London 2016

The Book that Breathes

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Richard Daly (Host), Pr. John Lomacang

Series Code: 16LON

00:34 Three Angels Broadcasting Network and the South England
00:37 Conference present:
00:44 Here at Croydon church we join with a number of other churches
00:51 in the London area as we work in partnership with 3ABN.
00:58 And as we have our service here tonight a number of other
01:03 churches are also conducting their series of meetings,
01:07 all with one purpose, and that is to lift up
01:12 the name of Jesus Christ.
01:13 And I believe that that is what will happen this evening.
01:17 Our theme is One Life, One Life.
01:22 And Jesus said, That I have come that you may have life,
01:27 and that we may have life more abundantly.
01:30 And it is a joy that we can work in coalition with 3ABN
01:35 to fulfill this cause.
01:38 And so as Pastor John Lomacang speaks to us tonight
01:42 on the topic, The Book That Breathes, may our hearts be
01:46 truly receptive to his words as they come as an instrument,
01:51 as he is the instrument, through the Holy Spirit
01:55 working through him.
01:56 Before he speaks, once again we will have special
01:59 music by Tim Parton.
02:25 I'm finding myself at a loss for words,
02:31 And the funny thing is it's okay.
02:38 The last thing I need is to be heard,
02:45 but to hear what You have to say.
02:51 So Word of God speak.
02:54 Would you pour down like rain Washing my eyes
03:01 to see Your majesty?
03:05 To be still and know That You're in this place?
03:12 Please let me stay and rest In Your holiness.
03:20 Word of God speak.
03:32 I'm finding myself in the midst of You.
03:39 Beyond the music, beyond the noise.
03:46 All that I need is to be with You, and in the quiet
03:55 to hear Your voice.
03:59 So Word of God speak.
04:03 Would You pour down like rain Washing my eyes
04:09 to see Your majesty To be still and know
04:16 That You're in this place Please let me stay
04:23 And rest In Your holiness
04:27 O Word of God speak Would You pour down like rain
04:34 Washing my eyes to see Your majesty
04:41 To be still and know That You're in this place.
04:47 Please let me stay and rest In Your Holiness.
05:03 Word of God speak.
05:22 Amen again! Amen!
05:24 Isn't that a beautiful song?
05:27 It encapsulates the reason why we're here tonight;
05:30 to allow God's word to speak.
05:32 I am so excited about tonight's topic, because I know personally
05:38 what the word of God has done in my own life;
05:40 how the word of God is empowering, transforming.
05:46 It is a book that breathes.
05:50 It is the only breathing book on planet earth.
05:54 And so tonight as we open God's word, this living word,
05:59 this transforming word, this word that has been sustained
06:05 through the course of human history.
06:08 The only book that has survived every human attempt
06:13 of extinction: the word of God.
06:15 This book born from the heart of God, transferred to the heart
06:21 of man, this book born in the mind of God
06:25 to convert the mind of man.
06:28 Tonight I bring to you the book that breathes.
06:32 But before we open God's word, and have it transform our minds,
06:37 and convert our hearts, we go before the Lord to ask for
06:42 His presence and power.
06:44 Let us pray. Father in Heaven, this is an opportunity for
06:50 humanity to be confronted by the transforming,
06:54 powerful word of God.
06:57 And so Lord, do what You do best.
07:00 In Jesus' name, Amen.
07:03 I heard the story about a young lady that met a young man that
07:08 desired so much to take her out on a date.
07:12 And as they sat in a restaurant together, she seemed awfully
07:16 uninterested as he pressed every attempt to gain
07:20 access to her mind; trying to find one subject after the other
07:25 to spark up a conversation to gain access to her heart.
07:29 And every attempt he made it was like missing
07:32 the mark, missing the goal.
07:34 And he continued to file through the topics that went in
07:39 and out of his mind.
07:41 And then he asked her the question, Do you read?
07:43 And she said, Yes, I'm reading a book right now,
07:46 but it is the most boring book I've ever read.
07:49 And he said, Well, who wrote it?
07:51 And as she mentioned the authors name, he leaned back in his seat
07:56 in that restaurant and he said, Well, I wrote that book.
08:00 And all of a sudden she felt fairly embarrassed that she had
08:06 made such a negative comment about the book he wrote.
08:09 But that evening and the next evening they made a plan to
08:12 meet for the next weekend.
08:13 After one week of reading that book with a different
08:16 determination, and a different attitude, understanding the
08:19 difference of a relationship; after one week he met with
08:22 her again and said, How is the book that I wrote?
08:25 She said, It is the most wonderful book I've ever read.
08:28 The question is, What made the difference?
08:31 The difference is relationship.
08:33 The word of God can do absolutely nothing for us
08:37 without relationship.
08:39 You know, in the Bible, in the book of Acts 4:31, and I thank
08:43 the Lord for our graphic team.
08:44 They are so kind to include our graphics.
08:46 But there's a specific Scripture that I want to begin tonight
08:49 with in Acts 4:31 that talks about the power of the
08:53 New Testament church.
08:55 And it goes as follows:
09:09 They spoke the word of God with boldness.
09:12 In other words, without shame, without fear.
09:15 And one thing our world needs today is for the word of God to
09:18 be spoken without fear, and without apology.
09:21 There is no other book on the planet that
09:24 can transform a life.
09:25 There is no other book on this globe that can change
09:30 a persons mind and direction of life.
09:33 When you look at the New Testament church you find
09:35 twelve times in the book of Acts the success of the early
09:39 church is described.
09:40 And each time it is described it is linked to the
09:44 proclamation of the word.
09:46 Empowered lives begin with a relationship
09:51 with the word of God.
09:52 As you continue reading in the book of Acts, which is the book
09:55 of the Acts of the Apostles, you also discover that when they
09:59 went from city to city, from town to villages,
10:01 when they stood before the Sanhedrin's,
10:04 when they stood before the Jews that were not converted,
10:06 when they stood before the kings, every attempt was made
10:09 to prevent the proclamation, and the teaching of God's word.
