This one part here. In these words, the apostle laid down another argument to prove the truth and the reality of the gospel. The intimates? Is that right? Intimates. The what? Intimates. Intimates that this second proves to more strong and convincing than the former. And more unanswerable makes out that the doctrines of the power in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a mere fable or cunning contrivance of men, but the wise and wonderful counsel of the holy and gracious God. For this is foretold by the prophets and pen of the Old Testament, who spoke and wrote under influence and according to the directions of the Spirit of God." Here's a note, and I like this part. The description of that is given of the scriptures of the Old Testament. They are called a more sure word of prophecy. So that part there is telling us what we're reading in Romans. Let me read that again. He said, he promised beforehand through the prophet in the holy scriptures. We'll talk about that in a different article there. It's not supposed to be there. Okay, Sharon, do you want to read that where I got highlighted with color? Oh, with the number one? Yes. It is a prophetical declaration of the power and coming, the Godhead and incarnation of our Savior, which we have in the Old Testament. It is therefore told that the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head. His power to destroy the devil and his works, and his being made of a woman, are therefore told in the great and awful Old Testament name of God. Jehovah, as read by son, signifies that only he will be, and that name of God, Exodus 3.14, is rendered by many, I will be that I will be, And thus understood, they point at God's being incarnate in order through the redemption and salvation of his people as what was to come. But the New Testament is a history of that where for the Old Testament is a prophecy. All the prophets and the law prophesized until John, Matthew 11, 13. And the evangelists and the apostles have written the history of what was before delivered as prophecy. Now, the accomplishments of the Old Testament by the new and the agreeableness of the New Testament to the old are a full demonstration of the truth of both. Read the Old Testament as a prophecy of Christ, and with diligence and thankfulness, use the new as the best exposition of the old. I like that. So is it important to study Old Testament writing? Absolutely. Yeah. Prophetic, prophecies, all these things. And I'd like you to read that one part again. The first page. The description that is given of the Old Testament, they are called a more sure word of prophecy, but to surely confirm Everything that happened unfolded in the New Testament. We studied a lot about the Tabernacle. We studied that. And we could see the whole plan of redemption from the beginning of the East Gate all the way to the Holy of Holies. All that was prophetically speaking. But it was a physical, actual thing. It wasn't a scale model or anything like that. But for us, it's a visual. of the whole complete plan of God's purposes to redeem men. And what else did he redeem when he died, buried, and resurrected? All creation. So in all reality, what he's doing is regaining all that Adam had that he had put into his charge. He had all of that. And when Adam sinned, so thou So the custodian of the earth went back to who? Her face just cracks me up. If you ever read the churches, I'm going to miss that. That is true. He forfeited everything over back to Satan, who was the original caretaker of the earth, right? He was a caretaker of the physical realm of God. Of course, we know about the other angels, but they had the spiritual, the intellectual, and we have all those other things. But he was a caretaker, and he lost his job, basically. And he went posto. Remember that? They lost their job and they go there and start shooting people. Remember a while back? Now they use that as a term. He went postal because he lost his job. Okay. Okay. Well Satan lost his job for very good reasons. Okay. Let's see. Okay. I printed that out. I don't know if I want to do that right now. This is Jim's. copy on verse two, you know. Okay, so here's what I left off. Let me back up just a little bit on my notes. Some think that the prophets were simply that, fortune tellers. Okay, and then I wrote, this discredits the prophets, okay, of old. This also discredits the Lord of heaven. to just say that God is just nothing but a fortune teller. Okay? Now here's where I start with this week. Well, we do have false prophets as we had in the New Testament times and still have today, claiming prophet status. Is that true today? Are there some religions that still claim prophet status? Yeah. Just like we still have today, apostle status. None of them, neither one of them are true. They may act like or think that they're prophets. No. He said the problem with this is many of what the prophets predicted have already come to full, what's that word, fruitation? Fruitation. Okay, that's the problem, all that. He said, what really makes a prophet is that they went beyond. You know what I mean by that? They not only spoke about what was going on in their days, okay, because a lot of it actually fulfilled in their days, but yet it had what they call like a dual prophecy, a future event, which is going to be similar to what they were going on back then. but spoke of far distant future events. God gave his prophets revelation of what he was going to do. And I got 2 Corinthians 12.7. I can't remember why I wrote that. 2 Corinthians 12.7. Okay. Let me read that again. God gave his prophets revelation of what he was going to do. This is Paul. Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me, to keep me from exalting myself. Then, you know, it goes on, he employed the Lord. But see, he gave what? Surpassing greatness of revelation. I just thought of a verse real quick right now. In chapter 20, remember the farewell address to the Ephesians? In the book of Acts, chapter 20, verse 20, This is a farewell address to the people in Ephesus he was leaving. And it says in verse 20, Now I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house. And then in verse 27, For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose. The whole purpose. And this is what I'm talking about, brother, here. Jim has been teaching this whole purpose and plan for over 50 years. I came in 40 years ago, and he taught on that every time. Always making a reference to that. He would show us where we're at here, or we're here, or we're here, or we're over there. Okay, so that's what he was doing, he's teaching the whole plan and purpose of God that he has created way back in eternity past. in his council chambers to put this plan together, to figure it out. And this was way before the actual event of the fall actually took place. All of this was already planned out. So he knew the fall. Not just the fall of man, but the fall of the angels. He knew exactly how all of this was going to unfold. Each age, how it was going to unfold. And here was his ultimate solution right here. That was a grand day for all humanity and the whole cosmos. That was a great day right there. And it's sad, just like you were talking about praying for the lost, and it's sad that people would not claim that free gift that God has extended and went through all the trouble to come down and to do what he did in order to accomplish and give humanity the right and the freedom to come to Him. Okay? And it's by His agency through the Holy Spirit and by His grace and by His mercy. Grace and mercy to me keeps coming back in my head over and over and over. I gotta say, those are the two most wonderful words from Genesis to Revelation. Grace and mercy. Even in the Garden of Eden when it all went bad, God showed grace and mercy. by the death of something else in replacement of Him. Have you ever thought about it way back then? To me, that's an amazing thing. Right, did I declare to you the whole purpose of God? Okay, and that's what I read here. He said, because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation for this reason, you know, God gave him this little thorn in the flesh to keep himself from being exalted. Because he had the capabilities of doing that. And there was times that he had to, didn't he? You guys want to brag? All right, just get on it. After he spoke what he can brag about in the flesh, there was no comparison. He has some tremendous and great credentials to back him up. A Hebrew, a Hebrew, a Pharisee, a Pharisee, a lover of the law, I mean, he was a student and on and on and on. Those are his credentials. Afterwards, okay, he had a lot of that prior to, didn't he? Okay, and God's going to use them. Okay, back to this. Some revelations were kept in as a mystery. I was looking at that. In Ephesians chapter 3, it's a wonderful verse to read. He's speaking to us, brethren. This church and all those that have the authority to assemble as administrators of the Word and Testament church. There's a lot of churches out in the world. There's a lot of religion out in the world. But there is what we call the true church of God that He established. And we have this road map here to prove that fact. Of course, we know where it all went bad, and it stemmed out to become what it is today. Okay? It's a conglomeration of a lot of craziness. Like I said, the road is wide. You got the road that's wide and the road that's narrow. And we know what that's talking about. Do we have major, mega, false religions out there? Big time. followers like you wouldn't believe, you know? But some of them are huge, maggot churches and stuff, but they're teaching salvation by grace correctly, without any form of works for salvation. Okay? Anyhow, let's look at, yeah, Philippians, I mean, Ephesians chapter three, starting with verse one. For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles. Remember this letter of Peter and the bridge to who? To all the people in Asia Minor. I'm assuming that you can incorporate the seven churches of Asia all through Asia Minor. One area in that place is called Turkey today. But this is what he's talking about here. You Gentiles in all the area of Asia Minor, all of you, okay? When you read in Ephesians chapter one, this is the way I've done it. He says, I an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints who are, and I got in Ephesus, General Ariel, okay? It's not at Ephesus. you know, being specifically referring to the church of Ephesus. It wasn't. So when they have that, some scholars say that in some of the fields they would have a blank. And you would put your name. Like one guy says, like we can say, to the church in Tehachapi, California. Yeah. Imagine that sticker that says, hello, my name is, and you got to put your name on there. Oh, yeah. Kind of like that. Whoever you are. So we can claim that. You know. The Holy Baptist Church can put their name in there. First Church. Jezreel. Whoever you are. That letter is to you. And all the reasons and purposes why he wrote this letter. You know. I've been studying Ephesians in the last couple of weeks, man. It's a wonderful