26-0701wc Transcript

(0:04) So I just want to present you, I guess, a series of lessons. (0:14) Since we have enough young people in the congregation, and also it’s a good refresher, (0:21) we’re going to go over the elementary teachings of God. (0:27) So a lot of you might be asking, well, what’s that? (0:31) What would you say are the elementary teachings of God? (0:35) What are the basics of God we want you to know? (0:40) Those aren’t rhetorical.

(0:42) Just word it out. (0:43) It’s a Bible study. (0:46) Oh, but it’s also rhetorical.

(0:47) We don’t live that far. (0:50) And in the [Hebrew] Letter, chapter 6, verse 1 and 2, there are six elementary teachings (0:58) listed there. (1:00) So if you’ve got your Bible in front of you, or if you’ve got a telephone with a Bible on it, (1:10) Hebrews 6, 1 and 2. (1:13) Okay.

(1:15) So it says in red, Hebrews 6, 1 and 2, where Paul mentions the six elementary teachings. (1:24) The first one being repentance from acts, or works, that lead to death. (1:30) Faith in God.

(1:32) Instruction about baptisms. (1:35) Notice that was plural. (1:38) The laying on of hands.

(1:40) Do we still do that today? (1:42) It’s important to know. (1:44) The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. (1:48) So those things are what Paul, not just Paul, but Holy Spirit who directed Paul, (1:57) regarded the elementary teachings of Christ as young Christians to know and study them.

(2:06) And the reason Paul brought those six elementary teachings up is because he was writing to (2:14) the Hebrew Jews of that time, and the Christian Jews. (2:22) And they kind of stagnated in their Christian progression. (2:29) And he had to admonish them, provoke them, stimulate them to get busy.

(2:38) So they should have been teachers of the Word at that time. (2:44) But they came back to it. (2:47) They got in that I’m-retired mode.

(2:49) It’s easy to do when you’re retired. (2:53) And more in the mood of, oh, let somebody else do it. (2:58) And that’s true indeed.

(3:02) So Paul, he gooses them a little bit there. (3:07) Get them back on track. (3:10) So those listed in the elementary teachings we’ll go over each and every one of those (3:17) through the course of time whenever I get up here to teach.

(3:24) So when we approach studying the Bible. (3:28) All right, so when we approach studying God’s Word, the Bible, one of the first things we (3:35) need to understand is how the Bible is laid out. (3:41) And then we need to look at how the Hebrews viewed their Bible since it was the Hebrews (3:49) and the Israelites who were responsible for preserving the Word of God.

(3:58) And in fact, Paul in Romans chapter 3, what we’re studying in Steve’s Sunday morning class, (4:10) Paul said in Romans 3.2, he asked a rhetorical question. (4:15) And the question was, what advantage is there to being a Jew? (4:21) And he said, very much in every way. (4:24) First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.

(4:33) So the Jews were responsible for keeping God’s Word over the ages. (4:41) And think of how long the Bible has been around. (4:47) Moses was the one who wrote the Torah, the first five books of the Bible.

(4:54) And how long ago was that? (4:57) Thousands of years. (5:00) And so it’s been the Jews steadfastly preserving the Word of God. (5:10) So besides God’s power, providence, and preservation, and I believe that’s what Steve likes to call (5:18) God’s providence and divine protection, His Word, He guards and protects.

(5:27) And He charged the Israelites to do the same with it. (5:31) So they took their job very seriously. (5:35) So when the scribes, who were considered lawyers back then, (5:40) they did a lot of the transcribing of the law onto new scrolls, (5:49) so they could disseminate the Word of God to others.

(5:55) And so it was an important job to take the Word of God and make new scrolls (6:01) and get those out to all the different Levitical priests. (6:05) And then when synagogues came in, each synagogue had to have their scrolls of the Torah. (6:16) And so there was a lot of copying of the Word of God.

(6:22) And they took their job so seriously that as these men who revered God (6:31) would come across the very name of God as they would go wash their hands and face (6:40) and then come back and continue transcribing. (6:46) So think of some of the text. (6:48) You know, the name of God is sometimes in one paragraph several times.

(6:55) I’m guessing those guys were pretty clean by the time they got done. (6:59) transcribing a scroll. (7:05) So anyhow, it’s important to know that God’s Word was preserved by both God and man.

