(Mark 1:16-20) Only Jesus could transform ordinary fishermen into soul-winners! However, this transformation required some sacrifice from His disciples. How can one become a fisher of men today? (0948250222) 

(2 Corinthians 13:14) There is only one God. That God has expressed Himself in three Persons - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. It should be our greatest desire to grow in knowledge of and love for every member of the Godhead. (0947250221) ----more----

Over the last several studies, we've been looking at what the Bible says about God, about the Lord Jesus Christ, and about the Holy Spirit. Come to see that God the Father is God, that God the Son is God, and that God the Holy Spirit is God. And we don't have three gods, we have one God expressed in three persons.

The Bible says there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And so they are distinct and separate persons of the Godhead. And yet, they are co-equal, co-existent, and co-eternal. The word that is frequently used to describe our God is the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Really the word Trinity is a great word. It means three in one, the triune God, Trinity in unity. 

But the Bible word for it is the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, working together. Jesus spoke about this in John chapter 14 when Philip came to him and said, "Show us the Father and it sufficeth us."

We want to see the Father. And Jesus says to him, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." In other words, if you want to know the Father, You have to know the Father through the Son. In the same chapter in John chapter 14, He said, "When I leave you,(when the Son leaves), I'm going to send the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth."

And he says, "The Holy Spirit's going to come and dwell with you and be in you and he's going to reveal more of me to you." So watch this. If you want to know the Father, you've got to know the Son. And if you want to know the Son, then you've got to know the Spirit. Do you see how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit work together?

The Father is the begetter, the Son is the begotten. The Father is the sender, the Son is the sent one. And then the Father and Son together send the Spirit of God to abide with us forever. It's also a beautiful thought to see how each glorifies the other. The Father glorified the Son came to fulfill the will of the Father.

The Holy Spirit comes not to do his own will or to speak of himself, but rather to glorify the Lord Jesus so that the Father will be pleased. It's just, it's wonderful to see this perfect unity and part of the reason we can't comprehend it is we don't see that kind of unity in our world today. Our finite and fallen minds cannot wrap our imaginations around something so perfect and yet that's our God, our perfect God.

From the very beginning of the scriptures we see this triune God at work. For example, Genesis chapter 1 verse number 26 says "Let us make a man in our image." Oh, who is that having a conversation? Oh, that's the Father, Son, and Spirit. Who've been in perfect communion from eternity past. In fact, in Genesis chapter number one, we see the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters and we learn in Colossians 1 that the Lord Jesus Christ was the one who created all things.

So someone's going to say who created the world? The Father, the Son, or the Spirit? And the answer to that question is yes. Isn't that beautiful? So even in the plurality of the pronoun that's used in Genesis 1, even in the plurality of The name that is used for our God, the Lord God. There is a reference to the fact that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, all working together.

Our perfect God. One God at work in this world. Let me read something to you from the book of Isaiah that may help you to understand this a little better. I love this passage. Isaiah chapter number 48, verse number 16, says, "Come ye near me, hear ye this, I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was, there I am, and now the Lord God and His Spirit hath sent me. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am the Lord by God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go." Did you see all three members of the Godhead? The Lord God. Now this is Jehovah, Yahweh. A reference to our Father. And there is the Redeemer, that's a reference to the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And then there is His Spirit, a reference to the Holy Ghost of God. The first time we see them in the New Testament is in Matthew chapter 3 at the baptism of the Lord Jesus. The Bible says in Matthew 3 verse 16, "And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straight way out of the water. And lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and laying upon Him. And lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Do you see the Lord Jesus, the Son, standing in the water? And do you hear the voice of the Father speaking from His throne in heaven? And do you see the Holy Spirit being sent from heaven down to earth? To light upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, Son, and Spirit working in unbroken unity together. 

When you come to the end of that same book, to Matthew chapter number 28, you come to the Great Commission, the command that's been given us, and the baptismal formula for how new believers are to be baptized. And what does it say? We're to baptize them, Matthew 28:19, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Why the Father, the Son, and the Spirit? Because they are co-equal. They are co-existent. They are co-eternal. Although they are distinct persons, you cannot separate them from one another. And this is the truth. This is what I'm praying that the Lord will help us to understand today about what the Bible says about the Godhead.

The Bible says about the Trinity, the great three in one, and it is this. That I have the Father, I have the Son, and I have the Spirit. That the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are all related to us as believers. We have access to all that God is. 

And so I bring you to what is commonly referred to as the apostolic benediction. That's just a big, formal term for a prayer that the Apostle Paul prays concerning the church at Corinth. In 2 Corinthians chapter 13, the closing verse 14, says, "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen." It's beautiful to see how Paul's closing prayer opens all of heaven to us.

This is really not the the apostles' blessing. This is divine blessing. This is the key that unlocks heaven's storehouse. Everything that we need is wrapped up in the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. And notice the divine order. He begins with the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. He begins with everybody's greatest need.

Do you know what everyone's greatest need is? It's grace. Friend, without grace, we can't enjoy any other good thing. And how does that grace come from heaven to earth? It comes to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost without exception, when the Godhead are mentioned, the Father is always mentioned first.

But Christ is first here. And why is that? Because Christ is the one who opens the way to the Father. You can't enjoy the love of God or the communion of the Holy Ghost without the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And once you come to know the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, you begin to enter in and grow in your understanding of the love of God.

Deeper and deeper into the love of God. And how does that happen? It happens through the indwelling God. The communion of the Holy Ghost, God who lives inside of you. I'm taking the time today to point this out to you all through scripture because I'm hoping you'll come to love more the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.

To speak more to the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, and to tell others of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. My prayer for you today is that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. 

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(1 Corinthians 6:19) How strange it would be for someone to live in your house and to never communicate with that person. The Holy Spirit lives in the heart of every believer. Is He at home in us? We must learn what it means to be filled with the Spirit. (0946250220) ----more----

Do you ever talk to the person that lives in your house? On the day you trusted the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ Himself, came to live in your house. That's right, in your temple, in your heart. Your heart is His home now. Do you ever talk to Him? Does He have liberty to?

