Well, good evening. It's good to be here. It's good to see you all here. Good to see our visitors here and hope you enjoy the service with us. I brought two bottles of water this morning just in case. I went through one of them. So we'll see how tonight goes. is going through this morning looking at the Bible, what we believe about the Bible. And it's hard to cover what we believe about the Bible. Well, actually, we believe the Bible's truth, right? We believe it's true. But there's more to it than that. So we looked this morning that we believe that it is right, it is true. So we're gonna go back here a little bit and look a little bit more on the Bible. The Bible is all truth without any mixture of error. You believe that, I asked you that this morning, right? You believe that, that there's no errors in the Bible at all. Now understand, the Bible was inspired by God. We don't have the original copies anymore, do we? We don't have the originals. But what we have is the preserved Word of God, right? Is God able to keep His Word preserved? Is He able to? My man, he can't. If he can't keep words on a page preserved, how's he going to hold us about all eternity? I mean, it is the preserved Word of God that we have here today. And we want to look at it tonight a little bit and see that it is without any errors and that we can trust the Word of God. We can lean upon the Word of God, not just in it, but also in historical matter. We can do. We can lean upon Him. We can trust His word in that. I'm going to get my glasses out so I can read. But look, if you will, in Genesis chapter 14. Genesis chapter 14. I'm going to try and read this. I don't do a very good job with it. Genesis 14, verses 1 and 2. It says here, and it came to pass in the days of Amarphil, king of Shanar, Arnuk, king of Elazer, Shaddamar. I don't, I mess these kings up all the time, but there's nine kings mentioned here in verses one and two. Do you know there was a time where a long time ago, many years ago, many, many years ago, that they said that these kings didn't exist. They were in the Bible, but he said they didn't exist. Then they found archeological evidence that named these kings. The Bible said they existed. People said they didn't exist. They do exist. Look in Job, Job chapter 26. Job 26 and verse 7. Job 26 verse 7 says, He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. He bindeth up the waters in the thick clouds, and the cloud is not rent under them. How did Job know that there was an empty place in the north where there was no stars? How did Job know that? Was it because Job was, he had a nice telescope? Was that why? Lord told him. Lord told him that. I remembered them saying that, I think I remember, or I remember reading about it, but that this was not real until they got a telescope big enough and strong enough they could reach out there and see and found an empty place in the north. It was written in the Bible. I mean, we look at this historically, the Bible's accurate. Scientifically, the Bible is accurate. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter one. Ecclesiastes chapter one in verse seven. There's quite a few places you can turn, you can look up and see the scientific evidence, you can see history evidence that the Bible is true. Excuse me, in Ecclesiastes chapter one, And we want to read here verse seven. Let's see. Yeah, let's just read verse seven. It says, all the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full. unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again." What this verse is describing is how the rivers flow into the seas and the oceans, but yet they continue to flow. They never stop flowing, but the seas and the oceans never get full, right? The sun heats the water up, it evaporates up into the sky, rain falls, and then it starts again down into streams and creeks, into the rivers, into the oceans. How does they know that? I mean, the Bible is accurate scientifically, it's accurate historically, it's accurate in every way. We can lean upon that. But there's no errors in the Bible at all. Look in Psalms 12, verse six. Psalms 12 in verse six. Look at a few verses that tell us that the word of God is pure and right. Psalms 12 and verse six. The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times. It's purer than anything out there. The Word of God is pure and right. We all know this, right? But this world will try and convince you that the Word of God is not pure. That the Word of God, there's errors in it. That it's wrong, but it's not. It's right. Look in Psalms 18. This is right here, Psalms 18 and verse 30. Says, as for God, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him. His word is tried. His way is perfect. And He is a shield to all those that trust in Him. That's what His word tells us. We can trust His word. Look in Psalms 19 and Now we'll start in verse 7, Psalms 19, 7 down through 11. