Good evening. Welcome to Falls International Baptist Institute. We are in class 6 this evening. We had to skip the classes last week and we will make the class that we skipped last week up the last week of April. In fact, for those that have a calendar for this semester, you'll notice that we were not going to have class night the last Thursday night of April. We will be having class night that night and make the class up. So it's good to be with you this evening. This evening also marks the fact that we are halfway through our spring of 2020 semester. And so we praise the Lord for that. Amen. And time is going by quickly. And so we're going to get right into our lesson, hermeneutics two, class six. And we are dealing tonight with something I've been wanting to get to ever since we started hermeneutics one. back in January, or excuse me, back in the fall of last year, okay? We're gonna be dealing with the First Mention Principle. This is also known as the Law of First Mentions. We'll also, if we can get to it, I'd like to cover three of them tonight, and maybe come back next week and add a little more to these three. But I wanna deal with the Law of First Mention. We would call it the Law of Further Mention, to keep it alliterated, and we would call it the Law of Final Mention. In our notes, they are called the First Mention Principle, they are called the Progressive Mention Principle, and they are called the Full Mention Principle. So we'll see if we can get at least through these three this evening, and then come back next week and maybe add a little bit to these classes and to our study, all right? So let's open up our class tonight in a word of prayer, and we'll get right into our class time. Heavenly Father, bless now our teaching from thy word tonight. Lord, as our folks from Falls International, check in and watch this later on. I pray, Lord, that you would just bless as the students in Ghana. Lord, at the three locations, check in on Saturday and watch this. I pray, Heavenly Father, that you would give us a generation of men and women. Lord, who will rightly divide the word of truth, who will not be afraid to study, to show themselves approved unto God, to be good students of the word of God, so that we might share the principles of thy word with others. God bless us now in this class tonight, I pray, in Jesus' name, amen. All right, so, Brother Aaron, good to see you online and watching the class this evening, amen. Good to see you here, and hopefully, Brother Pancho can get online. And we want to welcome a new student as well because of his job situation. He's found himself with a little more time on his hands right now due to this coronavirus thing that's going on. And so Brother Tony Kalasinki has joined up with the Bible Institute. He's going back and watching all the videos. getting himself up to date for the semester. And he stopped by today and we gave him the notes for the classes up till class five. So tonight we're dealing with class six. So welcome on board, Brother Tony. Good to have you with us. And our students in Ghana would love to meet you. One day maybe God will work that out, but good to have Brother Aaron on board, Brother Pancho, Brother Tony, of course my son Micaiah. and then to have the students there in Ghana. God bless you and we're so thankful that you could be a part of the Bible Institute. So tonight, let's get into the Law of First Mentions. Now, the Law of First Mention, the definition of this is that principle by which God indicates in the first mention of a subject, the truth with which that subject stands connected in the mind of God. So I'm going to say that again, and I want you to listen real closely. The law of first mentions, or the first mention principle, is that principle by which God indicates in the first mention of a subject, the truth with which that subject stands connected in the mind of God. Genesis in the Bible is called the book of beginnings. It's also called the seedbed of doctrine. It's really, and Romans in the New Testament is called the seedbed of doctrine, but Genesis is a seedbed as well. It's where everything began. And the first mention of many things is found in the book of Genesis. But we learn in the law, first mentions, that any time you find a subject mentioned for the very first time in the scripture, We find the truth with which that subject stands connected in the mind of God. Now there's a few other things that we're going to learn with this principle, but what I want to make clear there is that we get God's thoughts, we get God's attitude that never changes Toward that subject so you say how does this apply to our Bible study? How does this apply as we're learning to be teachers and preachers of the Word of God? Anytime we're studying the Word of God It's good if we're studying a word if we're studying a doctrine to go to the first time it is mentioned in the Bible and to do a word study and When you look at that very first time it's mentioned, you will find surrounding in the context, which is another principle we'll be studying, the context principle. You will find in the context, you will find God's attitude on that subject made very clear. In our class notes, Newton said, I find in scripture this principle of interpretation, which I believe, if conscientiously adopted, will serve as an unfailing guide to what was in the mind of God. This is the keystone of the whole matter. And as we go back, I mean, right in the beginning, we find in the beginning God. We learn Not everything about God, but we learn what we need to learn about God right at the very beginning. We can start going through right there in Genesis 1, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the earth, and we learn some things. We'll look into that a little later tonight, but we learn some things about the Spirit of God at that very first mention of the Spirit of