Participants:
Series Code: SSH
Program Code: SSH022016S
|
00:00 ♪♪♪
00:11 ♪♪♪ 00:35 Jean Ross: Now, before we get into our lesson, we'd like 00:37 to let our friends know about a free offer that we have. 00:40 It's one of the Amazing Facts books. 00:41 It's entitled "Down From His Glory," and we'll be happy to 00:44 send this to anyone in North America. 00:46 If you'd like to receive it, the number to call is 866-788-3966, 00:52 and just ask for Offer Number 701. 00:56 You can also text the code "SH139" to the number 40544, and 01:03 we'll be able to send you a digital copy of the book "Down 01:06 From His Glory." 01:08 Well, Pastor Doug, before we get into our study today as we 01:12 always do, let's start with a word of prayer. 01:13 Doug Batchelor: Amen. 01:15 Jean: Dear Father, we thank You once again that we're able to 01:17 gather and open up Your Word and study even though we are using 01:20 various digital equipment to study the Word. 01:23 We are grateful that Your Spirit is here, and we just ask for 01:26 Your guidance as we look at a very important subject, focusing 01:29 on Jesus' view of the Bible and how did the apostles relate to 01:33 the Scriptures. 01:34 So bless our study today in Jesus' name, amen. 01:37 Doug: Amen. 01:39 Well, I'll tell you, this is--it's wonderful that we have 01:41 this technology where we can connect with our friends. 01:44 Amazing Facts has been doing Sabbath School online for, oh, 01:48 probably 20 years now, almost. 01:49 Jean: Mm-hmm. 01:51 Doug: And we know that we have people who are participating in 01:53 the study from around the world, of course, different times. 01:55 We have our social media coordinator back here. 01:59 Santiago, you're getting some messages from people in 02:04 different parts of the planet? 02:06 Santiago: Yeah, we got Niko Watra from Austria. 02:09 Doug: Austria, Niko? 02:10 Santiago: Yeah, Carl from Ottawa. 02:12 Doug: Carl from--where? 02:14 Santiago: Ottawa. 02:15 Doug: Ottawa, yeah. 02:16 Santiago: And then Rhonda from Naples. 02:19 Naples, Florida. 02:21 Doug: Naples, Florida, yeah. 02:22 Santiago: Yeah, and then Ishimue, Ishimue from Rwanda? 02:25 both: From Rwanda? 02:27 Jean: Okay. 02:28 Doug: These are just some that are scrolling by as he's 02:30 looking, there's thousands of people from around the world. 02:32 Who else you got? 02:34 Santiago: We have Godfrey from South Africa. 02:36 Doug: Godfrey from South Africa? 02:38 Santiago: Yeah, Winnie from Kenya. 02:39 Doug: From Kenya? 02:41 Santiago: And Billy from New York City. 02:42 Doug: Billy from New York City. 02:44 They're having a tough time there right now. 02:45 Jean: They are, yup. 02:47 Now, Pastor, maybe I should mention this. 02:48 If you're watching on Facebook and you'd like to interact with 02:50 us in our study today, we'd be happy to take a look at the 02:52 questions that you send in. 02:54 We'll try and answer some of them on the air. 02:56 So if you have a Bible question, we're asking that you try and 02:59 keep your question related to our subject, which is the Bible, 03:01 how Jesus responded or related to the Bible and the apostles. 03:04 If you would like to send in a question, just type it in on the 03:08 Facebook page. 03:10 That's Pastor Doug's Facebook page, also the Amazing Facts 03:13 Facebook page. 03:14 We have some of our team here, and they're gathering those 03:17 questions, and they'll be sending it to me right here on 03:19 my computer, and we'll try to answer those questions as we go 03:21 through the program today. 03:23 Doug: Amen. 03:25 And so, with that, we should probably get into our lesson. 03:27 You know, one of the favorite things we do at Granite Bay 03:31 every year, we have a message or two that deals specifically with 03:34 the subject of Scripture because we think it's a foundation of 03:37 all that we teach. 03:40 And, you know, it occurred to me, if there wasn't a Bible, I 03:43 wouldn't have a life because my whole life revolves around 03:47 reading the Bible, writing about the Bible, preaching about the 03:51 Bible, teaching about the Bible, studying the Bible, and it's 03:55 like it's the axis on which my life turns, and it should be for 03:59 the church. 04:01 It's the foundation. 04:02 Jesus said, "He that hears these words of mine is the wise man 04:04 who builds on the rock." 04:06 It's a rock of the church. 04:09 And so, every year, we usually emphasize the Bible. 04:11 I'm thrilled we're taking the whole quarter to talk about the 04:14 Scriptures and the importance of the Scriptures right now. 04:17 Our lesson today is "Jesus and the Apostles' View of 04:20 the Bible." 04:22 How did Christ and the apostles feel about the Bible? 04:23 And we have a memory verse, and I know that in your places 04:26 around the world, you're going to say this with us. 04:30 And this is from Matthew 4:4. 04:32 I think most people know this one by heart anyway. 04:35 Matthew 4:4, "But he answered and said to them, 'It is 04:39 written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word 04:42 that proceeds from the mouth of God."'" 04:45 And that comes up again a little later in our study. 04:49 And so I think it's important to remember that, when we're 04:54 reading the New Testament, we're really asking, "How did the New 04:57 Testament writers, Jesus and the apostles, feel about the Old 05:01 Testament and Scripture?" 05:03 Jean: Well, you know, Pastor Doug, there are so many 05:05 different opinions today about the Bible. 05:07 There are those who feel like the Bible is just a collection 05:10 of historical myths, stories, questions. 05:13 People question the inspiration of the Bible. 05:16 Some people say that science contradicts the Bible. 05:21 But what we're interested in knowing is how did Jesus relate 05:24 to the Bible? 05:26 What was His attitude towards the stories that we have in 05:28 Scripture, the authority, the inspiration of the Bible? 05:31 How did the apostles feel about the Bible? 05:33 And that's really the focus of what our study is: How does 05:36 Jesus relate to the Bible? 05:38 It's a very important point. 05:40 I mean, Jesus is God. 05:42 He didn't have to refer to Scripture. 05:44 After all, He is the source of truth, and, yet we find often 05:48 Jesus, in His life on earth, quoted the Scriptures. 05:51 Matter of fact, our memory text, Jesus is quoting the 05:55 Old Testament. 05:57 Doug: Exactly. 05:59 You know, the gospel of Mark and John begins, really, with the 06:01 baptism of Jesus, and it's got John the Baptist. 06:04 And so before Christ even goes out teaching and before the 06:07 temptation, which we'll get to in a moment, when John the 06:10 Baptist is preaching, the religious leaders come, and they 06:13 say, "Who are you?" 06:15 And what does John do? 06:17 He quotes from the Bible. 06:19 He says, "I am the voice--" 06:21 I believe it's a prophecy in Isaiah: "I am the voice of one 06:23 crying in the wilderness." 06:24 So right from the very beginning, they understood that 06:26 the whole message of the Messiah was going to be founded on the 06:29 Old Testament Scriptures, that he would be a fulfillment of 06:32 these Old Testament prophecies. 06:34 Jean: Absolutely, and so when you get into the public ministry 06:37 of Jesus, you have the baptism that Pastor Doug alluded to, and 06:41 then you'll find Jesus being led by the Spirit, up into the 06:44 wilderness, where He fasted and prayed for 40 days. 06:46 And you know the story, how that the devil came to tempt Jesus 06:49 there in the wilderness. 06:51 Jesus did not fight against the devil or defend Himself by 06:55 quoting His position or authority, but Jesus went back 07:00 to the Bible. 07:02 And there are some lessons in that. 07:04 There's important lessons for us as Christians, where do we find 07:07 our defense against temptations? 07:08 Doug: Yeah, the reason the world is in trouble now is because Eve 07:12 tried to argue with the devil, using rationalization, and the 07:16 real answer is "God has said," and to stay with that. 07:21 And so sometimes, if you try to rationalize and try and talk 07:27 your way out of a temptation, you can get in trouble, but just 07:30 say, "This is what the Word of God says," and this is what 07:32 Christ did. 07:34 Jean: So the first temptation that we read about in Matthew 07:35 chapter 4, verse 4, this is the response of Jesus, and we read 07:37 it in our Scripture reading. 07:39 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by 07:42 every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 07:45 And I think, Pastor Doug, one of the things that, to me, is being 07:48 emphasized by Jesus in this response to the devil's first 07:52 temptation--the trustworthiness of the Bible. 