Verses We Tend to Avoid

Good morning. I just want to greet you all in Jesus' name. It's a blessing to be here on a beautiful spring day. I just wondered this morning before we get started if there's any prayer requests. Anybody has? Sure. Okay. Okay. Where are you going? Okay. Alright. Okay. Alright. Let's all stand. Father, thank you for this beautiful morning and an opportunity to meet together and to encourage each other and provoke each other to good works, to edify each other. God, help us to glorify you this morning. Give us strength and understanding. Father, this morning we want to pray for Jacob Ferguson, that he would turn to you fully, repent. All the people, Lord, that we're interacting with in Fayetteville and Springfield for the outreach that the brothers did there. God, I also want to pray for the brothers here that are going to be traveling and just that you guide them and show them where they ought to go and who they ought to minister to and where they ought to stop in, where they can do the most good. And Father, we want to also pray for the homeless, for the sick, for those who have dire need of you, who need just basic needs met, Father, and that when we come across them we would do our best to help them and minister to them in their need. Thank you, Father. Be with us. Help our thoughts and discussions to be pleasing to you this morning. Thank you for this beautiful day. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Throughout my Christian journey thus far, I found in the groups that I have the most experience with that there are always certain persuasions that lead to portions of Scripture that are difficult to deal with or know how to handle. There are also portions of Scripture that become kind of stomping grounds and points of emphasis. They get used as proof texts. I've thought a lot of times when somebody really tries hard to duke it out in theology or, yeah, I guess certain theological persuasions, there's almost like an arms race, I guess if you would, of proof texting of Scriptures. There's one persuasion that has a lot of proof texts. There's another persuasion that has others. And I think often something that lacks in those debates is a balanced perspective that's really trying to take the full counsel of Scripture, the full counsel of what the Bible would have to say. For example, for a fundamental Baptist, the book of James is real tricky. They're not sure what to do with the idea of works going hand-in-hand with faith. It takes a lot of delicate maneuvering and explaining to make those verses work or that whole passage, that whole book. For many Christian groups, the Sermon on the Mount is a major struggling point. And a lot of those verses are skimmed over or just read or not explained or completely avoided. But this morning I was wondering, just through different challenges I've received through people not with us and also just the desire of people with us to be able to take that full counsel of Scripture. What about us? What are passages that are sticky for us? What are passages that we really struggle with, that maybe we tend to avoid more? What are passages that have been spun by groups to the point where we want to avoid them or have been overemphasized in different groups with different persuasions? I think one reason we tend to shy away from certain passages are because of what many groups have made of those passages, the doctrines that have come out of them, how they've been spun. And maybe some of them are ones we just don't know what to do with. But some of them are part of the counsel of God, or all of them are. Some of them are words from Jesus himself. And so this morning I just wanted to read through, without any commentary, several verses that I think are sticky for us. And I'm not proof texting. I'm not coming at it with any kind of persuasion. I guess if I do have a persuasion, I'm here with everybody. I'm pulling with everybody, and my persuasion is the persuasion that we have here collectively as a group. I'm not pushing anything, but I do think that it's healthy to be able to reexamine these verses and to try to get away from the negative association that we have with a lot of them and what's come with them through the verses. A couple of disclaimers. I'm not trying to stir up controversy this morning. I'm not trying to read any messages or meaning into these. A lot of our reactions to these verses, like I said, or how we perceive others, have misused them or used them as reason to ignore other passages. So anyway, as I read through these, see if you can reflect on why these verses might be problem verses for us. Maybe some of them aren't for you. And in no way is my list an all-inclusive list of passages that I think we tend to tiptoe around or be careful about. They were just my brainstormings this morning. I think these verses are good, and we can benefit from them when we properly understand them in their context. So as I read these, some of them are in soundbites that are how you've maybe heard them proof-texted. And so my caution to all of us is that we would just be careful, read them within the context of their book, and within the broader context of all that Scripture has to say about these ideas. I kind of categorized them. And I thought I would start in Matthew 5. I guess one of the groupings that I have this morning are verses concerning salvation. So we'll start in Matthew 5. I've got several scriptures. I'm just going to read through them. And then we'll open it up at the end for any thoughts. Matthew 5, starting in verse 17 to verse 20. John chapter 3, verses 13 to 21. Jesus talking to Nicodemus. That he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light has come into the world, and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Romans chapter 8, verses 38 and 39. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14. I'll back up to verse 12. That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom ye also trusted, that after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest, and that means like a down payment, the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his glory. Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4 through 10. But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. How about 1 John chapter 3. 1 John chapter 3, verse 24. Then I'll jump ahead to chapter 12. No, I'm sorry, chapter 4 after I read 24. 1 John 3, 24. He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him, and hereby we know that he abideth in us by the Spirit which he hath given us. Okay, now chapter 4, verse 13. Same book. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son. Is that what I wanted? Verse 13, I'm sorry, back up one verse. Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. Okay, a couple more. Luke chapter 12, verses 41 to 48. Okay, this is right after the parable of the expectant steward, and Jesus answers Peter's question with another parable on the faithful steward. Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But, and if that servant say in his heart, My Lord, delayeth his coming, and shall begin to beat the men's servants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken, the Lord of that servant will come in a day, when he looketh not for him, and at an hour, when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his Lord's will, these are the verses I really wanted to hone in on, but I thought they needed the context of this parable. And that servant, which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required, shall be much required. And to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. Last passage in this category, 1 John chapter 5, just verses 14 to 17, chapter 5 there. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we will ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And we know that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask. We know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. If any man see his brother sin a sin, which is not unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. Okay, yeah. What do you see, Joseph, that's wrong? Did I get the reference wrong? There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. The next verse says, all unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. Did I, I may have, let me just read it again. If it doesn't come out right, Joseph, let me know. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And we know that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask. We know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. If any man see his brother sin a sin, which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death, I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not unto death. Is that better? Okay, thanks. Okay, we're going to segue over into like a category about faith. And what happens when we pray to the Lord. Matthew chapter 17, verses 14 to 21. Yeah. And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is lunatic and sore vexed. For oftentimes he falleth into the fire and oft into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him. And the child was cured from that very hour. And here's the passage I wanted to focus on. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, why could not we cast him out? And Jesus said unto them, because of your unbelief, for verily I say unto you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out, but by prayer and fasting. Related to that is Luke chapter 17, 5 and 6. And the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith. And the Lord said, if you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamine tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you. First John, chapter 5, verse 14. I just want to make one comment. I mostly wanted to read this without comment, but I think that this, I had read it before, but just this first John 5, verse 14, I think is very helpful in trying to understand these things that Jesus had to say about faith. And I'll leave it at that. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. Okay. Now back to the book of John. Chapter 14, I think that's got kind of two little problem or difficult sections. I'm going to call them difficult sections. John 14, the first idea is caught in verses 8 to 12, and then the second idea is caught between verses 13 and 14. So we'll start with this first idea, John 14, verses 8 to 12. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's sake. Here's the verse. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. That's idea one. And then moving on into idea two. And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. Okay. Then Luke chapter 11, and verses 5 to 13 there. And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves. For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him. And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not. The door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needed. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh, receiveth. And he that asketh, findeth. And to him that knocketh, it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give a fish for a serpent? I'm sorry, will he give him a, if he ask, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Sorry about that. Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him? Okay, in this category, my last passage is Mark chapter 16. Okay, verses 14 to 18. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth is baptized. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Okay, and that kind of moves into a smaller category because there's not as much said about it, about spiritual gifts. And I'm just going to read a couple selections from 1 Corinthians 12 and 1 Corinthians 14. Okay, first passage in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 4 to 11. Now, there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given the Spirit of the word of wisdom, to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another the gifts of healings by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another diverse kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. Second passage in that chapter, verses 27 to 31. Now, you are the body of Christ and members in particular. And God hath sent some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. After that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing. Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts. And yet show I unto you a more excellent way. And then he goes into talking about love above all the gifts. Chapter 13. Okay, last passage there in 1 Corinthians 14, verses 1 to 33. On the coattails of talking about charity or love. Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue, speaketh not unto men, but unto God. For no man understandeth him, albeit in the Spirit. He speaketh mysteries, but he that prophesyeth, speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue, edifyeth himself. But he that prophesyeth, edifyeth the church. I would that you all speak with tongues, but rather that you prophesied. For greater is he that prophesyeth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. Now brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall it profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine? And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped? For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For ye shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. Wherefore, let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else, when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say, Amen, at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest? For thou barely givest thanks well, but the other is not edified. I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all. Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, than by my voice I might teach others also. Then ten thousand words in an unknown tongue. Rather in be not children in understanding, howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad or insane? But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all. And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest, and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. I'll just read a little further. How is it then, brethren, when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation, let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, that by course, and that by course, and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let the prophet speak two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace, for ye may all prophesy one by one, and that all may learn, and all may be comforted. Okay, and then just a couple miscellaneous that don't really fit into a category, and not necessarily related to each other. And that'll be all I have. John chapter 20, 20 to 23. And when he had so said, he said, Peace be unto you. That was what Jesus said to his disciples. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained. Then Matthew chapter 16, just a few verses there. This is Peter's confession. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And then finally, Mark chapter 10, verses 28 to 31. Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the gospels. But he shall receive an hundredfold, now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the world to come eternal life. But many that are first shall be last, and the last first. Ah, I tried to categorize some of those, and in doing that, it almost sounds like I'm trying to make a case for a lot of the ideas that you're, probably a lot of the things that you're thinking and that are running through your mind, it may sound like I'm almost trying to make a case for those, because a lot of those are those ideas, because a lot of those verses are used as proof texts. And even standing up here and reading some of it, I mean, I need to squirm a little bit, thinking about, okay, like, how do we answer these things when we talk to people who want to advocate for a certain persuasion of salvation, or or how faith works, and how we're supposed to pray for things, and what does it mean when God doesn't answer prayers the way that we expected, or according to our desires, or our carnal desires? Or like, what power does a person have, you know, to remit sins of another man, or and what does that mean, and how does it all fit in there? Or, like, about faith, you know, these this very detailed account of, like, of spiritual gifts, and how those are supposed to operate and work within the church, and I will tell you, like, one of the reasons it makes me uncomfortable is because I have seen the end of some of these things, and groups that have made these verses their focal points, a focal point of experiencing God and experiencing the spiritual gifts, and I have to say that like, I've never been among people that follow that model that Paul lays out in 1 Corinthians, and practice it biblically, so my goal this morning in reading these things is just to say that they are part of the counsel of God, how can we incorporate them in our teaching, and how can we reclaim them in a sense, from the ways that they've been hijacked, and I'm not sure I have all the answers, I think some of the things that I read aren't even necessarily from a certain persuasion, but just things that are a little bit unclear, so maybe we would tend to avoid them, and yeah, I just wanted to encourage us to study them along with all of the subjects, they're meant for our good, and let's seek to understand them in their perfect, in their context and in their application, and I just wanted to say God bless you all, and open it up for discussion. The very first verse, or the very first category, the very first category were verses concerning salvation, it was Matthew 5, 17 through 20, which talks about I'll just turn to it again, so I don't paraphrase it and get it wrong. Yeah, the verses I really wanted to point out I guess are, verse 19 there, Can anybody hear me? Yeah, I wanted to say concerning either holding people's sins still on them or remitting them, I would think that that would be something that like God would be giving the church to just recognize and report to the person. That it would all be like in unity and understanding, or if there was an excommunication for a time, that everyone would be in agreement for how that would go, that they had that kind of authority to do it. As far as the asking for things in God's name, like, people talk about the secret names of God, or what it really sounds like in Hebrew or Aramaic, and they want to lift it up. And I told this one guy that was explaining this to me, I was like, if you want to lift up the name of God, then do what he says. Like, because his name is he who forgives his enemies. You know, his name is he who is kind to all. And as far as asking for things in his name, like, it would be synonymous or identical to asking according to his will. Like, if you ask anything in my name, I will do it. There is something about a guided meditation on why this prayer is being lifted up. I mean, there may be simple things, like, if a child asks for a specific favor from God, a small thing, like, I don't think it's unreasonable to think that God would want to do that for a child like that. But I mean, as far as, like, an adult asking for superfluous or frivolous things just because it suits them, and that's how it's what they want from God, that's not generally what I think Jesus is talking about. I just don't think that he's, like, please turn that tree purple, God. You know what I mean? I mean, I guess that could happen, and I don't want to say that it can't, but I don't think that that's really, like, the focus that Jesus is pointing people to. And I think tongues are legitimate, but it seems like the people that are really hung up on tongues would not recognize the verse that says that, like, he that prophesies is greater than he that speaks in an unknown tongue. Because I guess they would quote those verses at the end of Mark, you know, like, whoever, you know, but those that believe these signs shall follow them, and tongues is among them, that's all I had to say. That's really tempting, Max, to just, and this is probably exactly what you were saying, and I'm not going to do it, but it would be really tempting to be like this imaginary person, not any one of us, but somebody when faced with this dilemma that any group of persuasion is faced with, that you're putting forth would just say, I didn't hear anything in what you said, all those are just perfectly obvious, and give you the explanation, give you my explanation, and then give you the explanation for how those verses should be properly interpreted, and just say what confusion is there, they're perfectly, and often hear the response to what denomination are you, or what are your beliefs, and say, I just believe what the Bible says, though they're obviously of some persuasion, but, and here you have this multitude of people that just believe what the Bible says, but they don't agree with each other, like if we have to, I have had to be humble and just kind of admit a couple things about the Scriptures, that there's, I was taught initially, like, here's this book, and it's, this is the complete rule book, everything's covered and addressed, and if it wasn't in one place, then it was followed up in another place, and you can, and it's here, and you have absolutely everything you need, like that that was God's intention for all of these writings, and the compiling of them, and all the processes that it went through until it got right here in our hands, I just, I just don't, I mean, I don't believe that, I don't think that it's true. We, I've got, well, I have several people that are on the verge of being given license by the state to drive, and so you have to take tests and read, you have to know the rules for them to give you a license, and wait, and that, and so you have a rule book, and that book, that book is, for sure, intended to be