Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.gracespringfield.com/sermons/42492/why-christians-differ-doctrinally-part-xxii/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] to Psalm 19, Psalm 19. For the past several months we have been dealing with the theme regarding why there are doctrinal differences among Christians.

[0:22] Where did all of these different denominations come from and how did they begin? And we pointed out to you that a mere four or five hundred years ago there were no Presbyterians, there were no Methodists, there were no Church of God as we know them, there were no Nazarenes, there were no Baptists insofar as the denomination is concerned that we are familiar with today.

[0:52] All of these are of relatively late origin. How did they all come into being? And the answer is quite simple. They each take a different approach to how they interpret Scripture.

[1:06] And of course, in connection with that, most of these have their origins in the Church of Rome, that is the Roman Catholic Church. It, by far and away, is the oldest, most recognized, and organizational Church that is in existence.

[1:27] And they claim to be the oldest Church, and they are. This is what came out of the early apostolic Church. Now, suffice it to say that from the time of the first century on, there have been pockets of true believers worshiping and loving the Lord as Scripture dictates and as the Lord moved their heart.

[1:52] And that has been the case all down through the centuries, from the very earliest of times. But from the standpoint of organized, ecclesiastical entities is concerned, that's where the Roman Catholic Church has its origin.

[2:09] And virtually everything has come out of that that we know of as Protestant today. You realize that it began with Wycliffe in the late 1300s.

[2:24] He was referred to as the morning star of the Reformation. And Wycliffe was a Roman Catholic priest. But he had a deep love for the Scriptures and a desire to translate the Scriptures, which was not available to people in their native language.

[2:42] He wanted to make it available to them. And he engaged this great translation work that is still deeply valued to this day. And along with Wycliffe, there came Tyndale, and then Martin Luther and men of that stripe, who are referred to as the Reformers.

[2:59] What were they reforming? They attempted to reform the Roman Catholic Church, of which they were a part. However, the Roman Catholic Church and its hierarchy did not agree that they had any need for reforming.

[3:16] All that was necessary was for these renegades, like Luther and Tyndale and Wycliffe, etc., all that was necessary was for them to get their act together and place themselves under the authority of Rome and the Pope as they were supposed to.

[3:31] But they took a bent that led them toward the developing of the Scriptures in the native language and in teaching people the meaning of Scripture.

[3:43] And, of course, eventually they either left the church or they were excommunicated from the church. And out of this group, out of those who referred to as Reformed, eventually, under King Henry VIII, eventually the Episcopal Church came into being because it was a split from the Roman Catholic Church.

[4:05] King Henry VIII, who had an eye for the ladies and obviously tired of them rather quickly, appealed to the Pope for an annulment because, of course, a divorce was out of the question.

[4:18] Roman Catholic theology would not allow for a divorce. And, of course, King Henry VIII, as was all of England, was Roman Catholic. So when he appealed to the Pope for an annulment from his latest wife, the Pope refused and would not grant him an annulment.

[4:37] So Henry VIII said, All right, so much for you. I will start my own church. And it became known as the Episcopal Church or the Episcopalians or the Church of England.

[4:51] And that came into being in the 1500s, early 1600s, late 1500s. And out of the Episcopal Church that became the Church of England, that is, the official state church of England, which means that all of the clergy, the vicars, etc., were on the state payroll and were paid from taxpayer dollars.

[5:15] That's what you have when you have a state church. Eventually, out of that, a man was raised up by the name of John Wesley. He was Oxford educated.

[5:27] He had Brother Charles, who has written over 6,000 hymns, many of which are in our hymnal. And they began a movement that literally spread across all of England and was responsible for the Great Awakening.

[5:50] And following that, there were numerous social reforms that were brought into practice because England at the time was just wallowing in debauchery and depravity of every kind.

[6:07] And John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield lit a spiritual fire in Great Britain that resulted in what we now know as the Victorian Age.

[6:21] And eventually it spread to the colonies. And there were tremendous awakenings over here under men like Jonathan Edwards and so on. And out of Wesley's efforts emerged what we now know as the Methodist Church.

