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today as he preaches your word in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen we're in Acts chapter 8 this morning look down at your Bibles at verse number 29 and the Bible reads here in verse 29 then the Spirit said unto Philip go near and join thyself to this chariot and Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet of Zias and said understandest thou without readest and he said how can I except some man should guide me and he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him and what I want to preach on this morning is a subject of reasons people don't understand the Bible reasons people don't understand the Bible now when it comes to knowing the Word of God and understanding the Bible this is actually very essential to us as Christians right I mean the Bible tells us that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God so if we as Christians are going to prosper we're going to grow if we're going to you know grow in our in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ then we need to know what the Bible says we need to understand the Word of God we need to be able to decipher at the parables to decipher the stories to understand the theme of the Word of God and the Bible tells us that the Word of God is filled with exceeding great and precious precious promises and it says that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature so literally if we're gonna be like Christ if we're gonna be Christian if we're gonna be disciples of the Lord then we need to know what the Bible actually says about it in other words this is our template this is our mirror and the Bible tells us that you know by these you may be partakers of the divine nature it tells us that it's filled with exceeding great and precious promises that it has everything that pertains to life and godliness so if we want to know what kind of decisions to make in life what type of Christians we need to be how to be successful how to prosper anything that pertains to life and godliness we need to know what the Bible says okay these aren't things that we can just come up with on our own you know use our own wisdom and our own own understanding and say well I think that I should do it like this or I think that you know Christians should behave this way well you know it doesn't really matter what you think it really will matters what God's Word says okay the Bible says trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths now that's humbling for a lot of people because we're used to kind of just you know making our own decisions and and you know using our own wisdom whereas the Bible tells us that we need to depend on the wisdom of God okay that the wisdom of this world is foolishness foolishness with God that we shouldn't depend on the knowledge of the wisdom of this world we need to make sure we lean on God's Word so the title of the sermon is reasons people don't understand the Bible so if you don't understand the Word of God if you read it and you're like I don't know what this means I can't understand it it's just kind of like you know hieroglyphics to me it's all Greek to me I don't understand it well I'm gonna give you some reasons as to why that could potentially be because if you're a Christian you should be able to understand the Bible okay if you're a Christian if you're if you know you're a Bible believing Christian you you have the right Word of God you should be able to open it and understand it now let me make this disclaimer is that you know when you first get saved or you're if you're a brand new Christian you're not gonna understand everything right off the bat a lot of how people have this misconception that as soon as you become a Christian you're just gonna understand every jot and tittle every detail and piece of information that's given in the Word of God that's not true and the reason why is because of the fact that the Word of God is so exhaustive the Word of God is so detailed it's so deep has so many layers of information it's it's a spiritual book it requires a lifetime to learn the Word of God you understand and so but that's not to say you're not gonna learn something you will learn something if you're a Christian and if you're not then I'm gonna give you the reasons as to why the Bible tells us in Psalm 119 you can stay there in Acts chapter 8 Psalm 119 99 says I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation so he's saying the reason I understand the Word of God it's not because of some devotional book it's not because of some commentary it's not because of some biblical encyclopedia it's not because of XY and Z it's because the testimonies of the Lord referring to God's Word are my meditations so what it's telling us is that the greatest source to understand the Word of God is the Bible itself the greatest source the greatest tool that you can use to understand the Bible is the Bible itself the Bible says all scriptures given by inspiration of God and it's profitable for doctrine for proof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect thoroughly furnished into all good works so what the Bible is insinuating there is that all we need is the Bible to understand the Bible okay I remember years ago I had a friend and we're talking about doctrine and and you know we're just kind of discussing doctrine and this is what he said to me if all you use is the Bible to understand the Bible then you don't know the Bible and I was like come again what was that he says if all you do is use the Bible to understand the Bible you don't really know the Bible I'm like how is that even possible and he said well because you got to use extra biblical revelations you have to use you know encyclopedias you have to use Bible dictionaries and you know Charles Spurgeon you know books and devotionals and all these things to understand the Word of God well I'm sorry but I don't see Charles Spurgeon in the Bible that tells me that you know I have to read Charles Spurgeon devotion in order to understand the Word of God what do I see I see that God says have you not read and it's always referring to the Bible okay so you're in X chapter 8 so what's reason number one as to why people don't understand the Bible and by the way I'm sure there's people here I'm one of them okay where you come across a passage you're like I don't know what this means you know and that's not to say that you know there's an issue there there's a problem that goes back to my first initial introductory point that sometimes we don't understand certain things of the Bible because they're very deep okay and it requires you being a Christian for a long period of time reading the Word of God over and over again in order for the Holy Spirit to help you to connect the dots of doctrine and to understand the deep truths of the Bible but first and foremost why do people not understand the Word of God well number one is because of this because they're just not saved one of the main reasons why