No, but music does not change it to increase your faith. And then expose that thought to the Word of God. Put the God's Word in a relevant place and expose that thought to God's Word. That's the second step. And then let God's Word be repeated back against that thought. Definitely while warfare is not criminal, but the mighty good God has put it in our strongholds. and casting down imagination with an air of high thing that exalts us up against the knowledge of Christ and bringing the captivity of every thought to the obedience of Christ. So we have to have God's thoughts to conquer any other thought. Your thoughts are not my thoughts, saith the Lord. You see? And then what we're to do is to reinforce, after that, we're to reinforce and make that our way of thinking our lifestyle. Think on these things, whatever is pure love that just has been unbroken. Paul said, think on these things. As a way of thinking that saves the mind, God is interested in our mind because he knows that unless our minds are in control or in harmony with his thoughts, that we set up our own fleshly techniques, set up high things that exalt the self against the knowledge of Christ. That's where even philosophers come from. Trying to substitute God's thinking. Bring things in together. Keep things in check. Self-control is a beautiful expression. Bringing the passions in hand. That's it. So let's use these principles to express and preach relevant messages from the Word of God that incorporate these principles. I find it very rewarding to incorporate and bring out to the people and say what principle I'm applying to help them to understand. I mean, it's also... He's going to observe all things the Lord can command. We can do that without making ourselves look superior, but we have a superior way of life and a superior knowledge, and we ought to share that with God's people, as they can bear the share of all things that pertain to God. Our job is to help them to to know the Word of God, be mature, they will have to share with them how to study the Word of God more maturely. So don't be afraid to let them know that there are principles in which you write and write with truth. It makes for a good nugget of teaching that people be interested. Yes. Right. All that you are is simply an instrument to God's people to share with Him what God has given His children, you to give God's children God's bread and feed them in due season. And it's not for us to accumulate this thing. This is what brings up the big daddy type of preaching. You know, you know it all, but you don't share it all. You share as much as you did. It motivates you also to learn more when you do it that way. Yes. Yes. See, God has given us to His churches. He'd given gifts to men. He'd given us this ability to edify. Then he had given us to the churches that we might share what he's given us with his people. Someone has to stand before people. People just don't go by themselves. It's not written in man to go without a leader. Maybe locusts. An ant's do. It's pretty hard for people. Ants destroy. They're not people. All right, our next principle of hermeneutics. What is hermeneutics? What is that? You may get that on your final test. Termination. OK. What is exegesis? The art thereof. OK. Here is the art thereof. You cannot tell us once it's done. OK, the definition of the gap principle, that principle of divine revelation, Prabhup�da, God in Jewish scriptures ignores certain periods of time, leaping over centuries without coming. This is a principle that is not recognized by all Bible teachers and students. Yes. Yes. That's right. Jesus did in Luke chapter 6, I believe it is, verse 4 or 6. So I guess maybe the word Jewish could be just as easily deleted. And so that principle of divine revelation whereby God in scriptures ignores certain periods of time, leaping over centuries without comment, this is a principle that is not recognized at all. So let's eliminate the Jewish or at least paraphrase this, say, in the scriptures. Because that is truer than you testify. Matthew chapter 24 probably would be another case. All right, let's look at some of the illustrations. Isaiah 61, let's turn to our Bible. It's a very brief lesson, but it has a lot of scripture passages that can be checked out. And I find that it's good to check out, if you're reading behind someone, check out for just the accuracy of scripture so that you won't pipe it out across the pulpit. And then later on have to... No, it wasn't chapter 51, it was chapter 31, you know. Could be a typographical error. You don't think we make mistakes like that, do you, Bill? No, we don't do it too often. I did it twice in my message. Let's turn this boat over first, right? Especially when you have two boats, first and second. You just be hammering on first, and you turn it. No, I'm not there. Yes, sir. It's best not to get so involved that you can't turn back. Try to push it on through, you see. I've listened to radio programs, and doesn't that man make those kind of boo-boos, you know? Yeah. Yeah? Hot shot preachers who come up with a quote in a scripture from their own book. Okay, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good tidings unto the meek. He has sent the divine of the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of prisons to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes and oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness in the planting of the Lord, that we might be glorified. So we can see here that here is a gap principle, and we compare that with Luke, Chapter 4, Verse 16 through 21. We'll see that the Lord quoted a portion of that, but overlooked a portion of it until later. Maybe a few centuries later. It's the Day of Vengeance. It's not come yet. What's that? Or 16th? 16th. No, it's the Day of