1 00:00:01,334 --> 00:00:02,302 Specific revelation. 2 00:00:02,836 --> 00:00:03,870 Now what are we talking about here? 3 00:00:04,404 --> 00:00:05,405 Or special revelation? 4 00:00:08,775 --> 00:00:10,343 Scripture is a piece of that. 5 00:00:10,577 --> 00:00:11,711 I don't want to write that down yet. 6 00:00:12,078 --> 00:00:13,046 What are we talking about? 7 00:00:13,713 --> 00:00:14,381 More broadly. 8 00:00:17,851 --> 00:00:21,688 We said revelation basically is God making Himself known. 9 00:00:22,188 --> 00:00:24,724 So God makes Himself known in the creation. 10 00:00:25,658 --> 00:00:28,561 The fact that things are, the fact that things are working for a purpose, the fact that we 11 00:00:28,561 --> 00:00:32,065 have this moral sense, the fact that history is going toward a direction. 12 00:00:32,565 --> 00:00:33,533 God makes Himself known. 13 00:00:34,234 --> 00:00:37,370 When we talk about special revelation, what are we thinking about? 14 00:00:37,504 --> 00:00:39,239 How does God make Himself known? 15 00:00:40,673 --> 00:00:41,174 Miracles? 16 00:00:41,775 --> 00:00:42,976 Yeah, this is part of it. 17 00:00:43,109 --> 00:00:49,582 We're talking about any way that God comes and he reveals Himself to man in a way beyond 18 00:00:49,582 --> 00:00:51,151 what they're going to get just looking at nature. 19 00:00:52,385 --> 00:00:53,887 Think of some examples. 20 00:00:54,287 --> 00:00:57,023 Go to the Old Testament and start thinking of examples. 21 00:00:57,023 --> 00:00:57,891 The flood. 22 00:00:58,091 --> 00:00:58,792 The flood. 23 00:00:59,125 --> 00:01:02,629 God is revealing Himself in a special way beyond just the nature. 24 00:01:03,196 --> 00:01:08,601 Now that one maybe is a little iffy because potentially a flood could happen naturally 25 00:01:08,601 --> 00:01:09,169 as well. 26 00:01:10,904 --> 00:01:12,605 The burning bush, classic example. 27 00:01:12,772 --> 00:01:13,540 This is a good one. 28 00:01:13,973 --> 00:01:14,808 I'll add to this. 29 00:01:14,908 --> 00:01:16,176 Let's do the burning bush first. 30 00:01:17,210 --> 00:01:19,546 Why is the burning bush special revelation? 31 00:01:21,047 --> 00:01:21,915 Because the bush didn't burn. 32 00:01:22,449 --> 00:01:23,883 Alright, so the bush is not burning up. 33 00:01:23,883 --> 00:01:26,653 It's being consumed but not, it's burning but not being consumed. 34 00:01:27,153 --> 00:01:30,557 But what's going on that makes this a classic example of special revelation? 35 00:01:33,460 --> 00:01:36,729 God is telling Moses stuff that he didn't know. 36 00:01:38,264 --> 00:01:42,669 So Moses goes to the bush with all kinds of knowledge about God. 37 00:01:43,269 --> 00:01:46,806 Some of it figured out by wandering around in the wilderness for those, you know, those 38 00:01:46,806 --> 00:01:47,907 years and being a shepherd. 39 00:01:48,374 --> 00:01:50,243 He learned about God by watching the world. 40 00:01:50,577 --> 00:01:52,712 He learned about God by watching the family. 41 00:01:52,712 --> 00:01:57,283 He learned some stuff about how God works and he learned some stuff that was taught 42 00:01:57,283 --> 00:02:02,422 to him probably by his mother, Yochebed, and others who had taught him a little bit before 43 00:02:02,422 --> 00:02:03,590 he had been shuttled off. 44 00:02:03,823 --> 00:02:05,425 So he had learned some things about God. 45 00:02:05,825 --> 00:02:07,927 But ultimately what did God have to really say to him? 46 00:02:08,094 --> 00:02:10,563 Hey, I'm Yahweh here. 47 00:02:10,897 --> 00:02:12,665 I'm the God of your fathers. 48 00:02:13,032 --> 00:02:14,467 And Moses says, oh. 49 00:02:15,435 --> 00:02:17,203 And what does Moses leave the bush knowing? 50 00:02:17,737 --> 00:02:21,708 Well, I am who I am is this guy's name, this God's name. 51 00:02:21,708 --> 00:02:23,543 And he's got a job for me to do. 52 00:02:23,776 --> 00:02:24,844 I didn't know that before. 53 00:02:25,178 --> 00:02:25,745 Now I do. 54 00:02:26,112 --> 00:02:28,781 And now I know with great specificity what I'm supposed to do. 55 00:02:28,948 --> 00:02:31,918 I've got to go back to Egypt and have it out with the pharaoh. 56 00:02:32,218 --> 00:02:32,685 Oh boy. 57 00:02:33,686 --> 00:02:34,220 All right? 58 00:02:34,621 --> 00:02:35,555 He didn't know that. 59 00:02:36,089 --> 00:02:37,824 God comes and now he knows it. 60 00:02:38,224 --> 00:02:40,994 So that's what makes that specific or special revelation. 61 00:02:41,461 --> 00:02:43,930 God is imparting knowledge that was not known before. 62 00:02:44,397 --> 00:02:45,965 That's what makes it special revelation. 63 00:02:46,533 --> 00:02:50,603 So he's getting knowledge that can't be gleaned just by looking at the world. 64 00:02:52,205 --> 00:02:53,139 That's what makes it special. 65 00:02:53,273 --> 00:02:54,974 So the burning bush is an example of that. 66 00:02:55,375 --> 00:02:56,276 Other examples? 67 00:02:59,145 --> 00:02:59,913 Abraham and Sarah. 68 00:03:00,346 --> 00:03:01,848 Yeah, Abraham and Sarah. 69 00:03:02,248 --> 00:03:08,154 And God calling Abraham to leave Haran and to leave Ur and to go to Haran and 70 00:03:08,154 --> 00:03:12,258 then to go eventually to Canaan and to become the father of this nation. 71 00:03:12,592 --> 00:03:13,826 Abraham didn't know anything about that. 72 00:03:14,127 --> 00:03:14,827 God had to tell him. 73 00:03:14,827 --> 00:03:16,563 And sacrificing Isaac. 74 00:03:16,629 --> 00:03:17,463 Whose idea was that? 75 00:03:18,698 --> 00:03:19,165 God's plan. 76 00:03:19,165 --> 00:03:20,333 Yeah, God's plan. 77 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:21,601 Go do this. 78 00:03:22,802 --> 00:03:23,102 All right? 79 00:03:23,469 --> 00:03:26,673 And so God is making these things known as the special revelation. 80 00:03:26,940 --> 00:03:28,007 So we have these kinds of things. 81 00:03:28,174 --> 00:03:28,775 Other examples? 82 00:03:29,409 --> 00:03:30,743 God, a particular individual, Mount Sinai. 