people or Christians in or should we say mainstream Christians don't understand the Bible is simply this they're not saved you said what they say the Christians though well let me just let you in on a little secret if someone says they're a Christian that doesn't necessarily mean that they're saved they can identify as a Christian they can go to a Christian church you know they can say they believe in Jesus and believe in God but that doesn't necessarily mean that they're saved okay what does it mean to be saved to be saved means that you believed on Jesus Christ exclusively for salvation okay I mean the Bible tells us believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved that it thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised them from the dead thou shalt be saved the Bible says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life over and over again the Bible emphasizes that a way a person gets saved is by believing on Jesus Christ plus nothing minus nothing and so if someone doesn't believe that or if someone adds to salvation they add repenting of your sins they add well you have to be baptized they add all these extra things to salvation according to the Bible they can't be saved they're not saved and the Bible tells us for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not of works that any man should boast Romans 11 6 says and if by grace then it is no more of works otherwise grace is no more grace so people could actually make the gift of God null and void by adding works to the gift the gift of God which is by grace understand if they say well it's by faith alone I believe that it's by Jesus it's by believing in Jesus but I just believe you have to turn from all your sins you have to stop drinking alcohol then you can't be saved because nowhere in the Bible does it say do you have to stop drinking alcohol in order to be saved well aren't you are you saying that drinking alcohol is not a sin no obviously it's a sin the Bible tells us it's a sin but the Bible what the Bible doesn't say is that you have to stop doing that in order to be saved you understand well you know I don't believe that someone's out there and they believe in Jesus but they're committing fornication or they're just you know living a worldly life I don't believe that person's safe well according to the Bible they still can be saved because salvation is not based upon the deeds that you do it's based upon the deeds he's already done amen you know it's based upon what Jesus Christ and the work he's already accomplished and so we take his righteousness upon us for salvation God doesn't look at your righteousness to be saved your righteousness and my righteousness are as filthy rags in the eyes of God they're worthless they're meaningless to God you know for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God our righteousness our justice cannot save us because we've already sinned the Bible tells us whosoever keepeth the whole law yet offended one point he's guilty of all so even if you try to live a clean life from here on out well God doesn't look at that and say well be up up before this though you know before this you know you're committing all kinds of sins it's not like he looks at it and says well you know you could you clean up your life now and now you're good to go no it's it's like he doesn't ignore that what you've done in the past if you've already committed sins of the past they carry over to the future if you're not saved okay for the wages of sin is death and so one of the reasons why people can't understand the Bible is simply because they're not saved and let me give you an example of that acts 8 29 says then the Spirit said unto Philip go near join thyself unto this chariot and Philip ran thither to him and heard him read the prophet of zaias and said understand this without read it so what do we see here we see that this Ethiopian eunuch who comes from a foreign nation came to Jerusalem to worship and to hear about the God of the Bible the true God right and apparently they're handing out Bible parchments you know because he has a copy of the scriptures with him so they're they're handing out these gospel tracts they're probably preaching the Word of God but maybe no one ever got to this person individually so he leaves and he's reading out of the book of Isaiah as the Bible puts it his eyes in the New Testament but here's the problem he's reading and he doesn't understand what he's reading and Philip the evangelist comes to him and says do you understand what you're reading and he says in verse 31 and he said how can I accept some man should guide me and he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him the place of the scripture which he read was this he was led as a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb done before the shear so he opened not his mouth and in his humiliation his judgment was taken away and who shall declare his generation for his life is taken from the earth and the eunuch answered Philip and said I pray thee of whom speak is the Prophet this of himself or of some other man so even though he has a copy of God's Word okay in his hand he's reading it it's the truth he can't understand it why can't he understand it because he's not saved okay now go to first Corinthians if you would first Corinthians chapter number two first Corinthians chapter number two so point number one reasons why people don't understand the Bible's because they're just not safe to begin with okay and this isn't a slam on anybody who claims to be a Christian and they don't understand the Bible because they're not saved this is actually a call for you to get saved okay because what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul what shall it profit you to call yourself a Christian to go to a church but in reality you don't even know if you're saved you don't know if you'd die today that you'd go to heaven you know what there's plenty of Christians out there so-called right who literally live in doubt their entire lives doubt of what doubt if they're saved they're just like I don't know am I saved I think I'm saved maybe I'm not saved I don't know well I'm just I just need to keep living a good life I need to keep making sure that I go to church I need to keep making sure that I do X Y & Z and they constantly you know battle this doubt whereas the Bible tells us that ye may know that you have eternal life you know God wants us to be certain of the fact that we're saved that we know we're saved that we're going to heaven when we die know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has saved us and you can know that today so if you're someone who's just like yeah actually I don't know I'll just be honest with you I don't know but can anyone know you know because that's a common thing that people say does anybody really only God really knows you know they'll say stuff like that well wrong because the entire Bible is constantly emphasizing God telling man that ye may know constantly telling