Participants: Stephen Bohr
Series Code: ASTPP
Program Code: ASTPP000003
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00:15 Let's take a look at a few more examples of the importance
00:19 of allowing Scripture to be it's own interpreter. 00:23 And I'm only going to mention some of these. 00:24 We're not going to look up all of the verses 00:26 because we don't have the time to really look up 00:28 all of the verses. 00:30 But take for example Revelation 7 verse 9. 00:33 It speaks of a great multitude which no one can number. 00:38 And it tells us there that they have palm branches 00:41 in their hands. 00:42 Interesting, palm branches in their hands. 00:45 Why would that be significant? 00:48 Well, if you go to Leviticus 23 and verse 40, 00:53 you're going to notice that on the Feast of Tabernacles 00:58 palm branches were born by those who celebrated the feast. 01:03 So that must mean that this group, this unnumbered group, 01:09 is celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. 01:12 Which means they have just come from which feast? 01:16 They have just come from the Day of Atonement, 01:19 which is the previous feast. 01:21 Interesting. 01:22 And so you have to read what comes before 01:25 that passage and you'll see that they went through 01:28 the Day of Atonement. 01:29 And now they're victorious. 01:30 They have palm branches because they have 01:33 gone through the experience of the Day of Atonement. 01:37 And then you have, of course, I'll just go down 01:41 to the next page, Revelation 13 and verse 13 speaks about 01:45 the false prophet bringing fire down from heaven 01:48 in the sight of men. 01:51 Now if you go to the marginal reference or if you go to a 01:55 concordance, you're going to find an interesting connection 01:59 between this verse and an experience that took place 02:02 in the Old Testament. 02:04 Who brought fire down from heaven in the Old Testament? 02:08 It was Elijah who brought down fire. 02:10 When he brought down fire, were the multitudes 02:13 persuaded that he was a prophet of God? 02:15 Absolutely. 02:18 But here in Revelation chapter 13, it speaks about 02:22 the false prophet bringing fire down from heaven 02:25 in the sight of men to persuade human beings to accept 02:29 its message. 02:31 Now this false prophet must be a false prophet what? 02:36 It must be a false Elijah. 02:41 Because true Elijah brought fire down from heaven 02:45 in the sight of men to persuade the multitudes that 02:47 his message was from God. 02:49 So if in Revelation 13 you have a false prophet who brings 02:54 fire down from heaven to persuade human beings 02:57 that his message is correct, he must be a false prophet Elijah. 03:03 So is there going to be a false Elijah at the end of time? 03:07 Yes, just like there will be a false Christ. 03:11 So it's very important for us to find the connection 03:14 with the Old Testament. 03:15 Because it's when the fire came down that the people said, 03:18 "The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God." 03:21 They were persuaded when the fire was joined 03:24 with Elijah's message. 03:26 Now, God did not allow the false prophets in the days of Elijah 03:30 to bring fire down from heaven. 03:32 But the deception is going to be even greater at the end of time 03:35 because the false prophet will be allowed 03:37 to bring fire down from heaven in the sight of men. 03:39 And it will happen before the true fire falls. 03:43 Ellen White says that before the great revival, 03:46 Satan will seek to keep it from happening 03:49 by introducing a counterfeit. 03:51 And so we need to connect 03:55 with 1 Kings chapter 18 and verse 38. 03:59 The next example, Revelation 15 verses 2 to 4. 04:03 There it refers to the song of Moses and the Lamb. 04:09 Interesting. 04:11 Where would you go to understand that 04:13 a little bit better, the song of Moses and the Lamb? 04:19 I use to ask, you know, what does Moses 04:21 have to do with the final deliverance? 04:22 Why are you going to sing the song of Moses? 04:25 The deliverance in the end time is of the Lamb, 04:27 it's not of Moses. 04:29 So why Moses? 04:31 The reason, and we're going to study this later on 04:33 in the class, the reason is that there is a parallel 04:37 between the events that led up to the singing of the 04:40 song of Moses and the events that will lead up to the singing 04:44 of the song of the Lamb. 04:46 In other words, we're dealing with typology. 04:48 And when Revelation says the song of Moses and the Lamb, 04:51 immediately something lights up in your brain 04:54 and you say, "Ah, the song of Moses and the Lamb. 04:57 Is it just possible that the experience of Israel 05:00 in the Old Testament where they eventually sing the song 05:03 of Moses is parallel to the events that lead up to 05:06 the second coming and the singing of the song of 05:09 Moses and the Lamb?" 05:11 Are you with me? 05:12 So in other words, we need to look at the marginal references. 05:15 We need to look at a concordance to take us 05:18 to the broader context so that we can allow one passage 05:22 to interpret the other passage. 05:25 And then we have, of course, the text that speaks about 05:28 eternal fire. 05:31 And I'm jumping over the one about washing their robes. 05:34 You know, maybe I should mention something about it. 05:36 Revelation 22:14 says, some versions say, 05:39 "Blessed are those who do His commandments." 05:43 Other versions say, "Blessed are those who 05:45 wash their robes." 05:47 There you have a textual problem. 05:50 Manuscript problem. 05:52 Because there are some ancient manuscripts that say, 05:55 "wash their robes," and there are some ancient manuscripts 05:59 that say, "keep His commandments." 06:01 Or do His commandments. 06:02 So which is the correct translation? 06:06 Or which is the correct rendering, rather? 06:09 Well, I believe that you have to look at all of the items 06:14 in the text, and then you have to go back 06:16 to the book of Genesis. 06:18 You say, "How is that?" 06:20 Well, let's take a look at Genesis. 06:23 God placed the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, right? 06:27 Adam and Eve could eat from the tree of life 06:31 and they could live forever if they obeyed the Lord, right? 06:34 So what happened when they disobeyed? 06:37 When they disobeyed, God cast them out of the garden, 06:41 out of the gates of the garden. 06:43 He placed angels at the gates so that they could not 06:48 eat from the tree of life. 06:50 And as a result came death and the curse. 06:54 Do we find that in Genesis? 06:56 Death and the curse? 06:58 Revelation 22:14 is simply reversing that. 07:01 It'll tell you that the best translation is, 07:04 "keep His commandments." 