To go and roam into every room and control every part. Is he at home in your house? It would be a strange thing if you married someone and lived with them for 40 years and never spoke to them. That perhaps happens at times and that's an awful thing. But how awful it is to think that some people meet the Lord, and the Holy Spirit of God comes to live inside of them on the day of their salvation, and they live the rest of their life never talking to that Person and never letting that Person talk to them!

Now granted, there is a great mystery to the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus said in John chapter 3 verse number 8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whether it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit." The Holy Spirit is often likened to wind or breath in Scripture.

And there is a mystery to the wind. You can't explain all of that, but as surely as there's a mystery, friend, there's also a reality. And there is a real person living inside of you at this moment. His name is the Holy Spirit. 

Perhaps the least understood and most misunderstood person of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit. He's not a thing. He's not merely a power or influence, he's a real person, he's just as real as the Father and the Son. Matthew 28:19 says, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." He is just as real as the Father and the Son, and He's just as real as any person here on earth.

Acts 15:28 says, "It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things." The apostles were saying, "Look, the Holy Spirit is speaking just like we're speaking. The Holy Spirit is working just like we are working." I wonder, do you know the Person that lives in your house? All through scripture, we're introduced to his personality. We learn something about his actions. 

He speaks. Acts 13, verse 2, He literally spoke. He spoke to the apostles. He prompted them. In Romans 8:26, He prays. He intercedes for us. In John 15:26, He testifies. He's the Spirit of truth. He testifies of Christ.

He commanded in Acts 16. He oversees. In Acts chapter 20, in verse number 28, He guides. Jesus said in John 16:13, "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." He teaches. John 14:26, He's the great teacher. I'm telling you, He's a Person. He not only acts, he reacts.

Ephesians 4:30 tells us He can be grieved. Isaiah 63:10 tells us He can be vexed. They tempted the Holy Spirit in Acts 5, verse 9. They resisted the Holy Spirit in Acts 7:51. Mark 3 warns us against blaspheming the Holy Spirit. He's a real person. He has an intellect. He has emotions. He has a will. When you refer to the Holy Spirit, don't refer to him as an it. Refer to Him as a real Person because that's exactly what He is. 

And He's not only a real person, He is God. He is all God, just like the Father and the Son. We see the attributes of the Holy Spirit all through Scripture, identical to those of the Father and the Son. He is omnipotent, and omniscient, and omnipresent. He is eternal. He's the Spirit of love, and of holiness, and goodness, and grace, and life, and truth. And when you look at His works tell you He's God. Remember, He was there in the creation in Genesis 1. He was the Spirit of resurrection power in Romans 8 verse 11.

He is the spirit of regeneration in all of us. Friend, if you're saved today, it's because the Holy Spirit convicted you that you were a sinner, revealed to you the person of Jesus Christ, and made you a new person in Christ. You are born again, John chapter 3, of the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 6 verse 11 says, "Ye are washed, ye are sanctified, ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." I'm telling you, when you study the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament, anywhere you want to study, you're going to find that the Holy Spirit is a real Person, He is all God, and He is at work at this present hour.

And if that is true, I ask you again, How well do you know the person that lives in your house? How much have you come to understand of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you? And when was the last time you talked to Him? 

His work is a work in our lives. It's a deeply personal work. Now, He has a work in this world. John chapter 16 says He reproves the world of sin, of righteousness. There's no doubt the Holy Spirit is at work in the lives of unregenerate men. Lost people trying to bring them to God. And when we give the gospel, when we preach the truth, the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, works in them.

Don't miss this. The great work of the Holy Spirit of God is not just in the world, it's in the believer. It's in us. He started working in you on the day you got saved. He regenerated you. He comes to indwell you. 1 Corinthians 6, 19 says, What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Romans 8, verse 9 says, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of his." I'm not trying to get the Holy Spirit. I was given the Holy Spirit on the day the Lord Jesus saved me. He doesn't rent, He buys.

And He doesn't move in and out, He moves in to stay. And when He comes in to change me. To make me more like the Lord Jesus Christ. He baptizes me. I'm baptized in the Spirit. That happens at the moment of salvation. He seals me with the Spirit. He sets me free. He gives me assurance. He strengthens me in my inner man.

He teaches me truth. He guides me. He empowers me. He enables my worship. He prays for me and teaches me how to pray. He shows me how to serve the Lord. He produces the character of Christ in me. Galatians 5 verse 22 says, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law." That's the Holy Spirit that produces the character of Christ in us. It's the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 12 says, that distributes spiritual gifts to believers. The Holy Spirit's desire and design is to fill our lives, not just to be there, but to control everything. 

So my first question is, does the Holy Spirit of God live in you? If He doesn't, you need to trust Jesus as your Savior. You need to call on the Lord and be saved, and at the moment of salvation, the Holy Spirit will come to live in your house, in your heart. And if you say, oh yes, the Holy Spirit lives in me, oh yes, I'm a Christian, then my next question is this, "Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?"

Charles Finney said, "He who neglects to obey the command to be filled with the Spirit is as guilty of breaking the command of God as he who steals or curses or commits adultery. His guilt is as great as the authority of God is great who commands us to be filled. His guilt is equivalent to all the good he might do if he were filled with the Holy Spirit."

My prayer for you today is that you'll yield your life to the control of the one who already lives inside of you. He wants to rule on the throne of your life. He doesn't just want to be the resident, he wants to be the president. He doesn't just want to be there, he wants to control everything. And my prayer for you today is that the Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, will be allowed to have His way in your life.

Would you take just a moment at the conclusion of this study and just talk to the Holy Spirit? And say to Him, I love you, thank you for living in my house. Have the key to every room and take control of my life today. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe.