God. that never changes throughout the Word of God. When Satan comes and tempts man, we learn some things about Satan. In his very first mention of Satan, he's subtle. He uses subtlety. We'll talk about that later in the lesson tonight. And so anytime we find a word or a doctrine or a truth that's taught in Scriptures, then it's wise for us to go back and find out the very first time it was mentioned, the very first time it was given. The first time a thing is mentioned in the Scripture, it carries with it a meaning that will be carried all through the Word of God. And that is so true, that is so true. If you'll study that first time it's mentioned, you will find God's attitude on that subject and a meaning with which it's carried through the Word of God. We'll talk about the law of further mention in just a moment, and the law of the full mention. Certainly, when God gives us a truth in his word, then there's a progressive revelation of truth on that. But in that very first mention, we are going to find God's attitude on that subject, and we are going to find the meaning, there'll be a meaning associated with that first mention that's carried all throughout the word of God. Now, and really, one of the things this teaches us is that there is only one speaker throughout all of Scripture. Scripture has many writers. Maybe 40 different men, I believe, over a period of about 1,500 years wrote 66 books. But there's only one writer, and that's God. If I took my pen and I wrote on a piece of paper, and if I handed this pen to someone else and they wrote on a piece of paper, we would look and say, who did the writing? Did I write or did they write? Somebody would say, well, actually, it's the pen that did the writing. And that's true. But the pen wrote what I wanted it to write. God used men as pens, if I can say it that way, to write His Word. God wrote exactly what He wanted in His Word. God gave us word for word exactly what He wanted. He gave us the complete Word of God. And so, what we see then is that there's many, many writers, but there's one author, and that's God. And so, since there's only one speaker, since it's the Word of God, He knows how to introduce a subject and how his attitude towards that subject Clearly laid out in that very first mention of it. All right now now Let me just say this in in Hebrews chapter number one verse one. We'll turn there real quickly I'm trying to follow the class notes tonight That's the only way that I'm gonna get through this is to follow my notes closely Okay, if I if I get off my notes, I'll start teaching and preaching and have have some fun I want to have fun, but I don't want to get off my notes. All right, so Hebrews chapter number one verse one illustrates what we just said and God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. There it is. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past by the prophets, plural, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son. So many mouths. Many writers, but there's only one Speaker, and that's God, alright? So, only one providing, governing, controlling mind over the whole of Scripture. God spoke through holy men of old in the past, but in these days, He speaks through His Son. No matter where, when, or how the message is given, God is the Speaker. And since there's only one Speaker, and since that Speaker knows the end from the beginning, He knows what He's going to say. He knows how to introduce a topic, how to build upon that topic. and then how to give a full mention, a final mention of that topic, all right? And he can so shape his first utterances as to forecast everything that is to follow without ever contradicting himself. What a God we have and what a Bible that we have, amen. So let me give you some examples of the first mention principle. If you interpret your Bibles to Genesis chapter number 3 verse 1, and especially I want everybody to be able to grasp all of these principles that we're learning in hermeneutics because it helps all of us to be good students and good teachers of the Word of God. But especially those that are being trained to be church planters, those of you that are out there planning churches that are watching this right now. and those who are currently in training to be church planters. When you stand behind God's sacred desk to preach the Word of God, when you stand there to teach the Word of God, we are going to stand accountable to God one day for everything that we talk, for what we preach from His Word. And so we want to follow these. Remember, hermeneutics is the science of right and abiding the Word of Truth, the science of properly interpreting the Scripture. And so we want to look at the Scriptures through the principle of dispensation. Dispensationalism we want to look at the scriptures and teach through the principles of the covenant theology We want to look at the or not. I'm sorry not not not covenant theology dispensational theology But but but we want to look at the scripture through the covenants. Amen, please guys. We don't look at the scripture through covenant theology we look at it through dispensational theology now that i made that mistake i've got to go back and correct it but those that look at the scripture through covenant theology if i use the words in that way they end up being reformed or calvinist in their doctrine and the bible and we as bible believers reject calvinism if i had a bit of calvinistic blood in my veins I'd drain it out. Amen. I would. I'm not a Calvinist. I don't believe that God elected some of the little children and that God loves some of the little children. We believe that Jesus loves all the little children. We believe that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Amen. And so what I'm saying is as we study the scripture, we must know, we must, we must, we must know, uh, uh, the dispensation, the time period that is being written in the covenant that the people are under at that time. We must, these are different. If we could say it this way, these are different, layers that we're looking through, different prisms we're looking through as we study the Word of God to make sure that we come to the correct understanding. We talked last week about the principle of human willingness and so many other principles that we've studied, but now tonight the first mentioned principle. So let's go to Genesis chapter number 3 and verse 1. And we find here the first mention of Satan, alright? The first mention of Satan. The Bible said in Genesis 3 verse 1, Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea? Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden. So we find here that Satan comes in the form of a serpent to Eve and he tempts Eve. But we learn here in this very first mention of Satan that he uses great subtlety. The Bible said, Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the field which the Lord God hath made. So this is the first time that the serpent is mentioned and the character that's mentioned with him is his subtlety. And all through the Word of God, you will find, we find that Satan is subtle, all right? The Bible tells us in the New Testament that he was a liar from the beginning, all right? His first mention of him, the very first mention we see, the very beginning of his, when he turned from Lucifer into a devil, amen? He is a liar. He is subtle. The only time that Satan lies is when he opens his mouth, all right? And we learn that from the very first time that He opened His mouth, in the very first reference we have of Him in Scripture. Every time we meet Him in the Scripture, He is subtle. In the beginning, He's attacking Eve with His subtlety. Then He comes to the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew chapter number 4. And we can look at the Law of Progressive Mention and see that He is using that same subtlety when He comes to Christ. Then He says, If thou be the Son of God. command that these stones be made bread. And so he's using that same subtlety. You say, well, where is he using subtlety? He's putting the word if in there, if thou be the Son of God. He's trying to cause, just as he tried to cause Eve to doubt the Word of God, he says, yea, hath God said, Satan always is subtle, and he puts a question mark where God puts a period. And by the way, you watch any teacher and you watch any preacher that puts question marks where God puts periods, okay? It is not our job to cause people to question the Word of God. It is our job to preach and teach the Word of God with confidence, not to sound an uncertain note from the pulpit, but to be very certain and very confident in what we're teaching and preaching. That's our job, amen. And when we leave people with, I had a Bible college professor, that he would lay out three different views of any subject and then say, now you pick your view and leave question marks. We don't leave question marks where God puts periods. That's what Satan does, all right? And so Satan's very subtle. And so he comes to Christ and he says, if thou be the Son of God, you see what he's doing there? He's trying to create doubt in the mind of God himself so that he can cause the Son of God to disobey. He'll even use the scripture as he did in the temptations of Christ to try to get the Lord Jesus Christ to doubt his sonship, to try to get Jesus Christ to do his bidding, all right? That is a mark of Satan. He is very subtle. The Bible tells us, even in the times we're living in, the book of Corinthians made it clear that Satan, when he comes, he comes as a minister of righteousness. We get this idea in our mind that Satan's a red devil. with horns and a pitchfork, all right, and a long tail, okay? Satan, when he shows up and when his ministers show up, that's normally not how they show up. They normally show up in churches with an upturned collar, sometimes a suit and a tie, and they open up a Bible, but then they don't preach what God said in the Bible. Instead, they place question marks where God put periods. They preach and they twist the scripture So that they rest the scripture to no destruction. God warns us about that. So I'm simply saying that Satan is an example of this first mentioned principle. The very first time we see him, the Bible said that he's very subtle. He's subtle. And we find that is what the characteristic God gives of him. And we find that all the way through the word of God. He was a liar from the beginning. And boy, we could say so many more things about that. Now, before I turn the page on my notes here, I also want to make a comment. We at this Bible Institute and at our church, and I know there in Ghana, Pastor Dari, y'all are English-speaking there. That's your national language. And so countries that have an English Bible, we are King James Bible believers. We use the King James Bible. We do not use new versions. And you see, without getting into it tonight, next week I'll get into some of this. But the first mentioned principle It works when you study in Bible doctrine, some Bible doctrines, but when you use new versions, this first mention principle is out the door. It does not work because they've taken out the words. The first mention of the word is not there like it is in the King James Bible. The first mention of a doctrine, sometimes the whole doctrine is taken out in these new Bibles. and it's not there, and it messes up the further mention, the progressive mention principle, because they take words out that are important, okay? So I just put at a note at the bottom of your notes that this principle is applied to a word, which it should be. When I do word studies, I always go back to the first mention. I would suggest every time you teach and preach, especially if you're preaching on a specific or doctrine, go back and study the first time that