(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, well, I want to begin this morning, of course, by, first of all, saying thank you to my good friend, Pastor Thompson, and Ms. Sherry for the invitation here. Of course, I always enjoy coming up to Shure Foundation Baptist Church, and just thank you for the hospitality and everything, the rooms. The room is great, and the gift basket, everything has been wonderful. And I've enjoyed to be able to spend some time with my pastor friends, of course. I really enjoy spending time with them, and I just want to say thank you to everybody. Thank you to all of you for being here on a Saturday morning, and after the last couple of days that you've had and the preaching that you've had, I would not have blamed you for skipping out on Saturday morning. In fact, I might have skipped out on Saturday morning if I were in your shoes, but I appreciate you being here, and I appreciate you coming. And of course, thank you to the Shure Foundation Baptist Church family. I know how it is to plan a conference, and I know how difficult it is, and I know that it's not done by just any one person. It requires an entire group of people to come together, and this has been a wonderful conference. It's been well put on, and I just want to say thank you to all of you that are part of Shure Foundation. To those of you that are part of the Verity Baptist Church family, thank you for coming up. Several of you came up here from Sacramento, and you have to hear me preach again, and I'm sorry about that. But I appreciate you coming, of course, and everyone. The New IFB is a great movement, and I appreciate it, but within the New IFB, there's a smaller group of what I like to call the Verity family, and it includes, of course, Pastor Thompson and Pastor Jones, Pastor Brzezinski, Evangelist Stuckey, and I'm proud of the work that's being done. I'm proud of this church. I'm proud of the foundation Baptist church. I'm always being thanked for taking a chance on you guys, and it was quite a gamble. Don't misunderstand me, but I am honored to be able to work alongside men like the ones that I've had the privilege to, so I appreciate all of you. All right, we're there in 1 Thessalonians 2, and I'd like you to look down at verse number 13, 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. The Bible says, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that belief. And this might be my favorite verse regarding the word of God or the issue of the word of God, because the apostle Paul here is writing to the Thessalonians, and he is referring to the fact that when they received the word of God, I love how he words it there. He says, Ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God. And that's what this conference is all about, the King James Bible Conference and the King James Bible issue is the understanding that what we hold in our hands when we hold a King James Bible in our hands is not the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God. And it is the eternal words of God, it is the inspired word of God, it is the preserved word of God. And I'm happy to be part of a conference like the King James Bible Conference. And what I'm going to preach about this morning, and I'll just kind of go ahead and say it this way, we could not have a conference about the Bible without a sermon like the one I'm going to preach this morning, and it is a very basic sermon, a fundamental sermon, and I want to preach on the subject of the doctrines of the Bible. And I've entitled the sermon The Theology of the Bible, and I'll just go ahead and say it this way, Pastor Shelley's sermon and Pastor Anderson's sermon, they were like the steak and lobster of the meal. And this morning I'm going to be serving you your broccoli and asparagus. I'll do my best to sprinkle some cheese on there, but it's just the kind of sermon that you need. And you know it's a morning session so I think it fits well, but what I want to do this morning is I want to explain to you six theological terms regarding the doctrines of the word of God, and I just don't think that you should come to a conference like a King James Bible conference and not hear this, or if you're not aware of it or you don't know it, understand it and make sure that you understand these terms. I'm going to give them to you up front and maybe you can write these down if you'd like. I saw that on the back of the bulletin, there's a place for you to write down notes. Maybe you can jot these down. I'll give them to you up front and then we're going to walk through these this morning. I'll explain them to you and I'll make application as we go. The six theological terms that if you're going to speak on the King James issue, if you're going to talk about the King James Bible, if you're going to talk about the word of God, I would imagine that if you come to a conference like the King James conference, it is because this is something that you're passionate about. These are some things that you need to understand regarding the doctrines of the Bible. Six terms. The first one is inspiration, inspiration. The second one is preservation, preservation. The third is illumination, illumination. The fourth is interpretation, interpretation. The fifth is translation, translation. And the last is application, application. Six theological terms that I'd like to go over and explain this morning with you. Now, you're there in 1 Thessalonians chapter two, I'd like you to flip over to 2 Timothy chapter number three. I realize that some of you could just quote this verse for me, but I'd like you to look at it if that's all right. 2 Timothy chapter three and verse 16, you're there in 1 Thessalonians. If you go past 2 Thessalonians, past 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, into the book of 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter three. And let's begin with the first word, the theological term inspiration. And there are some things that I'd like you to understand regarding the doctrine or the theology of inspiration. The first is this, that scripture, according to the Bible, was spoken by God. Scripture was spoken by God. And when we use the word inspiration, this is a term that we often use regarding the King James Bible. We say that it is the inspired and preserved word of God. Inspiration is a reference to the fact that God spoke these words. 2 Timothy three and verse 16 says this, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now, when we use the term inspiration today, we tend to use the term in a little bit of a different way. Usually when somebody says they might create some sort of artwork, they might draw a drawing or paint a painting or write a poem or write a song, and they might say, oh, I was inspired by some event or maybe I saw something or went through something and inspired me to want to create this. That's usually the way we use the word inspiration. But in the Bible, the word inspiration here is referring to the fact that God spoke these words. Now, today, when we use it theologically, we often refer to the fact that it came from God or the source was God. But I want you to understand that the Bible teaches that God spoke it. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. That word inspiration or inspire comes from a Latin word. The first part of the word in is the same word as we would use today in meaning within. And then the word spire in Latin means to breathe. Inspire is the idea that someone would breathe inwardly or outwardly, to breathe. It's a reference to the breath, to blow upon. And the idea is this, that as you and I speak, when we speak physically, breath comes from our mouth. And the Bible teaches that the word of God was spoken by God. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now, I'm not preaching on this necessarily, but I want you to notice there it says, and is profitable, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. And I want you to say this, that the reason today that many people do not believe that the word of God is profitable is because they do not believe that it is inspired. This is an issue that we need to understand. It is not a coincidence that those of us that believe that the word of God is actually inspired by God are also those of us who actually believe that all of it is profitable. And that even like we heard last night, the hairy parts and even the explicit parts and even the controversial parts are profitable. You're not going to hear Judges 19, you're not going to hear Genesis 19, you're not going to hear Ezekiel 23, you're not going to hear Romans chapter 1 preached at most churches today because they don't think it's profitable because they don't think it's inspired. So we need to understand that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. Now you're there in 2 Timothy chapter 3, I'd like you to go to 2 Peter chapter 1. You're there in 2 Timothy, you go past Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter. While you turn there, let me read to you from Exodus chapter 20 and verse 1. You go to 2 Peter chapter 20, excuse me, 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21, and I'll read to you from Exodus chapter 20 and verse 1. Exodus 20 and verse 1 says this, And God spake all these words. Now of course Exodus 20 is the famous passage where we get the 10 commandments and after verse 1, the chapter goes on to give us those famous 10 commandments and God spake all these words saying and we get the 10 commandments, but I want you to notice that the Bible emphasizes the fact that God spoke. He spoke these words and God spake these words. 