[6:40] And then in the early 1900s, there was a great deal of unrest in the Methodist Church. So there was a faction that said, we are leaving the Methodist Church.

[6:52] We no longer agree with them. We are going to call ourselves Nazarenes. And that became the beginning of the Nazarene Church. That was the early 1900s.

[7:02] Likewise, the Church of God, both of Anderson, Indiana and of Cleveland, Tennessee, one is Pentecostal, the other is Holiness. The Churches of God, and we've got several here in Springfield, they were part of the Methodist Church and they pulled out of the Methodist Church for much the same reason that the Nazarenes did.

[7:24] And they formed another denomination called the Church of God. They developed their own doctrine, etc. And we have these with us today. And of course, out of all of those that I just mentioned, there have come others of lesser numbers.

[7:37] So the whole country is permeated with large denominations, smaller denominations, splits and splinters and what have you. And then there are those whom we might regard as the real oddballs.

[7:51] That's us. We are non-denominational. We don't subscribe to any particular denomination. I've often been asked that. What denomination do we belong to?

[8:01] And my pat answer is that we'd never be able to find anybody who would accept us. So we are just an independent local church. We don't belong to any denomination.

[8:13] We are not anti-denominational. But we just don't belong to any denomination because, quite frankly, we don't fit anywhere. We consider ourselves to be biblically oriented.

[8:26] But do you know what? So do all of them. So it's just a real... That's a bird's eye view of how so many different denominations came into being.

[8:39] Psalm 19, verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

[8:51] The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

[9:04] The judgments of the Lord are true. They are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold. Yes, than much fine gold.

[9:14] Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them thy servant is warned. In keeping them, there is great reward.

[9:26] Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins. Let them not rule over me.

[9:37] Then I shall be blameless. And I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight.

[9:50] O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. The doctrinal differences that exist among Christians are due to the violations of several key principles of interpretation.

[10:07] I am not going to give you all of them. I am just going to give you perhaps the top five. And I trust that when you see these explained and realize that when you violate these principles, you will reach what I call aberrant interpretations of scripture.

[10:28] There are some really bizarre ideas out there. And virtually every one of them can be attributed to ignoring some of these principles that we are going to be sharing with you.

[10:40] These are not Wiseman principles. I think they are just common sense principles. And what I am giving you is not complete. But it does contain the majority of the more grievous violations.

[10:53] And here is the first one. It is due to a failure to make scripture alone our only rule of faith and practice.

[11:06] We must confine ourselves to the scriptures alone for its interpretation rather than bring man-made interpretations to bear upon the text.

[11:19] Scripture alone is its only reliable interpretation. Scripture alone is its only reliable interpretation.

[11:53] Scripture alone is its only reliable interpretation. The Bible is its own best commentator. Now, I really enjoy what men have written about the meaning of the word of God.

[12:10] My shelves are lined with commentaries of great men of God in the past who have elucidated us regarding scripture. But you must always bear in mind that these are the mere writings of men, and they are subject to error.

[12:27] When we allow scripture to interpret scripture, we do so by pulling together all that the scriptures have to say on any one particular subject from all of the places that include it, from wherever it is mentioned.

[12:46] This is the principle of comparing scripture. This is the principle of comparing scripture with scripture. And when you do that, you will find that the book of Genesis affords tremendous insight to the book of the Revelation.

[13:01] And that there are passages in Nehemiah that are explained only by an understanding of Ezra located next to it. So we compare scripture with scripture.

[13:15] We allow the Bible to interpret itself by pulling together all of the references that are given. And by the way, this is why a concordance is invaluable. You've got to have something like this so that you know what the Bible speaks, how the Bible speaks its whole mind on any particular given subject.

[13:34] There are numerous illustrations that I could give you, but we simply do not have to take, we cannot take the time to incorporate them. But that is the very first principle. Make scripture alone our only rule of faith and practice.

[13:47] When our Lord was engaged in public ministry, and he had occasion to teach, which was quite often, one of the things that astounded his audience the most was his manner of teaching.

[14:00] And I'm not simply talking about the parables. I am talking about utilizing himself as the source. Because that just wasn't done.

