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[0:00] I don't know whether you looked in your bulletin or not, but this morning's message will be Approval Gained by Faith.

[0:14] And of course, Pastor Marv has been dealing with faith for a number of Sundays. And this morning, we'll be taking a look where the faith of different biblical characters is mentioned.

[0:36] Please turn to Hebrews 11. And when I use that term, characters, keep in mind that these are biblical characters.

[0:50] Okay, once in a while, the term character may be seen from a different point of view.

[1:02] But we're in Hebrews 11, verses 1 through 6. Now, faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

[1:18] The conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.

[1:32] By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, So that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.

[1:48] By faith, Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, Through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous.

[2:02] God testifying about his gifts through faith, Though he is dead, he still speaks.

[2:14] By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death. And he was not found because God took him up.

[2:28] For he obtained the witness that before his being taken up, He was pleasing to God. And without faith it is impossible to please him.

[2:46] For he who comes to God must believe that he is, And that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.

[3:02] He is a rewarder of those that seek him. And approval was gained by men who exercise faith.

[3:19] And also, we might add, by women. Gained approval, which means found acceptance, or were received. It simply means that God, on the basis of these individuals' faith, Was able to open his arms and welcome them and embrace them.

[3:39] It is the opposite of God being displeased with them, Or of God rejecting them. And in keeping with this, What I would like to do this morning is just kind of put a cap on all that we have been considering Over the past few messages on the subject of the law of faith, Or the principle of faith.

[4:01] How or why it is that faith works the way it does. You may recall that this was preceded by asking the question, If God is so concerned that everybody believe in him, Why doesn't he reveal himself in some unmistakable fashion, So that there could possibly be no doubt whatever as to God's existence.

[4:25] Everyone, even the most confirmed atheist, Would be convinced. And I pointed out to you that the time is coming when God is precisely going to do that.

[4:38] And every eye shall see him, And every knee shall bow to him. But in the meanwhile, He has implemented a program, Or a principle, Or a law, Or a concept, Whereby man is able to connect with him Before that time of complete and thorough revelation comes.

[4:59] That is where the principle of faith comes in. It means that God has revealed a limited amount of information about himself. And what he requires of us is to believe that.

[5:15] When you do, That is the exercising of faith. That is placing your confidence or your trust in that which God has revealed.

[5:26] That means you are taking God at his word. Nothing pleases him more. God wants to be believed.

[5:36] That's the message from Genesis to Revelation. He has given us ample evidence for any reasonable person to embrace.

[5:48] He has not given us conclusive evidence. Because conclusive evidence is for the future. Conclusive evidence removes all doubt and all objection.

[5:59] We don't have that. So the question could well be asked, And it has been asked a number of times, Can you prove the existence of God? And the answer is, To whose satisfaction?

[6:13] It is proved to my satisfaction. I have no problem with the idea of God existing. I accept that. I concur with that. But not everybody does.

[6:25] Because not everybody thinks like I do. Not everybody wants to. And that's good. It would be a pretty boring world if it were otherwise. So we are given an ample amount of evidence, according to Romans chapter 1, To enable us to reach a right conclusion.

[6:43] Many people, You've heard me say this before, But I can't think of a better way of putting it. Many people cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.

[6:55] He really doesn't want to. There are those who, believe it or not, Search the scriptures, Trying to find justification for not believing.

[7:08] There really is that element. Some of them have written some best-selling books that have been published within the last couple of years. Richard Dawkins, for instance, And The God Delusion, And other books like that have enjoyed a great deal of circulation and popularity.

[7:26] These are people who really do not believe there is a God, And they don't want there to be a God. So if you come to the scriptures with that idea, Looking for rationale not to believe, Doesn't take a great deal to convince somebody like that.

[7:45] God tells us that he has given adequate information, Adequate evidence, So that Bertrand Russell's plea is not going to hold up If God looks at Bertrand Russell and says, Why did you not believe?

[7:58] And he says, Well, you didn't give me enough evidence. God will be able to say, But Mr. Russell, You know very well that I did.

[8:10] And there will be no retort to that. Because he will know very well that he did. So this subject of faith is that which exists in the interim, From the time of God's initial revelation, To the time of God's full disclosure, We operate and we walk by faith.

[8:28] That means God has given us information, We accept it, We believe it, We act upon it. That is our response to the information he has given. That's what it means to be a person of faith.

[8:39] The word faith simply means trust, Reliance, Commitment to, Dependency upon. And when we place the faith, Trust, Reliance, Dependency upon God, We are not placing it on ourselves, Which is what we would prefer to do.

[9:02] But that leads to disaster. It always does. Our only confidence and our only hope Is in the God who has instituted the principle of faith.