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 21, notice what the Bible says in 2 Peter 1, 21. These are all very well-known, famous verses regarding the doctrines of the Bible. 2 Peter 1, 21, For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man. People today will often say, oh, the Bible is just a book written by man. And I would submit to you this morning that man would not write the Bible. The Bible is not a book that a man would write. Men write books like Your Best Life Now. Men write books like The Power of Positive Thinking. Men do not write books that say you're a sinner and you're helplessly condemned to hell and there's nothing you can do about it and you need Jesus to save you. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but, the Bible says, holy men of God spake. And I want you to notice the words there, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. When we speak on the doctrine of inspiration, we need to understand that there are some facets to that. The first is this, that God spake. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. The second is this, that God spoke or spake His word through man. God spoke and God spoke through men. Men spoke as well. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Go to Hebrews chapter number one if you would, Hebrews chapter one. And again, this morning might feel a little bit more like a Bible study and I hope that's okay, but I think that if you came to a conference about the Bible, then you might not mind studying the Bible. Hebrews chapter one and verse number one, you're there in second Peter, if you go backwards, you go past first Peter, past the book of James into Hebrews, Hebrews chapter number one and verse one. Hebrews one, one, notice what it says, God who at sundry times and in diverse manners, that is a very eloquent and beautiful way by which the King James translators said he did this in different ways. God who at sundry times and in diverse manners in different times, in different ways, notice what the Bible says, spake in time past. Who spake in time past? God did. When spake in time past unto the fathers, notice by the prophets, who spoke? God spoke. How do you speak? By the prophets, verse two, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed heir over all things, excuse me, heir of all things by whom also he made the world. So God spoke his word, when we're talking about inspiration, we need to understand that God spoke, but we also need to understand that God spoke through men. Men spoke the words that God spoke through them. For prophecy came not in old time by the will of men, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. I'd like you to go to Jeremiah if you would. Jeremiah, please do me a favor and keep your place there in Second Peter or actually First Thessalonians, Second Thessalonians, somewhere around there, because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it and go to Jeremiah chapter number 36. If you open your Bible just right in the center, you're more than likely following the book of Psalms. Right after Psalms, you have Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah, then Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter number 36. While you turn there, let me read to you some other passages just to prove this point further. You go to Jeremiah 36, four, I'll read to you from the book of Acts, Acts chapter one in verse 16 says this, men and brethren, this scripture, the word scripture is a reference to the Bible. This scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which I want you to hear this, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake. So the Bible says that the Holy Ghost spoke, but he spoke by the mouth of David. Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake. Acts 4 25, who by the mouth of thy servant David has said, why did the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? That is a quote from the book of Psalms, Psalm 2, and here we're told that it was by the mouth of David has said, and then we get scripture. Why? Because God spoke through men, this scripture, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake. Psalm 23, excuse me, 2 Samuel 23, you don't have to turn there, you go to Jeremiah. Let me just read this for you, 2 Samuel 23 and verse one says this, now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man whom was raised up on high, the anointed, the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, verse two, the Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue. That's what David said. David said the Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue. So when we talk about inspiration, what are the facets of inspiration? What are the steps? One, God spoke, two, God spoke through men, and then thirdly, scripture was written down after it was spoken. Jeremiah 36 and verse four. Are you there? Jeremiah chapter 36 and verse four, notice what it says, then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord. I want you to see it. Jeremiah the prophet is speaking the words of God. He is speaking the words, and then Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he, Jeremiah, had spoken unto him upon a roll of the book. So the Bible is clear about the fact that inspiration is God spoke, and then God spoke through men, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and then those words were written down. And here's an example where Jeremiah spoke, and then it was written down by Baruch. He wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he had spoken unto him. And again, I want you to understand this. This is something that can be highlighted throughout the Bible. You don't have to turn here, but I'll just read this to you from Romans chapter 16 and verse 22. Romans 16 and 22 says this, I, Tertius, who wrote this epistle, salute you in the Lord. That's what Romans 16 and 22 says. Now you might be thinking, well, I thought Paul wrote the book of Romans. Well, Paul is the author of the book of Romans or the source, the human source of the book of Romans. But the book of Romans was spoken by the Holy Ghost through the apostle Paul, and it was physically written down by this guy named Tertius. Because the word of God is spoken by God through men, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and then it's written down after they were spoken. Now you say, well, why would you need to go into detail about this at a conference like the King James Conference? And here's why. Because oftentimes it is people like King James only people, and I am a King James only person. And I'm saying that in a derogatory type way. But oftentimes, King James only people will maybe make a big deal about things like spelling, or things like punctuation, or things like capitalization. And if you can leave a conference like this understanding that the word of God is spoken by God, all scriptures given by inspiration of God, and it was spoken by men that God used to speak his word, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and only then was it written down, you might not make as big of a deal about things like updating grammar or updating spelling, when you realize that it was spoken first and then written. It's not like John was sitting there dictating the Gospel of John, and he was saying, write this down. For God, so loved the world, comma, no, no, wait, I'm sorry, semi-colon, no, no, not semi-colon, comma. For God so loved the world, comma, is it that or which? I can't ever remember. It's not like you talking into your phone, sending a text that never makes any sense. Space, semi-colon, exclamation point, write this in all capitals, please. Siri, say this in all capitals, I'm very upset. We often make a big deal about updating grammar, updating punctuation, updating these types of things, and if you realize that the word of God was spoken, and the idea is that all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It was spoken by God, and it was spoken through men, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and then it was written down. That's what we mean when we say that we have the inspired words of God. What do we mean by that? It means that we have the words that were written down, that were spoken by holy men of God who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, because God spoke his words. Now let me just answer this real quickly, you go to Psalm 12 if you would, in the center of your Bible, Psalm 12, and let me just kind of speak to this, and again I realize