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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, good morning everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats. As you find a seat, please turn your songbooks to song number 66 at Calvary, song number 66, and let's all stand together for this first song, If You Are Able. Song number 66 at Calvary, all together nice and strong on that first verse. Years I spent in vanity and pride Caring not my Lord was crucified Knowing not it was for me he died on Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Born and there was multiplied to me There my burdens solve at liberty At Calvary By God's word at last my sin I learned Then I trembled at the law I've spurned Till my guilty soul and glory turned To Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Born and there was multiplied to me There my burdens solve at liberty At Calvary Oh the love that true salvation's planned Oh the grace that I've held today Oh the mighty gulf that God did spend At Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Born and there was multiplied to me There my burdens solve at liberty At Calvary Now I've given to Jesus everything Now I gladly own him as my king Now my raptured soul can only sing Of Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Born and there was multiplied to me There my burdens solve at liberty At Calvary Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start off our service with a word of prayer. Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for giving us another day, Lord. That we can come here to your house in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And we thank you for all the blessings that you give us, Lord, and the blessings of Calvary And eternal life and salvation, Lord, of course. And I just ask that you please bless the service this morning, Lord. Please bless every aspect of it, the singing, the preaching. Please fill Pastor Mihi with your spirit as he preaches the message unto us. And give us your spirit also in the congregation, Lord, that we can take what he preaches and apply it to our lives. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Please sing your song books to song number 473. Song number 473, Ship Ahoy. Song number 473, Ship Ahoy, all together on that first verse. I was drifting away on life's biddiless sea And the angry waves threatened my ruin to be When away at my side there I dimly descried A stately old vessel and loudly I cried Ship ahoy, ship ahoy And loudly I cried, ship ahoy Twas the old ship of Zion the sailing along And the captain sky near ever ready to hear Caught my wail of distress as I cried out in fear Ship ahoy, ship ahoy As I cried out in fear, ship ahoy The good captain commanded a boat to be lowered He took me on board and I'm happy today All my sins washed away in the blood of my Savior And now I can say bless the Lord, bless the Lord I can say bless the Lord Oh soul sinking down, it's His merciless way Then trust Him today, no longer delay For the old ship of Zion and shout on your way Jesus saves, Jesus saves Shout and sing on your way, Jesus saves For the old ship of Zion and shout on your way, Jesus saves Shout and sing on your way, Jesus saves Shout and sing on your way, Jesus saves Shout and sing on your way, Jesus saves A round of applause. So congratulations to them. We'll add them to the list there. And keep her in prayer. Of course you see the important reminders there at the bottom. Some of the upcoming church events. Friday September 29th we have the home school field trip. And that will be at Kids Space Children's Museum. Meeting there at 945. The activity is free. And so you can see my wife if you are interested in that. She has all the details. And then on Saturday October 7th is the Ladies Prayer Breakfast here at the building. Meeting at 10am. If you'd like to participate or you want to be of help you can talk to Ms. Janelle Gonzalez. She heads that up. And then on Friday October 27th is the Home School Park Day. And then let me give one last announcement before this last announcement. And that is this Friday Pastor Anderson will be preaching at Holdfast Baptist Church in Fresno. And so a group is going out there from our church. Brother Glenn is going to be driving the church van up there. And so if you'd like to catch that. You want to catch a ride with the van there and the church van. He's meeting here at 1am. Not 1am. Although I wouldn't put it past him. Actually to meet here at 1am. Now he's meeting here at 1pm. And so the van will be leaving promptly around 1.30 or so. But meet here at 1pm. And then he's going to be heading out to Fresno. And so Pastor Anderson is going to be preaching at our church in December. He was supposed to come around during the summer during his road trip. But of course he got injured and so he's going to be making his rounds over here in the beginning of December. And so we'll let you know when that is. And then lastly here Sunday October 29th is the Fall Program. Now typically the Fall Program begins at the beginning of October. But this year we're going to do a little different. We're actually going to start it towards the end of October. And finish it off with the banquet. And so the first day of the Fall Program though is a big push for visitors. Okay. So that instead of bringing visitors throughout the entire program. Although you can. We want to encourage everyone to bring it on that specific day which is the 29th. And we will have a gift card and a reward system for that. And so I'll give you more details next week. We're going to lay out the entire calendar on the left hand side for next week. But just keep that in mind. Keep that in prayer. Fall Program begins Sunday October 29th. Looking forward to a great fall and conclusion to the year. And then you see there at the bottom the regular reminders. No food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee. Please make sure you're not loitering in the four year fellowship hall during the preaching service. Quiet time of course is this afternoon from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. And then please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching. So as to not be a distraction during the service. And that is it. Let's go ahead and sing our next song. Number 152, Security. Song number 152, Security. Altogether on that first verse. More secure is no one ever Than the loved ones of the Savior Not yon star on high abiding Nor the bird in homeness hiding God His own doth tend and nourish In His holy courts they flourish Like a Father kind He spares them In His loving arms He bears them Neither life nor death can ever From the Lord His children sever For His love and deep compassion Comfort them in tribulation Little flood to joy then yield be Jacob's God will ever shield be Rest secure with this defender At His will all foes surrender What He takes or what He gives us Shows the Father's love so precious We may trust His purpose wholly Tis His children's welfare solely Amen. Wonderful singing. At this time the ushers will come forth to receive the offering. You can turn your Bibles to 2 Peter chapter number 1. Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. Good morning. We're in 2 Peter chapter number 1. 2 Peter chapter 1 and the Bible reads, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things ye shall never fall, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet as long as I am in this tabernacle to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me. Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. 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 eyewitnesses of his majesty. For we received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. In this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. 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 verse, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. 