[14:13] Virtually all of the rabbis quoted other rabbis and other writings. They quoted from the Talmud, the Mishnah, the Gemara. These are all rabbinical writings, commentaries, explanations that rabbis had given down through the years on the meaning of the passages in the Old Testament.

[14:32] And virtually everyone who taught quoted the rabbis. But Christ, when he taught, he taught not like the Pharisees, but he taught as one having authority.

[14:48] What did that mean? That means he taught as though he was the authority. And he was.

[15:00] You have heard that it hath been said, thus and so and thus and so, but I say unto you. That was unheard of. That was placing himself above all of the rabbis, the teachers, etc.

[15:14] It amazed the people. This man spoke as if he was the authority. Well, he was the authority. That was one of the things that captivated the people. And do you know, most of our Lord's teachings and explanations were really quite simple.

[15:30] There is something about the ego of man that wants to make everything complex, deep, dark, mysterious, so that only an elite few can grasp it.

[15:45] Maybe the intellectual elite. But all of you ordinary commoners, it's just over your head. Forget it. You can't get it. You wouldn't understand it. How arrogant.

[15:58] And yet, that's often the way it was taught. But that's not the way our Lord taught. So we must limit ourselves to the scriptures and the scriptures alone, not the writings of rabbis or preachers or priests or popes, but it is thus saith the Lord.

[16:18] Sola Scriptura. The scriptures and the scriptures alone. That's the only safeguard we have. Because the moment you inject human wisdom into it and make it an authority, that's the difference.

[16:33] We can appeal to many human writers, and I do. I love just sitting down and reading a good commentary. But you have got to remind yourself, that is human authority.

[16:45] It may be on track, and it may not. But it is man saying what God says. Now, there is that which God says in his word, and there is that which man says God says.

[17:02] That's what you have to be careful about. You don't have to be careful about what God says. But you better look with a critical eye at what man says God says.

[17:15] Because many times, God is saying, I didn't say that. You said that I said that, but I didn't say that. Man can sometimes play fast and loose with the scriptures, especially when we're dealing with a passage and we want it to say what we want it to say.

[17:32] Our biases and prejudices come into play. So we've got to make scripture alone. And this is one of the failures that leads to a lot of other different interpretations, is not making scripture alone the authority.

[17:47] And secondly, a failure to embrace plenary inspiration and thus elevate certain scriptures over others as having more authority.

[17:58] That is, red letter gospels versus the epistles and sometimes completely ignore the Old Testament. I've got a passage here.

[18:09] I'll just turn to this. This is Numbers chapter 2. And we'll just take verse 5.

[18:21] And those who camp next to him shall be the tribe of Issachar and the leader of the sons of Issachar, Nethanel, the son of Zuar. Did you get that?

[18:33] Isn't that a blessing? Didn't that really stir your soul? Isn't that something that you've always wanted to know? I mean, maybe you didn't get it the first time.

[18:46] Let me read it again. See if it penetrates. See if it sends a tingle down your spine. Isn't that something?

[19:08] Wow. No, it isn't something. But I'll tell you what it is. It is the word of God.

[19:19] Now, hear me. What I just read to you is just as much the word of God as is.

[19:31] For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. Whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. You would put those on the same plane?

[19:46] Absolutely. Absolutely. Because if a text is inspired of God, it's inspired of God. There's nothing more to be said, more or less.

[19:57] That's it. None of the Bible is more inspired or more the word of God than some other part. Now, I would be the first to admit, no question about it, certain parts of the Bible are a lot more inspiring to me to read them.

[20:18] And what I just shared with you from the book of Numbers, frankly, does not do a thing for me. But it is the word of God just as much as in the other portion.

[20:31] And when we talk about the plenary inspiration, all the word plenary, P-L-E-N-A-R-Y, all the word plenary means is full or complete. This means every jot and every tittle of the scriptures is inspired.

[20:48] All scripture is inspired of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction, etc. All of it. It doesn't mean that some of it is not more beneficial than other parts.

