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. All right, good evening everyone, welcome to Mountain Baptist Church. If you would take a song book and turn to song number 308. Song number 308, we'll sing, I Surrender All, if we could all stand. We'll sing song number 308, I Surrender All. All to Jesus I surrender all, to him I freely give, I will ever love and trust him in his presence daily live. I surrender all, I surrender all, all to thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender humbly at his feet I bow. Worldly pleasures all forsaken take me Jesus take me now, I surrender all, I surrender all, all to thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all, all to Jesus I surrender. Make me Savior, holy thine, let me feel the Holy Spirit, truly know that thou art mine, I surrender all, I surrender all, all to thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all. All to Jesus I surrender, Lord I give myself to thee, fill me with thy love and power, let thy blessing fall on me. I surrender all, I surrender all, all to thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all. Alright if we would pray, dear God thank you for this day, thank you for our church, I just pray that you would be with us tonight and fill Pastor with your spirit and help us all to learn from the message in Jesus name, Amen. You may be seated, and turn to song number 127, we'll do Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, song number 127. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take him at his word, just to rest upon his promise, just to know the safe the Lord. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust him more. Oh how sweet to trust in Jesus, just to trust his cleansing blood, just in simple faith to plunge beneath the healing cleansing flood. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust him more. Yes, tis sweet to trust in Jesus, just from sin and self to cease, just from Jesus simply taking life and rest and joy and peace. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust him more. I'm so glad I learned to trust thee, precious Jesus, Savior friend, and I know that thou art with me, will be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him, how I've proved him o'er and o'er, Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust him more. The service time, so nothing different there. Just remember that the big thing that we've got coming up here is this Saturday we have the Soling Marathon in Moundsville. And so we're going to be meeting at the Panera, right there on Cabela Drive at around 9, 930. And so we'll have refreshments there for that, and then we'll be heading down to Moundsville. So if you can make it out to that, I think it'll be a great time, I think it'll be fruitful. Obviously be in prayer for the weather, I think it's supposed to be nice, but we'll find out. Last time we went to Wheeling, was it last time that it poured rain? Like in the, or was that the second time? Or that was the first time we went, that it started pouring down rain. And then it was, when we went to McMechen was the second time, I don't think it rained on us like that. But anyway, that being said, that's coming up, and then we have our anniversary service. So our four year anniversary is coming up, and so that's this Sunday, we're going to celebrate that. So we're going to have a fellowship in between services, so we're going to provide food for that. But if you want to bring any type of dessert, or anything like that, you're more than welcome to. And then at the end of the month here, we have the retreat. So if you have any questions about that, I believe everybody here is going to that. So I'll have to ask whether you're coming or not, but basically, if you have any questions about that, we'll try to get you, maybe we'll get one of those pamphlets that shows you the map of the area, or something like that to give you a little heads up, for those that haven't been there. Those that have been there, you know, you don't get anything. You just have to remember. I'm just kidding. But chapter memory, we have Galatians 5 for this month to memorize. And then 1 John 5, 4 is our memory verse for the week. And so whatsoever is born of God over cometh the world, and this is the victory that over cometh the world, even our faith. And so that's a good memory verse to have. And maybe next week we'll do 1 John 5, 5. So those two verses together are great. And soul winning times, we have our main soul winning time that's on Sunday, usually. But we're going to do the soul winning marathon, so we're going to be going on soul winning all day Saturday. In between the services this Sunday, it's going to be a little different because we're just going to have the fellowship. Now, if you want to go soul winning on Sunday, I'm not holding you back. So you're more than welcome to. But I'd say most of us are probably going to have the fellowship there. So if you can't make it, if you usually go Sunday and you can't make it to the soul winning marathon, we have our regional soul winning times on Tuesday and Wednesday that you can go to. So be in prayer on the pregnancy list here, but be in prayer for Tabby particularly because I know they're trying to have a baby tonight. And so be in prayer for the Gandy family, and so that's why they're not here tonight. So there may be a new baby here soon, but we'll find out. But be in prayer for them nonetheless and for all the ladies on the list here under the pregnancies. And I'm excited about that. And besides that, the church building is underway. They've already blown out that one wall to a certain extent, but I've got to actually go over there and do some engineering for them. So anyway, obviously we want to make sure that taking out that wall doesn't make the structure fall down. But that being said, they're underway on it. And so set for October 1st for the move in. And so we're excited about that. Anybody that wants to help with moving, I'll let you know when we're at that point. But yeah, so excited about the move to a different building. I think the kids are going to love it anyway. So there's a lot of grass, there's a pavilion, there's all that fun stuff. But anyway, that's what's coming up. And don't forget when we have our retreat, Pastor Berzins and the Berzins family are going to be in town. And so they're going to be out there with us at the retreat. He's actually going to be Lord willing staying through Sunday. And so we'll probably be taking turns on preaching that Sunday after the retreat. So it should be a fun time. And I'm looking forward to it and all that. So I think my girls are looking forward to it. But I think Claire is more excited about the Buckwheat Festival that happens after that. So anyway, she's real spiritual like that. But they didn't have the Buckwheat Festival last year. So that was crushing to the soul because she loves it. But anyway, that's about all I've got for announcements. Brother Nick is going to come and sing one more song. And then who's reading tonight? Brother Richie? Brother Richie is going to be reading 1 Corinthians 2 for us tonight. All right, turn to song number 145. Song number 145, It Is Well With My Soul. Song number 145. When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul, It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul, Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed his own blood for my soul, It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul, My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin not in part, but the whole, Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul, it is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul, And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sigh'd, The clouds be rolled back as a scroll, The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, Even so, it is well with my soul, It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul. All right, if you would, turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, Brother Rich, you'll read it for us. All right, 1 Corinthians 2, if you're there, say amen. All right, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory, Which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the Spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, That we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, But which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the service. I pray that you'll just fill Pastor Robinson with your Spirit. And we'll all learn good doctrine from this chapter. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. So you're there in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And we are continuing our study through the book of 1 Corinthians. And this chapter does really just kind of step right after chapter 1. And the fact that we're talking about the wisdom of God compared to the wisdom of men. And the fact that I came not to preach. It says in verse 17, it says, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. And really chapter 2 is really hitting on that point right there. That first of all, he didn't come to baptize. So he didn't come to dunk people under water and to baptize. Obviously we baptize people with water. But that is not a part of the gospel. That's not how people get saved. But when it comes to the preaching of the cross, that's the gospel. And the fact is that it's not according to the wisdom of this world. It's not according to man's wisdom or enticing words or anything like that. And chapter 2 is really going to hit on this hard. And the fact that the gospel is simple, but it's powerful. The gospel is simple. The word of God, when it comes to the gospel, may be simple language, but it's powerful. And we need to keep it that way. We need to keep, you know, stick to what the Bible teaches when it comes to how we get people saved. And notice what it says in verse 1 here, it says, And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. And so when it comes to the fact that he's coming to the Corinthians, I believe, when they were unsaved, when he's winning them to Christ. When you come to an unsaved person, basically you need to come to them with the idea that I'm really just going to preach to them Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's really what your goal should be. And, you know, I was thinking about, we went soul-winding this past Sunday, obviously, and I was talking to this gentleman that was Muslim. But he had a lot of questions and he said he was open-minded and he kind of was just asking me questions about things that were just related to just God in general and religion in general. But through all of that, I'm trying to get back to the Gospel and trying to go to the Gospel and just get to the point that death, burial, and resurrection, Jesus died for our sins. That that is really the crucial point that you're trying to get to. And the fact is that we can get into some philosophical argument about God existing compared to not existing. Or the idea, you know, get into these type of arguments of wisdom, if you will, or intellectual arguments. But in the end, you know what Paul's saying is that that's not how he came to the Corinthians. He didn't come to them to basically flex his intellectual muscles. And we need to know that when we go out soul-winding is that, listen, we just need to stick to the simplicity of the Gospel. Go to 2 Corinthians 4. And the first thing that we have to realize is that the world is blinded. You know, the God of this world, or Satan, has blinded the minds of those that don't believe. And you know what? The Gospel is the light. The Gospel is the light. And I know this seems redundant, but it needs to be redundant. Meaning this is that, you know, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it's the Jew first and also the Greek. That is as true as the day is long. And you know, chapter 2 is really hitting hard on that. That's where the power is at. And you know what? It seems simple. It seems like, oh no, we need to bring it up another level. You know, if we're talking to an intellectual, we need to bring it up to their intellectual level and have this philosophical apologetic debate with them about theology and eschatology and hermeneutics and get into all this craziness. And the thing is that, you know what? You know how they're going to get saved? It's the preaching of the cross. You know how they're going to get saved? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's how they're going to get saved. And if they don't get saved by that, they're not going to get saved. Simple as that. And notice what it says here in 2 Corinthians 4 and verse 3. It says, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. So notice, what's the light that we're showing them? You know, as far as like, what do we, what is going to basically pierce through the darkness and basically pierce, they're blind, right? What's going to make them see? It's the gospel. It's the light of the gospel. Keep reading there. It says, For we preach not ourselves. Now that, if you don't mind underlining, we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord. Okay? When we go out soul winning, it's not about us. It's not about winning an argument. It's not about us, you know, basically looking smart and like basically defeating another like simpleton when it comes to religion or something like that. You know what I mean? Like, you shouldn't look at it that way. You should look at it in the fact that, hey, it's not about me. It's not about me winning the argument. It's about the fact that we're preaching Jesus, okay? And ultimately, if they reject it, they're not rejecting you. They're rejecting Jesus, okay? So when people reject it, we shouldn't get offended at, you know, like personally, okay? Now, don't get me wrong. If people are like blaspheming my savior, you know, I'm offended because that's my savior you're talking about, right? But at the same time, if they're like angry at me or whatever, I don't take it personally because it's not, you know, I'm not Jesus. I'm not the one that they're really rejecting. They're rejecting the message and they're taking it out on the messenger. But keep reading there, it says, it says, For we preach not ourselves but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So let's not forget the fact that, what's the light here? It's the gospel of Christ. It's Jesus Christ himself. You know, he's stating here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 that, you know what? I determined not to know anything save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Meaning this is that, you know, save meaning like accept that. Meaning that he determined in himself that he's not going to basically even think about anything else with them besides that, okay? To not get off on any type of analytical rabbit trails. And listen, Paul was a smart guy. I mean, he came up under the feet of Gamaliel and he was a Pharisee in Hebrew of the Hebrews. This guy was educated, okay? He wasn't unlearned as, you know, Peter and, you know, James and John would have been. You know, in the fact that they didn't grow up with all that learning. Meaning this is when Paul got saved, obviously, you know, he was persecuting the church and all this. When he got saved, someone got saved that knew the scriptures. They just, he just was obviously not saved and didn't have understanding of the scriptures in that aspect. But it's like when someone gets saved that knows all the stories and knows everything about the Bible, it's like, man, they could really use that when it comes to that. And go to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, 2 Corinthians chapter 11. So we need to realize that where's the power at? The power is in the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. That that's where the light's at. That's what's going to, that's what's going to open the blind eyes. Okay? Now, like I said, when you go out soul winning, you know, they're going to throw stuff at you and be like, well, what about this? And I'm not saying to not answer it. All I'm saying is that, listen, give them a quick answer and be like, hey, you know what? This is the way that is, but we can get back to that. Let's just, let's talk about the gospel. Let's talk about the death, burial, and resurrection. Let's talk about the fact that he paid for your sins. That you're a sinner on your way to hell and that Jesus paid that price and you need to get saved. We can talk about all this other stuff later, but really that's really where the conversation needs to go. And Paul is really hitting this on the head here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. But notice in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 3 here, it says, But I fear, thus by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. Meaning this is that there's people out there trying to complicate the gospel. And you know what? I don't want to really, because I'm going to preach a whole sermon on this, but you know what? Putting repent of your sins in the gospel is muddying the gospel and that is not simple. Okay? That's heretical garbage that needs to be put in the trash can. And anyway, I got fired. If there was a video, it just makes me... Anyway, I need to preach a whole sermon on that. I've preached a whole sermon on that. But you know what? That's one of those things that's within the Baptist realm that needs to be stabbed, like often. Okay? But that being said is that that's not simple. You know, repent of your sins, or you got to reform your life, or make Jesus Lord of your life, or whatever the case may be. You're just throwing out stuff that's trying to basically take away from the simplicity that's in Christ. And what are we supposed to be preaching but Jesus Christ and him crucified? Not us being crucified to the world. That's not what we're preaching because I'm not preaching ourselves but Jesus Christ. Okay? But you know what? I need to get off because I need to preach on that. I'm not going to get to my notes. I shouldn't watch heretics before I come up and preach a certain sermon because it's on my mind. So stay tuned for that one. 1 Peter chapter 3. Go to 1 Peter chapter 3. And the thing that I see here too is that it says that I was with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling. So notice the attitude or the disposition, if you will, of Paul when he was preaching to them is that he basically was coming to them as if, you know, like, you know, and I don't believe he was weak, but he basically was coming to them in a manner that basically looked really gentle, right? Where it's like, because we're supposed to, you know, in gentleness leave them. And I'm going to butcher that verse in 2 Timothy chapter 2. So let me go there real quick. I should have put that in my notes but 2 Timothy chapter 2. In meekness, it says, and the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle unto all men, act to teach, patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God prevent will give them repentance to any knowledge of the other tree. Meaning this is that you're supposed to be in meekness and gentleness. So when it says weakness here, I don't believe it's synonymous with meekness. I think meekness is a different type of term. I think when you're thinking about weakness, you're thinking about being gentle, right? When you're gentle, like if you're gentle, like handling something, you're kind of handling it in a