83 00:03:30,910 --> 00:03:31,311 Sure. 84 00:03:31,511 --> 00:03:33,513 Mount Sinai is a great one. 85 00:03:33,646 --> 00:03:34,914 So Sinai twice now. 86 00:03:35,014 --> 00:03:39,152 Burning bush, now we've got the shrine of glory at the top of the mountain and all the 87 00:03:39,152 --> 00:03:40,186 awe and the splendor. 88 00:03:40,486 --> 00:03:40,620 Okay? 89 00:03:40,954 --> 00:03:42,789 So we've got Mount Sinai kind of a thing. 90 00:03:42,789 --> 00:03:46,025 And we've got the, what about all the prophets? 91 00:03:47,894 --> 00:03:48,895 Thus says the Lord. 92 00:03:50,797 --> 00:03:51,130 Okay? 93 00:03:51,564 --> 00:03:53,566 Thus says Yahweh. 94 00:03:53,666 --> 00:03:54,534 And on we go. 95 00:03:54,834 --> 00:03:55,735 Where's that coming from? 96 00:03:56,669 --> 00:03:57,270 God is revealing. 97 00:03:57,870 --> 00:03:58,972 Saying, I'm going to do this. 98 00:03:59,472 --> 00:04:00,106 I want this. 99 00:04:00,406 --> 00:04:00,974 I want obedience. 100 00:04:01,574 --> 00:04:02,976 Even the Ten Commandments. 101 00:04:03,876 --> 00:04:09,616 To a point, you have this, the covenant is an example of God's special revelation. 102 00:04:10,283 --> 00:04:12,785 Now, I made the argument before and I want to pick up on that. 103 00:04:12,785 --> 00:04:13,686 Just a little bit. 104 00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:17,090 That this stuff is not at odds with this. 105 00:04:18,658 --> 00:04:22,495 You see, even the covenant fits with those Ten Commandments. 106 00:04:22,729 --> 00:04:24,964 Remember that moral code built in? 107 00:04:25,298 --> 00:04:27,500 Is that at odds with the Ten Commandments? 108 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:27,934 No. 109 00:04:28,434 --> 00:04:31,571 The Ten Commandments are clearly expressing what God has already put there. 110 00:04:31,904 --> 00:04:35,708 So what you begin to realize is this continuity of God working. 111 00:04:36,576 --> 00:04:38,945 The creation is His creation. 112 00:04:39,979 --> 00:04:42,348 And He is directing it for His purposes. 113 00:04:42,348 --> 00:04:44,817 And you see God at work in all these things. 114 00:04:45,084 --> 00:04:48,488 And you see God clearly at work as He begins to reveal Himself. 115 00:04:49,422 --> 00:04:50,790 More and more specifically. 116 00:04:51,391 --> 00:04:52,725 And you get snippets of it. 117 00:04:52,925 --> 00:04:54,127 You get Abraham's call. 118 00:04:54,661 --> 00:04:56,796 And you realize, oh, He's a God who calls. 119 00:04:57,463 --> 00:04:59,065 And He's a God who's got plans. 120 00:04:59,999 --> 00:05:00,333 Alright? 121 00:05:00,733 --> 00:05:02,035 Even back to Adam and Eve. 122 00:05:02,535 --> 00:05:03,770 God reveals Himself. 123 00:05:04,203 --> 00:05:05,371 He creates them. 124 00:05:05,605 --> 00:05:07,307 And He brings Eve to Adam. 125 00:05:07,507 --> 00:05:09,575 And then He gives directions about what to do and not to do. 126 00:05:09,575 --> 00:05:11,644 So God is making Himself known. 127 00:05:12,912 --> 00:05:13,046 Alright. 128 00:05:14,047 --> 00:05:18,618 Now, God makes Himself known consistently in what way? 129 00:05:18,851 --> 00:05:20,320 By speaking. 130 00:05:21,988 --> 00:05:25,191 Now here's where things get really cool and theology starts to become really fun. 131 00:05:25,792 --> 00:05:25,925 Okay? 132 00:05:26,292 --> 00:05:29,128 Because God speaks and He speaks. 133 00:05:29,228 --> 00:05:30,129 What does He speak with? 134 00:05:30,563 --> 00:05:31,664 With words. 135 00:05:33,066 --> 00:05:34,967 Revelation is always all about words. 136 00:05:35,568 --> 00:05:36,469 The words going forth. 137 00:05:36,636 --> 00:05:37,103 The proclamation. 138 00:05:37,503 --> 00:05:38,471 God making things known. 139 00:05:38,471 --> 00:05:42,909 And He speaks to us in ways that we can comprehend with words. 140 00:05:44,043 --> 00:05:46,612 Because that's how we function with language and communication. 141 00:05:47,246 --> 00:05:49,882 So words really matter to God. 142 00:05:50,616 --> 00:05:53,019 Because with those words, He makes Himself known. 143 00:05:53,386 --> 00:05:55,755 He speaks to Moses in words. 144 00:05:56,556 --> 00:05:59,225 And He speaks to the prophets in words. 145 00:05:59,559 --> 00:06:00,760 Thus says the Lord. 146 00:06:01,094 --> 00:06:02,095 And the words are coming. 147 00:06:02,528 --> 00:06:03,496 The words of God. 148 00:06:04,430 --> 00:06:08,134 Now, go to John chapter 1 verse 1. 149 00:06:09,736 --> 00:06:12,405 In the beginning was the Word. 150 00:06:13,172 --> 00:06:14,440 Word was God. 151 00:06:15,274 --> 00:06:16,242 Word was with God. 152 00:06:16,709 --> 00:06:20,046 And then John 1.14, and the Word became flesh. 153 00:06:20,747 --> 00:06:25,385 Now what you begin to see here is that God is doing powerful stuff with His Word. 154 00:06:26,252 --> 00:06:33,426 The Word then becomes the specific self-revelation of God to His people. 155 00:06:34,727 --> 00:06:38,464 So when God speaks to Moses and to Abraham and to the prophets, 156 00:06:38,731 --> 00:06:42,034 He is making Himself known through words to His people. 157 00:06:42,468 --> 00:06:46,906 And this comes to its height, its culmination, when God makes Himself known 158 00:06:46,906 --> 00:06:50,443 in the Word, the Word made flesh. 159 00:06:51,377 --> 00:06:56,649 And in a sense, what you begin to realize then is Jesus is all over the place here 160 00:06:56,649 --> 00:06:59,685 in the Old Testament because every time God is making Himself known, 161 00:07:00,119 --> 00:07:01,387 the Word is doing its work. 162 00:07:01,754 --> 00:07:05,792 And in fact, you probably talked about this just last week, the angel of the Lord. 163 00:07:05,992 --> 00:07:07,493 Who the heck is that? 164 00:07:09,128 --> 00:07:10,863 Or you didn't talk about that. 165 00:07:12,732 --> 00:07:15,935 How can you do an Old Testament course and not talk about the angel of the Lord? 166 00:07:16,636 --> 00:07:17,770 Who's the angel of the Lord? 167 00:07:18,638 --> 00:07:19,105 Yeah. 168 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:23,176 Best indication is this is God Himself. 