[21:01] Of course it is. Parts of it are a lot more illuminating than other parts. Some of it is just data. It's just numbers.

[21:13] It's just... I don't have any idea why this text is included in the Bible. But let me assure you, it is not there for nothing.

[21:30] God never gave his word in one line just to fill up space. Every word that is there is there because God wants it there.

[21:44] That's what we mean when we say plenarily inspired. It is all God's word. There is a common mistake among a lot of people, a lot of Christians, that the Gospels...

[21:57] Red letters. That is really the word of God. The rest of this stuff is just in black and white, you know. But you know what really matters?

[22:10] It's what Jesus said. That's what really matters. But what everybody else says, you know, it's strictly second tier stuff or maybe third or fourth. No, it isn't.

[22:21] No, it isn't. It may be in so far as how it ministers to you or how it makes you feel or how it enlightens you. But the epistles are no less every bit the word of God as is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

[22:40] Because do you understand who is really behind the epistles? It isn't Paul. It isn't Peter.

[22:51] It isn't John. It is the same Spirit of God who inspired Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

[23:03] No part of the Bible is more inspired than any other part. Now, there are lots of parts in the Bible that are more inspiring to read for a blessing or enlightenment than certain other parts.

[23:20] What we just read from the book of Numbers, I do not consider that terribly enlightening at all. But it is there for a reason. There is not a jot or tittle in the word of God that is superfluous.

[23:33] That is there because God wants it there. All Scripture is inspired of God. All Scripture is equally inspired of God, even though some portions may be more inspiring than others.

[23:47] No part of the Bible is more the word of God than another part. And that has to be borne in mind. And when you understand that, I think it will go a long way to helping you appreciate the overall tenor of Scripture.

[24:03] A failure to embrace plenary inspiration and thus elevate certain Scriptures over others as having more authority is something that we cannot afford to do.

[24:17] And I know people do that particularly with the red letter versions of the Bible. And they say, well, these are the words of Jesus. Listen, it's all the word of God.

[24:28] All of it. Genesis, the revelation, is inspired of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, truly furnished unto every good work.

[24:46] So no part of the Bible is more inspired than any other part. But some parts may be more inspiring to you as you read them, or more of a blessing, if you will.

[24:58] And third, a failure to take the literal literally and the figurative figuratively almost always established by the context.

[25:10] When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense. There is a principle called Occam's razor.

[25:23] And it simply means that you go with the simplest solution to any problem unless there is good reason to look for a more complex answer.

[25:34] And that's what we ought to apply to this. And if you will, I'm just thinking of Genesis 1 now. And this is a really problematic area, and Christians have fussed and haggled over this for centuries and still do.

[26:00] Genesis 1.1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void. Darkness was over the surface of the deep.

[26:11] The Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And here we've got an account given of creation in these first two chapters. And they are very straightforward.

[26:23] The tendency, of course, is to not take these literally. And I think that is a big mistake. There is no question that portions of Scripture are not to be taken literally.

[26:40] And they are usually quite obvious. There is a great deal of poetic and figurative language in the Bible. But there is also a great abundance of straightforward language.

[26:52] And I think here we have an account of that. This is the Genesis account. And it simply presents creation from the standpoint of an inspired prophet.

[27:07] That is Moses. And we believe that Moses was, as were the other writers of Scripture, was providentially guided and protected in what was recorded.

[27:19] And we have here a faithful, accurate representation of what actually took place. It is, well, verse 3 says, let there be light.

[27:34] Verse 6 says, let there be affirmament. Verse 11 says, let the earth bring forth. And verse 14 is, let lights be the sun and the moon. And verse 20, let the waters be divided.

[27:47] And verse 24, let the earth. And then in verse 26, let us make man in our image. And I think we've got a very accurate, straightforward account given of the origin of man.

[28:03] Where does this put evolution? Well, it puts evolution right where it belongs, in the garbage heap. But it has made enormous strides. And by far and wide, it is the most popular interpretation.

[28:19] Sad to say, even among a lot of people who consider themselves Christians. I think the Genesis record makes very good sense, just as it stands.

