Good evening. Let's turn now to the book of
Acts, chapter 17, and continue our studies there. Acts, chapter
17. I know some of you, most of you,
if not all of you, have a Bible. Several of you have been ordering
them lately. So let's break them in. What do you say? Let's search the scriptures tonight,
OK? Do a little searching. Read here in Acts 17, Acts 17,
verses 5 through 12 with me. Now, you remember the context
of this, how Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica. And our subject, or our message
Sunday morning was on them preaching Christ, crucified. And they preached,
and it says in verse 4, some believed, devout Greeks and cheap
women, not a few, but, verse 5, the Jews, the Jews always
represent religious people, don't they? The Jews which believed
not moved within them. The Jews, which believed not,
moved within me." That is, they were moved, they were jealous
of the crowds that the apostles drew. They took unto them certain
lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set
all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason.
And evidently, this Jason was a disciple of the Lord and had
the Apostle Paul and others in his house and some of the other
saints. And they assaulted the house
of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people. In other
words, Paul and Silas and some were in his house, so they assaulted
his house. When they found them not, they
drew Jason and certain brethren under the rulers of the city,
crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come
hither also. These that are turning the world
upside down are here in Thessalonica, too, and whom Jason hath received."
This man has received them into his home, and what they are doing
is contrary to the decrees of Caesar. They are saying that
there is another king. won Jesus. No, it didn't say
he was another king. It said he was the king, the
king of kings. Caesar is the imposter. And they
troubled the people and the rulers of the city when they heard these
things. And when they had taken security, or evidently jailed
this Jason of the others, they let them go. And the brethren,
now here Here's where we'll dwell tonight. And what I wanted to
show you by reading that, I wanted to read all of it in our studies
and that, is that no one is exempt from tribulation and persecution
if you stand for the truth. It wasn't just the apostles who
were persecuted and imprisoned and so forth back then and these
days. It was everyone. Everyone. And
the scripture says, All that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution. I read on, verse 10 through 12. And the brethren immediately,
spearing for Paul and Silas' life, they sent away Paul and
Silas by night unto Berea, the town of Berea. Who, or Paul and
Silas, coming thither, first thing they did, They went into
the synagogue of the Jews to preach the gospel. They were
always about their father's business, weren't they? That's the reason,
that's what they were doing. Right in this town of Berea,
it says these Jews were, verse 11, these Jews were more noble
than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with
all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether
those things were so. Therefore, many of them believed,
and also honorable women, which were Greeks, and of men not a
few. So Jew and Greek received the
word here in Berea, and they were called noble for doing so. Noble Bereans. Are you a noble
Berean? I hope so. Ellen, noble Berean. I hope so. If you're a Jew, I
believe, not outwardly. but inwardly. It says that they
received the word, verse 11 will serve as the text, Have your Bibles ready now, and
we're going to search the Scriptures together. And what I intend to do from
this study tonight is to show you, show us, and hopefully God
will show us, that this being God's Word, there's no doubt
in your mind that this is God's Word, is there? No doubt. We
read that in 2 Peter 1. no doubt, to true believers,
that this is God's word. It is inspired, infallible, inerrant, and we don't debate any of it,
not up for argument. We believe it. This is God's
word. And this being God's word, I want to show you then that
it is the only way God speaks, the only way he speaks, the only
way he instructs, the only answers he gives us. It is all he has
for us. This is all God has for us. You understand me? This is the
only place you're going to get anything from the hand of God.
Anything of any value, of any substance, right here. But oh,
you'll be rich if you have these things. It says, and all error,
what I want to show you from tonight's message is that all
error, all heresy, all false doctrine comes from ignorance
of these scriptures. And, now that's the world at
large, is ignorance. But for believers, all of our
fainting fits, you know what a fainting fit is? that you faint
not, quit not, ready to quit, ready to give in, depressed,
down, distressed, and so forth. All our struggles, all of our
difficulties, all of our inward problems are also from not knowing
and being ignorant of the scripture. OK? Are you with me? Sounds pretty
important, doesn't it? All right, Romans 15, verse 4,
and look at this portion and mark it well, at least in your
mind. Romans 15, verse 4. Whatsoever
things were written aforetime, were written, and now what's
this talking about? What scripture? Old Testament,
isn't it? Every time they mention scriptures,
basically. He's talking about the Old Testament.