[9:13] I've pointed out to you, There are distinguishing features of biblical Christianity, That set it apart from all other faiths around the world. I said all other faiths around the world.

[9:26] But none is so outstanding and utterly unique to biblical Christianity than that of justification by faith, Made possible on the basis of God's grace.

[9:40] That is the central tenet and backbone of biblical Christianity, And it is utterly unique to Christianity. No other faith has this.

[9:51] No other faith proposes this. Every other faith, Without exception, Requires certain behavioral standards, Certain hoops through which you have to jump, Certain tenets you have to obey, Etc.

[10:08] Biblical Christianity is the only of all the faiths that says, By grace, Through faith, Plus nothing. It stands utterly alone. It is so plain, And so simple, It is hard to understand how it could possibly be missed.

[10:30] But it is. It is so vital, And eternal life-giving, It is hard to understand how it could possibly be missed.

[10:43] But it is. It is. It is the very core of the gospel, And is predicated upon the reason Jesus Christ came to earth, What he accomplished on the cross, And how that directly impacts every human being who ever lived or will live.

[11:02] Being a feature of such staggering proportion, It is hard to understand how it could possibly be missed. It is.

[11:13] This great truth of the ages, Justification by faith, Is that which the faithful are not only to embrace and personalize, But are then commanded to noise it abroad, And shout it from the rooftops.

[11:30] In light of its all-encompassing importance, And our responsibility to proclaim it, It is hard to understand how it can be made to play second fiddle, To so many other things.

[11:43] But it is. We are saying, Of course, That justification by faith is God's singular method, God's only method, By which he receives and accepts individuals into eternal life.

[12:08] All other methods are false. God says so. Now, I am well aware Of how intensely arrogant, Narrow, And exclusive This claim sounds.

[12:32] I'm aware of that. But, We did not originate it. God did. And if one is prepared, To call God arrogant, And offensive, And narrow, That's between them and God.

[12:51] All belief systems, Are not originated by God. Other belief systems, Apart from that which God originated, Other belief systems, Are originated by men, Or by Satan.

[13:07] And because God originated the faith principle, Or the law of faith, That in itself, Gives it veracity and credibility.

[13:20] And it dismisses all other systems, And beliefs, As spurious, Or counterfeit, Or untrue, And literally, Damning, To those who embrace them.

[13:32] This, Is an admitted, Hard sell, In today's culture, When truth, Is purely subjective, Or however you see it, Or whatever you feel comfortable with, Is fine for you, And one belief, Or non-belief, Is just as valid as any other, No one is wrong in whatever they believe, Nor do they have any right to say, Anyone else is wrong about whatever.

[14:09] That's where we are, In today's world. Tolerance. Tolerance is the order of the day. Our culture today, Asserts that.

[14:20] After all, Aren't we all supposed to respect, All other faiths and religious systems? No! We aren't.

[14:33] We are called upon, To lovingly accept, And respect, All other people. As individuals. As those who bear the image, And likeness of God.

[14:47] We have no call, To disrespect any other human being. But we have no call, To show respect, To what, To what, We clearly, Believe to be, Untrue.

[15:01] You have no business, Giving your respect, To something you feel, Is a lie. Any more than what the, Old Testament Israelites, Were not obligated, To respect the worship of Baalism.

[15:15] Can you imagine that? But then some did. And some not only respected Baalism, Some embraced it.

[15:28] And they become the subject of denunciation, By the prophets of God, Who read them out, In no uncertain terms, Because they had forsaken, Revelation of the true God.

[15:41] All through scripture, The truth is contrasted with the evil. And evil is much more abounding than is truth. Someone has said, Evil and a lie can get clear around the world, While the truth is still putting on its boots.

[15:59] That's very true. It hasn't changed at all. It is a sad situation. But this is where we are today.

[16:10] And if we do not embrace all other faiths, And legitimize them, Smile upon them and say, Hey, To each his own, Who am I to judge? Anybody can believe anything they want.

[16:20] And that's true. We must allow everybody to believe, Anything they want. We must give people freedom of conscience.

[16:31] But we cannot say, And by the way, Whatever belief it is you come up with, That's just fine. That we cannot do. We can say, Whatever belief you come up with, Ought to be laid alongside the truth of scripture, To see if it squares with it.

[16:51] And if it does, You're okay. And if it doesn't, You are wrong. Not because I say so, But because God says so. It boils down to this.

[17:02] Everybody is entitled, To their own opinion. We must allow people the freedom of that. But we cannot agree, That everyone is entitled to their own facts.

[17:16] Because facts are stubborn things, And facts are those things, That comport with reality. And a lie, Does not. The truth is what is.