an all-inclusive, like, on purpose, give you every single thing you need to know, there shouldn't be any questions, it all should be there, with opportunities to have been revised when they found a mistake or something left out, like, and yet, we read that, it said in one place, oh, what did it, what was that thing that we pointed out, it said, you have to have a Missouri driver's license to drive. The wording of it was just like, no exceptions, if you live in Missouri, you have to have a Missouri driver's license to drive. Now, what it was addressing was that, if you don't live in Missouri, you're fine to drive in Missouri if you have a license from another state, but once you live here, it was like a way of saying, if you live here, you need to get a Missouri driver's license. But the way it was written, we specifically, like, we know for sure right now, that you can drive with a permit. You don't have a driver's license, but you can drive with a permit, and so, and you can, but the way that was written, that would just say, you cannot drive in Missouri. If you live here, you have to have a license. And it was intent, you know, there's this little thing that's something like, what about permits? Okay, well, I'm not talking about that. And I think that that would apply to many scriptures where, like, something is said, and it absolutely does, something is said, and you say, well, according to the wording you just used, that would mean this. Okay, I'm not, if we could, and these are things that have already been spoken or written, and the author is not here to say, okay, I'm not talking about that. So I don't, I'm sure that the intention of the author was for the words to not be taken in such a specific, literal, unyielding fashion. I think, like, an example, well, Jesus says, whosoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Now, we know people who would say, well, that means that if a man divorces his wife, and she marries another, he can't take her back. Because now she's a divorced woman. So they're interpreting that to mean, whosoever marries a woman that's divorced of another man. So, if he divorces her, he can take her back, she'd be a divorced woman. So, technically, she'd be violating, they'd be violating what it says, he's marrying a divorced woman, but he's not committing adultery. Because she wasn't divorced of another man. But they would say, once she marries another man, now he can't take her back. Because now he's, by their interpretation, he means divorced of another man. Whereas we would say, um, he's specifically talking about whosoever is divorced of her rightful husband. Whosoever marries her that's divorced of her rightful husband commits adultery. So then, he'd be marrying a divorced woman, but it's her right. See what I'm, like, we have, um, I don't think anybody can keep all the scriptures as they're written. And I don't think anybody, people would say that they do. Okay, but then what people will do is, um, is get hung up on some, it says right there, whosoever marries a divorced woman, like, pew, like, somehow what's happening here technically defies this phraseology. it says that these signs, Jesus said, these signs will follow them that believe. Like, somebody could say, if, so, so let's take up some snakes. Let's drink some poison. Like, it's, have you drunk poison yet? Well, you need to do that. Because if you haven't, you obviously don't believe. Because it says it will follow. If you die before you drink some poison, you obviously don't believe. Because those signs will follow. Um, and so anybody would have their verses that they're, um, that they'll do that with, but they won't do it with other verses. They'll say, well, but what it's talking about there is this. But here, it says this. And, um, I feel, like, when I was a Baptist, I didn't realize I was doing that, of course. But I would have, I would have had to have, there's a little trick or something, I'm not sure the word for it, but like if, if I'm willing to say that there's, you're able to take a scripture and say, well, but it doesn't mean that in this case. Well, where does it end? I could do that with all kinds of scriptures and just make up whatever I want to make up. And unless I can, like, slam down on every phraseology, then what good is the book? And that, that argument, like, persuaded me, like, okay, I, we have to, um, either agree that it's all there and it's infallible, or else it's worthless. Like, that those are the two options. And it, I mean, this is, this is kind of what faith is, is being able to, like, understand, like, I don't, I don't believe every single circumstance is, is completely covered in the scripture. Neither do I believe that, that everything that's said doesn't have an exception. Um, you know, if, uh, um, probably gave enough examples, but, um, I, I think there's things that we would, that I could point out that ways that, um, examples of where we do that, and anybody else that wants to, you know, stand up on some of ours, I can show them examples where they don't take scriptures literally, and then the, the trap is, okay, well, so then what, what do we, what do, what is our authority? What do we have to stand on? How do we know which, um, where exceptions are? Where the, where the proper exceptions are? And where, where we're going off track? I mean, it's, um, once you say the scriptures aren't perfectly spelled out and absolutely infallible, you know, then what? I mean, I think, I think I have, I think I have the answers, I think I have an understanding, but I, I at least have to say it's, um, it's fearful ground, um, and I, it seems like I think following God and walking in the faith should be, um, a fearful thing. I don't, I don't think it was, I'm confident it was not God's intention to give us a rule book to follow, um, but to guide hearts and to, um, initiate relationships and, and, um, redeem. Yeah. I just wanted to say, like, I guess maybe some of this ventures into, like, hermeneutics or how we read scripture, sort of. At least, like, part of your comments and discussion, and I, like, I'm not really, like, personally I'm not really ready to, like, to say that, that I think that we have, like, conflicting information. I do think there are some details of accounts, like, for example, just for example, one that I can think of is, like, what happened to Judas Iscariot. Like, the accounts seem a little bit different, you know, of how he died. Like, one has him falling headlong and, and bursting open. The other one has him being hung. I'm not, I'm not sure how to reconcile those. I'm, I really can't. I don't want to really try. I guess I have tried in the past. But I, I do think that, like, in general, the scriptures are, are, uh, are meant to harmonize together. Paul's, Paul's gospel and Jesus' gospel. John the Baptist's message and Jesus' message. Uh, the writings and the epistles with, uh, being, like, as, as undergirding or support or expansion of the things that Jesus was here teaching. Um, I guess I just thought transparency is helpful. I'm not sure what to do with, with the idea. Personally, in my mind, I don't know how to, like, reconcile the idea of what you were presenting, like, okay, so, like, they're not, they're not infallible, so what are they and what, what things are valid and what things are invalid? I guess I'm just not sure how to sort out all that. Anyway, I just wanted to respond to that. I know. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah, I agree. Uh, hello? Anyways, uh, the first subject you mentioned, talking about, like, um, like, anybody that teaches falsely, you know, so on, they, uh, the subject Buddy brought up, the divorce and remarriage, seemed to be, uh, the most common topic that I had to deal with over the last weekend and over the last several months. And, uh, I had a conversation with somebody just this last weekend, and, uh, I didn't, I didn't realize, I must not have been paying attention well enough while I was having the discussion with them, but they said that, uh, they referred to the verse that said that it was an abomination to return to your, to your spouse. I didn't realize that was in Deuteronomy. Uh, and so it kind of, it kind of caught me off guard. I was just like, I was like, well, how does that work with, with all of these other verses that refer to, like, reconciliation, returning to your spouse, like, and, and then, finally, we got into the, like, the heat of the discussion, and he said that, like, like, when he was emphasizing Deuteronomy, he connected all of Scripture, as Buddy was referring to, like, all of Scripture being, uh, the words of Jesus, and that, uh, began to accuse me of being Satan and a serpent and all of these things, because I was unwilling to accept these words of Scripture, and it wasn't that I was unwilling to accept them, it was just that I didn't understand how they, how they correlated, and when I saw that it was Deuteronomy, I was just like, great, can you show it to me in the New Testament? How does that work? Like, uh, and so, uh, part of the reason I'm mentioning this is, is like, like, how we, how we view things and how we define things may be how we are founded upon Jesus' rock. Like, some people might, might grasp some understanding, uh, and be able to tell people directly, like, okay, yeah, you're, you're in a divorced situation, and, uh, and that's, like, was the other person in error, and, and therefore can explain that part, but then, like, to grasp it fully, accepting all of Scripture in that matter, um, is highly important, and I think, uh, I think when I noticed in this, this conversation how if we just see things just slightly off, it can give us a perception that's completely different than, than what I think Jesus is really presenting to, to man. So, like, during this conversation, he, he was telling me that he believed that, like, like, technically, under Scripture, that polygamy is still in play, and that, uh, that it was really in the context of, like, like, still, we're still under the old law, technically, and, um, uh, the divorce was, was more for putting away your, your wife, and not, like, like, the responsibility had nothing to do with the husband, and, uh, and so I, I think, um, I think if we're not fully, just fully founded upon Jesus' rock, like, like, being able to take it in that simple understanding, then all different kinds of information open up. But how we interpret the Bible, that's, that's pretty important, it seems like. Um, uh, what was it? Oh, the point was, is that this person, like, like, believed that, um, obeying and abiding in the authority of, uh, the American Constitution was highly important, and that the only reason why he would not practice the, the act of polygamy was that uh, the Constitution did not allow for it. Somehow that was the defining thing, and I said, well, that's, that seems like such a weak position. Like, if you truly believed that you could do this, like, according to Scripture, would you really let the laws of the land define that for you? Anyways, like, the whole point was, is just that, that, like, are we founded? Are we accepting all of Scripture? But how are we defining it? Yeah, I just want to say thanks for reading those passages, and I'm sure we all have lots to think about. Um, I just wanted to share a few thoughts. Uh, um, it's kind of, like, Walter has said sometimes that he's, he's just figured out that sometimes he just, and sometimes he just ends up believing two, two things that seem to be contradicting each other, and that's how it goes sometimes. Like, I can, I can hear what Buddy says about Scripture, and I can, I think I agree, and then I, along with that I agree that all Scripture is given for inspiration and teaching and edification, and that it's inspired. Um, but I just, I think part of, part of the problem is, like, okay, Jesus said about some people, he said study the Scripture, for in them you think you have life. But, but these same people missed, missed the message in the Scripture. Okay? Um, and, uh, they, they thought they had Scripture, they thought they understood it, they thought they had the right interpretation for it, but they, they missed the real thing. And, I just think that's what, that's what can easily happen. I think I've told you before about this interesting man, I met Springfield one time, who, who, he, he thought when he saw us out there with signs, he thought, oh, we're just radical, conservative, republicans, you know, um, and then after talking for a while, he changed his mind, but, um, uh, but he, he told me how he, he had this, this scene in his mind of the Bible thumpers, and they were thumping the Bible, and as they were thumping it, the pages were falling out. Some of the pages were falling out, and, and then the non, non-Bible thumpers were picking up those pages that were falling out and reading them, and were actually getting some understanding from it, um, while, while the others were basically missing parts of their Bible. And, I just thought it's kind of interesting, or kind of a nice way of describing what I think happens when people just really, really, like, pound on, on certain passages, are, are convinced, kind of like what Buddy says, that there's only two options, like, either, either you have to say it is totally, like, uh, flawlessly, infallible, everything is there, or, or, who's to say anything's true? Like, those are your only two options. Um, I just, I think in so many of these situations, like, if we would actually study Scripture, we would find out that what it really says is like, do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. And, and in that, we can, we can, we can read the Scripture for all it's worth, and believe it, and, and see that it's inspired, that it's true, and be humble about the fact that, uh, we just don't know what to do with, with, with some things here and there, and, and, and there's been times when I, that, that's been the case with certain passages for me for a long time, and, and all of a sudden, like, through something, it, like, the light clicks on, uh, and it's like, oh, that's what that's been saying. It makes sense. It perfectly fits in with, um, with the rest, or then it, it, it reshapes my mind a little bit, gives me a more complete picture. Um, uh, I also just had to think of, like, just, just think about how it was for the first several hundred years of, of, of the Church. They did not have a New Testament as we had it. They had little portions, or, or portions of it in different places, like, going around, Paul's letters were delivered from church to church. Some reader that could