man how to be saved clear-cut very distinctively how to have eternal life had to obtain eternal life okay you're in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 I'm gonna read to you from John 16 verse 13 it says how be it when he the spirit of truth has come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come so the Bible actually says that the person who teaches you the Word of God is actually the Holy Spirit himself okay but here's the thing if you're not saved you don't have the Holy Spirit because according to the Bible in order to have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost you have to be saved the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 1 and whom he also trusted after that you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and whom also after they believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchase possession so the Bible says that as soon as you get saved God seals you spiritually with his Holy Spirit and he stays there until the day of redemption now we don't do this anymore because we're living in 2021 I don't know some of you still might do it but you know you guys ever heard of like mailing letters you guys know what that is yeah you guys ever heard of an envelope they're like I know of an email you know I know of a text message well back in the day back in my day people used to do something called they would write a letter does it even even write anymore does anybody even write anymore I was discussing this with brother Ulysses Moses yeah you would huh yeah I was discussing this with Ulysses and we're talking about how like our penmanship has just gotten so bad because we hardly ever write and I was telling them that my family in Guatemala they had this the most beautiful penmanship you can give them a just a piece of paper with no lines you know cuz you know what I'm talking about like the lines just a blank sheet of paper and they can literally write you a paragraph just justify just perfect in cursive does anybody even know how to write cursive anymore okay yeah we'll see we're gonna have a cursive writing contest here but I remember my uncle he just had this beautiful penmanship and it was just like perfectly justified it was just wonderful you know but now like no one does that anymore so back in the day people used to write on a sheet of paper if they wanted to communicate with someone and then they would fold that little piece of paper they put it in what's called an envelope okay you guys are getting a history lesson here okay they put it in an envelope they would lick the envelope believe it or not to seal it and they walk over to this blue thing on the street called a mailbox they put it in there okay and then it would reach its destination and then it would be open for the recipient of that letter okay I know that's that's very profound but it's it might still happen today you know but that's a great example of what it's like to be saved because of the fact that when we get saved we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise and that is not open until it reaches this final destination and the final destination for a safe person is heaven okay and so the Bible tells us that we're sealed with the Holy Spirit so that's proof from God's Word that you can never lose your salvation that once you're saved you're always saved because the Holy Spirit can't go to hell and if you're within the Holy Spirit and he's sealed there unto the day of redemption that means you can't go to hell either but even aside from that one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is that he teaches you the Word of God okay now this is not some charismatic teaching you the Word of God what I mean is just not like you know you just become possessed and you're like I understand the Bible or you know you sleep with the Bible on your face and it just by osmosis you just understand God's Word okay when the Bible tells us the Holy Spirit teaches us the Word of God it means that as we read it he reveals or basically makes connections to biblical truths he brings the truth into remembrance you understand that's how we're ministered the Word of God by the Holy Spirit that's why it's important that when you read the Bible you know you as best as you can you kind of silence your surroundings you have an environment an ambience that that's conducive to reading because you want to be able to catch everything that God is trying to teach you you understand and so we see there that you're sealed with the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit teaches you the Word of God he gives it to you in increments that you can handle he teaches you the Word of God look at 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12 if you would 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 12 it says now we have received not the spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God so who's the one who reveals the things of God to us the Holy Spirit in order for us to know the things that are freely given to us we need the Holy Spirit verse 13 which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth but which the Holy Ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things with spiritual now what does that mean when he says that the Holy Spirit compares spiritual things with spiritual it's referring to the fact that the way he teaches us the Word of God is by comparing Acts chapter 8 to 1st Corinthians chapter 2 because the whole Bible spiritual so the way we learn concepts doctrines in the Bible is by comparing one portion of scripture with another because the entire Bible backs itself up you understand the entire Bible is themed God teaches the same thing throughout the Word of God he doesn't veer off and teach some strange doctrine you know that's isolated from everything else everything that's in the Bible that he wants you to know he'll give you a repetitious teaching of it in order to embed it and ingrain it in your spiritual walk understand and so that's why he says he compares spiritual things with spiritual not spiritual things with a devotional book well let's see what so-and-so says about this in this you know encyclopedia or something no let's you have the greatest commentary in the world right here anytime someone asked me so what commentaries do you use how many commentaries you I tell my use 66 commentaries because the Bible 66 books and this is the best commentary the best commentary is by the person who wrote the Bible the author he says verse 14 look what it says here verse 14 but the natural man now what does it mean to be natural okay well think about this you think of the word supernatural supernatural is that which is divine that which is spiritual when you get saved you become a supernatural person your body doesn't become supernatural but your your spirit does become supernatural because now you have the inward man dwelling within you have the Holy Ghost dwelling within and so a person who is absent of that divine nature is a person