We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Genesis 1:2) The most misunderstood and misrepresented Person of the Godhead is the Holy Spirit. How well do you know the Spirit of God? We are introduced to Him on the first page of the Bible and it is time we all got to know Him better. (0945250219) ----more----

Have you met the Holy Spirit? Some people refer to the Holy Spirit like He's an object or a thing or a force, but in fact, He is a real person. Co equal, co existent, co eternal with God the Father and God the Son. And the first time we meet Him is not on the day of Pentecost. 

The first time we meet Him is in Genesis chapter 1. It's amazing to me, really, how many of these great doctrinal truths begin on the opening pages of Scripture. Someone called Genesis 1:11 a seedbed of doctrine, and they said that every major truth in the Bible can be found in seed form in the opening chapters of Genesis. I think that's beautiful.

Genesis 1 verse 1 says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Now, did you catch that? The Spirit of God, right there He is, in the creation. Remember, God is a Spirit. And the Spirit of God is at work in the creative work. He's hovering, He's brooding over His creation from the very beginning. He's involved in creation. 

The psalmist said in Psalm 33:6, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." The Holy Spirit literally is the breath of God.

Job said in Job 33:4, "The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." So the Holy Spirit is the creator. The Holy Spirit is the one who gave you life. When God breathed into Adam the breath of life, and man became a living soul, the Holy Spirit was at work. That same Holy Spirit that breathed into man and the creation is the same Holy Spirit we find in Scripture that gave us the Word.

The Bible says that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Literally, God breathed it out. It is the work of His Holy Spirit. Second Peter 1:21, "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." Second Samuel 23:2, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and His Word was in my tongue. Amen." This book we're studying, this Bible, you have the Holy Spirit to thank for that.

Here's what's wonderful, if you're a Christian, the Author lives in your heart. The Holy Spirit, who gave the Word, lives inside of you. Ask Him to help you understand it. He'll help you. Talk to the Author today. I do love the Holy Spirit. Oh, I do love the Holy Spirit. I love the Holy Spirit because everything I know about God, the Holy Spirit taught me.

I say that with authority and conviction because it's impossible to understand spiritual truth apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. So everything I know about Jesus, everything I know about God, everything I know about the Bible, I know because of the Holy Spirit. He's our teacher. 

We see Him in the Old Testament. In Genesis 6 verse 3, He is the restrainer of wickedness. The Lord said, "My spirit shall not always strive with man. He was holding back wickedness." We see Him enabling believers, even in the Old Testament, for special service. For example, in Genesis 41, the Spirit of God was seen on Joseph. Numbers 27:18 the Lord said to Moses, "Take thee, Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit."

Daniel 4, verse 8, they recognize that Daniel had the Spirit of God. We know that the prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit. Samuel was moved by the Spirit of God. The Lord poured the horn of oil anointing David in 1 Samuel 16 verse 13, and the Bible says<

Then we see Him in the life of Christ. In His conception, Luke 1:35, the Holy Ghost came upon Mary. The power of the highest overshadowed her. Where do you think the Lord Jesus came from? He had no earthly father. So He was conceived of the Holy Ghost. That's a powerful thought. Matthew 1:20 says, "That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." The Holy Spirit came at the baptism of Christ. You remember that beautiful dove, that picture of purity and peace coming down from heaven, lighting upon the Lord Jesus? And it's beautiful. There's no record that the dove ever left Him. It's symbolic of the fact that the Holy Spirit came upon Christ. But he never left Him. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came and went. He didn't indwell every believer consistently all the time. He came and went. But when Christ came, He came and stayed.

And when you come to know the Lord Jesus and Christ comes to live in you, Oh dear brother, dear sister, the Holy Spirit doesn't come and go. He comes and abides with you forever. The Bible says of Christ that He was filled with the Spirit, and He was led of the Spirit. All through His earthly ministry. He was empowered by the Holy Spirit to do miracles, and He ministered in that power.

Even in His death. His death at the cross was in the power of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 9 verse 14 says, "How much more shall the blood of Christ Who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God. Purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." The Holy Spirit was at work in the life of Christ.

He was at work in His resurrection. Two, Romans one, verse four. He is declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. But now here's where it gets good and here's where it gets very personal. The same Holy Spirit that worked in the Old Testament and that worked in the life of Christ is at work in your life today.

Listen to Romans 8 verse 11. But if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you. I tell you, I just want to stop right now and say praise God. Thank the Lord for this.

The same Holy Spirit that moved in creation is moving in my life. The same Holy Spirit that empowered men in the Old Testament wants to empower me today. And the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, that same resurrection power and person lives inside of me at this moment. The Holy Spirit of God is at work in every stage of history, all through the Word of God, in the lives of all of those who will be yielded and open to Him.

In the New Testament we see that He came to indwell every believer on the day of Pentecost. In the Acts chapter 1, verse number 5, Christ said that He would come and guess what? He came. Peter said in Acts chapter number 11 that the Holy Ghost came upon the Gentiles just as much as He did the Jews. That's glorious. That's powerful. Acts chapter 2 is the great record of that event when the Holy Spirit came to indwell every believer on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit works in and through His church. You can study that all through the New Testament. But here's the point. 

Is the Holy Spirit working in you today? And maybe the better question is, are you allowing the Holy Spirit of God to work in and through your life? See, if you're not careful, you can study doctrinal things and it seems so so mystical and so distant when it's supposed to be personal and a living reality in you. They said of a great preacher of a bygone generation that his doctrine was all application, and his application was all truth and was all doctrine. I really like that. You don't separate what you believe from how you behave. So if you believe the Holy Spirit is God and you believe the Holy Spirit has come to live inside of you because you've trusted Christ as your Savior, and you believe the Holy Spirit is all powerful and all present and all wise, then I wonder, how's that going to affect your life today?

Are you going to yield yourself to the control of the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 5 18 says, And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Will you say to the Holy Spirit right now, I want you to control me today. I yield myself to you today. Holy Spirit of God, have your way with me.

I hope and pray today that you'll let what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit affect what you do with your life today. Or may I should say, what He does with your life today. Let the Holy Spirit have His way with you. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe.