read, read it. Uh, here and there, they had Matthew's Gospel as, as the account of Jesus' life and death, and, and here and there they had Mark's, and here and there they had John's, and some of them got passed around, but, uh, it wasn't just for a short time, like, it was for several hundred years that, that was somewhat the case. I mean, I think those writings were all around, but, but just not compiled in a way that, that we, uh, that we have them, and, um, and yet they, they could follow Christ, they could do justly, they could love mercy and walk humbly, I guess that's where I want to be. There was a woman last night that asked, is this on? There was a woman last night that asked to have, like, spirits cast out of her, and, uh, this is a thought that I had had that I didn't add on or I'd forgotten to whenever you were talking, and I quoted that verse about fasting and prayer in Mark, and, and how the spirits can then be cast out, but, but what I told her is I didn't think that I had any more authority to do it than she had herself, to seek God in this way, to have this thing happen for her, like, one man was talking about, like, concerning demon possession, he described it like, clean out the house and the rats will go. You know, like, wherever there is darkness, or like an ill-ordered life, these things are allowed to dwell there, you know, and, I, I was just trying to tell her, like, she was saying that she did meth sometimes, and I, I said, if you, like, it doesn't matter, like, whatever I pray for this, like, if you don't give this thing up, like, this spirit won't depart from you, but I don't think that there's any reason you cannot have this request fulfilled, you know, under, just by going to God yourself, I, I had another thought concerning the verse in Deuteronomy concerning the putting away of a man's wife, and because Jesus seems to speak so negatively about what Moses wrote, it seems like Moses may have had a signet ring, like unto the relationship between Xerxes and Haman, like, for the sake of order in Israel, it, like, it appears to me, like, because it says, I am the Lord, though it was not the heart of God, that this thing, you know, it says, the way that it has God's name in that passage is really striking to me, and so I would think, like, well, why is it in there? And it seems, you know, like, Moses has said, like, God speaks about Moses, and he's like, that he shall be like a God unto the people, like, all of the authority, like, it's possible that whatever Moses saw fit that would aid the nation of Israel to function, that God would give him his backing in this way, like, that's the only way that I can rationally put it together concerning, like, later Jesus comes and says, he only issued this for the hardening of your heart, and there might be a type in shadow concerning not reconciling with your wife that represents a standard of purity for a man to abide by in a way that, like, I have not completely, fully elaborated on in my mind or considered all of its possibilities, but when you get to the Proverbs that Solomon writes, you know, like, it says, return to the wife of your youth. It doesn't describe all the circumstances of, like, what potentially might involve a life of promiscuity or adultery or whatever might be involved in that. And even in Jeremiah, you know, like God says, but even now I say return to me. Like, this seems more like the heart of the Father rather than what Moses wrote. And concerning your statement about the counsel of God, buddy, I do rationally see some of these things that you are saying, but something about it I don't like because I think it too easily brushes over, like, what the Old Testament specifically is, which is a linear history. And there are all these prophecies very intricately given as we get into, like, when the nation is going to be exiled, in the exile, the return from exile, like, the rebuilding of the temple. You know, in Daniel 9, it talks about when this temple is rebuilt. The name of Cyrus, like, like, the amount of intricateness and interwoven parts of the Old Testament, you know, from Genesis all the way to, like, you know, Chronicles, and Esther, and Ezra, and Nehemiah, like, through the end of the Old Testament, like, I just want to make the point that I think that those things, that it was not a casual circumstance for the reason those books were added. Like, the thing is not exhaustive, and we don't know everything about the lives of everyone, and there was some brevity for the sake of the reader. The books would be without end if we had, I mean, our Bible would be bigger than we could carry, and if the printing was not as small, or the paper was thin, you know, as we had today, I mean, we might not be able to carry a Bible if it had everything in it that we could possibly know about, like, world history, or what the Jews did. But I'm just saying, like, just, especially for, like, children that are listening, just the way that the history is laid out, you know, God talks about the coming of empires, the ones that rise and fall, it seems not like a small thing that these books are in there, and the information that's contained in them, is all I want to point out. Like, I'm not sure if I'm doing the best job at relaying the idea that I have to say, um, like, I'm pointing to just how significant of a witness the Old Testament is, and how much Jesus references it, and like, the comprehension of, like, who Jesus was as a Jewish Messiah coming, is comprehended, like, in those books. Like, the things that he references, those stories, who, you know, who the Jews were, and their culture, the histories that the Bible contains concerning them, and the things that they endured, and such, like, so, like, just, just, some of the things that are said, like, that these books are, like, compiled, sort of, like, in an arbitrary way, like, something strikes a chord within me that, like, I cannot appreciate this. Yeah, I kind of felt like, okay, okay, like, I never said that the Scriptures, the books have been compiled in an arbitrary way. Oh, I know, I know, and I just, like, it just, it helps me to kind of remember, like, how, that that's what somebody does or something. Well, if, so you heard me say that, describe what some people say that they are, and I said, I don't think they are that, and then, and it's easy for the mind to then say, oh, well, then, they're just arbitrary nothing or whatever, like, and I guess if anybody would be watching watching these videos, the video of this or something, I mean, I'd want to say, I'd want to say plainly, like, Dwayne, you said, you said something that seemed like a need to answer something that I had said, and I, I mean, I feel like I wanted to say, well, oh, you said that they're, all Scriptures are given, that they're inspired, and that they're given, and I don't, I hope that what I said didn't, I don't believe differently than that, and I hope that what I said didn't seem to contradict that, like, I definitely, I would want to say, I definitely don't believe that they're of no value or that they should be thrown out, that they're arbitrary, um, that, I guess I just maybe just, I guess I just assume people know that, but I, but they, I don't, that's wrong of me to do, I just want to say, I want to say that plainly, I don't, I don't doubt the