07:55 You need something that you can trust, especially today. 07:58 So many different ideas and theories. 08:01 What do you trust? 08:02 Jesus said, "We ought to live by every word that proceeds out of 08:05 the mouth of God." 08:06 That is the Word of God. 08:08 Doug: It also strikes me that, when the temptation came to 08:11 Jesus, it says He's out in the wilderness. 08:12 He's been there 40 days. 08:14 I suspect He was not carrying a backpack full of scrolls--that 08:19 He had learned the Scriptures on His mother's knee, and so when 08:23 temptation came, He had it memorized, and I think it's 08:26 essential for Christians to know we need to be filling in our 08:29 minds now with the truth of God's Word, especially now. 08:32 We did a little video, oh, I guess about a week ago, talking 08:36 about, sort of, a--what's the word for it? 08:39 A little bit of a provocative title. 08:41 It said, "How to hoard food for the storm." 08:44 And I wanted people to watch it. 08:47 We're not telling people to be stripping the shelves in 08:49 the market. 08:51 We said we need to be storing food for the coming storm. 08:53 Here, Jesus was going through a storm of temptation, but He was 08:56 prepared because He had hidden the Word in His heart so that he 09:00 could recite it and claim these promises when they came. 09:03 Jean: So that's the first temptation. 09:05 Jesus says, "Man shall not live by bread alone," but, again, the 09:07 devil tempted Christ. 09:09 In Matthew chapter 4, verse 7, you have Christ's response 09:12 again, and "Jesus said, 'It is written again, "You shall not 09:16 tempt the Lord your God."'" 09:18 Now, I like the way it's worded. 09:20 Jesus says, "It is written again." 09:22 So he quoted, "It is written," and then, on the second 09:25 temptation, he says, "It is written again." 09:27 And, to me, that's Jesus affirming the authority of 09:31 the Scripture. 09:32 The final word is found in the Scriptures, the Word of God. 09:35 Doug: Amen. 09:37 Yeah, He could've said, "Well, I mentioned the Bible last time. 09:40 I'm going to use something else this time." 09:42 He just kept going back to the Bible. 09:44 Something else about this, it tells us, "The devil took Him 09:46 into the holy city, set Him on the--" 09:48 and this is Matthew chapter 4, verse 5-- "set Him on the 09:50 pinnacle of the temple--" 09:52 which was very high. 09:53 I understand, from Josephus, it was, like, over 200 feet high-- 09:55 "and said, 'If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. 09:59 For it is written--" 10:01 so now the devil is quoting the Bible, and he actually only 10:04 quotes half of it, so he takes it out of context-- "it is 10:07 written: 'He'll give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their 10:10 hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against 10:13 the stone.'" 10:14 So the devil leaves out the part that says, "to keep you 10:16 in all your ways." 10:18 And part of that means you do not tempt the Lord. 10:20 That's one of the ways. 10:22 So Jesus also uses the Bible correctly here. 10:26 Where the devil used the Bible, he misquoted. 10:28 He used it incorrectly to try to manipulate. 10:31 Now, there's a lot of people in the world today that say, "I'm a 10:34 Christian. I believe the Bible," and they're wolves 10:36 in sheep's clothing. 10:38 So we've got to remember, the devil can quote the Bible 10:39 and--but we need to know the Bible well enough that we're 10:44 going to be able to spot if it's misquoted. 10:48 Say, "No, that's not what it says." 10:50 Jean: Somebody asked a question along those same lines. 10:52 They just texted in, and they said, "How does one rationalize 10:55 with the devil?" 10:57 or "What do you mean by 'rationalizing with the devil,' 10:59 and how does one do this?" 11:01 Doug: Well, I don't think you should engage the devil because 11:03 the only--you know, the devil is so--the Bible says man is made 11:08 lower than the angels. 11:10 The devil was the highest of the angels. 11:12 Though he is incredibly evil, he's incredibly brilliant, and 11:16 if you try to engage in an argument with him without the 11:21 Holy Spirit and supernatural power, trusting our own words 11:24 and rationalization, we'll be overcome. 11:27 So you don't want to parlay with the devil. 11:29 Jean: Absolutely. 11:31 The best thing to do when a temptation comes its way, start 11:34 quoting Scripture, and send up a prayer right away-- 11:36 Doug: And run. 11:38 Jean: And don't--yeah. 11:39 Doug: Flee temptation. 11:41 Jean: That's right. 11:42 Doug: Bible says Joseph ran from Potiphar's wife. 11:44 Jean: Right. 11:45 The longer we stay around the forbidden tree, you might say, 11:47 the more likely we are to fall. 11:49 Doug: Thank you, a good point. 11:51 Jean: Somebody asked another question, Pastor Doug, dealing 11:53 with the Bible. 11:54 "What would you suggest as being the best way to 11:56 memorize Scripture?" 11:59 Doug: Well, there's a lot of good ways. 12:01 Mrs. Batchelor was telling me that we ought to be mentioning 12:04 there's a special Bible program called the FAST program, and 12:07 they probably have a website people can go to. 12:09 They've got cards and a little program. 12:11 It's not much. 12:13 They can purchase. 12:15 And you go through memorizing segments of Scripture, the most 12:17 important promises that you're going to use later. 12:19 In fact, I'll jump ahead. 12:21 We're not going to forget the third temptation, but I want to 12:24 jump ahead and just say, Peter tells us, 2 Peter chapter 1, 12:27 verse 4, "By which we have been given to us exceeding great and 12:32 precious promises, that through these you might become partakers 12:36 of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is 12:40 in the world through lust." 12:42 Through the Word of God, the promises of God, we quote these, 12:44 we memorize them, and they comfort our hearts, and they 12:48 give us ammunition against temptation. 12:50 So I'd start by getting a "Bible Promise Book," or get the Bible 12:55 memorization program that has some of the best promises to 12:58 help live the Christian life, to bring comfort. 13:03 They're in categories. 13:05 And then, in a program like this, you take a Scripture, and 13:07 you try to commit it to memory during that day. 13:09 Then you can have your alarm timer on your phone go off 13:13 again, and say, all right, repeat it again, and two or 13:16 three times during that day, you repeat it. 13:19 The next day, you add a Scripture, and then repeat the 13:22 one you remembered the day before. 13:24 You've got to stay at it. 13:26 I had a neighbor. 13:27 He memorized the entire New Testament. 13:30 It just--and I tested him on it too, and he did, so it can 13:34 be done. 13:36 Jean: Wow. 13:38 All right, well, then that comes to our third point here in the 13:40 temptations of Christ. 13:42 And, finally, this is the temptation that the devil kind 13:44 of put everything on the line, hoping that he could get Christ, 13:46 and he said, "If you bow down and worship me, I'll give you 13:49 all the kingdoms of this world." 13:50 Jesus responded, Matthew chapter 4, verse 10--and I like this. 13:54 Jesus said to him again, "Away with you, Satan. 13:57 For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord God, and Him 14:00 only you shall serve.'" 14:03 There is a demonstration of the power of the Word. 14:05 You want to get the devil to go away? 14:07 Quote the Scripture, the power of the Word. 14:09 Doug: That reminds me of when, in the book of Jude, Michael 14:12 comes to resurrect Moses, and then the devil comes, and he 14:17 basically argues. 14:18 He said, "You can't have him. 14:20 He sinned. 14:22 You know, he's mine." 14:24 And Michael would not parlay with the devil. 14:27 He simply said, '"The Lord rebuke thee," which is 14:29 essentially, "Get thee behind me." 14:31 And that's what happened. 14:33 So I want to remind our friends that may have joined us since we 14:36 began, this is our "Sabbath School Study Hour." 14:38 You can ask questions, and that website, again, if they want to 14:42 send us questions about the lesson? 14:44 Jean: It's just the Facebook page, Doug Batchelor Facebook 14:46 page, or the Amazing Facts Facebook page, and thank you for 14:49 the questions that you have sent in, and I know many of them are 14:52 related to the lesson, so we appreciate that. 14:55 If you have any question about the Bible, how to understand the 14:57 Bible, something relating to Christ and the Bible, or the 15:00 apostles, we'd love to hear from you. 15:02 Well, Pastor Doug, that brings us to our next section. 