We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(1 Timothy 3:16) Today we examine one of the great summary verses of the Bible. A verse that is about the great theme of God's Word - the Lord Jesus Christ. As we walk through all of Scripture we find Jesus on every page. (0944250218) ----more----

There are certain verses of Scripture that are great summary verses. I mean by that, they encapsulate so much doctrine in a concentrated way in just a few words. 1 Timothy 3:16 is one of those verses. Would you hear it with your heart today? 1 Timothy 3:16 says, "And without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory."

What is 1 Timothy 3:16 about? It's all about the person and work of Jesus Christ. Literally, it summarizes in one verse the whole message of Christ in the Bible.

From Genesis to Revelation. From creation to His glorification. It's God was manifest in the flesh. So the creator God of the universe God came to earth. Then He was justified in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit was evident through His life and ministry, His words and His works. He was seen of angels at different points all through His life and ministry. He was then preached unto the Gentiles. He's been believed on in the world, and now where is he? He's received up into glory, where he's sitting on the right hand of the Heavenly Father, praying for us, preparing heaven for us, and yes, coming again. I want to say to you today that you find Jesus on every page of the Bible. Someone has said that you can take your text from anywhere. And you can find some path that leads from that place to the person of Jesus Christ. I do believe that. 

Our study of Christ does not begin in the New Testament because He did not begin at Bethlehem. Earlier in this study, we began in Genesis 3, verse 15, with the first promise of Messiah. But I want to tell you, He was there in Genesis 1, 1, in the beginning God. Because He is the eternal Son of God. As you walk through the Old Testament, Jesus. I believe that He appeared many times. He appeared to Hagar, to Abraham, to Jacob, and Moses. Joshua saw him as the captain of the host. Manoah saw him, Isaiah saw him, lifted up, Zechariah did, and Gideon. He was manifested to many different people at many different times all through the Old Testament. As you read and study the Old Testament scriptures, there are over 300 prophecies concerning Christ. Think of that, over 300 of them. Many of the psalms are messianic psalms. There are lots of pictures of Christ in the Old Testament. Some people, like Joseph, is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. But many objects point to Him. Noah's Ark is a picture of Christ, the brazen serpent, the tabernacle, the rock flowing with that living water, the Passover land, the cities of refuge, on and on throughout the Old Testament, Jesus.

Then when you come to the New Testament, He's revealed as he is, as he's taking on human flesh, his incarnation. God became a man without ceasing to be God. That's powerful. He did not lay aside his deity, he just robed it, clothed it in humanity. Someone says, was he a man or was he God? Yes. And He wasn't 50-50. He was 100 percent man and 100 percent God and He was the perfection of both. He's the only sinless man who ever lived, and yet He is the perfect son of God. We see his humanity all through the gospel records. He hungered. He thirsted. He slept. He grew. He suffered. He had a body, a soul, and a spirit. He even referred to himself as the son of man. That was His favorite title for himself. Think of that. He had every right to call himself everyday Son of God, but He loved to refer to himself as Son of man. Why? Because He was connecting with us. Aren't you glad that we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin? Not only do we see His humanity, we see His deity. He is the Son of God, the Eternal Son of God. He claimed to be God all through his life He claimed to be the same things as Jehovah of the Old Testament claimed to be. He claimed to be the shepherd, the judge, the light, the first and the last, the I am. He claimed to have power to forgive sins. He raised dead people. He quoted Old Testament messianic passages and applied them to Himself. He placed His Word on the same level as God's Word. He received worship. He told men to pray in His name. Why would He do such things? Because He's not just the Son of Mary, He's the Son of God.

All man - all God. We see Him in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, and then His death, His burial, and His resurrection from the dead. What makes the Christian faith distinct? We have a living Savior. For the record, I know He's alive because I've talked to Him today. And He's spoken to me today. He lives in my heart. When you read the Old Testament and Jehovah God, and then you read the New Testament and Jesus Christ, I want you to know they are one in the same. And the Old Testament is just a big pointer. It's all pointing to someone that's coming. The final fulfillment and revelation of God, it's pointing to the person of Jesus Christ.

Think about this. You have all these prophecies in the Old Testament leading up to Christ. Did you know that for only 16 prophecies to come true in Jesus lifetime, the mathematical odds are 1 in 10 to the 45th power? Translation, impossible. The mathematical odds are staggering. And yet when you come to the New Testament, he fulfills everything that was foretold about his first coming. And while I'm on it, let me just tell you, if he fulfilled everything that related to his first coming, he's going to fulfill everything he promised for his second coming. He who has come and has gone away is coming again to get us away. I'm looking forward to that day. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for your sins, He was buried, He rose from the dead. Praise God for that. And now He's ascended to the right hand of the Heavenly Father. The Bible says that He ever liveth making intercession for us. 

The work of Christ did not end when he left this world. No, his work continues at this present moment. As a matter of fact, the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse number 1, tells us about his continuing work. Some people want to limit his work to while he was here on earth, but listen to Acts 1:1, "The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach." He just began. He set it in motion, but He continues.

At this present moment. He's working in heaven right now. He is our priest. He's praying for us. He's interceding for you. Let me encourage you today. Jesus is praying for you at this moment. And He's still at work here on earth. Through believers, through His church, He's at work to draw all people to Himself. Yes, He's at work. He is the perfect prophet, always speaking the truth. He is the perfect priest, always speaking of holiness. He is the perfect king, always speaking of His power. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and I'm glad to report to you today, he's my Savior. I hope He's your Savior too. And I hope today that no matter where you're reading and studying in Scripture, on every page of Scripture, you'll meet Jesus there. And as you journey through the Word of God and meet Jesus along the way, you'll come to know Him. In a more deeply, personal, and intimate way. The Apostle Paul, after he'd been saved for more than 30 years, wrote that I may know him. And the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. This study of the doctrine of Christ is not just for us to know something, it's to know someone. I hope you'll make the application of it to your life today. I hope you'll make it deeply personal and intimate. I hope you'll determine a day by the grace of God to truly know the Lord Jesus Christ and to seek Him on every page of the Word of God. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. 