(7:15) And so we can rely on the accuracy. (7:19) And think about in the church when we teach. (7:22) We teach the same thing, and it’s always one generation to the next.

(7:29) And it’s been that way since the church was established on the day of Pentecost. (7:37) And those were the instructions of Christ at the Great Commission, (7:42) was to go out and make disciples, teaching them to obey everything I commanded you, Jesus said. (7:53) So the Jewish Hebrews today, their Bible is called the Tanakh.

(8:02) That K-H is kind of a hocker noise, you would call it. (8:09) And the Tanakh consists of the Torah, which was written by Moses. (8:15) It’s the first section.

(8:17) And Torah literally means instruction, teaching, or law. (8:23) And the Torah is also known as the Pentateuch. (8:27) And that’s the first five books of the Bible.

(8:30) Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. (8:38) And then the next section of the Old Testament for the Hebrews book is the Nevi’im. (8:45) Nevi’im is the plural of whatever word they’re talking about.

(8:51) Like the Sanhedrin, you know, the body of ruling Jewish religious people. (8:57) And then Nevi’im, meaning the whole 70 of them. (9:01) Anyhow, and that is the books of the prophets.

(9:06) And the third section is called the Ketazim. (9:09) And that’s all the other writings, like the poetry and history. (9:16) But our Bible, the Christian Bible, is arranged differently than the Hebrew Bible.

(9:22) We have the Bible divided into two basic parts, Old Testament and New Testament. (9:31) The actual writings and words of the Hebrew Tanakh and the Christian Old Testament are the same. (9:38) Because they were copied from the same source material.

(9:44) Like the Septuagint and other Old Testament writers. (9:49) We have the Dead Sea Scrolls. (9:54) You know, there’s lots of material still out there that actually show the accuracy of how God’s word is preserved.

(10:05) The Dead Sea Scrolls, they find that right after the time of the Second World War. (10:12) A bunch of manuscripts kept in a cave in clay pots. (10:17) And a little shepherd boy who was throwing stones, as boys do, threw a rock into a cave and heard a clink.

(10:25) He broke one of the pots and he went in to inspect and found all this ancient writings. (10:32) And so they took those writings and compared it to today’s version of the Bible, and it’s spot on. (10:43) Praise God, that’s God preserving his word.

(10:48) You can’t do that with any human writing. (10:53) Look at some of the great works by Homer, one of the Greek writers and philosophers. (11:00) The Iliad, Homer’s Iliad.

(11:05) Isn’t that the story of Sinbad the Sailor and his adventures? (11:10) Well, that story has been copied so many times. (11:15) It’s really very much like the old game that we would play in grade school called Telephone Line to illustrate the point. (11:27) When one source starts something and passes it on over and over and over, the story completely changes by the time it gets to the last person.

(11:38) And that’s what happens with Homer’s Iliad. (11:41) There’s lots of different versions of the same story, but not so with the Word of God. (11:48) It’s preserved and it’s accurate, which is one of the things that is amazing about God.

(12:04) So the law covers the creation of the world and its early history of mankind and their genealogies. (12:17) And in it, the first command given to Adam and Eve established a law for all time, which is still in effect today. (12:28) And that is the law of sin and death.

(12:31) If you sin, you are guilty of breaking God’s command and you are deserving of death. (12:39) You need a savior. (12:41) And that’s the whole point.

(12:43) That’s why God added law upon law, pretty much to make it impossible to be able to keep the law. (12:53) Only one human was able to do that, and that was Jesus. (12:58) I mean, Paul points that out in the Roman letter.

(13:04) So after creation, the law tells of mankind’s rapid moral digression (13:14) that led to God’s decision to destroy mankind by a global flood. (13:20) After the flood, Noah and his family, who were saved by that very same water from the evil people, (13:28) as Peter describes it in his second letter, they repopulated the earth. (13:33) The genealogies of Noah and his three sons are recorded, (13:38) and the stories of the patriarchs and God’s promises to them are written down in the law.

(13:46) And toward the end of the first book of the law in Genesis, (13:50) we have the patriarch Jacob, who was named Israel after his faith became genuine. (13:57) Anyhow, he moved his whole family down to Egypt during a great global famine, (14:05) and stayed in Egypt where they had food, and spent over 430 years there. (14:13) In 400 of those years, they were in slavery.

