Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 1 Lesson 1
In this lesson, we start a new cycle of study into the Bible using the Answers Bible Curriculum from Answers in Genesis. We begin by discussing what students can look forward to in the new version of the curriculum. We then consider from the Psalms why the Bible must be the ultimate authority for truth in life. We finish by examining how holding to the Bible as the authority for truth is being challenged in society today and how Christians should respond to these challenges.
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three passages from the Bible and which three passages that show us that God’s Word must be our Authority and then we’ll finish today by exploring a little bit more of what this means for our lives today life in the real world so let’s ask God now to bless this time and make effective our steady pray with me please a great God in heaven I pray that as we launch into another study of your scriptures that you would bless it did you enable me to teach this well that you would prepare the hearts of the people to hear your word and to put it into practice God your word is delightful and it is it is such enlightenment for us as we’re gonna see today but Lord sometimes it has to do hard work in our hearts so I pray that your spirit would accomplish the necessary work that we’d be humble that we would be submissive to your word and thereby we would gain the benefit of your way in Jesus name Amen alright to start want to I want you to participate with me in a little brainstorming session so I’m going to ask you a question and I’d like you to submit answers to my question by raising your hands now I’ll call on you what is it that people today use as authorities for truth that is what do people use as the final judge for whether something is true or false right or wrong give me one can raise your hand and give me a giving is I’ll give you one just that it may be prime the pump one authority that people use are feelings feelings and desires for example I just feel that I’m meant to be with this person that’s how I know it’s right that’s one example what’s another one nobody no volunteers no no ideas yes over on the side yeah whatever the celebrity says a particularly qualified person maybe it’s the Pope maybe it’s government official maybe it’s a a certain person you admire like a celebrity yes that’s right what else is used as an authority doing and Mom and Dad that would be if maybe another qualified person Roy you’d say that again astrology is that what you said okay yeah what did the stars say quasi religious authority Dwane something else yes scientists what what do you various scientists say or what is the scientific community say very good we could point to a number of other authorities pleasure if you enjoy it it must be right personal experience I I know that this is true because it happened to me or I I went through an experience what does society at large sit or what does my community sit now what is tradition say this is the way we’ve always done it so must be right and we already mentioned certain qualified people feelings and desires science and philosophy a man’s reason religious texts all of these are appeal to as Authority or seen as the ultimate authority for what is true or what is right now I believe all of us as Christians would affirm that by the way it’s not necessarily an exhaustive list we could point to other things now we as Christians would affirm that there is only one truth source that is completely reliable and authoritative and that’s the Bible that’s God’s Word wouldn’t we say that hopefully but as we say this as we say yes the Bible is our authority it’s the ultimate judge of what is right and what is true do we actually believe that and do we actually live like that because what happens when what the Bible says contradicts one of these other authorities that we’ve mentioned what happens when your desires contradict the Bible which are you going to believe but what happens when your experience contradicts the Bible which one will get reinterpreted will your experience be reinterpreted by the Bible or where the Bible be reinterpreted by your experience or when today’s scientific consensus contradicts the Bible who’s going to win in the end do we say as Christians that we believe the Bible is the ultimate authority but functionally in real life is something else our ultimate authority is something else the ultimate judge of what is right or true and are we consistent to turning to the Bible as our authority well today’s lessons we’re going to see why the Bible and the Bible alone must be our ultimate authority God’s Word must be our foundation this is a truth that’s seen in many many scriptures in the Bible but we’re going to look how this concept is presented in three different songs actually three sections of the songs the first one that I want you to look at together with me is Psalm 86 11th please open your Bibles to Psalm 86 11 and many of you probably know that the Psalms these prayer songs these prayer poems of Israel these hymns oftentimes they speak about the scriptures in the songs the quality of the scriptures how man should respond to God’s Word and Psalm 86 while in general it’s not about the scripture specifically it’s actually a prayer of pleading to God by David who’s in need of deliverance there’s an important verse in the middle of the psalm that says something about God’s Word and we want to look at that so I’m 8611 take a look at that verse with me it says Psalm 86 11 teach me your way O Lord that is oh yah way I will walk on your truth unite my heart to fear your name now observe as some observe some details of this