book. It's got some wonderful things in it. Okay, verse 2. If indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace which was given to me for you. Paul uses that word, grace, over and over and over. For by grace are you saved through faith in them, not in yourself. He said, verse 3, that by the revelation, okay? Well, we'll talk about that word revelation here in a little bit. There was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. Before we go any further, What mystery is it referring to? There's a lot of mysteries in the Word of God, but he's talking... I think the one in verse 6. You got it, girl. That's what I have highlighted. Like Jim said, you got an A. Okay, that is the subject, brother. That's the subject. Okay. Referring to this, when you read, you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit." So there was never a specific verse of scripture that would say anything about the Jews and Gentiles. It was all kind of mysteriously put in there, but you can see it. Okay, we're talking about the Gentile courts, okay? So there's many clues, but it never brings it into a specific Bible verse or scripture in the Old Testament to talk about the Gentiles and Jews one day will be one. It was very elusive, but it's in there. It is in there. Okay. Remember Genesis 9, is it? Jimmy used to always bring that up about you'll be a slave to the house of sham or something like that. Remember that? That's a clue. that the Gentile churches were going to take the lead. And if the Jews want to come to God, they've got to come to the local New Testament church. So there's one little glimpse of talking about the Gentile and the Jews, when they will become one. OK, just a hint. A lot of hints. Man, look at this. I pushed paper, and I got all torn all over. OK, which another generation was not made known specifically, I would say. to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to the Apostle John, to be specific that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promises in Christ Jesus through the Gospel. Never leave that out. Through the Gospel. Of which he was made that I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given to me according to the workings of His power. To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of God, and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages have been hidden in God, who created all things. Verse 10 is a good verse here. So that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the what? Through the church. And to where? To the rulers. And to the authority, even in the heavenly places. Okay? This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confidence accessed through faith in Him. Therefore, after all of this, I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory. But don't lose heart. No matter what I'm going through, no matter what you know that what I'm going through, you know what? I said, we're in a good position. It's not an easy road to take sometimes to be a member of a true local New Testament church, because you actually have brothers here. All these brothers right here that died for the cause of Christ. It was only easy because they knew the outcome, what it was going to be. They knew that their life was worth something to the Lord. OK, so the mystery. that specifically talking about the Gentiles, remember the barrier and all that? Okay. As he did with John, the revelator of what he was going to do. Okay. Beginning with the churches, with the church age to the times of the millennial age and everything in between. So everything that we have is given by revelation, written down by inspiration, by the prophets of old. God also inspired them and controlled them. Now let's go to 1 Peter 1. I like this here, 1 Peter chapter 1. In all reality, man cannot take credit for much of anything. The only credit that you can really claim is your will and choice of what you did. But when you factor in what got you there, if it wasn't for those factors, God's grace, God's mercy, and the Holy Spirit convicting the heart of man through His Word, we would never get there. We wouldn't even be given the chance to make that decision. That's always mind-boggling to me. People will tell me, and I've heard it many times, so you mean I don't have a choice? No, you got a choice. But you don't have a choice as to coming to God. You won't come. Not on your own. Because we're completely depraved and separated from God. We are. That's hard to understand that. And that's not Calvinistic theology. Okay? Because you can still refuse. When the Holy Spirit, when God calls, and when He commits, we can still refuse, right? So you see? What do you think? That's the question I want to ask. Why couldn't I not come on my own? For some reason or another, we lost quite a bit when Adam sinned against God. We sinned against God, and God turned His back on us for a short time. But He already had a plan in place. to reconciliate mankind back to himself. He says, if I be lifted up, he says, you will draw all men unto yourself? If I be lifted up, I, God, Jehovah, will draw all men unto myself. So there's a lot of scripture that proves that particular concept. A lot of people don't understand that. My brother, he was one. They said, well, when I get ready, I'll go to church or be saved by what you're talking about. I said, well, if you're going to wait when you're ready, you'll never get there, brother. And I was yelling the Lord. I didn't understand the deep understanding of what I was saying. I just took it at face value that, why hasn't my pastor said that? Okay. So