Hello. Welcome to
Issues and Answers.
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My name is John Stanton,
Pastor of the Springfield First
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Seventh-day Adventist Church
in Springfield, Illinois and my
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guest with me today is
David Allen. Welcome back David.
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Thank you. We've just finished
recently a part of a program
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on studying the word of God
and experiencing God through the
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study of his word. We're
continuing in that same thing
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today. David was a Bible teacher
He's now a retired Bible teacher
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He was teaching Bible for 35
years. That's a long time David.
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I'm sure you've got lots of
experiences and stories to share
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from that. But because of
that he's very well grounded and
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studied in the Word and so as
he's retired he is spending all
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the more time now going around
and providing seminars to camp
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meetings and other places
on how to better experience God
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through the study of his
Word. So welcome back David.
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Thank you, glad to be here.
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Now today we're going to talk
a little bit about how do we
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approach the Bible. Do we pick
a specific translation? Which
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ones are the most accurate.
You know, how do we approach the
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study of God's Word. You've
given us some great principles
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last time. But now let's go to
actually picking a Bible to do
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that. Right. I
want to just show, John
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the harmony of the gospels, the
four gospels, which illustrates
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a point that we made earlier
that I do want everyone to
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remember and that is that the
Bible wasn't written word for
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word. And the most powerful way
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you can find that is if you open
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up the harmony of the gospels
and what it does is it gives you
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parallel passages from the
different gospels; what Matthew
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says and Mark says and Luke and
John that they talk about the
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same thing. It's so easy to see
that they don't actually use the
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same exact words. In fact,
there is a graphic that we can
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show you in which it has
the signs over the cross and the
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signs over the cross will help
us to be able to see that the
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words are actually different
as it tells what the cross said.
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One of them will refer to this
is Jesus of Nazareth, one He's
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the king of the Jews and they'll
say it in different ways but
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what you'll see in that is that
the message is exactly the same.
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They have different words but
the same message and that's so
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important because we sometimes
get hung up on the idea that
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it's got to say it in an exact
certain way or it's not right.
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If we believed it was inspired
word for word, we would have
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to choose which gospel that we
wanted because we couldn't have
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all four. We could only have one
because they don't agree with
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each other word for word. So
we would also have to go back
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to Greek and Hebrew as we said.
But there are some things that
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will help us in being able to
rightly understand even in the
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English language that we
read in. One of the things is to
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recognize that when the Bible
was originally written there was
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no space between words at
all and there were no verse
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division, no chapter divisions.
I'm going to show you that on a
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graphic here that you can look
at. Now when you look at this
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one statement that I have
for the folk to look at, you can
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translate that by dividing it up
that either God is nowhere, so
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let us rejoice, or you could
divide it to say God is now here
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so let us rejoice. The question
is how do you know where to
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divide the letters in order to
make words from it? The answer
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has got to be the context. You
see if it said that the people
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of God that maybe something was
happening to them and they said
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Wow! God is now here, let us
rejoice or if it was some evil
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person saying we got away from
God; let us now rejoice because
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God is nowhere, it makes a
difference. To recognize that
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punctuation did not come until
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100s of years after the New
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Testament was written. Therefore
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they are not sacred. There is an
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example in the book of Acts
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chapter 19 where in the King
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James there's a missing comma
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and it says that there were sick
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handkerchiefs brought to Paul.
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Now I've seen sick handkerchiefs
before when I've had a real bad
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cold but that's not what
they meant. It should have said
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they brought from the sick,
handkerchiefs for Paul for him
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to anoint. Now there's also
an example in the bible where
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there's a comma that's placed
in the wrong place and people
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say no you can't change it,
that's where it is. Well I say
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there were no punctuation marks,
there were no spaces between
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words at all. So you had
to decide by the context.
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You're speaking of the reference
of Christ to the thief on the
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cross. Because an entire
theology, do you realize, is
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using that text to support
the fact that Jesus actually
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ascended with the thief next
to him on the cross into the
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heavens that very
day so look at it.
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If you say there's no
punctuation in the original
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you have to decide where you're
going to put that verily I say
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to you, (comma) today you'll be
with me in paradise or verily I
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say to you today, (comma) you'll
be with me in paradise. We have
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to ask ourselves according to
the context. Well Sunday morning
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Jesus said to Mary, don't touch
me (that's the King James),
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or really it's indicating don't
cling to me, don't hold onto
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me, release me, let me go, I
haven't yet been to my Father.