10:12 But the Bible says in Acts 12: 24, I like these words:
10:20 And so tonight allow me to introduce to you the only living
10:25 book on the planet, the Word of God.
10:27 Can somebody say Amen? Amen!
10:29 The only book from heaven to earth that will survive every
10:33 attempt made by humanity to spell its extinction,
10:37 the only book God breathed, Holy Spirit inspired,
10:41 it transformed and changed lives.
10:44 And if it changed lives in the past, it can change lives today.
10:48 If the preaching of God's word was needed at the inauguration
10:52 of the church, how much more is it needed as we prepare for the
10:55 coronation of the church?
10:57 If the word of God was needed in the early days of the church,
11:00 how much more is God's word needed today in the
11:04 latter days of the church?
11:06 When Jesus outlined the conditions of the last days,
11:10 in Matthew 24 He began to describe a condition that would
11:15 become a worldwide concern.
11:17 Notice, as He spoke to His disciples privately,
11:20 notice the words that Jesus conveyed to us today.
11:24 Matthew 24:7, 8. And Jesus said to them,
11:30 Can you tell me, Are nations rising against nations today?
11:34 God's word is accurate.
11:35 Thousands of years ago it comes to fruition before our eyes.
11:44 Together, what else?
11:52 My wife and I live in the Midwest where 3ABN is located.
11:55 That's the mid-west of the United States.
11:57 And just a few days ago we heard that there was an earthquake.
12:01 Now when we lived in California, the earthquake state,
12:04 we never felt an earthquake.
12:05 We live in the midwest now, and we are being haunted,
12:08 and hunted by earthquakes.
12:10 The Bible says, There will be earthquakes in various places;
12:13 meaning places that earthquakes are not known to be,
12:17 will begin to occur in the latter days.
12:20 But as you look at this description of Jesus,
12:23 there's a phrase here that I like to emphasize even more.
12:26 He used a word that describes a catastrophe,
12:29 an epidemic, a deprivation.
12:31 He uses the word famine.
12:34 What word did I say? famine, which is not just a physical
12:38 condition, but I suggest to you that a famine is a
12:41 Spiritual condition. Look at Amos 8:11.
12:45 Amos 8:11, and this is a prophecy that has come to pass
12:51 before our eyes, especially in our days.
12:54 The Lord said,
12:57 And can I alter that?
12:58 Behold the days are here.
13:14 I can guarantee you that there are not many places in London
13:18 where crowds are gathering, where people are pushing against
13:22 one another to hear the word of God.
13:24 I can guarantee you that stadiums today are not being
13:27 packed to hear the word of God. Not in London.
13:29 I can guarantee you in major cities people are not staying up
13:33 all night to get in line to hear the word of God.
13:35 But when you read the text it almost suggests that God is
13:39 the One that is divinely orchestrating this famine.
13:43 But the reality is when the Bread of Life is rejected,
13:47 when you fail to eat that which gives you life,
13:49 the natural result is famine.
13:52 And so today the world is starving.
13:54 They're not starving for money.
13:56 They're not starving for entertainment.
13:58 They're not starving for finances.
14:00 They're not starving for the things that are temporary.
14:02 But the world is starving.
14:04 The world is emaciated.
14:06 The world is famished.
14:08 Because the world does not have a diet for the word of God.
14:11 If there's something that people in London need today it is a
14:15 thirst, and a hunger for the word of God.
14:18 He said if you hunger and thirst after righteousness
14:23 you will be filled, which means anything else you hunger after,
14:27 that is not God's word, you won't be filled.
14:29 That's where addictions come from.
14:30 People look for substances like drugs and alcohol to fill a
14:34 vacuum that can only be filled by God.
14:38 That's why they become addicted, because they need more and more.
14:41 But I would say to you that I've discovered in my own life
14:43 when I'm discouraged, even as a pastor, when I'm tired,
14:46 when I'm drawn out, when I turn to God's word it is though the
14:52 light comes back on, and the power begins to flow again,
14:56 and life begins to be meaningful.
14:59 When the world doesn't make sense,
15:00 when politics is leading us in the wrong direction,
15:03 all you've got to do is open God's word and you can hear,
15:07 as it were, the voice of God speaking to the
15:10 needs of humanity.
15:11 A young man called me one day, and he was...
15:13 When he heard a series I did on the occult,
15:15 and the entertainment industry.
15:17 He was involved in a very dark place.
15:20 He was dressing in black, wearing black fingernails.
15:24 He would always color his face with black outlines,
15:27 and he was involved in many of these occult symbols.
15:30 And he said to me, When I heard about your series,
15:33 it didn't make sense.
15:35 I had no desire; I didn't want to see it.
15:38 But my teenage friends continued to press that I would watch it.
15:42 And he said, Sir, the reason I'm calling you now is because
15:46 God reached me through the word.
15:47 And he said, Now that I study my Bible, I can almost...
15:51 This is a seventeen year old.
15:53 He said, I can almost hear God audibly speaking to me.
15:56 Can somebody say Amen? Amen!
15:58 Because he exposed himself to the only living book,
16:01 the word of God, the word that speaks.
16:03 And so the question is, Why is the world famished?
16:07 The reality is the world is socially motivated.
16:10 But Jesus wants His followers to be Scripturally motivated.
16:14 Our foundation is in the word of God.
16:17 I was sitting with a pastor one time on a television program
16:21 in California, and I remember he began to shoot questions my way.
16:26 And every question he posed I responded by saying,
16:30 the word of God says, or thus says the Lord.
16:32 And he said to me with an angry face expression, he said,
16:35 Can't you just give me your opinion without
16:37 saying, The Bible says?
16:39 And I said, Sir, my opinion doesn't matter.
16:41 If God's word said it, we can trust it.
16:44 What do you say? Amen!