verse with me notice here that David King David is speaking to God right before this verse David has been talking about the goodness and the greatness of God and right after this first David says that he will give public thanks and praise to God if God will rescue David and but notice the two requests that make up verse eleven David first says teach me your way now when someone in the Old Testament God’s Way in the singular it usually is a reference to the right way that God gives his people to live that’s the way of God you are to walk in the way of God God’s Way contrast this one we speak of the ways of God plural that usually refers to God’s actions God’s wondrous works so when David says teach me your way he’s asking y’all way to show him how to live how to walk that’s one request another request is unite my heart to fear your name term unite here means literally to bind or to join together the idea is that David wants to wholeheartedly fear and reverence God’s name and by extension fear and reverence God himself David does not want any part of himself held back from worshiping and living for God but how is God gonna answer these two prayers teach me your way unite my heart to fear your name it’s God gonna send down a holy lightning bolt from the sky now you know my way and you’ll fear me with all your heart no that’s not how God’s gonna do it the how by the scriptures in which David learns about God and learns God’s Way notice the middle line of this verse David says I will walk in your truth now walks the metaphor here very common metaphor used throughout the Bible old and new Testament walk is just another way of describing how a person lives his life how yak’s how he behaves david says if you will teach me your ways o God from your scriptures then I will live according to your truth and where’s God’s truth revealed indeed it is the scriptures so let’s put this all together with the contents David’s in danger he’s asking God for help and deliverance he’s reminding God of God’s glorious character and then this concern is expressed by David to God Oh God david says in the midst of all this I don’t just need your provision of deliverance I need to know how to live how to act how to think what to do what to believe god I know I will get this from your truth so please teach it to me help me to live by it wholeheartedly Oh God if you’ll please do me this kindness I will praise you before people and I will walk according to what your word says what a perspective and David because he wrote this song he saw it as a model for people the people of Israel to follow and not just them but us too so what about you you look at this verse is your heart like David’s as your perspective as you go through life its decisions its troubles God teach me your way I need to see your truth I need to know it show me how to walk let me not have a divided heart before you or do you abandon or ignore God as you go through your life do you not pay attention to history David shows that this is folly and this is evil we see the same truth illustrated in another way in a different song second verse for section of Scripture I want us to look at is Psalm 1:19 please turn over to Psalm 1:19 we’re gonna look at verse 105 as you probably know psalm 119 is the longest Psalm of all the Psalms in the Bible also could be called the longest chapter in the Bible they’re technically the Psalms are not chapters but do we know what psalm 119 is all about oh really it’s the greatness and necessity of God word this huge Psalm is all about God’s scriptures the Bible you know that one verse it may be famous to some of you opened my eyes that I might behold wondrous things in your law that comes from psalm 119 and another famous verse is the one we’re gonna be looking at verse 105 so psalm 119 verse 105 Oh turn there in my Bible notice what it says your word is a lamp to my feet and the light to my path okay we have another metaphor here and this is one of those metaphors that we’ve heard a lot and slung a lot and the danger of the well-known things is you heard me say below from before in Sunday School classes the danger of well-known verses or metaphors and scripture is that we stop paying attention to them and we stop thinking about what they actually teach so let’s re-examine this metaphor with fresh eyes here psalmist says that God’s Word what we can call the Bible is compared to a lamp or a light and you know when you need a lamp when it’s dark lamps light things up when there’s no other light source or when there’s not enough light from other sources what does God’s Word light up for the psalmist he says it lights up his way his path the the the way for his feet now again we’re not talking about a literal path here this is just like what Psalm 86 says the psalmist is talking about when he describes the way for his feet he’s talking about the way he should live his life says the word God’s Word lights this up and this this should make sense to us right life if we’re honest is dark they’re not just because evil is present because tragic events happen in life life is really uncertain without the Word of God I think of that line from Matthew Arnold’s poem Dover Beach Matthew Arnold was writing this poem in the mid 1800s and he was lamenting the loss of religious faith and indeed Christian faith in the world people trying to live without God and in one of the lines or one of one of the sections of the poem he says this what’s the result of abandoning God’s Word and we are as on a Darkling plain swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight as ignorant armies clash by night he put his finger on the real issue in this dark world how can you know what’s true how do you know how