weak manner. You're not just like, you're like, well gently grab that over there. You're not just like, I got that, you know, like you're going to do it in a weaker manner, right? And so that means that that's how he came to them in fear and trembling. Now look at some verses here in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 14. It says, but if you suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled. Now, what I'm going to show you here is that fear is used in these two verses here. In one case it's saying don't fear. Don't be afraid. But then it says, verse 15, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. So the Bible says that we're not to fear what man can do unto us. The only person we're supposed to fear is God. So when we're talking about fear, we're talking about the fear of God. You know, when we're given some of the gospel, we should have the fear of God in ourselves. But also, you can think about this is that, you know, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. Meaning that it should be a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, you know, even as a Christian. But as far as like an unsafe person, how much more is it a fearful thing? And you can think about the fact that you're afraid of someone going to hell. Therefore that fear to give you meekness and to be gentle with them because you're just wanting them to get saved because of that fear of hell, if you will, for them. But also just the fear of the Lord that, hey, we're ambassadors for Christ. This is not a joke. We're not playing church. So when we go out and we're giving them the gospel, we're doing serious business. And we shouldn't be taking that lightly. Obviously, when you're out soul winning, you can have fun and all that. But at the same time, when we're giving the gospel, it's serious business. We're not playing around. It's not a joke. You know, sometimes we'll joke around with the people because we're trying to lighten the mood. But in the end, it's serious matters. We're talking about heaven and hell. And so that's something to think about. The Bible says in Colossians, chapter 4 and verse 6, you don't have to turn there. But it says, let your speech be all way with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man. And so we need to be graceful when we speak, but also we're going to be a little salty. So, you know what, there's going to be a little bit of salt to that because, you know what, the truth is salty. But you can say the truth in a graceful manner. But even if you say it in a graceful manner, some people are going to get offended. Just facts. But we should say in a graceful manner. We don't want to go up to the door and be like, you know what, you're going to hell! Repent! You need to obviously go to them in a nice manner and be like, hey, we care about you. Do you know 100% sure you're going to heaven? And can I show you from the Bible? Even though we know the urgency of it, but at the same time there needs to be compassion, there needs to be grace, there needs to be that meekness that's there, or even that gentleness that may even seem like you're handing them with kid gloves, right? You're kind of being very, you know, kind of in a weak manner as far as, you know, Paul was saying, in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. There's other verses that would deal with this. Philippians kind of talks about the fact that, you know, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, which is talking about the fact that they were in persecution and tribulation, and he's basically saying, you know what, you need to work through that, your own salvation, meaning like physical salvation and fear and trembling, meaning fear God while you're going through tribulation. But it also talks about the fact that for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Meaning that when you're doing the will of God, you need to be in the state of meekness and in the fear of the Lord and in trembling of the Lord and basically, you know, just basically being in submission to the Lord and he'll bring you through all that and he can help you be a great witness when you have that. So, meaning this is that if you want to be a great witness for God, you want to win a lot of people for Christ, you need to be meek. You need to have the fear of the Lord, you need to be trembling before the Lord and, you know, have that kind of spirit when it comes to soul winning. Now, go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I love this chapter because it hits two things here. And this is where churches get these things mixed up, or actually they leave out this next one and they put the one that I just talked about in the church building. Meaning this is that soul winning, we're supposed to go, it says go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. You know, go into the world and teach all nations, like it's just over and over, go to now, go ye. We're supposed to go out and preach the gospel and we're supposed to send preachers, right? How should they preach except to be sent? He that goeth forth and weepeth, you know, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing the sheaves with them. That idea of going out, going out into the field, into the harvest and, you know, reaping, that's what he's talking about when he's saying, I came unto you not knowing anything but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Then he switches gears here in verse 6 and says, Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect. So notice that he's not saying like, the only thing we're ever going to talk about is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Okay, so when you come to church, you're going to hear about Jesus Christ and Him crucified, we're going to talk about the gospel every single moment of every service and that's it. And, you know what, I love the gospel, but there's other things in the Bible and the Bible's teaching here is that, you know what, when it comes to people that are saved, and I'm going to show you here, you know, it says them that are perfect. Perfect doesn't mean sinless, although at the same time, you know, spiritually speaking, we are sinless because who's always born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he's born of God. So you could look at it that way and say, well, we're perfect spiritually, but at the same time, you know, it's talking about being complete and those that I believe, it's just talking about those that are saved, you know, that that's where we're going to preach wisdom to. But it says that, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor the princes of this world, nor the princes of this world that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Now, the thing is here is that this is talking about preaching to the church, okay? So when we go out soul winning, you know what, when you're talking to an unsaved person about the Bible, you know what we should be talking about? Jesus Christ and him crucified. When it comes to church, you know what, that's where you open up all the mysteries of God. Okay, when you're talking to the saved, now 1 Corinthians 14, which I'm not going to go into tonight, deals with this. It talks about, you know, speaking in tongues, or speaking with tongues, not speaking in tongues, right? Make sure you got the right Bible. But speaking with tongues or other languages, right, is dealing with getting people saved, right? You're using other languages, you're going out and you're like, okay, there's a Spanish speaking person, I'm going to speak with the tongue of Spanish, right? And I'm going to get them saved with that. When it talks about prophesying, it's talking about preaching. Okay, and it's talking about preaching in the church behind the pulpit. That whole chapter is dealing with that, don't want to get into that because that's another, that's for chapter 14. But that being said, it shows that delineation there as well, that hey, there's something for the lost and there's something for the saved. And so when it comes to preaching the gospel, that's for the lost. When it comes to hearing preaching and revelations and mysteries and doctrine, that's for the saved. And here's the thing, a lot of churches are just leaving that off. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 3, 2 Timothy chapter 3. You know what, there's just no doctrine being taught in churches these days. And, you know, sometimes, you know, you look at it and be like, ah, you know, there's a lot of stuff that's being taught that's wrong. But there's just a lot of stuff that's just not being taught. Let's be honest. You know, sometimes it's not what's not, what's being preached, but what's not being preached. And, you know what, I love these expository type of sermons because it kind of forces you to maybe preach on things that maybe you wouldn't think to preach on. Because you're kind of just going verse by verse going through here. So our plan obviously is to go through the whole Bible verse by verse. And so it's kind of like forcing me to preach every single verse. Not that I don't want to, it's just the fact that obviously when you're thinking of topical sermons, you know what, there may be verses that you're not going to really pick up on and be like, I'm going to use that verse right there. I'm going to use this passage over here. And so 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 14, it says, But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. Now notice how this starts, okay. It says, But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. So he's talking about continuing in it. He's already done started it, right. But it says, continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. So we're