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statues of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is that servant warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward. The Word of God is right, it's pure, it's perfect, it changes us, it molds us, it makes us wise, it is sure. His Word is everything we need. And it says in verse 11 that we are worn through His Word. And in keeping of His Word, there's great reward. We have everything we need in the Word of God. There came a place for me that when I was struggling with different doctrines and different teachings that I was raised with, I didn't know if they were true or not, if they were right, what I believed about them. And I struggled with them, and I tried to understand them, and I couldn't understand them. And I would read the scriptures over and over again, and they didn't make sense. I couldn't get it. And I remember going home one day on Highway W, sitting there, waiting for traffic to cross Highway 61 and head north. I can see it, sitting there. And it was like, the Lord said to me, I didn't tell you to believe it. No, I didn't tell you to understand, I told you to believe it. Just believe what my word says. Just believe. And that was a place in my life that I came to that On the way home, did I begin to ask myself the question, do I believe God's word? Do I believe it? Yes or no? To me, it came down to that. Do I believe God's word? And if I'm gonna believe God's word, then I'm gonna have to believe everything in it. I'm not gonna believe this part, but leave this part out. It doesn't work that way. We either believe all of it or we believe none of it. That's it. For me, that's what it came down to. And once, and it wasn't all just boom, all of a sudden, but when the Lord showed me that, and I'm just gonna trust Him that His word is true, His word is right, and I'm gonna believe it, it was like a light bulb began to open up on those things that I struggled with. I talked about sanctification this morning when I saw that. It was after that I've just decided, if you will, that we're decided. The Lord showed me that I need to just believe his word, regardless if I understand it or not. It doesn't matter if we understand it. Just believe that he gives the understanding. And so I'm going to believe it. And his word says it. Therefore, sanctification is true. I don't understand it. I don't get it, but it's true. It was after that that I saw that the guy took the fitting out of the box. The Lord opened that up to me and I saw and I understood sanctification. It was after that that I began to see election and limited atonement. It was after that that I began to, after that I just, Lord, your word said it, I'm gonna believe it. We have to come to that place. If you're not there, you need to come to that place that you just believe God's word because God's word is sure. His word is right. There's rewards, there's blessings by just following His word. Look in Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs 30 in verse five. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. That's what it said back there in the other verse, that His word is sure. He is a shield, a buckler to them that put their trust in Him. How do we know to trust Him? What are we able to trust Him with? It's all according to His word. We read His word, we study it, we learn about Him. That's one of the things that I love about His promises. His promises show me what He'll do for me, how He'll protect me, how He'll keep me, how He'll bless me. His promises show me what my hope is. I have a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. I have a hope not just in this world, but throughout all eternity. I have a hope that's in Him. And those come from the promises that I've seen in His word. But did you know those promises didn't mean so much to me until I understood that His Word is true no matter what. Then His promises meant even more to me then, as I would find a promise. The world today is confusing. They have all these different translations. They have all these different, if you will, Bibles. They all have different God is not the author of confusion. He's not. I stand on the KJV. I believe that's the Bible that we ought to follow, that's God's preserved word, and that's what we use here. Look at Isaiah 45, verse 19. Isaiah 45, verse 19. Isaiah 45 and verse 19, if I can find it. It says, I have not spoken in secret in a dark place of the earth. I said not unto the seed of Jacob. See ye me in vain. Seek ye me in vain. I, the Lord, speak righteousness. I declare things that are right. Everything the Lord says is right, and he speaks in righteousness. All of his word will benefit us. We can follow it. We need to lean upon it. I know this is not something that you don't know. I know that. And I started not to even say anything about any of this because I know that y'all know all of these things. His word is truth, you know that. We understand all that. But I wanted to get to that basics there because his word, we have to understand and know that his word is truth completely and totally because how do we, how do we know if something's wrong? How do we know? Because of his word. We go by his word, what his word says. My dad told me a long time ago, and I've told my children, I've told you, it doesn't matter what I believe. It doesn't matter what you believe. What matters? What God's word says. That's what matters. His word is always the final say. It always is. And we also understand that we read this morning that there is no private interpretation of the word of God. Right? There's not. So other scriptures will talk about the same thing. Will tell us that's how we interpret scripture with scripture. The Bible, it keeps us unified. The Word of God. Look in, let me see, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, I think. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Yeah, 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 10. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 10 says, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. We're to be speaking the same thing. We're to be in unity. We're to be in uniform. Perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. What does he talk? Are we just supposed to say the same things over and over again? No. What he talked, we're to be in the word of God. He's talking to the church of Corinth. And you know the church of Corinth had a lot of difficulty. They had a lot of troubles. A lot of problems in their church. And you read down through here, In verse five, no. In verse four, I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched or wealthy by him, that's Christ, in all utterance, that's reasoning, in all knowledge, even as a testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment. We as a church need to be unified. We as a church need to be together. And how are we to be together? How are we to be unified? How are we to speak the same thing but through the Word of God? Through His, to read it, to study it. We have everything we need through His Word. But this Word of God, it is the final say in everything and what we believe as a church. Look in 1 John chapter 4 verse 1. 1 John 4 verse 1. It says, beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. We need to be careful because there's many false prophets that's gone out into the world. You know, I told you when the Jehovah's Witness came by our house, and I thought I knew what I believed, I really did. I thought I knew until he started talking and he started explaining scripture his way and I got confused. I really did. But the Lord blessed in that because it made me study. It made me get into the scripture. It made me find the answers in his word. It made me pray and really seek those things out. And he showed me a lot. The Lord showed me, not the Jehovah Witness. But finally, after the third visit, they never came back. And I showed them the verse in 1 John where it said, who is a liar? And it says, this is not the Son of God. Christ is not the Son of God. And they left. But that showed me that I need to find out what I believe. Where do you find out what you believe? And the Word of God, that's where you go. How do you do that? How do you find out what you believe? By reading, by studying, by following those words. But his word here, look, there are many false prophets in the world. How do we know if they're false prophets? Verse two says, hereby know ye the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God. And this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. I feel like I'm moving around up here a whole lot. But my ears are giving me trouble. But we have to be careful. Just like I said this morning, I didn't train plumbers the wrong way to plumb so they'd know the right way. I taught them the right way. So we teach the truth. We point people to the truth of His Word is what we need to do. Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 21. says prove all things, hold fast that which is good. How do we do that? How do we prove all things? These are some things that I looked at when I was trying to figure out what I believed. How do you prove all things? What do you use? Well, you use the Bible. So when I was just first starting out studying, okay, I would ask dad about some things and he would say, well, this scripture says this, this scripture says this, and he would just, he would go through these things so fast. He's been studying for 40 years, right? He would go through these things so fast, it'd make my head spin. You know, I would have no idea what he's talking about in just a little bit. And so then, Trying to write these things down and figure it all out. And he'd give me books and all these papers and stuff to read. If we're not careful, we can get overwhelmed in trying to study. What I found for me, what is best is, like you want to know what it means by praying without ceasing in verse 17. How I figured out what that means is I looked up and followed the three words in that verse. Pray. Looked up the Greek word pray. And everywhere that word is mentioned and the verses around it. Studied that word and looked up without. What does it mean? Looked up ceasing. What does it mean? It doesn't mean that we, and you come to an understanding of this, that it doesn't mean that we always have to be praying. Every word coming out of our mouth has to be praying. No, but it means that that needs to be on our heart, on our mind. We need to be concerned with what the Lord wants, what the Lord says, and what the Lord's will is in our life. That we need to be concerned and looking towards Him. That He needs to be in the forefront of every part of our life. And that's what that's talking about there. You know, and He says in verse 18, in everything, give thanks, for this is the will of God and Christ Jesus concerning you. Some things it's difficult to thank the Lord for. Honestly, right now I feel a little bit dizzy. My ears are all messed up. My sinuses are all messed up. It's a little difficult to say thank you, Lord. I'm thinking about these steps. I don't want to fall off here. I get nervous if I stand here too long being still, but I think I'm just going to stand here. You know, it's difficult to thank the Lord sometimes for some things. We go through things, we have, this is, last year was a hard year for our church. It was a tough year. It's not just last year. I'm gonna say it like this and I hope y'all don't take it and blame me for it, but the last three years has been tough. I've been here four, almost four, so it's not just me. But it's been hard, right? And some of that, it's difficult to thank the Lord for what we're going through, what we're facing. But look, do you believe God? Do you? You know, and these are things that I look at sometimes. We make mistakes, we mess up, we do things wrong. We face those consequences. We don't like them. But do we believe that God is in control? Do we trust Him? We have His word right here before us. He gave us His word. It's real easy. It's real easy for me to stand up here and say, God's word is true, right? And it's really easy for you when things are going good and things are going fine to just say, yeah, I believe God's word. But