(14:18) That’s nearly twice as long as this country has been around. (14:23) Can you imagine? (14:27) I think the Jews have the claim to being the people longest enslaved. (14:37) But the rest of the books of the law recorded their leaving Egypt, (14:44) their journey through the wilderness, receiving the law at Sinai, (14:49) and their conquest of Canaan, which was the promised land.

(14:55) Then there are the historical books, which are Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, (15:04) 1 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. (15:09) And those books detail the history of Israel from the conquest of Canaan (15:15) to all the way past the time of their exile in Babylon. (15:21) And the next Old Testament section is the books of wisdom and poetry.

(15:28) Those are five books, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. (15:35) And those explore the themes of worship, human experience, and wisdom. (15:42) And the last section of the Old Testament is divided by the prophets.

(15:47) There’s the major prophets and the minor prophets. (15:50) The major prophets are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. (15:57) The minor prophets are the 12 other guys.

(16:06) So a major prophet by the name of Jeremiah foretold of a time when the old law (16:13) would come to an end and be replaced by a new law. (16:19) And in Jeremiah 31, 31 through 33, he records, (16:27) The time is coming, declares Yahweh the Lord, (16:31) when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. (16:37) It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers (16:41) when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, (16:44) because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.

(16:51) This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. (16:58) I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. (17:02) I will be their God.

They will be my people. (17:07) So as you can see, the Old Testament had an expiration date. (17:11) And that expiration date is when Christ died on the cross.

(17:17) That ended the Old Testament. (17:20) The Old Testament and all of those festivals and all of the special holy days were nailed to the cross. (17:31) That old system of worship was over.

(17:36) So while Christ was on earth, he was giving new teachings and conditions for his testament, (17:45) the New Testament, that would replace the Old Testament. (17:49) And the Holy Spirit made it clear that there is a distinction between the Old and New Testaments. (17:57) And we need to know what applies to us and what doesn’t.

(18:03) And listen to Paul’s instructions to Timothy about God’s word. (18:09) In 2 Timothy 2.15 he writes to Timothy, (18:13) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed, (18:22) and who correctly handles, in some versions say, who rightly divides the word of truth. (18:30) So Paul’s instruction to Timothy was there’s a right way and a wrong way to handle God’s word.

(18:41) And you’ve got to do your best to present yourself to God as one who’s approved. (18:47) In other words, one who’s getting it right. (18:50) So we’ve got to really work at God’s word, work out our salvation, it says in the scriptures.

(19:00) So all of God’s word, the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, are God’s word of truth. (19:08) So we have to rightly divide what applies to us. (19:13) So from the time of John the Baptist’s arrival and afterwards, (19:20) a New Testament was being laid in a new form of teaching.

(19:26) New rules, so to speak, for this kingdom. (19:33) Turn to Matthew 3 and let’s look at verses 1 and 2. (19:47) Matthew 3, 1 and 2. (19:49) Matthew records, (19:55) In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the desert of Judea, and saying, (20:03) Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. (20:12) So John the Baptist was preaching a message of repentance and preaching a baptism of repentance.

(20:24) And repentance and baptism are both elementary teachings of Christ. (20:36) So John the Baptist was foretold of. (20:41) He was the one coming in the spirit of Elijah.

(20:46) The very last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, describes John the Baptist to a T. (20:58) And what his mission was. (21:01) So the Old Testament ends with the prediction of how the New Testament would begin. (21:08) It began with John the Baptist.

(21:13) And so John, with Jesus' testimony about him, said, (21:20) He was the greatest of all the prophets. (21:23) Did we ever see John do a miracle? (21:28) Remember, when it talked about John being a miracle baby, just like Christ was, (21:38) John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth, she couldn’t have children either. (21:43) And she was an old lady when God permitted her to conceive.

(21:55) And Zechariah, John’s father, was an old dude too. (22:02) But in that prediction, Zechariah prophesied and Elizabeth sang a song about the children to be born to them. (22:18) And in this case, John the Baptist, that he would usher in a Messiah.

(22:26) He was the herald. (22:29) The one saying, make straight paths for the Lord. (22:34) Reconcile fathers to sons, and sons to fathers.