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. Let's pray to the Lord God, just ask that you would meet with us here now, please bless the preaching, please strengthen Pastor Mejia and help us to be edified and to be better Christians as a result, in Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Amen. Okay, we're in 2 Peter chapter 1, and look down at your Bibles at verse number 20, it says, knowing this verse, 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. And the title of my sermon this morning is Holy Men of God. Holy Men of God. This morning, I want to preach about the men that God used to pen the scriptures. And obviously we know that at the end of the day, God is the ultimate author of the Word of God. The Bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Ultimately, God is the author of the Word of God, but obviously he used human instruments to pen down his words for the generations to come. And I want to talk about these particular men that the Bible refers to, and why is it that God calls them Holy Men of God? And some of the misconceptions regarding that title as being a holy man and what a lot of false religions will claim that actually means. Now I want to do a little bit of comparison this morning with the Holy Men of God in the Bible and what's commonly referred to as the Qumran sect. Yes, I'm going to talk about the Qumran sect again. A couple weeks ago, I preached on the book of Enoch and I touched on the Qumran sect a little bit, but I'm going to go a little more in depth of who they are. And if you don't know who they are, then that's great because now you're going to learn something new and you probably forgot what I talked about a couple weeks ago. And so a lot of this stuff will be new to you. Now let's talk about Holy Men of God here and what the Bible says about them. Let me read to you a couple scriptures by way of introduction. Hebrews chapter 1, you don't have to turn there. Verse number 1 says, God who at sun-dried times and in diverse manners, spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Now obviously we understand that in the Old Testament God didn't always pen down, or should I say, he didn't always speak to a prophet face to face. Sometimes he would do it third person, second person, in diverse manners, sundry times the Bible talks about. Maybe it's through a vision. Maybe it's through a dream that he spoke unto them. But at the end of the day, whatever it is that we have here in the scriptures is exactly what God wanted us to know, what he wanted us to read and have for all generations. Let me say this about the men of God who are referred to as the holy men of God here in 2 Peter, is that first and foremost, they weren't carried about with every wind of doctrine. Look at verse 15 of 2 Peter chapter 1. This is Peter speaking. He says in verse 15, Moreover I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. So he's saying, you know, the reason I'm repeating these things to you, teaching you the word of God, is because once I die, I want you to keep these things in mind. I don't want you to forget about what the Bible says regarding the preservation, inspiration and preservation of scripture. He says in verse 16, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables. Now the men of God of the Bible who were used to pen the Bible, they weren't perfect men, but they weren't carried about with every wind of doctrine either. They weren't just buying into Jewish fables and endless genealogies. Obviously they weren't the most perfect of men. All of them made mistakes to one extent or another. But at the end of the day, when it comes to their testimony and their witness of Jesus Christ, they were correct. Because they didn't follow lies and fables and all this nonsense that was around in their time. He says in verse 16, 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 eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory. When there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount. So what is he talking about? He's referring to the Mount of Transfiguration. And what he's explaining here is that he has a pretty strong testimony because he was actually present when Jesus Christ was there. He was present with James and John at the Mount of Transfiguration. He was clearly a first-hand witness of these events. So what does that do? It lends credibility to Peter and his teachings, what he's saying here. But even on top of that, he's not necessarily relying on that testimony per se, on that vision, on that experience at the Mount of Transfiguration. Or should I say he doesn't want his readers to rely on his particular visions and dreams to validate what he's saying is true. Look at verse 19, we have also a more sure word of prophecy. What is he saying? The written word has more credibility than even his eyewitness and his dream and his experience at the Mount of Transfiguration. He says this is more sure, it's more stable, it's more credible. Why? Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what dreams or visions you may have, even if they are in accordance with the Bible, at the end of the day the Word of God is the final authority. So our experiences, visions, I don't have visions, but if you were to have visions, and dreams, even if they match up with the Word of God, at the end of the day the Word of God is superior to that. And that's important because of the fact that we live in a day and age where everyone has visions. And everyone has all these prophetic dreams and revelations from God and they try to share these visions and dreams as though they're authoritative and they come from God and they try to supplant the Bible by their visions and dreams, whereas the Word of God tells us that we need to put this first above all else. It doesn't matter how convincing the dream is, how convincing the vision is, how convincing the antidote may be, we go to the more sure word of prophecy. He says that we have also a more sure word of prophecy where unto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shineth in the dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Verse 20, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. In other words, all the prophetic statements in the Bible, the Word of God, is not something that is just subject to one person. What Peter is saying lines up with what Paul said. What Peter is saying lines up with what Paul said. What Paul said lines up with what Jesus said. What Jesus says lines up with what the prophets say. They're all in accordance because it's not just a private interpretation. It's in harmony with the Word of God. You'll never find a prophet, a scribe, an apostle, a disciple, penning the Word of God down saying something completely different than what everyone else says in the Bible. It's all in harmony. Why? Because at the end of the day, the author is God who's using these men throughout history to pen down these words. Therefore, there's no contradictions in the Bible. And someone tries to point out, well, what about this contradiction? You don't know how to answer that. Just believe the Bible. A lot of times, people are swayed to doubt the Bible and think that maybe there is contradictions and errors in the Bible because someone points out a seemingly contradiction, a seeming contradiction, and think, oh man, maybe this isn't the Word of God. Whereas what the Bible wants us to do is to approach it with faith. And the Bible says, he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them to diligently seek. So we have to believe the Bible whether we understand it or not. And by experience, we know that the more we read the Word of God, the more we understand it, the more we realize these aren't errors or contradictions. We just need to understand the Word of God more. And of course, the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to teach us the Word of God as the years go by. So he says, no prophecy of the Scriptures of any private interpretation. Why? Verse 21. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man. You know, the reason why these other extra biblical revelations outside of the Bible, the reason they contradict themselves, the reason there's errors is because they're made by the will of man. They're not made by God's will. They're made by self-willed men who have their own agenda, a nefarious agenda to corrupt God's Word. And we know that man is in error. Man makes mistakes. Man will corrupt things. And so when he writes something and claims it to be the Word of God when it's not inspired by God, you know, it's going to have errors. It is going to be of a private interpretation because it's by the will of man. He says, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So obviously when we read the Word of God from cover to cover, we see that a lot of the Scriptures are written with the writer's personality, right? We have the writer's personality being inserted into the text when John writes his epistle his letter, his gospel. It's obviously very much distinct to John and the way he writes. That's why a lot of similar words are being used in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John and even in the book of Revelation because the human author has distinct attributes in his writings, right? However, what the doctrine that he's saying matches up with Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The doctrines that he teaches matches up with Paul. And what's interesting is that the vast majority of the New Testament is written by Paul. Okay? And a lot of what Paul teaches matches up with the gospels even though the gospels were not physically written as of yet during the time of Paul's ministry. So he didn't have the gospels to reference when he's writing his epistles. He didn't have Matthew 23, or excuse me, Matthew 24 to reference for end times Bible prophecy and teaching that the rapture is after the tribulation and all these doctrines that match up with the word of God. He didn't have that, but it doesn't matter because he had the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Ghost is not going to lead him astray, he's going to inspire him to pen the correct words. And that's why we can place our faith in the word of God. Not because of the men themselves. Not because there's something special about them, but because they