you want to live how do you know who is your real enemy how do you know who’s your real friend life gives you many answers but they are conflicting and confused and sometimes there’s no answer at all he might think you’ve happened upon a few certainties in life but then all of a sudden those things crumble away you thought certain items work scientific fact cannot be challenged and all of a sudden they revised you thought certain people were your devoted friends and all of a sudden they abandon you or you thought a certain person was just a powerful witness and servant of Christ and next thing you know he’s living in heinous sin and he’s abandoned the faith all of this and much more how could we possibly successfully navigate life and all the competing claims of what is true well the psalmist tells us the answer is God’s Word God has provided us with supernatural light in this dark world and by walking according to this light with God’s Word as our authority we’ll be able to see clearly we will not stumble in the darkness or not fall into a pit we will know the way to live we will know the way that is according to truth to wisdom and to joy God has given us this truth what a gift praise God for his enlightening word but the question is do you walk according to god’s lights are you using god’s lamp is it constantly lighting the way for your feet or do you hardly use god’s lantern just trust your own instincts trust your own wisdom trust the wisdom of the world if so how are you gonna deal with this text how will you possibly avoid stumbling and injury of yourself my friends my brothers and sisters we must look at all of life and the world with the lamp of scripture only by doing such will we see things as they truly are and this lamp is no selective light it’s not like you shine it on certain things and it works you shine on other things doesn’t work no whoever God’s Word shines light it illumines whether it’s history whether it’s science whether it’s your salvation or whether it’s your day to day life it’s God’s land it will light the way you may remember the analogy that Ken Ham the president advantages in Genesis likes to use for describing how we view life in the world he says it’s like putting on glasses you see everyone is wearing glasses so to speak to help them see the world and make sense of it that is everyone’s interpreting what they learn and experience in life by some Authority and this system of life interpretation is what we call a worldview everyone has a worldview and it’s like wearing glasses now unless you’re wearing biblical glasses your glasses are opaque that is you can’t see through them or you have improperly curved lenses so that everything you see is distorted you might be able to discern basic things with such lenses from time to time but you’ll often miss identify what you see and probably frequently injure yourself because you just can’t see properly even the best of other glasses other worldviews is going to fail us but God just as this first in psalm 119 says God mercifully giving us real glasses clear glasses perfect glasses that allow us to see and walk in the world with clarity we put on and keep on these biblical glasses biblical worldview perspective that understands the Bible to be the ultimate authority and tester of truth and we will be blessed we will be wise they’ll be like we’re walking in light and we can see properly the way forward when such is the case our brothers and sisters why do we then sometimes take off God’s classes and put on the glasses of man’s opinion and experience I know God’s Word says this we say but most medical professionals say this or I know God’s Word says this but all my friends say this or I know God’s Word says this but my feelings tell me otherwise there’s no reason for this kind of thinking it will only injure us so we’ve seen from these two verses Psalm 85 11 we see that we need God’s Word in order to walk in God’s Way and psalm 119:105 shows us that we need God’s Word to see our world and our way clearly but there’s one other Psalm I want to look at briefly with you and that’s Psalm 19 turn over to Psalm 19 and we’ll look at verses 7 to 11 this is another relatively famous Psalm in the Bible this one’s also written by David and there’s a clear progression in this Psalm I can’t remember if this is something we’ll come back to in a further lesson but Psalm 19 divides neatly into three sections and verses 1 to 6 David talked about how God reveals his glory through creation and verses 7 to 11 David talks about how God reveals himself through his word and in verses 12 to 14 David confesses this inability to meet the standard that God has revealed in his word and how he needs God’s mercy and we’re going to look at this middle section we’re not going to pay attention to the entire psalm we’re gonna look the middle section of psalm 19 where david says some things God’s Word look at verses 7 to 11 with me in Psalm 19 david says the law of the Lord that is the law of Yahweh is perfect restoring the soul the testimony of Yahweh is sure making wise the simple the precepts of Yahweh are right rejoicing the heart the commandment of Yahweh is pure enlightening the eyes the fear of Yahweh is clean enduring forever the judgments of Yahweh are true they are righteous altogether they are more desirable than gold yes than much fine gold sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb well we’re over by them your servant is warned in keeping them there is great reward alright it’s a little bit longer than the other two we looked at but observe some details of this passage with me notice that first of all we have a number of different nouns used to describe God’s work it’s called the