15:05 Just, sort of, to wrap that up, I think the point that we just 15:07 want to take away from that is that Jesus made it clear in His 15:10 life, that ultimate authority is in the Scriptures, and we can 15:14 trust the Scriptures, and that it's a power against the enemy. 15:17 Doug: Yeah, one more thing is, in those three temptations that 15:22 came to Jesus, you know, some people say, "Well, that's nice 15:25 that He was able to use the Scripture for that particular 15:27 temptation, but I've got this temptation. 15:30 You know, Jesus never had to worry about tobacco in His day," 15:32 or whatever it is. 15:34 Those three temptations really cover all categories of sin. 15:37 You can read in 1 John chapter 2, verse 15, "Do not love the 15:44 world or the things that are in the world. 15:47 If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not 15:49 in him. 15:50 For all that is in the world--" 15:52 now, here's the three categories of sin-- "the lust of the flesh, 15:54 the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the 15:57 Father but the world. 15:59 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it, but he that 16:02 does the will of God will abide forever." 16:04 And so in these three temptations, it's the same three 16:08 areas where Adam and Eve fell. 16:11 Jesus overcame through Scripture. 16:13 Whatever the temptation, there is a Scripture promise for you. 16:15 Jean: Absolutely. 16:17 Well, that brings us to our Monday lesson. 16:19 If you follow along with your lesson, we're on Monday now, and 16:22 the title for that is "Jesus and the Law." 16:24 How did Jesus relate to the law? 16:26 And, firstly, I think it's very clear that Jesus taught 16:29 obedience to the law. 16:31 Now, some people get confused as to the ceremonial law, what part 16:33 of that do we need to keep, if any, but really, the point that 16:36 we're emphasizing is the moral law. 16:39 That is the Ten Commandment law. 16:41 There's no question as to Christ's position about the law. 16:44 We actually have that verse Pastor Doug, in Matthew chapter 16:47 5, verse 17, where Jesus made it very clear. 16:50 He said, "Do not think that I've come to destroy the law or 16:52 the prophets. 16:54 I didn't come to destroy but to fulfill." 16:56 Doug: Absolutely. 16:58 You know, when you look at the Bible, and you take your Bible, 17:00 and you go to the New Testament--all right, I got it 17:04 here just so you have a visual. 17:05 This is a unique Bible in that I have almost no notes in 17:09 this Bible. 17:10 It's almost nothing but Scripture. 17:13 I did that so I could get the font as big as possible. 17:15 Here, you got the New Testament. 17:17 Here, you've got the Old Testament. 17:19 You can quickly see the New Testament is only about a 17:20 quarter of the whole Bible. 17:22 Three-quarters of it is Old Testament. 17:25 And then, in the Old Testament--let me see here. 17:28 I'm going to go to--here you've got the books of Moses. 17:31 Matter of fact, a little more of Deuteronomy here. 17:33 Don't want to leave Moses out. 17:35 And then Moses wrote the book of Job. 17:37 So here you've got the foundation for the Bible in the 17:39 five books of Moses. 17:41 This is what's often called "the law." 17:43 And then you've got the history, the books of Joshua, Judges, 1st 17:46 and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Samuel, Chronicles. 17:49 This is the history. 17:50 Then you've got the minor prophets, the major prophets. 17:52 But they call this the "Law and the Prophets," and even though 17:57 it had books of poetry, and it had the history in it as well. 18:00 This is the foundation, in particular, the teachings 18:03 of Moses. 18:05 For every other prophet, for every other psalm, matter of 18:07 fact, they almost all quote Moses at some point. 18:11 The other minor prophets, major prophets, Psalms, they reference 18:14 Moses. 18:16 One of the Psalms is actually a song of Moses. 18:18 And so that was the foundation. 18:21 Now, some people say--reason I'm going through this whole 18:24 point--that "Some of the things Moses said, you can't 18:27 really trust. 18:29 They're allegories. 18:31 They're fables. 18:32 Adam and Eve is just an allegory. 18:34 You know, we know evolution happened," they say, or "Noah 18:36 and the flood is an allegory about how God feels about evil," 18:38 and "The Tower of Babel, that's not how the nations separated." 18:41 And they sort of--even Christian pastors and scholars 18:46 say--they're very dismissive about some of the law of Moses 18:50 and his teachings. 18:52 But listen to what Jesus said. 18:54 John 5:46, "For if you believe Moses, you would believe Me, for 18:58 he wrote about Me. 19:00 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe 19:04 My words?" 19:05 And so it's not an option for a Bible Christian to say, "I think 19:09 I might or may not believe Moses, literally." 19:13 Jesus quotes Moses as literal. 19:16 So you can't believe Jesus if you don't believe Moses. 19:19 Jean: Pastor Doug, we have a question about that passage in 19:22 Matthew chapter 5. 19:24 Verse 19, says, "Whoever therefore breaks one of the 19:25 least of these commandments, and teaches men to do so, shall be 19:28 called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does and 19:31 teaches them, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 19:35 So the question is "Well, does that mean that those who break 19:37 one of the Lord's commandments will be in the kingdom 19:39 of heaven? 19:41 They'll just have a lower place in heaven?" 19:43 Doug: Yeah, they got a lower rank? 19:45 No, that's often misunderstood. 19:47 When it says, "Those who break them and teach others to break 19:49 them will be called the least in the kingdom of heaven," doesn't 19:51 say they're there. 19:53 It means those in the kingdom of heaven call that person the 19:57 lowest person. 19:59 It's talking about those in heaven are calling them 20:02 the least. 20:03 They're not there. 20:05 So when you look at how heaven values the greatest and the 20:08 least, "Those who break the commandments, and teach others 20:11 to break even the least, are called the lowest by the people 20:15 in heaven." 20:16 Jean: Absolutely. 20:18 Doug: They won't be there. 20:20 Jean: Yeah, so there's no question as to how Jesus felt 20:22 about the law. 20:23 He believed that it needed to be kept. 20:25 The law is a transcript of God's character. 20:27 Jesus kept the law. 20:29 His followers kept the commandments. 20:30 Revelation talks about a group of people in the last days that 20:32 keep His commandments and have the faith and the testimony 20:33 of Jesus. 20:35 But the next point that's brought out in our lesson is the 20:37 foundation of the law. 20:39 What is the law based on? 20:41 Of course, you've got the Ten Commandments divided into 20:42 two parts. 20:44 You've got the first four are the commandments dealing with 20:45 our relationship with God. 20:47 You have the last six of the Ten Commandments, dealing with our 20:49 relationship to our fellow man, but Jesus summarized the law 20:52 with love. 20:55 And we have a story, Pastor Doug, in Matthew chapter 22, 20:57 where a man came to Jesus and asked, "What is the greatest 21:01 commandment in the law?" 21:03 And here's His response. 21:05 Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all 21:08 your heart--" 21:10 this is Matthew 22, verse 37-- "'with all your heart, with all 21:14 your soul, with all your mind.' This is the first and the 21:15 great commandment. 21:17 And the second is like it: 'You should love your 21:19 neighbor as yourself.' 21:20 On these two commandments hang all the Law 21:22 and the Prophets." 21:23 Doug: Absolutely, and I've heard some say those two commandments 21:27 now have replaced the Law and the Prophets. 21:30 It's interesting that, those two commandments, Jesus is quoting 21:34 the Old Testament. 21:36 He's quoting from Deuteronomy, chapter 6, and he's quoting from 21:40 Leviticus 19:18. 21:44 And so, when Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you," how 21:47 could He call it a new commandment when He's 21:48 quoting Moses? 