[28:30] I do not see any accounting for the evolutionary hypothesis. I just think that the record is given here, and it is a good, faithful, accurate record.

[28:43] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Simple as that. When the plain sense makes good sense, seek no other sense.

[28:54] There is a failure to take the literal literally and the figurative figuratively, which is almost always established by the context.

[29:06] So we have God active in creation. And if you were to look at Genesis chapter 20, which is just right next door, we've got a portion here in verse 11.

[29:24] For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.

[29:36] Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Six days God created the heavens and the earth. Well, what about the billions and billions and billions of years?

[29:47] Well, if you want to examine this from a purely scientific point of view, there are several references that I could cite that I think you should consider.

[30:01] Dr. Robert Gange is one of them. He's an outstanding scientist in the space program, and he has contributed numerous things in print and also on tape that I think very clearly set forth a case for creation.

[30:17] And this is simply taking the scripture at face value. And I think that's the way the vast majority of scripture is to be taken, unless the context makes it quite clear that the writer is speaking figuratively.

[30:30] In almost all cases that becomes very obvious. So here we have a clear-cut case of God having created the heavens and the earth, and you read the account given in Genesis 1 and in Genesis 2, and each one is designed to treat something different.

[30:47] It's just axiomatic that we embrace it that way. And yet I know that much of the world today, and even those in the Christian community, sometimes look upon this as very simplistic.

[31:01] But I am convinced that man has a penchant for taking something that is simple and making it complex. I don't know if he feeds his ego in connection with that or not, but that's what we have a tendency to do.

[31:15] Here in the Gospel according to Matthew, and I'm thinking of verse 4, Our Lord answered and said, Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female?

[31:39] He created them from the beginning. Christ said that. Well, what about evolution? Christ said he created them male and female from the beginning.

[31:56] No hint of a blob of protoplasm oozing forth from a muddy pond someplace that became this and became that and became something else. And then, a la Charles Darwin, down through the ages, it became you.

[32:12] And here you are walking around. You didn't know that you started out as a slimy little blob, did you? But you did, according to Charles Darwin. When we were in England several years ago and had the opportunity to visit Westminster Abbey, and I recommend it to anybody, this is just truly awesome building, just absolutely magnificent.

[32:36] And many people are not aware that Westminster Abbey is a huge cemetery. And there are hundreds and hundreds of people buried there, kings and queens and so on. And Charles Darwin is buried there.

[32:50] And I went to the receptionist and asked for a locator for Charles Darwin, and she told me exactly where to find it. And I went and found it, and there it was, a square about two feet wide and about 12 inches high, a stone placed on the flat of the floor with the name and the dates of his life, Charles Darwin.

[33:09] And I couldn't resist it. I didn't say it loud enough for anybody to hear, but I did say it as I stood there at the tomb of Charles Darwin, and I said, Charles Darwin, you were wrong.

[33:24] And I did get a peculiar kind of satisfaction from that. I doubt seriously that Charles heard me, but anyway, it made me feel a little better.

[33:38] And you know, I do not believe, I do not believe there is anything, any teaching or any doctrine, that has so profoundly, negatively, impacted the human race so deeply as the evolutionary hypothesis.

[34:00] I can remember, when I was in school, the teachers were very clear to say, evolution is only a theory.

[34:15] It is not a proven fact. Today, most of them will not say that. They say, evolution has been proven.

[34:27] It is a fact. It is a scientific fact. Well, it isn't. Darwin was wrong, and he is wrong now. In the beginning, he made them male and female.

[34:40] And the record stands. You know, science, science is a wonderful thing. And we are enormously indebted to science. There have been so many scientific achievements on so many levels that we have benefited from, and I am sure there is a whole lot more to come.

[34:59] But science, as wonderful as it is, and as indebted to it as we are, you must understand. Do you not know that science, the best science, is a work in progress?

[35:18] Do you understand that? With science, the jury is always out. It is never complete. It is never finished.

[35:28] It is never done. It never writes the final chapter. Because what science is all about is investigation, revelation, understanding, reversing yourself.

[35:44] Because you discover that the position they were so sure of a generation ago is now discounted and has no validity. Why is that?