law of Yahweh that is God’s Torah God’s instruction for mankind it’s also called the testimony of Yahweh it’s his witness to man it’s called the precepts of Yahweh it’s his rulebook for life it’s called the commandment of Yahweh it’s his authoritative directive it’s called the fear of Yahweh it’s the word that brings proper reverence and it’s called the judgments of Yahweh it’s his weighty decisions and authoritative verdicts now if such synonyms are used for Scripture there’s any other Authority dare assert itself as the Bible’s equal notice further the adjectives that appear in this passage describing God’s Word it’s called perfect complete and without ever it’s called sure reliable and faithful it’s called right literally straight it’s correct and just it’s called pure no evil or mistake pollutes this word it’s called clean it’s holy and of the highest quality and it’s called true it’s constant it’s trustworthy again consider the quality of the word that God has given you surely its nature proves that no other authority is worthy as your ultimate interpreter as your foundation for life then notice further what David says God’s Word does again we have six descriptions it restores the soul David sets it revitalizes your inner person it makes wise this simple even naive simpletons can become wise men through this word it rejoices the heart it moves a man’s inner being to joy it enlightens the eyes it illumines your vision so that you can see life in the world correctly that’s just like what psalm 119 says it endures forever it’s a permanent word and always relevant it doesn’t change with the times but it informs and and instructs in every time and it is righteous all together all of it every part of this word is righteous and just now consider all of this my friends what a word what an undeserved blessing that we have this from God aren’t you glad about that aren’t you glad that the things that this passage talks about can be true for you don’t you what your soul revitalized don’t you want to become wise don’t you want joy and all the other things mention here if you do then listen to this word submit to it make God’s word your foundation for truth don’t suffer these other suppose that authorities to challenge God’s Word and don’t abandon God’s word for what sounds like wisdom from another source you have something incomparable something truly great it cannot be matched in the Bible this is the very word of God this is anyone or that David comes to conclusions that he does in verses 10 to 11 he says this word is more valuable than gold than much fine gold doesn’t matter how much of gold you have doesn’t matter the quality of that gold this is more valuable he also says it’s more refreshing and enjoyable than the sweetest of desserts and back then that was usually honey but I imagine we could come up with many modern equivalents whatever you think is the most delightful thing to eat david says this is way more enjoyable this is way more refreshing and nourishing and he says moreover this word warns the servants of god against evil and foolish ways and it declares reward to those who will keep what is written within it and Noah the God was revealed through it again I say what a word and what a God would make such a word available to us how David appropriately understood the preciousness of God’s word but again the question is do you how do you view God’s word is it just one source of truth among many you think you can take or leave God’s counsel in the scripture do you see no problem in neglecting or ignoring what God has written to you do you find it easy to reinterpret what the Bible says if some other Authority counsels you differently again if you find yourself answering yes those questions I urge you don’t be so foolish well you’re gonna miss out on this word and you’re gonna keep stumbling in darkness listen to King David listen to God who speaks through David listen to God’s Word and subject yourself totally to it you know there’s another way to describe basically what we’ve been talking about today we can talk about these ideas in terms of worldviews you can talk about these ideas in terms of putting on glasses but we can also talk about these ideas and terms of faith in what will you place your ultimate thing will it be in your experiences will you trust man’s theories and conclusions ultimately when you trust your own feelings or you believe God through the word that he’s written to you my brothers and sisters if we are shaky when it comes to believing God’s Word and trusting in it as our ultimate authority then we then when we are pressured by the world or when we are pressured by our own flesh when we are pressured by the evil one to ignore or abandon God’s Word and put our faith in something else we will and will stuck with the consequences that come with that I don’t want you to injure yourselves in that way I don’t want you to injure the church in that way before we go any further in our study of God or the Bible or the gospel this isn’t matter which we need to have settled what is our ultimate authority what is going to be the final word in every manner when one source of truth claims one thing and the Bible claims another thing our answer must be emphatic we go with God we go with the Scriptures we stand on the Bible this is not merely due to the quality of the Bible as we’ve seen described in the passages today this ultimately has to do with the source of the Bible this comes from God God is the ultimate authority so because the Bible is God’s Word the Bible must also be logically the ultimate authority for us now in all this understand I’m not saying that all other authorities are useless that experience feeling science friends