21:50 Or maybe He was saying, "A new concept I have for the Pharisees 21:53 and the scribe, that the law of Moses is summarized in love." 21:58 If you love your neighbor, you will not break the first, you 22:00 know, last six commandments, and if you love God, you'll not 22:03 break the first four commandments, love. 22:06 That's why Paul says, "Love is--" 22:08 Jean: Fulfilling of the law. 22:10 Doug: It's the fulfilling of the law. 22:13 You know, one other thing, Pastor Ross? 22:15 If you go through the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the 22:17 Mount, people often say, "Well, Jesus was fulfilling and doing 22:19 away with the Old Testament because He says stuff like 22:22 Matthew 5:21." 22:24 "You have heard it said, but I say to you," and He says, "'You 22:28 shall not murder,' but I say to you, whoever murders his--but 22:32 I'm saying, if you're angry with your brother without a cause, 22:34 you're guilty of murder. 22:36 You have heard it said by them of old, 'You shall not commit 22:38 adultery,' but I say to you, if a man looks on a woman to lust, 22:41 he's committing adultery. 22:44 Furthermore, it has been said--" 22:46 again, he quotes the-- "'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give 22:48 a certificate of divorce,' but I say to you--" 22:50 and then you go to Matthew 5:33, "Again, you have heard it said 22:54 by them of old, 'You shall not swear falsely but perform 22:56 your oaths.'" 22:58 So Jesus keeps quoting the Old Testament. 23:00 Look at the authority. 23:02 But he's not quoting it and saying, "But I say 23:04 something different." 23:05 What Jesus did is he went deeper. 23:08 He showed that the law was not just an action. 23:11 The law was an attitude. 23:13 So I'm always a little stunned when I hear pastors say, "See, 23:16 Jesus, he did away with the law because his teaching, it 23:19 fulfills it." 23:21 Well, Isaiah explains what Jesus did in Isaiah 42, verse 21. 23:26 It's a prophecy about the Messiah. 23:28 It says, "The Lord is well pleased for his 23:32 righteousness' sake. 23:33 He will exalt--" 23:35 that word there is "He will magnify the law and make 23:37 it honorable." 23:39 The law had become dishonorable. 23:42 Christ, He took a magnifying glass. 23:44 He didn't take an eraser to the law. 23:46 He took a magnifying glass to make it bigger and clearer. 23:50 And so the teachings of Jesus is founded on the teachings of 23:53 the Bible. 23:55 He just expounded it, and that's what a pastor is supposed to do. 23:56 Jean: Amen. 23:58 Doug: You take the Word, and you expound it, magnify it, make 24:00 it clearer. 24:01 Jean: You know, somebody just sent in a question, and they're 24:03 asking about the Book of Enoch. 24:05 And the question is "Since it's quoted in the New Testament, in 24:08 Jude, at the book of Jude, what do we know about the book 24:12 of Enoch? 24:14 Is it a truth-filled book?" 24:16 Doug: You know, this is a very--it's a great question. 24:18 There is a book of Enoch. 24:20 The book of Enoch was not a book that Enoch gave to Noah that 24:23 somehow survived the flood and made its way down to our day. 24:25 The book of Enoch was an allegorical book that was 24:29 written, and parts of it were inspired during the 24:32 Babylonian captivity. 24:34 It's like, when we read the book, "Pilgrim's Progress," that 24:39 is an inspirational book. 24:40 There are certain inspirational statements in history. 24:45 You can even read where, you know, Benjamin Franklin says 24:49 something like, "Early to bed and early to rise makes one 24:53 healthy, wealthy, and wise." 24:55 Well, you find that teaching kind of in Proverbs. 24:57 He talks about slothfulness. 25:00 And so, an inspired Bible writer might quote from another book, 25:05 an inspired quote in that book. 25:08 So Jude took an inspired quote from that book of Enoch, but the 25:12 whole book of Enoch was not inspirational on the level of 25:15 the Bible. 25:17 Jean: All right, I think also there's some questions as to the 25:18 authorship of the book. 25:20 We know Enoch didn't write this book. 25:22 It kind of got his name attached, but we don't really 25:24 know who actually wrote the book. 25:27 Apparently, it was around at the time of Christ, but, again, the 25:30 authorship is-- 25:31 Doug: Some John Bunyan who lived during the time of the 25:33 Babylonian captivity. 25:34 We don't know his name so-- 25:36 Jean: Yeah, right. 25:37 Doug: Some inspired Jew who was writing an inspired commentary. 25:41 But, yeah, the whole book of Enoch has some things in it that 25:44 are not inspired, so that's why a person needs to be careful. 25:47 There's some things in there that they took some 25:51 liberties with. 25:53 Jean: Right, there's a statement that we find in the book 25:55 "Christ's Object Lessons," and it talks about Christ's 25:57 attitude towards the Bible. 25:59 I'd like to read it. 26:02 It's "Christ's Object Lessons," page 39 and 40. 26:04 It's a short quote. 26:06 It says, "He," talking of Christ, "pointed to the 26:08 Scriptures as the unquestionable authority, and we should do 26:10 the same. 26:12 The Bible is to be presented as the word of the infinite God, 26:14 and the end of all controversy, the foundation of all faith." 26:19 Doug: Amen. 26:21 It's like that parable that Jesus shares in Luke 16, where 26:23 everyone knows the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, and it 26:26 only appears that one time in the Bible, and people use it to 26:29 argue the state of the dead, and the parable really had nothing 26:31 to do with the state of the dead. 26:33 They often say that, you know, the moral of the story is at the 26:36 end, or the punch line is at the end of the joke. 26:39 At the end of this parable about the rich man talking to Abraham, 26:42 and the poor man in Abraham's bosom, and he's in Hades, and he 26:46 said, "Oh, if someone rises from the dead, then they'll believe." 26:50 And Jesus said, "If they do not believe Moses and the prophets, 26:55 then neither will they be persuaded though one should rise 26:58 from the dead," and that's Luke 16:31. 27:00 Again, if you don't believe Moses, you can't believe Jesus. 27:06 And so Christ, He said that Moses and the prophets, the Word 27:11 of God--and this is--you know, I've just got to tell my 27:16 friends, you know, we've got a small crew here in the studio 27:18 doing online church for you on online Sabbath School. 27:21 We'll do church in a minute. 27:23 But I realize there's thousands that are watching. 27:25 I'll tell you something that is on my heart. 27:27 I visit other churches. 27:29 I know we have some friends that are watching from other 27:31 denominations, though this is a Seventh-day Adventist 27:33 congregation, and I go into their churches, and they 27:36 provide Bibles. 27:39 And I'll pull the Bible out of the back of the pew, and it's 27:41 just the New Testament. 27:44 And I'm thinking, "Don't you provide the Bible that Jesus 27:47 read, the Bible the apostles read?" 27:50 There is so much truth in the other three quarters of the 27:55 Bible that it always amazes me they say, "We've got Bibles in 27:58 your pews," and they only talk about and teach the 28:00 New Testament. 28:03 When the New Testament was written, they were looking at 28:05 the Old Testament as the primary Scripture. 28:08 And so that's just something we can't forget. 28:11 It's all the Word of God, but don't neglect the Old Testament. 28:13 Jean: Matter of fact, that's an excellent segue to Tuesday's 28:15 lesson, which is entitled "Jesus and all the Scripture." 28:19 Of course, when you talk about Jesus and the Scripture, you're 28:21 talking about the Old Testament. 28:23 He didn't have the New Testament. 28:25 One of my favorite stories--and I know it's one of yours, Pastor 28:27 Doug, because I've heard you preach sermons on it--is Luke 28:29 chapter 24, where Jesus had a rather interesting discussion 28:33 with two of the disciples walking to Emmaus. 28:36 Doug: Yeah, the road to Emmaus experience, this is the Sunday 28:41 morning after the Resurrection. 28:44 No, it's actually Sunday afternoon at this point. 28:46 And two of the disciples are--they're just brokenhearted, 28:49 you know. 28:50 They saw what they believe was the Messiah die. 28:53 They thought he was going to conquer the Romans, and they 28:56 don't understand, and they're walking from Jerusalem, which 29:00 means "City of God," down to Emmaus, a town, means, "hot 29:05 water." 29:06 There are hot springs there, evidently. 29:08 And so they're going downhill. 29:10 They got their back to the New Jerusalem. 29:11 They're discouraged. 29:13 They're talking about everything that happened. 