169 00:07:24,143 --> 00:07:27,747 Because the angel of the Lord does God stuff and talks God talk. 170 00:07:28,314 --> 00:07:31,050 This is the angel of the Lord, it's not some little peon Gabriel running around 171 00:07:31,050 --> 00:07:31,951 doing God stuff. 172 00:07:32,652 --> 00:07:33,286 No, this is God. 173 00:07:34,253 --> 00:07:38,925 And the way it makes a ton of sense is to recognize the angel of the Lord being 174 00:07:38,925 --> 00:07:44,363 the second person of the Trinity, pre-incarnate, the Word, the Logos, 175 00:07:44,363 --> 00:07:48,201 doing the Logos thing, making God known. 176 00:07:49,135 --> 00:07:52,104 So the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and talks to Gideon. 177 00:07:52,405 --> 00:07:55,208 And the angel of the Lord shows up to the prophets and gives them direction. 178 00:07:56,142 --> 00:08:00,580 Christ, pre-incarnate, coming, doing God's thing, revealing, 179 00:08:00,746 --> 00:08:02,982 making God known, the Word, doing its thing. 180 00:08:03,649 --> 00:08:09,388 And so then John realizes the Word, the Logos, which incidentally, 181 00:08:10,189 --> 00:08:12,992 in the Greek world, was the term that was used for 182 00:08:12,992 --> 00:08:16,229 the cosmic force that made everything work. 183 00:08:17,330 --> 00:08:20,466 This is a beautiful coming together of all these wonderful ideas. 184 00:08:21,100 --> 00:08:24,437 Cuz in the Hebrew world, the Logos was, well that's the word of God. 185 00:08:24,570 --> 00:08:26,372 God speaks and the world comes into existence. 186 00:08:26,606 --> 00:08:31,344 And in the Greek world, the Logos was this cosmic force that made everything click. 187 00:08:31,577 --> 00:08:35,114 Aristotle and Plato both talked about the divine Logos, 188 00:08:35,548 --> 00:08:37,550 this word that made everything happen. 189 00:08:37,550 --> 00:08:39,952 It was this kind of perfect human mind. 190 00:08:40,486 --> 00:08:42,822 And so John plays into both camps. 191 00:08:43,289 --> 00:08:44,423 Yeah, in the beginning was the Word. 192 00:08:44,824 --> 00:08:45,691 And the Hebrews say, yep. 193 00:08:45,992 --> 00:08:47,026 And the Greeks say, yep. 194 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:48,961 And the Word is with God and the Word was God. 195 00:08:48,995 --> 00:08:49,929 And they're all saying, yep. 196 00:08:50,496 --> 00:08:54,667 And then John 1:14, and the Word became, sarx, flesh. 197 00:08:54,834 --> 00:08:56,135 And they're all going, no. 198 00:08:58,037 --> 00:08:58,838 No way. 199 00:08:59,305 --> 00:09:01,507 And that's the scandal of what Christ is. 200 00:09:01,908 --> 00:09:04,343 Because God just ratchets the whole thing up. 201 00:09:04,610 --> 00:09:05,912 Everything is moving to that direction. 202 00:09:05,912 --> 00:09:07,813 Showing Himself, showing Himself, showing Himself. 203 00:09:08,314 --> 00:09:09,282 Bam, you get to the incarnation. 204 00:09:09,982 --> 00:09:11,584 Now he's really showing Himself. 205 00:09:12,151 --> 00:09:16,155 Because what Christ is, is God Himself walking around in human flesh. 206 00:09:17,056 --> 00:09:19,225 You wanna know what God's like, you look at Jesus. 207 00:09:19,859 --> 00:09:20,359 That's God. 208 00:09:21,327 --> 00:09:23,329 It's the best picture of God you'll ever get. 209 00:09:24,230 --> 00:09:27,133 Because everything comes together in Christ. 210 00:09:28,134 --> 00:09:28,501 Everything. 211 00:09:30,236 --> 00:09:33,406 All of the natural revelation is all pointing to Christ. 212 00:09:33,406 --> 00:09:35,575 All the special revelation is all pointing to Christ. 213 00:09:35,975 --> 00:09:39,612 And you have this culmination of everything into the person of Christ. 214 00:09:39,779 --> 00:09:42,848 The full revelation finds its fulfillment right there. 215 00:09:44,083 --> 00:09:48,754 And you also get this idea of revelation being this kind of this blossoming, 216 00:09:48,821 --> 00:09:51,123 this opening up of what God's plan. 217 00:09:52,325 --> 00:09:54,393 We, you need to realize, I'm trying to stress, 218 00:09:54,493 --> 00:09:57,530 there's this consistency, this continuity between what God does. 219 00:09:57,730 --> 00:10:02,368 It's not like God creates, and then Adam and Eve sinned, and okay, plan B. 220 00:10:02,868 --> 00:10:05,171 And then Noah, and okay, plan C. 221 00:10:05,671 --> 00:10:08,808 And then, well, you got the whole Babel thing, okay, plan D. 222 00:10:09,108 --> 00:10:13,412 And, you know, it's not like God keeps on, you know, having to react and, 223 00:10:13,646 --> 00:10:16,515 oh man, now we're down to plan Z to the 10th or something. 224 00:10:16,916 --> 00:10:18,784 You know, it's just such a mess. 225 00:10:19,385 --> 00:10:20,586 That's not reality. 226 00:10:21,253 --> 00:10:22,488 That's not what's going on. 227 00:10:22,955 --> 00:10:25,424 God is working this thing out just as he plans it. 228 00:10:25,424 --> 00:10:28,995 And the revelation is just opening up more and more and more as we go along. 229 00:10:28,995 --> 00:10:34,033 And it's not like Moses was stupid, and now we get a better picture, and 230 00:10:34,033 --> 00:10:35,368 John's really got it figured out. 231 00:10:35,801 --> 00:10:37,370 Moses had as much as God gave him. 232 00:10:38,070 --> 00:10:41,173 And so, think of the rosebud opening up. 233 00:10:41,407 --> 00:10:44,810 For Moses, he just had the bud open up hardly at all. 234 00:10:45,378 --> 00:10:45,878 Not much. 235 00:10:46,379 --> 00:10:49,315 And now, with the coming of Christ, it opens up nice and big, and 236 00:10:49,315 --> 00:10:50,483 we begin to see things more clearly. 237 00:10:50,883 --> 00:10:56,856 Same revelation, same God working, same God speaking, same message. 238 00:10:57,590 --> 00:10:59,825 He did not change his tune with Jesus. 239 00:11:00,092 --> 00:11:01,260 It's the same message. 240 00:11:01,460 --> 00:11:02,461 It's all about grace. 241 00:11:02,895 --> 00:11:03,829 Always has been. 242 00:11:04,830 --> 00:11:07,066 And just now it's clearer, more specific. 243 00:11:07,566 --> 00:11:09,769 And we are now waiting for the full revelation. 