talking about, obviously the Scriptures are able to make thee wise unto salvation. But he's like, continue in this, right. Continue in the things that you know and the things that you've been assured of. But it says in verse 16, You know, sometimes it depends on what you're talking about when it comes to being perfect. Even in Philippians when it says, Neither were I already perfect, you know. And he kind of talks about the fact that he hasn't attained, neither were I already perfect. You know, physically speaking. But then he says, Now unto you which are perfect, I pray that you be thus minded. You know, he's basically, he kind of switches gears because spiritually speaking I believe we are considered perfect. We're sanctified, we're purified, we're holy, we're glorified, right. And so, but physically speaking, we're not there yet. We haven't attained. We're trying to, you know, we're trying to walk in a new man so much that we are that. But, you know, physically speaking, we're not there. And so that being said is that, hey, you know what, you need the word of God. You need, that's a problem for doctrine. It's a problem for, you know, instruction in righteousness. Go to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. Because I don't know about you, when I come to church I want to know the deep things of God. And you know what, I've always wanted to be that. I always liked that. When it comes to, like, after I, once I got saved and I'm reading through the Bible, I'm like, I want to know, I want to know the deep stuff, right. And obviously when you first get saved you're maybe not ready for, you know, to get down that deep. But at the same time, like, you still want it. You still desire to know all these deep truths of the Bible. And, you know what, if I want to know that, then you know what, I'm probably not alone. And you know what, a lot of times we get, you go to church and you just feel like you're spiritually, like, emaciated from, like, not getting fed any type of doctrine. And notice it says in first, I'm sorry, Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 11, it says, And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers, notice this, 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 stature 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 sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working and the measure of every part, maketh the increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. Meaning this is that, you know what the purpose of a pastor is? Is to edify the church for the perfecting of the saints. So when you come to church, this is to be preaching doctrine. Now obviously it could be a rebuke, because it talks about all scriptures given by inspiration of God, and it's a problem for doctrine, for reproof, right? So obviously reproof can be in there as well when it comes to that. So you can have some sermons that are just reproof, right? You're preaching against sin. But you know what? There's still doctrine in that. Let's just face it, anything that you preach from the Bible is going to be some kind of doctrine. Doctrine is just a teaching. So even if you're preaching against fornication, you know what? That's a doctrine. Fleeing fornication is a doctrine. It may not be a complicated or deep doctrine. It's simple to understand, but at the same time it's still a doctrine. And you know what? That's what church is for. We're not to go out to the unsaved and preach to them about how fornication is bad. Obviously it is, and it's not like you're saying anything to them that's untruthful, but at the same time, you know what? When I go to an unsaved person, my main goal is to preach to them Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and to determine not to know anything else besides that. Meaning this is that you know other things besides that, right? It's not like Paul saying, I don't know anything else besides the gospel. He's just saying with the unsaved, just determined to know that. But with the saved, you know when you go into the house of God, you know what? Every sermon shouldn't be about the death, burial, and resurrection, okay? Because we already know that. And listen, if you want to hear that over and over again, come out soul winning with us. Because you'll hear it over and over again, okay? It's not like I have a shortage of hearing the gospel because every week we're hearing the gospel said over and over again, and you're like, well, I'm the one saying it. Go with someone that can say it. You know what? A lot of times we'll go out soul winning and we're switching off, and I'm hearing my partner say the gospel, and then I'm saying the gospel, and then he's saying the gospel, and then I'm saying the gospel. And you know what? You hear it over and over again. That's what soul winning is for, okay? Now don't get me wrong. I'll preach on the gospel, and I'll preach sermons on that, but that's not going to be every sermon. And I don't believe that I need to preach on the gospel every service, okay? It's not like I need to end the service with a gospel presentation. That'd be really silly because, I mean, good night. How many people here already know the gospel and you say, well, there's kids in here that need to know. We need to talk to them personally because, to be honest with you, preaching the gospel to a crowd just is not effective, okay? I've known people that have been in church that we bring the church, and then the message was like on eternal security. It was like on one saved, always saved. You need to believe this or you're not saved, and they just didn't get it. Now some people get saved off that. I'm not saying that they can't, but I'm just saying that it just went straight over their head, had no idea, wasn't paying attention, whatever. But then you talk to them, like, personally, and then they get saved. So that being said, you know what? That's why we don't, well, that's not the only reason we don't have an altar call, but that's why we don't do, like, an altar call where I'm, like, giving a gospel presentation and be like, come up here if you want to get saved. Just talk to me after the service, okay? If anybody here is wondering about that, and obviously if we have visitors and people we don't know, we try to give them the gospel after the service, okay? So go to 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. And the thing is is that we can know the deep things of God. You know, that's really, you know, when it comes to being saved, is that we should be wanting to know those deep things, and we have the ability to know those deep things. Notice what it says in verse 9. It says, But as it is written, eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. So notice that, you know, a lot of times we look at this verse, and don't get me wrong, I don't think that we fully comprehend what He's prepared for us, okay? But this verse is basically saying, eye hath not seen nor ear heard. You know, basically we haven't seen it, heard it, or understood what God has prepared for them that love Him, but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. So it's basically saying, here's the contrast, but He's revealed it unto us, okay? So He's basically stating that, you know, the world doesn't know this wisdom, and if they had known it, they wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory, you know, as is written, eye hath not seen nor ear heard, right? But it's saying, but unto us is revealed, okay? So take that to heart and know this is that, you know what, a lot of that stuff that the world can't understand, and that they're just completely oblivious to, we can know it. And it says that, by His Spirit, that's the key here that we're going to be getting into is that, by the Spirit of God is how we're going to know this, how we're going to understand it. It says, For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now it's interesting because it talks about the spirit of man which is in him, but you know what, the Holy Ghost is in you as well, right? If the Spirit's not in you, you're none of His, right? So you better have the Spirit of God in you as far as the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, because if you don't, then you're not saved. But that being said, this verse is actually a quotation. Verse 9 is being quoted from Isaiah 64 and verse 4. You can turn there if you want. It's saying pretty much the same thing, and I kind of hit on this last week, but it says in Isaiah 64 and verse 4, For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waited for him. So notice that instead of saying those that love him, those that waited for him, and this is something dealing with waiting for his appearing or loving his appearing, and basically waiting for his coming and longing for it, okay? And I've kind of already talked about this, but the fact of waiting for something, meaning you're anticipating it, you're longing for it, you love the thought of it, right? Those type of things. And you can think about this is that this verse can definitely apply to the fact that if you're longing and loving and waiting for the coming of Christ, then it talks about, you know, in 1 John, chapter 3, that he purifies himself, you know, he that hath this hope in him, talking about the coming of the Lord, he that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure, talking about the Lord. So meaning this is that if you have that hope and that desire and that longing for the coming of the Lord, then you're going to end up like purifying yourself physically. You're going to end up purging things out of your life. You're going to end up doing great things for God. You're going to end up, you know, basically having a lot of rewards, you know, things