they’re never helpful in life no that’s not true they can be and they are they need to have a proper foundation but they are useful and I must qualify that I’m not speaking about a parent predictions between other authorities and the Bible sometimes people say things conflict when the Bible when they when they don’t actually we’ll talk a little bit more about some of those specifics later on but here me and this where there are true conflicts true contradictions which mean the Bible and what some other source says we must stand firmly on the scripture we would be wise if we would be blessed if we would be happy we would do what’s right before God we must do this this will require us of a letting go of our fear of man because this will not be a popular stance you stand on God’s Word as ultimate authority you’re not going to be well respected in the world this will also require humility if you’re gonna stand on God’s Word you cannot exalt yourself or your own ideas are your own desires this is gonna cost you but what does God’s Word say James 4:10 humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord evil what you will exalt you God’s Word is indeed a foundation and I hope you can all say amen to that now we’ve heard the main application from our lesson and from the scriptures today God’s Word is our foundation but let’s consider a few more application questions as we consider God’s Word and how it impacts the real world I have a couple questions for you number one again I’m gonna want some participation some feedback on these questions what are some areas in which Christians are under pressure today to let go of the authority of the Bible and acquiesce to or accommodate another Authority I’ll give you one just to stimulate the stimulate your thinking one area where we are under pressure as Christians is the area of marriage and sexuality we are constantly pressured to accept transgenderism and homosexuality as normal or even honorable behavior that’s what our society tells us and not only that Society tells us that immorality is totally normal it’s totally normal for every person to look at pornography I mean they can’t help themselves that’s just human and it’s normal for Christians to do too what’s the big deal or when it comes to marriage itself it’s not some sacred institution it’s been devised by man it was originally constructed to help with legal contracts and issues of inheritance it’s no big deal you can dissolve your marriage through divorce if you find that it’s not working out the way you wanted no big deal besides marriage is just really a burden anyways you get married it’s like taking on a ball and chain you heard these things this is part of the pressure this is part of the pressure that’s exerted on us and on our thinking from other authorities the question is how are we gonna respond she thinks contradict what God’s Word says but are we gonna accommodate that or are we gonna reject them what are some other areas in which Christians are being put under pressure by other authorities yes Rob I heard the first part of what you say I can say the second part again that’s right yeah abortion is a big one and this is always from our society and from various authorities in our culture it’s considered a right of all females they have the right to choose how dare you tell me what I can do with my body look at you trying to oppress women by denying their right to abortion that’s one of the pressures that we experience also what’s another one doing I’m sorry can you say that again more loudly for some reason you’re really quiet yeah absolutely this is a big one when it comes to origins Christians are again under pressure as you said Duane the school system the education system just assumes and teaches the Big Bang evolution evolutionary theory and Old Earth and then Christians are said if you’re gonna you’re gonna be taken seriously you gotta accommodate this you’ve got a reinterpret the scripture to fit this and some people say well we’re not reinterpreting the scripture the scripture always allowed for this well we’re gonna talk about a little bit later on why that’s not the case this is a clear area where Christians are faced with the choice are we going to stand on the authority of God’s Word or are we going to buckle and go with another Authority because who can who can challenge the scientific community clearly they are the ones who know what’s true when what’s right so we just we got to read reinterpret origins that’s another area of pressure how are we going to respond to that we could point to many others I think it’s a constant barrage from our culture in terms of the authority of Scripture when it comes to parenting that’s another area where we’re under assault children are looked upon as a burden not a blessing oh why would you want to have kids discipline according to the Bible is look down upon by our society corporal punishment is considered outdated cruel that’s just child abuse some people even teach that you should just affirm children and everything they want I was actually reading a book from one of my seminary classes written by a Christian psychologist and he was not talking about children specifically but he was talking about in in marriage it’s totally wrong to tell your spouse that he or she is doing something wrong even if they are because if you do tell them that you’ll be you’ll be taking away what is the most important thing in their lives which is their their feeling of significance and security that’s ultimately what salvation is about it’s God giving you significance God giving you security and when you say something that reproves another person you’re taking away from that feeling of significance and