16:46 But my opinion is like a cup with holes in it.
16:49 Opinions change, attitudes change, suggestions change,
16:53 philosophy changes, but the word of God endures forever.
16:57 Consider some very interesting facts about the Bible.
17:01 The Bible was written over a 1500 year period.
17:05 Now how many books can you think of that were written
17:08 over a 1500 year period, where the authors are amazingly
17:14 synchronized with one another?
17:16 How many people can go back to the book of Genesis,
17:20 and then open Revelation and find such myriad language
17:24 by people that never met one another? people who are
17:27 separated by thousands of generations?
17:29 You can open the book of Matthew and read forty-two generations
17:33 in the very first chapter.
17:34 And then you begin to discover what was said forty-two
17:37 generations ago, or more than seven hundred years before,
17:41 was coming to pass with startling accuracy,
17:44 written by men that had never even heard each other's name
17:48 except for those who are alive at the time of the
17:51 fulfillment of God's word.
17:53 God's word stands fast forever and ever.
17:56 The Bible also is not a single book,
17:59 but a volume of sixty-six books written by forty-four authors.
18:03 But the reality of the Bible is the real author of God's word
18:07 is God Himself. What do you say? Amen!
18:09 Listen carefully, and let me move a little quicker.
18:11 2 Timothy 3:16, 17. And the Bible says about itself:
18:16 All Scripture... How many Scriptures? all.
18:38 I like another text that says that, The man of God may not
18:42 be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
18:46 I've been in situations with very educated individuals,
18:49 double degrees, very intellectual, very esoteric.
18:53 And sometimes I feel very small.
18:55 But then they make the mistake and tumble on the topic of
18:58 topic of the Bible.
18:59 because that's a book I'm familiar with.
19:01 And my heart begins to pulse and beat,
19:02 because that's a book I'm familiar with.
19:04 And I've seen men with degrees too long to even know what they
19:08 mean: Th, Dh, Ph, MA, and I'm thinking
19:12 all I have is a BA; a born again.
19:14 Come on somebody! Amen!
19:16 And I hear these men recite philosophies and theories.
19:20 I sat in a class and my instructor was an atheist.
19:23 And he said to me, as I was taking in college some courses
19:26 in electronics, and he said..
19:27 he dazzled, and bedazzled, and captured the minds of the
19:31 students for about thirty minutes
19:33 until I couldn't take any more.
19:34 And I said, Instructor, I called him something else,
19:40 but I said Instructor, can I ask you a question?
19:42 He was a devout atheist.
19:43 I said, Can I ask you something?
19:45 He said, Sure. Mr. Spa was his name.
19:50 He always stroked his beard.
19:51 He looked very hippie, as it were.
19:53 And I said, Are you married? I am.
19:59 I said, Why? Because I wanted a wife.
20:03 I said, But who said you need to be married? Well...
20:09 I said, Mr. Spa, could I take you to the next level?
20:12 If I went to bed with your wife, would that be wrong?
20:17 Well, of course it would be wrong.
20:19 Who said? I asked him.
20:21 I said, Mr. Spa, why do we die?
20:26 And he said, Well, eventually all mechanical
20:29 instruments break down.
20:31 I said, Are you a mechanical instrument?
20:33 He said, Well, actually not.
20:34 Because we're taking electronics he knew that he
20:37 was not mechanical.
20:39 He knew that he was physical.
20:40 And we continued back and forth for about 30 to 45 minutes.
20:43 He entertained me.
20:45 After the class somebody said to me, Well, what
20:47 church do you belong to?
20:49 And I said, Well, I'm a Seventh-day Adventist.
20:50 And he said, What's seven days in advance?
20:52 I said, No, that's not what I said.
20:56 But when you look at the Bible you discover that these
21:00 66 books are broken down: 39 Old Testament books,
21:04 27 New Testament books.
21:07 In other words, the Old Testament is the New Testament
21:10 concealed, and the New Testament is the Old Testament revealed.
21:14 And, by the way, when you continue studying,
21:16 the word testament simply means covenant.
21:18 It has other meanings, covenant or contract, testament.
21:22 When you hear people say that they are New Testament
21:24 Christians it's amazing to me, because New Testament Christians
21:28 were not New Testament Christians.
21:29 They were Old Testament Christians.
21:31 There was no New Testament in Paul's day.
21:34 There was no New Testament in John's day.
21:36 There was no New Testament in Jesus' day.
21:38 They quoted from the Old Testament.
21:41 So if you're a New Testament Christian, you have to ask
21:44 the apostle Paul why did not he have a New Testament.
21:47 It was not even constructed in his day.
21:49 You find in the Bible people are often confused about the word
21:53 between testament and covenant.
21:55 And while those words are interchangeable, they are not
21:58 contextually synonymous.
22:00 Let me give you an example.
22:02 Look at Hebrews 8:10.
22:03 It's going to be on the screen. The Bible says:
22:23 That's written in the New Testament.
22:25 But a lot of people don't know that while that is a
22:29 New Testament testament, while that is a New Testament
22:37 contract, that contract was made in the Old Testament.
22:41 Look at the exact words in Jeremiah 31:33.
22:45 The same exact words.
22:47 People often turn to this and say, See, this is the covenant
22:50 that the Lord made.
22:51 Whether you go to the Old Testament or the New Testament,
22:53 you cannot get away from God's law.
22:55 It is in both places. What do you say?
22:57 Look at how accurate, and how synonymous these Scriptures
23:00 are with each other.
23:19 He made that agreement in the Old Testament, and continued to
23:23 ratify it in the New Testament.
23:25 Long after the ceremonial system had died off, long after Jesus
23:29 had ascended back to heaven, long after the apostles began
23:33 to preach to the Gentiles, the word that God confirmed in the
23:38 Old Testament was reconfirmed in the New.
23:40 That's why the apostle Paul says, All Scripture...