that are prepared for those that love his appearing, that are waiting for his appearing, and it's the mindset, right? It's the mindset of like, what are you thinking about? What's your heart? Where's your heart? You know, where your heart is, you know, where your treasure is there, where your heart be also, and the idea is that, you know what, focus on where your treasure is at, here on the earth or in heaven, and you know what, your heart will follow that. And those are the people that will do great things for God and have a lot of rewards, okay? But when we're talking about knowledge here, you know what, the Spirit of God will search out those deep things. We go to 1 John chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2. Now this is a great thing about the New Testament, okay? And I preach whole sermons on the difference between the Old Testament and New Testament, and by the way, it's not how you're saved, okay? It's always been by faith, but there is differences in the fact of, you know, we don't do animal sacrifices now, now, you know, Jesus is that sacrifice. We don't have to confess our sins to a priest. We don't have to confess it to the high priest himself, the Lord Jesus. You know, like there's a lot of things, but the biggest thing I think of is the fact that we have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and the fact that we have the Holy Ghost living inside of us to teach us all things. Whereas back in time past, you know what, they had prophets, you speak to them in different manners, and all that. And in 1 John chapter 2 and verse 20, notice what it says here. It says, but ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Now, unction is just kind of another, it's kind of a term that we don't really think of. It's not used, it's actually only used once in the Bible, but I mean, it's basically the same as anointing, okay? But we have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. Notice what it says in verse 27, and it says, but the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you. Okay, so that unction of the Holy One, or that anointing, which is the Holy Ghost, I believe, okay? It says, but the anointing which ye have received of Him abideth in you, need not that any man teach you, but as the same anointing, teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, shall abide in Him. So, we're talking about the Spirit of Truth here, we're talking about the Holy Ghost, we're talking about the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, meaning this is that when you get saved in the New Testament, you had the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, and the special thing about this is that you don't need anyone to teach you, right? You have the Holy Ghost inside of you, and He can teach you all things, and you know what? The Spirit searcheth all things, ye the deep things of God. Okay, you have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things, meaning that you have the capability of knowing everything in the Bible, okay? I'm not saying that you're going to, okay? But at the same time, God could show you, through the Holy Ghost, all the deep things of God, and that's why we come to church. Listen, none of us have attained, I don't claim to have attained, or know all the deep things of God, but at the same time, you know what, there are deep things of God that I do know, that the Holy Ghost has shown me, or that I've learned through reading the Bible, and through the Holy Ghost's teaching of the Bible to me, that I can preach that to you, and you can learn that as well. And you know what, hopefully in ten years from now, I've learned a lot more, and I'll be teaching other truths in the Bible. And here's the thing, nothing that's going to be new doctrine, okay? At the same time, there's a lot of things in the Bible that you may just, we just don't understand fully, right? We look at those passages and we're like, yeah, it's just kind of cryptic, right? Not like it contradicts anything, but it's just cryptic. It's not something that you completely, fully grasp on what's being said. And then later on, you know what, you may learn what that's talking about, and find some great nuggets of truth in there that you've never seen before, okay? Now, go to, I had you in 1 John, right? Did I turn when I, yeah, no, I'm right. Go to John 14, John 14. When it comes to the Comforter, or the Holy Ghost, there's a couple things I want you to realize when it comes to this, okay? It talks about the Holy Ghost teaching us all things, but there's things where people can fall into false doctrine that say, well, you know what, the Holy Ghost told me to do this. You know what, I was praying, the Holy Ghost was speaking to me, and he told me to go preach to this person. It's like, listen, obviously God can move you to be inside thinking, I need to go talk to this person, but he's not audibly saying, Jason, go talk to this person over here, you know? This is not going on right now, okay? Meaning this is that the Holy Ghost is only going to speak those things which Jesus spoke, okay? So here's the thing, notice what it says in John 14, verse 25. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, notice this, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. I want you to notice that, what's he bringing to remembrance? What's he speaking to them about? The things which Jesus has said, okay? Notice what it says in John 16, go to John 16 and verse 13. John 16 and verse 13. It says, Howbeit when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come. So when it says he's not going to speak of himself, it's not saying that he's not going to talk about himself, right? Meaning like, we're reading about him right now. Okay, so it's talking about, meaning it's not going to come from him. It's not like his own words, okay? Meaning that what the Holy Ghost is saying is whatever Jesus said. Now, keep reading there, because notice this, it says, He shall glorify me, so Jesus is obviously talking here, but it says, For he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father are mine. Notice that Jesus even says in another passage, he says, The words I speak, they're not mine, they're the Father's. Right? So basically what Jesus is saying is what the Father said to say, and what the Holy Ghost is saying is what Jesus said to say. Right? See how it comes down the line? So, the idea here is that the Holy Ghost is not saying things of himself outside of what Jesus says. Okay, so if the Holy Ghost is saying it to you, it better be what Jesus said. Okay? Because that's what the Bible is teaching here. Now, another thing to think about here when it comes to the Holy Ghost and the Word of God and that link between that, okay? Go to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. So here's the thing, if you want the Holy Ghost to teach you all things, you know what you need? A lot of the Word of God. You need to be reading. You need to be meditating on the Word of God. You need to be memorizing the Word of God. The Holy Ghost can't teach you things in which you don't know. You have to have the verses in sight or in mind for the Holy Ghost to teach you what it means. It's kind of like having a teacher but no curriculum or any type of material to work off of. Right? It's like, what am I teaching you today? It's kind of like there's nothing to go off of, right? It's kind of like you've got to have a problem in order to solve it. Okay? And so when it comes to the Holy Ghost, you've got to have some Word of God there for the Holy Ghost to step in and teach. Now, maybe you've read through a couple chapters. Well, the Holy Ghost can work with that, you know? I mean, it's better than nothing. But here's the thing, you know what you should have? Is you should have a steady flow of the Word of God coming in there to where the Holy Ghost is like, all right, let's unpack this, let's teach this, let's use this. When you have it memorized, you know what? When you're reading through something else, the Holy Ghost can bring that to remembrance as you're reading it and show you, hey, this is where this applies, this is where this applies, this is how this fits. And the Holy Ghost can work, okay? So you know what your job should be? Make the Holy Ghost work, right? Make the Holy Ghost busy. Because you have so much Bible running through your mind that the Holy Ghost is just like out there just working to try to fit everything together and teach you, okay? But in Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 18, it says, And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in your heart to the Lord. Say, what's your point here? So obviously, we should be filled with the Spirit, but go to Colossians, chapter 3. Now, if you didn't know this, Ephesians and Colossians are kind of like parallel books, okay? And chapter 5 and chapter 3 are very much parallel. I'm going to show you the parallel to what I just read here. Anna, I want you to come up front and sit up front, okay? Because I want you to sit up front. Because I want to see you. Come up here. So Colossians, chapter 3 and verse 16 is the parallel verse, if you will, to Ephesians 5, 18. It says, So, look at these parallel passages. And one is saying, be filled with the Spirit, and the other one is saying, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Now, obviously, the Spirit of God and the Lord Jesus Christ himself are two different persons of the Trinity, right? But here's the thing, when it comes to being filled with the Spirit and the word of God and being filled with the word of God, these things are things that work together. Notice that the Spirit and the sword are two different things, but the word of God is the sword of the