you’re going to make them fear and that’s what’s going to make them act out in bad ways so really what you should just do is just affirm them and everything show them show them your love and affirm them as a significant person I think people think the same way about children and this is again this is a pressure on our thinking what’s gonna be our authority when it comes to evangelism we’re under pressure don’t say what is offensive that’s just gonna drive people away I know by experience people respond much more positively when you just think about the love of God or no they’re never gonna believe you if you just use the Bible you need to come at them with another another Avenue you need to you need to engage them where they are you need to argue according to what they believe we are again experiencing these messages how we gonna respond is that what the Bible says or psychology in general I already alluded to this increasingly all aberrant behavior is being read iagnosed as a disease as a disorder as something medical these are not spiritual issues this is just a medical issue and the solution is let’s just medicate this person again there’s a place for medicine but when psychology or other supposed fields of medicine I’m not saying everything is ecologies bad but when psychology says things that contradict the Bible how are we going to respond miracles the Bible historicity of the Bible you can’t believe that archaeologists just prove that a long time ago post-modernism how can you push your truth on someone else everyone has their own truth universalism everyone’s gonna find God in the end how could you be so unloving to tell people that they’re not going to be able God church government why not use a business model it’s what works pastors a CEO the elders are no they’re not elders board of directors and treat the people the congregation as I forget the exact term but like constituents investors feminism is a pressure on Christianity today and pressure on the church why are you denying women the right to be pastors why denying women the right to be elders we’re equal in Christ and society is Cle progress to show the Equality of men and women why are you denying that in the church you’re bigoted you’re outdated how are we gonna respond to this again this is not an exhaustive list but they’re just some of the things that I thought of we heard we were being challenged in many many ways when it comes to the authority of Scripture and so we may say oh yeah Bible’s the authority but then we’re faced with these questions the face of these challenges what really is gonna be our ultimate authority are we gonna stand in the scripture or are we gonna accommodate these other authorities that people use so that’s just to stimulate your thinking a little bit there let’s progress to another question number two oh I should say just to reaffirm I think we’ve seen today that we can stand with confidence on this scripture we want to say well you know they’re saying all these different things but I don’t really know I guess I’ll go with the Bible now you can be confident this is God’s Word this is God’s truth this is God’s wisdom this is what’s gonna light up your way you’re gonna have to work and make sure you properly interpret it and you’re gonna have to count the cost of believing it and putting it into practice that you’ll be rewarded if you do that will be pleasing to God that would be wisdom according to God’s Way so you don’t have to fear following the Scriptures or standing on the Scriptures second question though if the Bible is as amazing as we’ve described today why do people reject the Bible is the ultimate authority I ask you yes darnit is right I’m sorry can you say that again a little bit more loudly yeah I think that’s a central part of it it’s not that the Bible fails in some respect it’s just that there are reasons that people don’t want to accept it as you say they fear men they want the approval of men and I think we could add to that that they they love the sin that they do it’s just like what John says in his gospel the light was made manifest but the darkness did not love the light because the light exposed evil deeds ultimately the reason the Bible is rejected is not because the the Bible’s reacted as the ultimate authorities not some deficiency in the Bible it’s because of the sinfulness of man’s heart yes ignorant is mixed up in that sometimes people have just never heard or read the Bible or they’ve never had it explained in its context but ultimately it’s an issue of what man loves in the heart and this is true of all of us right before Christ this is what we all did this is why we all rejected the Word of God and we all rejected God himself it’s because we loved our soon this is a result of the fall and this is why we’re so thankful for God’s mercy and opening our eyes how people will get various excuses as to why they don’t believe the Bible it’s outdated it’s just full of myths it’s the work of men it’s mistranslated it’s inaccurate it’s full of contradictions and to those specific reject objections there are specific answers we’ll talk about more of those answers as we move through our Sunday school curriculum but ultimately it’s an issue of what the heart loves man needs a new heart and until he gets a heart he’s not going to recognize the Bible the ultimate authority that leads to our third question how would you attempt to help a person especially an unbeliever to see that the Bible is the ultimate or how can you help him see them now we might be inclined to answer this question by saying well let me just prove it with another authority how good a science or I go to archeology are good a philosophy I’ll go to logic I’ll