We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the Biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Genesis 3:15) Jesus, the Living Word, is revealed in the written Word of God. If you want to know Jesus then you must study your Bible. From the first book of the Old Testament through the New Testament we see Christ.  (0943250217) ----more----

Jesus, sweetest name I know, fills my every longing, keeps me singing as I go. I do love the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that He is my personal Savior. And when I come to the written Word of God, I find the living Word of God. If you want to know the Lord Jesus Christ, then you must learn what the Bible says about Christ. Let's begin with a couple of scriptures. One in the Old Testament, one in the New Testament. 

Today, let's begin with the first mention of Christ in Scripture. Now, let me hastily say that there is no beginning. To the son of God. His sonship is eternal sonship. When the Bible says he is the only begotten son of God that is simply a reference to the eternal relationship between father and son.

So he didn't begin at Bethlehem. He didn't even begin in the Book of Genesis. No, my friend, he has always been because he is. Coequal, coexistent, and coeternal with the Father and the Spirit. But this is the first reference to the Lord Jesus in scripture. Colossians chapter 3 and verse number 15. It's the first promise that a Messiah was going to come.

God says in Genesis 3:15 to the devil, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head. And thou shalt bruise his heel." Ha, I love this verse. What an amazing verse it is. Basically, God looks the devil in the face and says, I want you to know that there's going to come a seed from the line of this woman that is going to conquer you.

There's going to come a redeemer that is going to crush you someday. You're going to bruise his heel, but he's going to bruise your head. Heel bruises are not fatal. They're painful, but they're not the end. But a head wound, now that's a different thing altogether. And God says to the devil, you may bruise the heel of the seed of the woman that's coming, this Messiah, this Redeemer, but then he's going to take that bruised heel and he's going to crush your head with it.

I want you to know at Calvary, the heel of our lovely Lord Jesus was bruised, but when He came out of that grave alive forevermore, He put his head on the, or his heel rather, on the head of that old serpent, the devil. He has conquered death, hell, and the grave. Satan is under his feet and will be under his feet for all eternity. Aren't you glad everything God foretells, He always fulfills. So this is our introduction to what the Bible says about Jesus Christ. 

Now when you come to the New Testament, Let's read in Colossians, because Colossians is all about the preeminence of Christ above all. Colossians chapter 1 verse number 14 says, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible God."

Get that. God is a spirit, remember. He is the invisible God. But the Lord Jesus came to reveal God to us. He's the image of the invisible God. The firstborn of every creature. For by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things, He might have the preeminence, for it pleased the Father that in Him all, should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of His cross by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, By Him, I say, whether they be things in heaven or things in earth and you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now be reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight.

What an amazing portion of scripture. I've marked in Colossians 1 four key words. The first is the word created. Christ is the creator. All things were made by Him and for Him, for His pleasure. Then I have circled the little word CONSIST. God not only created all things by the Lord Jesus Christ. But they are all sustained by Christ.

He's the one who keeps us, by whom we continue to exist, in Him we live and move and have our being. I've circled the word cross because that's why He came. That's why He came to earth, to redeem us from our sin and bring us to God. And then I've circled the word church. He who started it all is to be preeminent. among his people. He is the head of the body, the church. 

Now the question is, do you know the one who created the world? Do you know the one by whom all things consist? Do you know the one who went to the cross? Do you know the head of the church? It must become personal. So it's not enough for you to simply know about Christ.

You need to know Christ for yourself. It's one thing to say this is what the Bible says. But now may I ask you, what does the Lord Jesus Christ mean to you today? When we come to scripture, we come to scripture with one great hunger, and that is to know God. We've established that already, and we know that the Bible reveals God to us.

But as you read and study the Bible, what you're going to find again, and again, is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The great prayer of every person should be this, Lord, I want to know your Son. Why is that? Because when you come to know Jesus, you come to know God. 

John chapter 1, verse number 1 says, "In the beginning was the Word."

And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Anyone that tells you that Jesus never claimed to be God has never read the Bible. Anyone that says that the scripture does not plainly show the deity of Christ has never really studied the scriptures. The Lord Jesus Christ came to reveal His Father to us so that we could come into the family.

The writer of Hebrews said it this way in Hebrews chapter 1, verse 1, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand, of the majesty on high being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they."

I don't know about you. That sounds a lot like Colossians one to me. He is the creator. He's the one by which things repelled or consist. He's the one who redeemed us, the one who went to the cross, and yes, he's the head of the church. He has a name above every name. Philippians two says, someday at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow.

Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Our desire is not simply to understand the written word, it is to know the living word. The perfect, final, fullest expression of God to man. And that is the person of His Son, the lovely Lord Jesus Christ. 

I wonder today, would you speak His name? Even now, would you just say the name, Jesus? Jesus. Jesus. There's no name like that name. If you don't know him as your Savior, speak it now in faith. Jesus, save me. Jesus, come into my life. Jesus, I want to know you. And if you are a believer, would you simply pause now and say, Jesus, I love you. Jesus, thank you for saving me. Jesus, thank you for revealing God to us and bringing us into the family of God forever.

Let what the Bible says about Jesus Christ become deeply personal to you today. Have more than head knowledge, have a heart understanding. And rejoice that God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you'll tell someone else about Jesus today. Because there's none of the name under heaven whereby we must be saved. There's no name like the name of Jesus. (Learn more at enjoyingthejourney.org/gospel).

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the Biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book by book studies of Scripture.

You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Mark  1:3-4, 12-13) We all have busy days, but nobody has ever been busier than Jesus was! Although He was everlastingly busy during His earthly ministry, Christ was never so much in a hurry that He neglected prayer. Listen to this episode of The Weekend Pulpit. (0942250215) 

(Proverbs 9:10) While there are many things we do not know about God, there is much that we can know about God. He wrote it down for us! The deeper we go into Scripture the deeper we can go into our knowledge of God. (0941250214) ----more----

There are many things that I do not know about God. There are many things that are beyond my understanding. And why is that? Because I am a finite being and He is an infinite God. And yet, isn't it glorious? Isn't it wonderful? That God, through His Word, has revealed Himself in such a way that there are many things we do know about God. So many people get stuck on the things they don't know and can't understand but they miss in that what they should know and what we can understand. 