29:15 Jesus draws near, and they don't recognize Him. 29:17 He listens for a while, and He says, "Why are you so sad? 29:19 What is this communication you have with one another as you 29:21 walk and are sad?" 29:23 Christians should be happy, should be positive, good news. 29:25 And they said, "Oh, haven't you heard about Jesus and what 29:29 happened, or are you a stranger? 29:30 Where have you been?" 29:32 I'm paraphrasing. 29:34 And then Jesus said--He finally couldn't take it anymore, and he 29:35 said, "O fools and slow of heart to believe that all the prophets 29:40 have spoken. 29:41 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto 29:45 them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." 29:49 There was no New Testament, and he says all the Scriptures talk 29:53 about Jesus. 29:55 And, you know, I was so excited about that theme. 29:58 I wrote a book called "Shadows of Light," Christ in the Old 30:00 Testament, and I just see Jesus everywhere in the Old Testament. 30:04 Jean: You know, the amazing thing about that story, here 30:06 is Jesus, he rose from the dead. 30:08 He's the Son of God, but before He reveals Himself to the 30:11 disciples, He wants to ground them in the prophetic Word, the 30:15 authority of the prophetic Word. 30:17 Before even revealing Himself, He points them back to 30:19 the Scripture. 30:20 So an example of Jesus, how did Jesus relate to the Bible? 30:23 He recognized the prophetic authority of the Scriptures, the 30:26 Old Testament. 30:28 Of course, you can extend that to the New Testament, but we can 30:30 trust the prophetic utterances that we find in the Bible. 30:34 They came true. 30:35 The Book of Daniel points out the different histories and 30:38 stories. 30:41 We can trust what the Bible says. 30:43 Doug: Yeah, and that, to me, is what you would call a 30:44 slam-dunk Scripture. 30:46 He says, "all the Scriptures," and Jesus could've said, "I want 30:49 you to believe I'm the Messiah because I'm telling you to." 30:52 He didn't. 30:54 He said, "I want you to believe I'm the Messiah because of what 30:56 the Scriptures say. 30:57 So the authority for Christ and the authority he gives the 31:00 churches, what does the Bible say? 31:03 Jean: Well, Pastor Doug, that brings in another question that 31:05 somebody is asking, and that is, "How do we know that all of the 31:08 books in the Bible that we have is, indeed, the Scriptures, and 31:13 who chooses what book to be in the Bible, and what book not to 31:16 be in the Bible?" 31:18 Doug: Well, that's a great question, and I invite you to 31:19 help me in answering this. 31:21 But all of the books that we have in our modern Bible--of 31:25 course, the Old Testament was complete before Jesus was born. 31:28 So there's very little dispute about that. 31:30 You know, there are some who argue that the book of Maccabees 31:33 should be between the testaments, but you go from 31:36 Malachi, backward, and all of the rabbis and Christian 31:40 scholars agree that those books are inspired. 31:44 So the big dispute comes in how do they organize which books 31:46 would be included in the New Testament? 31:49 And there's several things that happened. 31:51 First of all, those that wrote them were alive and witnesses of 31:58 the life and teachings of Jesus. 32:01 Now, Paul wrote quite a bit, but he did have a personal encounter 32:03 with Christ, and so that's why he's included. 32:05 The other thing is, those Bible writers cross-referenced 32:09 each other. 32:10 You can hear where Peter references Jude, Jude references 32:14 Peter, Peter references Paul, Paul references Peter. 32:17 They cross-pollinate each other to endorse one 32:22 another's writings. 32:24 And then you find that the early church fathers, they were using 32:27 the books--you know, there's, over time, other mystery books 32:31 have popped up, you know, "The Gospel of Mary Magdalene," and 32:34 "The Gospel of Judas," and these things are what they 32:37 call "apocryphal." 32:39 They're books of doubtful origin. 32:41 They're usually forgeries that were kind of slipped in, and 32:42 someone said, "Hey, guys, look what I found in this old, dusty, 32:44 old library," because they had a point they wanted to teach. 32:47 But by 120 A.D.--and, you know, John died about 100, 32:53 the apostle. 32:55 Those, Polycarp and the early church fathers, they knew some 32:59 of the apostles, and they had pretty much decided the books 33:02 that we have now. 33:04 The organization of the books, a lot of that came out of 33:08 the Reformation. 33:09 It's very interesting. 33:11 Like, the letters of Paul, I was surprised to learn they're 33:13 organized from the longest to the shortest. 33:15 It's not that complicated. 33:17 Romans is longer than 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, 33:20 of course, they're in bunches, and then, by the time you--until 33:22 you get to the--Revelation is a book of prophecy. 33:25 It's added at the end. 33:28 And you get to Jude. 33:30 It's a little bitty letter, you know, and so the writings of 33:32 Paul were arranged in order of their length. 33:35 Jean: I think in order for one of the New Testament books to be 33:37 part of the New Testament, there needed to be no doubt as to the 33:39 authorship of the book. 33:41 Of course, the letters were copied by different churches. 33:44 There were a number of manuscripts around. 33:46 People weren't questioning whether or not Paul wrote a 33:48 particular book. 33:51 They knew he wrote the book or Peter wrote the book. 33:53 John wrote Revelation. 33:55 So knowing who wrote the book is very important. 33:58 Doug: Yeah, the authorship, and we knew it says holy men wrote 34:00 as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. 34:02 These were Spirit-filled--they received the Holy Spirit at 34:04 Pentecost or from Christ Himself, like Paul, and they 34:08 were the authors. 34:10 Jean: Now, we spoke about Jesus emphasizing the authority of the 34:12 prophetic word when he met with the two disciples on the way to 34:14 Emmaus, but Jesus also affirms the doctrinal accuracy or 34:19 trustworthiness of the word when Jesus gives the Great Commission 34:23 to His disciples, that we find in Matthew chapter 28. 34:27 I think we're all familiar with the Great Commission, but the 34:30 point I just want to highlight here is verse 20, Matthew 28:20. 34:32 Jesus said, "Teaching them to observe all things that I have 34:35 commanded you." 34:37 Well, what are those things that Jesus commanded them? 34:39 If you look at what the disciples said, they would quote 34:42 the Old Testament. 34:43 So it was very clear in their minds that the foundation of 34:46 truth that Jesus taught them was rooted in the Old Testament. 34:50 It was rooted in the Scriptures. 34:52 Doug: Great point. 34:54 You know, we were talking about the road to Emmaus before, and I 34:56 quoted Luke 24:25. 34:58 So when they get to Emmaus, He tells them all the 35:02 Scriptures, right? 35:04 Then He appears that same day in the Upper Room. 35:06 Those disciples run back to the Upper Room. 35:08 He appears to all 12, well, Judas is gone. 35:12 He appears to 11 of them, plus the other disciples that 35:14 were there. 35:16 "And He said, 'These are the words that I spoke to you while 35:18 I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled that 35:20 are written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the 35:24 Psalms,'" the psalms, a lot of powerful Messianic psalms, like 35:28 Psalm 22 and 69, and others, "concerning Me." 35:33 And then it says, "He opened their understanding, that they 35:36 might comprehend the Scriptures." 35:37 What Scriptures was He opening? 35:39 Jean: The Old Testament. 35:41 Doug: There's no New Testament then. 35:43 I mean, he's just risen from the dead. 35:45 And so Jesus establishes the very foundation of the church 35:47 there in the Upper Room, the Scriptures. 35:49 Every time Christ appeared after the Resurrection, He taught them 35:51 the Bible. 35:52 He was opening the Scriptures to them. 35:54 So, yeah, very important. 35:56 Jean: Well, that brings us to our study on Wednesday. 35:58 If you're following along with your lesson, the point on 36:02 Wednesday is entitled "Jesus and the Origin and the History of 36:04 the Bible." 36:06 Today, there's a lot of questions about how much of the 36:08 Old Testament is trustworthy from a scientific perspective. 36:12 "Was there really a worldwide flood? 36:14 Did everybody come from a man and a woman, Adam and Eve?" 36:18 And, yeah, there's a lot of questions as to 36:19 the trustworthiness. 36:21 Doug: Noah. 36:22 Jean: Noah, yup. 36:24 Doug: Who can believe Jonah? 