prove that the Bible must be true well if you do so you’re essentially dooming your own argument because if the Bible needs another authority to prove it then the Bible logically is not the ultimate authority if it is the ultimate authority which it is and the only way to prove the Bible would be to point to the body would it not and this is actually what the Bible calls us to do what are we to do as Christians in terms of making God known in the world it is to preach the word it’s actually to herald the gospel announce God’s truth explain it present God’s Word God is so ordained that the means of converting a person is as he says in 1st Corinthians 1 is through the foolishness of preaching the foolishness of what was preached not through clever arguments Grover and this explains partly how this works God says that the scripture is his revelation that’s how he reveals himself when God works by his Holy Spirit in a person’s heart to save a person God opens his eyes to recognize the Divine Word for what it is he sees God on display in descriptions doesn’t have to say oh you need to prove God’s mean no he just sees him the scripture displays him and when God opens his eyes you can’t help but recognize that this is God’s ordained means of awakening people to the authority of Scripture it is through preaching the gospel it is by declaring the word and this is why we’re called to do that everywhere and with all people now this is not to say that we can’t use other arguments to counter superficial objections to the Bible there is a place for arguments based off of archaeology and the like but ultimately we must understand it’s the gospel that saves people and we don’t ever want to make an argument that somehow makes the Bible not the ultimate authority it’s like Paul says let God be found true and every man alive this word God has shown us is true he’s made that clear to us so we are to treat it even as we speak with other people as the ultimate authority somebody once said and I forget who it was but it’s something that applies to multiple situations in the church whatever you use to win people is ultimately what you win them to this is true for attracting people to church you attract people with a carnival you won them to carnivals this is true also for trying to teach people about the Bible if you have to use science or rationality to win people to the Bible you’ve actually won them to rationality not the Bible if you use the Bible to win people to the Bible then you’ve then you’ve honored the word as it actually is the ultimate authority and believe that’s as God reveals in Scripture that’s his their main means of changing people and saving people now those are the questions I would want I wanted you to think about well we have a little bit of time left what other questions do you have based on what we’ve talked about today no questions okay if you think of another question or something that you’d like to let me know based on today’s lesson you can always email me and probably many of you have my email it’s the one that I send the Sunday School preview messages out to you that’s deathcap osha at gmail.com so damn div first three letters my first name commotions my last name c Apoc CIA at gmail.com you can let me know if you have a question if you have one now or if you think of one later or something you’d like to tell me based on Sunday school or even just about your Christian life I’d love to hear about it and love to help you with it if I can well that’s all that we have for this week this is I think an important foundation an important start to our steady the scriptures and our study of God next week we’re going to move more directly to the study of God and we’re going to talk about the attributes of God let’s close in prayer Lord God this is a a wondrous and liberating truth that you’ve given us you’re sure scriptures to light the way of our lives you’ve shown us how to understand the world and how to understand our own way of living it’s through your word God and in this world that is very confusing very uncertain and Lord as you know this postmodern mindset people don’t even know what’s true or how to figure out what’s true but we have the answer we have the way to to clear the fog to banish the darkness and that is with the light of your word thank you for giving that giving us this word thank you for being so kind to us thank you for not leaving us in darkness we did not deserve this we did not deserve your salvation in general but along as a part of your salvation you have revealed it in your word and you’ve given us wisdom you are wisdom o God I pray that we would actually walk according to this wisdom I pray God that as we are under pressure and there are many pressures things that seem wise things that seem kind seem things that seem like they are right and just but when we line them up against your word they can flicked with witches oh god I pray that you give us the faith and the courage to stand up against those things knowing God that your word will not fail well think of that other word of your scriptures Oh Lord where you say that every word of yours is tested and that you are a shield to those who walk uprightly nothing of what you say fails you have proven that throughout history Oh Lord God what thank you we thank you for that because that gives us confidence that we can stand on your word Oh Lord grant us the faith Holy Spirit grant us the sanctification that is necessary and that goes along with this that we might obtain the benefit of walking according to your word I pray that you do that for the people of Calvary and anyone listening today in Jesus name Amen all right thank you everyone I’ll see you next week you’re welcome