[17:27] A lie is what is not. When you read the scriptures, You can easily understand, What caused all, Virtually all, Of the prophets, To be in perpetual hot water.

[17:49] It goes all the way back to Noah, Who first began to preach, And he preached pretty much to deaf ears, For 120 years. Look at the rest of the Old Testament prophets, Jeremiah, And Ezekiel, And Daniel, And how they were treated, And mistreated, And persecuted.

[18:06] And what do you think, What do you think got John the Baptist, In the difficulty that he was in, That cost him his life? It was his proclamation, Of the truth.

[18:18] It was not well received, It was not appreciated, And our Lord Jesus Christ, Of course, Is the premier example of that. He was, A thorn, In the side, Of the religious establishment.

[18:33] They either had to make, Massive changes, Undergo a massive, Spiritual overhaul, And repentance, Or get rid of this man.

[18:45] And you know, What choice they made. And it was so, With Stephen the martyr, For the same reason, The apostle Peter, And Paul, For the same reason, These men, Do you understand, That these men were intolerant?

[19:03] They were intolerant, Of all that did not comport, With God's truth. They spoke out against it, And it cost them their lives.

[19:16] Nobody likes to be told, That they're wrong. Nobody. But when you preach the truth, As God reveals it, And it hits head on, With that which is wrong, Either the wrong has to give, And come in line with the truth, Or get its hackles up, And fight it tooth and nail.

[19:37] And sometimes, When you cannot refute, The argument, And you cannot defeat, The argument, Kill the man. You don't like the message, Kill the messenger.

[19:50] And that is precisely, What has gone on, From the time of Noah, Even to the present time. A corrupt religious system, That passed itself off, As legitimate Judaism, But was in reality, A mishmash of tradition, And man-made add-ons, That caused the death, Of Christ.

[20:14] Matthew chapter 15, Let's go there quickly, If we may please. Matthew's gospel chapter 15, I must be selective, For time's sake, I want to allow, More than usual time, For Q&A this morning, So let's jump in, With Matthew 15, And verse 7, Jesus, Is offering, A rather pointed, Pronouncement, You hypocrites, Isn't that something?

[20:52] This is coming from, The mild, Meek, Gentle Jesus. You hypocrites, Rightly, Did Isaiah, Prophesy of you, You are the people, That Isaiah was talking about, When he said, This people, Honors me, With their lips, But their heart, Is far away from me, But in vain, Empty, Do they worship me, Teaching as doctrines, The precepts of men, They take the word of God, And then they impose upon it, Their teachings, And their traditions, And their perception, With the net effect, Of neutralizing the word of God, Making it of none effect, Either muddying it up,

[21:52] So much that you cannot, Understand it, Or complicating it, And making it so difficult, And Christ, Called them on that, He took them to task for that, And told them exactly, What they were guilty of, And do you think, If they appreciated that, Not on your life, Listen, Error, Always, Hates to be exposed, For what it is, Always, And it always, Puts up a defense, And it always fights, Tooth and nail, Just as if it were true, No one likes being exposed, This is why, Men, Love, Darkness, Rather than light, Neither will they come to the light, Lest their evil deeds be reproved, It was a corrupt religious system, In the dark ages, That passed itself off, As legitimate Christianity, But in reality, It was a mishmash of traditions, And man-made add-ons, That persecuted, And killed,

[22:53] Those who would reform it, And today, Today, We have seen the failure, And the corruption, Of justification by faith, By the early Jewish community, We have seen it, By the early, Dark ages community, That would, Historically, And broadly be classified, As the Romanish church, As it developed, In the second, Third, And fourth centuries, With the appointment of popes, The establishment of the seed, At Rome, Etc, And the religious hierarchy, And establishment, That was put in place, That concerned itself, With tradition, And ritual, And formality, And pomp, And all the rest of it, And one wonders, If Paul, Or Peter, Could have come back to the scene, In the third, Or fourth, Or fifth century, Walked into some of those cathedrals, Some of those magnificent places, Seen all the finery, And all of the faulty roll, And all of the pomp, And circumstance, They would have been stunned,

[23:54] Their response would have been, What is this? Well, It's what man has a tendency to do, To provide a new, Improved version, Of what God ordained, And all we do, Is gut the gospel, Muddy the water, Stir it all up, Confound it, Confuse it, So that you can't even, Recognize it, It's turned into, A religious, Establishment, Full of, Power brokers, Influence peddlers, And the like, Do you realize, This is human nature?