[35:55] Because the very nature of science is developing, continuing to learn, continuing to unearth. You never get the final word from science. But that is okay.

[36:07] That is just the same thing as saying, we are finite. We have limited understanding. But as generations of men come and go, we learn more, and more, and more, and more, and we get more and more enlightened.

[36:21] And that is wonderful. That is great. That is the learning process for humanity. But that is all it is. It is always a work in progress. And when you contrast that with the word that God has given, it is forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.

[36:40] We have got the final word. We have got the whole revelation that God wants us to have. And it is complete. And in Christ, you are complete. So when we contrast science with the revelation of Scripture, we see science is ongoing, developing, turning up, reversing itself, changing, adapting.

[37:03] But the word of God stands firm. Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. In Matthew, I'm sorry, in Colossians 1 and in John 1 and in Revelation 4, we have additional instances where creation is attributed to Jesus Christ.

[37:30] He is before all things. And by him, all things consist. And without him was nothing made that was made. This attests to the validity of the Son of God active in creation.

[37:45] And there is simply no possibility of the evolutionary model. And you know, when so much of this came about was when Darwin published his famous Origin of Species.

[37:57] And by the way, if you want an education, copies of this are readily available. You get the Origin of Species and you will read time and time and time again as you go through this book.

[38:09] Phrases like, we may well suppose or it would appear. And you find that repeatedly all throughout the book because he is speaking in areas that he's just not that knowledgeable about.

[38:26] But he did engage in a great deal of exploration, particularly in the islands and came to these conclusions about the evolution of man.

[38:39] And by the way, Darwin, by no manner of means, just did not originate with Darwin. The idea of the evolutionary hypothesis goes back before the time of Christ.

[38:52] What Darwin did was popularize it and publish it and make it more available worldwide. but there was nothing new about it except Darwin gave it a shot in the arm and it took off.

[39:08] And when this thing, the origin of species came out and hit the public, it terrified a bunch of preachers, a bunch of clergymen and theologians in our leading seminaries and universities.

[39:23] and the claims that Darwin was setting forth really looked pretty undeniable. Well, what's going to be the Christian answer to this?

[39:40] If Genesis is wrong and God didn't create by direct creation and Darwin has proved that we have evolved from lower life forms and by the way, this is the big claim today.

[39:57] The Bible is all about faith but evolution is a proven fact. Don't let anybody tell you that.

[40:08] It hasn't even come close. It may be proven to the satisfaction of some but not to others. and you know, you can deal with that issue in any subject.

[40:22] For instance, for instance, can you prove the existence of God? And I answer that question with another question. To whose satisfaction?

[40:34] satisfaction. The existence of God is proved to my satisfaction. But what I am satisfied with by way of evidence may not satisfy my neighbor.

[40:48] He may say, I'm not convinced. So can you prove it conclusively? No! You cannot prove creation conclusively.

[40:58] You cannot prove that God exists conclusively. And by conclusive, I mean, you eliminate all opposition so that nobody's got an argument on the other side. Well, when is that time going to come?

[41:14] You're right. It will come when every knee shall bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That will constitute conclusive proof.

[41:27] You don't have conclusive proof as long as you have opposition. But when that time comes and every knee bows, there won't be any opposition. Then there will be conclusive proof.

[41:37] So what do we do in the meanwhile? Without having conclusive proof, what do we do in the meanwhile? That's what faith is all about. Faith is possible only so long as there is no conclusive proof.

[41:51] Faith means believing something that you cannot prove as a certainty. It doesn't mean that you do not have good evidence evidence as a basis for accepting it.

[42:03] It just means you cannot prove it to the satisfaction of everybody else. But the time is coming when faith will be passé because reality will have replaced it and faith will no longer be necessary.

[42:21] But now God operates on the basis of faith. Those who would come to him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

[42:34] This whole concept of faith justification by faith simply means justification becoming acceptable before God on the basis of your belief. faith. And that works because God has set the faith principle in practice and he has not someone put it this way they said if God wants to be believed so badly if he wants to be trusted so bad why doesn't he reveal himself in a clear cut way so that nobody can deny it.

