
but quite frankly let me just
say this I don't have a whole lot of
sympathy for them and let me explain to you why
the Rodriguez's that's why
okay
you guys know what I'm talking about the Rodriguez's
who drive like three hours obviously they're not here tonight
bad example but in general they're
here Sunday morning Sunday night Thursday night
they're they're they're the ones
I'm preaching against right now actually because they're probably watching
you know but they're you know they're here
and they drive like three hours
to get to be here at church
so you know obviously
I sympathize a little bit with people if they don't have a church
in their area but you know we have people
who are so committed that they drive hours
every single week
from San Diego
they drive from what is that Oxnard
is that correct Oxnard
I mean you know we've had people even drive from
like Utah
to come here you know and so you know
I get it but you know at the same time
there's other people who actually make the drive because it's
important to them
online preaching is not church at all
now look if you're sick
you're projectile vomiting
you're running a fever of 103 or whatever
stay home and just listen to the preaching
and get in church the following week
but don't make it a habit to just
watching church
watching other people serve God
watching other people forsake not the assembling
of ourselves together
because here's the thing you need
to be in person first of all
for the fellowship but also
because of the fact that you need to be normalized
through the preaching of God's word and
one of the reasons you need the fellowship is because
you might interpret the Bible differently than what
the Bible is actually teaching
so you might come up with an interpretation and say hey you know
does this mean this and it's just like no
it doesn't this is actually what it means
and then you're going to hear preaching from the pulpit
that's going to correct your doctrine
and kind of stabilize you as a Christian
that's why it's so important
that stuff needs to be shamed
that's why there's so many weirdos
out online
so many flat earthers
and coming up with all types of conspiracies
and weird interpretations
of the Bible because they don't have
anyone telling them they're wrong
they're just a bunch of keyboard warriors
just telling them what they
how they feel about a situation
but most of what they say online
they'll never say face to face
church is church
church is in person
it's assembling together
and so
when you're studying the Bible
a key element to have
is you've got to be in church as well
and I can't tell you how many times
as a new Christian
I was reading the word of God
and it's one of the most pleasurable
experiences ever
I'm reading the word of God, I'm studying something
and then the pastor preaches on that particular subject
or he answers a particular question
and he's just like, well I was
just talking about that with someone
who told him, that's the ministry
of the pulpit
it's enriching
it enriches your Bible study that much more
or maybe you're perplexed and you're just like
I don't understand what this means
you come to church and the pastor answers it
without you even having to talk to him
or someone just brings it up to you in person
that's why it's important, so these are some very
important guidelines for you to take
so you can effectively
successfully study the Bible
Amen? Let's pray, Father we thank you so much
for your word and thank you
for the guidelines that you set
forth within the Bible to help us to have
a greater understanding of the Bible
Lord, we don't want to deviate into weird
and vain janglings and babblings
Lord, we don't want to get involved
in that which profane and that which is
not pleasing to you, things that will
increase into more ungodliness, I pray you
help us Lord as your people to study
to show ourselves and prove them to God
help us to be people that are not ashamed
and help us to truly, rightly
divide the word of truth and none of us
are perfect at it, but these guidelines
and principles that you set forth can help
us perfect our Bible study
and I pray that you help us take these things
to heart, to apply them this week
we love you and we thank you, we pray these things in Jesus' name
Amen