244 00:11:09,869 --> 00:11:10,770 And what will we call that? 245 00:11:11,003 --> 00:11:11,704 The second coming. 246 00:11:12,505 --> 00:11:13,572 And every knee will bow. 247 00:11:13,773 --> 00:11:14,874 Everybody sees it as it is. 248 00:11:15,074 --> 00:11:18,778 And we see things no longer through a glass darkly, 1 Corinthians 13, but 249 00:11:18,778 --> 00:11:19,512 face to face. 250 00:11:19,812 --> 00:11:20,946 That's what we're looking forward to. 251 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:23,916 So the revelation is still opening up, still happening. 252 00:11:23,916 --> 00:11:27,887 So the bud becomes more and more complete, and we see it unravel for us, and 253 00:11:27,887 --> 00:11:28,688 it'll open up for us. 254 00:11:29,121 --> 00:11:30,289 That's what's going on here, revelation. 255 00:11:30,656 --> 00:11:33,926 So Christ is the revelation of God. 256 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:37,863 See, this is, it's the identity of the revelation. 257 00:11:38,197 --> 00:11:39,598 Christ is the revelation of God. 258 00:11:39,865 --> 00:11:41,300 Christ does not bring the revelation. 259 00:11:41,934 --> 00:11:43,202 Christ does not show the revelation. 260 00:11:43,369 --> 00:11:45,204 He is the revelation of God. 261 00:11:45,371 --> 00:11:46,272 He's God in the flesh. 262 00:11:47,273 --> 00:11:48,174 You want to know what God's about? 263 00:11:48,407 --> 00:11:49,241 There he is. 264 00:11:50,076 --> 00:11:50,543 It's Jesus. 265 00:11:51,043 --> 00:11:51,877 He's the revelation. 266 00:11:52,545 --> 00:11:53,646 He is the fullness of God. 267 00:11:54,113 --> 00:11:58,184 He is the word of God, the speech of God, the self showing of God. 268 00:11:58,384 --> 00:11:59,351 That's Christ. 269 00:12:00,419 --> 00:12:01,654 God, I'm getting cooler than that. 270 00:12:02,955 --> 00:12:03,355 All right? 271 00:12:04,523 --> 00:12:06,726 Now, what do we have? 272 00:12:07,193 --> 00:12:09,195 Christ has returned to the Father. 273 00:12:09,462 --> 00:12:10,763 Is the word gone? 274 00:12:11,731 --> 00:12:15,534 No, the word still goes out through the church, the proclamation. 275 00:12:16,769 --> 00:12:19,638 And this is all over in Paul. 276 00:12:20,172 --> 00:12:24,009 How can they hear without a preacher and how can they hear unless they're sent? 277 00:12:24,276 --> 00:12:25,044 But see, what's it all about? 278 00:12:25,478 --> 00:12:28,647 Faith comes by hearing. 279 00:12:29,448 --> 00:12:30,316 Hearing what? 280 00:12:30,950 --> 00:12:31,851 The word of God. 281 00:12:32,685 --> 00:12:33,085 All right? 282 00:12:33,185 --> 00:12:36,422 And so the word of God is still active. 283 00:12:36,689 --> 00:12:37,957 God is still showing. 284 00:12:38,190 --> 00:12:39,325 He's still speaking. 285 00:12:39,725 --> 00:12:44,964 And now the word is happening when Christ is proclaimed in his church. 286 00:12:49,769 --> 00:12:55,975 So, the revelation continues as Christ is proclaimed and his people hear the proclamation, 287 00:12:56,375 --> 00:12:57,476 the word goes out. 288 00:12:58,310 --> 00:12:59,578 God's plan of salvation. 289 00:13:00,012 --> 00:13:01,313 God's activity in Christ. 290 00:13:01,847 --> 00:13:03,716 God's redemption in Christ. 291 00:13:04,016 --> 00:13:04,984 That's what's happening. 292 00:13:05,284 --> 00:13:07,153 And so the word is still continuing. 293 00:13:08,521 --> 00:13:13,659 And every time that the pastor stands up in the pulpit and he declares to the listeners, 294 00:13:14,026 --> 00:13:15,528 Christ came for you. 295 00:13:16,162 --> 00:13:18,764 God sent his son to die in your stead. 296 00:13:18,764 --> 00:13:21,066 Your sins are forgiven in Christ. 297 00:13:21,567 --> 00:13:22,568 The word is being proclaimed. 298 00:13:23,469 --> 00:13:24,570 Revelation is continuing. 299 00:13:25,004 --> 00:13:28,707 God is showing Himself to his people, specifically making it known. 300 00:13:29,108 --> 00:13:33,512 And every time that the evangelist sits down one on one and has the conversation with the 301 00:13:33,512 --> 00:13:38,484 heathen and talks about what Christ has done and shares the gospel and the person comes 302 00:13:38,484 --> 00:13:41,053 to faith, the revelation has continued again. 303 00:13:41,353 --> 00:13:42,688 The word is still working. 304 00:13:42,855 --> 00:13:43,389 It is active. 305 00:13:43,556 --> 00:13:44,156 It's doing its thing. 306 00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:46,458 God's accomplishing His purpose. 307 00:13:46,458 --> 00:13:49,428 It's happening every time. 308 00:13:50,029 --> 00:13:55,467 And every time that the pastor turns around and the Paul and the chancel declares, you 309 00:13:55,467 --> 00:13:58,904 know, upon this your confession, I declare to you the grace of God and by the study of 310 00:13:58,904 --> 00:14:02,241 my command of my Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you your sins. 311 00:14:02,608 --> 00:14:03,409 It's happened. 312 00:14:03,976 --> 00:14:04,176 Bam. 313 00:14:04,543 --> 00:14:05,044 Reality. 314 00:14:05,344 --> 00:14:05,811 Done deed. 315 00:14:06,378 --> 00:14:07,146 Forgiveness is there. 316 00:14:07,446 --> 00:14:08,714 The revelation has happened again. 317 00:14:09,048 --> 00:14:09,782 Christ is proclaimed. 318 00:14:10,115 --> 00:14:11,250 The word is doing its thing. 319 00:14:11,650 --> 00:14:12,318 It continues. 320 00:14:12,318 --> 00:14:19,792 It all points to Christ who is the word made flesh, who is the revelation of God. 321 00:14:21,126 --> 00:14:21,594 All right? 322 00:14:22,995 --> 00:14:23,495 Questions? 323 00:14:24,196 --> 00:14:24,730 You with me? 324 00:14:26,165 --> 00:14:28,634 Now, you're sitting here thinking, yeah, I heard this all before. 325 00:14:28,868 --> 00:14:32,605 What you're not realizing is the sublimity of this whole thing because this is really 326 00:14:32,605 --> 00:14:33,706 very cool stuff. 327 00:14:34,473 --> 00:14:37,276 And what you're not realizing is to say, you know what? 328 00:14:37,610 --> 00:14:38,978 This whole thing coheres. 