were inspired by God to pen the word of God. And in fact, the majority of the writers, I shouldn't say the majority, all the scribes who are used to pen down the word of God in the Old Testament are unknown. We don't know who they are. We know of Moses, we know of David, we know of the big shots, but there are certain prophets and writers and scribes that pen down the word of God that are just nameless. They're just like the unknown soldier. And you say, well then how can we trust the writings? Because at the end of the day, the author is God. And it doesn't matter who he uses to pen the word of God, as long as he's the one behind the inspiration of the text, we're a-okay. Amen? And so I want to talk about these men. Now let me say a couple things regarding what it means to be a holy man. Because a lot of religions, namely Catholicism, Orthodoxy, will insert a certain definition to what it means to be holy, right? A holy man of God. Let me tell you what it doesn't mean first and foremost, okay? It doesn't mean to be absent of sin. So when the Bible talks about holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, this doesn't mean that they were just completely absent of sin. They were sinless. They were without fault. No, these men were sinners. And in fact, some of these were murderers. And in fact, some of these were adulterers. Now go to Romans chapter seven, if you would, Romans chapter number seven. So holy men of God, don't get it mistaken, holy men of God, holy men of God does not mean you're sinless. And we can literally point to the vast majority of writers in the Old and New Testament and see how God greatly used them in spite of just glaring flaws and sins that they had. You know, there's an exception. There's a couple exceptions. You have Daniel, for example, who was a man who was above reproach and the Bible doesn't seem to highlight a lot of his flaws, but it depends upon the narrative of scripture. We know that he was a sinner like everyone else. There's no exception to that rule. And in fact, look at Romans chapter seven in verse 14, the Apostle Paul speaking here, who again was used greatly to pen down the majority of the New Testament. It says in verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. What is he saying? He's a fleshly Christian. He's carnal, fleshly. It says in verse 15, for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. What is he saying? That there's instances in his life where he doesn't do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. And there's instances where he does do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. You say, well, what's the explanation to that? The flesh versus the spirit. How can God use the Apostle Paul who's injurious, he was a blasphemer, he was disobedient. He's saying he's carnal and sometimes he doesn't do that which is right. How can God use such a man to pen down the word of God? Because he's a holy man of God and holy man doesn't mean sinless. He says there in verse 17, now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Now, don't misunderstand what this is saying. He's not passing the buck here and it's not like he's not taking responsibility for his actions. It's not like, hey, the devil made me do it. Or it's just like, oh, man, my flesh takes over and I have no control over it. It's not what he's referring to here because his flesh, the sin that dwells within him regarding his flesh is a part of who he is. That is Paul. That is Saul. And so God does hold him accountable in this life for the sins that he commits. He says in verse 18, for I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, I find not. So one of the greatest Christians of the New Testament is divulging his experience and his difficulties and his struggles that he's carnal, he's fleshly, he sins. Now, how can we apply this to us as Christians? Well, obviously we're not being used to pen down the word of God because we already have it in these 66 books. But you know, when it comes to serving God and living for the Lord, it doesn't mean you have to be perfect. You know, God expects you to be a holy person and to be able to attain this side of eternity. It's just like, well, you know, in order to be used of God, to get people saved, to influence people's lives, to make an impact in this world, you just have to be this perfect person who's read the Bible perfectly, who understands the statutes perfectly, who obeys God perfectly. That person doesn't exist. And we preach you have to repent of your sins, not to be saved, but to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord. But nowhere do we teach or does the Bible show that you have to be sinless in order to serve God because it's impossible to attain. You cannot be sinless this side of eternity. Obviously we know that there is a doctrine in the Bible known as sanctification where God is continuously cleaning us and sanctifying us on a day-to-day basis as we read the word of God, as we hear preaching, as we walk in the Spirit. That's an important aspect of the Christian life. But you know what? No amount of sanctification this side of eternity will ever make you completely clean because our cleanliness in its entirety, in its totality, doesn't come until we die and our souls go to heaven and we are separated from this filthy rag of the flesh where we're no longer tempted to sin. Being a holy man of God, being a holy woman of God doesn't mean you have to be sinless. Don't listen to these holier than thou, these self-righteous pompous jerks out there and these churches that want to condemn people for their sin and say they're not even saved because they're sinful, because they commit all these sins or whatever and yet the pastor is often one of the biggest sinners. Most ignorant person in the church and that's the most hypocritical person in the church. So what is a holy man of God? It doesn't mean to be absent of sin but also it doesn't mean to be pious. Go to Matthew chapter 23, we're going to cover Matthew 23 this coming Thursday in more detail. What do I mean by pious? Meaning self-righteous, thinking that they're better than other people, just having this holier than thou type of attitude and they are essentially trying to live a holy life not because they want to please God, because they want everyone else to see them living a holy life. Look at verse 5, when talking about the Pharisees it says, but all their works they do for to be seen of men, they make brothel phylacteries and enlarge the borders of their garments and love the uppermost rooms at feast and the chief seats in the synagogues and greetings in the markets and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. So the Pharisees weren't being separated and living holy lives in a practical manner so that they can please God, they're doing it to be seen of men. They want people to look at them and think, oh wow man this guy is a holy man of God, oh man this guy is so holy and righteous I can't attain into that level of spirituality but at the end of the day they were some of the most rotten people of that time. Outwardly their sepulchres so to speak were adorned beautifully but inwardly they were full of dead men's bones the Bible says. Now obviously God wants us to live literally righteous lives but he also wants it to reflect the righteousness that's inside as well. And he wants us to do it with the right motive because we love the Lord and we want to please God. You don't have to turn there but go to 1 Timothy chapter 4 I'm going to read to you from Isaiah 65 and verse number 5 it says, Which say, this is referring to Israel who had become a self-righteous pious group of people in the days of Isaiah, they would say this, Which say, stand by thyself, I'm holier than thou. I mean how self-righteous and ungodly and just wicked do you have to be to say such a thing right? Just not self-aware to say well don't come near unto me because I'm holier than you. These are a smoke in my nose and a fire that burneth all the day meaning that people like that annoy God. And these aren't just people who exist existed in Isaiah's day they exist today too. Holier than thou, pious, self-righteous, arrogant people who think that they're better than everyone else and in some instances, obviously they're saved holier than thou's but the vast majority of holier than thou's are not saved. They live like that or they portray themselves to be something that they're not because they want to redirect attention to someone else they want people to think that they are righteous people they want to feign themselves to be just men. Here's another thing that when it comes to holy men and what it doesn't mean it doesn't mean to be ascetic. What does that mean? To go without. Asceticism is the teaching that you essentially relinquish the pleasures of this world the possessions of this world because you think it has something to do with holiness. And when I think of this particular concept I think of monks. And I'll get into that in just a bit but I think of monks and I'll get into that in just a bit where they essentially go without certain pleasures and