07:05 Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God's command 07:09 and they suffered the consequences. 07:11 In Revelation 22:14 it says, "Blessed are those 07:14 who do His commandments." 07:17 Different than Adam and Eve; "do His commandments." 07:20 "...that they might..." What? 07:22 "...have a right to eat from..." Where? 07:25 "...from the tree of life..." 07:26 "...and may enter through..." What? 07:28 "...through the gates into the city." 07:31 And incidentally, in Revelation it says there will be 07:34 no more death and there will be no more curse. 07:38 Are you with me? 07:39 And who is standing at the gates to let people in? 07:43 Revelation 22 and verse 12 says it is the angels. 07:47 So what is the best translation of Revelation 22 verse 14 07:51 in the light of the context that we find elsewhere 07:54 in the book of Genesis? 07:56 See, the tree of life, it's mentioned; 07:58 the tree of life, gates, angels. 08:01 So you say, "Now where do we find tree of life, 08:03 gates, angels in another place in the Bible?" 08:07 And you say, "Ah, Genesis 3." 08:11 And so you go back to Genesis 3 and it helps you know 08:15 that obedience is the issue. 08:18 Are you following me or not? 08:19 It's important for us to believe that the Bible 08:22 is its own interpreter, or the Bible is its own expositor. 08:27 And, of course, the eternal fire text. 08:31 You know, people come and they say, "Oh, you know, the fire 08:33 is going to burn forever, it's going to burn forever. 08:35 It says it's eternal fire." 08:39 And you know what I say? 08:41 "Hallelujah, you're right." 08:45 I say, "The fire is eternal, but not what the fire burns." 08:51 See, even as Adventists we don't have the complete concept 08:54 of hell that we can explain to people. 08:57 Because the fire does not go out. 09:00 See, usually we say, you know, we use the 09:03 example of Sodom and Gomorrah. 09:04 They were reduced to ashes and the fire went out. 09:07 But the fire that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah 09:09 did not go out. 09:10 Because the fire is God's glory. 09:15 And God's glory is eternal. 09:18 The Bible says that God is a devouring fire. 09:22 So the fire is eternal, but not what the fire burns. 09:27 And when you look at all of these text that we find here... 09:30 And I have several of them. 09:32 Let's go to one of them. 09:33 Exodus 24, Exodus 24 and verses 17 through 19. 09:37 How do you suppose I found this passage in Exodus? 09:42 How do you think I found this text in Exodus? 09:46 Yeah, concordance. 09:48 Duh. 09:51 It does help to use a concordance to make connections. 09:54 Because the Holy Spirit superintended 09:56 the composition of Scripture. 09:58 He put within the Bible everything that we need 10:00 to understand the Bible. 10:05 That doesn't mean I'm without a job. 10:08 Because you still need teachers. 10:11 But you need to compare what the teacher says 10:12 with what Scripture says. 10:15 Notice Exodus chapter 24 and verses 17 through 19. 10:19 This is at Mount Sinai. 10:23 And it says here, verses 17 through 19, 10:29 "The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire 10:36 on the top of the mountain in the eyes 10:38 of the children of Israel." 10:41 What was the glory of God like? 10:44 Like a consuming fire. 10:45 "So Moses went into the midst of the cloud 10:48 and went up into the mountain. 10:49 And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights." 10:53 And so what is the consuming fire? 10:56 The consuming fire is the glory of the Lord. 10:59 And Ellen White says in, Great Controversy, she says 11:01 it's the glory of the Lord that destroys the wicked. 11:06 And of course, after He destroys the wicked with His glory, 11:09 His glory goes out. 11:12 His glory is extinguished. 11:14 No. 11:16 The consuming fire continues forever. 11:21 But God will have a people who have a fire proof character. 11:26 That's what God is doing now, He's fire proofing us 11:29 so that we can dwell in the everlasting fire. 11:34 You know, the story of the three young men who 11:36 were thrown into the fiery furnace is a small scale 11:40 illustration of what it will be like to live in the sight 11:44 of a holy God without a Mediator. 11:48 I didn't say that Jesus is going to forsake us. 11:50 Jesus is going to say, "Okay, folks, fend for yourselves. 11:52 I'm out of here." 11:54 No, no. 11:55 He will not serve as an Intercessor, 11:56 but He will be a Protector. 11:58 Because if Jesus was not here protecting His people, 12:01 none would be left alive. 12:04 We need to let our youth know that, you know, 12:07 that Jesus is still going to be here protecting His people. 12:11 Because sometimes we try to scare people, we say, 12:13 "You'll have to live all by yourself." 12:16 Well, we won't be able to send our sins into the Sanctuary. 12:20 Because the Sanctuary will be closed. 12:22 The laundry will be closed. 12:27 Forever. 12:29 And so we have to send our clothes now. 12:32 Because when the Sanctuary closes, we will not be able to 12:35 send sins into the Sanctuary anymore. 12:37 Intercession will be finished. 12:39 But that doesn't mean that Jesus is going to forsake His people. 12:43 You know the text that says, Jesus says, 12:45 "I will be with you always, even until the close of probation." 12:49 That's not what He says. 12:51 He says, "I will be with you always, even..." When? 12:56 "...unto the end of the world." 12:58 He will continue being with His people. 13:01 So does it help to look for other text in the concordance 13:04 and in the marginal references? 13:07 It's indispensible, folks. 13:08 We cannot take a text isolated from every other text 13:11 in Scripture because the Holy Spirit superintended 13:14 the composition of Scripture. 13:16 He placed everything we need in different parts of the Bible 13:20 to explain every single text of Scripture. 13:25 Now we're on page 8. 13:27 The Bible is like a body. 13:31 It is one book with one message, but it has many members. 13:39 Right? 13:42 The Bible is one book. 13:46 One book. 13:48 That's all I've got here. 13:50 It has one message. 13:52 But it has many members. 13:54 That means 66 books. 13:56 There is unity, one message, in diversity; 14:04 which is different writers and styles. 14:06 And mutuality; that is interaction of the parts. 14:10 Are you following me or not? 14:13 Without one organ, the body does not function 14:16 to its optimum capacity. 14:19 It might function, but it doesn't function 14:21 to its optimum capacity. 14:25 All parts of the Bible interact as a harmonious whole. 14:29 Just like the human body. 14:31 One body, many members interacting. 