329 00:14:39,178 --> 00:14:41,413 That's pretty big because it is. 330 00:14:41,413 --> 00:14:43,782 And I hope you're not missing the significance of it. 331 00:14:43,849 --> 00:14:44,984 You probably are, but that's okay. 332 00:14:45,651 --> 00:14:46,352 I'll talk a little bit. 333 00:14:47,253 --> 00:14:47,753 All right? 334 00:14:48,254 --> 00:14:49,054 Questions at all? 335 00:14:49,455 --> 00:14:49,989 Anything here? 336 00:14:52,691 --> 00:14:53,192 Okay. 337 00:14:54,994 --> 00:14:59,498 So, if Christ is the full revelation of God, that means we need to pay attention to what 338 00:14:59,498 --> 00:15:03,369 he says and what he does because that's where we see God being God. 339 00:15:03,502 --> 00:15:08,874 And in fact, in Christ's life, where do we see God being the most clearly revealed? 340 00:15:13,178 --> 00:15:17,116 There's baptism because you've got the dove coming down and God saying, this is my Son. 341 00:15:17,283 --> 00:15:17,883 That's not bad. 342 00:15:18,984 --> 00:15:20,152 It's death and resurrection. 343 00:15:20,519 --> 00:15:20,686 Why? 344 00:15:21,987 --> 00:15:24,523 Because that's where he takes on all our sins. 345 00:15:24,990 --> 00:15:26,025 He's doing the God thing. 346 00:15:27,793 --> 00:15:28,260 Yeah. 347 00:15:28,661 --> 00:15:29,128 No, really. 348 00:15:29,395 --> 00:15:33,265 That's the right answer because it's at the cross where he's being God. 349 00:15:33,565 --> 00:15:34,800 He's doing the God stuff. 350 00:15:35,234 --> 00:15:36,435 He's forgiving sins. 351 00:15:36,936 --> 00:15:38,170 He's being loving. 352 00:15:38,170 --> 00:15:41,573 He's doing the incredible sacrificial thing that God does. 353 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:43,175 That's where he's the most like God. 354 00:15:43,943 --> 00:15:45,644 We like to think of baptism or the transfiguration. 355 00:15:46,912 --> 00:15:50,149 We kind of zero in on those things, but the reality is the place where Christ is really 356 00:15:50,149 --> 00:15:52,751 revealed is that cross again, the tail of Jesus. 357 00:15:53,686 --> 00:15:55,220 And that was the first point we tried to make. 358 00:15:55,287 --> 00:15:56,655 Where do you see God showing Himself? 359 00:15:56,755 --> 00:16:03,228 It's in the cross because that's where God is doing his thing, loving, redeeming, restoring, 360 00:16:03,829 --> 00:16:05,564 claiming, doing His work. 361 00:16:07,666 --> 00:16:08,067 Okay? 362 00:16:08,067 --> 00:16:09,835 All right. 363 00:16:12,171 --> 00:16:15,541 Now, ultimately, why do you believe this stuff? 364 00:16:20,946 --> 00:16:21,380 Yeah. 365 00:16:22,147 --> 00:16:22,915 It's the honest answer. 366 00:16:23,282 --> 00:16:23,816 Same for me. 367 00:16:23,949 --> 00:16:27,886 My mom and dad taught me and I grew up believing it. 368 00:16:31,223 --> 00:16:31,690 All right. 369 00:16:31,790 --> 00:16:34,059 So there is this self-serving nature to it. 370 00:16:34,226 --> 00:16:35,294 We just want to go to heaven. 371 00:16:35,427 --> 00:16:36,328 It's the way I believe it. 372 00:16:36,328 --> 00:16:40,499 Now you're to the kind of how are we? 373 00:16:40,833 --> 00:16:41,567 Pascal's Wager. 374 00:16:43,736 --> 00:16:44,636 Are you familiar with that? 375 00:16:44,770 --> 00:16:45,904 Any of you familiar with that one? 376 00:16:46,572 --> 00:16:50,309 Pascal was 18th century, I think so. 377 00:16:50,476 --> 00:16:52,311 1700s, maybe like 1600s. 378 00:16:53,345 --> 00:16:54,013 And what's that? 379 00:16:55,547 --> 00:16:55,948 Yeah. 380 00:16:56,448 --> 00:16:57,750 Pascal's Wager is pretty simple. 381 00:16:57,883 --> 00:17:01,987 Pascal says it's better to believe and have to be proven wrong than to not believe and 382 00:17:01,987 --> 00:17:02,755 be proven wrong. 383 00:17:04,556 --> 00:17:05,691 Makes pretty good sense. 384 00:17:05,691 --> 00:17:06,759 You've heard the argument before. 385 00:17:07,159 --> 00:17:10,729 So in other words, if I'm a Christian and I believe in Christ and it turns out that 386 00:17:10,729 --> 00:17:12,431 it's not real, what have I lost? 387 00:17:12,798 --> 00:17:13,265 Not much. 388 00:17:13,665 --> 00:17:17,403 But if you're a non-Christian and you don't believe in Christ and it turns out that you're 389 00:17:17,403 --> 00:17:18,303 wrong, what have you lost? 390 00:17:20,105 --> 00:17:20,305 You know? 391 00:17:20,406 --> 00:17:21,707 So that's Pascal's Wager. 392 00:17:22,674 --> 00:17:22,741 Yeah. 393 00:17:22,875 --> 00:17:25,744 Isn't that Satan's argument from Job? 394 00:17:26,245 --> 00:17:26,712 How's that? 395 00:17:29,048 --> 00:17:30,416 Doesn't he ask God? 396 00:17:30,549 --> 00:17:33,185 Why does Job fear God? 397 00:17:33,352 --> 00:17:33,685 All right. 398 00:17:33,685 --> 00:17:33,986 Yeah. 399 00:17:34,853 --> 00:17:39,324 And Satan says it's just because you're blessing him and he's getting good stuff from you. 400 00:17:39,691 --> 00:17:44,296 And so, yeah, Pascal's Wager is a classic thing we hear a lot. 401 00:17:44,596 --> 00:17:48,801 But one of the more beautiful things is the church father, I think it was Augustine, who 402 00:17:48,801 --> 00:17:53,772 said real faith means trusting in God even if He sends you to hell anyway and still believing 403 00:17:53,772 --> 00:17:54,206 Him. 404 00:17:55,908 --> 00:17:58,210 And so you're not doing it because of what you get out of it. 405 00:17:58,444 --> 00:18:01,246 And so it's not about what I'm going to get or the bargain. 406 00:18:01,246 --> 00:18:03,816 It's simply taking God at his word. 407 00:18:04,716 --> 00:18:09,154 And so the question here, I want to try to push that is why do you believe this stuff? 408 00:18:09,721 --> 00:18:10,456 Because there's a benefit. 409 00:18:10,756 --> 00:18:11,290 Yeah, okay. 410 00:18:11,490 --> 00:18:15,594 So maybe you make the kind of self-serving thing and you'll say this seems to work. 411 00:18:16,395 --> 00:18:16,995 Maybe so. 412 00:18:17,362 --> 00:18:18,030 Yeah, it might be true. 413 00:18:19,031 --> 00:18:20,799 The argument's made because my parents taught me. 414 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,469 It's probably truer than most of us want to admit. 