But like Peter said, we have a more sure word prophecy even
now. We have more scripture than what
they had. It was not revealed. Terry, the
prophets didn't receive what we have. They didn't have the
knowledge we have. What a gift we have. Whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning
that, here it is, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures,
you might have hope. Do you get that? Whatever is written is written
for our learning, that we, through patience—how much did James talk
about patience? Let me read it to you, here in
the book of James. He said in the book of James
that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Whatever trial
comes about in our life, God sends it. And it's for a purpose. The primary purpose is to give
us patience. Do you need patience? What is
patience? Brother Doug Weaver and I were
talking on the phone tonight about this. And believe me, that man had
learned a little bit about patience. About getting out of the bed
for sixteen days. be deathly sick in a foreign
country without your family for a month. You can learn something
about waiting on the Lord. That's what patience is, basically.
Waiting on the Lord, depending upon him. We need to know something
about that, don't we? And he says, let patience have her perfect
work that you may be perfect. What does that mean? Mature. Not a child tossed to and fro,
up and down, you know, crying and pouting and screaming and
murmuring. What do children do? They're
immature in every way, emotionally, aren't they? Do we need that
maturity? Do we need to be adults, strong
men in the faith? Try in your faith, work with
patience and patience, hope. It all goes together, doesn't
it? That through patience, whatever is written is written for our
patience that through comfort of the scriptures, where does
comfort come from? The scripture. You don't find
it anywhere else. You call up a brother, or you
say you come here. Where does your scriptures come
from? Or where does your comfort come from? When you hear the
scriptures expounded. And the more scriptures you hear,
that's the reason it's expedient that a man stand up and give
as much scripture as he can. Because one of those words will
be a word in season from the Lord for somebody. He doesn't
know what it will be. The same verse might not touch
everybody. You should take several shots,
shoot several arrows at a venture. One will hit John over there
and one will hit Terry. You don't know what. That's in
the Lord's hands, right? We plant, we water, but the Lord
must give the increment. He knows. He knows. His word is like a sword, like
an arrow. So we shoot many arrows. Comfort of Scripture. The only
comfort you're going to find, if you're endeavoring to give
comfort to one of your brethren or your sister, and I've found
this out by experience, people call me all the time and are
looking for some comfort, and just as soon as they call me
or as soon as they begin to talk to me about their problems, I'm
racking my brain. I'm asking the Lord. The Lord
give me something from the Word. Give me a word in season. of
the word, a word that's powerful, that's quick, that's sharper
than this word. It's a hammer, it's a fire. Give
me a word, just one word, just a portion of scripture that might
help them, that might be a comfort of scripture. That's the only
place you're going to find it in, the only place. That, through patience,
look at it again, and comfort of the scriptures, you might
have, what's the word? Hope. Hope. Hope of what? Hope of eternal
life. That's what we're after, isn't
it? Is that what we're seeking? We're declaring by being here
that we have here no continuing city. We look for another one.
Hope. Hope of eternal life. That this is not everything to
us. That's why we take our time on
Wednesday night. That's why we take a little bit
of our time on Wednesday night. God's time and devoted to this
because we're serious about it. I hope that's why you're serious
about this thing. We're looking for another city
and we're coming here to hear once again about it and look
into those things and be further along that path. Eternal hope. But we need some hope right now. And we need life now. We need
some abundant life right now, don't we? We need to know how
to get through this life. Many of us may have many more
years on this earth, and we've got a lot to learn how to live
this one, don't we? We can't just give it up. We've
got to live it, don't we? So we need hope in this life
also, don't we? If we only have hope in this
life, we're all men, most miserable. There's no hope without God,
without Christ, without a knowledge of God's Word. This is where
the knowledge of God and knowledge of Christ and salvation comes
from, the knowledge of his Word. There's no hope. And for the
life of me, lack of a, you know, that's a common saying, for the
life of me, I don't understand how people cope in this world. without God's work, without a
knowledge and a belief and a trust in a sovereign God. Do you? How
do they cope with the things that happen to them? Without
an intimate acquaintance with one who's in control, without
a knowledge of the Word, without answers? How do you cope without
answers to some of these terrible things that happen in our day?
How? It's no wonder suicide is rampant,
becoming more and more so all the time. No wonder. You don't
have any answers. I'd give it up to you in hopes
of something better out there somewhere. How do you know that
there's going to be an end of suffering? If there's no hope,
if you have no hope of there being an end of your suffering,
how do you cope? The scripture says through patience,
through comfort of the scripture, you might have hope. And not
just, oh, I hope, I hope, you know, cross from fingers, hope
to die. A hope, a good hope, a sure hope,
through grace, through Christ. Now, when I turn over to 2 Peter
chapter 3 with me, 2 Peter 3, well, this hope is only found
in God, in Christ, and in the Word. is the only place your
hope can be found. 2 Peter 3, and the word, as we
sang, is that which speaks of a person,
a person, that one who is in control. 2 Peter 3, Christ said
this. He himself said that many false
prophets and even false Christs are going to arise in the last
day. It's evident we're in those days.