I did a lot of that. Okay. I did a lot of what they call the word plagiary. Pleasure rising? Pleasure rising. You were just saying what you learned. What I learned, that's what I did, and I trusted it, and I had no problem believing it, and that is true. I've learned a lot more, because I've always liked the study of a depregnatured man. That always fascinates me, why people say and do the things that they do. I look at all this writing, and all this madness going on. What motivates them to do? I know a lot of things are motivating them. Okay? You can start from the spiritual aspect of it. That's an easy way of depicting why they're doing what they're doing. Man never likes to be controlled. Man has been trying to break rank with God since the beginning of time. So why are the nations in an uproar? If they're so quick to take off the shackles or the chains, another one way of saying to separate yourself from me. And man been doing that for generation after generation for thousands of years, always finding a way to go without to go. My God said, go out and be fruitful and multiply. What did they do? Babel. Yeah. Jerusalem. Go ye therefore. What'd they do? Okay. Grace and mercy. He made it possible through the Lord Jesus Christ. in this reconciliation business. And that's what we're doing today. We are working that work of reconciliation. Okay, you are going to start trying to reconciliate this woman to God in truth. And she will have what you have. And that's what's going to drive you. Your love and your compassion to see this woman because you know she stands condemned right now. According to her Jehovah's Witness ideas. If you practice your own religious ideas, you are a shoo-in for hell. If you practice Roman Catholicism and all its demands and their way of salvation, then you're a shoo-in for hell. OK? And your Seventh-day Adventists, you practice their ideology about working for salvation, you're a shoo-in for hell. And I can go on and on and on. Man. For those who are according according to the flesh, set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. Because the mind set on the flesh is hostility towards God, for it does not subject itself to the laws of God, for it is not even able to do so. John, did you come on your own? No. Only through the power and the agency of the convicted power of the Holy Spirit. God shed mercy and grace upon you. And that was it. He knows our heart. God knew my heart 40 years ago. That Sunday night, He knew that I was lacking something. He knew that I wanted to make sure that I have eternal life. So, by the end of the night, I had it. Only by God convicting me. Started out with a little old wallet. Just a wallet that I thought I lost at the church building. Call Brother Jim, he picked me up. We went to the church, looked all over, couldn't find it. That was all God's plan. If I gotta use that wallet, I'm gonna use that wallet. Get these two boys together, okay? We were there until about 11.30 at night when we finally got done, you know, saving my soul. Put it that way. And those who are in the flesh cannot please God. There is nothing, like Jimmy Thoreau said, when you come before God, when you bring your sacrifice, you bring empty hands. In this case, you bring in a lamb, which is typifying Christ, the sacrificial lamb. That's what you bring to God. Nothing you have God is going to be pleased. Nothing you have can appease God. Nothing, all the work that you can do will never be pleasing to God. Never. The flesh cannot produce anything good. Doesn't Paul say that in Romans chapter 7? Where in my body there's nothing good. But he makes it very clear. That is in my flesh. That is in my flesh. Why do we struggle? Because the body is still struggling to fight against the Spirit of God in leadership of the Holy Spirit. We struggle sometimes. We kick and butt sometimes. That flesh, we're dragging it along. And I've said it before, when the flesh is active, the Spirit is inactive. When the Spirit is inactive, the flesh is inactive. It's inoperable. It's still alive, but it's not operable. It can't do nothing against that. Satan threw everything at Jesus, didn't he? Who won that battle? The Spirit did. The flesh of Jesus, he just stomped it down by listening to the Spirit. And that's how he was victorious. He was victorious. He did not give in to that flesh. Not one time. Not even when they were beating him. Not when they were dragging him to the cross. Not when they were hanging him on the cross. Did he take one bit of human wanting to back up? Not at that point. So the flesh profits nothing, so it doesn't do anything. Anyhow, we were in 1 Peter, right? Chapter 1 verse 20. Where were we at? Oh, 2 Peter. I'm in 1 Peter. Okay, verse 19. And what was the whole question? God also inspired them and controlled them. Remember, okay I'll get to that later. I'm going to talk about donkeys. Verse 19, so we have the prophetic word made more sure More sure to which? 