Scriptures, I just mostly, I guess trying to, like, say, say from a different angle the thing that Max is saying, is that there, there is this thing that we have to deal with, it's not just, just because we think, oh, well, obviously, um, you know, take a, well, there was one I thought of, well, obviously, every single Christian doesn't take up a serpent and drink poison, and you're not a, you're not really a believer unless you do those things, that's not what it means, like, to us, it's real plain, but we have to admit that we're, we're, we're doing something with something that is seemingly plainly written, and that, and that we would, um, we could do that with someone else as well, and say, well, it says right here real plainly, and we'd say that they're wrong for saying that there's, we would say somebody else is wrong, we'd say something's really plain, and that somebody else is wrong for saying, oh, well, but that, that, this and this, we'd say, well, you can't do that with the Scriptures, but we do that with, as all I'm trying to say, um, um, I mean, one thing I thought of, it says, it says to study, um, right, and if it was, and, and here you had the Jews that just studied and studied, and, um, and you, you have Yeshua, you have Jesus doing this thing where he had studied, and he was coming up with these interpretations that they were marveled about, like, obviously, it wasn't so plain, there's, if you have to study, that means it's not just spelled out for you, it's something that you have to figure out, like, well, when he, when he says, whoever is a divorced woman commits adultery, does that mean you can't take your wife back? Oh, well, later he talks, later Paul talks about, that you can be reconciled, okay, so it, though it could mean that, it obviously doesn't, and we just have to recognize that there are, there are legitimate interpretations that could mean something that, that they don't, like, um, what, another way to say it, I think, is that, like, the foundation is, like, the truth is the truth, and the scripture writers understood the truth, and they wrote words about the truth, and, um, but the truth is the real thing, and the words about the truth are like a map, and you can read the scripture writers' inspired words, they were really talking about the real truth, they weren't talking about something false, it was the spirit of God that was leading them to describe this truth, but there's still this, these words describing the truth can still be misinterpreted, um, and they, it would still be like, um, so what, one thing that we try to do is we, uh, um, if it was true that a man could not take his wife back after he divorced her, somebody could say, oh, see, it says right here, you know, that would be a true statement, that whosoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery, if you can't take your wife back, it obviously is right there, but also if it's if it's true that, um, that somebody else can't take a man's wife, that when a man puts his wife his way, that is also a legitimate way to describe that truth, and if the truth is, which I don't think it is, but if the truth is that a man can't take his wife back after she's had another, someone else has, quote, married her, that would also be a fair way to describe it, so you have, like, one sentence that can describe three different truths, honestly, but they can't all be true, the point is, like, that sentence is not the way to figure out, I mean, it's a clue to the truth, I don't, like, I don't think the scriptures say anything that are false, sorry, I'm trying to, like, I'm not, I don't think that, but I just, like, um, I think it's fair to say sometimes there's clues, and, um, um, oh, some, what, oh, Matt, did you say anything about being hung and then being bursting headlong, like, yeah, like, yeah, yeah, so they're both, oh, sorry if I've already shared this before, but, like, one of the best examples I heard, a man said there was two guys walking on the sidewalk, and a car pulled up and, um, man number one, I'll call him, was standing next to the passenger window of this car, talking with the passenger, man number two was standing more toward the hood of the car, and he could see into the, into the windshield, and he could see both the driver and the passenger, man number one was just standing there looking at the passenger, he can't really see the driver, um, the, um, oh, I'm gonna mess this up, the driver gave the passenger five dollars to give to the man, and the passenger pulled out five dollars of his own and gave them to man number one, now, man number one, all he knows, and it's true, that the passenger gave him ten dollars, it's true, but somehow it's also true that the passenger only gave him five dollars, and the man, from a different perspective, he saw that the passenger only gave him five dollars, actually the driver gave him the other five, but the passenger gave him both five, and that's like a really good example to me of, of like, something that I think happens often, at least in accounts, where like, this thing that sort of seems to contradict, like, is just, is just a matter of perspective, like, um, if there were two blind men, it's not false to say that there was one, because there was one, anytime there's two, there's two ones, or, you know, or, um, and I kind, I kind of didn't want to, like, the thing I started off trying to say and maybe didn't say it well, like, it'd be real tempting to say, like, oh, well, see what happened with Judas, um, Max, it's real easy, this is how, this is how both of them are true, and like, I didn't quite, I didn't want to go into that with any, we all want, it'd be real tempting to do that with any of the examples that you gave, but, um, I don't think that was your intention necessarily, but rather to recognize, like, um, well, maybe even your intention was more so to be careful that we're not neglecting things, because they don't seem to fit into what we want, but, anyway. Thank you, brother Max, um, I'm usually the only one, I'm one of the first ones to give comments, but now it's been probably a half hour and I can get my, uh, two cents worth in, and I appreciate all the comments from the brothers, and I am thrilled and blessed to fellowship with all you, even though that some of the things may be, uh, like Peter says, hard to understand, and, uh, I know if I was standing up there, Max, uh, after the first comment, I would have sat in my chair, because I didn't know it'd be a mammoth on standing up there, but, uh, okay, I'll make it, yeah, brief, okay, here we go. Uh, let's blame God, first of all, okay, because, uh, you know, uh, people in the tropics, they've never seen snow, you know, although your sins are crimson, they'll be white as snow. Well, God confused the languages. Let's blame God. His thoughts are not our thoughts, let's blame God. We have faith that everything that God says either will come to pass or is true, but if we're going to play, you know, Babylon or Babel, we can blame God, or we could, uh, or the false dilemma, yeah, the false dilemma, who sinned? This man or his parents? Jesus said, neither, neither. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and they all harmonize, but we can't, we can't see, uh, the left or the right, at least I can't. Nothing's impossible with God, and, okay, Paul says in Galatians, in Galatians 1, bear one another's burdens, then a few verses later. Don't bear one another's, you bear each other's burdens. Obvious contradiction, we can multiply that times a hundred, but, hey, they fit in, they fit in. John 7, they sent the temple gods, go apprehend Jesus. Where is he? Never has a man spoken like this. His thoughts are so, never, the whole world has gone crazy over him. But that's right, because we can't, his ways are unsearchable, his words are. John says, from what all the things, the whole word contains the things in his books, and we'll never understand it. We struggled over the problems. I struggled, what about the one, Buddy didn't bring up Joseph, Walter, I mean, Dwayne, anyone? I see men walk in his trees. You know, he touched them again. You know, there's hundreds of them like that. Well, there's many of them. 2 Peter 3, 16, Peter's talking about, and Paul, blessed Paul, the beloved Paul, things, you know, which are hard to understand. Now, I pinpointed that, that that would be Galatians. You know, Galatians, who bewitched you, you're walking by the law of Moses, and it's all about grace. And, you know, Paul says that you're fallen from grace, and I figured, you know, he tells a sermon of Hagar and Sinai and Sarah and this, and it's kind of difficult for the average Joe or Jane to, if it was definitely for Peter, you know, and things are hard to understand. But I think they're all, they're all easy, really, as far as Jesus, he said that, not many wives. I revealed it to the babes, you know, the simplicity of the gospel, and that's what Peter and Paul, I think, they're aiming at, the simplicity, and I'm not going to attack any of the so-called proof text or things like that, but, you know, beware of false prophets, and by the fruits you know them. Lifestyle versus theology, Justin Martyr talks about, as I said last week, that some of the early Christians, the people he broke bread with, they couldn't read and write. But they lived, we don't speak things, we live the Sermon on the Mount. They were not literate, they couldn't read and write, they weren't theologians, but they obeyed the Lord, and they obeyed the Sermon on the Mount, and they loved one another. This is the message we heard from the beginning, that you should love one another. And Brother Duane said, you know, when does the Lord require you, I'm going to be even shorter than that, fear God and keep his commandments. That's what it's about, I think, and I'm not adding anything, it was a great lesson, but I appreciate all the brothers commenting on so many things. I could go on, but I'm not. I'll go on, I'll go on one more, okay. Let's do this one, okay. It's Pentecost, so I'm going to find a true church. So I go to Paul, and he says, hey, I don't get anyone, the only one I have is Timothy. Timothy's the only one. They all love their own work, so they're not, only Timothy. And so then I said, well let's go to church at Rome. Well these people eat meat, and vegetables, and there's divisions over that, over days. Let's go to Columbus. Well, I'm of Peter, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Christ, and the ones who are of Christ are poor, more pharisaical than the others. Let's go to Galatians. Well, they're following the law of Moses, and they're following from grace. Let's go to Colossians. Well, touch not, taste not. They're going, you know, suspenders and beards. Let's go to Philippians. Well, these two ladies can't get along. Uriah and Simeon can't get along. Let's go, I can go to each one, the seven children of Ephesus. They lost their first love, Ephesus, all this. We can go to Nicolaitans. Well, let's go to the brother of the Lord, James. Okay? He's the brother of the Lord, James. Let's go over him. Okay? A rich man comes in. Hey, you sit up here. The poor guy comes in, he's dirt. You sit down here. Look at that class distinction. This is terrible. Well, I'm going to Pentecost, the Jerusalem church, founded by the apostles. This is it. Here we go. This is my heaven on earth right now. Are you kidding me? These widows are the Grecian, and these are the Jewish women, and they're going to split the church. I thank God for all you brethren. Let the Lord be magnified. Yeah, I want to share my thank you, too, for sharing, Max, bringing out all the scriptures. I guess we get a little taste of why maybe we avoid some of them slightly. Probably, in my mind, because it's probably not all that clear about some of them. But there's no surprise or secrets with God. I think Jesus has shared sufficiently that when we meet him someday that the things he taught us, if we've done these things, he will be able to take us in. But anyway, just a thought I had on the Bible itself. I kind of grew up with the idea that the Bible is this thing that God has somehow over everything. When I looked and searched the history, I realized that, just like Dwayne kind of shared about the different books kind of flying here and there, people being read all over the world. And the way I understand, there came a time when somebody that had concern for the scriptures or had concern for the teachings of Jesus, perhaps, they had, the way I understand, they had many false books about all these people, too. And they had to divide and seek out and they compiled this book we have. And I may be not the best person to describe all this, but this is my understanding. So they put this book together and then, since then, I learned these people were not even, we might not be in agreement with these people in how they lived their lives and how they presented themselves before God. And it, I guess at that point, it didn't shake my faith much anymore or didn't make me question myself all that much. I just leave that in God's hands. I trust that the scriptures we have are able to bring us, humble us, bring us before God and some of these things we just don't understand. I don't. And a little thing on Betty's permit thing, I'm going to try and shoot a hole in that for him. I would suggest anybody that has a permit not to drive without a license or you get in trouble. It also says you have to have somebody with you that has a license. Well, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Behold what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore, the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, and we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath hope, that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They are of the world, they speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are of God. He that knoweth God, heareth us. He that is not of God, heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. Ye my, I heard the summons go to joy. I heard the summons go to joy. Ye all who suffered for your faith, for truth for Jesus the living, shall victory now entail. Amen. And now before the grave I am. And now before the grave I am. How everlasting ages grow, eternal love shall be their soul, and stay doubtless forever new. Christ in succession to bear you. Christ in succession to bear you. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, God of hosts, on high adore to my feet thy gracious feet. O almighty King. Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord, God of hosts, on high adore. Holy, Holy, Holy,