Paul said that the mystery of iniquity already works, didn't
he? A long time ago, in the last days, whenever Christ stood on
this earth, it began the last day. And he gave us many things
to show when the last, last days were here, and we're in them.
And that is, to me, one of the most evident signs. to anyone who has a knowledge
of the scriptures, that now, as never before, is the greatest
onslaught of error, heresy, false doctrine. Every wind of doctrine
imaginable is on us, isn't it? That tells me we're in those
end times. Every wind of doctrine, scriptures
This right here. Scriptures are being abused and
misused and maligned and perverted and ignored on every hand. I asked one of our brothers in
a study before we came out here, I said, How many people have
you run into in your lifetime who rightly divide the word of
truth? about the extent of most people's
knowledge of the scriptures and what they can say about it. today, and the word of God is
being perverted as never before and abused and misused. Peter says this in 2 Peter 3,
verse 16. In all his epistles, talking
about Paul, look at verse 15. That's good. Just notice the
last part of verse 15. Our beloved brother Paul. Look
what respect Peter has for this apostle Paul. Our beloved brother
Paul, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you," and we read that in Romans 15, didn't we? Whatever
is written is written unto us. Verse 16, "...and all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard
to be understood." What things? Sovereignty. Sovereignty of God.
Responsibility of man. People have a hard time trying
to reconcile those things. The error right there, don't
they? You don't try to reconcile friends. But people have a hard time.
Well, if God is this, and if God has ordered all this, then
why does he tell us? If I believe that, then why this? You've heard
all the questions. They have a hard time understanding,
or reconciling, or reasoning these things, so they don't believe
it. Don't believe what? Responsibility? No, it's sovereignty. They cut God out. Let's cut God's
part out. Well, that's a whole other thing,
isn't it? Another thing, election, reprobation,
eternal justification, judgment, righteousness, sin, holiness,
these things. Hard to be understood. So, people
are ignorant of these things, unlearned, and look where you
don't. Things hard to be understood that they that are unlearned,
in other words, they don't know the scripture. Oh, they know
a lot about church history and various views of eschatology
and soteriology and ecclesiology and anthropology and all the
other ologies, but don't know or are not acquainted with and
knowledgeable of God's holy word, what it says. rather who it's
speaking of. Are you with me? Don't leave
me, all right? Leave, don't leave me. And they
haven't learned the first principles. If you have, oh, you're blessed,
you're blessed, if you have learned the first principles. First principles,
who God is, who Christ is, what you are, how God saves sinners,
who man is, law, Providence, God's providence, God's reign.
It says they that are unlearned and unstable. Those are unstable. They're not grounded and settled
in truth. That's the reason they're falling for every wind of doctrine
that comes along, every wind that comes along, because they're
not built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets,
prophets and the apostles. One foundation, grounded, unmoved,
away from your hope of Christ, that solid rock, that foundation
we talked about Sunday morning. Because they're not building
on the rock, Christ Jesus, every little wind, every new thing,
they're delighted and are taken up with the telling and the hearing
of some new thing. Well, this fellow's got a new
revelation over here. Well, this fellow's got a new anointing
over here. He anoints with this, he anoints with that. Look at
this. Lighter than air, aren't they? You can't blow a rock, can you?
You can't blow it away. It's immovable. And they're unstable,
not grounded and settled. They haven't settled this thing.
Paul said in Romans 3, he said, we conclude. And a man is justified
by faith without the works of the law. And in conclusion, like
a good lawyer, you know. This thing is settled. There
we come to any other conclusion. If righteousness had come by
the law, Christ died in vain. It didn't. How's a man saved?
By grace, you say. We conclude. It's either grace
or it's work. If it's grace, it's no more work. If it's work, it's no more grace.
How is it? Grace. Grounded. Settled. But those
who are unlearned and unstable, not grounded and settled, haven't
learned the first principles, aren't grounded and settled,
haven't become persuaded, John, of who they believe. He's this
way. You know, like that church out
there, so-called, out on Route 40. You know, God reigns, they
say, one day. They said, one day God's in control. The next day they said, let go
and let God. Man, whew, whew, what are you talking about? flighty
and unstable, unsettled. Is your God reigning or not?