14:36 So the Bible is one book, many members. 14:41 But all of its parts are interacting and 14:43 explaining one another. 14:46 The words of the Bible, its expressions, its grammar, 14:49 its vocabulary, its syntax, is just like that 14:53 of any other book. 14:55 Because it was written in the language of human beings. 14:59 Is that correct? 15:01 Yeah. 15:04 It's not given in some super human language, 15:06 according to what Ellen White says. 15:08 God doesn't speak to us in His language. 15:10 He speaks to us His thoughts in the language of men. 15:15 This makes it necessary, however, to understand 15:19 all these literary characteristics 15:21 within the cultural context in which the Bible was given. 15:29 For example, the dragon beast of Revelation 17. 15:33 I'm going to give you an 15:34 illustration of that dragon beast. 15:35 You know, it's been misunderstood 15:37 what that dragon beast is. 15:40 You know, they portray him as a real nasty looking 15:43 rent-beast, you know, with seven heads and ten horns 15:49 distributed on the different heads. 15:53 That ignores the cultural context in which 15:56 Revelation 17 was written. 15:59 Really the heads... 16:02 And this isn't going to make a lot of sense to you right now, 16:04 but it will when you read the material on 16:06 Revelation chapter 17. 16:08 Really the heads of this dragon beast are mountains. 16:14 Because the ancients believed that mountains were heads 16:18 of a great dragon. 16:22 And what happens is that the heads, or the mountains, 16:26 spew waters out of their mouth. 16:29 And the water goes down the sides of the mountain, 16:34 and then it all meets in a river that looks like the body 16:41 of a dragon or a serpent. 16:46 And Babylon, the harlot, sits upon the body of the dragon. 16:50 But the body of the dragon is the waters 16:54 of the body of the dragon. 16:57 And the harlot sits on the mountains also because 17:01 the mountains represent the kingdoms that she rules over. 17:06 So is she sitting on the dragon? 17:07 Yes. 17:09 Is she sitting on the waters? 17:10 Yes, because the waters are the body of the dragon. 17:13 Is she sitting on the mountains? 17:15 Yes, because the mountains are the heads. 17:18 Are you understanding me? 17:20 I'm going to give you an illustration 17:22 of how the ancients believed. 17:23 In fact, I'm going to give you an article that was written by 17:26 a former teacher of mine, Douglas Waterhouse. 17:28 He taught in the undergraduate school 17:30 at Andrews University many years. 17:32 He brought together all the ancient concepts 17:34 of river dragons. 17:37 And so, suddenly this begins to make sense. 17:40 And by the way, you know, when the river flooded, 17:45 according to the ancient concept it spread its wings. 17:50 So it's a dragon with wings. 17:52 And the Bible has this concept in Isaiah chapter 8 17:55 verses 7 and 8. 17:56 It's speaking about the invasion of Sennacherib 17:58 into the land of Judah. 18:01 And it says that he would flood, he would pass over, 18:04 and he would extend his wings into the land of Immanuel. 18:09 And so you have this vivid concept. 18:11 Of course, we know that mountains aren't 18:14 head of dragons, and we know that the river is not 18:17 the body of the dragon. 18:18 It's just symbolism that is taken from the time. 18:22 And John is using it to teach us about Bible prophecy. 18:26 So is it important for us then to understand 18:32 the cultural context in which the passage was given? 18:36 Absolutely. 18:38 Now let's go back here. 18:40 What makes the Bible different than every other book 18:44 is that it was inspired by the Holy Spirit. 18:48 It is the Holy Spirit that gives life to the Bible. 18:52 That's what makes the Bible unique and special 18:55 above every other book. 18:58 Let's use an analogy. 19:00 The Bible is like the body created by God 19:05 with all of its respective organic parts. 19:09 Let me ask you, is everything in the Bible... 19:11 Is there everything in the Bible that you need 19:14 to get the full message of salvation? 19:18 It's all there, folks. 19:19 It has all of the organic parts, just like your body does. 19:24 God then breathed into the body the breath of life. 19:28 And the body became a living organism 19:30 with all of its interacting parts working harmoniously. 19:34 Are you catching the analogy? 19:37 When we read the Bible merely as literature 19:41 without the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 19:43 it is like the body without the spirit. 19:46 It is a dead letter. 19:49 By itself it has no life. 19:51 But when the Spirit is connected with it, 19:54 it becomes a living book to the reader. 19:57 What gives life to the Bible is the union of the human words 20:00 and expressions linked with the power of the Holy Spirit. 20:04 That's the reason why we can never understand the Bible 20:07 unless we pray. 20:09 Unless we pray for God's Spirit. 20:11 Our principle. 20:12 We'll come back and back, and back to that again. 20:15 Because if we don't, most likely we're going to reach 20:19 wrong conclusions and we'll fall into error. 20:24 Now notice what Ellen White had to say here in, 20:26 Ministry Of Healing, 415. 20:28 We're still using this analogy of the body. 20:32 She says, "In the creation of man was manifest 20:35 the agency of a personal God. 20:37 When God had made man in His image, the human form was 20:42 perfect in all its arrangements, but it was without life." 20:47 Is the Bible perfect in all of its parts? 20:50 Yes it is. But what does it need? 20:53 It needs the Holy Spirit. 20:56 She says, "Then a personal self-existing God 20:58 breathed into that form the breath of life, and man became 21:02 a living intelligent being. 21:04 All parts of the human organism were set in motion. 21:07 The heart, the arteries, the veins, the tongue, the hands, 21:10 the feet, the senses, the faculties of the mind, 21:12 all began their work, and all were placed under law. 21:16 Man became a living soul. 21:17 Through Christ the Word, a personal God created man 21:21 and endowed him with intelligence and with power." 21:23 So let me ask you, do all of the parts of the Bible interact 21:28 in a harmonious whole? 21:30 Yes. 21:31 Is that true of human books? 21:34 It's not true of human books. Why? 21:36 Because human books were not 21:37 superintended by the Holy Spirit. 21:39 They were not God breathed. 21:44 You understand that when it says that all of Scripture 21:46 is given by inspiration of God, it says all Scripture 21:49 is God breathed. 21:51 That's why I'm using this analogy. 21:52 It has to do with breath. 21:53 The breath of the Bible is the Holy Spirit. 