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And the thief, of course, didn't
go anywhere that day. His legs
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were broken and there were
places we know from history
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they were placed back up on the
cross after the Sabbath was over
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and he hadn't gone anywhere,
he hadn't even died that day
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yet. And so the point is we
study the Bible to recognize
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that it was written in Greek and
Hebrew basically. There were no
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spaces between the words and
no punctuation so we have to let
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the context help us. Also there
were no verse divisions in the
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Bible and that's real important
for us to look at as well
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The Bible even itself has ways
of studying. It recommends on
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how to study the Bible because
we can take these things out of
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context and put our own meanings
to them thinking that oh well
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he is really thinking this
or God's impressing with this
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principle, but it's not that
at all. So he wants us to add
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verse with verse and to compare
scripture with topics. That's
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something, you know, to a great
degree that isn't done today in
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most churches. In most churches
you will hear, and I say this
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for the benefit of some
out there who actually attend
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churches like this, but they
will read from one scripture or
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one passage and then the pastor
will bring a long sermon based
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upon that one passage without
often bringing a lot of things
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into its context to help to
find it's true meaning; where
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the Bible says there's a
specific way to do that and I
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think you're getting to this
point at some point here soon
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so I won't give that away.
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The idea to study it in
the context is so important.
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I'll tell you another thing.
When we realize that verse
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divisions and chapter divisions
weren't there, it was just a
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letter written out, that helps
us to study because what happens
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when people see specific verses
in a Bible that's formatted
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verse by verse, it makes it
look like each one stands alone.
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In fact, I believe we have a
graphic for this in which one
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edition of the King James stated
the fact that they specifically
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followed the format of verse
divisions which they said makes
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every verse stand all alone.
When I read that I just wanted
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to scream out NO, it was never
written that way. Paul didn't
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write one verse and tuck it
away or John and say now don't
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consider any context. It was all
in it and any time that we take
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one verse and we don't look
at what was said all around it
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we're going to be misusing that
in its entirety. So those are
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things to help us in studying
the Word to know about that.
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Then recognize figures of speech
We recognize sarcasm, and we
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recognize when someone is saying
something they don't really mean
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Parents will use satire to their
children. They will sometimes
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say to a teenager, Okay you're
so smart you figure it out.
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Now they don't expect the child
to say, Well I'm so glad you
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finally learned I'm smarter than
you. They help the child realize
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Look, I'm trying to tell
you you're not as smart as I am.
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And there are times that the
Bible uses satire. Jesus himself
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used satire. Paul once to
the church at Corinth said okay
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you people become kings and
that without us. One time he
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wrote and he said I haven't
even asked you to support me. Oh
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please forgive me this wrong
I did to you. I mean that's
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sarcasm that he's using. That's
satire he's using. There is
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hyperbole in the Bible. The book
of John ends with this statement
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that if everything about Jesus
were written down the whole
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world couldn't contain the
books. Now you go Hmm that's
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a lot of words in three-and-a-
half years of ministry that he
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did. All John was trying to say
in hyperbole was that Jesus did
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so much that we
haven't even recorded.
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And he's not saying for us
to count, okay, how high would
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those books be before you leave
the atmosphere, how many books
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would there be. I'm kind
of saying that for silliness
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because that's not, of course,
what he would ask us to do.
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But we treat some of these
things that are said like that.
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Or we try to literally pull an
exact formula or reference out
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of those writings where he's
trying to give us a principle.
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That's exactly right. You know,
the Bible also uses parallelism
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where it will say the same thing
and Hebrew poetry really rhymed
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thought not sound. It would
be like you saying to your wife,
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Honey you were so beautiful.
Oh darling you were just
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gorgeous. That's Hebrew poetry.
In the book of Job chapter 27
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verse 3 there's one that helps
us so much when we recognize
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that. It says All the while my
breath was in me and the spirit
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of God was in my nostrils.
Well what is the spirit of God?
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He says all the while my breath
was in me and the spirit of
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God... The word translated
spirit is the word for wind.
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He says all the while my breath
was in me, the breath that God
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gave me, this was the spirit
of God, the life-giving breath
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that he gave me to breathe.