Spirit, right? It's the weapon of the Spirit, okay? So the Spirit of God, if you're walking in the Spirit and filled with the Spirit, you know what? You've got this weapon with you, which is the word of God, okay? So the Spirit wants to use this weapon, okay? The Spirit of God wants to use the word of God, which is, you know, the word of God is quick and powerful and sharp on any two-edged sword, and the Spirit of God is wanting to use that weapon, but if you don't have the weapon there, you can't wield it, okay? So that's what we need to be thinking about when it comes to, you know, the Spirit of God. Hey, the Spirit of God can show us the deep things of God, but you better have the word of God there. You can't expect the Spirit of God to show you these deep truths of God if you're not reading it. So it doesn't work like osmosis. You can't just put your head up against it, and it just somehow comes into your head. But go to 1 Corinthians 2, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 12, which kind of comes to the next point here because we're talking about not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, and not the words of the world but the words of God, okay? And it says in verse 12 here, Now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. So notice that, you know what? It says that eye hath not seen nor ear heard, but it says, but it's given unto us, it's been revealed unto us, right? And that the Spirit of God searches the deep things of God so we can know these things. And in verse 12 here it says, you know what? We have the spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given unto us of God. Notice what it says in verse 13. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches. So we're talking about words here, right? Not the words of man's wisdom, but that means the words which the Holy Ghost teaches. Comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Okay? So what are we talking about? We're talking about comparing the Word of God with the Word of God. Okay? So the words, you know, and you say, well how do you know that spiritual things is talking about the Word of God? Because the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Okay? We're talking about the Word of God. We're talking about comparing the Word of God with the Word of God. Not some commentary with the Word of God. Not man's words with the Word of God, which is commentary by the way. And so go to 2 Peter chapter 1. I'm going to read to you, you know, or just quote off to your verse here. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, 15 it says, Studies show thyself approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, but rightly dividing the word of truth. Okay? So when we're talking about dividing the word of truth, we're talking about basically taking pieces of the Word of God and fitting them together. Right? You're kind of, obviously you could say, well, rightly dividing the word of truth is showing like a difference between, you know, Old Testament, New Testament. You could definitely say that. Or the dispensationalists, you know, they're trying to say, well, you know, you need to rightly divide. And it has to do with like these seven dispensations. Well, show me anywhere where it says anything like that. Okay? And then we'll talk. But you know what the Bible talks about? The fact that, you know, that study to show thyself approved. We're talking about studying the Word of God and rightly dividing the word of truth. And you know what? I couple this with comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Okay? So when we're talking about studying, we're talking about, okay, this passage over here, this is how it fits here. I just showed you how to do that with Ephesians chapter 5 and Colossians chapter 3. What are you doing? You're rightly dividing that these are parallel passages. These go together. These make sense. These are complementary to each other. That's rightly dividing the word of truth. Okay? Now, wrongly dividing the word of truth, it would be like saying, you know, well, where it says to be baptized here, that goes where, you know, you need to be saved. And you're like saying, these are complementary to each other. No. That's wrongfully dividing the word of truth and comparing spiritual things with spiritual. So you may be comparing spiritual things with spiritual, but you're spiritually discerned on how you're doing it. Okay? And notice what it says here in 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth in the dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first that no prophecy of the scriptures 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. We're talking about the scripture. We're talking about the word of God. And, you know, in the New Testament, we not only have the Holy Ghost indwelling us, the anointing that teaches us all things to where we have no need that any man teach you, we also have a more sure word of prophecy. We have a complete word of God here as far as the 66 books of the Bible that we have it right here in front of us. We have this more sure word of prophecy. We have the word of God, these spiritual things, right, the words which are spiritual, and we have the Holy Ghost inside us to teach us. So here's the material, the teachers inside of you, but there's an in-between person here. It's called you, okay? And you have to decide whether you're going to engage in that, okay? Just as much as any student would have to when it comes to schooling, right? You have material, you have a teacher, but you can't force the student to learn, okay? That takes free will, right? They have to choose to say, I'm going to learn this material, I'm going to listen to the teacher, and I'm going to learn, okay? So this is something that we need to do. Now, I want to talk about this comparing spiritual things with spiritual because, you know what, there's people out there like James White and people like that that are just like, you're not exegeting that past properly because, you know what, you've got to stay in one passage, right? Because we were back and forth talking about Romans 8, for example. And not only did he want to stay in that chapter alone, he didn't even want to be in that chapter, he just wanted to be in those verses right there, okay? And when I would go to Ephesians 1, which is a parallel passage, by the way, it's the only other place predestination is mentioned, which is what the topic was about, so God forbid we should go to another place where it's mentioned, okay? He didn't like it because it obviously showed him that who first trusted in Christ to be predestinated. But at the same time, the idea there is that he's like, well, you're all over the place. You know, you're over here and you're over there. Yeah, because I'm rightly dividing the word truth because I'm comparing spiritual things with spiritual. And if you can't handle that and if you can't answer that by comparing this with another spiritual passage, then you're wrong, okay? But let me show you an example. Let me show you some examples of going all over the place, okay? Let me show you here in Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21. This is just one example I can show you others where Jesus says something that it says, have you never read, okay? And what he does is he puts two passages together, okay? And this happens a lot in the Bible where there'll be two passages brought together and it's basically, when you look at the Bible, you have to look at it holistically, okay? It all needs to fit. And you know what? One passage over here and this passage over here can complement each other, right? So where you can state this is true, right? A doctrine, right? And notice what it says in Matthew chapter 21 verse 16. It says, and he said unto him, Here's thou what these say, and Jesus saith unto them, Yea, have ye never read? Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise. Okay? So very familiar passage, you know, dealing with the fact that, you know, you think about the fact that, you know, they're saying Hosanna and they're saying, you know, you need to tell them to be quiet. But he's rebuking them, you know, because obviously the scripture is saying that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou hast perfected praise. Well, let's look back at where this is said. Psalm 8 and verse 2. Psalm 8 and verse 2. I've done this also with Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8 and, you know, the same type of people that are of this critical text and don't believe the King James Bible is perfect will say, well, that's just an error. You know, that's, your Greek text is wrong because it says husbandmen in the Old Testament and here it says he regarded them not. But it's another case where passages are being, like Paul is just putting two passages together and comparing spiritual with spiritual and rightly dividing the word of truth. And by the way, he's under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost so you can go pound salt, okay? Meaning that when it says that, you know, that they continued out of my covenant and I regarded them not, that's scripture. You can put that in your pipe and smoke it. I don't care what your critical text says. That's what the Bible says, okay? But that's a case where, yeah, in the Old Testament it says I was a husbandmen unto them, you know, and all this. But it's different in the New Testament where he's, but he doesn't say as it is written in the book of, you know, such and such, you know. In the book of Jeremiah 31, you know, this is what he said. He's obviously putting two passages together. But notice what it says here in Psalm 8 verse 2. Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength, because thine enemies that thou mightest, or I'm sorry, because of thine enemies that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. Now, you say, well, is this a contradiction? No, okay, now here's the thing. I do not believe that strength and praise are the same thing, okay? Because that's what you'd almost have to do to say, well, this is, he's just quoting this verbatim. I don't believe strength and praise are the same thing. Now, what I believe he's doing, okay, when he says this, have you not read, okay? And he doesn't say as it is written either, so he's not saying like, boom, this is the way it's written in Psalm 8, right? But go to Psalm 78, go to Psalm 78. So what I believe he's doing here is he's taking two passages and showing you a truth here that essentially out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast ordained strength and perfected praise, okay? That's what's going on here, but you have to look at two passages to see that truth that he's bringing across in one phrase, okay, in the New Testament. Well, what'd he do? He compares spiritual things with spiritual. Now, obviously, he's the Word of God made flesh, so he can say whatever he wants and it'd be the Word of God, but he's saying that have you not read, so he's talking about something that was already written, and notice in Psalm 78 and verse 1, it says, Give ear, O my people, to my law, incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done. So when we're talking about the fact that, think about this, there's a couple places where he refers to those that are his disciples that aren't actually children as babes. One is where he's saying, you know, out of the mouth of babes and sucking us out is perfected praise because they're basically praising his name, right? But another place that says, you know, Holy Father, I thank thee that you have revealed these things unto babes. And what is he particularly talking about in that passage? He's talking about the fact that he's darkened the minds of these people and speaking unto them dark sayings and parables, but he's revealing it unto babes, okay? So these two passages are working hand in glove, whereas the one passage is dealing, you know, or when he's talking about this in Matthew 21, and he's quoting this passage back here, he's more so dealing with the praise part of it, right? Because they're saying hosanna to the highest, so it makes sense it's what he's talking about. But he takes these two passages where he's talking about the children are going to perfect and ordain praises and strength of the Lord, okay? Anna? No. Now, that's one example. Now, go to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. Whoever's texting me needs to stop. My phone's just blowing up. 1 Thessalonians 5. So when you deal with the fact that, you know, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, this is something that happens a lot in the Bible, where things are brought together from the Old Testament and brought together to bring forth one truth, okay? And it could be from totally different books, too, that this is happening, because the Bible holistically is the Word of God, and everything fits together. But notice this in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1, because the idea here is that, well, you should only have to, you read one book, and you should know all the information you need to know, okay? Just that one passage, you shouldn't have to go anywhere else in the Bible to know what's being said, okay? Well, how about this? In 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 1, it says, But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have the need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Now, here's the thing. The times and the seasons of the coming of the Lord are stated in the Bible. But he's basically saying, I don't have any need to write this unto you, because you already know that he comes as a thief in the night, but at the same time, you already know the seasons and what's going to happen. Why? Because you have, like, the book of Matthew. You have other passages that are stating this and stating, you know, what the times and the seasons are going to be for the end times. And you know what he's saying? I'm not going to write it in this epistle, because you can go somewhere else and see it, okay? How about this? The Bible puts markers, I'm saying that, it doesn't say that in the Bible, but basically, when you look at the Bible, it kind of puts markers on different things for you to go back and look at, okay? Give you a couple examples. Revelation chapter 15 and verse 3. Revelation chapter 15 and verse 3. Since we're going through the book of Revelation, I figured I'd show you something here. Plus, it's on my mind. Let's just be honest. It was easy for me to figure out which ones were here. But there's other passages that do this that basically will say something really short, but it's basically like, you need to go back and see what this is talking about. But these ones are very, very clear. Like, you need to go back and see what these are talking about. You're not going to know what's being said, okay? Revelation 15 and verse 3, it says, And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints. Now, the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb are not the same song, and I don't believe that they're, like, where it says, Great and marvelous are thy works, as far as that being, that's not the song of Moses. You know what this is pointing you back to? It's Deuteronomy 32. Now, you don't have to turn there, but we're going to get there. Don't worry. When we go to Revelation chapter 15, we're going to read that because it's going to be very pertinent to what's about to happen. Because when you read, when you see that, where it says they sung the song of Moses, or they sing the song of Moses, and then you read the song of Moses, and you realize what's about to happen, you're like, this is hand in glove. So, you're in Revelation. It's telling you to go back to Deuteronomy. But, according to these Bible scholars, you know, to rightly exegete this, then you got to, then you have to just use this passage. What's the song of Moses? Well, we got to just figure it out just from this passage right here. And you're going to read this verse, and you're going to be like, well, the song of Moses must be, you know, this song right here, where great and marvelous are thy works. Until you realize that, hey, there's a whole song of Moses in the Bible. You know why he's doing this? Because maybe God doesn't want to write down the whole song of Moses again when it's already in the Bible, okay? How about this one right here? Go to Revelation chapter 20. Revelation chapter 20 and verse 7. Revelation chapter 20. I'm sticking on this point, okay, comparing spiritual things to spiritual, because this is a crucial point that you need to understand. The fact that to study the Bible, you need to look at the Bible holistically. Now, obviously, there's context for what the book is about, who it's written to. Don't get me wrong. You got to have context for what you're reading. But at the same time, to say, like, I can't go to another passage to make, for this to have clarity or to shine a light on what this is talking about is ridiculous. Now, notice this, and I want you to explain to me. If you didn't have any other thing than Revelation, that you would know what they're saying right here. In Revelation 20 and verse 7, it says, And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to the sea of the nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. Who's Gog and Magog? Now, unless you go through the Old Testament, you're going to have no idea. You have no idea. There's no mention of Gog and Magog in the whole New Testament, let alone in Revelation. But you know what this is telling you to do? Go back to Ezekiel 38 and 39, where you had the battle of Gog and Magog, and you literally, when you look at Revelation chapter 20, and you're like, there's this whole battle that goes on after the thousand year reign, and then it's just like over in a second, and you're like, wow, that was anticlimactic, right? You're like, Satan was loosed out of it. But here's the thing. When it says Gog and Magog, there's two whole chapters in the book of Ezekiel that are detailing exactly what's going to happen after the thousand year reign and after Satan's loosed out of hell. And you know what? Those are markers that say, hey, go back here. These passages are what this is talking about. And so comparing spiritual things with spiritual, and the Bible is set up that way. It's set up that phrases are said to where you see this phrase, and you're like, oh, that's the phrase, I've heard that somewhere else. And you go back here, and it's like, oh, that shines light on it. We already saw where he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. You can say that phrase, okay, but what does that really mean? And so you go back to Jeremiah when it says, you know, those that glory, glory in this, that thou knowest me and understandeth me. You know, and the idea is knowing the Lord. Okay, that's what you should be glorying in. Now let me show you an example here. As far as Paul going all over the place, okay? So we're talking about doctrine, right? Let's say we're gonna talk about any doctrine, whether it's baptism, whether it's salvation, whether it's predestination, okay? Whatever it is, you know what? You don't need to stay in one passage that it's talking about and be like, this is the only place I can go to to explain this doctrine. Okay, Paul's gonna talk about the fact that the Gentiles are gonna believe on the Lord and that the Gentiles, you know, that the gospel's going for the Gentiles and that God wants the Gentiles to get saved. All right, Romans chapter 15 and verse nine. Romans chapter 15 and verse nine. He's gonna go through a tour de force here. Let's see how all over the place he is, okay? Romans 15 and verse nine, it says, and the Gentile, I'm sorry, and that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy as it is written. For this cause I will confess thee among the Gentiles and sing unto thine name. You know where that's found? 