21:57 Without the Holy Spirit, it's simply like any other book. 22:02 It has, you know, idioms, and it has verbs, and it has nouns, 22:07 and it has tenses, and it has definite articles, 22:11 and indefinite articles. 22:12 You know, all those things. 22:13 But unless you have the Spirit connected with it, 22:16 it's a dead letter. 22:21 This is the reason why Martin Luther said that 22:24 prayer is the better half of the study. 22:28 And Ellen White repeatedly affirmed that the Bible 22:31 should never be studied without prayer. 22:34 The Spirit who gave the Bible is the only one 22:37 who can make it alive for us. 22:40 Now notice these two statements. 22:41 One is from, Signs Of The Times, April 6, 1891. 22:48 "The greatest blessing bestowed upon the world is the 22:52 privilege of understanding the oracles of God. 22:55 The Word of God should not be a..." What? 23:00 "...a dead letter to us." 23:02 How would the Bible be a dead letter? 23:06 Without the Holy Spirit. 23:09 "The Word of God should not be a dead letter to us, 23:11 "but..." What? "...spirit and life. 23:16 For through the truth we are to be sanctified." 23:19 Love that statement. 23:22 The other statement is, Pamphlet 86, 23:25 Special Testimony to the Church at Battle Creek, page 19. 23:29 She says, "Read the second chapter of James. 23:32 Practice the truth in your daily life and you will know 23:36 the work that the Lord has given you to do. 23:38 Read also the fourth chapter, especially verses 5-12; 23:42 and chapter 5, especially verses 13-20. 23:47 These chapters are a dead letter..." 23:51 Can Scripture be a dead letter? 23:54 Oh yeah, when you don't connected it with the Spirit. 23:56 "These chapters are a dead letter to the larger number 23:59 of those who claim to be Seventh-day Adventists. 24:03 I am directed to point you to these scriptures, 24:05 and to the seventh chapter of Matthew. 24:08 You need to study every word as for your life." 24:14 Powerful statement. 24:18 The reason why there are so many churches in the United States... 24:21 And incidentally, you've heard about this Tony Palmer thing. 24:24 Seen the Tony Palmer video? 24:27 Do you know where he's coming from? 24:28 Do you know who he is? 24:29 Next Sabbath I'm going to be sharing some, you know... 24:32 We need to check the historical background. 24:35 Some people just go to the internet and say, 24:37 "Wow, look at what Tony Palmer said." 24:39 Who is Tony Palmer and why is he saying what he's saying? 24:44 Well, Tony Palmer is an Anglican clergyman 24:48 from a small segment of the Anglican communion in Ireland. 24:55 He does not represent the Anglican Church. 24:57 It's a small segment, Celtic element. 25:00 And do you know where he's coming from? 25:02 Are you aware of the fact that the Anglican Church 25:05 has had hundreds of splits in the last few years? 25:10 There are Anglican churches and communions everywhere. 25:14 Split, split, split, split, split. 25:18 So what does the devil do? 25:19 The devil says, "Protestantism has caused 25:22 the split in Christianity." 25:24 That's what he's saying. 25:26 He's saying, "Protestantism is to blame for the 25:28 split in Christianity. 25:29 So we need to come back home." 25:32 Now I'm not justifying what he's saying. 25:34 But it helps us understand a little more what he's saying 25:38 and the urgency that he feels. 25:39 Are you following me or not? 25:41 And so it helps to know the historical background of this. 25:45 The reason why there's so many churches in the United States 25:48 is because people want to impose on the Scriptures 25:51 their meaning rather than allowing the Scriptures 25:53 to explain themselves. 25:56 Now listen to this. Important. 25:58 We cannot allow any philosophy, newspaper article, 26:01 book, television program, historical event, commentary, 26:03 church interpretation, catechism, the majority, 26:07 or personal experience to determine 26:08 the meaning of Scripture. 26:11 The Bible is the acid test of all of these. 26:15 The Bible authenticates itself, just like salt and sugar do. 26:20 Salt is not salty because I say so, 26:22 but because it is its very nature to be salty. 26:28 In other words, Scripture authenticates itself. 26:31 It authenticates its own inspiration. 26:34 Not by any external declaration but by what is contained 26:38 internally within it. 26:41 That's why we need to study Scripture, folks. 26:44 You know, I read very few books outside the Bible 26:47 and the spirit of prophecy anymore. 26:48 I'm not saying that you shouldn't read books. 26:52 Whenever I say this, people say, "Oh, Pastor Bohr says 26:54 you're not suppose to read any books. 26:55 You know, the ABC will go out of business." 26:59 And then I'd be speaking against myself because 27:01 I've wrote some books myself. 27:06 But what I'm saying, our primary study should be Scripture 27:08 and the spirit of prophecy. 27:10 That's where the special light of God is for these times. 27:14 Now listen to what Ellen White had to say. 27:15 I'm going to read you several statements 27:17 from Ellen White on the Bible as its own interpreter. 27:22 The first one is, Child Guidance, page 511. 27:25 "Make the Bible its own expositor, 27:30 bringing together..." 27:31 Now listen, this is an important principle. 27:33 "...bringing together all that is said concerning 27:36 a given subject..." 27:39 Now what Ellen White is saying here is, you can't just 27:41 connect one verse with another verse that has nothing 27:44 to do with that verse. 27:47 Like some people do. 27:49 You have to make sure that the verses that you're connecting 27:52 are dealing with the same topic and the same theme. 27:57 Or else you'll make mistakes. 28:00 See, it has to be on the same subject. 28:02 So she says, "Make the Bible its own expositor, 28:04 bringing together all that is said concerning a given subject 28:08 at different times and under varied circumstances." 28:11 So she says the message was given at different times 28:14 and under varied circumstances. 28:16 But you can bring together what is in those different places 28:20 as long as it deals with the same subject. 28:22 And one passage will explain another passage. 28:25 That's why she says the Bible is its own expositor. 28:30 Christian Education, page 85. 28:32 "The Bible is its own expositor. 28:35 One passage..." 28:36 Now listen. Here's the principle. 28:37 "One passage will prove to be a key that will unlock 28:42 other passages, and in this way light will be shed upon 28:46 the hidden meaning of the word." 28:48 How do we discover the hidden meaning of the word? 28:52 By what? 28:53 Comparing one passage with another passage. 28:55 She says that's the key that opens. 