who is natural in other words the the another word that the Bible would use is carnal okay in other words they're not saved so what happens to the natural man when they try to receive the things of the Spirit of God verse 14 but the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can you know them because they are spiritually discerned so the Bible says that the unsaved person won't receive the Word of God why because to him it's stupid I mean if you ever try to talk Bible with like an atheist there's not much you're not gonna get through to that person because he thinks the Bible is stupid foolish means stupid now you shouldn't be offended at that you shouldn't be like I can't believe he thinks you know that's what they the fool has said in his heart there is no God and it's the fool who claims that the Word of God is stupid okay and so you know don't feel discouraged when you know the atheist you know down the block or the atheist you meet online things that the Bible is stupid it just confirms what the Word of God says because to the natural man they can't receive the things of the Spirit of God they're foolishness unto him and they are spiritually discerned by and it says there neither can he know them so he can't know the content of the Bible the spiritual content of the Bible because it requires the Holy Spirit to teach it unto them which is something that they're absent of you understand now let me make something very clear I'm not saying that unsafe people can't understand the basics of the Bible obviously an unsafe person can look and quote basically scripture if they wanted to they can memorize the scriptures they can they can quote it they can tell you the books of the Bible they can tell you major characters in the Bible they can tell you the stories of the Bible okay they can tell you the moral of the story of some of the stories that are found in the Word of God yeah they can do that but that's as far as they're gonna get they're not gonna be able to dive into the deep things of God and in fact look look a couple of verses earlier in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 it says here in verse number 9 but as it is written I have not seen nor ear heard neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for them that love him but God has revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit search at all things yea look what it says the deep things of God so the only person who's able to go down deep into the Bible is the spirit itself that's why when you try to share spirit deep spiritual truths with unsafe people it just goes over their head you're just like that sounds stupid oh this is what your sky daddy said is that what it says you know they'll sell all this manner of evil and wickedness against the Bible because they're speaking ignorantly and they're unsaved they're unregenerated people okay he goes on to say in verse 15 but he that is spiritual judges all things well that's contrary to what we hear today hey you're not supposed to judge well according to the Bible if you're not judging you're not spiritual and the Bible says in verse 15 he that is spiritual judges all things yet he himself is judged of no man so I think I'd rather go with God's Word what he says when he tells me hey if you're spiritual judge all things why because we're not basing it off of what our spirit is saying we're basing off of the Holy Spirit so we judge things based upon what God says is true what God says is right what God says is holy righteous and just we prove all things hold fast out which is good you understand and so reason number one why people have a hard time understanding the Bible is because they're going to a church where maybe the gospel is not being preached they're being deceived into thinking that they're saved but they're not really saved so they're just constantly reading and they just live in this continuous perpetual doubt as to why like am I saved I don't know what's going on I think I understand the Bible I don't understand the Word of God I mean God forbid that person should read the book of Revelation I mean they're safe people who have a hard time understanding the book of Revelation imagine if you're not saved it's just like a horror movie the book is like man there's dragons and like there's locusts that are attacking men for five months like what is this I don't understand what's going on here is this is this gonna happen now you know there's just fearful because they don't understand God's work because they're not safe so point number one reasons why people don't understand the Bible they're just not safe and if that's you get safe today hey it's a free gift from God you can receive today plus nothing minus something you don't have to become a member of a church you don't have to stop sinning because you can't Bible says there's not a just man upon earth that do with good and sin if not you don't have to be baptized although the Bible commands us to be baptized after salvation you have to be baptized to be saved you don't have to try to keep God's commandments to be saved why because the Bible tells us therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in this site so what do I have to do place your faith in Christ plus nothing minus nothing believe on Jesus and that's it okay second reason why people don't understand the Bible go to Matthew chapter 22 if you would Matthew chapter 22 so let's say this person that we're using is using as an example you know they're not safe but now they get safe now they believed on Jesus Christ they believe in the right gospel they know what the Bible's they know what the Bible says about salvation they had that security they know they're going to heaven when they die but they still don't understand the Bible why is that well number number two is because they just don't read the Bible I know that seems very very elementary but that is true one of the reasons people don't understand God's Word is because they just don't read it like I read it I carry it to church you know I have it on my coffee table I believe this is the Word of God folks it requires for you to actually open it set your eyes upon the words and read it like a typewriter you have to actually read the Bible now in 2021 this is going to become a much more difficult thing you know why because people don't read people don't like to read books they don't they don't even like to read sentences anymore they rather just chop up the sentences in words that don't really exist and just kind of skim over what you're trying to say they rather just use a voice message instead right they don't like reading you know we live in a day and age where people despise to read the only thing they were willing to read is a caption on an Instagram post or Facebook and even then if it's too long it's just like forget this I mean how many ever seen a Facebook post this like five paragraphs long you know and it you hit that little tab and it drops I've had this multiple times on YouTube or someone will ask