23:43 How much Scripture? all Scripture is given by
23:47 inspiration of God: New Testament and Old Testament.
23:51 However, the inspiration came from God,
23:54 but God didn't write it.
23:56 Look at 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
23:59 The inspiration came from God, but God did not write it.
24:03 The apostle says:
24:15 Let me pause a second before that goes away.
24:16 In other words, men did not sit down and decide what to write.
24:21 That's what people say: How can I trust that? Men wrote that.
24:25 They didn't decide what to write.
24:26 Let's go on. Verse 21.
24:35 What kind of men?
24:42 The Holy Spirit watched and guided these scribes,
24:46 guided these men whose lives were holy.
24:50 As a matter of fact, God's word is so holy that scribes,
24:54 they talk about how the word of God was inscribed.
24:57 And when they would get to the name, when they would get to the
25:00 name in the Bible that described one of the names of God,
25:05 they would put down one quill and pick up the other quill
25:09 just to write God's name.
25:11 And when they wrote God's name they would put that quill down
25:15 and continue writing the rest with another quill.
25:18 And if they messed up on the writing of God's name,
25:20 they didn't erase.
25:22 They took the entire document and threw it away,
25:24 and started all over fresh.
25:26 The word of God was sustained.
25:29 It's not a book of errors, as some suggest.
25:31 Some people read the word of God to find its errors.
25:34 You know what? You can find a mistake in anything.
25:36 Let me tell you how you can do that.
25:39 Because the Bible says when your eyes are not spiritual,
25:41 you cannot discern spiritual things.
25:43 I could look at a science book and I find a lot of errors,
25:47 because I'm not a scientist.
25:49 But if you're looking for inspiration, and you pray for
25:52 God to open your eyes, that's why whenever you study the Bible
25:56 don't open the Bible like you open your math book.
25:59 If God inspired it, God can enlighten it.
26:03 The patriarch David said, The entrance of
26:06 Your word gives light.
26:08 We have somebody that's now in one of my classes at my church
26:12 there in Thompsonville, and she recently joined our fellowship.
26:16 And she's in my class.
26:18 And periodically I would see her, she'd take her pencil out,
26:22 and she'd begin to erase.
26:24 And I'd say, Ah, Chris, what are you erasing?
26:27 And she'd say, Well, Pastor, I mean, I was raised to believe
26:31 this, but as I study the Bible, I'm beginning to see that it
26:36 didn't mean what I was taught to believe,
26:38 but it means what God's word says.
26:41 So she says, I'm erasing my definition
26:44 and putting in God's definition. Amen!
26:47 Whenever you approach the word of God opinionated,
26:51 you will always come up with error, and difficulty.
26:55 But when you search the Scriptures under the inspiration
26:58 of the Spirit of God, the lines make sense.
27:01 The entrance of God's word brings light.
27:04 The entire Bible was written by men.
27:06 Now let me also add another component.
27:09 When you read the phrase in the Bible, God said,
27:14 or God spoke, the words that follow that are direct
27:18 quotations from God.
27:20 Now let me say that again.
27:22 I don't think you caught that.
27:23 When you read in the Bible, God said, or God spoke, what's said
27:33 right after that is a direct quote from God.
27:36 I mean God said it.
27:38 Jeremiah didn't say it; he wrote it.
27:41 Paul didn't say it; he wrote it.
27:44 John didn't say it; he wrote it.
27:46 In other words God said, Paul listen to this,
27:51 and write exactly what I tell you.
27:54 For example, Genesis 1:3.
27:57 Here's an example. The Bible says:
28:01 Let's read this together.
28:05 Now only God can bring light out of darkness.
28:09 So when God speaks things happen.
28:12 When God speaks things happen.
28:15 Only God's word has life in it.
28:18 So another writer said the word of God is God breathed.
28:22 So when God spoke, when God said, Let there be light.
28:26 Light listened to God, and light showed up.
28:29 Amen somebody. Amen!
28:31 God turned the light on by saying, Lights on!
28:40 God said it, it happened.
28:42 Another example: Exodus 20:1. Look at this.
28:48 The Bible says:
28:51 How many?
28:56 Now if you know anything about Exodus 20, Pastor, it is this:
29:01 what follows after that are the ten commandments of God,
29:06 not the ten suggestions, not ten multiple choice questions.
29:12 That's why when I read that it makes my skin crawl to think
29:18 that men that even put themselves in the category of
29:21 preachers and teachers would dare to say that the words that
29:26 God spoke are no longer relevant while God is still alive.
29:32 Doesn't make sense.
29:33 I remember saying to somebody, God said, but the preacher said.
29:39 So now who do you believe? God or the preacher?
29:43 And a lot of people say, Well, my pastor...
29:45 I know what the Bible says, but my pastor says...
29:47 I said, Well, when you and your pastor stand before God,
29:50 let's figure out who's going to be right then.
29:52 Come on somebody! If God says it, don't let any earthly man or
29:57 prelate, or no matter how intelligent they may be,
30:01 don't allow anybody earthly to edit what God has said.
30:05 Don't put a question mark where God put a period.
30:07 Don't put a question mark where God put an exclamation point.
30:11 When He exclaims it, it's clear. What do you say? Amen!
30:17 Also the other component that repeatedly confirms
30:20 the authenticity of the Bible is prophecy.
30:23 It is what? prophecy.
30:25 Prophecy is history concealed, and history
30:28 is prophecy revealed.
30:30 Prophecy is history concealed.
30:33 God says it, and He holds off and reveals it when history
30:39 begins to unfold before us.
30:41 History now takes us back and says, Do you remember
30:44 what I said before?
30:45 Look at Isaiah 46:9, 10.
30:48 Prophecy is the only thing in the Bible that outlines
30:54 the march of human history.
30:56 When I was in high school I loved history.
31:02 I loved world history.
31:04 And I remember growing up, and I found in my father's,
31:09 among his old, old books.