36:25 Jean: Three days in the belly of the whale. 36:27 So how was Christ's attitude? 36:28 Well, how did Jesus feel about these stories that we find? 36:30 Matthew chapter 19, verse 4 and 5, "He answered, and He said 36:33 unto them, 'Have you not read that He who made them at the 36:37 beginning "made them male and female," and said, "For this 36:41 reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall 36:44 be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh"?' 36:46 " No question in the mind of Jesus. 36:49 This is Christ speaking that the Genesis account of Adam and Eve 36:52 is absolutely historic and trustworthy. 36:55 Doug: Yeah, he states it as a fact, and he almost 36:57 reproves them. 36:58 He says, "Have you not read?" 37:00 I heard a great sermon--I didn't really hear it. 37:03 I read it--by Spurgeon, on those words, "Have you not read?" 37:09 "Have you not read?" 37:10 And you've probably heard it. 37:12 He can take just a few words and--and he says, "You know, we 37:14 should be reading the Bible. 37:16 Have you not read?" 37:17 And Jesus is reproving them: "Have you not read?" 37:19 And so He's assuming that we should read and believe these 37:21 things, and He states it as fact. 37:24 I mentioned Jonah a minute ago. 37:26 One reason we know the story of Jonah is true is not only is 37:29 Jonah mentioned in other books in the Bible as a prophet who 37:31 lived during a specific time in history, about 700 A.D.--or 37:34 B.C.--sorry. 37:36 But Jesus said, "As Jonah," you know, "was in the belly of the 37:41 great fish." 37:42 Jesus states it as fact, so you have to say you cannot believe 37:44 the words of Jesus if you're not going to believe the Old 37:47 Testament stories like Jonah, and Noah, and the 37:49 other miracles. 37:51 Look at the amazing plagues that fell on Egypt. 37:53 You get to Revelation, and you look at the plagues there, it's 37:57 all stated as fact and true. 37:58 Jean: Question that somebody has sent in, Pastor, that "What is 38:01 the difference between the major prophets and the 38:04 minor prophets?" 38:06 Doug: Well, I think it's the size of the books. 38:09 Jean: Okay. 38:12 Doug: You know, Isaiah's got 66 chapters, and you look at Daniel 38:14 and Ezekiel, and these are--Jeremiah. 38:17 And, I guess, the Lamentations is really an attachment 38:20 to Jeremiah. 38:22 The minor prophets are usually--they're smaller books. 38:25 Is that-- 38:27 Jean: Yeah, I think you're right. 38:29 Also we have--sort of, the major prophets would be almost 38:31 career prophets. 38:33 For example, Isaiah, he wrote a big book, but the Lord used him 38:34 time and time again, over a long period of time, and he was 38:37 giving instruction to Israel. 38:39 But then you have, maybe, some of the minor prophets. 38:42 They have a shorter book where they have a brief message, and 38:45 we have no real record of their interaction after that. 38:49 So the major prophets, Jeremiah, we know a lot about him and the 38:52 work that he did. 38:54 Isaiah, we know a lot about the work that he did. 38:55 So I think that's part of the distinction. 38:57 Doug: Daniel, from beginning of his life to the end, he's 38:59 a prophet. 39:01 Yeah, good point. 39:04 Jean: All right. 39:06 Doug: And any other questions, just call them in. 39:07 We'll keep going though. 39:09 Jean: Yes, we'll get to that question in just a minute. 39:10 So not only do we find Jesus affirming the authority of the 39:13 Word, the Old Testament, Pastor Doug mentioned the historical 39:15 facts or history events of the Old Testament. 39:18 Jesus was very clear on this. 39:20 Matthew chapter 10, verse 6, Jesus said, "But from the 39:23 beginning of Creation." 39:25 Christ was not mixed up as to origins, how did we get here. 39:27 He knew it was creation, of course. 39:29 Jesus could've said, "I was there," you know? 39:32 "I made the earth." 39:34 But He doesn't say that. 39:36 He says, "The Bible, 'From the beginning--'" 39:38 He quotes Scripture. 39:40 So it's amazing to me that He, who is the truth, turns to the 39:42 Scripture as being the foundation that we need to put 39:45 our trust in. 39:47 Doug: And that is so important. 39:48 There are a number of cults that are out there today, where they 39:50 say, "Yeah, we know the Bible says this, but we have new light 39:51 now because our prophet says something different." 39:54 Now, I believe in the gift of prophecy, and in the Adventist 39:57 church, we often quote from Ellen White. 40:00 Ellen White said, "Don't believe anything I say if it doesn't go 40:02 along with the Bible, and everything I say needs to either 40:05 support or endorse Scripture or discard it." 40:09 And so Jesus even used that same approach. 40:13 He said, "I'm not asking you to believe what I'm saying instead 40:16 of what the Scriptures say. 40:19 I'm pointing you back to the Scriptures as the 40:21 final foundation." 40:23 Jean: Pastor Doug, just maybe a question we have here. 40:25 You mentioned the parable, in Luke chapter 16, of the rich man 40:27 and Lazarus, and somebody's asking--maybe they've heard. 40:29 I've never heard this before that that parable isn't really a 40:32 parable, that somehow, it's a teaching of the state of the 40:35 dead, because a name is given. 40:38 This person's name is Lazarus, and later on in the story, you 40:41 read about Abraham. 40:43 So some people say, "How do you know that that's a parable?" 40:46 Doug: Why don't they give the--why didn't Jesus give the 40:48 name of the rich man? 40:50 Jean: Right. 40:52 Doug: The reason we know it's a parable is, first of all, 40:54 Lazarus is a very common name in Bible times, but even beyond 40:57 that, the ending, he--the rich man says, "If Lazarus would go 41:01 back from the dead, then they would believe." 41:04 And Jesus said, "They have Moses and the prophets." 41:08 "Oh, no, but if someone went to them from the dead, then 41:10 they'd believe." 41:12 Jesus said, "If they don't believe Moses and the prophets, 41:13 neither will they be persuaded though one should rise from 41:16 the dead." 41:17 The most amazing resurrection Jesus did, right in Judea, in 41:20 Bethany, He raised a man named Lazarus, as evidence of His 41:25 Messiahship, and it says they were plotting to kill Lazarus, 41:29 even though they knew he had risen from the dead, because he 41:31 was such a living testimony. 41:32 And so I think that's why He used Lazarus's name. 41:35 Jean: And the parable was told before Lazarus was resurrected, 41:37 just a fairly short period of time. 41:39 So it's interesting that Jesus puts a name in Lazarus, and then 41:43 a few weeks later, or months, whatever it is, Lazarus dies and 41:47 is resurrected, and then, of course, they plot the death of 41:50 Lazarus and Jesus. 41:52 So I think Jesus is making the point. 41:54 Of course, the rich man in the story would represent the 41:56 Pharisees, the religious leaders who rejected the needs of those 41:58 who were seeking truth, the Gentiles surrounding them. 42:01 Doug: It is so clearly an allegory because who believes 42:04 that everybody who dies is going to somehow fit into 42:06 Abraham's bosom? 42:08 That's a figure of speech. 42:10 So Jesus, in that story, it's an incredible paradox. 42:13 He has the rich man, a symbol of the Jewish nation. 42:17 He goes to the Greek place of torment, Hades, and He has the 42:21 Gentiles, and Lazarus is a symbol of--they need to take the 42:25 Gospel to the Gentiles at their gate. 42:27 He's going to the Jewish place of reward. 42:29 That's why Jesus said, "Do not think to say, 'We are children 42:31 of Abraham.' 42:34 Many will come from the East and the West, and sit 42:36 down in the kingdom, and the children will be on 42:37 the outside." 42:39 So that's the message of the parable. 42:40 It's not meant to teach the state of the dead. 42:42 I mean, heaven forbid that people in heaven and hell can 42:44 talk to each other. 42:47 That'd be awful. 42:49 Jean: A couple of historical events that Jesus pointed out as 42:51 being trustworthy and true. 42:53 Jesus in Matthew 24:38, spoke about the flood. 42:55 And He says, "For as it was in the days before the flood." 42:58 No question in Christ's mind, He believed in a worldwide flood 43:00 that we have in Genesis. 43:02 And then some Bible characters in the Old Testament, Jesus, by 43:04 name, mentioned David, and this is Matthew chapter 12, verse 3, 43:08 "But He said unto them, 'Have you not read what David did?'" 43:11 Doug: Now, I've not done the math, but I read somewhere that 43:14 up to 10% of everything Jesus said was either a quote or an 43:18 allusion or reference to the Old Testament. 