this is going to be more of a doctrinal sermon, and I also realize that the vast majority of you spent your night last night doing what we affectionately call Baptist nightclubbing, usually happens at IHOP, or at, what's the name of that restaurant, Bueno something, so you didn't get much sleep, so you're just going to have to stay awake and pay attention out of character, alright? Regarding the men's styles that are apparent in the Bible, because this is something that often comes up, people will say well, you can see the style of the men, of the different writing styles of people in the Bible, you can tell when the Apostle Paul is writing versus when Luke is writing, because there's different styles, and that is correct, there is an apparent style in scripture, this is something that people will often bring up, and maybe bring it up in order to question the inspiration of God, because they'll say well if God spake all these words, and people were just speaking what God spoke, then why is it in different styles, and men spoke differently, and I'll just give you a couple of thoughts regarding that, first I would say this, that we need to understand that God uses men like we use fonts, God uses men like maybe we would use in earlier time pens, different types of fonts for different styles, and when God needed something hairy, he chose a man like Ezekiel to be very explicit, and offensive, when God needed something extremely deep and theological, he used a man like the Apostle Paul to deliver epistles that were extremely doctrinal in their explanation, when God needed something to be explained very thoroughly, he used a physician by the name of Luke to give us all sorts of physical descriptions, God uses different men for different styles, and the answer to the question is this, and I'll give you two possible answers, I believe that God created men to match his word, that God, obviously the word of God has always been, and God created Paul, and God created Moses, and God created Luke, and God created these men to match his word, if you don't like that answer, then here's another answer for you, that God spoke his word to match the men, but either way, none of it would be too difficult for an all-knowing, all-powerful God, and all I would say is this, you know, I am a pastor of a church and I've got several men that work for me, that make up our staff there at Verity Baptist Church, and from time to time, the men on my staff might get asked a question, and oftentimes people are asked a question because they want to get approval from them, but they don't want to get approval from me, they don't want to ask me the question, so they think, well I'll ask them and let them say yes or no, and these men have been trained in some situations, they are to bring these questions to me, but I don't like to just interject myself, so oftentimes they might say, hey pastor, I was going to respond this to this question, what do you think about that, do you think that's fine? Sometimes when it is urgent enough or important enough, I might even just write the response for them, so all my church people, now that I've explained this to them, are scared because they never know who's speaking to them, whether it's me or brother, whoever, but oftentimes, you know, I might just write the response and send it to them, but when I write the response, I don't write it like Pastor Jimenez, you know, I write it to match their style, and it's my words being spoken through Brother Oliver or being spoken through Brother Shaw or being spoken through Brother David, but to match their style, and here's what I'm saying is, if I can figure out how to do that, you better believe that God can figure out how to do that, and I might word things in a way to match their style, and of course the question is always, well, what do you do to try to match their style, and all I've got to do is misspell several words, and there you go. The point is this, that God either created men to match his word or spoke his word to match those men, but none of that should cause you to question the inspiration of the word of God. So the first word is this, inspiration. The second word is preservation, preservation, Psalm 12 and verse 6, notice what the Bible says, Psalm 12 and verse 6, the words of the Lord are pure words. Now that is actually a reference to inspiration. The words of the Lord are pure words. Why? Because God spoke his words, because the source is God, the words are pure, the words are perfect, the words are uncorrupted, undefiled, the words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times, but I want you to notice verse 7, verse 6 is inspiration, in fact if you don't mind writing notes in your Bible, next to verse 6 I would write the word inspiration, the words of the Lord are pure words, and then verse 7 is preservation, thou shalt keep them O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation, notice this word, forever. When we talk about preservation we must understand this, that God is the one who is responsible for preserving his word. The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times, thou shalt keep them O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. You're there in Psalm 12, go to Psalm 119 if you would, Psalm 119 and verse 89, Psalm 119 and verse 89, God is responsible for preserving his word. And let me say this, the Bible is preserved, the Bible is not lost, the Bible has never been lost, Psalm 119 89, the Bible says forever, Psalm 119 89, forever, Psalm 119 89, why don't you notice the word, forever O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. The word of God is settled, it's preserved, it's saved, we don't have to worry about whether it's lost or whether we have it, God is responsible for preserving his word, thou shalt keep them O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever. Go to Psalm 68 if you would, Psalm 68. When it comes to preservation, let me just make a couple of statements. First of all, we need to understand that this is why we reject the modern Bible versions. The modern Bible versions, and you already heard a lot of preaching on this, so I don't want to spend a lot of time on it, but the difference between the King James Bible and the modern Bible versions is not the translators necessarily, now obviously the translators are a major part of it, but it's not like two groups of translators took the same Greek text and then just produced different Bibles. The reason that there is a problem or there is a difference between the King James Bible and the modern Bible versions, the reason that all of the modern Bible versions seem to agree with themselves and none of them agree with the King James Bible, and the reason that pretty much every Bible, not just the English King James Bible, but any Bible that was translated before the modern Bible versions seem to agree with the King James. The reason for that is because there's actually two different underlying Greek texts that are being used here. And what we need to understand is this, one of the problems that we have, and we have many problems with the modern Bible versions, but one of the problems that we have is that they are based on a critical text on recently discovered manuscripts. And when we say recently discovered, we're talking about within the last 100, 150, 200 years, and the point is this, for you to now have a Bible that was translated from a Greek text that was found 200 years ago would be an admittance to the fact that for hundreds of years, for a thousand years and thousands of years, the Word of God was lost, that we did not have it. But the problem, you say, well what's wrong with that? The problem that I have with that is that that makes God incompetent. Because God is the one who is responsible for preserving His Word. God is the one who said in His Word, He said, Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation. Psalm 12, the psalmist is speaking about 1000 AD, he's saying from this generation forever. So you can't tell me that, well, the truth is that it was written 100 AD, the Psalms were written, and then they were around for a little while, but then we lost them for a thousand years. That would make God incompetent, and I don't know about you, but my God is not incompetent. God is responsible for preserving His Word. This idea that new manuscripts can be found because they were lost already goes against what the Bible teaches regarding the preservation of Scripture. And just use some logic. Why would God take the time? And look, and here's what I would submit to you, and I would say this, the God of the modern Bible versions, and I understand there's only one God, but the God that the people who believe in these modern Bible versions have is a different God than my God, than the God of King James Bible, because their God is incompetent, their God writes a word and then loses it, and then it has to be rediscovered and refound. Think about this, just think illogically, why would God take the time? Because here's the thing, most no one argues the inspiration of