31:11 He had a very old history book, so old that the pages would
31:16 crumble if handled indelicately.
31:18 And I opened that book and began to slowly turn the pages.
31:22 You know when something's old you kind of turn
31:24 the page like this.
31:26 And I began to turn those pages, and began to read.
31:29 And what amazed me is as I began to become reacquainted
31:34 with the Bible, and began to dive into Bible prophecy,
31:37 I began to understand.
31:38 Wait a minute, I read this in the Bible in the book of Daniel,
31:41 in the book of Revelation, and now I read this history book,
31:45 and it confirms what the prophet talked about thousands of years
31:49 before, showing that prophecy is history concealed,
31:54 and history is prophecy revealed.
31:56 And notice Isaiah 46:9, 10.
31:58 God says this about His word.
32:00 And here's the reason why we can trust prophecy. He says:
32:30 That's why, as I said a few days ago, I don't, I don't hang my
32:36 hope on the words of politicians.
32:38 I hang my hope on the words of God. Amen!
32:40 Because they make all kinds of promises
32:43 that they don't fulfill.
32:44 But the Bible says every word, and every
32:47 promise of God is sure.
32:49 You can trust God's word.
32:51 If He says it... Matter of fact, in the Bible the Lord says,
32:55 He honors His word above His name.
32:58 If I said it, you can take that to the bank.
33:01 Amen somebody! Amen!
33:03 He says, If you can fight it, that's why we call it promises.
33:06 Some people pray and say, Lord, You remember what You said?
33:10 God didn't forget, but it's good to just say, Remember Lord?
33:13 I remember when Moses prayed about the wayward
33:17 children of Israel.
33:18 Moses said, Remember what You said, Lord?
33:20 The Lord got so upset with the Israelites, He says,
33:23 You know what? I want to wipe them out in the wilderness.
33:25 And Moses said, Wait a minute Lord, remember what You said?
33:27 That they are Your special people?
33:30 That You love them.
33:31 That You brought them out of Egypt because You love them?
33:33 God said, Alright, alright, I won't do it.
33:35 Now it's not that Moses was in charge of
33:40 reminding God of anything.
33:44 But Moses, in that example, was a mediator like Jesus,
33:48 pleading in behalf of the people that He loved.
33:53 He said, If you do anything, if you do anything, take my name
33:56 out of the book, but leave those there.
33:58 That's what Jesus does.
34:01 He'd rather put His life at risk than have our lives to be lost.
34:07 What a God we serve. Amen somebody. Amen!
34:09 Archeology also has something to contribute about the
34:12 authenticity of the Bible.
34:13 Follow me very carefully tonight.
34:15 This is kind of esoteric and intellectual,
34:16 but listen to me as a New Yorker.
34:18 I'll speak as a person from London, slowly,
34:20 but listen carefully.
34:23 Evidences of archeological finds that confirm the
34:27 authenticity of the Bible.
34:29 First on the list is the Moabite Stone.
34:33 Say that together, the Moabite Stone.
34:36 Connect it to the Moabites.
34:39 This stone was discovered in 1868 at Dibon, Jordan,
34:44 confirming the Moabite attack on Israel, and the written
34:49 record of 2 Kings 1:3.
34:52 Up until that particular point Bible scholars had some
34:56 questions about the content of the Bible.
34:59 But what God did is God allowed man to find the documents,
35:03 whether on stone, or on parchment, or in tubes of clay.
35:10 God allowed men to periodically, first trust His word by faith,
35:14 and then God turned that faith into sight by allowing these
35:18 archeological finds to confirm His word. Amen? Amen!
35:23 Because those are something called the Lachish Letters
35:25 discovered in 1932 to 1938, 24 miles archeologists say,
35:31 from a place called Beersheba.
35:32 It describes the attack of Nebuchadnezzar on Jerusalem
35:35 that took place in 586 B.C.
35:39 This was discovered between 1932 and 1938.
35:43 That is more than almost 2,000 years earlier.
35:48 This event occurred almost 2,000 years later,
35:54 the evidence of this event was unfolded.
35:57 So what happened to the people that read the Bible about this
36:01 event before this archeological find?
36:04 They trusted God's word by faith.
36:07 The Bible says, Without faith it is impossible to please Him.
36:11 You cannot confirm everything in God's word.
36:13 Somewhere along the way you've got to believe,
36:16 If He's God, I can trust Him. Amen!
36:21 If God is love, and He loved me so much He gave
36:25 His only Son to save me; if He is God, I can trust Him.
36:29 I don't know anybody that I can trust 100%.
36:32 Now I can trust my wife.
36:41 Amen lights. Everybody else has to earn it.
36:45 We can have God's trust always.
36:50 In every circumstance, in every situation God can be trusted.
36:55 Let me move on. Also on the archeological find
36:58 is the Cyrus Cylinders.
37:00 Say that, the what? Cyrus Cylinder containing the records
37:04 of the Persian king Cyrus, and his overthrow of Babylon,
37:07 and the deliverance of the children of Israel.
37:10 You'll find it in Daniel, in the book of Daniel.
37:14 Babylon in prophecy was proceeded by Medo Persia,
37:18 proceeded by Greece, proceeded by Rome.
37:23 And the Bible predicted prophetically that the last
37:26 reigning kingdom on earth would be the Roman Empire.
37:29 Now let me ask you a question.
37:33 What power on earth has more influence with political,
37:37 and religious leaders on earth other than the Vatican in Rome?
37:41 Predicted thousands of years ago.
37:44 God said that's going to be the last kingdom.
37:47 Rome is going to rule the earth politically and religiously.
37:52 God's word has been confirmed.
37:53 Can you say Amen? Amen!
37:55 Also the Rosetta Stone, discovered in 1799 in Egypt
38:00 by Napoleon's scientists, written in three languages:
38:03 hieroglyphics, demotic's, and Greek.