how about when you face difficulty, you face trials, you don't know what to do? And you ask people and they give you all these different opinions and you have all of this stuff going on. Are we still gonna trust God and all that when we don't know what to do? Yes, we are. But how do we do that? How do we do that? I think it starts, I know that it starts, number one, by thanking him for where he's put us at. For thanking him for not leaving us here alone. You know, we go through difficult times and hard times and unsure times. But if we can't thank Him for being with us when we're in those situations, acknowledge that we're there, but thank Him for it. And He says here, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you, and everything give thanks. That's His will. Are you gonna follow it? Are you gonna accept it? Paul says that he has learned to be content in whatever state he's in. I heard that. when we lived in Louisiana, and I chuckled at that because I wasn't thankful to be in the state of Louisiana, but I needed to be thankful for that because of that state. That's not what it's talking about. It's not talking about a state like a place, but to be content with whatever situation in life you find yourself in because God's in control. He's there. Quench not the spirit. Follow the Holy Spirit. The Word of God tells us all of this, to follow Him. When we try and do it our way, we're quenching the Spirit. The Lord gave us His Holy Spirit as a comforter so that we could be led into all truth. Will we follow His Word? Despise not prophesying. Then he said, don't despise the Word of God. Don't despise that. Those that understand the Word of God and point it out and explain it, that some people can explain the Word of God so easily. And some people, like me, sometimes I can't. I have trouble with words, getting it from up here, out here. Then he says, prove all things. With what? With the Word of God. But look, before we can prove all things, there needs to be some understanding. There's some things that may take us a long time to prove, okay? Other people, we'll be able to just prove them very quickly. Those that have been saved and studied for many, many years can prove them very quickly. Where some of us, that's not been saved as long, and I'm putting myself in a younger category because I still want to be young. And it may take us a little longer to prove it. But you know what? There may be somebody that's been saved for a long time that's not studied. It may take them a long time to prove it. But work at it. Prove all things, whether they're right or whether they're wrong. Just as it said in 1 John, There's many false prophets. Prove all things. Hold fast that which is good. When you prove those things, when you look at those and you compare them to the Word of God, you hold on to that which is true. You hold on to that which is right. Throw out all the other stuff. The Word of God is the final say-so. Then he says, abstain from all appearance of evil. Stay away from those things that appear to be evil. Why? Because the Word of God tells us that our life is a conversation. Our life speaks to other people as they watch us. He doesn't just put verses in here for no reason at all. But abstain from all appearances of evil. That's kind of tough sometimes. Sometimes that goes against what I want to do. In all honesty. You know what? It would have been a lot easier, working in construction, if we would have believed, if, let me rephrase that, if I would have believed that it would be okay for me to go to a bar but not drink, just go there and order a hamburger. But I don't believe that's okay. I don't believe it's okay to go there and order a hamburger. I don't believe it's okay to go there and order a soda. Why? I don't want to be in there for one thing. I don't want to be there. The Lord says abstain from all appearances of evil. I guess what I'm getting at with all that, I didn't finish the thought, I dealt with a lot of ridicule, with a lot of poking, with a lot of silly people because I wouldn't go to a bar. We don't have to drink. I'm not going to a bar. There's some restaurants that I wouldn't go to and eat, although they would. They would go to those restaurants and eat. I'm not going there. Why? Because I want to follow what God says. And what is our standard? Look, life is confusing enough the way it is. Life is difficult. We need a standard. And that standard is God's Word. That's what we hold to. Look in Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. Oh, yeah, Acts 17, okay, yeah, I was reading the wrong verse. Acts 17, starting in verse 10, 10 and 11 here. It says, and the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who came thither, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. Look at what they did. They searched the scriptures. They received the word with all readiness of mind. They were eager to receive it. But they didn't just receive it and then go home. They received it and then they studied it to see if what was said was true. They searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so. That's what they did. And that's what we need to do. That's why I've told you, I guess I tell you because it's what I grew up being told my whole life was don't take my word for it. I was told over and over again, don't take my dad's word for what he's saying. That you just, you study it. And that's what I tell you. That's what the Bereans did. They didn't take Paul's word for it, but they took and they studied to prove it true in their own lives. It does me no good, it does you no good for me to stand up here and tell you that the word of God is true if you haven't got it settled in your heart and your mind that the word