Scripture. Everybody, even the NIV, ESV, whatever group, all will say that the originals were inspired. So the question is this, why would God give His Word inspired originals, which virtually nobody argues, over a period of 1600 years, 1600 years from when Moses began to write Scripture, 1500 AD to 70, excuse me, 1600 BC to 70 AD or 100 AD, 100 years after Christ, for about 1600 years, Scripture from the Old to the New Testament was being penned down, was being written down, probably around 40 different human authors. Two major languages, Hebrew and Greek, and a little bit of a third language, Aramaic. Why would God spend 1600 years using probably around 40 different men, writing on two different continents in two different languages, just to allow it to be lost, when it needed to be copied down? Because the truth is this, that the originals do not exist. There is no such thing as a papyrus that exists today, some ancient paper that, that, that Paul put pen to, or that Moses put pen to. There is no parchment, there is no calf skin, there is no animal skin anywhere that, that, that any Old Testament prophet or their scribe put pen to. When God gave us His Word, He understood, when it was written, He understood that it would need to be copied. I'm not talking about translated, that too, we'll get to that in a minute. But even if we did not translate it, even just the original Hebrew and the original Greek would have to be copied because the physical ways that it was written down would decay and corrupt and get destroyed. You don't think God knew that? So God says, let's spend 1600 years, two continents, two major languages, 40 different authors, but the moment you got to copy it down, it's going to get lost. You know what that is? It's a divine waste of time. It makes no logical sense. And I would say this, inspiration without preservation makes no sense. Inspiration without preservation makes God incompetent. Why would God do that? Then people will say this, well, yeah, but the thing is that the people who preserved it, the people who copied it, the people who translated it were, were human sinners and they messed up. Well, here's the problem with that, the people who wrote it originally were human sinners too. Oh, well, the Bible says they were holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and they were holy men of God. But let's just understand these holy men of God, what holy men are we talking about? Men like Moses, who was a murderer. Men like David, who was an adulterer and a murderer. These are the types of men we're talking about. So if God has the power to use sinful men to inspire his word, but now all of a sudden God can't also use sinful men to preserve his word, I would say you have a different God than I do. Because God is responsible for preserving his word and it's silly to say that God can use sinful men to inspire his word, but he can't use sinful men to preserve his word. It is silly to say that God would spend 1600 years, 40 different authors, two different continents, two different major languages, just to allow it to be lost the moment it needed to be copied, when God would know full well it would need to be copied. I mean, you're saying that? You're saying that the Constitution of the United States is a piece of paper that is only 200 years old and it has to be put in some special chamber with all sorts of protection and all sorts of things because it's corrupting! But we're supposed to think that God never wanted it copied down. The originals from Moses, 3,000 years old, 4,000 years old, 5,000 years old, we're supposed to have those today. God never expected that. Not only did God not expect it, God doesn't care about the originals. And neither should we. And by the way, let me just say this, the originals do not exist. There is no original document of any scripture. People go off to see things like, oh well, in the originals, they don't know that. Now we know that because we know that everything in the King James Bible is the accurate translation of the originals, we understand that. But the people who attack the King James Bible say, well that's what it says in the King James, but in the originals, what originals? What originals exactly are you talking about? Well you know, we've got these 5,000 manuscripts and they're ancient. And look, praise the Lord for the 5,000 manuscripts, let me explain something to you, none of those 5,000 manuscripts are originals. Those manuscripts are copies of copies of copies and translations of translations. They are just older copies than the copy you have. All of this requires faith. All of this requires a belief that there is a God that has a purpose and a plan. And He has revealed Himself to us through His Word. God's preservation is the understanding that God is responsible for preserving His Word, and God's preservation means that the originals are not necessary. Are you there in Jeremiah? If you kept your place in Jeremiah, go back to Jeremiah if you would, Jeremiah 36. Jeremiah 36 and verse 27. Jeremiah 36 and verse 27. Notice what the Bible says. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. We already saw the inspiration process through the example of Jeremiah. Remember, Jeremiah spoke and Baruch wrote it down. And Jeremiah 36 and verse 27, the Bible says this, then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after that. You see those two words, after that. After what? After that, the king had burned the roll. And the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah. What do we have here? Jeremiah spoke through the Holy Spirit. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Baruch penned it down. And the first thing they did was they sent it to the king. And they said, hey, King, here's the word of the Lord. Here's what God has said. And instead of the king reading it and repenting, he read it and he got upset and he took out a penknife and he cut it up and he threw it in the fire. And that was it. The word of God was lost forever. The originals no longer exist. Is that the attitude we should take? Look at it. Jeremiah 36 verse 27. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that the king burned the roll and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah saying, but then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. I want you to see this. This is what God has to say. This is what God has to say after that the king had burned the roll and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah. So this is a very interesting verse because we get a chance to see what God thinks about us losing the originals. This is what God had to say after the originals had been lost, not over thousands of years, but within seconds. They were written down, given to the king. He said, I don't like this because man would not write the Bible and he threw it in the fire. What does God say? Here's what he says. Verse 28. Take thee again another roll, take thee again another roll and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. Does it seem like God is really upset and really worried about the fact that the originals are gone? He says, write it again. I mean, God looks out for me and says, okay, he burned up the original. I didn't really expect that to last for very long anyway. Just write it again, copy it again and Jeremiah might say, well, what if I don't get it right the second time? And God would say, well, you got to write the first time because I made sure you got to write the first time and I'll make sure you get it right the second time and I'll make sure it's preserved because it is my job. The words of the Lord are pure words as silver cried in the furnace of earth, purified seven Those shall keep them, O Lord. It's not the scribe's job to preserve it. It's not the King James translator's job to preserve it. It's God's job. And God providentially, God supernaturally, in the same way that he gave us his inspired word, gave us his preserved word. The grass withered, the flower faded, but the word of our God shall stand forever. So the first theological term you need to know is inspiration. The second theological term you need to know is preservation. The third theological term I'd like you to understand this morning. Go to First Corinthians, if you would, in the New Testament. First Corinthians chapter number two. In the New Testament you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, and then First Corinthians. First Corinthians chapter two. Inspiration, God spoke, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and they got written down. Preservation, God is in charge of preserving his word and because God is in charge of preserving his word, the originals are not necessary, the originals don't even exist, but we don't have to worry about that because the same supernatural powerful God that can inspire his word to be written can also direct men to preserve those inspired words. Here's the third word, illumination. Illumination. Say, what does that mean? Illumination is a theological term that means this, the Bible is a spiritual book and because the Bible is a spiritual book it cannot be understood by natural man. First Corinthians 2, 13, notice what the Bible says. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth. The Bible was not written in the words which man's wisdom teacheth. You want to know what man's wisdom teacheth, just go back and look at ancient classical literature. Go read Plato and those guys. The Bible is not that. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. Notice comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Now that's the context of verse 14, but, because spiritual, comparing spiritual with spiritual is referring to the fact that we should compare the word of God to itself. The Bible is its own commentary. The Bible is its own dictionary. You do not need a commentary with some guy telling you what the Bible says. You can read the Bible, compare the Bible amongst itself and it will tell you what it says. That is the context in which we get verse 14, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. What is the Bible telling us here in 1 Corinthians 2, 14? It is telling us that the natural man, the unregenerate man, the unregenerated man, the unsaved man, just a normal guy whose spirit is dead, who does not have a spiritual man and does not have the Holy Spirit indwelling him, but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Why? Because the things of the Spirit of God, because the spiritual book you and I call the Bible is spiritually discerned. The word discern means to perceive or to understand, to comprehend. The Bible can only be discerned. The Bible can only be understood. The Bible can only be perceived. The Bible can only be comprehended through the Holy Spirit. So when somebody is not saved, they don't have the Holy Spirit, and their spiritual man has not been quickened, has not been revived, they are dead spiritually, they cannot discern the spiritual book of the Word of God. That's what the verse means. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can they know them, because they are spiritually discerned. You say, why do we need to know this? Unsaved people cannot understand the Bible is something that we need to understand, and if people understood this doctrine, they would stop handing out John and Romans to unsaved people and calling it evangelism. Now I'm not against handing out John and Romans, I like John and Romans, and I have no problem with you getting somebody saved and putting a John or Romans or just the whole King James Bible in their hand. But handing a Bible to an unsaved person and calling it evangelism is doing nothing because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. The unsaved man cannot understand the Bible. And look, it doesn't require a lot of evidence to figure that out. Just look at unsaved religious people. Have you ever wondered why it is that unsaved religious people, I mean, I think to me it's like a joke. I feel like they're doing it on purpose. I feel like, is this a joke? Am I living in the twilight zone? Because have you ever noticed that unsaved religious people, not only do they not understand the Bible, but they always seem to do the exact opposite of what the Bible actually says. Have you ever wondered that? I mean, literally, the disciples come to Jesus and say, Lord, teach us to pray. And Jesus says to them, well, here's the thing, I do not want to use vain and repetitious prayers. He said, use not vain repetitions like the heathen do. He said, so let me teach you how to pray, okay, because I don't want you to use vain repetitions. So pray like this. And then he gives them a pattern prayer. He said, I don't want you to use not vain repetition like the heathen do. Don't do that. So here's how you should do it. And then he goes through and gives them a pattern prayer that we normally refer to as the Lord's Prayer. And then the Catholics come along and say, I've got an idea. Let's repeat that all the time, vainly and repetitiously. Let's chant that. And to me, I'm just like, are you? Are you joking? Are you gaslighting me right now? I mean, you're joking, right? He literally just got done telling you, use not vain repetition. I don't want you to chant prayers. I don't want you to just repeat things over and over. Don't do that. Do this. And they're like, let's repeat that over and over, guys. How can you explain that? Here's how you explain it. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness unto him, neither can he understand them because they are spiritually discerned. You know what the Bible teaches? The Bible teaches that when a believer dies, their body goes to sleep and their soul goes to heaven, right? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Over and over and over, the Bible calls the death of a believer sleeping because one day their body is going to be resurrected. It's going to wake up at the resurrection, praise God. The Bible says when a believer dies, their body goes to sleep and their soul goes to heaven. Jehovah's Witnesses come along and say, no, the soul goes to sleep, soul sleep. And I think to myself, are you messing with me right now? This is the twilight zone, right? Someone's going to pop out of a bush somewhere and say, smile, you're on candid camera. Like this is a joke, right? The Bible literally says your body goes to sleep, your soul goes to heaven. And they're like, no, no, no. Your soul goes to sleep. So how do you explain that? Well, the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. Let's pick on the Jehovah's Witnesses. The Bible says that at the rapture, in the book of Revelation, the Bible says that at the rapture, all believers go to heaven, 144,000 come down, right? At the rapture, all believers get raptured up, go to heaven, 144,000 male Jews that are already in heaven come down. Jehovah's Witnesses say, no, 144,000 go to heaven. Everyone else stays on earth. I mean, literally the exact opposite. The Bible says everyone goes to heaven, 144,000 comes down. Jehovah's Witnesses says no, 144,000 go to heaven, everybody else stays down. And you think to yourself, how can it be? Because it's not just that you got it wrong, it's that you got the exact opposite meaning. Now part of it, I think, is that the devil is just blocking the Bible. But the reason that he can is because the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolish citizens of him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. Unsaved people cannot understand the Bible. I mean, you understand that? That's why the Bible, the New Testament, I mean, there's some clear, there's just some super clear verses in the Bible about salvation, obviously. Leave on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, not by works of righteousness which we have done, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, as I mentioned, but I mean, right, just some clear verses. But you know, there are some verses that I would not say are clear, I would say are obnoxious. And I say that with all reverence. Like there are some obnoxious verses in the Bible about salvation. Let me just give you an example, Galatians 2 16. I would say this is not a clear, I mean, it is a clear verse, but it's an obnoxious verse. I mean, just consider this verse, Galatians 2 16, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law. That's clear. But by the faith of Jesus Christ, okay, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. I got it. And not by the works of the law, okay, you're getting obnoxious. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. And I think to myself, Paul, really? I mean, how clear do you, how much are you beating a dead horse? Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, that we might be saved by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law, for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. I mean, it's like, how much do you have to say? You're just saying it, you're just saying the same thing, Paul, you're repeating yourself. You're saying the same thing over and over. How about Romans 11, when he's like, if it be of grace, then it is no more works. Right? Because the word grace means free, works means you earn it. He's saying, if it be of grace, if it's free, then you didn't pay for it, then you didn't earn it. Now, that's a clear statement. But then he says, he says, if it be grace, then it is no more works, otherwise, grace is no more grace. And then he says, and if it be works, then it is no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. And I mean, he's just like, look, if it's free, you can't pay for it, otherwise, it's not free. Okay. He's like, no, no, I don't think you get it. But if you pay for it, it's not free. Otherwise, you didn't pay for it. And we're like, why are you just saying it so much? But here's why he says it so much, because I'm saying people read the writings of Paul, and they walk away saying, we got to do works to be saved. And you think to yourself, how can that be? It is because of this doctrine, illumination. Unsaved people cannot understand the Bible. That's why there's such a mass