[24:44] This is the way man is? This is the impact, Realized, If nature takes its course, For every institution, That arises, You ought to read, The founding documents, Of harvard university, And then read, What the university, Stands for today, You would never believe, It was the same institution, The same can be said, For a number of other, Well endowed, Wellly, Funded institutions, Today, That are, So reputable, Held in such, High esteem, Young people, Claw and fight, And scratch and bite, To get admitted, To one of these, Wonderful institutions, Often, Never realizing, That it is, So far removed, From what it was, Intended to be, And let me tell you, Not only of,

[25:48] Educational institutions, But of nations, The most natural, Human thing, In the world, Is to stray, From the truth, It's not to stay, With the truth, It is to stray, From the truth, That's natural, We have a heart, That is inclined that way, This is the problem, Mankind is dealing, With a severe, Heart problem, It has always been that way, Since the fall, This is systemic, To human nature, It is, Axiomatic, That a church, Will go that way, Unless safeguards, Are taken against it, Denominations, Go that way, Unless safeguards, Are taken, Against it, A nation, Will go that way, If safeguards, Are not taken,

[26:49] Against it, And we, Are not, Now, Taking, Those safeguards, We are going, We are going, That way, We are off, The beaten path, We are going astray, The hymn writer, Knew full well, What he was saying, Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave, The God, I love, That's the human condition, And if you're saying, Not mine, Not mine, Yes, It is, Yours is no different, Than mine, And mine is just as ugly, As yours, So what do you do, How do you stay on that, Straight and narrow, Get back to the book, Stay in the book, It's got to be this, Always comes back to this, Always, That's the panacea, That's the protection, That's the guideline, That's the north star, That's the only thing, That will keep us,

[27:51] Where we ought to be, And when you depart, From that, You're just like, A little dingy, Out on a big ocean, And you're tossed, And turned, By every wave, And storm, That comes along, You have no anchor, No defense, No direction, No purpose, No hope, No anything, Justification, Justification, By faith, Has been so, Corrupted, And so, Ignored, And so, Laid aside, Today, Protestantism, In general, Protestantism, In general, Is a corrupt, Religious system, That passes itself off, As a legitimate, Christianity, That is nothing, But a mishmash, Of traditions, Man-made, Religious machinery, And do-goodism, Coupled with feel-goodism, That is the first, To deny the faith, Of our fathers, And to embrace, With open arms, All other,

[28:52] So-called, Faith traditions, And beliefs, As equally valid, Because after all, The loving, Christian thing to do, Is to just make a big tent, And embrace, Everybody, Because, We're all, Children of God, And we all need, To love one another, And it doesn't make any difference, What our doctrines are, Whether they contradict, One another, Or whether you believe, In the deity of Christ, Or whether you believe, In the substitutionary atonement, Just get your arms, Around everybody, And just love everybody, And that's where we are, And it's pathetic, Nauseatingly, It is done, Under the pretense of love, Acceptance, And understanding, And they make it, Sound so good, And so right, But the end thereof, Is the way of death, Proverbs 16, 25, And I'm going to turn quickly, To Galatians chapter 2,

[29:52] Or you'll not get your time, That I promised you, Galatians chapter 2, We've already noted, Our first, Clear, Encounter, With justification, By faith, Being in, Genesis 15, 6, And in Galatians 2, We see this, Intolerant apostle, On the move, And he talks about, Verse, One, Taking Titus with him, He said, After an interval, Of 14 years, I went up again, To Jerusalem, With Barnabas, Taking Titus along also, Now, Titus, You'll remember, Was a Gentile, What does that mean?

[30:42] Well, In all likelihood, It means, As was the case here, That Titus, Had not been circumcised, Who did that? Jews did that, Very few Gentiles did, So, This is going to be a problem, And verse 2, It was because of a revelation, That I went up, And I submitted to them, The gospel, Which I preach among the Gentiles, But I did so in private, To those who were of reputation, These are the shakers, And movers, The influence guys, Peter, And James, And John, And different ones, For fear that I might be running, Or had run in vain, Now, All Paul means here, Is what he's saying, And this is, This is part of the grace message, And this is, Partly where a lot of misunderstanding, Comes from, But, But, Paul is saying, Listen, I was commissioned of God, And raised up of God, To be the apostle to the Gentiles, To give the Gentiles,

[31:43] The good news of the gospel, And you need to understand, That, I did not preach, The law of Moses, To the Gentiles, In the first place, The law of Moses, Was never given to the Gentiles, It was given only to the Jews, The Gentiles would have little or no appreciation for it, So, I did not make the standard demands, Upon Gentiles, That one would expect Jews to fulfill, Like, Eating kosher food, And keeping the Sabbath, And circumcise, And all, That, Isn't part of the gospel, That isn't part of the good news, So, I never preached that, To Jews, Or to Gentiles, Now, Paul sometimes had Jewish audiences, Because he always went to the synagogues, Sometimes he had a mixed audience, And I'm sure that created some difficulty too, But now, He is aware, That those who are of stature,