28:58 She continues saying, 29:02 "By comparing different texts treating on the same subject..." 29:05 See, there it is again; on the same subject. 29:08 "...viewing their bearing on every side, the true meaning 29:11 of the Scriptures will be made evident. 29:15 Many think that they must consult commentaries..." 29:20 See, she's making my case now. 29:23 "Many think that they must consult commentaries 29:26 on the Scriptures in order to understand the meaning 29:28 of the word of God, and we would not take 29:31 the position that commentaries should not be studied; 29:35 but it will take much discernment to discover 29:38 the truth of God under the mass of the words of men." 29:44 In other words, whatever you read, compare it with Scripture. 29:48 Make Scripture supreme, in other words. 29:52 Here's one, Counsel To Teachers, page 462. 29:55 "The Bible is its own expositor. 29:58 Scripture is to be compared with scripture. 30:01 The student should learn to view the Word as a..." What? 30:05 See, here's the body analogy. 30:07 "...as a whole and to see the relation of its parts. 30:13 He should gain a knowledge of its grand central theme..." 30:16 See, there's one message. 30:18 "...of God's original purpose for the world, 30:22 of the rise of the great controversy, 30:24 and of the work of redemption. 30:27 He should understand the nature of the two principles that are 30:30 contending for the supremacy, and should learn to trace 30:33 their working through the records of history and prophecy 30:36 to the great consummation." 30:38 Now listen, "He should see how this controversy enters into 30:44 every phase of human experience; 30:48 how in every act of life he himself reveals 30:53 the one or the other of the two antagonistic motives; 30:57 and how, whether he will or not, he is even now deciding upon 31:03 which side of the controversy he will be found." 31:07 So she's saying that whenever we study the Bible, 31:09 we should find the central theme, 31:12 which is the great controversy between good and evil 31:14 and the victory of good over evil. 31:19 Manuscript releases, volume 2, page 96. 31:23 "Nothing is to be gained by endeavoring to prove 31:25 by argument the divine origin of the Bible." 31:30 Don't waste your time trying to prove to somebody 31:32 who doesn't believe that the Bible is inspired 31:34 trying to prove that the Bible is inspired. 31:38 They need to taste it for themselves 31:40 and come to their own conclusion. 31:43 Have you ever tried to convince someone that salt is salty 31:45 when they've never tasted salt before? 31:51 It's an impossibility. 31:53 You know, trying to convince someone 31:56 that the Bible is inspired is a useless task. 32:00 We can use all kinds of arguments, but many times 32:02 they have counter arguments. 32:04 The unity of Scripture; oh but they can show 32:06 examples of what they consider to be disunity. 32:10 Like the death of Judas, for example. 32:14 Miracles; they say, "Well, I don't see any of those 32:16 things happening now." 32:19 "Oh, but look at the fruit of the life. 32:20 You know, people who have embraced the Bible, 32:22 you know, they have a different life." 32:25 "Well I know a lot of Christians that have embraced the Bible 32:28 and they're pretty nasty." 32:31 So you can use all kinds of arguments. 32:34 But people have to taste it for themselves 32:37 and be persuaded by the internal content of the Bible. 32:40 So she says, "Nothing is gained by endeavoring to prove 32:43 by argument the divine origin of the Bible. 32:45 It is its own expositor. 32:46 It carries its own keys; Scripture unlocks Scripture." 32:52 That's sola scriptura. 32:54 Our High Calling, page 207. 32:57 "The Bible is its own interpreter. 33:00 With beautiful simplicity one portion connects itself with 33:04 the truth of another portion, until the whole Bible is 33:09 blended in one harmonious whole." 33:11 Isn't that a beautiful way of putting it? 33:14 "Light flashes forth from one text to illuminate some portion 33:19 of the Word that has seemed more obscure." 33:22 So when you find an obscure text, or difficult 33:24 to understand, what do you do? 33:25 You find text that are clearer and interpret the obscure text 33:30 in the light of the clear text. 33:33 Testimonies for the Church, volume 4, page 499. 33:37 She says, listen carefully, this is an important principle, 33:40 "When you search the Scriptures with an earnest desire 33:43 to learn the truth..." 33:47 Is it dangerous to search the Scriptures 33:49 to prove what we believe? 33:51 Hmmm. 33:53 Yes. 33:55 "When you search the Scriptures with an earnest desire 33:57 to learn the truth, God will..." What? 34:00 Ah, here's the help of the Holy Spirit. 34:02 "...God will breathe His Spirit into your heart 34:07 and impress your mind with the light of His word. 34:11 The Bible is its own interpreter, 34:13 one passage explaining another. 34:15 By comparing Scriptures referring..." 34:18 Here's the principle again. 34:19 Referring to what? 34:21 "...the same subject..." 34:22 Don't connect verses that shouldn't be connected. 34:26 They have to deal with the same theme, the same topic. 34:30 This is not the proof-text method. 34:32 Which has been greatly maligned, by the way. 34:34 You can't use the proof-text method. 34:36 You can as long as the text are dealing with the same theme. 34:41 So she says, "By comparing Scriptures referring to the 34:45 same subject, you will see beauty and harmony 34:49 of which you have never dreamed." 34:54 William Miller. 34:56 What was William Miller? 35:00 Were you aware that he got his PhD from Princeton? 35:05 You didn't know that? 35:07 Well he didn't. 35:11 What was William Miller? 35:12 A farmer. 35:15 Have mercy. Nothing against farmers. 35:19 Farmers probably can learn a lot about the Word 35:21 because the Word is like seed. 35:24 Falls into the earth, dies, germinates, grows, bears fruit. 35:29 There you have the message of the Bible in itself. 35:33 William Miller used the Bible and Cruden's Concordance. 35:40 He studied for 13 years 35:43 using only the Bible and the concordance. 35:46 It's said, you know, there's three concordances. 35:48 There is Young's, Strong's, and Cruden's. 35:53 At the seminary they use to say, "Strong's is for the strong. 35:56 Young's is for the young, and Cruden's is for the crude." 36:02 But that doesn't apply to William Miller. 36:04 Because William Miller was not crude in his 36:07 interpretation of the Bible. 36:09 He was a farmer. 36:11 If a farmer could come to the conclusions that he came to, 36:16 can't any person in the world come to an understanding 36:19 of God's Word without having a post-graduate PhD? 36:23 I'm not saying anything wrong about PhD or education. 