Rather than having the idea that
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well there's some spirit
that we have that exists in our
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nostrils, bad time during
hay fever, recognizing what it
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really truly is and so that
helps. Then the Bible also uses
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things like metaphor and
simile and we have to recognize
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that. Sometimes we say,
The guy's an ox. Well that's a
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metaphor. Now we don't mean
he's literally an ox. We just
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mean some strong hunkin' guy.
But the Bible uses those all the
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time and if we recognize those
figures of speech for what they
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are then we're not again trying
to make them literal all the
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time. You know, the mountains
clap their hands and the trees
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sing. Abel's blood
cried out to God as
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if it had a voice. One theology
that's a bad interpretation of
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this is found with the souls
that existed under the altar
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in Revelation and so many will
say well see that's an argument
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for people actually existing and
residing in heaven now. But can
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imaging a soul actually
restricted to being under the
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altar begging to come out
and I mean the metaphor is that
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Lord when will you come and take
vengeance for what has been done
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to us? Please come soon. That's
what the point was that Jesus
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was trying to make.
Exactly and the same as you
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referred back in Genesis 4 where
the blood of Abel was crying out
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and it was like here's blood
evidence. It's like when those
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investigating a crime come and
they see the blood. It's just
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screaming out "Something
happened here. Figure this out."
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The blood is saying Cain did
something disastrous. Look at
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his brother's blood.
Sometimes people say well we
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shouldn't ever interpret
the Bible. We just have to take
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everything exactly the way it's
said and we talked about that
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earlier. But I want to give you
a couple of examples of things
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that we have to interpret in the
Bible. Leviticus 19:19: Don't
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sow two kinds of seed in a field
or wear clothing woven of two
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kinds of material. The label
in my shirt will say 60% cotton
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and 40% polyester (I may have
gotten that reversed). I have a
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suit that's partly linen and
partly wool. You know, we have
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to ask ourselves do we take
it exactly the way it says or do
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we have to interpret and
understand as we talked about
00:13:54.62\00:13:57.07
before the principle involved
here. There's another one: Don't
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loan money to the poor and
charge them interest; loan it
00:14:00.87\00:14:04.12
without interest. Now I imagine
that I'm poorer than a lot of
00:14:04.16\00:14:06.92
people and I could ask them
00:14:06.95\00:14:08.67
to loan me money and then
I'll put it in the bank for the
00:14:08.70\00:14:11.93
measly 2% interest but at least
I'll have some. But how do we
00:14:11.97\00:14:16.49
interpret that today. And what
about the one that says that if
00:14:16.53\00:14:20.58
you can't control your speech,
put a muzzle on your mouth;
00:14:20.61\00:14:24.65
that's Psalm 39:1- I'll put
a muzzle on my mouth if I can't
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...I've never seen anybody
muzzled. I've seen dogs...
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I've seen a lot of people are
in the church that should have
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a muzzle on, but I have never
actually seen them literally
00:14:36.64\00:14:39.72
do it. But you're right; it's a
principle that's very important
00:14:39.76\00:14:43.40
to understand. You know, if you
do that in one area of the Bible
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then what makes you now have to
do it in the rest of the areas
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of the Bible? If that
is an actual formula for
00:14:49.60\00:14:51.68
interpretation, don't you
have to follow that all the way
00:14:51.72\00:14:54.25
through to its logical
conclusion, putting a muzzle on
00:14:54.28\00:14:57.28
your mouth? Clearly the
answer is no. So we're missing
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something elsewhere. How
about this one? This is the
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best (I say this tongue-in-cheek
obviously and I hope people will
00:15:02.84\00:15:06.18
realize I'm being facetious when
I say it) but the best diet plan
00:15:06.22\00:15:10.63
is found in Proverbs 23:2, it
says: Put a knife to your throat
00:15:10.66\00:15:14.77
if you are given to gluttony.
Now that's a sure cure. But is
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that really what it means
for us, you see? As I referred
00:15:19.51\00:15:22.90
earlier to the mother that said
to her child, I'll bash your
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head in if you do that again.
She didn't mean that and the
00:15:26.56\00:15:29.69
Bible doesn't mean for us to
actually slit our throat; it's
00:15:29.72\00:15:33.20
just saying take it seriously;
you need to deal with this.
00:15:33.24\00:15:36.28
The right eye, pluck it out.
We have sometimes said boy I'd
00:15:36.31\00:15:38.83
give my right eye for that,
I'd give my right hand for that.