and so called Christianity today. No verse in the Bible says repent of your sins. That phrase does not exist in the Bible. Yet virtually every religion says you must repent of your sins to be saved. How can that be? How can that be? It's because I'm saying people cannot understand the Bible. By the way, this is why soul winning is needed. Because of the soul winner who is saved, who has a Holy Spirit of God, the soul winner needs to take the Holy Spirit of God and he's to take the Holy Word of God and he's to open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Why? Because they it's a mystery to them. They will never understand it. They will never comprehend it. They will never get it unless a soul winner with the Holy Spirit of God and the Holy Word of God explains it to them. Do you understand that? That's why even children, even children, I'm talking about children that were born and raised at Verity Baptist Church. Verity Baptist Church has been around now for over 12 years. And our church has, I don't know, last time I checked, I think our homeschool group has around 90 kids in it. And by God's grace, we've had children who have never known anything but Verity Baptist Church. They've been born at Verity Baptist Church, they've been raised at Verity Baptist Church, we're starting to marry off some of these young people, praise the Lord. But it's interesting to me that you can take a four year old or five year old or a six year old or a seven year old, who's all they've ever known is Verity Baptist Church and their parents, you know, their parents come to me freaking out because they go to preach the gospel to the six year old kid, and they're like, all right, Billy, now Sally, what does it take to be saved? And they're like, be good? And the kids are like, the parents are like, where did you get that from? And you know, and we think ourselves like, where did you hear that from? You've never knew you, you've all you've known is very, but you've never heard that. But you know, the natural man received not the things of the Spirit of God. They need it to be explained to them, they need someone to make known unto them the mystery of the gospel. The Holy Spirit illuminates the scriptures. First Corinthians 2 13, look at it, which things also we speak, not in the words of man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teaches. It is the Holy Spirit that illuminates the Word of God. It is the Holy Ghost that teaches the Word of God. Go to John 14, if you would, John 14, I'll read to you from 1 John 2 27. 1 John 2 27, but the anointing which he has received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you, but as the same spirit, as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. It is the Holy Spirit that teaches us or illuminates for us the Word of God. This is why in Ephesians 6, the Bible is called the sword of the Spirit. John 14 26, but the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things. John 16 13, how be it when he, the Spirit of truth has come, he will guide you in all truth. The Holy Spirit teaches the Word of God to believers, there's the Holy Spirit that guides us in all truth. And look, that should be a comfort to you, that God is no respecter of persons. You know, I praise the Lord for the men that I call my friends as pastors here in the new IFB. And sometimes I sit there and I listen to like what we heard last night, Pastor Anderson preached and I think to myself, what a giftedness, I mean, amazing preaching and praise God for it. But you know, it also comforts me to know that God is no respecter of persons. And Pastor Anderson or any other pastor doesn't have some special connection with God that the rest of us do not have access to. The same Holy Spirit that is teaching him the Word can teach me the Word. The same King James Bible that he's reading and studying and memorizing is a King James Bible that I can read and study and memorize. And you want to talk about a miracle and people often want to say, Oh, can God give me a sign and can God perform a miracle? Let me tell you something, every morning you wake up, you have the opportunity to open up a book that is ancient, not not just 3000 years, but everlastingly ancient, the inspired and preserved Word of God, which mere men cannot understand. But because you're saved, you can open it up and you can read it and you can learn it and you can understand it. And the Holy Spirit of God works inside of you to help you understand the Bible. And yet we neglect it. And yet we don't read it. And yet we allow biblical words like bastard to become curse words because Christians do not read it, do not study it, do not use it, do not preach it. Illumination. Let me give you the fourth word. If you can go to Second Timothy chapter two, I'm not sure if you kept your place there, Second Timothy 2.15. I've got to hurry because my flight is leaving. The fourth word is interpretation. Inspiration, preservation, illumination, interpretation. I won't spend too much time on this, but let me just give you a couple of verses. Second Timothy 2.15, study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. You want to know why men don't study the Bible? Because it's work. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman. It's work. A workman that needeth not to be ashamed. The word ashamed, he was talking about being embarrassed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And look, obviously, any of us that are pastors, we're going to say the wrong thing from time to time. We're human beings. You know, I often tell our church people, you can't expect a man to stand up and preach three times a week for one hour, three times a week for a decade and not expect that he's going to say something wrong. You know, I always think it's funny when people walk up to me after the service and they're giving me tie markers and they're like, at the 45 minute, 32 second mark, you said Jonah swallowed the whale or something. And I'm thinking to myself, like, at the 45 minute, 32 second mark, you were in the service. How do you know that? You're not watching me on YouTube. There's no counter down here. You know, it's just like social media world we live in now, you know, and it's, you know, I'm just like, hey, we all make mistakes. But, you know, our goal is to try to rightly divide the word of truth to not be ashamed. I mean, even today, as I was preparing for the sermon, I was there are some things that I know are facts that I know are true, but I was just having one of my staff guys help me and fact check some of the things I was saying, because I don't want to get up here and say the wrong thing. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Peter 1 20, if you would, 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 20, 2 Timothy, if you go past Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 2 Peter chapter 1 and verse 20, the Bible says this, knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. What does that mean? That means that because the Bible is a spiritual book and because it is discerned through the Holy Spirit, there is no interpretation that any one person can get that the rest of us are not able to get. So be careful, be careful when it's like, oh, I got this new teaching, I've never heard anyone. I've got this brand new teaching no one's ever taught. Let me tell you something. There is no new thing under the sun. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. So and by the way, every pastor has said this oftentimes, everything we believe in the new IFP is believed by thousands of people, millions of people throughout the throughout history and all over the world. Now, Baptists may not believe everything we believe and other religions may not believe everything we believe, but everything we believe, none of it is new to us. You say why? Because no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation. Now, when it comes to interpretation, the questions we want to ask and when I study the Bible, especially for writing a sermon, I often ask myself these questions. What does it say and what does it mean? What does it say and what does it mean? Let me just say something to those of you that are young preachers. If you need help with Bible writing sermons, and obviously we could spend a lot of time on that. But let me just say this. You know, you ought to consider when you come to a portion of scripture, you're doing like some sort of a Bible study through a portion of scripture. You got to ask yourself and kind of maybe outline it this way in your own mind. Observation, interpretation, application. Observation, what does it say? When I read it, what am I observing? What is it actually saying? But then interpretation is answering this question. What does it mean? I often as I'm preaching through books like the Book of Numbers, which has a lot of dry areas in it. I think to myself and my prayer is this, God, you gave us this chapter for a reason. You gave us this book for a reason. You put this in the Bible for a reason. There's something you want us to learn