it's mentioned. But if you're using it to just a word, it's not going to be, you can't use it when you use another verse in the Bible because they've taken out the words and they've changed the words, all right? And so it doesn't work that way. Now, there's a lot, a lot of examples in the class notes here that are given of this first mentioned principle, but I just wanna hit just a few here this evening, all right? Because what I'm doing tonight, again, I'm trying to lay a foundation. I wanna spend a little more time with these principles, so I'm gonna try to go through them as our class notes has this week, but then next week I'm gonna try to expound and expand upon them some more, okay? So let's get down to number four on page 71 there in your class notes. We find the subject of faith Genesis chapter 15 verse number 6 now we find the first mention of Faith and here's how it's mentioned not the word, but the idea of faith the Bible said in Genesis 15 6 Abraham believed God in fact let's just turn on our Bibles to it right here and the Bible said just 15 verse number 6 and he He believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness." Alright? And so, Abraham believed in the Lord. That is faith. Faith is believing the Lord. Faith is believing the Word of God. And he, that's God, counted it to him, that's Abraham, for righteousness. Now, this is a principle which pervades the entire Word of God. So then, faith cometh by hearing, alright? Hearing by the Word of God. And all through the Word of God, we find that righteousness comes through faith. Righteousness is imputed through faith. Salvation comes through faith. This principle, we're way back. You see, there are people that say, well, during the dispensation, the time period of the law, people were saved by keeping the law. But during the dispensation of grace, people are saved by grace, but that is wrong. That is dead wrong as we do just a simple study with the first mention principle. The first time that faith is mentioned in the Word of God, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. We find that righteousness is imputed. It is counted to Abraham's account. because of his simple faith in God. Amen. And so, I love it. Righteousness is always counted to a man on the basis of faith, and the principle is stated in the first occurrence of these words, all right? In the New Testament, the Bible said, not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us, all right? By the washing of regeneration and renewing of the spirit, the Bible tells us in Romans 4. You see then that in fact, let's just turn there quickly because I don't want you to miss these. All right Romans chapter 4 I got to be careful to get back in my notes quickly because I'll start teaching and preaching on this stuff. All right But I want to just use this to illustrate it again. Romans 4 verse 1. What shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath wear of the glory, but not before God. For what said the scriptures? Now he's going to quote Genesis here. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." So we see that before there's a time period of the law, men are by faith believing in God, and it's counted to them for righteousness. And without the righteousness of God imputed to your account, you cannot get to heaven. You can't. It's impossible to go to heaven based on being a good person because none of you and none of us are good people. We're sinners by nature. Who's the first person watching right now who's never sinned before? Nobody can say you've never. We've all sinned against God. And because we've sinned, we've fallen short of the glory of God. And the wages of sin is separation from God. in a place called hell. The Bible is clear on that. Amen. So how then can a man who is a sinner enter into God's heaven which is perfect and God made it clear in Revelation, nothing that defileth, nothing that worketh abomination, nothing that maketh a lie can come into heaven. So how can sinful man get into God's perfect heaven? Well, you say, I'll try to work and be a good person to get into heaven. The problem with that is you've already sinned. That's like a murderer standing before the judge saying, I promise you, I won't murder anybody anymore. Don't give me the just penalty for what I've done. Man, God's a just God. and the wages of sin is death, and the soul that sinneth shall die, and I'm telling you, sinners will end up in the lake of fire. So how then does a man get saved? It's clear when you look at the first mention of faith in the Word of God. It is there in Genesis chapter number 15 verse 6. Abraham believed in God, and he counted to Him for righteousness. And by the way, if we were to carry it through to the law of further mentions and the law of final mentions, amen, you would find Romans four tells us about David who lived during the law, who described the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Amen. Because that man placed his faith and trust in Christ. Here's what David said. Romans 4, even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness without works. No one has ever been saved by working their way to heaven. Nobody has ever gotten to heaven by being a good Baptist, a good Catholic, a good Presbyterian. a good Muslim, a good Jew, a good whatever, you can't get to heaven by being a good sinner. In fact, a good sinner is an oxymoron that you cannot put those words together. Good and sin cannot exist together. It's an impossibility. And so, we are sinners deserving of hell. But when a man is willing to acknowledge, I'm a sinner deserving of hell, and I cannot save myself, and he's willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, how will he exercise his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? God saves him. We learn that. in the very first reference of belief, in the very first reference of faith. In the Old