(22:40) Make things right. (22:42) Because the Savior of the world, the Messiah, the King, (22:47) the promise, the third promise to the patriarchs, (22:52) that the world would be blessed through this King, (22:56) was coming into the world. (23:00) So in Matthew 4, you want to look along there, (23:04) Matthew 4, 12 through 17, it says, (23:11) this is right after Jesus was tempted in the desert for 40 days when he fasted.

(23:22) And then he returned back to where he was living. (23:27) It said, when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, John the Baptist, (23:33) he returned to Galilee. (23:35) Leaving Nazareth, he went down and lived in Capernaum, (23:39) which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali, (23:44) to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah.

(23:50) The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, (23:54) the way to the sea along the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, (23:58) the people living in darkness have seen a great light. (24:04) On those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned. (24:10) So from that time on, Jesus began to preach repentance, (24:15) for the kingdom of heaven is near.

(24:18) So we had John the Baptist preaching, (24:21) and then when the Messiah arrived, (24:23) he continued to preach repentance, (24:27) and continued to have his disciples baptized. (24:33) And those baptisms are some of the things we must study (24:40) as an elementary teaching of Christ. (24:45) As time went on, and Jesus was teaching the people, (24:49) like the Sermon on the Mount, (24:52) and every time he would clash and debate with the scribes (24:57) and Pharisees and Sadducees in the temple, (25:01) he was teaching, and he was laying his foundation.

(25:06) And the reason we know that it’s a new teaching, (25:10) and there’s many people in our very own brotherhood (25:15) who will argue that what Jesus was teaching (25:18) was not New Testament teachings. (25:22) It was still the Old Testament. (25:24) But here’s where they made their mistake.

(25:27) The time that Jesus lived was still Old Testament time. (25:32) He hadn’t died yet to take the Old Testament away, (25:36) but he was laying the foundation (25:39) for his last will and testament, so to speak. (25:45) And if you turn to Luke 16, 16, (25:50) in the middle of a debate he was having with the religious leaders, (25:55) he lets this nugget of gold slip into their ears.

(26:03) Luke 16, 16. (26:06) Jesus said, (26:07) The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. (26:14) Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, (26:21) and everyone is forcing their way into it.

(26:25) And what Jesus is saying there, (26:27) the law and the prophets, what is that? (26:29) Well, that’s the Old Testament to us. (26:32) But to them, that was Moses and the prophets, (26:36) all of the writings that come out. (26:40) And that was proclaimed when? (26:44) Until John.

(26:47) So all of that was preached up until John the Baptist arrived on the scene. (26:57) And the word since that time means that time ceased. (27:04) The law and the prophets ceased.

(27:07) They still had to live it while Christ was alive. (27:11) It hadn’t been taken away yet. (27:13) So they still had to obey the old law, as did Christ.

(27:19) Now what did Christ say? (27:20) I didn’t come to abolish the law, I came to fulfill it. (27:27) And so anyhow, those two operative words, until and since, (27:35) the law and the prophets were proclaimed until John, (27:39) in other words, they stopped at John. (27:42) And since that time, what took its place? (27:48) The gospel, the good news of the kingdom of God.

(27:53) And what’s it mean by everybody’s forcing their way into it? (27:58) What had just happened to Christ shortly before that? (28:04) When he fed the 5,000, what did they, (28:08) what were they conspiring to do against Jesus forcibly? (28:16) Make him king. (28:17) Exactly, Tom. (28:19) They wanted to take Jesus by force and make him the king of Israel.

(28:23) Well, he was already king of Israel. (28:27) He was anointed by God. (28:33) Prophets and kings get anointed when Christ was baptized by God.

(28:39) God anointed him with the Spirit. (28:45) And when kings and baptists, when kings and prophets are anointed, (28:53) they too receive Holy Spirit. (28:56) But Christ received the full measure of the Godhead.

(29:02) He became God again, but in human form. (29:08) So that verse, maybe highlight that verse. (29:13) That’s an important verse, (29:15) especially in the debate about when New Testament teachings actually happened.

(29:22) We had a minister here who said the New Testament is only what the apostles taught, (29:31) and that’s simply not true. (29:35) The whole gospel is what Christ was laying as a foundation for his kingdom, (29:44) for his church, for his people to understand. (29:50) Let’s look at John 8, 31 and 32.