Vengeance. It's the Day of Victory. Mm-hmm. That's right. Christ was born by it. Mm-hmm. The Day of Vengeance. Victory. And then to appoint them that morning time. It's a picture for Jerusalem too. It's beautiful principles in that when you're dealing with people who have problems that they feel like they're impossible to solve. Sins, scars and so forth are given to them beauty for ashes and oil of joy for mourning. God can give that to a soul is famished. Only the Lord can restore wasted years. People come in with much regret, you know, or if I had just done this young when I was young, or if I had... Well, God can restore wasted years, only God can. Years at the Caterpillars, and the Cankleworms, and the Humbleworms, and local seed up. You know, I've seen them. I had watched the Lord restore some wasted years with giving more joy than a person would on just kind of a normal, you know, humdrum pilgrimage. It seems to, they commit themselves giving them a joy beyond what they would have ordinary had just living a mediocre Christian life. I've seen people hold on, just hold on. for years and years, never productive. So the others come in, and even though they regret that sin stained life, if we give them principles and they latch on to them, they just abound in joy and fruit. God is able to restore that, to turn ashes, I mean, give beautiful ashes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Right. Grace. That's true. I think that's one of the things that drove Paul to a greater height of commitment than any of us would have ever known. Yes. Yes, it's true. He lived a life of abandonment. All the persecutions that he went through, he just hooked at it. Born and grown, you know, he sucked it all in, you know, just. OK, so you can see in Luke chapter 16 verse I mean, chapter four verses 16 through 21. Jesus says. Came to Nazareth where he was brought up and as his custom was, we see some internal evidence here of what Jesus did during those years that we see missing between 12 and 30 as his custom was. You can kind of jot that down. People ask those questions. That's one of the places. We know one of the things he had as a habit that he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. It says as his custom was. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach the deliverance of the captive, to the coveting of the sight, to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, period. And he closed the book. Thank the Lord that he closed the book. Amen. And he closed the book. That's a good subject. That's it. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened upon him. So we can see here that comparing Isaiah 61, 1 and 2 and 3 with Luke 4, 16 through 19, 20, we can see here that there's a gap of and that he knows certain periods of time leaping over centuries without comment. It doesn't explain why he closed the book and so forth. It's just that he did not say that it was time for that to be fulfilled, which was already spoken of the Prophet. We know that later on in another portion of the scripture, the Bible tells us the things that will happen that will lead up to that consummation of what was left out. But in the book of Daniel, for instance, you find some of the things that will take shape between that gap that was there in Isaiah, and that Jesus quoted a lot of the things that would take place. Revelation, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Matthew, Luke, all have some of those things in them that would take shape to fill in that period of time that was ignored or left over without permit. So the author, I think, is accurate here in trying to bring this out. Yes. That's right. That's right. Amen. And for our good, no doubt, because we couldn't contain it. It'll be a requirement. You know, all the truth that's in the Bible, that's for us, we're responsible to do. And the scripture said, Cursed be him that does not continue in all the things that are written in the book. It's enough responsibility to consume my days, you know. Would you agree? All right, we just get about doing it. I'd say that God has given us, within the contents of the book, are enough to occupy all of our brain cells. And that's what He intends for us to do. Think of the fantastic wisdom and knowledge we would have if we consumed the book. Eat the whole roll. But we spend so much time, and we are trained up spending so much time focusing on how to be successful in something else, and not wise in the Scripture. Start training our little children how to make good grades in school instead of being wise in the scriptures. The best years of their little brain cells are illuminated with all kinds of other stuff. TV commercials and things of that nature rather than how to be wise in the scriptures. They have a fantastic capacity to memorize. And God's book has been neglected, and we hear somebody come up with maybe a few insights, and, wow, he's great, nothing. He sends Christ to service. Yes, I was looking at artifacts. History one time was on a column on page 416, and when we handed it down on a column on page 617, people read every statement, one phrase, one line, by word of mouth, literally, when they were going to the Senate office. and they would make their turn calls at that time. One would be right, one would freeze, and then five ordinary citizens would come and take their place later in time. That's interesting. A synagogue service could not be started without ten men to represent the commanders. But the scripture says here, brought up and as his custom was. That's interesting. That gives a lot of things hinted in that concerning his manner of life coming up. It didn't say as his habit or tradition, it says as his custom was. Which means that he was free to choose that. They turned the book over to him. He was a young man. He was about 30 at that time, wasn't he? He read it, and I wonder what was so unusual about him reading that. Because all eyes were focused upon him. Could it have been the tone in which he read it? He read it right into their hearts. Yeah. Close the book. He read before. It's indicated there that it's customary. You know, as you grow in God's grace, you grow in the Word, you become much more bold, much more authoritative. Yes, confidence. Speak with confidence. Because it's thus said in the Lord. Yes. Unfortunately, we then Exactly. And apply it to our opinions most of the time. Yes. And we become just as good with our opinions. And you can back them up. This is the way it needs to be drawn. I believe with all my heart, you know. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. And then we grow it through another layer and get a little wiser. By the time we get to be 50, 60, you know, then we realize that. I was thinking about Billy Graham, how much he's compromised. Some of the things that he said, you know, that he tends to back down and use a lot of maybes and things of that nature. How old is he now? He's in his 60s. About 61 or 62, I'm not sure. But he's been preaching a long time. Since he was about 20, I guess, maybe. Campaigns and things. I've been listening to him for 20 years, I know. I wanted to get some of his earlier writings and catch him up today. Decision Magazine, he sure would be interested, you know. Yeah. He was stuck with the basic message of salvation. He still proclaims that. That's admirable. Preach before that number of people and find an avenue by which to approach them with the gospel message of death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. I admire a man that would stick with that, stick with one thing, even though there are a lot of other things that he may be short on. Also, this one thing I do, I just hope that a lot of other men would stick to something in the Baptist ranks. Yes. This whole period of time of erosion. That's true. I wonder where I'm going to be. Yes. By the grace of God, we stand, you know, and so we begin to look upon our pastoral experience rather than up on the Word of God over the fall. I say we look back and start counting the hash marks and so forth. Not just the hash marks, but the stars. Yes, that's right. There has to be a re-evaluation time. I know that I've had to do that over 20 years of my ministry. I've had to, from time to time, see if I'm going around in a circle or am I progressively getting the knowledge of God's Word, ministering to people relevantly. I think one thing that has helped me have a balance is being in contact with those who have the greater needs. That's something that keeps me aware not to become lackadaisical, apathetic. And that is by a set of classes to deal with those who have the deeper hurts in their lives, those who've gone through the pain of divorce or divorce and remarriage. dealing with there have been identifying God's purpose and allies and I deal with the college age group those who are in that transition stage who don't know their own minds between 18 and 25 I teach that group I stay in contact with that group and so that gives me a fresh view of the needs of people, and it keeps me aware of how much I need. By listening and learning from them or their problems, it shows how I need to stay close to God, to His Word, my answers. I think that's the most time we relax and look for that stage in our life where we can kind of collapse and relax. Now we've got time to go along, let others do it. Stay in the limelight of the area of needs in people's lives and that will keep you to keep you close to the full God. It will pull out to you that deeper hurt and keep you in that agitated stage in spirit where you can't just relax and collapse. and come up with just pat answers, because there's always someone in that stage that's coming through with new conflicts that need for help. That has helped me, I think, stay fresh in mind or alert. Sensitive. Right. And this is one of the things that we can become complacent, I think, but that is where one of the dangers of spiritual leadership is. We become complacent in our search in the Word of God. The scriptures become familiar. We limit our homiletics to certain particular molds, you know, styles. We never approach a message from a creative point of view. Yeah, getting in a rut. That's about it. And then when you get in a rut, you begin to relax and then new pressures come in and sway you to kind of try to maybe lean or too heavily toward trying to make yourself look good or compromised and easier to come in at that time. Of course, you're not alert. You know, your muscles are not built up to that level of stress when a situation comes your way, that pressure is going to always arise every generation that are going to have them, especially if you're a long-term pastor. You can take things for granted. In every organization, you have this seed of disintegration. You need to be aware of how you select staff, how you teach and train staff. But you have to see the disintegration. Jesus added in his group, that was Judas Iscariot, 70 that were not loyal. So we can be alerted to some of those things. By being on foot, set on guard about I don't know how we got off of that, but it was all right. Yes. If it is first taught in Baptist training class, put them in the assurance class on how to have assurance from scripture on salvation, vision, forgiveness of sins, victory over temptation. A course is set up for that. No matter how old a person is, if they're a new believer, they're in the insurance class. That would be equal to that, because the newcomers class is not just to indoctrinate them on church politics, that is included, but also on the basic need of a young Christian. our assurance