[32:47] And who were, Apostles of Christ, Before he, Paul, Ever came on the scene, They were all Jews, And they all communicated, Within a Jewish context, And they were all into, Sabbath keeping, Kosher meals, Circumcision, The washings, And the ordinances, And all the rest of it, And crossing all the T's, And dotting all the I's, But Paul said, I never preached that stuff, To the Gentiles, So, I'm wondering, Is that going to get me in trouble, With my Jewish brethren, Who see those things, As so, Essential, So, Necessary, So, He says, In verse 2, It was because of a revelation, That I went up, In other words, God told me to go, And I submitted to them, I submitted to them, The gospel, That good news,

[33:49] Which I preach, Among the Gentiles, Because it isn't the same thing, They were preaching, And why did you want to submit it to them, If Paul's authority, Had come from God, And was indeed ordained of God, He doesn't need their permission, To preach what he preaches, He just needs God's, But he was wise enough to know, That it's really going to be confusing, If these, Fellow apostles, Who were in faith before I was, If they are insisting, On a different, Content of gospel, Than what I am, That's going to be, Problematic, That's going to create confusion, Could it be, That Paul was preaching one thing, And they were preaching another, Well of course, That's what he says, That's why he went up there,

[34:52] They had a different emphasis, No question that Christ, Was the core, Of both messages, Whether Jew or Gentile, But all of these other issues, So he goes on to say, I did so in private, I took them aside, I didn't make a public issue of it, I took, I think he's saying, Peter, James, John, Etc., Took the other apostle, Took them aside, Said, Fellas, We need to get together, Can I have a little meeting with you, You know, Just the six of us, Or eight of us, Or whatever, And they got together, And he said that he feared, That he might be running, Or had run in vain, That is, He did not want them, Contradicting him, And what he had been preaching, And maybe even go so far as to say, Hey, Don't listen to Paul, He's got it all wrong, Well, He didn't want that happening, And yet, He was not preaching, What they were preaching, But not even Titus,

[35:57] Who was with me, Though he was a Greek, A goyim, A Gentile, Or to the Jew, Could have even been classified as a heathen, Not even Titus, Who was with me, Though he was a Greek, Was compelled, To be, To be, To be, To be, To be, To be, To be circumcised, Folks, I cannot tell you, How significant, How significant, This simple statement is, The implications of this, Are absolutely staggering, And yet, It is so easy, To just read right over, And hardly even see, What is there, He was a Greek, But he was not, Compelled, To be circumcised,

[36:58] However, But, It was because, Of the, False, Brethren, Do you see, What he's calling them, False, Brethren, Doesn't, That sound, Terribly, Judgmental, Yes, It also, Sounds, Terribly, Accurate, They were not, True, Brethren, They were, False, Brethren, The spirit of God, Says, False, Brethren, Phonies, Who had, Sneaked in, To spy out, Our liberty, Which we have, In Christ Jesus, In order,

[38:00] To bring us, Into bondage, What, Is the liberty, What, Is the bondage, Same as it, Always been, The bondage, Was the law, Liberty, Was freedom, From the law, Romans, Six, Seven, And eight, Staggering concepts, In order, To bring us, Into bondage, But, We, Did, Not, Yield, In, Subjection, To them, For, Even, An hour, Being translated, Paul said, We wouldn't give them the time of day, Well, Doesn't that sound terribly rude?

[38:49] Can't we dialogue about this, And see if we can find some common ground? No! By grace, Through faith, Plus nothing, Over and out, End of argument, What's to debate?

[39:05] No! Whenever, Error, Debates, With truth, Truth, Always, Loses, Truth, Always, Loses, Bear that in mind, Truth, Always, Loses, Why?

[39:25] Because, Error doesn't have anything to lose, Truth is the only thing that stands to lose, Error is already, What is not, It's like taking from a negative, Doesn't lose, Got nothing to lose, Truth, Is so precious, Wasn't it Winston Churchill, In World War II, Connection with, The office of disinformation, And, The, Code, And the code machines, That the Germans were using, And that the British were using, And how powerful, Disinformation became, Which means, You make the enemy, Think, Something is true, When it isn't, And you make him think, He's got the real scoop, And the real information, When he doesn't, And it's called, Disinformation, And he said, The truth, Is so priceless, Sometimes it has to be, Surrounded, With a body of lies,

[40:27] And do you know, The truth of the gospel, Has always been surrounded, With a body of lies, Never with the intent, Of protecting it, But always with the intent, Of disguising it, Confounding it, Confusing it, Complicating it, Muddying it up, So that it cannot, Be clearly seen, For what it is, And Paul said, We did not yield, In subjection to them, For even an hour, Why?