38:05 When they unlock the understanding of the ancient
38:08 languages of hieroglyphics, demotic's, and Greek,
38:11 it began to confirm the authenticity of the Bible.
38:15 Because they looked at these ancient languages,
38:17 and the translators were now able to get the keys and begin
38:21 to see that the word of God was clear, and they began to sharpen
38:26 and tighten the translations.
38:28 That's why you have, and let me make it very clear,
38:30 that's why you have the King James Version
38:32 and the New King James Version.
38:35 Some people say, Well, if the King James Version was good
38:37 enough for the apostles, it's good enough for me.
38:39 You'll get that tomorrow.
38:43 The King James Version was simply financed by king James,
38:47 not written by king James.
38:49 Some people think, Well, king James was a corrupt man.
38:52 Yes, he was, but he had money.
38:53 He financed the translation.
38:56 Thank God he didn't write it.
38:59 But the New King James version came along and tightened up
39:02 some for the understanding of the words in Hebrew, Aramaic
39:07 in the book of Daniel, and also Greek in the New Testament.
39:09 For example, you find in Genesis when Satan said to Eve,
39:14 You shall be as god's, plural, small g, knowing good and evil.
39:21 But in the original translation the word there for god's that
39:24 was in the King James is Elohim in the Hebrew, which is not a
39:28 little god, but the supreme God.
39:30 So in the New King James Version they don't use the small god
39:35 plural, but they use capital God singular, because Israel knew
39:40 The Lord our God He is One God.
39:42 There is no God like Him.
39:44 Amen somebody. Amen!
39:45 So when you look at the translations the reason why
39:47 there is the New King James Version; he is simply tightening
39:50 up the translation, but not changing the context.
39:54 The meaning is the same.
39:55 Then you have also the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1948.
40:01 But get this, they date back to 150 to 170 B.C.,
40:07 and they contain almost all of the Old Testament
40:10 except the book of Esther.
40:13 Almost all the Old Testament except the book of Esther.
40:16 Theologians became excited when they found the Dead Sea Scrolls.
40:22 It was the find that shook the theological world.
40:26 Because all of a sudden this book that was doubted by
40:28 atheists and agnostics, and people said this book is not
40:32 a book other than just something devised by human minds.
40:35 When they found the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1948, people began to
40:39 be excited, and for the first time there was a revival.
40:43 People began to treasure their Bibles
40:45 as it is the authoritative word of God. Amen!
40:49 But three very quick facts about the authenticity of the Bible:
40:54 one is our dating system.
40:58 This is the universally undeniable fact:
41:02 our dating system, B.C. versus A.D.
41:06 Today is September.
41:09 I don't want to give the date.
41:10 But what year is it somebody tell me.
41:13 2000 what? 16, 2016 A.D., Latin for anno domini.
41:23 meaning in the year of our Lord.
41:26 B.C. is before Christ, A.D. is anno domini, in the year of our
41:33 Lord, meaning A.D. couldn't be until Jesus came.
41:43 There could be no A.D. without Jesus.
41:46 So while people may think of him as a prophet or a good man,
41:50 or a good teacher, and for the fact of the matter they cannot
41:53 find where He's buried, because He's not dead, He's alive. Amen!
41:58 There could not be a B.C. without a J.C.
42:02 Come on, help me out.
42:03 Without Jesus Christ there could be no A.D. or B.C.
42:07 He is the dividing line between the past and the present.
42:10 That's why He says, I am the alpha and the omega,
42:13 the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
42:16 He is the dividing line in human history between hope lost,
42:19 and hope regained.
42:20 He is the dividing line between I am eternally lost,
42:23 and I can be eternally saved.
42:25 He is the dividing line.
42:26 Somebody ought to say Amen. Amen!
42:28 I don't need to preach, I'm just teaching tonight, by the way.
42:31 The second fact of three about the authenticity of God's word
42:34 is the seven day week.
42:36 Follow me very carefully. This is huge!
42:40 When you argue with the Bible you find yourself in a blender.
42:43 But don't press the button.
42:47 The day can be astronomatically confirmed, the twenty-four hour
42:53 day, simply defined by the earth's rotation
42:56 around its own axis.
42:57 It takes approximately twenty-four hours,
43:00 specifically twenty-three hours and fifty-six minutes,
43:02 which is why we need a leap year.
43:05 It can be confirmed astronomically.
43:07 It is a fact. It cannot be denied.
43:11 Twenty-four hours from now I'll be standing here.
43:15 Come and look for me.
43:16 I will be here. Amen somebody.
43:18 If God gives me life, by His grace I'll be here.
43:21 That's a fact. We have sunup and sundown.
43:24 The news reporters, they can...
43:26 This is amazing. Astronomers, or as they would say,
43:30 meteorologists, can date back, turn the clock back,
43:34 and tell you exactly what time it was 25 years ago,
43:38 50 years ago, 200 years ago.
43:40 They can date, because these things are like a
43:43 cadence; they continue.
43:44 The sun goes up, the sun comes down.
43:46 During Bible times that's how they knew what time it was;
43:49 from sunrise to sunrise.
43:52 They called it sunset.
43:54 And, by the way, twelve o'clock at night is not
43:56 the beginning of a new day.
43:57 That's called what? midnight, which means the day
44:01 began a long time ago.
44:02 Before you had a watch, when the sun set the day was over.
44:06 Ask a farmer. They go to bed when the sun goes away.
44:09 They wake up before the sun comes up.
44:11 The day ends when the sun goes down.
44:15 As Christians we say, Happy New Years when
44:18 the sun disappears.
44:19 But the world says it at midnight.
44:21 Nothing wrong with that, but you ought to know it's called
44:23 midnight, because that's the middle of the night.
44:26 Noon is called midday.
44:28 The day does not begin at noon.
44:31 But there's something else that can also be
44:32 astronomically confirmed; the lunar cycle, defined by the
44:36 moon's orbit around the earth.