00:15:38.86\00:15:41.64
We don't really mean it. It's
just that important. Jesus is
00:15:41.68\00:15:44.43
saying I don't care how
important something is to you;
00:15:44.46\00:15:47.63
if it's between you and me,
if it's going to keep you out of
00:15:47.67\00:15:50.54
the kingdom, get rid of it.
Well I couldn't live without it.
00:15:50.58\00:15:53.19
Jesus says well you better live
without it because you won't
00:15:53.23\00:15:55.81
live for eternity with it.
00:15:55.84\00:15:57.18
And many times it's going to
kill them anyway. That's right.
00:15:57.22\00:15:59.97
We see even the products of
gluttony. We see what a lot of
00:16:00.00\00:16:02.94
that has done to our society
these days. So the Lord is
00:16:02.97\00:16:05.76
saying you know it's like
putting a knife to your throat
00:16:05.80\00:16:08.52
when you do things like that.
So that principle is that God is
00:16:08.56\00:16:11.66
loving and that's why some
will say well the actual 10
00:16:11.69\00:16:16.18
commandments were God's promises
that were given to us to help us
00:16:16.22\00:16:21.25
save us from ourselves. So in
a way many of these things are
00:16:21.28\00:16:25.40
God reaching back out to us
saying I'm trying to save you,
00:16:25.43\00:16:28.36
I'm trying to help you,
I'm trying to pull you back in.
00:16:28.40\00:16:31.26
Won't you just listen to me
and do these things because it's
00:16:31.30\00:16:33.76
best for you. When
Moses was ready to leave
00:16:33.79\00:16:37.14
the people in Deuteronomy I
think it's in chapter 31 where
00:16:37.18\00:16:41.00
he says, This is life, I want
you to accept it for God is your
00:16:41.04\00:16:45.22
life, accept him. You can choose
but God is your life he says.
00:16:45.26\00:16:49.98
The question comes up then that
people want to know is how do
00:16:50.02\00:16:54.71
I know how to rightly interpret
the Bible? If I have to
00:16:54.74\00:16:58.15
interpret things can't I just
dismiss everything and say well
00:16:58.19\00:17:01.52
you know this is what it meant
then but it doesn't anything to
00:17:01.56\00:17:05.44
me today. It's really beautiful.
There are five points that the
00:17:05.47\00:17:09.32
Palestinian Jews in Jesus'
day developed for principles of
00:17:09.35\00:17:14.79
interpreting the Bible
and I just want to share them.
00:17:14.82\00:17:17.68
They are so significant. One
of them is that a word must be
00:17:17.72\00:17:22.57
understood in terms of it's
sentence and a sentence in terms
00:17:22.61\00:17:27.07
of its context. That principle's
been known for 100s of years.
00:17:27.11\00:17:31.77
To always take a word in a
sentence in terms of its context
00:17:31.81\00:17:36.44
The second one was that
scripture dealing with similar
00:17:36.47\00:17:40.28
topics should be compared and
a third scripture may relieve an
00:17:40.32\00:17:44.99
apparent contradiction. Look at
everything the Bible has to say
00:17:45.02\00:17:49.33
on a particular subject. That
would help a lot when Paul in
00:17:49.37\00:17:53.25
Philippians says I don't know
whether to stay here and be with
00:17:53.29\00:17:57.14
you or to depart and be
with the Lord. Now was he really
00:17:57.17\00:18:00.47
saying that I'm just going to
check out and I'll be with the
00:18:00.51\00:18:03.98
Lord instantly? He is the same
man who said over and over again
00:18:04.02\00:18:07.23
that death is a sleep and in
a moment, in the twinkling of an
00:18:07.27\00:18:10.45
eye at the last trump the
trumpet shall sound and Jesus
00:18:10.48\00:18:12.97
shall come and then the dead
in Christ shall raise. This man
00:18:13.01\00:18:16.94
who said in a moment, in
a twinkling of an eye this
00:18:16.97\00:18:19.47
corruptible shall put on
incorruption and he says when
00:18:19.51\00:18:23.91
that is, at the resurrection.
And you go to John 11 where
00:18:23.95\00:18:28.28
he raised Lazarus and you notice
what Mary and Martha both said
00:18:28.32\00:18:32.20
to Jesus. They both said Lord
our brother wouldn't have died
00:18:32.23\00:18:35.48
if you'd been here but they
said we know when you live again
00:18:35.52\00:18:39.53
because they had heard him say
I know he'll live again at the
00:18:39.57\00:18:43.29
resurrection at the last day.