something and I'll drop the tab and I'm like forget it I'm not gonna read that that's too much it's called a comment section comment is like two or three sentences okay you know so I'm guilty of that but the reality is is the vast majority people don't like to read but here's the thing folks if you're a Christian you don't have that luxury because the Bible tells us that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceed out of the mouth of God so if order in order for us to live spiritually to succeed that would mean that we have to actually read the Bible this is the instrument this is the avenue by which we are to live spiritually which is God's Word now there's nothing wrong with listening to God's Word but the reality is this God places a heavier emphasis on actually opening up the book and reading it okay you're in Matthew I'm gonna read to you from job 23 verse 12 says neither have I gone back from the commandments of his lips I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary foods one of the most common rebukes that Jesus gave to the Pharisees was always in the form of a question and this is the question you always tell them have you not read over and over again these Pharisees who were religious leaders these are the guys who were expounding the Word of God they were the religious leaders of that day they didn't know the Bible the equivalent would go would be like going to like a seminary or Bible College and talking to Bible College teachers and they don't know the Word of God you would expect someone like that to know the Bible right you would expect to go to some church out there that's running 10,000 50,000 or I don't even know if that exists but like 10,000 15,000 and go to the pastor and expect for him to know God's Word but I guarantee you there's many pastors out there that just don't know the basics of the Bible you know why because they don't read the Bible okay have you not read look at Matthew 23 and verse or Matthew 22 excuse me in verse 23 the Bible reads the same day came to him the Sadducees which say that there is no resurrection and asked him saying master Moses said if a man died having no children his brother shall marry his wife and raise up seed unto his brother there were with a seven brethren and the first when he had married a wife deceased and having no issue left his wife unto his brother likewise the second also in the third unto the seventh and last of all the woman died also therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven for they all had her so they're asking this question that's really honestly a stupid question this is something that you would actually expect from someone who's not religious someone who doesn't claim to know the Word of God but this is a Sadducee this is a religious leader this is someone who is esteemed by the general public of that day as being a person of biblical knowledge and they're asking this question about the resurrection problem number one they don't believe in the resurrection so if they don't believe in the resurrection for sure they're not reading the Bible because one of the major themes of God's Word is the resurrection he says a verse 29 Jesus answered and said unto him send them to them ye do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God he's like before I even explain this to you let me just say this you don't know anything you just don't know the Bible you obviously don't know the power of God and what does it say nor the power of God well because the resurrection is the power of God you know Paul said that I may know him in the power of his resurrection understand and so the resurrection is God's way of explaining or showing forth his power this is why someone who's been dead for 2,000 years you know who's been in the grave he will resurrect in the last day that's a powerful God's resurrection is is that no matter how long someone's been dead God can you know reunite all the molecules and all the bones and all the sinews and completely transform that individual and make that body a living body once again that's called power and so he says ye do err not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God you don't even know about the resurrection you deny God's power is what he's saying but folks if these Sadducees were simply to open up the Bible if they're simply to just go to the book of Psalms if they just go to the book of Job if they go simply to the book of Jonah for crying out loud they would have known of the resurrection but it shows that they don't read the Bible understand so the Bible tells us give attendance to reading to exhortation to doctrine and in our church this is something that we continuously emphasize you know we encourage people to bring their Bibles to church so you can see that what I'm saying is true okay you can test these things you can prove it but also so you can read it and create a culture in your life where reading the Bible is not just the thing that you do in church it's something you do when you go home as well you know you should have a time throughout the week every day where you're opening up the Word of God and you're spending time reading it now look folks when you read the Bible there's gonna be things you don't understand don't get stuck on that one thing how many remember taking an SAT exam okay they would often say if you don't know the question just skip it right and just keep moving on well that's kind of what you're supposed to do when you read God's Word if you don't read the Bible is just like I don't understand this I'm just gonna meditate on this one verse for like five weeks until I get it no why don't you just keep reading because the way you understand that verse is often really comes to you the understanding of that verse comes to you possibly in the next chapter you read the next chapter like oh wait that answered my question from this verse right here in the previous chapter so requires for you to read the Bible okay and don't ever become a Christian who's dependent upon yours truly to understand the Bible like well I learned the Bible just by just going to church and I'm just gonna hear my pastor and whatever he says says we're not Catholics here folks it's true okay that's what the Catholic Church does they require for you to just trust the priest trust that spiritual follower and he doesn't even know the Word of God so you're not in good company there okay what you need to do is read the Word of God yourself take what I'm saying today go home and see if it's true I'll put you put it to the test say everything that that pastor said I'm gonna write down I'm gonna look it up myself go for it I encourage that go home highlight the verses read it yourself prove all things hold fast that which is good make sure that what I'm saying is true how about that right why because the truth fears no investigation that's why and so it's important for you the reason people don't understand the Bible is because they don't read it and look even as myself for example I've been saved