44:38 That's where we get the four conditions of the moon:
44:40 the quarter moon, the half moon, the three-quarter moon,
44:45 the full moon. It takes approximately twenty-nine
44:49 to thirty days for the moon to complete its
44:51 rotation around the earth.
44:53 It's called the lunar cycle. It is confirmed.
44:57 It's full moon tonight.
44:58 Where is the moon?
45:00 It's about to come back to quarter, then half,
45:03 then three-quarter, and that is undeniable.
45:06 That's why we have the month.
45:08 That is confirmed by the heavens.
45:10 God put that into rotation.
45:12 Then also the year.
45:14 The year has four seasons.
45:16 Why? because it is defined by the earth's orbit around
45:20 the sun, which takes approximately 365 days.
45:25 And every four years we get a leap year to fit in that
45:28 inaccuracy of human calculation.
45:30 But I want to say this.
45:32 Humans may not be as accurate as God.
45:34 Can I resay that? Humans will never be as accurate as God.
45:39 So we need to add a leap year to catch up with God.
45:42 365 days, so we have astronomical fact for the day,
45:47 the month, the year.
45:48 And here's how the Bible confirms that.
45:50 Look at Genesis 1:14.
45:52 The accuracy of our time keeping system was set up by God.
46:15 God set up the accuracy of our time system.
46:19 You see, God is not discovering what we created,
46:22 we're discovering what God created.
46:24 All these digital devices aren't nothing for God.
46:29 I can tell you, God is digital, and He's analog.
46:32 Come on somebody. Amen!
46:33 He's metric as well as whatever we have in the
46:35 United States; imperial.
46:39 We are not informing God about anything.
46:42 We are discovering what God always knew existed.
46:46 Now let me blow your mind.
46:49 Are you ready? Hold onto your mind.
46:51 We have astronomical proof for the day, for the month,
46:56 and for the year, but there is no astronomical authentication
47:00 for the seven day week except in the Bible. Amen!
47:04 Get rid of the Bible, you lose the seven day week.
47:07 Deny the existence of God, then get rid
47:10 of the seven day week.
47:11 You don't have a week, because you can't find the week
47:13 anywhere but the Bible.
47:16 So deny the very book that gives the week,
47:18 the seven day week its authenticity.
47:21 Are you ready? Here's the week.
47:23 Genesis 1:5. It's not on the screen.
47:25 Genesis 1:5. The first day, the Bible gives it: first day,
47:28 second day, third day, fourth day, fifth day,
47:30 sixth day, and seventh day.
47:32 The Bible says, On the first day God separated
47:35 the light from the darkness.
47:37 The second day He created the firmament.
47:38 There was a time when there was a canopy that surrounded
47:41 the earth like a filter.
47:43 It did not rain for a long time.
47:44 That's why when the flood was predicted men thought that
47:47 Noah was out of his mind.
47:49 It's going to rain? It never rained!
47:50 Plants were watered by a mist that came from the ground,
47:53 and a perfect temperature about 72 degrees all year long.
47:57 How would you like London to be 72 degrees all year long?
48:02 Not sticky, hot, and humid, but the way God
48:04 always intended it to be.
48:05 That was the firmament.
48:07 The third day God created the grass,
48:09 the plants, the fruit trees.
48:11 The fourth day the sun, the moon, the stars,
48:13 that govern the seasons.
48:15 The fifth day God created all sea creatures, and all birds.
48:18 And the sixth day God created land creatures, invertebrates,
48:24 which means including insects, and non-insects; all the creepy
48:28 stuff; the grasshoppers.
48:29 They were all in that same category.
48:31 And God also created humanity on the sixth day.
48:34 Now for the fact that all these things exist; they didn't get
48:38 here by coincidence.
48:39 Come on somebody; help me out. Amen!
48:41 And how was it that monkeys that look like monkeys 4,000
48:46 years ago, still look like monkeys?
48:48 Aren't no evolutionary process!
48:51 You can find a canary 3,000 years ago that looked
48:54 like a canary today.
48:55 You can find a bald eagle 5,000 years ago,
48:59 and a bald eagle today.
49:01 He's still bald; no change in his design.
49:06 I also discovered that you did not need every species of dogs
49:10 to produce all the species we have today.
49:12 For example, the Doberman pincher.
49:15 It's a combination of two kinds of species.
49:17 And you'll find in the DNA that God created in His creation,
49:22 is the ability to not only procreate, but to create in
49:27 animal kingdom species after their own kind.
49:31 In other words, a dog will never create a cat, and a cat could
49:35 never make a bird.
49:37 The theory of evolution is insane.
49:39 You've got to have faith to believe that.
49:43 You need more faith to believe evolution than you need to
49:46 simply accept God did it.
49:48 Well, what did God do on the seventh day?
49:51 Genesis 2:1-3. First, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth.
49:56 What did God do on the seventh?
49:57 Here's how the week was completed.
50:26 Now, do you wonder why the Devil wants to get rid of the Bible?
50:30 If he can get rid of the Bible, He can get rid of the
50:33 seventh day, which is the only day that God blessed.
50:37 That's why what's happening in our world today...
50:39 And we'll talk about this in a couple of nights from now.
50:42 What's happening in our world today is substitutionary,
50:45 trying to find in what God never blessed, the blessing that
50:51 can only be found in what God did bless.
50:53 That's why when you read the Bible you'll understand why
50:58 Isaiah the prophet wrote these words.
51:00 Listen to what he said.
51:06 God is saying.
51:22 In other words, today whatever God says is going to happen
51:25 the way God said it. Amen!
51:27 The confirmation is clearly times and season,
51:30 the seven day week.
51:32 And the third most confirming thing of the accuracy,
51:35 and authenticity of God's word is prophecy.
51:37 We'll talk about prophecy in a few nights.
51:39 Give you some prophecies to show you how God's word can be
51:42 continually trusted.
51:43 We are where we are today not by human accident.