Testament, you see how the Law of First Dimensions gives us confidence and gives us authority as we teach and preach the Word of God. Hey, turn back to Genesis chapter number 2, verse number 3. Let's have another example. We find a word here in Genesis chapter number 2. It's a word that we would use synonymously with holy, or holiness, amen? And we find in Genesis chapter number 2, in verse number 3, the Bible said, and God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it. When we talk about the doctrine of sanctification, it's being set apart unto the holiness of God, alright? So there's the first mention of sanctification or holiness. Well, what does it mean to be sanctified? It means to be set apart. Amen. And you say, what are you saying? With that word, sanctify, with the idea or the doctrine of holiness, we find in the very first mention, look at there again, and God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. In other words, He set that day apart from the other six days. It was set apart. Sanctification is being set apart. And that principle stays through the entire Word of God. Every time we see sanctification in the Word of God, it carries the idea of being set apart. Now God, He further reveals other principles of sanctification, but in that very first mention, God is defining what it is and what he associates it with in his mind so that you and I then can get a foundation and a grasp on what that word is and what that doctrine is, all right? And we could go on and on and on with examples you'll find in your class notes. I'll get these notes to each of you, all right? And we'll expound more on this next week because there's other things on the law of first mention that I want to teach But I've got to roll because I have 21 minutes left here in this class And I got to get through two more principles kind of just a briefly here, okay? So let's move from the law of first mention to the law of I would call it further mention our note calls it the progressive mention principle so because the final exam is going to be with the note and Just remember, first mention, progressive mention. So, the definition of the progressive mention principle is this, that principle by which God makes the revelation of any given truth increasingly clear as the Word of God proceeds, to its consummation. So, and I think most of us can grasp that right up front, the Bible is a progressive revelation of truth. God didn't give us Genesis 1-1 and give us all truth in just one chapter. God gave us 66 books with a whole bunch of chapters, amen, and a whole bunch of Bible verses. And so God, He gives us the first mention, every subject Every word, every doctrine has a first mention somewhere. And so the idea that is associated with that subject in God's mind is revealed at that first mention. But then God begins to expand upon that. He begins to progressively reveal Himself. Let me give you an example of this with God Himself. In the beginning, God. That's the first mention of God. And we learn in that very first mention. In the beginning, God. We learn He was in the beginning. Amen. We learn He's eternal. In the beginning, God created. We learn He's the creator, okay? But there's so much more to learn about God than just the fact that He is from eternity past and that He is the creator of the world. In fact, if all you know about God is what you know about that first mention of God, you cannot go to heaven. because you don't understand that God was revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Amen. It's one thing to know God as our Creator. It's a whole other thing to know God as our Redeemer, as our Savior. Amen. Alright, now... Now, again, let me give that definition again just one more time to make sure you got it. It's that principle, the progressive mention principle, is that principle by which God makes the revelation of any given truth increasingly clear as the Word proceeds to its consummation. You will find that the Word of God is a progression. It's a progression. So as we study it, it brings added details to truth that God has already revealed in the beginning. Now, the notes, they take us through two ways of studying the scripture, the order in which the books appear, which were how man put them down, and then the chronological order, which would be the timeline of events as they occurred, the order of revelation. And I'm not going to get into that very much tonight, all right? But I want to say this, that the thought of progress in Scripture ought to give to us one right method of Bible study. And that method lies right on the surface. The Bible was written by books and was built up by books, so it ought to be studied by books. Amen. Progressively, it is a book of books, so you follow a certain subject through the Scripture. And you will find that that subject becomes more and more complete. as you study it all the way from the beginning until the end of scripture, all right? And so again we see there's many speakers. but there's one mind. There's many speakers, but there's one mouth, and that's God, all right? So God has the ability to give truth and give what His thoughts are concerning that the very first time it's given, but then to build upon that truth, all right? This is why we do word studies, and this is why we do studies of doctrine and follow through the Word of God, line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, hear a little, and they're little. That's why we're having this Bible Institute. That's why we're learning. Amen. We don't just sit up here and say, okay, we're going to have one class. Now we're going to learn it all. No, we begin. We start at a beginning, just like the subject of hermeneutics. We started the very first class. We gave the principle that will override the entire course. Amen. It is the science of Bible interpretation. Then we began to progressively reveal the