43:21 So that's phenomenal when you think about it, but no question, 43:25 Jesus' teachings were rooted in the Bible. 43:27 Now, we only got a moment left or five minutes to talk about 43:29 the apostles in the Bible, so we probably ought to dive in there. 43:33 In the lesson, it mentions that one scholar compiled a list of 43:36 2,688 specific references to the Old Testament, found in the 43:43 New Testament. 43:44 Just as a sample, 400 from Isaiah, 370 from Psalms, 220 43:49 from Exodus, and so on. 43:51 And not only did Jesus do this, but what about the apostles? 43:55 Were they quoting the Old Testament as an authority? 43:57 Jean: Absolutely. 43:59 Matter of fact, Paul, who probably wrote most of the New 44:02 Testament--I'm wondering, is it Luke that wrote more? 44:05 Because you got the gospel of Luke, and then you have Acts. 44:07 Doug: If you include Acts, I think Paul still-- 44:10 Jean: Paul still wrote more? 44:12 And in Galatians, chapter 3, verse 8, he says, "All the 44:14 Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles, by 44:18 faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, 'In 44:20 you all nations shall be blessed.'" 44:23 Well, here we have Paul quoting the Old Testament. 44:26 He's actually quoting Genesis chapter 12, verse 3, and that 44:28 was the foundation of his argument. 44:30 So he's using the Old Testament to justify the Gospel that he's 44:33 preaching in the new. 44:35 Doug: And Paul actually quotes Jesus as well. 44:37 So they recognize Jesus' teachings as Scripture, like 44:42 Paul says in, I think, it's 1 Corinthians, "It's better to 44:45 give--it's more blessed to give than receive." 44:47 Well, you don't find that phrase anywhere in the four gospels. 44:51 He's saying, "Our Lord told us," because it's in red in Paul's 44:54 writings, but he's quoting the teachings of Jesus. 44:57 And then you have--let me just look real quick here. 45:01 Acts chapter 4, verse 24, "So when they heard that, they 45:05 raised their voices to God with one accord and said, 'Lord, You 45:08 are God, who made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is 45:12 in them, who by the mouth of Your servant David have said--'" 45:15 so the disciples are together, and they're now quoting David, 45:18 "Why did the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing?" 45:24 I think that Psalm 2. 45:26 "The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers 45:29 gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ." 45:30 So even in their prayers, they're saturating their prayer 45:32 with promises and quotes from the Old Testament. 45:34 You can go to Acts chapter 17, verse 1: "Now when they passed 45:39 through Amphipolis, on to Apollonia, they came to 45:42 Thessalonica, and there was a synagogue of the Jews. 45:45 Then Paul, as his custom was--" 45:47 so he does this all the time-- "he went in to them, reasoned 45:51 with them from the Scriptures--" 45:53 now, what Scriptures was he reasoning from? 45:55 Everywhere they went, they'd go and meet with the Jews. 45:58 Of course, the Jews believed the Bible. 46:00 He says, "I'm going to prove to you from the Bible that Jesus 46:02 was the Messiah." 46:04 That was his pattern wherever he went, "explaining and 46:06 demonstrating that Christ had to suffer and rise again from 46:09 the dead. 46:11 'This Jesus who I preach to you is the Christ.'" 46:13 So they, the apostles, were always referencing the 46:15 Scriptures to make their points. 46:17 Jean: And they spoke with authority when they quoted the 46:19 Old Testament. 46:21 I like this one in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 16. 46:22 Peter says, "Because it is written--" 46:25 of course, that phrase, we just read how that Jesus used it. 46:28 He said, "It is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy,'" and he's 46:31 quoting from the Old Testament, from Leviticus chapter 11, 46:33 verse 44. 46:35 So here, we have Peter, just clearly stating an Old Testament 46:38 passage with great authority. 46:40 So the apostles looked at the Scripture as the final authority 46:43 on questions of doctrine. 46:45 Doug: Yeah, you also have--I got another one here from Acts. 46:48 Acts is a great example. 46:51 Everywhere they went, they went preaching, quoting Scripture, 46:54 and you can read, "And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the 46:57 brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him, and 47:00 when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed 47:03 through grace, for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, 47:07 showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ." 47:11 And so he knew that Jesus believed the Scriptures, but 47:14 also that was their foundation, and he said--they had a debate, 47:17 but the debate was "What do the Scriptures say?" 47:20 Once or twice, I don't do it very often, but I've gotten 47:23 involved where I do debates with maybe ministers of other faiths 47:27 on some different Bible doctrine, and we set the ground 47:31 rules before we start. 47:32 We say, the only thing we're going to use is the Bible. 47:36 We're not going to scholars of history, and we're not going to 47:39 other extraneous books. 47:41 You show me from the Bible. 47:43 I'll show you from the Bible. 47:45 The Bible is going to be our book. 47:46 Well, this is the approach that Paul did when he was debating 47:48 with the Jews, and some believed because of that. 47:50 They listened to the debate, and they said, "Hmm." 47:52 They followed him after they heard a debate like this, and 47:54 they said, "That made sense. 47:56 We want to know more about Jesus." 47:58 Jean: Now, of course, we are looking at the clock, and we're 48:00 running out of time. 48:01 We just wanted to thank those who joined us on Facebook, and 48:04 all of the questions that you sent in, and we're going to try 48:05 and do this again next week, Pastor Doug, where we're going 48:07 to study the lesson together, and, again, we'll be taking in 48:10 some of your Bible questions that you have. 48:12 We'd like to remind you about our free gift that we have. 48:15 It is a book entitled "Down From His Glory," and we'll be happy 48:19 to send this to anyone who calls and asks. 48:21 The number is 866-788-3966, and you just ask for Offer 48:26 Number 701. 48:28 We'll be happy to send it to you. 48:30 The postal service is still delivering, so we can get this 48:32 to you. 48:33 Or you can download it if you're outside of North America. 48:36 We'd like to get the book to you. 48:38 Just simply text the code "SH139," to the number 40544, 48:43 and then you'll be able to get a digital download and read the 48:46 book "Down From His Glory." 48:48 Talks about the gift of Jesus and how Christ is revealed to us 48:50 in the Word. 48:52 Doug: Amen. 48:54 male announcer: Don't forget to request today's 48:56 life-changing free resource. 48:58 Not only can you receive this free gift in the mail, you can 49:01 download a digital copy straight to your computer or 49:03 mobile device. 49:05 To get your digital copy of today's free gift, simply text 49:08 the key word on your screen to 40544, or visit the web address 49:12 shown on your screen, and be sure to select that digital 49:15 download option on the request page. 49:18 It's now easier than ever for you to study God's Word with 49:20 Amazing Facts, wherever and whenever you want, and most 49:24 important, to share it with others. 49:32 ♪♪♪ 49:34 announcer: Amazing Facts, Changed Lives. 49:41 Gary: Early 1980s, all the baby boomers were turning 21, and the 49:43 nightclub scenes were exploding, and I started a entertainment 49:47 lighting company. 49:49 female: I was the president, and there were six divisions, doing 49:53 the raves in the '80s and '90s, you know, in some warehouse 49:55 where you're setting up lighting and fog and, you know, who knows 49:59 what's going on in there, and nightclub installations. 50:02 I loved it, and it was who I was. 50:04 Gary: Bought a new house out of town, and we moved about two or 50:08 three times, but we were always going into different churches. 50:12 We're in a Lutheran Church, and then we were at a Methodist 50:14 Church. 50:15 I think we were in three different Baptist churches. 50:17 My wife was raised Catholic. 50:19 I was raised Methodist. 50:21 Currently, I've been out, reading all the Hal Lindsey 50:23 books, and watching all the "Left Behind" movies, and so I 50:25 really wanted to understand what the book of Revelation was all 50:27 about, but nothing really ever made sense to me. 50:30 female: One day, Pastor Lloyd Logan came knocking, and he had 50:32 that Net 99 flyer. 