(29:54) We all know this verse. (30:01) Exactly. (30:03) Exactly.

(30:05) Yeah, they saw that he was making a distinction, didn’t they? (30:10) They understood full well. (30:15) Good point. (30:17) John 8, 31 and 32.

(30:21) To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, (30:26) [If you hold to my teaching], you are really my disciples. (30:30) Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (30:35) So when we start learning about the gospel, the new teachings of Christ, (30:43) and we adopt, we incorporate, we make the gospel our own, (30:51) we believe it, we’re hooked by it, we’re all in, (30:58) we’ll know the truth, and the truth will make us free.

(31:02) What are we freed from? (31:11) Any guesses? (31:14) When we become a Christian, what died with Christ? (31:25) The old self. (31:27) The old sinful self. (31:30) And when we’re buried with Christ in baptism, sin has no more power over us.

(31:41) We are freed from the power of sin. (31:45) Oh, we’ll still occasionally answer the flesh’s calling (31:52) into many various forms of sin that gets presented to us, (31:56) and occasionally we’ll sin, but God, by his grace, forgives us. (32:05) John, the apostle John, tells us in his first letter (32:09) that if we confess our sins, and he’s talking to Christians, (32:16) when we confess our sins, he’s faithful and just, (32:21) and will forgive us our sins, and purify us from all unrighteousness.

(32:29) We are freed from sin. (32:34) We just have to be faithful to him and admit our guilt when it happens. (32:41) And we’ve got to fight the fight in honor of our God.

(32:46) Wow, thank you for dying on my behalf. (32:49) And out of gratitude, I want to live for God. (32:53) But we’ll still occasionally stumble.

(32:56) We still might get involved in gossiping. (33:02) We still might, you know, do things we shouldn’t. (33:11) Ah, they’ll never miss this box of paperclips at work.

(33:17) An innocent thing, isn’t that still stealing? (33:22) Ah, if I fudge these numbers, isn’t that still, in a form, stealing? (33:31) Certainly dishonest. (33:33) So at times, yeah, no matter what the sin is, we still stumble. (33:38) And that’s why God allows that avenue of forgiveness.

(33:46) We’re continually cleansed by the blood of Christ. (33:52) And even if we’re not aware of the sin we may have done, we’re covered. (33:58) Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 15, 1 and 2. (34:02) 1 Corinthians 15, 1 and 2. (34:07) Paul writes, (34:09) Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, (34:14) which you received, and on which you have taken your stand.

(34:19) By this gospel you are saved, (34:24) if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you, (34:28) otherwise you have believed in vain. (34:33) Has anybody here ever taken a programming class in school? (34:39) That is an if-then statement. (34:41) That’s a logic statement.

(34:43) If this happens, then expect that. (34:48) If-then. (34:52) And this, in a form, is a logic statement.

(34:54) But we are saved by the gospel if we firmly hold to the word of God. (35:06) So we can’t be a Christian in name only. (35:13) We have to be a Christian in deed.

(35:19) We can’t just be hearers of the word, you know, to assent to believing it, (35:26) but not being committed to doing it. (35:31) We have to hold to it. (35:35) You know, God says, (35:37) Jesus gave us a great command that proves us being disciples, (35:44) and that’s to love one another.

(35:47) Well, if we’re not loving one another, (35:49) and we’re arguing and backbiting and gossiping, (35:53) being envious or covetous of what another has, (35:59) that’s not holding to the gospel. (36:04) And if you find yourself trapped with all of those negative emotions, (36:12) is that what covetous, envy, hatefulness? (36:17) I guess they would be. (36:19) You know, if you’re steeped in that, your faith is in vain.

(36:25) What is it to have a vain faith? (36:28) What is vanity? (36:31) It’s uselessness, right? (36:34) That means your faith is useless. (36:36) So if you find yourself in that situation, what’s the answer? (36:42) Go to God privately, close your door, (36:46) go to Him in prayer, confess your sins, and repent of it, (36:51) and He will bless you beyond measure. (36:57) Now, John 17, 17, when Jesus, (37:02) this is actually John 17, (37:05) is where Christ prayed right before when He got turned in by Judas, (37:14) betrayed by Judas, (37:16) and He was with all of His disciples, (37:20) and in His prayer He said, (37:23) sanctify them by the truth.