possessions of this world because they think that that increases their godliness. But you know the Bible tells us that God has given us all things richly to enjoy and in fact, they'll often a lot of these types of groups and cults will often focus on two major things that they need to give up. Right? Food and alcohol food and relationships with women. Marriage. But you know the Bible says that's the doctrine of devils. Look at 1 Timothy 4 verse 1 it says, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils speaking lies in hypocrisy having their conscience seared with the hot iron Now, correct me if I'm wrong but you know this really kind of highlights the Catholics and Orthodox, right? Church. And they say well you know that's just someone's choice well no no they forbid priests to marry and where do they get that from? Because priests in the Bible and the Old Testament were married and in fact it was imperative for the priests in the Old Testament to marry because they were part of the priesthood and so the generations that came after them the sons that they were bearing were going to take up their mantle to become priests so where are those children coming from if they're just celibate their entire lives? The priests in the Old Testament were not celibate men of God who just stayed away from women no they got married because marriage is a biblical institution set forth by God it's holy matrimony, amen? But these guys forbid to marry and what they say is that a lot of these sex communities and religious groups that claim to be so pious that they're forbid to marry they're often some of the most perverted people who commit really wicked sexual acts so it says there verse 3 forbidding to marry oh look what it also says and commanding to abstain from meats now obviously meats is referring to food in general but I do believe that in this particular verse it's referring to animal based products you say well you know I don't know how you can get that because meats can be used if you talk about bread or any type of food in general yeah but the text later on says for every creature of God is good so if it's talking about creatures it's talking about an animal and lo and behold Catholics are also guilty of commanding their congregates to abstain from meat on Good Friday for example but other religions do this as well so they can't abstain from meats which God has created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth for every creature of God is good and nothing to be refused if it be received with thanksgiving for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer and look this is one of the reasons that I personally am against veganism and vegetarianism not saying that a person who's a vegan or a vegetarian is ungodly and they're wicked because they're not in the narrative of the Bible it's very much pro-animal based products and against plant based diets and in fact the Bible specifically says in Romans 14 that he that eateth herbs is weak now you say yeah but that's referring to their faith okay wasn't that the most important thing so you can interpret it either way if it's referring to your faith being weak okay then start eating meat so your faith can increase and be a better Christian if that's what it's referring to okay well I don't want to be bodily weak either I don't want any type of weakness that will hinder me from serving God okay now at the end of the day meats don't commend us unto the Lord okay so having a specific diet doesn't make you a worse or a better Christian however when we look at the narrative of the Bible it seems to be more pro-animal based diet products than plant based and it seems to condemn those who forbid people from eating meat okay to abstain command to abstain to eat meat the Bible says in Hebrews 13 and verse 9 you don't have to turn there be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace not with meats which have not profited them that have been occupied therein so don't make it so much about what we're eating because like I said what you eat doesn't necessarily make you a better Christian or not but it does improve your quality of life which in turn improves your spiritual life as well because we're three elements right mind body and spirit and so that's important now let me I don't want to deviate too much from that the next thing I want to say is that holy men of God doesn't mean monasticism okay and I kind of already referred to this you know just like well I'm so holy I'm gonna go out to the desert or some island and just isolate myself in a monastery okay you know the Bible talks about going out into the highways and hedges it doesn't talk about having a ministry with a bunch of dudes on an island in the middle of the desert secluded from every secluded from all the communities around the world and cities and towns it commands us to go out into the world and preach the gospel it commands us to preach the gospel go therefore and teach all nations you know we're to go out there to the people who don't have Christ who don't have the word of God and preach the word of God into them not isolate ourselves in a particular part of the world where we're just away from the influences of the world away from the influences of worldliness and lust and covetousness no actually we live in the world and we're supposed to minister into the world as well okay so what made the writers of the Bible holy men of God now I'm referring specifically to the writers of the word of God okay because obviously God also providentially used men later on to preserve the Bible such as our beloved King James Bible by translating it these men weren't necessarily some of them weren't saved okay some of them have different beliefs but because they held faithful to the translation of the Bible of the underlying Greek text and the Hebrew text that's why we have a great King James Bible so these men were providentially used to preserve the Bible I'm talking about those who were used to pen its words down okay now let me just say this is that what made these men holy well first and foremost is the most obvious and that is that they were saved okay they were saved look at 1 Peter chapter 1 if you would go to 1 Peter chapter 1 say why is that important I want to talk a little bit about the Qumran sect okay and the Qumran community is essentially a group of Jewish apostates that had forsaken the temple of their time and went into the middle of the desert in Qumran next to the Dead Sea created this commune of their believers of believers not necessarily believers of the word of God but they created this commune where they essentially lived this ascetic monastic type life apart from Judaism apart from the biblical Israel apart from the temple that God commanded people to participate in and they were simply in this desert just kind of living Jewish monk life okay and what they did a lot of their times they spent in communal eatings they spent penning down scriptures that were already in existence they spent penning down a lot of their own writings so when you think of or when you hear about what's called the Dead Sea Scrolls this is what that's referring to and a lot of people make a big deal about the Dead Sea Scrolls as though it's something novel or something that is exotic but at the end of the day they're just that they're dead they have no life to them we never want to refer to the word of God as being powerful sharper than any two-edged sword it pierces even to the dividing of center of soul and spirit joints of the marrow and is a discernment of the thoughts and the intent of the heart the Dead Sea Scrolls are simply that they're dead they're dead writings that have no life they have no power well when they dug up these scrolls there's approximately 930 manuscripts that were found 400 of which were considered the word of God and in fact 400 of them were about were the Old Testament the exclusion of the Book of Esther and even some of the writings that were found that were from the Old Testament they were kind of changed a little bit you have Genesis Apocryphon where the writings are slightly changed the narratives are changed in there you had two copies of the Book of Isaiah one of them which the Qumran sect wrote and then another one which was the legitimate Isaiah rendition so it's not like they didn't have a good copy of the Bible they had it there but then aside from those biblical manuscripts they also had apocryphal readings or what's also known as pseudopigraphal readings such as the book of Enoch the book of Thomas the book of Jubilees things of that nature just readings that were only subject to or relevant to the Qumran sect so in this community they had this library of all of these writings and all they would do is just copy these words copy these scrolls well it's said that in 70 AD when Rome took over Jerusalem and they're just kind of wiping out all the Jews there that they probably came after the Qumran sect and in light of that the Qumran sect essentially took those writings and put these writings in these caves in Qumran which are essentially in close proximity to the community 11 