50:36 Lloyd Logan: We were preparing for an evangelistic series, and 50:40 different people were going different directions with 50:42 handbills to invite people to the meetings. 50:46 female: I saw that coming at me, you know, all the colors, and I 50:49 thought, "Oh, no, this is some kind of cult thing." 50:52 Lloyd: And she said, "Thank you very much, but I'm not much 50:54 interested myself, but my husband likes that kind 50:56 of thing." 50:59 female: And Lloyd said, "Would you give it to him, please?" 51:01 And I said, "Okay, I will." 51:04 So I took the pamphlet, and I put it on the calendar. 51:07 Gary came home, and he walked by it. 51:09 Gary: Ran to the kitchen to quickly eat and take a shower 51:12 and go back out and work a show. 51:15 female: Two, three days went by like this, and I had moved that 51:17 brochure from the calendar, put it on the dining room table, put 51:21 it back on the counter, and I actually threw it in 51:23 the garbage. 51:25 As I threw it in that garbage can, I could hear him and see 51:28 his face saying, "Would you give it to him, please?" 51:32 And I actually took the garbage out. 51:34 And that night, lying in bed, I kept seeing his face and hearing 51:37 his voice, and thinking, "Oh, boy, I got to get that brochure 51:41 out of the garbage." 51:43 And I took that, and I put it right underneath the 51:45 remote control. 51:47 Bright colors. 51:48 He'll see it. 51:50 Gary: I finally sat down in my living room, and I picked up the 51:51 remote, and I saw that angel holding out that scroll. 51:54 female: "Whoa, cool. 51:56 What is this?" 51:57 And I was in the kitchen cooking, and I thought, "Oh, 51:59 no." 52:01 Gary: And I looked at it, and I turned it over, and then I saw a 52:04 little building, a little church building, and it wasn't too far 52:06 away, it was about six houses down, and it said, 52:09 "Friday night." 52:11 female: And I certainly wasn't going. 52:13 I mean, it wasn't my intention to go. 52:14 Gary: I didn't have any shows going on that night, and so I 52:17 thought it was a one-night deal. 52:19 I went, and as I heard about the millennium man, I was just 52:22 blown away. 52:24 I didn't want it to end. 52:25 I knew what I was hearing was all from the Scripture, and it 52:28 wasn't based on Hollywood movies or other books that 52:30 were written. 52:31 They said, "Come again tomorrow night," and I thought, "Wow, 52:34 great, two nights." 52:36 So I tried to tell my wife about it, and she still wasn't 52:38 interested, and then she decided to come. 52:40 female: I started to hear the truth, you know, and I started 52:43 to get fed. 52:44 Gary: Every night, after the seminar, they would hand us an 52:47 Amazing Fact study guide. 52:48 I couldn't do those fast enough. 52:50 female: The business kept us going seven days a week, and it 52:53 was night and day. 52:55 Gary: Crews working all around the clock, and so, when we 52:57 finally heard the Sabbath message, you know, so far, 53:00 everything's been true, right from the Bible. 53:02 female: Church on Saturday, no work. 53:04 Anyway, it all clicked. 53:06 Gary: Both our heads turned at each other. 53:08 Our jaws dropped open. 53:09 female: I said, "We can't do that." 53:12 Gary: And the first thing that came out of my mouth was "We 53:14 have to." 53:16 female: I knew that it would be a sacrifice, and I was in fear 53:20 about it. 53:21 Gary: We didn't know how we were going to do it, but we talked to 53:25 the pastor about it, and the pastor said, "Well, just pray 53:27 about it, and God will open doors." 53:29 female: I didn't want to give up all the connections I had made, 53:32 all the networking, all the money, all the investment. 53:35 Gary: We went to the board and ask them if they would consider 53:37 closing on Saturday, and they agreed to, so we closed the 53:41 storefront on Saturday, but we were still doing productions, 53:44 and that kind of bothered us, so a couple months later, God 53:47 opened the door for my wife. 53:50 She exited the company. 53:51 I prayed about it, and God opened the door for me too. 53:53 female: Gary, shortly after, was offered a job being paid more 53:57 money than he made as an owner of the company. 54:01 Gary: He said, "I'll give you a thousand dollar raise, and you 54:05 will never work another weekend. 54:07 female: And we were able to keep the Sabbath and enjoy the 54:11 wonderful blessings that God had for us on the Sabbath day. 54:14 Gary: My kids never again had to say, "Quit talking about work." 54:18 After the seminar was over, my wife and I, and my children were 54:20 all baptized into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 54:23 Even if I gave up everything, I knew that God would have 54:26 something better. 54:27 female: I have much more understanding, and there's much 54:30 more depth in my Christian walk with the Lord. 54:35 Gary: We started an Amazing Fact Bible School at a church that 54:38 allows anybody to understand the Scriptures, understand the 54:41 end times. 54:42 Church changed my life dramatically, and I'm very happy 54:45 and excited to be a part of it. 54:49 ♪♪♪ 54:57 ♪♪♪ 55:08 Doug: Every now and then in the panorama of history, we hear 55:11 about individuals that go from the lowest depths to the 55:14 highest pinnacles. 55:15 They emerge from the shackles of prison to lead and inspire 55:19 a nation. 55:21 Take Joseph, for instance. 55:23 He's sold by his brothers as a slave, then falsely accused and 55:26 thrust into prison, yet through a series of divine 55:29 circumstances, he miraculously goes from the prison to the 55:32 palace, ruling the ones who once imprisoned him. 55:35 Sound far-fetched? 55:37 It's happened in history more than you think. 55:40 South Africa is the home of just such a leader. 55:42 Nelson Mandela worked tirelessly to establish peace and freedom 55:46 in his country, and his influence was felt around 55:49 the world. 55:51 Before freedom, there must be forgiveness. 55:54 Like Joseph, who was unjustly accused for a crime he did not 55:56 commit, Nelson Mandela was accused of terrorism and 56:00 sentenced to life in prison on Robben Island. 56:03 He was often exposed to cruel punishment and abuse, but even 56:06 in the midst of apparent failure and discouragement, he never 56:09 lost heart. 56:10 He never gave up. 56:12 After years in prison, a growing number of supporters rallied for 56:15 his release. 56:16 It eventually took place, and God used him so that he was 56:20 instrumental in helping to abolish racial segregation in 56:22 the country of South Africa. 56:24 Incredibly, he now was virtually the absolute leader in the 56:28 country that had imprisoned him. 56:30 He had all of the tools and the power at his disposal to get 56:33 even with the prison guards and others that had mistreated him. 56:36 Instead, Mandela chose forgiveness. 56:39 It reminds me of that verse in the Bible in Ephesians, chapter 56:42 4, verse 32: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and 56:45 anger, and clamor, and railing be put away from you, with 56:49 all malice. 56:50 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, 56:53 forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you." 56:57 I'm so thankful that Nelson Mandela, like Joseph, chose to 57:02 forgive those who were once his enemies, and to serve his nation 57:04 with love and courage. 57:06 You can find a number of examples of this happening in 57:08 the Bible. 57:10 You have Daniel, who was a captor from the land of Judah, 57:13 and yet God arranged things where he becomes a prime 57:15 minister in the kingdom of Babylon. 57:17 You have Esther, who was a poor orphan girl in Persia, and yet 57:21 God worked things out where she becomes the queen of 57:23 that country. 57:24 The book of Jeremiah ends with an incredible story of a young 57:27 king, named, Jehoiakim, who was in the Babylonian dungeon for 37 57:31 years, and then King Evil-Merodach has mercy on 57:34 him, and he has a new status, going from the prison to 57:37 the palace. 57:38 This is what the Lord wants to do for you and me, friends. 57:40 He gives you the bread of life. 57:42 He gives you the robe of Jesus' righteousness. 57:44 He gives you a seat at His table. 57:46 If you accept His forgiveness and you're willing to pass it 57:49 on, you and I can live and reign with Christ. 57:51 Wouldn't you like that experience? 57:55 ♪♪♪ 58:01 ♪♪♪ |
Revised 2020-04-09