principles that make up hermeneutics. Amen. And so there's a progression, all right? Now, let me give you some examples of the growth or the progression of truth that we see in the Word of God just when it comes to the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, all right? We learn, let's just look at predictions. And this is important because, let me just tell you why this is important. Look over here in the book of Luke. Go, and I don't have this in my notes, but I want you to see this in the book of Luke. All right? Luke chapter number... Oh, it's going to be around the end of the gospel of Luke. All right. Here it is. Luke 24. All right. And and so Jesus Christ is on the road to Emmaus. He's with these disciples. All right. They don't know that they're talking to the resurrected Lord. And so they're talking to Christ. He said in verse 17 unto them, Luke 24, What manner of communications are these, that ye have one to another as ye walk and are sad? And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering, said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem? and has not known the things which are come to pass there these days. And they start telling him about how that Christ, they thought he was their savior. They thought he was their political Messiah. They thought he would deliver them and how he was crucified. And they don't know they're talking to him. But here, I love this in verse number 25. Then he said unto them, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? Notice verse 27. and beginning at Moses and all the prophets. He had a beginning. He had a first mention where He started with Moses. That's the Pentateuch. That's Genesis. He went back to the very beginning, and He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. You see? He goes to the beginning of the Scriptures, Moses, and gives that first mention, and then He began to give the progressive revelation of truth. And so let's give an example of this. When sin came into the world, immediately God gave the promise of the seed of the woman. Genesis 3 verse 15, that seed who would bruise the serpent. He would bruise the power that Satan held over fallen humanity. That promise came with the fallen man in Genesis 3 verse 15. But several centuries pass. I mean, hundreds of years passed and then comes the man Abraham. When we talk about hundreds, we mean hundreds of years, all right? Nearly 2,000 years, all right? And God makes a covenant with Abraham, and thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Now, what's God doing right there? there's the seed of the woman in Genesis 3 15 and God has now identified this is the family through who the seed of the woman is going to come Abraham and thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed all right and so in looking for a satan bruiser we know that he's to come from the man Abraham as a descendant not just from any family or any part of the earth he's going to come from Abraham's seed. The next detail is given in the Word of God as we progressively study the Word of God is that Abraham has two sons. He has Isaac and Ishmael. Isaac is chosen by God and then Isaac why he has two sons, Jacob and Esau, and Jacob is chosen by God. You can follow that progression of truth, all right? Then Jacob has 12 sons, and again, the line is limited. This time it's to the line of Judah. You say, what are you saying? That seed promise in Genesis 3, 15, as we progressively study that first mention and go to the further mention, we find that this one, this seed, Whoever, whatever it is that's going to destroy the work of Satan, that's going to rob from him the power that he has over fallen man, it's going to come through Abraham, through Isaac, through Jacob, through Judah. Judah becomes a great tribe, numbering thousands. Where are we going to look for the coming promised one of Genesis 3.15? We can look to the family of David. Not only to the family of David, but the Old Testament tells us that we can look to the town of Bethlehem. The Old Testament told us when he would be born in Daniel 9 verse 25. It told us that he would ride into the city of Jerusalem on the colt, the foal of an ass. The Bible predicted all of that. And so, here's a law of further mentions, right? Where we're progressively studying the truth that has to do with the person of the Savior who's coming to the world. Malachi 3.1 tells us his forerunner is going to be John the Baptist. Alright. Zechariah 11, verse number 12. It's prophesied that he'd be sold for 30 pieces of silver. Psalm 22, that his heart would be broken and describes his death. Psalm 34, verse 20. Not a bone of His body broke Him. And we could go on and on. Isaiah 53, verses 4 and 5 tells us God's plan in His death. He would be wounded for our transgressions. He would be bruised for our iniquities. And we could go all the way through. Micah 5, verse 2 gives us the exact prophecy of where He would be born, that He would be born in Bethlehem. You say, what are you saying? I'm saying we can take that first mention of the seed of the woman that was promised in Genesis 3.15 and then progressively build and learn, okay, who is that seed? What family is that seed coming from? What nation is that seed coming through? What tribe? Down to what family? Where is he going to be born? And then as we read so much, why is he going to be born? Why is he going to die? Isaiah 53, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquity and so that concept that's introduced in Genesis is progressively built upon as we come through the Word of God. And then again, we talk about Satan. We talk about that first mention of Satan and how he was very subtle in that very first mention. That's the very first characteristic and it sticks with him throughout the scripture. But we find in the law of further mentions, Genesis chapter number 3 verse 4, of course he's lying and