for 15 years I've read the Word of God scores of times the New Testament least scores of times and I've read the Word of God every single day of my life ever since I got saved let me say this if I ever were to for example theoretically miss a week I'd forget a lot of things I mean there's times when I'm you know like studying the book of Revelation and you know I'm like you know I'm gonna break you know cuz I'm I have a podcast and I'm teaching to the book of Revelation on Instagram there's times and I'm like I'm gonna brush up on what I said in the book of Revelation and I'll listen to them like oh man that was pretty good I didn't know that but I did know that at one point just I forgot about it you know and my pastor friends have said the same thing I've taught my pastor friends things that they taught me I'll tell them something that they taught me and they're like wow that's a really good point I'm like I got it from you you taught that and he's like I don't remember that you know why because there's so much information in the Bible so we have to constantly read over and over and over again we need to constantly be reminded of biblical truths over and over again because we can easily forget and this is one of the reasons why people don't understand the Bible go to Matthew chapter 5 if you would Matthew chapter number 5 reason number 3 why people don't understand the Bible reason number 1 they're not saved reason number 2 they're not reading God's Word reason number 3 listen to this they approach the Bible with preconceived ideas this is a major reason why people don't understand the Word of God because they approach the Bible with preconceived ideas some people can't understand God's Word because they have already formed an opinion of the Bible before they read the Bible so they come to God's Word with already some sort of opinion formulated prior to that based upon whatever church they went to based upon whatever they were taught and so when they read something they said well it must not mean that because I was taught something else or I think it really means this they come to the Bible with the preconceived idea so if an opinion has already been formed it's already been embedded in someone's system of beliefs when they read the Bible they're not gonna get they're not gonna understand it it's one of the reasons why people struggle with end times Bible prophecy because they approach it with preconceived ideas and even though you'll have clear scriptures that say that the rapture is after the tribulation I mean it literally says that Jesus comes after the tribulation people with preconceived ideas can read that a thousand times over and they won't believe it because they have this roadblock of a preconceived idea let me give you an example look at Matthew chapter 5 here Matthew chapter 5 of course Jesus is preaching you know what Jesus had to do a lot of the times when he would come and preach to the Israelites he had to remove a lot of preconceived ideas because they were taught by like the Pharisees and the Sadducees and their traditions that people had a certain mindset regarding God's Word and he had to come and basically surgically remove that from them look what the Bible says in verse 43 you have heard that have been said thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate that enemy so what is he saying you're hearing from spiritual leaders to hate your enemy that's probably what they're doing right but I say unto you love your enemies now let me just make something very clear is that loving your enemies is an Old and New Testament thing it's found in both but the Pharisees were coming in telling people to hate their enemies so the people that he's speaking to have this preconceived idea oh we're supposed to hate the goyems anybody who's not a Jew anybody who's not an Israelite anybody who's not in the nation of Israel they are scum we're supposed to hate them they have no part with us wrong that's not what the Old Testament taught you have plenty of scriptures in the Old Testament where the Bible shows that God loves other nations red and yellow black and white they are all precious in his sight he loves the Gentiles for God so loved the world you know when Jesus Christ was crucified in eternity past he wasn't just crucified for the Israelites did you know that and then he's like oh man we're gonna have to change this plan in the New Testament let's let's redirect the crucifixion and the resurrection to the Gentiles as well no he was crucified and resurrected for the whole world for Jew and Gentile you understand but the Pharisees were embedding this preconceived idea that we should hate our enemies and more specifically the enemies are the Samaritans the enemies are anybody who's not a Jew who's not an Israelite that's wrong so he comes and says but I say unto you and that's powerful because Jesus is the Word of God Jesus is God's Word he's like I say unto you though love your enemies bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you now look folks as I mentioned this is actually found in the Old Testament multiple times I mean in the Levitical law it's found that we should love our enemies so and then you have people in the New Testament who read the Old Testament why didn't they understand this because they had a preconceived idea that was embedded into them by these Pharisees and one of the reasons people can't understand God's Word is because they approached the Bible with an idea that was embedded into them prior to them reading the Word of God you understand so you say well what's the answer the answer is this always read the Bible with an open mind always approach Bible preaching always approach reading God's Word with saying whatever it says I'm gonna believe I'm gonna take it at face value unless it states otherwise you know unless it talks about a woman being clothed with the Sun obviously that's not literal you know obviously that's hyperbole understand but if it says it clearly then you just believe it regardless of what your preconceived ideas tell you turn with me if you would to Psalm 119 Psalm 119 Psalm 119 what are some of the reasons why people can't understand the Word of God one they're not saved two they're not reading it three they approach the Bible with preconceived ideas number four this is a big one people don't understand the Bible listen to this because they're using the wrong Bible that's one of the major reasons why people have a hard time understanding God's Word because they're actually using the wrong Bible and let me just say this folks there are wrong Bibles in existence today just because it says it's the Bible just because it has a beautiful cover you know just because the design is beautiful and the pages are wonderful and it says it's God's Word doesn't mean it's God's Word okay now I think all Christians can generally agree that the New World Translation the Bible that's given out by the Jehovah's Witnesses is not a Bible I think we get I think this doesn't matter what