36:26 I'm not a PhD. 36:28 I have two Master's degrees. 36:29 But the more I study, the more I realize 36:31 that I don't know very much. 36:34 Because the more we study, we say, 36:35 "Why didn't I know that before?" 36:37 and "Why didn't I know that before?" 36:38 And so we come to the Bible and we say, 36:40 "I know nothing." 36:41 Listen folks, we know just barely enough to get up there. 36:47 When we get up there, we'll be studying throughout eternity. 36:50 Hello. So how much do we know? 36:52 We think we know a lot, 36:55 but we know very little, 36:57 compared to what there is yet to know. 37:03 So you don't have to be a rocket scientist 37:05 to understand Scripture. 37:06 Now notice this statement about William Miller's methods 37:11 of Bible study. 37:14 There are several things here. 37:15 "William Miller possessed strong mental powers..." 37:21 Think he was careful with his health habits? 37:24 Is it necessary to have good health habits 37:27 to have a clear mind? 37:29 Uh-huh. 37:30 Health reform comes in here. 37:32 "William Miller possessed strong mental powers," 37:35 listen carefully, "disciplined by thought and study; 37:40 and he added to these the wisdom of Heaven..." 37:42 I love that. 37:44 See, he was disciplined. 37:46 He thought a lot, he studied a lot. 37:49 But she says that to these were added the wisdom of heaven. 37:53 "...by connecting himself with the Source of wisdom. 37:58 He was a man of sterling worth, who could not but 38:02 command respect and esteem wherever integrity of character 38:07 and moral excellence were valued." 38:11 Now listen, she continues saying, 38:15 "Uniting true kindness of heart with Christian humility 38:20 and the power of self-control, he was attentive 38:24 and affable to all, ready to listen to the opinions 38:28 of others, and to weigh their arguments. 38:32 Without passion or excitement, he tested all theories 38:36 and doctrines by the Word of God; 38:39 and his sound reasoning and thorough knowledge 38:42 of the Scriptures enabled him to refute error 38:45 and expose falsehood." 38:48 That's, Great Controversy, 335. 38:51 Great Controversy, 320 and 321, 38:54 Ellen White amplifies the methods of study 38:57 of William Miller. 38:59 She says, "Endeavoring to lay aside 39:01 all preconceived opinions..." 39:04 That's difficult, isn't it. 39:06 For us to lay aside all of our presupposed ideas, 39:09 all the baggage that we have. 39:12 I've had to do that many times with many things 39:15 that have been believed and that I was taught. 39:18 I've had to study Scripture and re-evaluate lots of things 39:22 I use to believe. 39:23 Like I use to believe the 24 elders were those 39:26 who resurrected with Jesus and ascended when Jesus ascended. 39:29 Upon further study, I can't reach that conclusion anymore. 39:34 You know, there are so many things that I use to believe. 39:39 You know, we use this text, Daniel 12 verse 4, 39:41 where it says, you know, seal the book 39:44 until the time of the end. 39:45 But at the time of the end, the book will be unsealed 39:49 and knowledge will be increased. 39:51 Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 39:53 And so we use that text in evangelism to say, you know, 39:57 that scientific knowledge is going to greatly increase. 40:01 There's going to be rockets, and there's going to be 40:03 automobiles, and there's going to be airplanes, 40:06 and electric toothbrushes, and all this technology. 40:10 Knowledge is going to be increased. 40:11 Well the fact is, the word, "knowledge," there is the 40:14 Hebrew word, "yada," which refers to knowledge of the book. 40:20 Of Daniel. 40:22 That's the context. It's much more powerful. 40:24 Because you can go back to the 1830's and say, 40:26 "Hey, in the time of the end, look, 40:28 here's a group that did it." 40:32 Much more powerful than talking about airplanes. 40:36 The Bible doesn't, as far as I know, the Bible doesn't 40:38 talk about airplanes and nuclear weapons 40:40 and all those things, you know. 40:43 What the text is saying that many are going to 40:45 run to and fro; the same idiom that's used in Amos 8:11-12, 40:49 where it says that many will run from sea to sea, 40:53 from north to east, looking for the Word of God. 40:58 In other words, it's the eyes moving over the book, 41:00 because now the book can be understood. 41:05 And so we have to lay aside our preconceived opinions. 41:08 "Endeavoring to lay aside all preconceived opinions, 41:11 and dispensing with commentaries..." 41:14 Hmmm. 41:16 "...he compared Scripture with Scripture..." 41:17 There's sola scriptura. 41:20 "...by the aid of the marginal references 41:22 and the concordance." 41:25 My, my, just what we've been talking about. 41:29 "He pursued his study in a regular and methodical manner." 41:34 What does that mean? 41:35 It takes discipline, right? 41:37 You say, "I'm going to sit and I'm going to study this text 41:40 until the Holy Spirit shows me what it means." 41:45 "He pursued his study in a regular and methodical manner; 41:49 beginning with Genesis and reading verse by verse, 41:53 he proceeded no faster than the meaning of the several passages 41:57 so unfolded as to leave him free from all embarrassment. 42:02 When he found anything obscure," here's another principle, 42:06 "it was his custom to compare it with every other text 42:10 which seemed to have any reference to the 42:13 matter under consideration." 42:14 See the principle? 42:16 Connected with what he was studying. 42:18 Not just concoct a bunch of verses 42:20 and put them all together. 42:22 "Every word was permitted to have its proper bearing 42:27 upon the subject of the text, and if his view of it 42:31 harmonized with every collateral passage, 42:34 it ceased to be a difficulty." 42:38 Sola scriptura. All of Scripture. 42:42 "Thus whenever he met with a passage hard to be understood, 42:45 he found an explanation in some other portion of the Scriptures. 42:49 As he studied with earnest prayer..." 42:52 See, there's another principle; "with earnest prayer." 42:54 "...for divine enlightenment, that which had before 42:58 appeared dark to his understanding was made clear. 43:02 He experienced the truth of the psalmist's words, 43:05 'The entrance of Thy words giveth...'" What? 43:09 "...light; it giveth understanding unto the simple." 43:17 And it's somewhat disturbing that, you know, 43:20 there's so much of a movement these days to say that 43:23 ministers have to have a certain level of education 43:28 in order to be ministers. 43:30 I don't find that as a qualification of 43:32 ministers or elders in the Bible. 