Proverbs chapter 9, verse number 10 says this, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy. Is understanding." Did you hear that expression? The knowledge of the holy, not of holy things, but of the holy one. 

In fact, holiness is the one attribute that is most often attached to God in Scripture. That does not mean that He is more holy than He is any of His other attributes. He's the perfection of all of them. You can't chop God up. You can't divide Him.

He's not one. He is all. He's not more of one. He is perfectly all. But the reason Holiness is attributed to God more than any other thing in Scripture is that His holiness is the perfection of all of His attributes. Everything about God is holy. His knowledge, His power, His love, His mercy, His judgment, everything is a revelation of our holy God.

And I want to say to you that We should begin, when we are studying what the Bible says, by saying, Lord, we want to know our Holy God. We want to know Him personally. It's one of the great marvels of our God. He is both infinite and knowable at the same time. There's no limit to Him. There's no end to Him, and yet, there is a place to begin. We can know Him by finding out what Scripture says about Him. This is God's revelation of Himself. I heard for years preachers say that when we get to heaven, we're going to know everything. I don't believe that's what scripture teaches. The Bible says we will know even as we are known.

But I believe when we get to Heaven, when we get into Eternity, we're going to spend the rest of Eternity entering in our knowledge and understanding more and more to the depths of our great God. I don't think you'll ever exhaust who God is. That's what's going to make Eternity such an ongoing adventure.

More and more of His love and beauty and perfection. And friend, that journey is not to begin when we die or Jesus comes. It is to begin right here. And right now, it is to begin by us discovering what the Bible says about God. So what does the Bible say? We can't be exhaustive about this, certainly not in this brief time we have to study together. But may I just give you a few thoughts to, to meditate on today? Some things that you can study further for yourself and look for in Scripture. 

In Scripture, we learn that He is self-existent and self-sufficient. It means He is the Great I Am. The only limits on God are the ones He places on Himself. The limits of His own holy will. He holds back, for example, His justice with His mercy. God may limit Himself in certain areas at particular times, but there is no limit to Him. He is I Am. He's the only one who can say I Am and put nothing after it. He is the self existent and self sufficient one.

Imagine Him saying to Moses, Tell them I Am sent you. I Am what? Yes. All of the above. More than you could ever imagine. Not only that, He's immutable. That means he never changes. James chapter 1 and verse number 17, Malachi chapter 3, verse number 6, all through scripture we get this truth. He says in Malachi 3 verse 6, "I am the Lord, I change not."

And then, He is eternal. Eternity has no beginning and no end. It's like an open ended front and an open ended back. And God is beyond the limits in both directions. God's not in time. Time is in God. God holds time in the palm of His hand. He's the eternal God. Did you know that the word eternity is only found one time in all of Scripture?

I would challenge you to find it. I could give you the reference, but I'm going to challenge you. I'll give you a homework assignment. See if you can find the one verse in the Bible where the word eternity is found, and in that verse, The Bible references the God who inhabits eternity. Think of a God so big, He fills up eternity. God is not bound by anything. Not by time or not by space. No, because He is the great I Am. 

Then we know He's all powerful. Some people refer to that as His omnipotence. He is all powerful. He is omniscient. That means He knows everything. He's omnipresent. That means He's everywhere at once. If I say to you, where's God, some people say he's in heaven, other people say he's in my heart. The truth of the matter is, you can't limit Him to either place. He may be in both places, but He's everywhere at once. Psalm 139, the psalmist cries out, "Where then shall I go from thy spirit? Where then shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, thy right hand shall hold me." God's everywhere. 

And then we know that God is faithful. He is true. He never lies. He never fails to keep His word. He is a God of truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. We know He's a God of mercy and of goodness. That means He holds back what we don't deserve. And He, or what we do deserve rather, and He gives what we don't deserve. Think of that. He holds back the judgment and He gives good things. What was the Psalmist saying in Psalm 23, "Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

I tell you, you can't beat the Christian life. Mercy and goodness come to live with you now, and you go to live with the God of mercy and goodness for all eternity. I hope you know the Lord as your personal Savior. 

And then, we know He's a God of justice. And a God of righteousness. That's what the cross was all about.

That's what Calvary revealed. God doesn't laugh at sin. He doesn't simply turn a blind. Turn a blind eye to our unrighteousness. Isaiah 53, verse 11. He saw the travail of Christ's soul and was satisfied his justice, his righteousness was satisfied at that moment. Then, praise God, we know He's a God of love.

First John 4:16 says, "God is love." It's not just something He does, it's who He is. And then we come full circle back to where we started, He's a holy God. He's the thrice holy God. Do you remember? Isaiah chapter 6, what are they saying? Holy, Lord God Almighty. When you come to the revelation of Christ, what are they saying? "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is to come." The Father is holy, the Son is holy, the Spirit is holy. He was holy in the past, He is holy in the present, He always will be holy for all eternity He is the Holy God. 

I would challenge you to study the names of God all through scripture because his names reveal His character. Study His attributes, learn more about the God of the Bible, and I'll tell you what I think you'll find. Number one, you're going to love him more. To know him is to love him. And the more you come to see what the Bible says about God, the more you're going to say to the Father, I love you, I'm so glad to be your child. The more you're going to say to the Son, thank you for saving me and bringing me into this family. And the more you're going to say to the Holy Spirit, I'm so glad you're with me right now. Learn what the Bible says for your own soul, but then don't keep it to yourself. Pass it along to somebody else.

Peter says, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear." I hope today you'll both learn and share what the Bible says about our great God. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough.