of salvation so that you can help them lay aside certain things that Peter said need to be laid aside. Malice and guile and hypocrisy and invisible speaking. So you can deal with those things because they can resound you out. I'd say that the pastor or a very definite, plugged in, leading man in the church should have that class. because they want to have them to sound out something. They talk about just about everything. All the questions they had in their mind, you know, you have to clear those up and then get on with some other things because you want. And then that's normal. The reason why it's so normal is because the scriptures say, wherefore lay aside all malice and guile. And many of the things they have come into the church with, if you don't clear those up at the beginning, they carry those on for years in their mind. and set up the seed of disintegration. On the fellowship level, we have a young men's group, single. They're single young people, 15 through 25. Even if they're above 25 single, they can be honorary members of the group. We have what you call a becomers. That's a class that helped young men to gain perspective on proper dating, principles of engagement, finances, how to deal with impure thoughts, things of that nature. And we meet every other Saturday. The girls, single, and being the women's, with the women's group 15 up, are with the women's fellowship. And they have a subsidiary group out of that called the Givers of Light. where one of the ladies worked with the young girls, young women, to develop projects within the Women's Fellowship. They also have an opportunity to... Now they've started what's called a Sunbeam Girls, a special project and new works and things like that for girls, 10 and a half through 14, to give them an opportunity. The men sponsored the boys on the flowchart. I drew up a flowchart about four years ago. And the men were to sponsor the boys and work with the boys for a program of education on every other four Sunday night. Did it pair off? No, the men take over in the Friday evening Bible study. We have our male-female classes and the staff on the Friday evening Bible study. Works along with the Sunday school staff and so forth to bring up a program just for the boys and then the ladies for the girls on August 2nd Sunday nights. The ladies edify the church on one second Sunday night, and the girls on the alternate second Sunday night. The men on one fourth Sunday night, and the boys on the alternate fourth Sunday night. The single young men on the third Sunday night, and the single young women on the alternate third Sunday night. So everyone is involved in sharing edification on one Sunday night upon another. And that involves the whole church. And they bring forth some very good enrichment programs. The girls last time brought a program on friendship, development of friendship. And it was just really rewarding, really a fine program. On Sunday night, the men sit on my left and the women on the right. So they give me a chance for some kind of adulation, I guess, from each side to encourage that group that's functioning. So, this did not come out of any book. It came out of a need of seeing what the living were about this tragedy. And I took the risk of trying something creative. Pragmatic, I guess you might call it, and what works. So, it works for us. I believe I can find biblical mandate for what I'm doing in the male-female relationships that's developing. Girls helping, I mean women helping girls and men helping the boys to develop what they should be. Supporting one another, edifying one another. So with a person coming to the church, many times I'll advise them to come a whole week before they unite. Come to Friday evening, Bible study, Wednesday night prayer meeting, Sunday morning, Sunday school worship, and Sunday evening BTC and worship. And you can come to the fellowship group and get a feel of what's going on so they won't just jump in and then fall through and end up being excluded for lack of fellowship. I don't have any certain God except the book. Becoming all things to all men by any means we might win some. That's the area of special ministry if I were called to. or a church that already had a certain particular style, I would seek to modify it to become alive. I wouldn't necessarily have to go away from something that was already good if it were working. Not just change just to be changed, but change always to get us closer to the Word of God. Whatever get us close to the Word of God, I'm willing to change to get us back to the Word of God if the Word of God allows that change. order of worship service, how to make our worship service more interesting, more than the chains. How to more worship them. If the Christ is sensed in the present congregation, one song or five songs, you know, are preaching before the singing or whatever it is. In fact, the Word of God has that honor, possibly doctrine in their fellowship, breaking the bread in prayers. So the Word of God comes first. When I think of Baptists, I think of Bible. Others may think of other things, but I think of Bible. But I think it's in your baptism. Yeah. That's synonymous with the Bible. Belief. One who believes in the Lord's description. To me that is. Why Luke's record that the Lord Jesus stopped at the comma? And Isaiah, 6 to 1, 1 and 2, in the first coming of the Lord, he came to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. When he comes a second time, he will preach the day of vengeance. This has not yet come. There is already a gap of 1,900 years between the clause of that sentence, Isaiah 6 to 1, 2. 