So that was what was in effect
00:18:43.33\00:18:47.02
back in Jesus' day. The
third principle is that a clear
00:18:47.05\00:18:50.27
passage is to be given
preference over an obscure one
00:18:50.30\00:18:53.45
on the same subject. It's
like Hmm that's a little obscure
00:18:53.49\00:18:56.84
isn't it. Not sure exactly
what Paul meant by depart and be
00:18:56.88\00:18:59.94
with the Lord. But I know what
he meant here that death is a
00:18:59.97\00:19:03.18
sleep and here's when everybody
raises from the dead. And by the
00:19:03.22\00:19:06.40
way, John, there are a lot
of really powerful theologians
00:19:06.43\00:19:10.82
in seminaries around the world
of various denominations who are
00:19:10.86\00:19:15.32
coming back to what the
scripture says that when we die
00:19:15.35\00:19:19.39
we are asleep in Jesus until
the resurrection. There are some
00:19:19.43\00:19:22.94
powerful ones out there that
have discovered that and they
00:19:22.98\00:19:26.36
are coming to realize the truth
and the beauty of that truth.
00:19:26.39\00:19:29.74
What you're saying there is
the text that we almost read
00:19:29.77\00:19:33.53
but I didn't quite read it last
time but what is the message
00:19:33.57\00:19:36.83
that the Bible gives us or the
method that the Bible gives us
00:19:36.87\00:19:40.07
for studying it, for studying
these topics? That's found in
00:19:40.11\00:19:43.28
Isaiah 28:10, it says: For
precept must be on precept,
00:19:43.31\00:19:47.21
line upon line, here a little
there a little. I know that
00:19:47.25\00:19:50.58
those repeat in phrases each
time but it's an emphasis on
00:19:50.61\00:19:53.87
compare scripture to scripture,
take a piece here, take a piece
00:19:53.91\00:19:57.90
there and then you come about
a well-rounded theology that is
00:19:57.94\00:20:01.79
driven by God's principle, not
by one little word that we want
00:20:01.83\00:20:05.65
to magnify to make
it fit our own theology.
00:20:05.68\00:20:07.49
Even in that taking a little
here and a little there make
00:20:07.53\00:20:11.14
sure that that little I
take is in the total picture of
00:20:11.17\00:20:14.29
saying what it's supposed
to say rather than a proof text
00:20:14.33\00:20:17.21
here and I'll match it with
a proof text here. What we're
00:20:17.25\00:20:20.09
really saying is the whole
scripture should give us that
00:20:20.13\00:20:22.95
and that's why I encourage
people to read the Bible through
00:20:22.99\00:20:26.02
all the way and read it through
more than once to really know
00:20:26.06\00:20:29.20
what that's saying. Well
let's give the last two on that.
00:20:29.24\00:20:35.00
Number four is that very
close attention is to be paid to
00:20:35.03\00:20:39.77
grammar and figures of speech.
We just talked about that.
00:20:39.81\00:20:44.48
The fifth one is that by logic
we can determine the application
00:20:44.52\00:20:47.78
of scripture to those problems
in life that scripture has not
00:20:47.82\00:20:51.18
specifically treated. We talked
about the principles of the
00:20:51.21\00:20:55.44
Bible; what principle is
affective there and the last one
00:20:55.48\00:21:00.14
that God spoke in tongues
of men. That is, he adapted his
00:21:00.17\00:21:04.81
revelations to the recipients
of them. He spoke in human
00:21:04.84\00:21:09.41
language. Sometimes we get hung
up on a particular passage and
00:21:09.44\00:21:15.01
we think wow is that really what
God is saying, could God really
00:21:15.04\00:21:20.57
have said that? There is a
passage where it speaks about
00:21:20.61\00:21:27.47
that God slew Saul, King Saul.
When you read that, that's in
00:21:27.50\00:21:33.35
1 Chronicles 10:4-14. It tells
the story of how Saul died and
00:21:33.39\00:21:39.24
in verse 14 it says, "and God
slew him. " And you go wow was
00:21:39.28\00:21:44.98
God the executioner like that?