We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book by book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(2 Timothy 3:13-17) In an age of deception God's people must know what they believe - and why! We must be ready to share with others, not what we think, but what God thinks. It is time to know and make known what the Bible says. (0938250211/13) ----more----

Everywhere I go, it seems that the favorite verse of people today seems to be 2 Timothy 3 and verse number 13, where the Bible says, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." I hear everybody quoting that verse and talking about how bad things have gotten and the pitiful condition of churches and communities and culture, and there's no doubt that's true. But I want to remind you that verse does not stand alone. That text has a context. As a matter of fact, immediately after the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, those words, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived," he says in the very next verse, 2 Timothy 3:14, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them."

In other words, yes, there are negatives all around us, but on the positive side, we're supposed to continue in the truth. Yes, this is an age of deception, all the more reason for us to take a strong stand on the truth. Yes, there is a spirit of Antichrist at work in our world that's trying to deceive people. But friends, just because the spirit of the deceiver is at work does not mean that the Holy Spirit has stopped his work. Oh, the spirit of truth is alive and well. He's at work in me today. He's at work in you today. He's at work through the Word today. And that's why God's people need to know what the Bible says.

Listen to the verse again, 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 14, "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned. And has been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them. "

The three great principles, the three great truths in that verse. Number one, you have to learn the word. He said, if you're going to live it, if you're going to teach it and preach it to others, you have to learn it. So we must learn what God says.

Then, you must develop some assurance about what you're learning. He not only says you've learned it, he said you've been assured of these things. You must develop some deep personal conviction that the Word of God truly is that, the Word of God. It is the revelation of God Himself. It is the truth. And I trust and pray that you're developing a deeper and deeper conviction and confidence in the Word of God. This is the very Word of Truth. And you can trust a God who never lies. As a matter of fact, he says at the end of the verse, "Knowing of whom thou hast learned them." What's that a reference to? He goes on in verse 15 to say, "And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus." He's saying that faith that was laid for you in childhood. That simple truth that you were willing to accept in your youth, don't ever get away from that.

No matter how complicated the world may get, no matter how complex the problems may be, always go back again and again to the simplicity that is in Jesus Christ. Only Christ, only the Word of Truth can cut through the mess and the mayhem of our world and of our lives. Only the Lord can do that. So never forget. Where you learned it and who you learned it from. Timothy had a godly mother and a holy grandmother. Do you remember Lois and Eunice? Never forget those people who gave you this heritage. Never forget the people who taught you the truth. Perhaps there's some hint here as well of Paul reminding Timothy of what he personally had taught him in his youth. You remember how Timothy joined Paul when he was just a very young man. Paul is saying, don't ever forget the things that you were taught early on in your life. Don't ever get moved off the foundation of your faith. So number one, you must learn what the Bible says. Then you must be assured of what the Bible says.

And then, you must continue in what the Bible says, but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Look, we're living in a world of quitters. Even when it comes to faith, even when it comes to ministry, even when it comes to, to so called Christians, we're living in a world of people that just are giving up on the Lord, giving up on the truth, giving up on the church.

Don't be one of those people. You be one of those people that continue. I want to cross the finish line of glory. Not coasting in heaven, but with a pedal to the metal. I want to finish strong. I want to finish well. Is that what you want for your life? And you're going to have to make up your mind today that you're going to continue in what the Bible says.

At the end of this very same chapter, he goes on to say these words, 2 Timothy 3 verse 16, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." In other words, we believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. It is enough. God has not told you everything He knows, but He's told you everything you need to know. We have all things that pertain to life and godliness. In the Word of God, God gives you all the truth you need to live a victorious life. The Bible says here that Scripture makes us wise unto salvation.

That's where you have to begin, by knowing the Lord as your personal Savior. You can't understand the Word of God if you don't know the God of the Word. So if you're not a believer, let's start here with the most basic thing, God loves you. Jesus Christ died for your sins. He was buried and rose from the dead. He wants to come live in your life and He wants you to live with Him eternally. He wants to give you today everlasting life. Would you put your faith in the Lord Jesus right now? Would you look to him in simple childlike faith and call on him and say, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. At first, you must be saved. But then, we don't end there. That's just the beginning. (Visit enjoyingthejourney.org/gospel to learn more.)

The Bible says once the scripture makes us wise in a salvation, then it goes on to profit us in these ways: doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction. Now, notice the divine order here. Doctrine is the foundation. It's what we believe. That's what the word doctrine means. Our beliefs. So you've got to start with what you believe. Honestly, what you believe is going to affect how you behave. We might say it this way, your doctrine affects your deportment. Your life grows out of what you truly believe in your heart. So he begins with doctrine. Then he says, for reproof, That's to show us where we're wrong. Then he says for correction, that's to show us how to get right. Then he says for instruction in righteousness, that's telling us how to stay right. But notice, before he deals with the practicality of our individual life, before he deals with us personally. And the way we live every day, he begins with doctrine. That's why we're beginning this brand new series on what the Bible says. Why? Because only by learning what the Bible says can we learn truly what God wants. When you come to study the Bible, you shouldn't come to, to learn things. Some people study the Bible almost like they're getting ready for Bible trivia, and that's very dangerous because you can know things without knowing God. In fact, the Apostle Paul said, knowledge puffeth up. You can get full of knowledge and just be full of yourself instead of full of God.

When we approach the Scriptures, we must come to the Word of God saying, Lord, reveal yourself to me. Lord, I want to know you. And if you'll come with that spirit, that hunger, that thirst, that heart, then God will begin to reveal his truth to you. And you must begin by knowing what the Bible says with doctrine. It's really not so much about formula as it is about desire. Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness? Jesus says you'll be filled. David said, As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Moses said, Show me now thy way that I may know thee. I want to challenge you today to begin this study of what the Bible says with a simple prayer. A personal prayer from your heart. Dear Lord, show me yourself. Dear Lord, help me know God better. Help me to know the God of truth so that I'll have the foundation to become the person that God saved me to be. This is the only way to truly understand what the Bible says. Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. 