Which is it? Oh, you're talking about fin
straddling. You know what happens if you straddle a fin? You get
hurt. You emasculate it. The rest of
the scriptures, they twist it, they rest the scriptures, twist
it, pervert it, corrupt it, take away from it, add to it, interpret
it. That's how you rest the scriptures.
Now let me just add this in speaking of this King James, I heartily
recommend the King James. King James translation. Why?
Because there's just no reason whatsoever for any other translation
of scripture. There's just no viable reason
or purpose for any other. None. I've heard all the arguments. I've heard them all from some
some wise and good men. I've heard them. But let me just
say this. What God has used to save untold
millions, beginning in the year 1611, a
long time ago, and translated into various languages, same
basic word, and people of every class Every class, every race,
every society, and every culture, God has used this same wand to
save untold millions. And he's still adequate, don't
you? And there are many other reasons,
many other reasons. That being the chief, but another
being there's a certain dignity and reverence that the old English
seems to lend to the Word of God. Isn't it? Isn't it? You found that to be so? Numerous
translations. Let me say this. I think numerous
translations of the Scripture are a satanic ploy to pervert the truth, to water
it down. It's a subtle way Satan uses
to corrupt the Word. You know, if you keep translating,
keep translating, keep changing it enough, keep changing the
Word here or there, eventually it's changed, hasn't it? Huh? Sure. All right, verse 17. It says, Beloved, 2 Peter 3,
17, Beloved, you therefore, you, hey, you, Charles Hudson, you
therefore. Hey, Rebecca, yeah, you. Therefore,
beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you
also be led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your
own steadfastness." What things? Seeing you know these things,
what things? Scriptures. Truth, truth of God,
truth of man, truth of salvation, truth of Christ. Beware. Beware. Beware. In that last verse, we all like
to quote, don't we? Grow in grace in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How do you grow in grace?
What does the scripture say? How do you grow in grace? Anybody
tell me a scripture? How do you grow? Peter said that
you take something that will enable you to grow thereby. The
milk of the Word. Grow in grace in the knowledge
of Christ. And Peter said that over in 1 Peter 2, verse 2. That's easy to remember. I just about forgot. 1 Peter
2, 2 says, As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word
that you may grow thereby. Is that what you desire? Do you
desire to grow in grace? the knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ? Do you? Grow Christlike, grow
in the knowledge of Christ, more intimately acquainted with him? Well, how do you grow? The milk,
the milk of the Word. Now, look back at our text in
Acts 17, and I'll try to hurry along. The first step in understanding
the scriptures is this. Acts 17, look at verse 11 again.
It says, They received the word with all readiness of mind. Receiving the word with all readiness
of mind. Do you remember our study in
the book of James? I'll read it to you, I'll save
you the trouble. James chapter 1, do you remember
this? And I'm going to talk to believers now. James chapter
1, it says this, it says that, James 1, 18 through 22 says,
Now of his own will he begat us with the word of truth. We're
born again by the word. It was the word that God used
the first time to plant it in your old dead heart and spring
forth into new life. You never heard it, it was a
word, it was something you heard preached. or red or whatever
that God used to give birth to you, new birth. Wherefore, my
beloved, let every man be swift to hear." Swift to hear. You remember that? Ready. What does it mean, swift
to hear? Ready, anxious. Can't wait. We're swift when
you want to go hear something. These people that go to these
concerts and all that, and they're going to sell tickets beginning
at noon tomorrow. What are they going to do? Well, I'll just wait when I get
good and ready. We're swift to go get a ticket
to hear, right? Swift, ready, anxious, willing,
prepared. Swift to hear. Slow to think.
can't hear anything while you're talking. You just can't do it. That's part of the reason sometimes
I get a real blessing out of preaching. I'd rather listen.
I'd rather hear preaching than preach. I really would. Swift
to hear. Slow to speak. This means not
quick to give an answer. Whatever you hear from this pulpit
or whatever, not quick to form an opinion. Scripture says, wise men study
the answer. That's what the Bereans did,
evidently, Rick. When they heard what they heard, they went home
and said, well, let's just see if it's so. Before they said, that can't
be. Don't think, oh, you're wrong
right there, aren't you? Our thoughts aren't God's thoughts.
It says here that James says, you receive with meekness the
engrafted word. Receive with meekness. The same
thing that Paul is saying, or that the Holy Spirit is saying
about the Bereans. It says they receive the word
with readiness of mind. Are you there? Verse eleven.