2 Peter 1 verse 19. So we have the prophetic word made more sure. Remember we talked about that just a little earlier? The Old Testament. We've studied the Old Testament. and reassures us of the New Testament writing of what took place in the Old Testament. Makes it more sure. Okay? Has the Prophetic made more sure to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning stars arise in your heart? It's a process, isn't it? The sun rises, right? And it gets brighter as the sun gets up. Midnight is really bright, really bright. and then we'll start to set down, the day is over. It's talking from our life with the Lord, at the time of the rise in the morning, and to the day we lay our bodies in the grave. And every evening we get brighter and brighter, from faith to faith to faith to faith. It's a process. It's a process of sanctification. Sanctification is a process, isn't it? It's an everyday working. And the closer you get to the Lord, the brighter, the brighter things get. And when things get to that point and you're really learning about God and you're learning who He is and what He does, what He can do, even in the difficult times, your burden to burden becomes lighter and lighter and lighter. Your faith becomes stronger. Your courage becomes stronger. And there's nothing they can throw at you. They will throw you over a cliff. Sometimes you feel like you want to jump off the cliff. But from faith to faith, from growing and growing, and Paul said that many times, grow in the Lord, and excel, and excel. And once you get to that point, and excel even more so. Okay, so there's a lot of encouraging words. But, in verse 20, I notice first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. where no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will. See? Even man's will would not desire to write these things. You've got people that write books all the time. But they say that sometimes when you write something about yourself, you tend to not be completely honest about yourself. You're not really sharing your most intimate feelings and emotions. Because you don't want people to know that maybe you are a weak person. Maybe you're not strong. Maybe you're not who you say you are. I think Vincent mentioned that last Sunday. I said, when God wrote everything, he wrote everything. He didn't hold back when he wrote about David. He wrote everything about David. He made it public. He made it public. He talks about man, how wicked he is. But God did not hold anything back. He didn't write a flowery Old and New Testament. But He wrote a lot of beautiful and wonderful things. But He also brought all the good and the bad and the ugly. God didn't exempt any of it. He tells it like it is. That way you know clearly what He is saying. And clearly that you are a sinner undone before God. He tells you that because He loves you. He wants you to know that without me, you don't stand a chance. That's why I describe you. Okay? And your righteous deeds are as filthy as a what? A rag. We know what that rag is talking about. That's pretty bad, huh? So God is telling us who we are. That He can change that. He can change it. Then you can create good work. not like filthy breath, because the work that you perform will be by and through the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit, created for good work, for good work. Man, I love these things. He said, no prophecy was ever made by human than the act of human will, but man moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Okay, remember the donkey? I don't know why I thought about that when I was And then God moved, you know, when he talked about the donkey. In 2 Peter 2, verse 16, I think that's what that one said. 2 Peter 2. 2, 16. He says, but he received a rebuke. He's talking about Balaam. Remember Balaam and all that he was doing? trying to sell Israel out, you know. He thought he was going to get wealthy and rich, you know, by doing so. God did not allow him. He said, but he received a rebuke, okay, for his own transgression, talking about Balaam, for a mule, donkey, mute donkey, speaking with the voice of man, restrained the madness of the prophet. So God put word into a donkey and gave him vocals. We were very clear. Hey, bud, are you stupid or something? That's a funny story. When I first heard it, I thought it was hilarious. Okay, that goes to show animals, too, are used by God and puts words into their mouth. Was there ever a baby that spoke? Out of the mouth bathes. Out of the mouth bathes come wisdom. So who was the one doing all this? God is. There are two things these prophets had. One, revelation. Number two, inspiration. Revelation means making known certain facts and information as given. Inspiration means the controlling of these facts and revelation by the overseeing of the Holy Spirit. That's what inspiration does. A prophet can receive inspiration on facts already known. So that being so, that's not considered revelation. He's just quoting something that's already been quoted. We are teaching prophetic revelations, but that doesn't make us a prophet. Are we doing that? What we're doing, we're quoting prophetic, true prophecy. But that doesn't make us a prophet. Let's look at the two classic statements that we just read in 1 and 2 Peter chapters. We already read that in 2 Peter 1, 19 to 20. Okay, here Peter is giving, this is kind of a farewell speech that he's giving, and that's according to 2 Peter 1, 14. This is his last, I think, writing that he was putting together. because God predicted it back in John 21 and 18. Okay, verse 20, no prophecy or revelation, prophecy meaning to reveal through revelation. Okay, 21, moved by the Holy Spirit. These revelations of the prophecies are the thoughts and the mind of God, eternal purpose. Let's go to Jeremiah 1 and 8. Jeremiah 1-8. If you do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declared the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my word in your mouth. Let's keep reading. See, I have appointed you this day over the nation and over the kingdom to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. Okay? So it gives you a brief of what God put into his mouth that General Miles