[41:04] To what end? For what purpose? So that, The truth, Of the gospel, Might remain, With you, Because, If we had knuckled under, If we had caved in, And said, Well, Well, For the sake of, Harmony, For the sake of, Not wanting to be, Difficult, Or narrow, Titus, Would you really consider, This thing, Circumcision?

[41:36] I know, It will hurt like everything, But it will be over, In a little while, And you can put it behind you, And it would kind of, Pave the way, And make things, A whole lot smoother, And would have a lot more, Acceptance, And a lot more, Appreciation, And we might even, Get some extra meetings, That we wouldn't get otherwise, That's called, Compromise, Someone once said, It is never right, To do wrong, In order to get a chance, To do right, It's a good motto, It is never right, To do wrong, In order to get a chance, To do right, What would have happened, If Paul had said, Okay, No big deal, So, We'll, We'll, We'll, We'll get Titus circumcised, It would have been, Down the tubes, The whole thing,

[42:38] Would have gone, Caput, Here was, The apostle, Of the Gentiles, The apostle, Of the grace of God, Caving, On this issue, I can't tell you, How thankful I am, For the backbone, Of this man, What's right, Is right, What's wrong, Is wrong, Not everything, Is black and white, There are great issues, We need to recognize it, And that, Is where, You need the tolerance, The gray issues, The black and white, No, No, It is God's truth, We do not have the right, To compromise it, This is priceless, I'd like to take you, To Romans 4, But we're not going, To take the time, And I do want to wrap this up, With this particular message, So, We've got, Plenty of time, And is there a roving mic, Back there, I would appreciate it, If you would get that please, And any,

[43:38] Questions or comments, You may have, About the subject, Of faith, Or the principle of it, Or however, You want to address it, Or, You may have a comment, That you would like to make, That we would, Really appreciate, So, Feel free, Okay, Who has a question, Or comment, Harleen, Wait for the mic there please, Trying to say, That, Any Christian, Who, Once in a while, Thinks, Oh, I could be wrong, Is not a Christian, I don't know, What you're saying, I, I, I, I don't know, What I, I don't know what I said, That might have given that impression, But, That's not what I meant, But anyway, Elaborate a little bit, Well, I, Think, That, There's a lot of Christians, That say, Oh, You know, And, But they're right,

[44:39] And they, They, They listen, Sometimes to somebody else, And, And they say, Hmm, Am I, Am I right, Am I right, Am I right, But they are, Well, I've had plenty of, Hmm, I've had plenty of those myself, Yeah, That's what I'm saying, And there is more, There is far more, That I do not know, Than what I do know, That's what I'm saying, And I include that about the Bible, I think that that's what, We should tell them, That, That, If they, You know, Think that like that, That they're not wrong, That they still are Christians, Well, They, Anybody, Including Christians, Anybody, Including Christians, Is wrong, If whatever they think, Or whatever they believe, Does not comport, With the one, Ultimate standard, Which is the word of God, If whatever they believe, Doesn't line up with that, They're wrong, Simple as that, If whatever I believe, Doesn't line up with that, I'm wrong, We've got to have, A north star, We've got to have, A point of reference, And the Bible, Is the only one we've got, That's why,

[45:40] We are to give ourselves, To the diligent, Study, Of it, So that we might know, What God has said, So that we can, Get ourselves, In line with that, Because we are not, Automatically in line, We are automatically, Out of line, That's why, We need to get, Address the scripture, Thank you, Someone else, With a comment or question, Up here, I don't know, The timeline on this, But didn't Paul, Go along with Timothy, Being circumcised, So that he could, Preach the Jews, Yes he did, Yes, Paul, Paul agreed, To have Timothy, Circumcised, And I know, Some Bible scholars, Have a great deal, Of difficulty with that, I personally do not, Because, Paul, Was ministering, To Jews, Almost as much, As he was the Gentiles, Every time, Paul got to a new location, First thing he always did,

[46:40] Was head for the synagogue, And there he would find, All of the local Jews, And the problem was, And I am satisfied, At least in my own mind, And maybe others, Are not satisfied, But it satisfies me, That Paul knew, He would have, No entree, At all, With Jews, If he had, As his chief aid, An uncircumcised, What shall I say, Half breed, Jew, Because Timothy's, Maybe somebody can help me on this, I don't remember, Timothy's parentage, His mother, Lois, His grandmother, Eunice, And I get them all mixed up, I don't remember, If one of them, Was a Jew, Or if it was, Timothy's father, Does anybody remember, Was it Timothy's father, Okay, Thank, Timothy's father was a Jew,