denomination you come from you would agree and say that's not God's Word that's like a weird book right I think we would all generally agree that the Book of Mormon is not God's Word when it talks about you can be a god and and your wife can have spiritual babies for all of eternity you can have multiple wives you know just this crazy stuff that the Book of Mormon teaches you know the average person who doesn't even read the Bible very often can even say that's not God's Word you know it's it's associated with cults the Jehovah's Witnesses are cult is a cult the Mormons are cult hey we would say you know the the the more I'm sorry the Muslim Bible the Quran is not God's Word doesn't matter how many millions of Muslims adhere to it we as Christians would say that is not God's Word it's not God's Word doesn't teach anything about what the Bible teaches we reject that as Christians as being the Word of God okay where you really get into the thick of it is when you address Christians just in general and tell them hey the NIV is not the Bible either the ESV is not the Word of God either the NASB and all these modern versions of the Bible that you see at Barnes & Noble or whatever that's not God's Word at that point you start stepping on some toes you know because you know their grandmother gave them an NIV or something and their their pastor handed them an ESV and so sometimes there's sentiment of value you know attached to that look at Psalm 119 verse 130 it says the entrance of thy word giveth light 130 Psalm 119 verse 130 the entrance of thy word giveth light it giveth understanding unto the simple so the Bible describes itself as being a light that it gives understanding unto us once we enter into God's Word you understand go to Matthew chapter 5 if you would Matthew chapter number 5 now here at our church we believe that the King James Bible is the inspired and preserved Word of God for the English-speaking people okay we don't believe it's it's God's Word for you know I mean it's God's Word for anybody if you speak Chinese if you want you know but I'm saying for the English-speaking people it is God's Word because that's who it's written for for English-speaking people okay what does that mean it means it's without error there's no flaws it's infallible it's indestructible you know it's it's inspired and preserved by God now how do we know that how do we know that well first and foremost we know it by faith and everything that the Bible teaches it has to be accepted by faith we don't need to go to some biblical archaeologist you know and and or some biblical encyclopedia from some guy who found proof that the Bible is true no the Bible says that we have to accept it by faith faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God the Bible says he that cometh to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of them to diligently seek him you understand so by faith we have to believe that God's Word is God's Word okay but here's the thing when you read the King James Bible you see there are no errors in it whereas if you were to compare it to the modern versions of the Bible there's tons of errors in those books because it's written by editors it's it's put together by editors who don't believe in the Bible it's written it's put together by editors who are critics of the Word of God who literally will remove entire statements and portions of chapters out of God's Word now folks how can anybody who references the Bible remove anything from God's Word if you believe it's God's Word but let me just say this is that the Hebrew Old Testament we know for sure is preserved by God how do we know that well because look what the Bible says in Matthew 5 18 for verily I say unto you till heaven and earth pass one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled so what is that telling us it's telling us that not one little period not one little tittle not one little punctuation from the law will pass until all is fulfilled that means from the time that the law was written the Old Testament law was written until all is fulfilled it's gonna be preserved from here on out so it doesn't matter if the Old Testament was written like 3,000 years ago portions of the Old Testament without 3,000 years ago God has the power to preserve that word even today in America through the English-speaking language well people if things get lost in translation and people change things yeah I know that's what I'm telling you about the NIV but the reality is this is that God can preserve his word if we believe God is powerful and he's able to preserve the Word of God for us to read to live by then we got to ask ourselves where is that Bible and through much investigation much study you will come to the conclusion that it is the King James Bible okay so the Old Testament is translated 100% of the time from the Hebrew 100% of the time for the Masoretic text 100% of the time there's not one time that it ever deviates from the Old Testament however the modern versions of the Bible do not translate from the Hebrew portions maybe but the vast majority of the new modern versions of the Bible are translated from the Septuagint which is a Greek translation of the Hebrew understand so why would you need to translate retranslate something right why would you need to retranslate the Hebrew if you already have it in Hebrew just translate it into whatever language you need it into now why do they call it the Septuagint because apparently 70 people put this together but the problem is is that the Septuagint has a lot of errors a lot of verses are taken out doesn't really make sense I mean there's some nonsensical things that are that's found in the Septuagint okay the Septuagint is a translation of the Hebrew and by the way the King James New Testament is translated from the Greek New Testament the Texas Receptus okay now people say well yeah but you know how do we know if that's really accurate or not you know what I mean how do we know if you know what they did was a good job well folks I mean there's 50 scholars who put this together these are people who are fluent in Greek these are people who are not only fluent in in all manners of Greek from all different ages these men were scholars they put a lot of work into it but let me just say this is that they were translating from manuscripts right they were used by local churches of that day they didn't find some manuscript in the trash and pull that and say let's use this they use manuscripts of that day Greek manuscripts okay they were put together and in order to translate the Word of God okay and so the Greek New Testament is also preserved go to Matthew 24 if you would Matthew chapter 24 and after you go to Matthew 24 we're gonna go to mark 16 look at Matthew 24 verse 25 says heaven and earth shall pass away verse 25 but my words shall not pass away now let me just say this Jesus's words is the whole Bible right but what he's saying here specifically are the words that he's currently speaking which is found in the New