51:46 And, by the way, you'll also discover that in the Bible
51:48 American plays a role in the events of the last days.
51:51 Prophecy, accurate to the T, and, by the way, Daniel also
51:56 outlined a prophecy describing and predicting the exact moment
52:01 of the arrival of the ministry of Jesus, which today so many
52:06 have thwarted and distorted.
52:09 That prophecy was about the Christ.
52:10 But for those who did not understand that prophecy,
52:13 they have made it apply now to the antichrist.
52:15 And we have this ridiculous teaching today called,
52:18 The Rapture Theory, which points to the antichrist, when in fact
52:22 that prophecy was pointing to the Christ.
52:25 And finally we have atheism.
52:27 And atheism, in the broadest sense, is the absence of belief
52:31 in the existence of God.
52:33 In a less broader sense, atheism is the rejection of the belief
52:37 in any existence of God.
52:39 And even narrower than that, is the position that no God exists.
52:44 Now get this for a moment.
52:45 Atheism denies, and they say that the evidence for the
52:49 existence of God is missing.
52:51 The evidence for the existence of God was missing.
52:54 So when asked, What's missing?
52:57 They can't tell you what's missing.
52:59 They just said, The evidence is missing.
53:01 Now if something was missing out of your purse, would you say
53:04 that unless you knew it was missing?
53:05 Absolutely not! So to say it's missing, and you don't know
53:09 what's missing, is to say, No, what's missing is your logic.
53:12 There is no missing evidence.
53:14 All you've got to do is look around you.
53:17 The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.
53:20 I want to tell you some more, but I'll leave this
53:23 for tomorrow night.
53:24 I want to tell you friends, God can be trusted.
53:28 The other reasons for the existence of God is the
53:31 complexity of our planet, its design, our universe.
53:36 Scientists have said there is nothing else designed so
53:40 completely like the earth that its size is perfect.
53:43 Scientists say that if the earth were any smaller it could not
53:47 sustain life, like Mercury.
53:49 Any larger it could not sustain humanity, like Jupiter.
53:53 The nitrogen content would be much too great for human
53:57 life to be sustained.
53:58 And so tonight we find ourselves confronting the word of God.
54:02 The word of God is undeniable.
54:04 The word of God cannot be denied.
54:06 And so I end tonight with this Scripture that I want to take
54:08 you to down to 2 Timothy 4:2, 5.
54:10 Go down to the last Scripture for those of you
54:12 on the graphics tonight.
54:14 That's why our commission is preach the word.
54:17 What is our commission friends?
54:30 We have arrived.
54:36 They don't want to believe God's word.
54:49 So tonight let me end.
54:51 Let's talk about the most powerful weapon on earth.
54:53 It can outlast any slaughter, and transform
54:56 any life; God's word.
54:58 It can humble the exalted, and educate the simple, God's word.
55:01 It is a light in darkness, a pathway to the lost.
55:04 It can encourage the weak, and comfort the weary.
55:06 If you are hungry it will feed you.
55:08 If you are thirsty it will soothe you.
55:10 I speak of nothing other than the Holy Bible.
55:13 The book reveals the mind of God, the state of man,
55:15 the way of salvation, the doom of sinners,
55:17 the happiness of believers.
55:19 Its precepts are binding.
55:20 Its history is true.
55:22 And its decisions are immutable.
55:24 Read it to be wise.
55:26 Believe it to be saved.
55:27 And practice it to be holy.
55:29 It contains light to direct you, food to support you,
55:32 and comfort to cheer you.
55:33 It is the traveler's map, the Christian charter.
55:36 It can't lie, but it can detect one. Amen somebody!
55:39 It has no pulse, and yet it breathes and lives.
55:42 In it paradise is restored, heaven opened,
55:45 the gates of hell are closed.
55:46 Christ is the grand theme, our good it's design,
55:50 and the glory of God its end.
55:52 Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully.
55:55 It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory,
55:57 and a river of pleasure.
55:59 It will reward the greatest labor, and condemn all who
56:02 trifle with its sacred contents.
56:04 Paul turned the world upside down with it.
56:06 Elijah called down fire through it,
56:09 and God created the world by it.
56:11 What do you say? Amen!
56:12 It can't be stopped, prevented, denied, or destroyed.
56:15 It will outlive any novel, and outlast any show.
56:18 The word of God is divine, dynamic,
56:21 didactic, and delightful.
56:23 It is a conundrum to the proud, and a solution to the humble.
56:26 It can open and close your eyes at the same time.
56:29 It can confuse the scoffer, and enlighten the seeker.
56:32 The book, the book of books, the book of life, the book of God,
56:35 the Bible, the revelation of God to man.
56:37 But it comes with a warning, and here it is.
56:39 This book will keep you from sin,
56:41 or sin will keep you from this book.
56:43 Reading, confessing this book will terrify the Devil,
56:46 stupefy the rebellious, mystify the world, pacify the critic,
56:50 ratify the covenant, edify the church,
56:52 magnify the word, and glorify God.
56:54 And guess what? It is still the best selling book of all time.
56:57 What do you say? Amen!
56:58 So tonight, tonight we're going to ask God's word to speak.
57:02 God's word, the undeniable, undeniable, champion of truth.
57:09 Tonight we're going to sing that song together, Tim and I.
57:11 And if you know it, I want you to join with us tonight.
57:14 Word of God speak; pour down like rain.
57:17 God's word is a powerful book.
57:19 Let's sing this song together.
57:20 Word of God speak; Let it pour down like rain,
57:28 Washing my eyes to see Your majesty.
57:35 To be still and know That You're in this place.
57:42 Please let me stay and rest in Your holiness.
57:49 Word of God speak.
57:52 Would You pour down like rain?
57:56 Washing my eyes to see Your majesty.
58:04 To be still and know You're in this place.
58:10 Please let me stay and rest in Your holiness.
58:18 Word of God speak.

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Revised 2016-10-13