caves as it were and then later on in 1947 you have this Bedouin shepherd looking for his flocks he throws a rock into one of the caves here's pottery shattering and then he goes in there and he discovers all of these manuscripts and essentially 11 of them were just filled with manuscripts different items and that's what's known as the Dead Sea Scrolls okay well a lot of people esteem these men as being just legitimate holy men of God because when they look at the way they live they seem to be so devoted and so ascetic and they're living this monastery type life and they seem to be so strict on their religious beliefs it's like they're holy men of God and they were just used to preserve not only these apocryphal readings but even the word of God but here's the thing folks is that the word of God existed before the Qumran sect the Old Testament scriptures were already in existence and in service to the world they were in circulation before the Qumran sect from the 3rd, 2nd, 1st century BC they were already in existence so people try to say you know I know it looks bad that the Qumran sect had these apocryphal readings they had, and not just apocryphal readings by the way they also had just private readings of community rules and just letters that they would write to the high priest in Jerusalem criticizing them just all these private readings and so when you look at those readings when you look at those writings you see all the stuff that they said you're like man this group is crazy so people who are advocates of these apocryphal readings will say I know this looks bad that they had all these that they were against the temple and all of these customs that were sanctioned by God authorized by God to be carried out in the temple yeah but sorry that doesn't count because biblical texts existed before them and in fact think about this that makes it even worse that they had the biblical texts it actually doesn't help their narrative at all you say why? because of the fact that tomb server much is given of him shall be much required so why were they so wicked and apostate if they had the biblical texts right? because they had the Bible that means they had no excuse to go apostate and start teaching all of these extra biblical rules that weren't found in the word of God if they had the word of God so they're actually accountable for more right? and so they can't use this excuse as oh you know but they did preserve these biblical writings no they didn't because some of them they changed and even the ones that they didn't they didn't listen to they are elevating their writings and the rules of their communities and the teachings of the actual Bible itself look at 1 Peter 1 oh this is what I wanted to say they weren't saved which is the most important aspect right? all that to say they weren't saved because anybody who changes the word of God is not saved they weren't saved they had this heavy belief on predestination by the way which if I was a Calvinist I would not want anyone to know that my spiritual ancestors were these Jewish monks who were allegedly by the way celibate and they had this weird view on women that I'll share later on in the sermon but they believed in predestination some would even allege that they didn't even believe in an afterlife so what's the point of believing in predestination if you didn't believe in an afterlife? 1 Peter 1 says receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently about the grace that should come unto you referring to Jesus verse 11 searching what or what manner of time listen to this the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow talk about the spirit of Christ that dwelt within them now we obviously know in the Old Testament the spirit of God didn't indwell believers permanently but there were instances where he did indwell in them okay and Jesus said later on when talking about the comforter who's the Holy Ghost he says he dwells in you or he dwells with you and shall be in you so obviously the transition between Old and New Testament and one of the major transitions is that the Holy Ghost not only dwells with believers but actually dwells within them as well the Bible says in Ephesians 1 13 in whom ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also after that ye believed ye received with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession essentially signifying our salvation so these holy men of God they weren't sinless they weren't perfect but they were saved and in fact when the Bible talks about saved people it often refers to them as holy because they're separated unto the Lord via salvation and faith in Christ this is why the Bible also refers to believers as this saints which is another term that Catholics have hijacked a saint doesn't mean someone who doesn't sin a saint is someone who's been separated unto God by the gospel of Jesus Christ by their belief and faith in Jesus Christ so we're saints here all of us are saints you know the Catholics is like a dead Catholic has to wait like a thousand years or something to be considered a saint in the eyes of the Catholic Church based upon their works so it's like they finally get their plaque hundreds of years later that they're a saint as they're burning in hell folks we don't even have to do anything to be a saint other than believe on the Lord Jesus Christ holy means set apart you know the Bible says the Holy Spirit of God is sealed within us unto the day of redemption which is why we shouldn't grieve the Holy Spirit of God when talking about David it says in Mark chapter 12 you don't have to turn there go with me if you would to first Peter you're in first Peter stay in first Peter Mark chapter 12 verse 35 says and Jesus answered and said while he taught in the temple how say the scribes that Christ is the son of David for David himself said by the Holy Ghost the Lord said to my Lord sit thou on my right hand till I make the enemies thy footstool now David murderer David adulterer I mean he did a lot of bad stuff in his lifetime and yet he spake by the Holy Ghost why because he was saved he was a holy man of God who was used greatly to pen down the Psalms whom we all love and we love the Psalms we considered it inspired scripture because David was a holy man of God you know there's Psalms in the Dead Sea Scrolls with its own insertion of the Qumran sects little ideologies in it and it's garbage they add weird ideologies and doctrines to it try to make it their own they try to custom fit it to their community it sounds like trash because it's not God's word and so the Qumran sect was not a safe group of people they're very pious they are Jewish monks living in this monastery in the middle of the desert who have these ungodly rules that are not sanctioned or authorized by God these are rules that they have set forth they're teaching for doctrines the commandments of men and in fact honestly they make the Pharisees look like almost like Christians because they're so strict and ridiculous on their laws they're even against the Pharisees and the Sadducees teachings I mean good night you're in 1 Peter let me say this is the holy men of God these men were saved but they were also separated from the world listen to this and separated unto God the Qumran sect they were separated from the world they were so separated they lived in the desert with no one around they're away from Jerusalem away from the temple away from the epicenter of worship of the true God of the Bible they're in the desert but it's not like they're evangelizing though they're just kind of keeping to themselves so they're like these Amish who just go into the middle of the desert I think it's in what is it Pennsylvania they're just going to the middle of nowhere to just live this ascetic holy pious life pleasing unto God but they're not pleasing unto God because that's not God's model for Christians to live in this world he doesn't want us to be so separated from these metropolitan cities where people are that we just don't come in contact with anybody that's not godly why because he wants us to proclaim his word to everyone he wants us to convert people to Christianity he wants us to go to the highway and hedges and reach people and talk about the Bible that's what he wants us to do not just move up our stakes and go somewhere in the middle of nowhere and let's just be like Jim Jones and Guyana which is exactly what he did and by the way this is a common this is the common model for all cults they always like to just take their church or take their group of people and just move to the middle of nowhere with no accountability and just kind of live their own private lives that's not the model of the Bible no one in the word of God did that what do we see with Paul he's going to Rome he's going to Greece he's going where the people are at he's going where the fish are biting he's not so holy and righteous and pious that he's just like come not near me Apollos come not near me Aquila and Priscilla no he's going to them the men of the Bible were separated but they were separated unto God see it's important that we are live separated lives