from it, to take away from it. So we should know what does it say and we should know what and we should ask, what does it mean? And the point is this. You and I should not come to the Bible to try to prove what we already believe. We should not come to the Bible with an agenda looking for a proof text for what we already believe. But instead, we should allow the Bible to tell us what to believe. We come to the Bible and say, what does it say? What does it mean? And then we take from that. Here's what I believe based off the Bible. Hey, I'm a Baptist. What does that mean? I'm a biblicalist. What does that mean? That means that the Bible, the word of God is the final authority and all matters of faith and practice. I don't come to the Bible and tell it what it means. I come to the Bible and let it tell me what to believe. This is a lesson that the old I have been used to learn. Because they should have walked away from the pre-trib rapture a long time ago. When it said after the tribulation, you had to ask yourself, what does it say after the tribulation? What does it mean? After the tribulation. Interpret it. Quit being loyal to to some agenda or some school or some commentary and be loyal to the word of God. Interpretation. The fifth word is translation. I got to hurry because it's going to become a Pastor Thompson sermon. I got to be done or Pastor Shelley or whatever. They get to preach two sermons, you know, same night, no break. Translation. I really don't want to spend a lot of time on this. Let me just make a couple of statements. Number one, God created all languages. Tower of Babel, right? And God gave his word in multiple languages. Two main languages, Hebrew and Greek, Old and New Testament, portions of just a few portions of the Old Testament and Aramaic. God gave, God created languages, God gave us his word in multiple languages. So we need to understand and God seems to it's funny because sometimes the languages are so convoluted and maybe that's the wrong word, but the idea is, is that like I think God tries to make this point about that he doesn't care about languages. I mean, consider Jesus in the New Testament. He's reading or quoting from a Hebrew Old Testament while speaking in Aramaic, and it's being read down in Greek. And I think the point that God's trying to make is I don't care about languages. I'm the God of the languages. I'm God over all languages. I created languages. So please understand this because the Reuchmanites, they take this view that says, well, the Bible is in English is the inspired, preserved word of God, which I agree with that. But then they get this attitude that says, so everybody needs to learn English. Look, that is not our position. Our position is not, look, we are King James only. We are not make America great again only. We're not, we're not these people saying, well, everyone has to learn English because that's the word, the word of God is in English. No, please understand something. We believe that the word of God can and the word of God should be translated into every language. Now, we stand up and say the King James Bible is the accurate, inspired, inerrant, preserved word of God in the English language. But if we can have the inspired, inerrant, preserved word of God in the English language, let me tell you something, we can have it in Spanish. We can have it in every language. King James only is not English only. King James only is, the King James is the only one in English, but it can and it should be translated into different languages. And of course, our friends in Florida make a big deal about these things. And they make a big deal about synonyms, which I think is interesting because the King James Bible itself uses synonyms, right? I mean, we often highlight the synonyms as the Bible defining itself. So the Old Testament says in the midst of the congregation, the New Testament says in the midst of a church and we quoting the Old Testament and we say, well, the word congregation is used synonymously with the word of church because these words are interchangeable because they mean the same thing. It's two different words that mean the same thing. Now, our friends in Florida who say they love the King James more than we do, which is always an argument to be worried about, not based off Bible, not based off logic, just we love something more than you love it. They say no synonyms. But the King James translators that you worship use synonyms. Not only that, Jesus himself used synonyms. I mean, Pastor Anderson, we were just talking about this, he was bringing this up to me, I thought it was interesting how in Jesus and the New Testament during the time of his temptation, he says it is written and then he quotes from the Old Testament, the Old Testament talks about the fact that man shall not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, Jehovah. But in the New Testament, Jesus, Jesus, our Lord and Savior quotes the Old Testament, Hebrew, and probably Aramaic, I mean, I would assume that's what he's speaking in the desert with, that's his language, that's his heart language. Being written down in Greek and then translated into English, Jesus says, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. Not Lord, not Jehovah, God. Well, Jesus is not King James only enough for us. We must love the King James more than Jesus does, because he used to sit in, look, when you're more right with God than Jesus, you got a problem. Look, holier than thou's needs to get this, when you're more holy than Jesus is, there's, you're too holy, there's no such thing as being too holy. Oh, here's what I'm saying, if Jesus looks at the word L-O-R-D in the Old Testament, Jehovah, God, and says, I'm going to use the word God instead, because it's a different word, means the same thing. Here's what I'm saying, if Jesus is using synonyms, if the King James translators themselves are using synonyms, why are you so mad at us for saying, hey, not every word connects from one language to the other, there's not an exact equivalent for every word, so whenever you can't find a word, just use a synonym, it's fine. We're just saying Jesus did it, and we're just saying the King James translators did it, so stop being an idiot, and maybe you should not speak about things that you don't understand, maybe you should not position yourself as the expert over translations when you only speak English and you don't even do that well. Maybe you should allow other people to speak who actually know what they're talking about. The fifth word is translation. The last word is application, application, and this will be a Pastor Thompson sermon. I apologize in advance, but at least I'm nicer to look at. James, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I love you guys. James chapter one, go to James if you would, you're there in second Peter, you go backwards, go backwards, second Peter, first Peter, James, James chapter one, I'm not, I'm upset that I'll be gone to see some of my friends ride a bull. Think it might get confusing with some of these guys. Might be wondering, why is a bull riding him? I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm leaving, actually, is what I'm doing. James 1, James 1, 22, I'm giving you these theological terms. Number one, inspiration, number two, preservation, number three, illumination, number four, interpretation, number five, translation, here's number six, application, application. Here's what the Bible says, James 1, 22, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves, but if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. This is why I love the book of James, super practical. James here is using an illustration, he said it's like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass, he's saying, it's like someone looking in the mirror, that's what he's saying, he's saying being a doer, being a hearer of the word, but not a doer, you hear it, but you don't do it, you don't apply it, it's like looking in a mirror, is what he says, look at verse 24, for he beholded himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. Here's what James is saying, what is the point of looking in a mirror? Now for some of you, because you're vain, you've got other reasons, but the purpose of looking in a mirror is to see what's wrong, right? And then fix it. So you look in a mirror, and you realize, oh, my tie is crooked. And my tie may be crooked, because I did not look in a mirror, obviously. But you know, you look in a mirror, you're like, oh, my tie is crooked, or I've got something in my teeth. The point of looking in a mirror is that you see what's wrong, and then you fix it, that's the whole point. There's no point of looking in a mirror and saying, my tie is crooked, and then be like, just on my way. Oh, I got something in my teeth, whatever. If that's the case, then why even look in the mirror? The purpose of looking in a mirror is to see, to identify what is wrong, and then to fix it. And James tells us that that is the same thing we are to do when we read the Bible. When we study the Bible, when