[47:42] But his mother was a Gentile, And yet, Paul knows, That if he is going, With this half breed Jew, Into a synagogue, To minister, With Jews, And Timothy was not circumcised, That was going to present, In fact, It would destroy his credibility, With the Jews, So, I don't think he saw that, As a compromise, At all, Depends, The audience that you're trying to reach, In that case, And now, The next logical question is, I suppose, How would these people, In the synagogue know, Whether Timothy was circumcised, Or not, I'm not going to go there, But, There was a way, That it was pretty obvious, To all of the Jews, And it had to do, With the culture of the day, And, And the routine, Activities of the day, So just use your imagination, A little bit, Okay, In the back, Terry, All the way back there, Okay, Dave,

[48:47] We're going to have to get you, A pair of inline scapes, Okay, You have said that, The Bible is the truth of the Lord, And, If we're outside, Of what the Bible says, Then we're wrong, Is it possible, For two Christians, Who both believe, And are going to heaven, To have differences, Of how they interpret, The Bible, And how do you know, Which one is correct?

[49:15] Well, I hope it's possible, Because if it isn't possible, Heaven's going to be, The most underpopulated place, You could ever imagine, Yeah, There are, Lots of differences, Of ideas, And interpretations, It has been said, That you can, You can interpret the Bible, Almost any way you want, And that's true, And people do, There are a number of passages, That I just have to, Walk away from, Myself, And leave them, In my mind, Uninterpreted, Because I really, Can't get a handle on, I just, Don't understand, What's involved there, Now, I felt that way, About different passages, Over the years, And as time passed, Some of those issues, Were resolved, Because sometimes, I would be reading, Over here, And it would throw light, On an old thorny problem, That I had back here, Five years ago, And it starts, All of a sudden, Emerging, And comes out, Being crystal clear, And that's a beautiful thing, When that happens, We need those,

[50:15] Every now and then, To keep us going, But believers, Have honest, Differences of opinion, Regarding passages, Of scripture, And, And yet, There is, One, Interpretation of scripture, There are not several, This is, Another, This ties in, With the culture, Like subjectivity, Everything is, How you see it, How it seems, Right to you, This is how, People sit around, And they call it, A bible study, And they sit around, Discussing a passage, Of scripture, And everyone talks about, What it means to them, And you end up, With ten or twelve, Different interpretations, Of what it means to them, Well, That's all application, That's not interpretation, The interpretation, Of a passage of scripture, Is not what it means to you, It's not what it means to me, It's what it means, Well, How do you know what it means?

[51:12] It means, What it meant, To the person, Who wrote it, And the person, Who was on the receiving end of it, What they understood it to mean, That's the meaning, Of scripture, And from that meaning, From that interpretation, There are all kinds of possible, Applications, And likenesses, And, Examples, Made from it, But there is one interpretation, That's the one, That was in the mind, And heart, Of the writer, And, Many times, The context, Reveals that to us, The Bible, Has, Really, Difficult, Places, In it, To try and understand, But they are in a minority, The vast majority, Of the Bible, Makes good sense, When it is, Just, Read, And taken, At face value,

[52:13] There are problematic passages, I still have a bunch of them, Lots of questions, I'm going to have, When I get to heaven, But you know something, Everything, That God deems, Important, Are those things, He has most, Clearly revealed, And most, Frequently mentioned, Someone else, With a comment, Or question, We've got five whole minutes now, Take advantage of it, I think we found, In Romans, Thursday morning, Where, One guy says, It's okay to eat meat, One guy doesn't, Even though Paul, In the end, Says it's okay, Whatever you eat, As long as you eat it, Unto the Lord, But there was a disagreement there, And we, Our main thing, Is try to not make people stumble, You know, With our arrogance, About scripture,

[53:14] When we know, You know, When we think we know it all, And if it's a gray area, Just let her go, And maybe the Lord, Will reveal it to them, In his due time, I appreciate you, Bringing that up, Roger, He's talking about, Our Thursday morning men's class, By the way, All you men are invited, We just have a, Have a great time, Every Thursday morning, But we were talking, In Romans 14, About doubtful things, And these are gray issues, And Paul brings up the issue, That one man believes, That he should eat herbs only, He's a vegetarian, And he feels, Quite strongly about that, Another man thinks, It's okay to eat meat, And that there's nothing wrong with that, And Paul is saying, Look, You are to cut each other, Some slack, And don't be harsh, And sit in judgment, On your brother, And say, Well, If you, If you, Don't see, That it's okay to eat meat, You're stupid, And you're wrong, And you reject that one, Or you ridicule him, Or put him down, We have no call to do that, There are a number of areas, That are, According to one's,