1 Peter 1, 10 and 11. of which salvation the prophets have inquired such diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them signified when it testified beforehand of the suffering of Christ and the glory that should follow." In other words, we can see an obvious gap there, as one of the New Testament has. The prophets themselves could not understand what they prophesied concerning the suffering and glory of Christ as humiliation and exaltation. They did not understand the Gap Principle. They tried to put these two mountain peaks together, but there was a valley of 1,900 years which they did not see. So, here God gives the prophet something, and then does not give him any particular details. He's up until a certain period. This is why they could not see in that valley between those two mountains. Some of the prophets, they reached the mountain top. God allowed them to stand right here and look over here. There's a valley between here. They couldn't see it, but they could see this next mountain over here. It's nearly there. But they couldn't see down in the valley what took place coming over the lower Calvary. the dispensation of the Church and so forth. Yet they spoke of some things that would take shape in the valley and couldn't see and understand the details of it. Isaiah talked about he was wounded by transgression. He couldn't fully understand what he was prophesying. How could he be both Messiah and suffering Savior? They talked about his kingdom, his rule of righteousness, but also of his suffering. And some of the prophets did. Talked about him being born, where he'd be born. didn't fully understand what they were ministering to us, which salvation of prophets have inquired such diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come, unto whom it was revealed, not unto themselves, verse 12, but unto us they did minister the things which are now reported unto you by them which have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. which things even angels lean over or desire to look into. The angels bend over and question. Show some of the seekers of why God has lifted up on us in grace and such compassion and love. Daniel 9. The 70 weeks, which were not weeks of days, but weeks of years, or 490 years, 69 weeks, and then a gap. One week has to do with Israel, the restoration, the day of the little horn. So that has been about 1,900 years up to this point, over, a little over. The 69th week was fulfilled when Christ was cut off. Not for himself, but for the transgression of the people. Close to it. That's right. That's a pretty large gap. We see a lot of things, details, I guess, are the details of the whole Church's dispensation. It's between that gap. You know, Proverbs has a lot of gaps that has to be filled in with time. The Bible will give you or a certain particular character principle violated or kept. And so here would be the end of it. The wicked is this, and here's what the end of the wicked is. And you might say, I can't see how that person is going to end up that way, but you just keep watching. You have to fill it in with time before the end of that thing. Psalms 37 have a lot of them. Shall be cut down. Fret not yourself because of evil doers, neither be enemies against the workers of iniquity, for they shall be cut down like the grass, as a green herb, you see. That person like he's flourishing, like a green bay tree, look like, you know, and start ending. If you don't watch it, you'll start ending the wicked rather than watching his end. Like God said, and this is the style of God's people so often. We get involved in looking at what the wicked is achieving, and we forget the end that the Lord said. And so, all of a sudden you find calamity overnight. He said he'd fall in a day, put him in slippery places, come skiing down a slope. He can't stop. He'll hit the bottom. I've watched my hands in the innocency, you know, it doesn't even pay me. Yes, sir. You got it. So you're right. So I'm 73. That's right. And it says I was I was British. I was like a dumb brute beast. That's right. And until I went into the sanctuary. It's good to go to church and hear a good message on the thing. Going to the sanctuary. Psalms 73. That's right. This is in verse seven. You're fine. Very interesting. 3773. For fret not yourself and don't envy the wicked. 37? Sure. As a musician, chief musician, David's. He said Allah or say Allah or something. Say Allah? Yeah. Then he's rest, taking over. He's meditating there. Yeah, meditating over there. Peruse over there. Here's some thought. I like when we're reading the Psalms in church, I like to pause for about 15, 20 seconds and just let people think it over, that part they read. That's what it says, think it over. Rest. Hosea 1.4. Jezreel, he got for 40 years. Clothes of the kingdom of the house of Israel. So we can see that looking at this particular principle, it has some merit in biblical interpretation, the science of interpretation and determination. As we go to places like this and we call people's attention to things like Isaiah 61, 1 and 2, and Luke 4, 16 through 21, and help them to to be able to understand some things more prominently. I think that Acts chapter 2, along with Joel, would probably be another area that needs to be dealt with in that area. Concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit and his administration versus the notable day of the loin, which is another period of time. So many have gotten that mixed up. It's not mentioned here, but I think that would be good to put those two, that Joel and Acts chapter two, whatever verses are concerned. It was Joel 2, 28, somewhere in that area. I think it is. He's pulled out his spirit upon all flesh. Yeah, George 228 through 32 and comparing it with the Book of Acts chapter 2. I think that would be another one that you could list in there and be safe in putting in the right frame of reference. The verses of those in Acts, Acts chapter 2, verse 16 through 21. So Joel, 228 through 32.