we hear Bible preaching, you come to church and you hear the man of God take the word of God, it's the mirror of God's word, and he holds it up and he says, do you see what's wrong? Fix it. Fix it. He says, when you are a hearer of the word, but not a doer, it's like looking in a mirror and doing nothing. Now, if you're like me, you know, I look in the mirror in the morning and I see all the problems, but I think to myself, there's nothing I can do about it now. I've lived a rough life or something. I mean, I can fix it, but it's going to require a treadmill and maybe surgery. I'm not sure. But the point is this, that the word of God is to be applied. Look at verse 25, but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed. You want to know why we don't apply it? Because it's work, same reason we don't study it. Being a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work. And here's the point that I want to make. None of this helps you. This whole King James conference, praise God for it, beautiful conference, they've done a wonderful job, amazing preaching, praise the Lord for it. But all these things, knowing it, learning it, understanding it, inspiration, preservation, illumination, interpretation, translation, knowing that you hold in your hand the inerrant and preserved, inspired word of God. None of it means nothing if you don't do what it says. If you don't apply it. Here's how Jesus said it, you don't have to turn there. In fact, you go to 2 Peter chapter one, if you would, 2 Peter chapter one. Jesus said this at the end of the amazing Sermon on the Mount, he said, Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, I will liken him, excuse me, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And in verse 26, he said this, and everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. Jesus said, when you hear the sayings of mine and you do them, you're like a wise man. And when you hear these sayings of mine and doeth them not, you're a foolish man. You say why? Because it is foolish to come to a church like this and hear preaching from the word of God and walk out and say, not for me. It's foolishness. It's as foolish as looking in a mirror, identifying the problems and not addressing it. You know, there's a theme throughout the Bible that we are to do, to do. You see it all throughout the Bible. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do, according to all that is written therein. We are to apply the Bible. We are to do the Bible. We are to do what the Bible tells us to do. And here's all I'm telling you. If you've came to a conference like this, you've driven from a long ways. You flow, you've flown here. You got a hotel, you stayed, you fellowship, you learned all these things. And then you do not apply it. You've wasted your time. It's foolishness. We ought to apply the Bible, go to Second Peter, chapter one, this last verse, we'll look at what we've done, Second Peter one. Again, this morning, I'm serving you your broccoli, your asparagus, your celery. These are the things that you need to understand about the Bible, theology of the Bible, inspiration, God spoke his word, God spoke his word through men, holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, then it was written down. Preservation, it is God's job to preserve his word. He preserved his word. Supernaturally, he has done it. He's used sinful men to preserve it. And therefore, we need not worry about the originals. Illumination, I'm saying people cannot understand the Bible without the Holy Spirit of God. The Bible itself is a spiritual book and we need the Holy Spirit to understand it. Our spirit needs to be quickened and you're wasting your time to try to teach the Bible. This is why we don't invite unsaved people to church. Sometimes unsaved people come and that's okay. We'll try to get them saved after the service. But our whole thing, agenda is not just trying to get as many unsaved people here. You say why? Because they're not going to understand the Bible. Illumination, interpretation, what does it say? What does it mean? Translation. God gave his Bible in different languages and it can and it should be translated into every language. And then application. None of it means anything if you don't do it, if you don't apply it, if you don't live it, if I don't live it. Second Peter chapter one, verse 19. I began this sermon with what I told you was probably my favorite verse regarding the word of God. I will end the sermon with what might be my second favorite verse regarding the word of God. Second Peter one nineteen. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. You know, the Bible is a reliable book. Now, I like this verse, but I'm not necessarily because of that. Usually when we come to this verse, that's what we highlight, that phrase, a more sure word of prophecy. And let me just say this. It is a more sure word of prophecy because of inspiration, because of preservation. You do not have to worry about it. It is a reliable book. You can use it. Look, you can use it. You can read it. You can apply it. You can use it for your marriage. You can you can use it to rear your children. You understand that? You can trust the Bible. It's a more sure word of prophecy. But it does you nothing if you do not apply it. Look, look at the verse. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. The Bible is a reliable book wherein this is my favorite part. Ye do well to take heed. Application. It's not just a reliable book, it's an applicable book. Because it is a more sure word of prophecy, you do well to take heed. Because it is a more sure word of prophecy, you do well to listen, to read, to study, to hear it, to apply it, to live it. It's a reliable book. It's an applicable book. And let me just say this, it is a supernatural book. Look at our verse again, Second Peter 119. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed? Notice this. As unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts. The day star is a reference to the sun. The star we see during the day. And it is pictured, the sun pictures, the day star pictures, the morning star pictures throughout the Bible, the S-U-N sun pictures, the S-O-N sun, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I love that this verse says that we have a more sure word of prophecy. Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed? And here's what the Bible says. When you realize that it is inspired and therefore it is profitable and when you begin to take heed and to apply it, something will happen. In your heart, because it's a supernatural book. And that day star will arise in your heart. Years ago, Brother Stuckey, when he worked, I mean, he still works for us, but before he was an evangelist in the Philippines, he preached a sermon one time at our church and he made the statement. I thought it was an interesting thing. It's a simple statement, but it's sometimes, you know, people say things and it kind of just hits you in a certain way. And he said this. There are two types of Christian in this world, those who read the Bible and those who don't. And I would submit to you that there are two types of Christians in this world, those who read and do the Bible and those who don't. And sometimes it's hard to pin it down. Sometimes it's hard to say, well, here's the difference and there's the difference. And it's not about how short your haircut is or how long your skirt is. But sometimes you just see this joy in people. I've seen it in some of you. This is just this joy, this this this thing like it's inside of them, this spiritual, like they just love God. It's almost like the day star has risen in their hearts. They just have this closeness to God. This walk with God, this genuine, authentic walk with God. How do you get there? Well, we have a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto you do well to take heed. As unto a light that shineth in a dark place. For some of you, your spiritual life is a dark place. And the word of God can be that light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts, because the truth is this, that our whole purpose as Christians is to be conformed unto the image of his son. How do we do that? Do the word of God. It's inspired, it's preserved. It's applicable. So let's do it. It's fire heads and I want to pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you and we thank you for the word of God. We thank you for this church. I do love Pastor Thompson, this Sherry. The Sure Foundation Baptist Church family. They hold a dear place in my heart. Well, I pray that the sermon would be a help to us. I know that it's not the normal type of sermon you would preach at a conference. It's very doctrinally driven. But I do believe we need to understand these things. And I pray that you'd help us to understand that we have a reliable book, we have an applicable book, and it is a supernatural book. Help us to love it, read it, study it, memorize it, preach it, teach it to others, and apply it to our lives. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.