415 00:18:24,236 --> 00:18:24,369 Yeah. 416 00:18:29,241 --> 00:18:30,109 All right. 417 00:18:31,043 --> 00:18:32,811 A very Lutheran answer. 418 00:18:34,980 --> 00:18:39,718 Yeah, in fact, you're believing this because you don't have a choice in the matter in a 419 00:18:39,718 --> 00:18:39,985 sense. 420 00:18:40,486 --> 00:18:43,222 And there's, and we'll talk about this more when we get to the Holy Spirit stuff. 421 00:18:43,422 --> 00:18:46,592 But in a sense, there's a lot of truth to that. 422 00:18:47,092 --> 00:18:49,027 I believe because God's called me. 423 00:18:49,862 --> 00:18:51,530 And He chose me. 424 00:18:51,730 --> 00:18:52,531 I didn't choose Him. 425 00:18:52,531 --> 00:18:54,733 And of course I believe. 426 00:18:55,367 --> 00:18:56,201 I don't have any other choice. 427 00:18:56,702 --> 00:18:57,169 What would I do? 428 00:18:57,369 --> 00:18:59,905 To not believe would be to deny my Lord. 429 00:19:00,205 --> 00:19:00,973 I can't do that. 430 00:19:01,573 --> 00:19:03,308 It would be to deny the reality that I know. 431 00:19:03,375 --> 00:19:04,076 I can't do that either. 432 00:19:05,644 --> 00:19:08,347 And so all kinds of reasons come into this. 433 00:19:08,614 --> 00:19:16,255 But what I want to try to show you is ultimately you cannot ever prove Christianity or argue 434 00:19:16,255 --> 00:19:17,256 its facticity. 435 00:19:17,656 --> 00:19:18,390 You can't do it. 436 00:19:18,824 --> 00:19:20,993 You can point to all kinds of cosmological arguments. 437 00:19:20,993 --> 00:19:25,764 You can point to the wonder of Christ and all this kind of stuff that we're all, I'm 438 00:19:25,764 --> 00:19:27,666 rejoicing in, getting all fired up about. 439 00:19:27,866 --> 00:19:29,868 I won't include you in case you might not be. 440 00:19:30,569 --> 00:19:32,404 Getting as fired up about this stuff as I do. 441 00:19:33,972 --> 00:19:36,942 But ultimately it comes down to God's got to make the call. 442 00:19:37,743 --> 00:19:38,710 God's got to bring you to the faith. 443 00:19:39,044 --> 00:19:40,045 And he does that through parents. 444 00:19:40,479 --> 00:19:42,147 He does that through people you marry. 445 00:19:42,414 --> 00:19:43,415 He does it through experiences. 446 00:19:43,882 --> 00:19:49,154 But see, somewhere, somewhere along the line, even if your parents taught you, I'm willing 447 00:19:49,154 --> 00:19:54,092 to bet you probably went through your little crisis of faith experience saying, do I really 448 00:19:54,092 --> 00:19:54,993 believe all this stuff? 449 00:19:54,993 --> 00:19:55,561 Is it true? 450 00:19:55,661 --> 00:19:56,528 Do I accept it? 451 00:19:56,528 --> 00:19:57,930 Or am I just going to walk in it? 452 00:19:57,963 --> 00:20:00,966 And usually that happens for most people somewhere around college. 453 00:20:00,966 --> 00:20:03,936 You do the big, is it really true? 454 00:20:04,436 --> 00:20:05,671 Do I really believe this? 455 00:20:05,704 --> 00:20:09,208 And maybe you do it as a full-blown rebel and have a good time and go live it up for 456 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:09,508 a while. 457 00:20:09,741 --> 00:20:12,444 Or maybe you do it a little more on the sly. 458 00:20:12,911 --> 00:20:13,645 I did it. 459 00:20:13,845 --> 00:20:14,846 I was still a good boy. 460 00:20:15,147 --> 00:20:16,248 But I was asking the big questions. 461 00:20:16,415 --> 00:20:17,683 What do I really believe and why? 462 00:20:17,683 --> 00:20:18,617 And checking it out. 463 00:20:19,585 --> 00:20:22,387 And the argument can be made that you're believing on authority. 464 00:20:22,454 --> 00:20:28,627 But see, a lot of the reason that the Christian faith is so powerful is because it works. 465 00:20:29,428 --> 00:20:32,631 It's a pragmatic argument, but it just, it works. 466 00:20:32,731 --> 00:20:33,498 It coheres. 467 00:20:33,632 --> 00:20:34,633 It rings true. 468 00:20:34,866 --> 00:20:35,934 It pulls life together. 469 00:20:36,134 --> 00:20:37,402 It answers the big questions. 470 00:20:37,636 --> 00:20:40,372 It satisfies your deepest longings. 471 00:20:40,439 --> 00:20:41,206 Why am I here? 472 00:20:41,306 --> 00:20:41,940 What's my purpose? 473 00:20:42,708 --> 00:20:43,675 Christianity gives you answers. 474 00:20:44,042 --> 00:20:45,277 And they ring true. 475 00:20:45,277 --> 00:20:48,146 Down inside us, we say, that's right. 476 00:20:49,314 --> 00:20:49,715 That's right. 477 00:20:50,315 --> 00:20:58,824 And to resist this is to resist God's revelation and to kind of flaunt what God has actually 478 00:20:58,824 --> 00:20:59,057 shown. 479 00:20:59,958 --> 00:21:01,893 It's not reasonable to do it. 480 00:21:04,529 --> 00:21:06,932 Faith is more reasonable than unfaith. 481 00:21:10,135 --> 00:21:10,402 Okay. 482 00:21:10,669 --> 00:21:11,370 That was really profound. 483 00:21:12,170 --> 00:21:13,372 But it's true. 484 00:21:14,106 --> 00:21:16,575 And because, you see, all this stuff points. 485 00:21:16,808 --> 00:21:18,343 All this stuff is leading to that direction. 486 00:21:18,810 --> 00:21:24,316 And to believe it really is far more reasonable than to reject it. 487 00:21:24,583 --> 00:21:30,289 Rejecting it is just done out of stubbornness and human pride and willful sinfulness. 488 00:21:31,423 --> 00:21:32,791 So, we realize that. 489 00:21:33,225 --> 00:21:36,094 You don't have to check your brain at the door when you become a Christian. 490 00:21:37,062 --> 00:21:39,398 You don't have to leave logic behind. 491 00:21:39,731 --> 00:21:41,733 You don't have to take a leap into the irrational. 492 00:21:41,733 --> 00:21:41,833 No. 493 00:21:42,034 --> 00:21:43,435 That's simply not true. 494 00:21:44,536 --> 00:21:45,003 Simply not true. 495 00:21:45,504 --> 00:21:46,772 This stuff coheres. 496 00:21:47,339 --> 00:21:47,906 It gels. 497 00:21:48,206 --> 00:21:48,674 It works. 