43:35 I don't find on the list of qualifications, 43:37 "He must have a Masters degree." 43:41 I don't even find, "He must have a Bachelor of Arts degree." 43:48 I fail to find that. 43:49 There's all kinds of moral qualities that they must have. 43:54 But not necessarily an arbitrary standard of having 43:58 a certain level of education. 44:00 That would disqualify Jesus Christ. 44:06 It would disqualify all of the apostles, 44:08 or most of the apostles. 44:12 It would disqualify many of the great, great preachers 44:15 and leaders throughout Christian history. 44:18 I'm not denigrating education. 44:22 I'm not saying that education is bad. 44:24 But education can become an idol. 44:27 "Knowledge puffs up," is what the apostle Paul says. 44:32 Because we come to think that we're pretty smart 44:34 and pretty brilliant. 44:38 Now, notice what she continues saying. 44:41 "With intense interest he studied the books of Daniel 44:45 and Revelation employing," listen carefully, 44:48 "the same principles of interpretation 44:51 as in other Scriptures, and found, to his great joy, 44:56 that the prophetic symbols could be understood. 44:59 He saw that the prophecies, so far as they had been fulfilled, 45:05 had been fulfilled literally..." 45:07 That doesn't mean that everything in the prophecy 45:09 was literal, but they had been fulfilled literally. 45:12 "...that all the various figures, metaphors, 45:15 parables, similitudes, were either explained 45:18 in their immediate connection..." 45:19 That is, in the immediate context. 45:21 "...or the terms in which they were expressed were defined 45:25 in other Scriptures; and when thus explained 45:29 were to be literally understood." 45:32 And now she quotes Miller, "'I was thus satisfied,' 45:35 he says, 'that the Bible is a system of revealed truth 45:42 so clearly and simply given that the wayfaring man, 45:49 though a fool, need not err therein.' 45:54 Link after link of the chain of truth rewarded his efforts, 45:58 as step by step he traced down the great lines of prophecy. 46:04 Angels of Heaven were guiding his mind and opening 46:08 the Scriptures to his understanding." 46:09 Aren't those some amazing statements? 46:12 They have all kinds of principles of Bible study 46:15 in these statements that I've read 46:17 from the spirit of prophecy. 46:18 And incidentally, if I might make a little parenthesis here, 46:23 we are going to be looking at one of the principles 46:25 of Bible study, of prophetic study, is that we need 46:27 to understand the sanctuary. 46:29 That's one of the big principles. 46:31 Because both Daniel and Revelation are organized 46:34 according to the Hebrew Sanctuary. 46:37 That's the real reason why Christendom does not 46:41 understand Daniel and Revelation, is because 46:43 they do not understand the Sanctuary. 46:45 And I might say this, we call the Sanctuary, 46:48 the Sanctuary doctrine. 46:51 The Sanctuary is not a doctrine of the Adventist Church. 46:54 The Sanctuary explains all of the doctrines 46:57 of the Adventist Church. 47:00 Ellen White said it is the foundation of our faith. 47:03 Let me ask you, does the foundation only hold up 47:06 one section of the building? 47:08 No, the foundation upholds the total building. 47:13 The Sanctuary is not a doctrine among other doctrines. 47:17 It is the doctrine that unites everything in a chain 47:21 or in a whole. 47:23 That's the reason why Christendom can't make 47:26 sense out of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 47:28 Is because they're all caught up in the court, 47:31 at the cross, at the altar. 47:33 And they have spiritual myopia. 47:36 All they can see, the cross. 47:38 But they can't see the implications of the cross 47:40 in the rest of the Sanctuary. 47:43 They can't see that salvation has several steps. 47:47 Actually, the Sanctuary begins in the camp. 47:51 We usually begin the Sanctuary in the court at the altar. 47:54 Wrong place. 47:56 We have to begin in the camp. 47:57 You say, "Why do we begin in the camp?" 47:59 Because the lamb, before it was sacrificed, 48:02 had to be an unblemished lamb. 48:04 And Jesus had to live a perfect life 48:06 before His sacrifice was accepted. 48:10 His life in our midst. 48:11 He tabernacled among us. 48:14 The word, "dwelt," can be translated, "tabernacled." 48:16 He tabernacled among us. 48:18 And He lived the perfect life that the law requires from us. 48:21 But He did that in the camp where we live. 48:24 And then He went to the altar of sacrifice and died on the cross. 48:28 Then He went to the laver and He resurrected. 48:30 And then He entered the Holy Place to apply 48:34 His life and His death to those who come to Him 48:37 in repentance and confessing their sins. 48:41 And then He moves into the Most Holy Place 48:43 and He performs the work of atonement 48:45 in the Most Holy Place. 48:46 And then at the end He comes out and He places 48:49 the sins that have been forgiven... 48:52 The scapegoat doesn't forgive sins. 48:54 The scapegoat has forgiven sins placed on him. 48:57 They're forgiven of the saints, but not of him. 49:00 Then the High Priest comes out and He places them 49:04 on the head of the scapegoat who is the originator 49:07 and instigator of sin. 49:08 The great controversy theme in the Sanctuary is 49:13 that which explains our total world view. 49:18 The Sanctuary is the Seventh-day Adventist world view. 49:21 And all of the doctrines fit within some part 49:25 of the Hebrew Sanctuary. 49:28 It's not a doctrine. 49:30 It gives an explanation to all of our doctrines. 49:33 It is the world view of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 49:38 And it's sad that very little is being said these days 49:41 about the Sanctuary. 49:45 I like to compare it with this: 49:49 You have a painting on the wall. 49:54 The painting on the wall is like the world view. 50:00 It's the Sanctuary. 50:03 And the individual parts that you find on that painting 50:08 are the doctrines. 50:11 Okay? 50:12 Because you have objects; you have trees, 50:14 you have little rivers, you have birds flying in the air. 50:16 Each one of those is like a doctrine. 50:18 The Sanctuary doctrine brings it all together 50:20 in a beautiful portrait. 50:23 It's that which brings together the entire 50:25 Seventh-day Adventist message. 50:27 And you know, we're going to notice a little bit later on, 50:29 it's interesting that the very truths that the world rejects, 50:32 that the Christian world rejects, are the distinctive 50:35 truths of the Most Holy Place. 50:39 Do you know what present truth is? 50:42 It's very simple. 50:43 Discover where Jesus is and what He's doing, 50:45 and preach that, because that's present truth. 