but not just separated lives we need to be separated unto the Lord for his services it says in 1 Peter 1.14 as obedient children not fashioning yourselves according to the form of lust and your ignorance but as he which hath called you is holy so be holy in all manner of conversation conversation there is not necessarily referring to our words it's referring to our conduct because it is written be holy for I am holy John chapter 17 John chapter 17 and then I'm going to get into some of the comparisons with the Qumran sect and some of the wild things that they believed now keep in mind these are the people that modern scholars and people who are advocates of this of these apocryphal and pseudopigraphal writings like to uphold and say oh man these are the guys they were so devoted and they kept these scrolls they kept these writings but you know what we're going to peel back we're not model Christians we're not model believers we're not model Jews either but what it says in John 17 and verse 9 Jesus Christ speaking here of his disciples says I pray for them I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine and all are mine are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them and now I am no more in the world but these are in the world and I am come to thee that they may be one as we are while I was with them in the world I kept them in thy name those that thou gavest me I have kept and none of them is lost but the son of perdition referring to Judas that the scripture might be fulfilled and now come I to thee and these things I speak in the world that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves I have given them thy word and the world hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world God is making his people distinct from everyone else he says we are not of this world and by the way being not of this world doesn't mean you have to put a sticker on your vehicle that says not of this world he's like oh man he could have fooled me he's saying there I have given them thy word so what separates us from the world? the word what separates us from the world system? the word of God does our beliefs our doctrines our biblical ideologies is what makes us different from the world which is why God is constantly telling us to renew our minds transform our minds to have not a worldly mindset to be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind of course via the word of God so the word of God separates us from this world makes us different he says in verse 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world so he says there I'm not trying to ask you to take my disciples and Christians out of the world but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil so the model that we see is that we live in this world we are essentially in the thick of it with the evil compassing us round about but we're still separated by the word of God not separated to a geographical location separated in here and in here by the word of God so the separation is not a physical separation it's a spiritual separation it's a heart separation it's the fact that the world is crucified unto us and we into the world via our beliefs because at the end of the day why do people when it comes to Christians the world to a certain extent can admire Christians and even things that are good people it's just until you start telling them what you believe what the Bible says so when they look at you and your family and all the kiddos and they're just like wow what a beautiful family oh man you guys just look so great you guys look like Christians but then once you start telling them what you believe and in fact let me say this when you describe what you believe from the Bible you don't have to separate from people people separate from you people are like I don't know what to do with my worldly friends just tell them what you believe easy that's too easy if you're having a hard time with your worldly friends all you got to do is tell them what the Bible says and they will quickly separate from you because what makes us holy is the Bible what makes us different the Bible what makes us distinct and separated from everyone else in this world not our geographical location it's the Bible and God says Jesus is saying I don't want you to take them out of the metropolitan city I don't want you to take them out of California I want you to keep them from Gavin Newsom I want you to keep them from Hollywood I want you to keep them from the Jews and all the wickedness of this world I want you to keep them from the false ideologies that this world is pushing I don't want you to keep them from their geographical location I want to make sure that they're just holy in the way they believe so here's what's funny about for example the Amish they're so physically holy that they're separated from everyone but they're profane up here because they don't believe right they believe in a workspace of salvation they're separated from the world that one day when they die they're going to go straight to hell he says in verse 16 they are not of the world even as I am not of the world listen to this again sanctify them through a geographical location is that what it is? sanctify them by helping them to move somewhere in the mountains, in the cabin away from all of the influences of the world no it says sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth as thou hast sent me into the world even so have I also sent them into the world what is he saying? just the way God sent God the Son to this world separated from heaven but to preach the word of God and to be salvation unto the world Jesus Christ is sending us to the metropolitan cities to these areas in the world not to be separated from them but to trust them hey folks stay holy up here I just don't like you know and by the way if you don't like city life you want to live in a farm I'm not against you but don't move so far away that you're just away from everyone and you're not reaching anyone right you know if you're not a city dweller I get you I actually don't get you because I'm a city boy and I love the city and this is where I'm going to be but you know what if you're the type of person you like I want a farm and a cow and a chicken hey I'm all for that I'm going to get some eggs from you amen how's it going Sarah you know I'm all for it I think it's great you know to have raw milk and all these things but let me say this hey don't be so separated that you're not reaching the loss right don't be so separated that you're just you know you're not even in touch with a church that's all a lot of people have become right be in church be separated from the world up here be separated from the world here stay where the people are at not like this Qumran sect alright let me get into some of the beliefs of the Qumran sect as I mentioned the Qumran sect was a community of apostate Jews who essentially boycotted the temple uh led in the middle of the desert to start what essentially became a Jewish monastery and their writings speak of a man by the name or by the title of the teacher of righteousness okay and he's essentially the one who's accredited for influencing these group of men or Jews in Jerusalem to come out with him into this monastery type living and he's essentially the one who's responsible for teaching these extreme pious rules that exceeded the boundaries of God's laws okay they had very strange beliefs regarding purity uh they were it was outside of the parameters of God's world when it came to the purity laws and in fact they specifically wrote a letter to the high priest it's known as the halakhic letter where they're essentially criticizing the temple and the high priest and basically highlighting 22 differences between the way they observe sacrificial and ritual or excuse me sacrificial and purity laws and the inferiority of the way those in Jerusalem would observe them and they basically said like hey if you're willing to change your ways we'll come back you know but I don't think anybody even esteemed them as being so important that they wanted them to come back but they literally were so high and mighty in their own sight that they thought you know if you're willing to change your ways your customs and essentially adopt our views we'll come back they had really strange views on women too okay now in some of their writings you see that it's possible that there were celibate men who were living there if they weren't celibate maybe some of them were married it's not 100% sure whether that's the case or not but when you look at some of their writings you see that they had a very strange view on women they had a couple writings regarding women such as the wiles of the wicked woman and it's kind of similar to your Proverbs 6 and 7 chapter of women just kind of warning the men to stay away from godless women who will seek to seduce them things of that nature and you think to yourself well that's not bad good warnings you know we should be warned of that but then they also had another writing describing wisdom as a woman which the Bible also does right in Proverbs chapter 8 we have you