Jesus said he was a liar from the beginning because he denied what God said and he misled the human race by a lie. But we also learn that he was a murderer from the beginning. He murdered the whole human race in the sense that all died because of Adam's sin due to Satan's temptation, alright? But we find in Job 1 verse number 11, he's the accuser of the brethren. Well, we don't see him accusing anybody in Genesis at the first mention, but these further mentions we find, this is a characteristic associated with Satan. And by the way, can I just tell you this? You show me a man who spends his life accusing everybody else, and I'm not talking about a prosecuting attorney who does this for a living, but you show me a man in church who says he's saved and he has a critical spirit and all he does is accuse everybody, accuse everybody, accuse everybody. That is a characteristic of Satan. is the accuser of the brother i was told years ago about a camp meeting that was being held in a particular state here in the united states of america and and a preacher got up and he preached and really just he made a lot of accusations while he preached and preached against a lot of people and the next preacher got up and he did the same thing he preached against the man that was just preaching gave many accusations and just really and the third preacher got and this just kept on and on these guys taking shots at each other and they said there was a man in the congregation who was he was not a hundred percent in his right mind his his mental uh Cognizance was not at a normal level. I'll say it that way. He was a few cups short of a full cupboard. I'll say it that way. How's that okay? But he stood up in testimony after the 34th preacher preached and he began quoting who accused them before God day and night forever. And that man illustrated that he had more common sense and he had more spiritual discernment than many of those pastors who had a completely sound mind and stood up and was accusing one another. Guys, that is a characteristic of Satan. You know, we can go through these and learn his subtlety there in the first mention and say, man, I don't want to be that kind of a person, all right? I don't want to be a deceptive kind of person. But we can look at these other characteristics that we learn about him progressively through the Word of God and say, I don't want to be an accuser. You know, the Bible said about women in the New Testament, not false accusers. The deacon's wife and the pastor's wife, not false accusers. That Greek word there is diabolos. It literally means devil, OK? Not a devil, because that's what the devil is. He's a false accuser, all right? And so he's the hinderer. He is the resistor in Zechariah chapter 3, verse 1 and 2. Remember, even Peter got caught up when Peter says to the Lord, Be afar from thee. He's trying to hinder Christ. He's trying to resist Christ. He's trying to keep Christ from going to Calvary. And what does Christ say? Get thee behind me, Satan. Because he recognized that as a characteristic of Satan. We learn this. We learn these characteristics through a progressive study of Satan through the Word of God. We learn he's a tempter. In Genesis 3, he tempted Eve. In Matthew 4, he tempted the Lord Jesus Christ. You see how we're using a progressive revelation of truth to give us a fuller understanding of who this devil is. He's a betrayer. He entered into Judas and then betrayed Christ. He's a seducer of saints. He's an instigator of lies. You see that in Acts 5, verses 1-5 and other places. He will be incarnated in the flesh one day in the man of sin, the Antichrist, alright? The Bible calls him the son of perdition. He is the instigator of all lawlessness. We find that in 2nd Professor Lorden's chapter 2 verse number 3 and 4 in Revelation 19. He instigates an open rebellion against God. And so again, that very first mention we learned, hey, he's subtle and you'll always find subtlety connected and deceptiveness connected to Satan throughout the Word of God. But studying progressively, we learn he's a liar. He's a murderer. He's an accuser. He's a hinderer. He's a tempter. He's a betrayer. He's a seducer. He's going to be incarnated. He's going to become flesh, literally, as the man of sin, and he's a rebel. He's a rebel. He's a rebel. That's just one example, okay? We can also look at another example here of the progressive mention principle, where we look at an idea. and a doctrine of that being the Lamb in Scripture. Why, the first time we have a sacrifice in Scripture, we can look in Genesis 4 and we assume that that sacrifice was a Lamb, alright? We have many reasons that we would logically assume that it was a Lamb, alright? And we find in Genesis 4, Abel brought his Lamb to the altar. The Bible doesn't tell us that the Lamb was slain there, but most assuredly it was, and its blood was shed, alright? What we are told is that Abel brought the firstling of the flock, and the Lord accepted it. Here's what we learn in that very first sacrifice of an animal. 1. God requires an animal sacrifice. 2. God requires a blood sacrifice. 