50:48 And Jesus is not now in the court dying on the cross. 50:52 Not that the death of Christ is not important. 50:54 There can be no Day of Atonement without the cross. 50:57 There can be no intercession of Jesus without the cross. 51:01 There can be no cross without the perfect life of Jesus. 51:03 They're all important. 51:05 But the previous steps need to be understood, 51:08 cross needs to be understood, in the context 51:10 of the Day of Atonement. 51:12 And if you don't, you're preaching truth, 51:14 but you're not preaching present truth. 51:16 We'll come back to that later on. 51:19 Uriah Smith; in many ways a great scholar of the 51:23 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 51:26 He wrote some phenomenal stuff. 51:29 But he allowed himself to go off-track because of 51:33 what the newspapers said. 51:36 See, the Adventist Church originally believed that 51:39 the king of the north is the papacy. 51:43 But in his day, you know, Turkey was in the news. 51:47 And so Uriah Smith said Turkey has to be 51:49 somewhere in the Bible. 51:51 And so he plugged Turkey into the prophecy of the 51:53 king of the north in Daniel 11. 51:54 Which we'll study later on in this series. 51:58 He was allowing the newspaper to dictate what the Bible means. 52:04 And he did the same thing with the battle of Armageddon. 52:06 He spoke of this great battle in the Middle East, 52:09 in the Valley of Megiddo; 52:10 the Euphrates, literal Euphrates was going to be dried up; 52:13 and the Chinese were going to come from the east. 52:19 Totally false prophecy. 52:22 But it was dictated by what he read 52:25 in the newspapers of his day. 52:28 Let me ask you, do evangelical Christians do the same today? 52:32 Oh, futurism galore. 52:35 Every nasty person that appears on the scenario, 52:38 there's a book written that he's the antichrist. 52:42 Mussolini, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, 52:47 the Ayatollah Khomeini, even Henry Kissinger. 52:51 Candidates for antichrist. 52:53 Pure speculation. 52:55 Because they don't follow the historicist method 52:58 of interpreting prophecy, which we're going to take a look at. 53:00 It's one of our principles. 53:01 What method do we use to interpret prophecy? 53:04 We allow the Bible method to dictate 53:06 how we interpret prophecy. 53:09 Sunday observance, how did Sunday observance 53:12 come to be adopted? 53:15 Well let's read, Great Controversy, page 448. 53:17 See, imposing on Scripture what you want, 53:20 or what other people say, what the preacher says, 53:22 what the newspaper says, or what the commentary says. 53:25 We cannot depend on any source other than the Bible itself. 53:31 Doesn't mean that we can't use other sources, 53:33 but they have to be in harmony with the Bible. 53:36 She says, "The Roman Church has not relinquished 53:38 her claim to supremacy; and when the world and the 53:41 Protestant churches accept a sabbath of her own creating, 53:45 while they reject the Bible Sabbath, 53:47 they virtually admit this assumption. 53:51 They may claim the authority of tradition and of the 53:54 Fathers for the change, but in so doing they ignore 53:57 the very principle which separates them from Rome..." 54:02 And what is that principle? 54:03 "...that 'the Bible, and the Bible only, is 54:08 the religion of Protestants.'" 54:12 That's, sola scriptura. 54:15 You allow the Bible to interpret itself. 54:16 For example, Revelation 1 verse 10, 54:18 "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day." 54:21 They say, "Well the Lord's Day there is Sunday." 54:25 And why? 54:26 Because at that time you had church fathers, 54:32 early church fathers, who were referring to Sunday 54:35 as the Lord's Day. 54:36 And so what they do is they take these early church fathers 54:38 and say, "See, John meant what they meant." 54:44 But they don't go to the Bible where 23 times the Bible says 54:48 that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. 54:52 They don't go to Mark 2 verse 27 where it says 54:54 that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. 54:58 They don't allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. 55:01 They go to an external source, the early church fathers, 55:04 and they impose its meaning on Scripture. 55:07 Because that's what they want. 55:10 Prophets and Kings, 537. 55:13 "The present is a time of overwhelming 55:15 interest to all living. 55:17 Rulers and statesmen, men who occupy positions of 55:20 trust and authority, thinking men and women of all classes, 55:23 have their attention fixed upon the events 55:25 taking place about us. 55:26 They are watching the relations that exist among the nations. 55:30 They observe the intensity that is taking possession of 55:32 every earthly element, and they recognize that something great 55:36 and decisive is about to take place; 55:38 that the world is on the verge of a stupendous crisis. 55:44 The Bible, and the Bible only, gives a correct 55:48 view of these things. 55:50 Here are revealed the great final scenes in the history 55:53 of our world, events that already are casting their 55:56 shadows before, the sound of their approach causing the earth 56:00 to tremble and men's hearts to fail them for fear." 56:08 So the religion of Adventists is the religion of sola scriptura. 56:16 The Bible, and the Bible only. 56:17 The Bible interprets itself by comparing one text 56:20 with another text. 56:23 But in a post-modern world... 56:26 You know what post-modernism says the standard is. 56:30 Everyone has their own internal standard 56:32 of right and wrong, of good and evil. 56:35 That's what the devil told Eve. 56:38 He says, "You will be like God, knowing good and evil. 56:40 You don't have to depend on God to tell you 56:41 what good and evil is. 56:43 You'll be like Him, you'll be able to define 56:45 good and evil yourself." 56:48 First post-modern in the history of this world 56:54 was the devil's argument. 56:56 It would have been much simpler for Eve 56:59 simply to say to the serpent, to the devil, 57:04 "You know what? 57:05 The fruit looks good, it looks tasty. 57:08 What you say sounds logical, that God told us not to 57:11 eat from the tree because He knew that we would be like Him, 57:13 and He doesn't want any rivals. 57:15 You know, and you say that it will make me wise. 57:18 And you know, I never knew a serpent could talk. 57:22 That's a miracle." 57:27 But if she had said, "I see, I hear, I reason. 57:33 There's only one problem. 57:35 And that is, that we live by every word that proceeds 57:38 out of the mouth of God. 57:39 God said, 'Don't eat,' and therefore we don't eat." 57:43 Scripture alone. |
Revised 2015-01-12