Readiness of mind. Are you receiving it now? With
readiness of mind. That's to come before the word
when you hear the word will be free just to come before the
word, the word of God and the word of God. Didn't Paul thank
God for the that that's all I can receive the word, not as the
words of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God. When
you come out on Wednesday night, what are you thinking about?
I want to hear a good sermon or. It's time to come, Lord. Now, God's words are going to
be open. Maybe God will speak to me. If
you come like that, God will speak to you. Just about guarantee
it, based on the Word of God. Our example before us tonight?
They received it with readiness of mind. Readiness of mind. Come
before the Word willing, unwilling, unlearned. Lord, I don't know
anything. Here they are up to this point. Hitherto for, I don't
know anything, teach me," all over again, eager and anxious
like a child. Teach me, Lord, reprove me, rebuke
me, correct me, turn me, Lord, and I'll be turned. Anyone approaching
the Word of God in that manner will be taught, they'll be spoken
to, they'll learn. The Word will be very clear to
them. Didn't the Lord say that in Isaiah 66? He said, "...that
this man will I look, him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit,
and trembleth." Trembleth it, my word. I hope
God's going to speak tonight. Think about that. Would you think
about that? Huh? We're just not going to
church tonight. Someone, he said, this man will
I look, this is the woman I'm going to look to with special
favor. This is the person I'm going to anoint. This is the
person I'm going to speak to. I'm going to whisper in their
ears, sweet nothings, not sweet nothings, sweet everythings.
I'm going to whisper to them, maybe in a still small voice,
nobody else will hear it. They tremble at my word. God's
word's going to be open tonight. Let's go hear what he has to
say. You ever thought about that? That's what he said, didn't he?
Isaiah 66, 2. To this man will I look. There's
your burger. She's come out tonight. She has
a real need. She's come empty. I'm going to
fill. Open up your mouth, he said.
I'll fill it. He said it, that's it. Bring
an empty bucket. It'll run over. Your cup, empty. It's going to run over. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. After righteousness there will be what? That this man will not look.
That tremble at my word. That also implies that not somebody
is ready to argue. Ain't nobody going to hear it
comes in like this. Prove it. Forget it, Mac. I'm sorry, Margaret. Just a name. Bud. Those are two common names
in Franklin County, Mack and Budd. Not someone that argues. Not
someone who must be reasoned with, approved. Trimble. Trimble.
The text says the Bereans did that. They were more noble. It
says they were more noble than the ones at Thessalonica. Jews,
they were religious people. And they received. The word noble
means well-born. We say all people are born by
the word of God if they're born again. Yeah, but some stay babies. Those that are fed on the breast
a long time generally are healthier. Right? They go on from that to
meat. They grow up. Well, it says these
noble Bereans, look at it again, they searched the scriptures,
they received with readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures
once a week. Once on Sunday and once on Wednesday. That's not searching, is it? You know, and need I say anything
about, it says they received readiness, readiness, readiness
of mind. Need I say that these people
were literally ready and waiting to hear the word of God? You
understand where I'm coming from there? They came early, literally
willing and ready and waiting to hear. Readiness, readiness. They prepared. And I could go
on and on from right here and talk about the need to prepare.
Listen, if I didn't prepare, you'd know it five minutes into
my message. It'd come across so dead and so dry. And there's
times I don't. I haven't prepared as much as
I should. And if you are not, five minutes,
it'll show up. I can't say enough about that.
Readiness. And they searched the scriptures
daily to see if these things were so. Daily. Daily. They were interested. When you
do something daily, whatever you do every day, voluntarily. I'm not talking about going to
work. That's forced. I'm talking about voluntarily. Whatever you
do daily is something you delight in doing. It's something you
want to do. These people were interested.
These people were studious. They were concerned. They were
concerned. And the Scripture says, and he
tells us this in Mercy and in Grace, in Colossians 3, he said,
oh, if you be risen with Christ, or since you are risen with Christ,
set your affection on things above. Isn't it? Peter said that
in 1 Peter 2. He said, desire it. Didn't he? Didn't he say that
to me? He said, does I ever send your milk of the Word? How? I told somebody, it was,
who was it? Carol Ballard, Ed's wife. I said, you know, I said, you
know, the more I eat, the more I want to eat. Have you found
that to be so? I know it's so, some of you.