(37:26) Your word is truth. (37:28) What is it to be sanctified? (37:31) And pure. (37:33) And pure.

(37:35) Yes. (37:36) And to be sanctified is to be set apart for a holy purpose. (37:42) By the word of God, we’re sanctified.

(37:46) By the blood of Christ, we’re sanctified. (37:50) By Holy Spirit coming in us and being our seal for redemption, we’re sanctified. (37:59) So when we turn our lives over to Christ and obey what He says, (38:06) we’re set apart for holy purpose.

(38:09) So we can do works for God. (38:15) And in the Philippian letter, it says these works were prepared from before eternity. (38:23) God expects something out of us.

(38:26) We’re supposed to do good works. (38:28) We don’t know what they are. (38:30) We just got to be busy doing good works on His behalf, (38:33) not to earn our salvation, but because of our salvation.

(38:40) Wow, thanks, God. (38:42) I’m going to do this for you. (38:45) Rather than, man, I’d better do this or I’m not going to make it to heaven.

(38:51) That’s an attitude. (38:53) Got to have the right attitude. (38:56) Not to earn our way and be legalistic, thinking we’re owed it if we do it, (39:02) but just doing it out of a grateful heart works for God.

(39:08) You know, one of the verses that a lot of denominations quote, (39:15) and they like to hinge their entire salvation on the fact that all they have to do is believe, (39:25) which is an idea introduced by Calvin, a fellow in England, John Calvin. (39:35) But anyhow, that is a dangerous, dangerous belief that once saved, always saved. (39:48) All you got to do is believe.

(39:53) And the very verse that they claim means you just rely on God’s grace, which we do. (39:59) We rely on God’s grace to be saved. (40:03) But what is it? (40:05) Ephesians 2, 8 through 10.

(40:08) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and it is not from yourselves. (40:12) It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. (40:18) For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, (40:24) which God prepared in advance for us to do.

(40:28) They always forget verse 10. (40:30) We have to do works. (40:33) Not to earn our way into heaven, but it’s expected of us.

(40:37) Hey, I did this for you. (40:39) I saved you. (40:41) Out of a grateful heart, you should be my hands and feet and mouth and eyes in this world, (40:50) while I’m away.

(40:53) Okay, we’re running out of time. (40:56) Just want to bring up a couple other verses. (41:02) In Galatians 1, 11, and 12, Paul is telling the brothers in Galatia, he said, (41:11) I want you to know, brothers, the gospel I preached to you is not something that man made up.

(41:19) I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it. (41:23) Rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (41:29) So Paul is reassuring us that the gospel isn’t some imagination from some guy’s mind.

(41:40) It’s just not stories made up, good moral stories for us to live our lives by. (41:47) I don’t know how it’s done. (41:50) But God, Jesus, beamed the gospel into Paul’s mind.

(41:58) When Paul became a believer, when he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the church, (42:06) Christ appeared to him, and Paul became blind and needed Ananias to restore his sight and to baptize him. (42:19) And then Paul disappeared for a couple of years out in the Arabian desert. (42:25) Guess what he was doing? (42:30) He was becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ.

(42:34) By Christ, I don’t know if he hit automatic playback into his mind or how that works. (42:43) He’s God. He can do it.

(42:45) But he taught Paul himself the gospel. (42:51) And in 1 Corinthians 14.37, Paul says, (42:56) If anyone thinks he’s a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write to you are the commands of Christ. (43:08) So all of Paul’s writings and teachings, they came from Jesus.

(43:17) Okay, I guess we will pick up with the elementary teachings and actually get into the teachings. (43:23) Eventually, I’m just kind of laying a little foundation for us of understanding before we get into the basics of the Bible. (43:33) So why don’t we close with a prayer.

(43:37) The grace of Father in heaven, we’re so grateful for your word. (43:42) And to have the assurance that your word is accurate and true. (43:48) Because by your power and by the will of good people who are devoted to you, your word is preserved.

(44:00) We thank you for the truth of your word. (44:03) We pray, Father, that you’ll open our minds up to the truth of your word. (44:11) Like your servant David said, open my mind that I may see wonderful things in your law.

(44:19) Father, bless all of our minds. (44:21) Help us to know your word so that we can share it joyfully with others. (44:28) In Jesus' name, amen. (44:30)