498 00:21:48,907 --> 00:21:51,743 And it speaks to the deepest lungs of who we are as human beings. 499 00:21:52,277 --> 00:21:53,145 That's the reality. 500 00:21:54,646 --> 00:21:56,114 Now, is that going to convince anybody? 501 00:21:56,281 --> 00:21:56,515 No. 502 00:21:57,349 --> 00:21:57,549 No. 503 00:21:57,816 --> 00:21:58,650 Ultimately, it's an issue of faith. 504 00:21:58,850 --> 00:22:00,519 Ultimately, it's an issue of God calling me. 505 00:22:00,786 --> 00:22:01,586 God making the choice. 506 00:22:02,020 --> 00:22:02,821 And God does it. 507 00:22:03,121 --> 00:22:04,823 But we recognize God's at work in this. 508 00:22:05,524 --> 00:22:06,425 And it's His world. 509 00:22:07,192 --> 00:22:07,926 Want to follow up on that? 510 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:08,727 You're looking perplexed. 511 00:22:09,394 --> 00:22:09,795 No. 512 00:22:10,228 --> 00:22:11,630 I'm listening intently. 513 00:22:14,199 --> 00:22:17,502 So, then what would be the alter argument to this? 514 00:22:17,936 --> 00:22:18,236 The what? 515 00:22:18,470 --> 00:22:19,805 What would be the... 516 00:22:19,805 --> 00:22:20,472 Argument against? 517 00:22:20,772 --> 00:22:20,872 Yeah. 518 00:22:21,006 --> 00:22:21,073 The other side. 519 00:22:21,073 --> 00:22:21,473 Oh. 520 00:22:21,606 --> 00:22:23,308 You know, it's all the things you hear all the time. 521 00:22:23,709 --> 00:22:24,810 You can't prove God. 522 00:22:25,010 --> 00:22:25,944 I don't see Him. 523 00:22:26,144 --> 00:22:27,346 How do I know He's really there? 524 00:22:27,612 --> 00:22:29,781 You're just believing the constructs of your age. 525 00:22:30,115 --> 00:22:31,950 You know, you're believing in old medieval ideas. 526 00:22:32,217 --> 00:22:32,951 Yada, yada, yada. 527 00:22:33,085 --> 00:22:34,386 All the old arguments go. 528 00:22:34,386 --> 00:22:39,691 But what I'm realizing increasingly, just dealing with people and talking with people, 529 00:22:39,891 --> 00:22:43,462 is to resist God is a willful choice. 530 00:22:44,029 --> 00:22:45,530 And you're making the choice to resist Him. 531 00:22:45,931 --> 00:22:47,032 And that's what sin is. 532 00:22:47,265 --> 00:22:48,200 And people are really good at that. 533 00:22:48,433 --> 00:22:49,434 And we do it all the time. 534 00:22:49,768 --> 00:22:55,674 But it's a refusal to yield to what God is just making evidently clear in His creation. 535 00:22:57,242 --> 00:22:59,511 I think that that's hard work to reject God. 536 00:22:59,778 --> 00:23:02,948 I mean, I talk to people and they have to really stretch for arguments. 537 00:23:03,181 --> 00:23:04,349 That's often the case. 538 00:23:04,349 --> 00:23:05,917 And it's just tough for these people. 539 00:23:06,351 --> 00:23:07,686 You can tell when you talk to them. 540 00:23:07,786 --> 00:23:08,053 Yeah. 541 00:23:08,186 --> 00:23:09,121 There's truth to that. 542 00:23:09,321 --> 00:23:11,390 But you see, there's good reasons why you want to reject God. 543 00:23:11,757 --> 00:23:15,894 Because if God really is true, then by golly, I guess I better pay attention to what He's 544 00:23:15,894 --> 00:23:16,361 telling me. 545 00:23:16,795 --> 00:23:19,831 And now suddenly I've got to change my moral habits, for example. 546 00:23:19,831 --> 00:23:22,734 And I've got to start taking seriously some of these things He says. 547 00:23:22,968 --> 00:23:25,604 And I might have to change some of the things I like to do. 548 00:23:25,937 --> 00:23:26,772 And I don't want to. 549 00:23:27,439 --> 00:23:31,009 And so I really do believe that people are just, they like their autonomy. 550 00:23:31,042 --> 00:23:32,210 They want to be their own God. 551 00:23:32,210 --> 00:23:34,246 And they don't want to come in terms of God. 552 00:23:34,346 --> 00:23:36,214 And so they resist Him all that they can. 553 00:23:37,048 --> 00:23:38,049 It's called sin. 554 00:23:38,817 --> 00:23:40,485 And like I said, we're really good at it. 555 00:23:41,386 --> 00:23:41,820 But... 556 00:23:41,820 --> 00:23:44,256 It seems like anger is part of the dynamic, too. 557 00:23:44,689 --> 00:23:52,764 I do remember very clearly, in my mid-twenties, being very angry with Mom and Dad for being right. 558 00:23:52,931 --> 00:23:55,467 And it took me a long time to forgive them for that. 559 00:23:55,667 --> 00:23:55,934 Yeah. 560 00:23:56,568 --> 00:23:56,902 Okay. 561 00:23:57,536 --> 00:24:07,078 And see, what I think probably psychologically, anthropologically, you're dealing with is just coming to terms with not being your own God. 562 00:24:08,213 --> 00:24:09,247 You're not in control. 563 00:24:09,414 --> 00:24:10,248 I'm not autonomous. 564 00:24:10,449 --> 00:24:11,750 I'm not the end of it all. 565 00:24:12,217 --> 00:24:12,851 I have to. 566 00:24:13,552 --> 00:24:15,086 There are authorities who know more than me. 567 00:24:15,387 --> 00:24:16,455 And I've got to pay attention to them. 568 00:24:16,688 --> 00:24:18,323 And that's a crisis for everybody. 569 00:24:18,557 --> 00:24:20,025 You're not your own little dictator. 570 00:24:20,592 --> 00:24:22,027 And it's a hard lesson to learn. 571 00:24:22,360 --> 00:24:23,895 Some people never learn it. 572 00:24:23,895 --> 00:24:29,968 And they just grow up being stupid adults that are acting like little kids, thinking the world revolves around them. 573 00:24:32,304 --> 00:24:39,411 Obviously, society, especially today, perpetuates, multiplies that concept, I think. 574 00:24:40,312 --> 00:24:46,685 But, I mean, obviously, from our belief system, we believe, by nature, this is how we are. 575 00:24:47,619 --> 00:24:52,390 How do others, what would be the alter to that? 576 00:24:52,390 --> 00:24:54,593 Of course, we say by nature we're sinful. 577 00:24:55,327 --> 00:25:03,735 But what are some of the arguments that would explain why we're sinful? 578 00:25:04,669 --> 00:25:06,004 Why people do bad things? 579 00:25:06,104 --> 00:25:13,411 The world, because it's the way the forces of nature, this Darwinian world, this rival of the fittest, there are bad things and bad things happen. 