was going to start preaching and teaching. Okay? Now look at number 16. I'm trying to remember why I got that in there. Numbers 16, 28. Number 16 what? 16, 28, I think. I don't remember the right thing. Moses said, by this you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things, for this is not my doing. See, this is not my doing. Okay, Jeremiah 23, Jeremiah 23. Thus says the Lord of Hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility. They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord. So we have false prophets speaking their own words, their own mind. It's not coming directly from the Lord Himself. Earlier I spoke about false prophets Now these are not prophets that are speaking for God. They are speaking their own mind. And Jeremiah speaks about them. And we just read that in Jeremiah, oh, Jeremiah 28, 5. 28, 5. Who, where were Israel at this time, writing Jeremiah, where were they at? They were in Babylon? They were in Babylon, captivity. Okay, so that's the whole picture of what's going on here. But let's start reading in verse 5. Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hannah. Am I right? Hananiah? In the presence of the priests and in the presence of all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord. He said, and the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen. May the Lord do so. You got to go back and read what they were saying. He says, Amen. May the Lord do so. May the Lord confirm your words which you have prophesied to bring back the vessels of the Lord's house and all the exiles from Babylon to this place. So the false prophets were teaching something different. And I think Jeremiah is just being sarcastic here. Amen to that, brother. I would love to see that. And then he goes in verse 7. hear now this word which I am about to speak to you." He says, well, I'm about to speak to you, to your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who were before me and before you from ancient times prophesied against many lands and against great kingdoms of war and of calamities and of pestilence. These were prophets, that's what they did. The prophets who prophesied of peace, when the word of the prophet came to pass, then that prophet would be known as one whom the Lord had truly sent. In Ananias, the prophet took the yoke of the neck of Jeremiah, the prophet, and put a bow on him. So they considered Jeremiah a false prophet. And the false prophets, they consider them a true prophet. Because that's what they would love to happen. They're just starting their captivity, man. They've got 70 years. And they're already prophesying that they're going to get out to the Indian area? He said, thus says the Lord, even so will I break within two years the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar's king of Babylon from the neck of all the nations. Then the prophet Jeremiah went his way. Well, this person here, two years later, he was dead because of his false words. So false prophets, we definitely do have, and they're still here today. There's still a lot of false prophets speaking their rhetoric out there. But the problem is, they're sending people to a place where they need not be. Verse 19, so inspiration does not come by any human impulse, but moved and compelled or forced by the Holy Spirit. power and authority. The Holy Spirit enables him. He gives them the words to speak. And we read that in Deuteronomy 18 and 18, remember? And those are one of the words that God... Have you ever sat down and looked at current events and think about what it all means? Do any of us do that today? Absolutely. I do a lot. Well, where are you going with this? What's going to happen here? What's going to be the outcome here? Okay. Some people document every day. Some other write a diary of their everyday events. I thought about my shit to carry on that. She took a picture of me, which I didn't know that's what she was doing, because I thought, when I see her with the camera, she had a little cup from Starbucks. I thought she was taking a picture of the cup. And then she sent me the picture of a text. She had the cup on one side and me on the other side. So she was actually taking a picture of me. And I said, was that an accident? Was that intentional? You know, taking a picture of me? I see you taking a picture of your cup. I don't understand why, but I thought she wanted to take a picture of her little cup. And she texted back and said, no, I like to document things. I like to document pictures. So she has her own little style of writing thing and she'll write something on that particular day of what we did, what we talked about and all that. So she's got a lot of diary books she's been writing over the years. But none of these things are spurred on by the Holy Spirit. These are just things you do. We just looked at 1 Peter 1, 10 through 11. which will explain and make it clearer about 2 Peter chapter 1, 19-21. The prophets were seeking to know just when would all these things come, all these things were to take place, will come to pass. So they wondered. He said the subject is the gospel in 1 Peter 1 and 3. Okay, and in verse 10, salvation. Verse 12, revealed by revelation, revealed to them and not by them. They had nothing to do with it. They had no understanding. They didn't understand why these things are happening. Even angels long to know these things. Did we actually read that, Bruce? 