of God is true. My dad taught me for years. He was my pastor. I've only had two pastors in my entire life. No, I'm sorry, I've had three. Three pastors in my entire life. They were all different. My dad was the main one, but But they all three told me to not take their word for anything. And I don't think any pastor should tell you to take their word for it. Because my word is not the final say, God's word is. And we need to study his word and find out what's being said is truth. And if it's not, find out why it's not. Do you believe the word of God? Do you believe that all of this Bible is true? It is. And we can stand upon it. Okay, what I'm going to do, I'm going to stop because I'm getting a little bit more dizzier, so I'm going to quit. But James, you have a popcorn message. Okay, why don't you bring your psalm book with you? You have a little popcorn, and then we'll, and you can lead singing. I invite you to turn your Bibles to Revelation Revelation chapter one. I've been currently studying the seven churches of Asia Minor, and it's been an encouragement in the times that we live and the times that may follow. John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and we see that John declares, in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. It was not just a man writing what he wanted, but he was writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And in chapter one, Christ speaking, I am the Alpha, in verse eight, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. And there's numerous other titles that Christ refers to himself in Revelation 1. But each one of these letters is written Christ addressing his churches. These seven local, autonomous, independent bodies in these seven separate cities. You have Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. And as I have been studying these churches, you see a theme. Christ, first and foremost, he continually declares, I know thy works. Christ has such an intimate and deep knowledge of his people, of his churches, individually, but also collectively. That's a terrifying thing, a fearful thing, when we really dwell upon that. But it's also a comforting thing, knowing that our savior, our chief shepherd, is watching over us. He knows what's going on. He knows our concerns. He knows the deepest things that we may not even tell one another, but that we keep to, that we have to ourselves. as a body, He knows everything that goes on. And Christ, five out of the seven churches, He had something, there's some good things that He says. You know, a lot of the times we focus, well, five out of the seven churches, they got rebuked, which is true. But in Ephesus, in the first church here in Revelation chapter 2, We'll begin reading in verse one of chapter two of Revelation. Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things say he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand to walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. This is referring to Christ. Each one of these letters, each one of these churches, at the very beginning, Christ introduces himself, states his title, who he is, referring to himself. I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne and hast patience for my namesake, and labored and not fainted. We continue on. These churches, they were holding fast to the Word of God. They were doing things that were right. There were things that they were doing wrong as well. But, first we see that Christ knows his people, intimately, personally. The things on the surface and the things that are deep, deep down, he knows them. And Christ, even though there's chastening and there's rebuke to these churches, he commends them for some of the things that they were doing, their patience, their faithfulness, their holding fast to the truth. If you study these churches, you see that they all were in wicked, wicked cities. by the seat of Satan. The synagogue of Satan is talked about in some of these churches, in some of the cities. The people that were coming into the church were wicked, false prophets, people pretending to be Jews. These churches were trying them. They weren't just letting people in, because they were holding fast to the Word of God. They were holding fast to the Gospel of Christ. They were remaining faithful and steadfast to their Savior, the one who was watching them. I found a lot of comfort in that. But also, Christ commending them, kind of, what would Christ say about me? What would Christ say about 12 Ryan Baptist Church? I pray and I encourage us to remain faithful and steadfast. Pastor's been focusing his message this morning and this evening, we're centered around the word of God. This is Christ speaking to us. And I had a thought the other day, and I thought about it for a couple hours. Christ walking with the apostles, talking with the apostles, talking with those that followed Him, the multitudes that followed Him, the Lord speaking in the Old Testament. You know, we think about that. It's like, wow, that's truly amazing. We have that. It's right here. if we're consuming ourselves, if we're saturating ourselves in the word. I don't know what lies ahead, but I know that Christ is already there, and he knows what's going on. And we are just commanded to and ought to be faithful in all things. And I encourage us that as these churches remain steadfast, as an example for us at all times, though they had their faults and their shortcomings, as does every church, There's people. There's people. Amidst that, we can still remain faithful, and we can hold the truth, and we can walk with our Savior daily, hearing from Him daily of what we ought to do in every aspect of our lives, in every aspect of service and faithfulness to Him.