580 00:25:13,545 --> 00:25:15,013 That's just the way it happens in this world. 581 00:25:15,647 --> 00:25:18,383 I mean, it's not hard to be an evolutionist. 582 00:25:18,783 --> 00:25:21,553 I mean, you can argue all kinds of good stuff for reasons. 583 00:25:21,553 --> 00:25:24,256 There are counter reasons for everything here. 584 00:25:25,724 --> 00:25:28,393 Ultimately, Kolb says it this way, there's no test but trust. 585 00:25:28,927 --> 00:25:30,161 Ultimately, that's what it comes down to. 586 00:25:30,228 --> 00:25:30,929 It's an issue of faith. 587 00:25:31,396 --> 00:25:34,766 God calls me, I believe, because he's given me faith. 588 00:25:35,300 --> 00:25:37,302 And I really, I have no option. 589 00:25:37,669 --> 00:25:38,136 That's just it. 590 00:25:38,203 --> 00:25:38,904 That's the way it's going to be. 591 00:25:39,204 --> 00:25:40,739 And I cannot verify it. 592 00:25:40,939 --> 00:25:43,475 But, man, once you know it, everything is verified and you know it. 593 00:25:44,242 --> 00:25:44,409 Okay? 594 00:25:44,876 --> 00:25:47,178 Now, let's get back to our topic here on track. 595 00:25:47,712 --> 00:25:50,415 The word, then, is the revelation of God. 596 00:25:50,415 --> 00:25:56,388 The word is God speaking his proclamation to me, the gospel. 597 00:25:57,255 --> 00:26:00,759 And we will get into this in Lutheran mind more, but I'm going to stretch your mind 598 00:26:00,759 --> 00:26:05,864 a little bit to make room for it now so when you get there, it fits in easier because this 599 00:26:05,864 --> 00:26:06,765 is always a hard fit. 600 00:26:07,532 --> 00:26:11,403 The word is not the same thing as the Bible. 601 00:26:13,438 --> 00:26:16,274 The Bible is the record of God's revelation. 602 00:26:16,274 --> 00:26:21,313 It is the written record of what God has said and done and is still doing, but the 603 00:26:21,313 --> 00:26:26,084 word is bigger than and wider than simply those words in the Bible because the word 604 00:26:26,084 --> 00:26:26,952 is proclaimed. 605 00:26:27,252 --> 00:26:27,786 It's alive. 606 00:26:27,986 --> 00:26:28,486 It's active. 607 00:26:28,787 --> 00:26:32,791 So when the pastor preaches, even if he doesn't quote a Bible verse, it's still the word of 608 00:26:32,791 --> 00:26:33,124 God. 609 00:26:34,092 --> 00:26:37,829 And when the evangelist shares the gospel with somebody, even if he doesn't quote a 610 00:26:37,829 --> 00:26:42,500 single Bible verse, it's still the word of God because the word is doing its thing. 611 00:26:42,500 --> 00:26:47,339 God is coming and claiming and the progression of the plan is happening. 612 00:26:48,106 --> 00:26:56,348 So, but the Bible is the record of this word and the Bible norms and checks and guides 613 00:26:56,348 --> 00:26:57,816 the proclamation of the word. 614 00:26:58,049 --> 00:26:59,651 So the Bible is really important. 615 00:27:00,318 --> 00:27:07,125 But the thing that I want to stress here is the foundation for our faith is not the Bible. 616 00:27:09,327 --> 00:27:13,365 And this shocks people all the time and they're waiting for the lightning bolt. 617 00:27:14,699 --> 00:27:15,333 It's true. 618 00:27:15,734 --> 00:27:17,836 The foundation of our faith is not the Bible. 619 00:27:18,136 --> 00:27:19,804 That's called biblicism. 620 00:27:20,672 --> 00:27:22,374 That's what the Baptists are really good at. 621 00:27:22,807 --> 00:27:25,110 They say, I believe because the Bible says so. 622 00:27:25,276 --> 00:27:26,344 So what are they really trusting? 623 00:27:26,811 --> 00:27:27,178 The book. 624 00:27:29,014 --> 00:27:30,649 We're not trusting the book. 625 00:27:30,849 --> 00:27:32,017 We're trusting Christ. 626 00:27:32,951 --> 00:27:35,286 And we believe the Bible because we know Christ. 627 00:27:35,887 --> 00:27:37,022 We know his forgiveness. 628 00:27:37,622 --> 00:27:38,289 We know his truth. 629 00:27:38,790 --> 00:27:40,892 We know that Christ is the full revelation of God. 630 00:27:41,226 --> 00:27:45,764 Christ points us to the Bible as being trustworthy and as being the right record. 631 00:27:46,131 --> 00:27:52,370 So we now trust the Bible to be accurate and faithful and all the things that St. 632 00:27:52,504 --> 00:27:54,372 Timothy promises us, it's all that. 633 00:27:54,706 --> 00:27:55,407 No doubt about it. 634 00:27:55,407 --> 00:27:57,208 So I'm not denigrating or diminishing the Bible. 635 00:27:57,475 --> 00:27:59,911 I'm just saying the Bible doesn't come first. 636 00:28:00,345 --> 00:28:00,845 Christ does. 637 00:28:01,546 --> 00:28:05,283 So we believe the Bible is true, not because the Bible proves itself, but because Christ 638 00:28:05,283 --> 00:28:06,785 has shown Himself to me. 639 00:28:07,085 --> 00:28:12,157 This is also why when we do instruction with unbelievers, we don't get out all the Bible 640 00:28:12,157 --> 00:28:15,994 proof texts and say, look, 400 prophets of the Old Testament, everyone fulfilled in the 641 00:28:15,994 --> 00:28:16,127 New. 642 00:28:16,394 --> 00:28:17,529 See, you've got to believe it. 643 00:28:18,496 --> 00:28:19,330 We don't do that. 644 00:28:19,798 --> 00:28:20,365 What do we do? 645 00:28:20,665 --> 00:28:21,599 We just tell them about Christ. 646 00:28:22,367 --> 00:28:22,967 You're a sinner. 647 00:28:23,368 --> 00:28:23,968 You know it. 648 00:28:24,369 --> 00:28:25,503 You've got a Savior in Christ. 649 00:28:25,870 --> 00:28:26,604 You know that too. 650 00:28:26,871 --> 00:28:27,906 Here he is for you. 651 00:28:28,173 --> 00:28:29,674 People say, wow, that's cool. 652 00:28:30,108 --> 00:28:30,809 Oh, here's his word. 653 00:28:30,975 --> 00:28:31,609 Oh, yeah, cool. 654 00:28:31,676 --> 00:28:32,277 Let me read it. 655 00:28:32,343 --> 00:28:34,412 You see, everything changes in Christ. 656 00:28:34,412 --> 00:28:36,448 You start with Christ, not with the Bible. 657 00:28:38,083 --> 00:28:38,249 All right? 658 00:28:38,550 --> 00:28:41,553 More on this to come in later classes, but that's enough there at this point. 659 00:28:42,187 --> 00:28:42,887 Any other quick questions?