We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book by book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the Biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

(Deuteronomy 32:2) Doctrine is not for professional theologians and academic minds. It is simply our beliefs and teachings, taken directly from the Word of God. Study the Scriptures and settle what you believe from the Bible. (0939250212) ----more----

Libraries and bookstores are absolutely filled with men's opinions. Radio, television, talk news, all of it, totally filled with everybody's ideas about what they think is right. But I wonder How often we stop to say, what does God think? Did you know that God's thoughts are revealed in His Word? And if you want to know what God thinks about something, then ask yourself this question, what does the Bible say?

We're beginning this series of what the Bible says. And I've started here by just laying a little foundation about the importance of what we call doctrine. That's a word that some people stay away from today. Let me just tell you, doctrine is not a dirty word. Not at all. In fact, it's God's word.

Did you know that the word doctrine is found 51 times in 50 verses of your Bible? Let me show you a couple of them today. You may want to get a good concordance and look them all up for yourself and walk through them and meditate on them. I've done that. And it's a rich, refreshing way to study that Bible word.

But let me show you the first one. The first one is Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse number 2. Now remember, the first time a word is used in the Word of God, it has great significance. It's the law of first mention. Because the first time it's given, it really gives a pattern to follow. It gives an opening truth, if you will, that the Lord will consistently go back to.

In Deuteronomy 32, we read these words, "My doctrine shall drop as the rain. My speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass." There are two or three things that really strike me even as I read that verse. One is, that God connects doctrine to rain.

We think of doctrine as being some really heavy thing. But I want to say to you, really, God says, my doctrine is refreshing. My doctrine is a blessing to you. It drops down as the rain, it distills as the dew. Think of the gentleness of dew and then not only what it is as it comes down, but what it produces, it brings about the tender herb.

It brings showers upon the grass. I believe that every good thing that grows in our life grows out of the truth. And until we understand the importance of doctrine, we will never become the people that God wants us to be. Now that's Deuteronomy 32 too. Let me read the verse before it and the verse after it.

Verse 1 of Deuteronomy 32 says, "Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak. And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the rain, My speech shall distill as the dew, As the small rain upon the tender herb, And as the showers upon the grass, Because I will publish the name of the Lord. Ascribe ye greatness unto our God." 

The very first time the word doctrine is used in scripture, it is connected to worship. We don't study to know. We study to worship. We don't study to simply have facts. We study to know the God of truth. We come to Bible doctrine and we say, Dear Lord, we want to know you better.

We want to know what you have to say to us. Oh God, speak to us and show us yourself. That's the great message of Deuteronomy chapter 32, and that's the great purpose of doctrine. 

The last mention of the word doctrine is found in Revelation 2, in the church age, in the letters to the seven churches, and it says in Revelation 2 24, But I say unto you and unto the rest in Thyatira, As many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden.

So here we have the exact opposite. Here we have. A reference to false teaching. There's always going to be truth and error. There's always going to be this battle this warfare between the God of truth and the old liar, the deceiver, the serpent, the devil. Always. That's what we're watching in our world today.

That's what's going on on school campuses. That's what's going on in the news. That's what's going on In government, there's always this conflict and struggle between what is true and what is not. And in the end, we must go back to this, what does the Bible say? I said to you that the word doctrine is found 51 times in Scripture, but the plural word, doctrines, is used 5 times.

And did you know that the 5 times it's used in the New Testament, it is always in the negative. It's never a reference to truth. It's always a reference to error. Now, that's very significant. For example, Matthew 15:9 Jesus says, "In vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Or how about Hebrews 13:9, "Be not carried away with divers and strange doctrines, for it's a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." God reserves the plural for men's ideas But he reserves the singular for his own truth.

Why is that? Because men have lots of disconnected ideas. They teach lots of varied things and call them truth. But God has one body of truth and it's all connected. And it's all important. I have the Bible in my hand right now. The Word of God. Friend, I need it all. I don't need part of it. I need every bit of it. I don't want to fall short of Scripture. And I don't want to go beyond Scripture. I just want to know what the Bible is. 

Now there are basically two great myths when it comes to doctrine. I've heard both of them and so have you. Number one, some people say we stay away from doctrine because doctrine is divisive.

As a matter of fact, I hear even some churches advertise, Come to our church. We don't talk about doctrine. We talk about real life things. I think, excuse me, that's a very ignorant thing to say. Because the word doctrine literally means our beliefs and teachings. So what those people are saying is, Come to our church.

We don't believe or teach anything. Why would you go to a church that doesn't believe or teach anything? No, doctrine is real life. It's truth that is to be applied to the way we live every day. Doctrine is not divisive. It simply divides truth from error. It does divide. Oh yes, it divides believers from unbelievers.

It divides the obedient from the disobedient. It divides the humble from the proud. It does divide, but it is not divisive. In other words, The truth is not what stirs up the problem. What stirs up problems are the responses of people to the truth. It's not loving to say everything goes.

Anything and everything can be truth. Love always has to measure up to the truth. The God of love is a God of truth. So the first great myth is that doctrine is divisive. I say to you that doctrine comes from a God of unity and our hearts are only made one. And our minds are only singularly fixed on what is right when we come in line with what the Bible says.

The second myth is this. Doctrine is dry. I hear that from time to time. People say, people can't handle all this doctrinal teaching. I even hear people brag sometimes. I'm no theologian. You should be. Theology is the study of God. You should be a real student of God. Doctrine is not dry.

The speaker may be dry, I've been dry, and you've been dry, but the Word of God is perennially fresh. And as we study the Word of God, we should do it with enthusiasm. And when we share it with others, we should do it with a spirit of We're at excitement that we have the truth of God and we have the joy and privilege of sharing it with other people.

All men have some truth, the truth of creation and of conscience, but all of them don't receive it alike. And see, it's how you respond to the truth that's important. We're not searching for the truth, we're searching in it. We've come to find out what the Bible says. So we can bring our lives in line with it, and we can pass it along to someone else.

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book by book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read.

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