2 Samuel 22, verse 50, and Psalm 18, 49. So those are parallel passages, but that's where that's found. And again, verse 10, he saith, Rejoice ye Gentiles with his people. Deuteronomy 32, 43. And again, praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, and laud him, all ye people. Psalm 117, verse one. And again, Isaiah saith, now I probably shouldn't have to tell you that this is Isaiah, but Isaiah saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles in him shall the Gentiles trust. So in what, one, two, three, four verses, he's gone to 2 Samuel, Deuteronomy, Psalms, and he went to Isaiah. Literally every passage he's taking is like a different book. You're all over the place with your exegesis there. Just to make a point about the Gentiles, you should do it in one place, in one place only. This is something that's just, it's just hilarious how stupid that argument is and that logic, okay? So, yes, you know what? When I'm going to explain Romans chapter eight, I'm going to go to Ephesians chapter one, okay? I mean, that'd be so ridiculous to be like, all right, I'm going to teach about Ephesians chapter five, but I'm not going to go to Colossians chapter three. Why would I do that? I'm going to teach about the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, but I can only teach that in Matthew 27. I can't go to Mark 15. I can't go to Luke 23. I can't go to John 19, right? Does that make any sense at all? I can't go to Isaiah 53. Why can't I do that? You're not actually cheating that right. Now, comparing spiritual things with spiritual, I'm sorry, spiritual things with spiritual, that is the way that we should be doing it, rightly dividing the word of truth, studying the Bible, and comparing spiritual things with spiritual, that's how you're going to understand the Bible. We're talking about knowing the deep things of God, and if you want to know the deep things of God, then you better be comparing these passages to each other, and they're going to teach you. That's how you're going to learn. That's how you're going to see how all this stuff fits by doing that. Now, they ended here in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14. It says, So we're talking about someone that's not saved, you know, someone that's just a natural man, doesn't have the spirit of God inside of them. They can't know these things. It says, Now, what I believe this is talking about is basically in 1 Corinthians chapter 14, it talks about when you hear preaching, and you hear preaching, you're supposed to sit and judge, right? So when I think of this, I'm thinking about the fact that you hear the word of God and you're kind of like discerning and judging, like, how things should go, right? There's kind of like this judgment that's going in your mind. Does this fit? And you're kind of like weighing this out, ruling it out, you know, in your mind, whether this fits, whether it doesn't. You're kind of tearing down arguments in your mind, and basically saying, he is spiritual, he can discern these things. He can, you know, judge all these things and figure these things out, but the natural man can't. And when it says, yet he himself is judged of no man, yeah, we're going to judge angels. So, yeah, we're not going to be judged, because we're talking about being spiritual, right? The spiritual man, right? Spiritually speaking, we're not going to be judged of any man because we're not under the law, we're under grace, we're, you know, perfected, and all that. Then it goes on to saying, for who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ. And that's talking about the word of God. We have the word of God, we have, you know, the more sure word of prophecy. So we have the mind of Christ where we can look at that, we can learn it, and we're spiritual, meaning that we have the spirit of God inside of us. That means we have the ability to judge all things, okay? And that's what you should do. If I'm preaching this, you know what you should be doing? Judging all things, okay? Don't judge me. No, I'm just kidding. No, but obviously, you know what? This is not a judgment-free zone. This isn't Planet Fitness Baptist Church, okay? This is judgment Baptist Church, okay? You need to judge all things. You know what? Judge righteous judgment, you know? But, you know, all joking aside, we should judge everything that's preached, okay? Now, there's certain things where that are preached, you're just like, you just know off the cuff that's right, you know? That's what the Bible says. You're not like in your mind be like, all right, you know, everything I say, you're just like just putting it through scrutiny, okay? Now, there's certain things you just know and you don't even have to be doing that, but there's certain things where it'll be like some cryptic passage and I'll be like, here's what I believe it means. And I'm sure you're like in your Rolodex of verses thinking, okay, I can see where he's coming from. Or you may even be saying, I don't think it fits because there's this verse over here, you know? Or you could be saying, you know what? He's right on, you know, because there's all these verses that are coming up and I've had both cases where someone has like tried to explain something and I'm like, nah. No, it doesn't work because of this. Then other times, someone will say something and I'm like, he's got it. You're like, and you're just like, and you're just like, it fits everything. You're just excited about it because you're like, man, it just fits and you're judging these things in your mind. Why? Because you're spiritual. Because you had the Holy Ghost to teach you those things and to use the Word of God to teach you those things because we had the mind of Christ, because we had the Word of God. So the only other thing that I was going to get to, which I've kind of already preached on a lot, is the fact that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. And you know what? Just like the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading the book of Isaiah and reading specifically in Isaiah 53, and Philip came up to him and says, understandest thou what thou readest? And he said, how can I accept some man should guide me? Now, for salvation, we need to be there to guide them. Now obviously, with the Word of God, he that goes forth weeping, bearing precious seed, the Word of God, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God, but how should they hear without a preacher? And you know what? We need to guide them into all truth, because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto them, neither can he know them because he is spiritually discerned. But you know what? Once you're saved, you're no longer spiritually discerned. Now you can judge all things. Now, you know what? You don't need a man to guide you. You know what you need? The Holy Ghost to guide you. And the Holy Ghost will guide you into all truth. Now obviously, the Holy Ghost was there getting that person saved too, because without God, you can do nothing. Without the Holy Ghost involved in salvation, it's not going to be salvation. So don't get me wrong. It's not like some man got you saved. But at the same time, you know what? We are part of that. We are laborers with God. We are workmen in his husbandry. You know what? And unless we go, unless we're these ambassadors to go, they're not going to get saved. And so this passage is showing us that, and it's why I can't understand. And listen, I'm not saying someone's a bad person or unsaved, they believe this, but I can't understand how someone can believe someone can get saved by reading the Bible without any help from anything else, without any help from a soul winner or anything, okay? Because to me, it's crystal clear. How can I accept some man to guide me? And the Bible's saying here that a national man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Talking about spiritual things, talking about the words which are spiritual, they can't discern that. And that's where we need to be there to fill in that gap, okay? And so that's where Paul, I mean, he starts off the passage saying, I came unto you determined not to know anything but Jesus Christ and him crucified. And you know why? Because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. And you know what? He had to start with the simplicity of the gospel, get them saved. Now we can move on to perfection. Now we can move on to deep doctrines, deep things of God once that you have the Spirit of God inside of you. So great passage here. So much to really talk about there. But I'm really enjoying going through this book. I enjoy going through Revelation. But 1 Corinthians just has so much doctrine in it. So I'm really enjoying that. But let's end with a word of prayer to Heavenly Father that we thank you for today. Thank you for this chapter and just pray to you to help us to understand it, help us to use it. And Lord, just pray to be with us throughout the rest of this week. And Lord, just keep us safe, keep us healthy. In Jesus Christ's name, amen. So Brother Nick, we'll come and sing one more song and that will be dismissed. Alright, if you would turn your song books to song number 27. Song number 27, The Old Rugged Cross. If we would all stand. Sing song number 27. If we would all stand.