You go back to verse four and it
00:21:45.02\00:21:50.68
says that Saul fell on his
sword. Ah! Here's what we have
00:21:50.72\00:21:55.27
to understand, that in the
Hebrew mind anything God allowed
00:21:55.31\00:21:59.84
he was given the credit for
doing it. How about Pharaoh?
00:21:59.88\00:22:03.98
Have you read over and over
where Pharaoh hardened his own
00:22:04.01\00:22:07.59
heart, God hardened his heart,
Pharaoh hardened... and you go
00:22:07.63\00:22:11.43
wait a minute, which way was it?
Who did this? I have heard it
00:22:11.47\00:22:15.24
illustrated; it's like
what happened is that God was
00:22:15.28\00:22:20.43
speaking to Pharaoh and he
had to make a decision on how to
00:22:20.46\00:22:23.89
respond. It's kind of like you
can take a block of butter and
00:22:23.93\00:22:28.37
put it in the sun and it will
melt it. The same thing that
00:22:28.40\00:22:32.56
melts that, you see, is the
same thing. If I allow Jesus
00:22:32.59\00:22:36.99
to melt me it'll happen and
I have to allow God to act upon
00:22:37.02\00:22:41.87
my life. But we see from that
that the Hebrew mind sees God
00:22:41.90\00:22:46.56
doing it but really they don't
blame him for that. They don't
00:22:46.60\00:22:50.76
look at it like we do. You spoke
about earlier the acts of God
00:22:50.80\00:22:54.57
and the tornados and things
like that. The Book of Job is so
00:22:54.61\00:22:58.47
powerful. The first chapter
tells us exactly how disasters
00:22:58.51\00:23:02.30
and troubles come. Remember as
they were having the meeting and
00:23:02.34\00:23:06.16
Satan came to heaven and
said now Job is only doing nice
00:23:06.19\00:23:09.99
things, you know, because you
protect him. And God says, okay,
00:23:10.03\00:23:13.91
you can do this; you can touch
his things, just don't touch him
00:23:13.94\00:23:19.81
now. In that same chapter, Job
says, God gave and God took away
00:23:19.84\00:23:25.06
but then he says blessed be the
name of the Lord. He knew in his
00:23:25.10\00:23:29.99
mind that God allowed it but God
didn't do it. If he had thought
00:23:30.03\00:23:33.74
that God himself had done that
to him there was no way he would
00:23:33.78\00:23:37.44
have said, well God you blessed
you mean you took all this away
00:23:37.48\00:23:41.11
from me but you're a blessed
man. Job realized, as the
00:23:41.15\00:23:44.80
Hebrews look at it, God allowed
it to happen. But when we read
00:23:44.84\00:23:47.84
the Bible sometimes if we don't
see that we'll get the wrong
00:23:47.88\00:23:50.84
message. There's a
story in, I believe
00:23:50.88\00:23:54.54
it's Matthew, where the question
of the disciples was who's done
00:23:54.57\00:23:57.76
this? It was referring to
a person who was crippled or
00:23:57.79\00:24:01.35
something that was decrepit
about them and they wondered
00:24:01.38\00:24:04.90
who had done this and
the response of God is very
00:24:04.93\00:24:08.79
enlightening. Jesus himself says
an enemy has done this. Almost
00:24:08.83\00:24:13.17
like you got to get back to
the basics. You know I know all
00:24:13.21\00:24:17.08
things happen because God
allows them to happen but yet
00:24:17.12\00:24:20.77
it's the enemy who does the
damaging things in our lives.
00:24:20.80\00:24:24.29
God just simply allows that
to happen and so yes and then
00:24:24.33\00:24:27.34
you can come back to say
okay God did that but did he
00:24:27.38\00:24:30.36
literally exercise it? No.
00:24:30.39\00:24:32.96
Luther had five principles of
00:24:32.99\00:24:34.99
interpreting the Bible. These
00:24:35.02\00:24:36.95
are a big word called
hermeneutics. It just means
00:24:36.98\00:24:39.05
interpreting the Bible correctly
and Luther's principles were
00:24:39.09\00:24:43.83
these. That faith and
illumination were requisites
00:24:43.87\00:24:47.18
for the interpreter. I must come
to the Bible with faith and be
00:24:47.21\00:24:51.78
illuminated by the Holy Spirit
if I'm going to get what God
00:24:51.82\00:24:56.13
has to say. His second one
is that the Bible is the supreme
00:24:56.16\00:25:00.44
and final authority
in theological matters.