It's evident. The more you eat, the more you
want to eat. And you know, this is strange. It may be strange
to you, but it's so with me. The more I eat in one sitting,
the more I get, the quicker I'm hungry afterward. You think that's
crazy? It's so. How else do you think
five minutes after you've stuffed yourself to the max? You can
still hold that piece of pie. And I'm serious. We'll eat a
big meal, and late that night I have to have something for
bed. Maybe it's because there's a
spiritual lesson behind that. I know it's so. I know it's so. The more you eat, the more you
want to eat. How do you desire the sincere milk of the Word?
Read it. Get into it. And I've said this
time and again, if you can't read it, You can. There's no
excuse. But one of the best helps escapes.
It's all done for you. Isn't it? I'm not saying that
God will bless that over and above. He won't. He won't bless
that over and above. Over and above your own personal. It shouldn't
usurp personal worship. But he does. He does. I'm telling
you. Stick a tape in it. It'll bless
you. It'll bless you most of the time.
Well, it says they searched the scriptures to see if these things
were so. And I had about... I may make this too long. I'm
going to. I'm going to continue next time, because I want you
to search the scriptures with me to see if these things are
so. Some of the things that Paul The apostles were preaching.
We need to. We need to know. Didn't Peter
say that we need to be ready to give every man an answer,
a reason for the hope that is within us with meekness and fear?
Didn't Paul say to young Timothy to study? Show yourself approved. A workman need not be ashamed.
Rightly divided in the word of truth. He said to young Timothy
again, another place, give yourself wholly to these things. Study,
doctrine, and so forth. Give yourself to them. And the
comfort and all the things that will be had from God's blessed
word. Do you want it? Do you need it? This is where
it's found. Desire. So if anything I can
lay upon your heart tonight is a desire to desire. Is that not
good? Was this not profitable? Desire
is desire. This is how God speaks. This
is where we get all the answers from God. This is how God answers
prayer, by the way. You know that? This is how God
answers prayer. You say, Lord, will you do this? Will you do that? And you're
reading the Scriptures, and all of a sudden the answer comes.
It comes. They searched the Scriptures
daily to see if these things were so. Search the Scripture.
What Scripture? And I'll leave you with this. What Scripture? Well, that's been done away with.
That's the Old Bible. Old Testament. Old Testament. And we do these Old Testament
types and studies, and there's nothing I enjoy more. I think
the first couple of years I was here, I did one every other sermon,
every other message, an Old Testament type, searching the scripture
that revealed Christ to be that word. And it just makes him real,
I'll tell you that. It just confirms. It's another
nail driven down, a nail in a sure place. It makes you say beyond
a shadow of a doubt, he is the Christ. He is alive. And this is the truth. And it
says that they searched these Old Testament scriptures. All
they had, evidently they had access to more. Sam, I bet you
it wasn't a nice leather-bound little, who was it now we're
talking one day, they carried around scrolls, you know, the
apostles. If they carried around the whole
Bible, they'd have to take it in the back of an ox cart. Paul, and when they went up to
where Lydia and the ladies want to pray, you know, Paul had Isaiah,
and Silas had Timothy, had Jeremiah, and Silas had the Psalms, maybe. They couldn't carry it all in
one. Look what we have with the blessedness that we can just,
any time, no problem. Carry a copy in our pocket, carry
it in our glove compartment. Everywhere we look, there's a
copy of it. We ought to use it, shouldn't
we? Desire the sincere milk of the Word. Why? These things are
written that through patience and comfort of the Scriptures,
you might have hope. hope based on Christ who is the
Word, and God speaks and reveals his Son and makes you to grow
thereby through this book, this book, this book. So we'll continue
this. We'll look into it. We'll search
the Scriptures and see if these things are so. We searched to
see if what I'm saying thus far is so. It's so, based on Scripture. Now we'll look and see what the
Apostles preached, see if it's so, see if what we believe is
so from Scripture. All right? Stand with me and
I'll dismiss this. Our Heavenly Father, once again we
thank you for this blessed possession, this glorious This book is a treasure hidden
in a field. And, Lord, we need to sell everything
we have and buy it. Look for it. Search it out. And
we'll be enriched by it. The man who finds this pearl,
the man who buys the truth and sells it not,
will be rich indeed, rich in faith, rich toward God. Dear Lord, grant it. Grant, if
anything, through this message tonight, grant that we might
have a desire, that you'd kindle our desire toward your holy book. Everything you have to say to
us comes from this book. So we ask that you would cause
us to use it. resort to it. In Christ's blessed
name we meet tonight. Amen. you you