[54:15] Personal preference, One's personal opinion, One's personal conviction, And we do not have the right, To impose, Our convictions, On someone else, And insist that, They see it like we do, Or they do it like we do, Or they're wrong, Because these are gray areas, And we are to, Allow one another, The latitude, And the freedom, Of their conscience, To see things differently, From what we do, There's nothing wrong with that, That's just, That's just a spirit of graciousness, And we certainly ought to have that, And, Someone else, Ron up here in front, When you mentioned Timothy, He was the son, Of a Jewish woman, Okay, His mother was Jewish, His mother was Jewish, Well, I appreciate the correction, Okay, His mother was Jewish, And his father was a Gentile,

[55:17] Okay, Thank you, Clarification, Anybody else? Betty, Right across there.

[55:32] The problem I have, When you're trying to witness to someone, You'll say, But I don't believe in the Bible, Or, Like a minister told me one time, That, When I used, Jesus said, I am the way, The truth, And the life, No man cometh from the Father, But by me, And he was telling, His church, He embraced all different beliefs, And faiths, And everything, He said, Well, That part isn't really in the Bible, That was, You know, Just, Oh yeah, But if you can't, Base what you believe, On the Bible, And have them respect that, You have no leg to stand on, That's true, That's very true, And this is why, As I've said so many times, The issue is always, Authority, It always comes down to, What do you accept, As authority, Do you know what the answer is, For most people, Do you know what most people, Accept as an authority, Right here, Themselves, And do you know what that is, That, That is arrogance, That is pride, That won't quit,

[56:34] I am the authority, When I apply my superior intellect, To any situation, I come up with a, Right solution, Yeah, In a pig's eye, But this is where, You know, People, This is the issue, Really, The Bible, And its authority, Which is soundly rejected today, In many quarters, But, One time, Someone asked me, Why I believe the Bible, And I said, Well, One reason I believe the Bible, Is because, It says, It's the word of God, And they said, Well you, That's no good, That's circular reasoning, You say that the Bible, Is your authority, And I ask you, Why is the Bible, Your authority, And you say, Because, The Bible says, The Bible says, It's your authority, And that's just circular reasoning, That won't hold up, Well it isn't circular reasoning, Because the Bible, Is not one book,

[57:34] The Bible is many books, Compiled into one, And we have, Numerous testimony, From forty, Different writers, Contributing to that one book, All of whom, Major on the same theme, None of whom, Contradict one another, And throughout the Bible, The Bible says, It is God's word, Tell me, What would you think, Of the Bible, If it said, It was not God's word, Would you believe, That it was, If it said it wasn't, Well, No, I wouldn't believe, That it was, If it said it wasn't, Well, It might sound like, Circular reasoning, But it isn't, Because, When one, In the scriptures, States, That, Thus saith the Lord, There are thirty-nine others,

[58:38] Who back him up, So, It isn't as though, One source is claiming that, It is a multitude of sources, Throughout it, Verifying it, And, Establishing the veracity, One of another, One more, And then we'll have to close, Anybody?

[58:55] Anybody? Feel free, Anyone? Okay, Thank you very much, I appreciate all of you, Who made comments, Or asked questions, And next week, Our message will be, Somewhat different, We're going to follow, A national, Patriotic theme, With it being, Memorial Day weekend, And, We look forward to your presence, And I think you will, Really, Really appreciate, And be tremendously, Encouraged, By, This, House resolution, Number 397, And we'll share that with you, May we stand please, Father, Father, You have once again, Provided us, With information, That, We consider inviolable, And clear, And compelling, And demanding, But it demands nothing,

[59:56] That we cannot provide, In accordance, With the volition, That you've given us, And once again, We bless you, And we express our gratitude, To you, For extending, To us, The concept of grace, And what it means, To simply, Believe you, And be justified, Stand rightly related to you, Not on the basis, Of our goodness, But on the basis, Of your goodness, And your grace, That our response, To the finished work of Christ, Is simple belief, And trust, And with that in mind, You regenerate, You quicken, You sanctify us, You accept us, You embrace us, We are such, A wonderfully blessed people, And that our soul knows, Right well, Dismiss us now, We pray with your blessing, In Christ's name, Amen.

[61:01]  Who are such, Youclass discut pense, At that point, I know that we are going, And that's how we address, Think of us, That I haverina, That the smell, At that point, To its prayers, And try� рук, But for us,