know the book of Proverbs highlighting or giving that symbolic representation of wisdom as having feminine features but the Bible describes her as being like our sister whereas the woman in the wisdom writings of the Qumran sect is sexualized and I can't even read what it says because it just sounds perverse and so the goal of the writing of the wiles of the wicked woman is to not be enthralled sexually with this woman whereas the goal of the writing of the book of wisdom is to get enthralled with that woman in a sexual way so their description of gaining wisdom and knowledge is very much similar to sexual acts you say why? because they're probably perverse because unto the pure all things are pure but unto them which are defiled is nothing pure but even their mind and their conscience is defiled so even something as wholesome and pure as wisdom they perverted and they often say yeah but they had the book of Genesis though that's the first book yeah but it was called the Genesis Apocryphon and they insert there an extended description of Sarah and how beautiful she was something that was not in the word of God obviously the Bible talks about her being fair but it spends an inordinate amount of time talking about her features in Genesis Apocryphon so very strange views on women let's talk about their membership qualifications because when you think about the membership at Qumran generally it's noted that it was about 150 to 200 people living there at a time from the third century BC to the first century AD and so it was about 200 people at any given time but they had really strange qualifications to become a member of their community now here at our church this is the way you become a member get saved, you get baptized and you just start coming here pretty simple you don't have to fill out a membership covenant you don't have to sign over your social security and give us all your information get saved, get baptized, come to our church you're a member of our church like how do I lose my membership? stop coming to our church pretty simple right? but their membership qualifications were radical because think about you got to think about the fact that they had these very weird views on purity and so a person who wanted to join the Qumran community I don't know why they would but if they wanted to join that sect they were considered ritually impure for at least three years ritually impure so the first year they're ritually impure they cannot touch the solid foods for an entire year now they can have their own little food but as far as the communal eating is concerned they can't touch the solid foods because if they did it would be ritually impure because they're considered ritually impure for an entire year second year okay you're still ritually impure but you can touch the solid foods you just can't touch the liquids because these the Qumran sect were really big on these purification baths they would constantly purify themselves with water and they had all these pools where they would do so but they weren't allowed to touch any liquid whatsoever in the second year because they were considered ritually impure third year okay after thorough examination now you can touch both solid foods and liquids and now your possessions and your property can be integrated into the community so it's just like now that you're a member now your stuff is our stuff okay I mean it sounds like a cult it's like sign over your deeds property, possessions, everything you own can now be fully integrated into the community and in fact if a person refused to integrate their property into the community like let's say they had you know just a lot of expensive things and they didn't want to like share that with the community there is actually a penal code of punishment in their writings where their rations would be reduced their food rations would be reduced it's like oh you don't want to give me your property okay well just take half of that rice there or half of this food and you don't get as much I mean this is crazy not exemplified in the Bible whatsoever and in fact the priesthood in the Old Testament had an over abundance of food to work with most of the time because you know a lot of those sacrifices they got to partake of God made sure that he took care of his priests whereas these guys the teacher of righteousness here along with this community are punishing people if they're not willing to give up their possessions and their property okay you can't have as much food then these are the crazy things that they believe okay they're very big on apocalypticism referring to the fact that they're very much obsessed listen to this with the ideology that Christ can come at any moment that's what they believed and this is very much evident in their writings they believe that the Messiah which is not Jesus by the way could come at any moment because they believe that their Messiah came at them from the house of Aaron whereas we know that Jesus Christ came from the tribe of Judah okay but they believed so strongly listen to this they believed so strongly in the imminency of Christ that they literally thought that they were in a new messianic era where they considered themselves the sons of light and everyone else were the sons of darkness and they even predicted that when the Messiah would come that there would be a 40 year war between the sons of, where the sons of light would drive out the Roman Empire and that this war would be essentially mirrored in heaven in the cosmos well history says otherwise okay because the Roman Empire ended up destroying Jerusalem in 70 AD so you know I don't know if you know this but the Bible says if you make a prediction and it doesn't come to pass you're a false prophet that's exactly what happened to them and let me just say this the imminency of Christ they didn't even bother to prepare a successor for when the teacher of righteousness died because according to their predictions once the teacher of righteousness died that was the marker to indicate that the Messiah was coming speedily well when he died they had to scramble around and find officers to take over his responsibilities because obviously the Messiah didn't show up so they were really big on that and obviously we know based upon their writings they're really big on the end times which is something that the book of Enoch is very much about is end times Bible prophecy false end times Bible prophecy the teacher of righteousness his writings were often geared towards and against the high priest that he would refer to as the wicked priest or the teacher of lies but think about this you know you say well yeah but that's just what they believe you know leave them alone you know they did preserve the scriptures they had yeah they had apocryphal readings but they also had the word of God well here's the thing though there's zero evidence that the Qumran sect ever evangelized they never evangelized so think about this you know if they really believed that the book of Enoch was just the inspired and preserved word of God that it's so beautiful and it's God's word and it has so much value why aren't you sharing it with the world then why are you hiding it if you believe these apocryphal readings are so valuable and godly and something that the world needs to know why weren't you going to the highways and hedges proclaiming it why are you keeping it exclusive why are you hiding it under a bushel why are you putting it in a cave for thousands of years and no one's finding it until the 1900s I mean think about that yeah but they were used to preserve the Bible well okay why not preach it you know the Bible says in Romans chapter 10 and verse 18 when talking about the word of God that their sound went into all the earth and their word unto the ends of the world why because God's intention for his word was never to just have a prophet write down the word of God and put it in a cave and just hide it under a bushel his intention has always been to proclaim his word from the housetops to spread it to all nations throughout all generations to be hindered so that every generation would have the word of God well you know what either the book of Enoch and these apocryphal readings are God's word and God is lying here or it's not God's word it's proven by the fact that it was hidden for generations to come because no one cared about it it wasn't being used they weren't using it to evangelize they weren't spreading the word of God to different parts of the known world at that time they were only secluding it to themselves keeping it to themselves for the Bible but of course those apocryphal readings pseudepigraphal readings are not the Bible go to Philippians chapter 2 and you know people want to point and say yeah but you know here's the thing though the New Testament has some seeming quotes from these apocryphal readings such as the book of Enoch you know because I always point to that you know Matthew and Peter and Jude they did quote you know some of those apocryphal readings well aside from the fact that it says Enoch prophesied it doesn't say Enoch wrote these things they seem to forget