00:25:00.47\00:25:03.34
Now you can imagine nailing
those 95 theses challenging
00:25:03.37\00:25:06.61
saying where in the Bible do
we get this belief that was held
00:25:06.65\00:25:11.21
by his former church.
00:25:11.24\00:25:12.30
What is that principle?
Sola scriptura? Is that what
00:25:12.34\00:25:14.71
it refers to; the
Bible and the Bible only.
00:25:14.74\00:25:17.03
That was so important to Martin
Luther. That was the second
00:25:17.06\00:25:19.74
principle. The third one is that
every word should be allowed to
00:25:19.78\00:25:24.38
stand in its natural meaning.
You see, we must interpret the
00:25:24.42\00:25:29.12
Bible literally unless there
is real cause why we shouldn't;
00:25:29.16\00:25:32.88
for instance, cutting your
hand off, pulling your eye out.
00:25:32.91\00:25:37.23
So I take what God said very
literally unless it doesn't make
00:25:37.26\00:25:41.17
sense. It is the way we take
each other. I mean, my wife may
00:25:41.21\00:25:45.65
something to me like, Honey,
it's taking you forever to get
00:25:45.68\00:25:49.75
that done. Now do I argue with
here that forever is so long and
00:25:49.79\00:25:53.64
so it can't be. I know what she
means; it's taking you longer
00:25:53.67\00:25:57.48
than I thought or whatever.
His fourth one was that the
00:25:57.52\00:26:02.48
Bible is a clear book
and a competent Christian can
00:26:02.51\00:26:06.40
interpret it. His last
one is the function of all
00:26:06.43\00:26:10.25
interpretation is to find Christ
and that's exactly what our
00:26:10.29\00:26:15.69
whole Issues and Answers program
is all about is experiencing God
00:26:15.72\00:26:18.77
through studying his word.
Luther is saying that's the
00:26:18.81\00:26:22.67
function of everything we do.
All interpretation is to find
00:26:22.70\00:26:26.69
Jesus in everything we read.
00:26:26.73\00:26:28.65
It all points back to Christ.
It does. And I mean that's the
00:26:28.68\00:26:31.36
reason why God's word exists
from him and from the Holy
00:26:31.40\00:26:35.77
Spirit the word is given. It's
transcribed by holy men as the
00:26:35.81\00:26:39.01
thoughts were given, as the
inspiration was given to them.
00:26:39.05\00:26:42.43
I believe in many respects,
David, that's the way that
00:26:42.47\00:26:45.79
that's the reason why the Holy
Spirit is absolutely necessary
00:26:45.82\00:26:49.74
for understanding God's word.
He gave the thought, men wrote
00:26:49.77\00:26:53.65
it in their words but
He's got to give us the lesson.
00:26:53.69\00:26:56.20
That's exactly right. And
lessons are so important for
00:26:56.23\00:26:59.14
our lives from the Holy Spirit
directly. So friends, as you
00:26:59.17\00:27:03.09
contemplate this subject, and
we've been talking a lot about
00:27:03.13\00:27:07.27
how to experience God through
his word, know and understand
00:27:07.31\00:27:11.44
that this experience doesn't
just come by prayer, which is a
00:27:11.48\00:27:14.63
good thing, absolutely, I'm not
knocking that; it doesn't come
00:27:14.67\00:27:18.80
by talking to your friends but
it comes by spending time alone
00:27:18.83\00:27:22.92
reading God's word with the
principles that I think we've
00:27:22.96\00:27:25.43
been talking about. Because
you've got to have the right
00:27:25.46\00:27:27.86
principles and basis for doing
that, I believe, to get the true
00:27:27.90\00:27:31.47
meaning of the scripture.
So that's the reason for this
00:27:31.50\00:27:34.54
Issues and Answers program
and we pray that it has been
00:27:34.57\00:27:37.54
a blessing to you and that you
can apply these principles and
00:27:37.58\00:27:39.86
these things to your own
study of God's word and truly
00:27:39.90\00:27:42.67
experience him more day after
day as you get into his word to
00:27:42.70\00:27:46.20
find out what his plan is for
your life because he does have
00:27:46.24\00:27:49.70
a plan for you specifically.
God bless you and until we
00:27:49.74\00:27:52.67
see you again, take care.
00:27:52.71\00:27:55.47