1 Peter. I'm going to go back to 1 Peter. Okay, 1 Peter again. Chapter 1. I don't know if I read it. As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, they made careful search and inquiry seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you. And these things, see I like that, they were prophesying, writing, and documenting all these things. for us to read in our day and time, to get a better understanding of what's all going on, even though they may not understand. Okay, to you, to those who preach the gospel, to you. Things into which angels long to look, long to look. Even angels were curious. The prophets were curious, you know, what they were writing. They didn't understand a lot of these things, you know. And then I wrote it. So Peter is simply saying, that they were giving revelations and enabling them to write these things down. But on the other hand, they did not understand all that they wrote about coming events, in this case, the Savior. It was all mysterious to them. They didn't understand a lot of this stuff, you know. It was not important for them to understand according to Daniel chapter 12 verse 8 through 9. Let's read that real quick. I'm trying to get through this real fast. Let me get this done. Daniel 12. Daniel chapter 12. In verse 8 through 9. Okay, after this is all about the end times. really jumping all the way to the tribulation period. Okay, so he's writing all these things down, okay. You know, these are all historical writings for us to read. Now we know what's going to happen here. Okay, we know what's going to happen here. He says, as for me, I, Daniel, heard, but could not understand. So I said, my Lord, what will be the outcome of these events? Of these events? Daniel chapter 12 verse 8 through 9. Remember the disciples that were asking Jesus, at this time you are going to restore the kingdom of heaven? So they were curious. Did God give them a real good detailed explanation? No. Because he already gave it to them in chapter 24. When you see rumors of war, and this and this and that, and given all the events that's going to happen prior to. He already explained that to them. And they're still asking him about this kingdom. He said, go your way. God said, go your way, Daniel. For these words are concealed and sealed up until the end times. Many will be purged, purged, purified, and refined. But the wicked will act wickedly, and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand." So Daniel didn't understand all of it that he was writing and was told, so God did that. So Daniel just plans to write what was spoken to them, the words that came out of God's mouth into the prophet's mouth. Again, Deuteronomy 18 and 18. So all this being true, there was no chance of any error or misinterpretation. There was no chance of that, huh? Because God was on top of it, the Holy Spirit was monitoring it, and making sure everything was written according to whatever the words were put into the mouth of the prophet. That assured a true accuracy of the writings. Man still manages to screw it up. And here's the meaning of the word. This is just one meaning of screw it up. He says, cause someone to be emotionally or mentally disturbed. That's what it means by screw up. That's the dictionary definition of it. But they still manage to screw it up. No matter how thorough, how accurate the word is, man is going to do that. So all these prophecies spoke were written by the prophet who is not necessary for them, but for the future readers like you and I. In chapter 12, not serving themselves, that's what it says in verse 12, but us in the future. Paul makes it clear in Romans 1 and 2, who? Prophets we are talking about. Whose prophets are we talking about? His prophets, according to Romans 1 and 2. God said, write down all that I tell you, Revelation 21 and 5 and Isaiah 30 and 8. Go now and write it down on a tablet. So everything the prophets did, they went by the dictates of God through His words, not theirs, not by their willingness, nor by their desire. All these things add up to one thing, that prophets, these prophets were God's prophets that He called into action. Okay, and sometimes they didn't have a choice. They didn't have a choice. But they did it. Being convicted, like Jeremiah said, if I don't do this, They said my bones are burning or the fire is on them. Even Paul says something to that same effect. So we have an obligation to the Lord to present the gospel to people correctly as we can. We are stewards of his word. We are entrusted with his administration, with his church. So that's a tall order, man. That's what makes this job even more serious and scary for me sometimes. Because I will stand in judgment, and you as a church member will all stand before God, for sure. A teacher is a leader who will be held more responsible. Who did he always go to when he had a bone to pick with a nation? He would go to the leaders. Who did Paul go to when he went to the Jerusalem? The elders. So God has a high respect and regard to leaders that he had put in place. So you better take your job seriously, you know, and it's nothing just to toy around and just try to get by. Don't think I haven't done that a time or two in my life in my service to the Lord and teaching, but I've been convicted of it. I always think, God said, Ray, don't just try to pass the time. Don't just bring things up just to fill up a gap. to fill up an hour worth of talk and conversation. No, you are there to instruct, to exhort, and to teach the best way you know how. So it's a big responsibility to be a teacher. So remember us teachers and pastors, whoever teaches, don't take your responsibilities lightly. And that's it, brother. Merry Christmas. I say Christmas in July.