3. God only accepts sacrifices on His terms. In Genesis 22, We find a strong implication that even Abraham himself did not understand as Abraham's going up the mountain and he's got there Isaac with him and he's gonna sacrifice Isaac on the altar. And as he's going up the mountain, remember as they're going up one side, there's a lamb coming up the other side, amen, all right? And so his son says, my father, here's the wood and here's the fire, but where's the lamb? Where's the lamb? He understood. There has to be a lamb. There has to be a sacrifice for sin. There has to be a blood offering for sin. And Abraham, I don't think, realized what he was saying, but he said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb. And certainly with every scripture, there is a primary interpretation. The primary interpretation was, don't worry about it, Isaac. On top of this mountain, God's going to provide a lamb. Amen. But the prophetic implication was 2,000 years later, son, God will provide Himself a lamb on that very same mountain. What about that? Okay, and so we find this idea of the lamb in Scripture. It's woven through the Scripture. In Exodus 12, we find that the lamb must be slain and that blood must be sprinkled on the door. And so for the first time, the emphasis is not just placed on the lamb. But the emphasis is literally placed on slaying the lamb, killing the lamb, and shedding its blood. In Leviticus 16 we find that there's an offering made where one kid dies and the other lamb kid lives. And this indicates the two aspects of the work of Christ, the dying Savior, And the Risen Savior, hallelujah, death and resurrection. Isaiah 53, it's the first time that we learn that the Lamb, where we're specifically told that the Lamb is going to be a person, alright? I mean, Isaiah 53, He's going to be slain for the whole world. And then John comes along, John the Baptist, and he says, Behold, and he points to the man himself, Jesus Christ, and says, The Lamb of God. which taketh away the sin of the world." So you see, from the first mention of an animal sacrifice because of sin, sin must have a sacrifice. There must be a substitute. An animal must be shed. But progressively we learn that it has to be killed, that its blood has to be shed. Progressively we learn that God will provide Himself a lamb. Progressively we learn that God Himself becomes the lamb. Progressively we learn that He's going to be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. Progressively we learn, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. And Acts 8, man, Philip is speaking to the Ethiopian eunuch, and for the first time the scripture states that the lamb prophesied by Isaiah is Jesus who died on Calvary. And in 1 Peter 1, verse 18, the Bible talks about how Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world. For as much as we know, we're not redeemed with credible things of silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb, without spot, without blemish. Amen. He's foreordained before the foundation of the world, alright? And then Revelation chapter number five, the Lamb is identified as the resurrected Lamb. He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah who will reign over the throne of David. In fact, Revelation, if you study the book of Revelation, it's full of the Lamb. The Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. What are you saying, Brother Ruppman? I'm saying every word, there's a First Mention to every idea, there's a First Mention to every concept, there's a First Mention to every doctrine in the Scripture. You find that First Mention and you'll get the idea that's associated with that in the mind of God and carries consistently through it. But then that also gives you a foundation upon which you can study and then use the Law of Further Mention to get a more full understanding of that word, that concept, that idea, that study. Then we come, I've got one minute left, alright? We come to the Full Mention Principle. Let me just give you this and I'll talk much more about this next week. The Full Mention Principle is that principle by which God declares His full mind. on any subject that's vital to our spiritual life. Somewhere in the Word of God, God will gather together the scattered fragments that have to do with a particular truth, and He puts them into one exhaustive statement, okay? And that's His full mind concerning that truth. And this will be on the final exam, so I have all this highlighted. But passages that show us the full mind of God, if you think about the resurrection passage, where would you go to? 1 Corinthians 15, all right? That's the full mention. of the subject and the doctrine of resurrection. If you thought about the tongue, there's a lot of proverbs you can go to, but where would you go to for God's exhaustive summary of the tongue? James 3, all right? It's the full mention. God declares His full mind on the tongue there. If we talk about the restoration of the nation of Israel, Romans 11. Man, Romans 9, 10, and 11. Okay, the trials and triumphs of faith. If you wanted to study faith fully, I mean just give an exhaustive study of the word faith, why would you go to Genesis chapter number 15 and say he believed God? No, that's the first mention. I would go to Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, and I would learn a lot about faith and what God wants me to know about faith in Hebrews 11. What about, and I won't give all because my time's up, what about charity? If you want to learn about the supreme love for God and the love for your fellow man, amen, where do you learn about that? Where do you get the full mind of God on that? First Corinthians chapter 13 is the charity chapter, okay? And so there's a whole lot more that we can say about that, but that's kind of a brief overview of the law of first mention, the law of further mention, the law of final mention, or for your final exam, if you call it that, that's fine, but the first mention principle, the progressive mention principle, and the full mention principle. All right, I hope you've learned some things tonight, and I hope that you apply these things to your study. It's seldom do I study that I do not go back to the first mention of a principle that I'm studying because I want to get God's mind on that okay and I love to then studying is just naturally it's studying we're looking for cross references and getting further mention but I love that final mention as well that full mention all right take a break 15 minutes we're coming back online for our class on the prophets we're dealing with Isaiah 1 through 39 and I'm super excited about these classes God bless you