[43:08] And again I say were he to do that faith goes right out the window. This is the dispensation of faith of grace through faith and it is something that God requires us to believe.

[43:23] God has done the most that he could do so that he could require from us the least that we could provide which is just to believe him.

[43:38] Just to believe him. Occam's razor says the simplest solution to a problem that's presented is usually the best.

[43:51] We do not make it complicated and one of the simplest illustrations and one of the most profound and one of the most important is this. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

[44:05] I take that at face value and I do not see any justification for saying well God created yes God created but he did it through evolution.

[44:19] This is the answer that concerned clergy came up with when the origin of species hit the bookshelves and they were afraid that Darwin had such powerful arguments that they could not answer them and that it was going to pit evolution against creation and how are we going to salvage this situation what can we do and they came up with this idea of theistic evolution which means God created but he did it via evolution voila problem solved what are we created of God or evolved the answer is both end of conflict well it won't fly if you're going to apply a modicum of logic to it and when we insist on taking the scriptures as they were given at face value we have in the beginning

[45:25] God created the heavens and the earth and I am here to tell you that is not something that God put there that is to deliberately confuse us or confound us we take it at simple face value well how did he do that we aren't given details we are told that it was a bunch of let be there was God and God said let there be light in verse 3 verse 6 let there be affirmment verse 11 let the earth bring forth verse 14 let lights be put in the heavens the sun and the moon verse 20 let the waters be divided and verse 24 let the earth bring forth creeping things creatures animals etc and then all of the let this let that let that let that changed to let us make man in our image and there

[46:26] God broke the mold man is the latest and the greatest of God's creation on the sixth day it was considered to be the epitome of his work man is God's magnum opus his greatest work and then he rested I believe more than anything else God wants to be believed and we come to a passage like this with all kinds of convoluted interpretations of evolution and gap theories and everything else I think it is intended to convey with deliberate simplicity so that you can't miss it but if we're intent on missing it because we don't like it which is where much of humanity is it is as simple as this in the beginning

[47:35] God created the heavens and the earth and if you were to consider Exodus chapter 20 and how many times have I said things like how important it is to let the Bible interpret the Bible and here we've got in verse 11 of Exodus 20 for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy he did or he didn't there isn't any kind of the record stands and do you know wherever you go throughout the world today I care not if you go into the communist block or where you go throughout the world Africa or any place else you will find a seven day week where did that come from

[48:35] Genesis it's in force all over the world I'm sure many of those who observe it will not recognize it as to its origin but I think it is quite obvious it is the seven day week as God established it so when we fail to take the literal literally and the figurative figuratively that is a major fallacy that leads to erroneous interpretations that produces all kinds of splits and splinters and denominations and whatnot I think the context in almost every case will make it clear whether it is to be literal or figurative and we spent a couple of weeks on the passage in John 6 on which the Roman Catholics based the mass and when Christ said except you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you and they take that literally we are convinced that it is to be taken figuratively that what

[49:41] Jesus is saying is you must be a partaker of be and Saint Augustine put it right when he said to believe is to partake you partake of Christ with the mind you do not receive him with the mouth you receive him with your will with your volition you put your faith and trust in Christ and then there is a failure the fourth a failure to interpret Israel as Israel and the church as the church that leads to reconstructionism and that kind of theology where some see that Israel has been replaced as the covenant people of God by the church and that we are now the new Israel this is the official Roman Catholic position and from that they have adopted their priesthood which is a throwback to the Jewish priesthood and they have adopted many of the doctrines of the

[50:44] Old Testament and they are in force and they are obeyed and believed by the faithful even to this day so we take that passage in John 6 as to be figurative because in no way shape or form is the scriptures advocating anything like cannibalism partake of Christ so we see that as a perfect illustration of a figurative expression where Jesus is simply saying you must partake of me you must have my life in you in order to have eternal life and how do you get Christ's life in you by receiving him accepting him as an act of your will by faith you put your trust in Jesus Christ who he is receiving Christ and it isn't something that you can do through the mouth and then lastly there is a failure to heed the advice of