that we literally have 4,000 years worth of biblical history in the Old Testament dozens of scribes dozens of prophets who were in closer proximity to the so-called book of Enoch than the New Testament writers and yet not a single one of them ever said as Enoch had said as Enoch had written as the scripture had said in the book of Enoch why? because it's not God's word and so if you have 4,000 years worth of biblical history in the Old Testament dozens of prophets preaching the word of God talking about Old Testament prophetic statements and writings why isn't Enoch mentioned even once? if this book is an antediluvian book that survived the flood why is it missing through the annals of biblical history? I'll tell you why because it wasn't real it didn't exist until these people came and wrote it and tried to make it seem as though it's the word of God along with every other writing that's within those manuscripts look what the Bible says in Philippians chapter 2 verse 14 do all things without murmurings and disputings they ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke in the middle of the desert away from everyone not in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation think about that he says you're to be the sons of God without rebuke harmless and blameless in the midst in the middle of a midst of a crooked and perverse nation listen to this among whom you shine as lights in the world how are you going to shine in the middle of the desert when there's no dark lights around there's no darkness around to shine in there's no people to shine forth from the Bible says let your light so shine before rocks before sand and mountains no let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven he says among whom you shine as lights in the world in order for us to even shine brightly we have to be in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation hey the darker the night the brighter the light he says in verse 16 holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain can we really say that the Qubran sect was doing something like this they weren't in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation they were the crooked and perverse nation right because we are a royal priesthood a holy generation we are the chosen generation they're the crooked and perverse nation they didn't have any light and what light they literally physically held on to they didn't obey they supplanted the word of God that they possessed because they were into their writings and their visions or whatever you know that's not God's will go back to 2 Peter if you would 2 Peter let me finish with this is that the men who were used to pen the word of God were holy men of God because they were spirit filled men who spake by the Holy Ghost you see one key factor regarding these men who pen the Bible is the fact that it doesn't matter how short they fell or how flawed they were at the end of the day what they wrote matched up and was in conjunction with the rest of the Bible because the Holy Ghost spake through them okay look at 2 Peter 1 verse 20 again it says 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 the Qumran sect were not holy men these were men which separated themselves sensual having not the spirit that's what the bio says about that whereas the holy men of God these are men who spake the words not what man's word teaches but what the Holy Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual Bible says but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God neither can he know them for they are spiritually discerned they are foolishness unto him for they are spiritually discerned that's what the Bible says and so thank God for the holy men of God that were used to pen the word of God and they are an example unto us that you don't have to be this devoted monk you don't have to join a monastery and go without food and sleep and the pleasures and possessions of this world to be a godly Christian no you have to be holy here and you have to be holy here but you don't have to be so separated that you're just better than everyone else in this world you know we're not better than anyone in this world we're just better off because of our faith in Christ and so what can we learn from this? well first and foremost what we can learn is that we don't need any extra biblical revelations outside of the word of God the word of God is enough we don't need exotic teachings on giants on you know purity laws that are outside of the parameters of God's word we don't need exotic teachings about the end times because the book of Revelation is sufficient along with the gospels and even the book of Daniel and 1 and 2 Thessalonians that's all we need we don't need any extra biblical revelation or rules outside of the parameters of God's word we just need to know to stay away from that one tree and all the other trees are good to go right? whereas the Qumran say they're just like don't eat any tree don't even need it all and if you don't give me your possessions then your rations are going to be taken away from you you know it's just this nonsense and so don't let people tell you well you know my Bible is superior because what it uses for its underlying texts are the Dead Sea Scrolls have you ever heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls? this is what you can tell them yeah and they're exactly that dead they have no life to them because the Holy Spirit didn't inspire that and so why would I want manuscripts and let me just say this last thing okay I'm done already it's close let me say this last thing we believe in the inspired and the inspiration we believe in the inspiration and preservation of scripture preservation does not mean that God preserved a physical document in a cave preservation means that God has preserved his word within the hands of believers throughout the generations so they can be read, obeyed, preached, lived from, and adhered to that's what preservation means it doesn't mean like he you just you find a document in a cave oh man God preserved his word that's not preservation preservation is that the document stays alive that is being read in churches that people are using it in church and out of church preaching the gospel that people are reading it in their homes obeying its readings becoming more godly because of their readings did the book of Enoch make any any Christian better? no in the thousand years that it's been in hiding it didn't improve anybody's life and you know it should have remained in that cave should have stayed in that cave because we believe in the inspiration and preservation of scripture meaning that God inspired holy men of God to pen down these words and those words that Peter wrote are the words that we have today because Christians throughout generations have used them unhindered in churches in homes door to door evangelizing and sowing and memorizing and obeying and using throughout the eras that's what preservation means and so thank God for the word of God Amen let's pray Father we thank you so much for your word and we thank you for the holy men of God who spake Lord that you use as human instruments to pen down the word of God we know that 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 these apocryphal readings and pseudepigraphal writings they are in direct contradiction to the Bible because they were made by the will of man however we know that what we have in our hands is the inspired and preserved word of God for your people and that it's been around for ages and ages not just a hundred years not just a thousand years but thousands of years throughout all human history we've had the word of God because you've never allowed your people to go without it man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God and so in order for churches and Christians to thrive we need the word of God in every generation help us as your people to appreciate the holy men of God that you used and recognize that holy doesn't mean sinless it doesn't mean that they were perfect it just means they were separated unto you for the work that you've called them to do and I pray that you'd help us to take that to heart in Jesus name we pray Amen please turn your songbooks to song number 372 song number 372 let the lower lights be burning song number 372 all together on that first verse brightly beams our Father's mercy from his lighthouse evermore but to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore let the lower lights be burning send a gleam across the wave some poor fainting struggling seamen you may rescue you may save dark the night of sin has settled loud the angry billows roar eager eyes are watching longing for the lights along the shore let the lower lights be burning send a gleam across the wave some poor fainting struggling seamen you may rescue you may save trim your feeble lamb my brother some poor sailor tempest tossed trying now to make the harbor in the darkness may be lost let the lower lights be burning send a gleam across the wave some poor fainting struggling seamen you may rescue you may save amen wonderful singing you are dismissed