[51:48] Miles Coverdale one of my favorites I am of the opinion and this is just a wise opinion so take it or leave it that apart from holy scripture probably the most important thing that has ever been written again in my opinion deals with the interpretation of holy scripture in the year 1535 85 years before the pilgrims landed here Miles Coverdale was responsible for giving us the first complete printed English Bible and along with it came this sage advice it shall greatly help ye to understand scripture if thou mark not only what is spoken or written but of whom and to whom with what words at what time where to what intent with what circumstances considering what goeth before and what followeth after if there was only some way that we could unite all of

[53:01] Christendom into adhering to this simple formula the vast majority of doctrinal differences would disappear overnight this is a priceless little thing and copies of it are on the sound desk back there if you'd like to pick up one as you leave these are I trust practical things I realize we've given you a lot of content and a lot of it in just a nutshell fashion but we tried to cram it all into one session because I did not want to continue it and hold it over for another session and break it up so perhaps I've said something that has engendered some questions or comments in your mind feel free to ask them now we've got a few minutes left anybody Ruth in the back could we have the mic over there please could you do that Keith I think

[54:14] I was just thinking about the names given in numbers that you were reading and I wonder if perhaps they'll really have meaning to the Israelites somewhere down the line maybe during the tribulation period when they want to find out what tribe they belong to if they have any hint whatsoever of who their ancestors were I wonder if those names will have more meaning to those type of people than they do to us now I don't know that's a very thoughtful perceptive question I never considered that I do know that all of the genealogical records that the Jews held so dear and they were very meticulous in compiling these genealogical records of who was born to who and when they all went up in flames when the

[55:15] Romans destroyed the temple in 70 AD that's where all of these records and documents were housed it was kind of like a gigantic county courthouse only it was for the whole nation and when they burned that whole thing down of course all of those things were destroyed so the conventional wisdom today says that the only Jews who really have any confidence of knowing what tribe they are from are the the Coen C-O-H-E-N there are a lot of Jewish people named Cohen and there are two others they they slipped my mind now but they're common Jewish names and they are pretty much intact even to this day they can identify themselves from that someone else Roger I think first Colossians verse 16 and 17 does a great job of backing up Genesis creation he is before all things and by him all things consist by him all things are held together great collateral passage to what we were talking about

[56:26] I do not think that there is any secular teaching that has done more significant damage to the cause of Christ and spiritual things than the evolutionary hypothesis and I am not suggesting that it is completely without merit but I think it is greatly without merit and there are some things that seem to fall in line and are supportive of the evolutionary hypothesis but the vast preponderance of evidence really leads away from it big time and yet it is the common accepted opinion among the intellectual elite and if you believe in a genesis creation you are straight out of hicksville I mean you are a country bumpkin that we just can't imagine and yet as people like those on the staff of answers in genesis these these are men and women who have advanced

[57:38] PhD degrees and they didn't get them from podunk you either they got them from top flight universities and colleges and they have their PhDs and they reject the evolutionary hypothesis flat out and they go with the creation account and make a very good case for it and those of not only answers in genesis with Ken Hamm and his colleagues but Dr.

[58:06] Henry Morris and the creation research society they do an admirable job and they have tons and tons of literature that is very scholarly well written and I would encourage you to give it consideration in fact we have a lot of it in the library and we make their tapes available from time to time anybody else before we close okay let's stand please we'll be dismissed father we are so grateful for the record that you have been pleased to give in scripture and we recognize that there is a tug and a pull from the natural man away from things spiritual that many would prefer to place themselves under some kind of mechanistic origin because to that there is no accountability needed but you have created and you have imbued us with life and you have also imbued us with accountability and responsibility and we believe that you have provided all of the information that is needed for man to be able to make an intelligent choice and understanding as to his origins and the responsibility that comes from that thank you for the truth of scripture thank you for the manner in which it fits together and answers not only questions of science but more importantly answers the need of an aching heart that longs to know the creator thank you and we bless you for all that you have revealed to us and thank you for

[60:02]  Jesus Christ being the culmination of it in his name amen to theres of him