Testament so if if the Bible says that not one jot or one tittle shall be removed shall pass shall no wise pass referring to the Old Testament here received that even that which Jesus has spoken in the New Testament shall not pass either because he says heaven and earth shall pass away which obviously is not going to necessarily happen it's not going to cease to exist but my words shall not pass away he's saying it's gonna be preserved forever okay now go to mark 16 if you would mark chapter 16 mark chapter number 16 now our King James Bible has the Texas Receptus as its underlying Greek text okay for the New Testament okay and obviously you have Beza and Theodore I'm sorry you have Beza and Stephanus who are two men that didn't translate the Word of God they basically compiled all the Greek manuscripts into one to make it a New Testament you understand so the King James translators use the work of Beza and Stephanus in order to create that you understand now a lot of people like James White will say no but you know you have Erasmus I'm sure you've heard that name multiple times you know he made so many mistakes but what he's referring to is Erasmus's first edition what he doesn't tell you is that Erasmus came out with five other editions after that years later so he's basing his mistakes off of his first edition not even telling you that there's five other editions that he came up with afterwards that by the way the King James translators didn't even use they used Beza and they used Stephanus in order to translate the Word of God in the New Testament and Old Testament so what's even the point of using Erasmus as an example when first of all he already came out with five editions afterwards and second of all they didn't use it you know it's a smokescreen to try to throw shade on the King James Bibles what it is look at Mark 16 verse 9 here it says now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene of whom he had cast out seven Devils and she went and told them that that had been with them as they mourned and wept and they when they had heard that he was alive and had been with excuse me and had been seen of her believed not after that he appeared in another form into two of them as they walked and went into the country and they went and told them into the residue neither believed they him afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at me and abraded it abraded them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen and he said unto them going to all the world and preached the gospel to every creature now let me just say this what we just read is pretty important right what is it's the eyewitness of Jesus like if Jesus resurrected but no one saw it we would have a problem right but the reality is a bunch of people saw it isn't that true I mean we just saw here this is a pretty important portion of scripture that tells us that people saw Jesus Christ resurrect and then verse 15 is a very important verse because it says and he said unto them going to all the world and preached the gospel to every creature this is the Commission that Jesus gave after the resurrection this is what we do I mean we base our ministry of soul winning off of verses like this right he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved he to believe it's not shall be damned important verse these signs shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them and they shall lay hands on the sick and shall recover so then after the Lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of God and they went forth and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following amen so what's the point of like reading all that like I believe all that well here's the point we just read verses 9 through 20 right it's a lot of verses oh yeah we've heard verses 9 through 20 it's a good chunk well guess what go read that in the NIV go read that in the ESV in the NIV in the ESV they'll give you a little note that says this shouldn't be here they'll tell you in the footnote verses 9 through 20 should not be here I mean that's a large chunk to say that shouldn't be there why well because two of the main manuscripts don't have them and what they're referring to is Sinaiticus and Vaticanus which are not valid manuscripts at all and they said because they don't have it it should not be there you say well why would they put it then well because it would freak you out if they took it out if you read the NIV and you just stop that verse 8 you be like what's going on here and then you read something that said don't worry about the rest that would be a big problem right now the New World Translation which is written by the Jehovah's Witness they take it out they have no problem with just removing verses 9 through 20 they'll take it out you know what every Jehovah's Witness who uses the New World Translation they love that so the leaders can come to these Jehovah's Witnesses and say we're removing this and they're like amen we're with that but you can't do that to mainstream Christians because it would look very sus so what they do instead is they put a footnote there that tells you oh not found in the originals okay some of the earliest manuscripts do not include earliest manuscripts to Sinaiticus and Vaticanus Vatican yes okay and they'll do it to all modern versions of the Bible you understand so folks how is someone supposed to understand the importance of being an eyewitness of the resurrection if it's not there so you know one of the reasons why people don't understand the Bible is because they read God's they read the Bible that's not really the Word of God claims to be the Word of God and the Bible that they're reading throws doubt on God's Word so they read then they read a footnote and say well I guess that doesn't really supposed to be there I guess 1st John 5 7 is not really supposed to be there so therefore they struggle with this matter of the Trinity why because it says it's not supposed to be there and that's not even including the verses that they do take out because there are verses that do take out their verses that they do pervert this is one of the reasons why people don't understand the Word of God our church will always be King James only okay not because it sounds cool though it does not because you know by the way just King James obviously sounds great the authorized King James Bible sounds great but because it actually is the Word of God okay go to 2nd Peter chapter 3 reasons why people don't understand the Bible they're not saved what's another reason they don't read it okay you know what's what's up what's a major reason why people don't understand the Bible because they're not using the right Bible they're using a wrong Bible so if you are using a wrong Bible you need a King James Version we'll get you one today we have plenty of copies of the King James Bible that we can give to you for free and we don't sell anything at our church everything is free if you want to take a hymn book to learn to him take it you don't have to ask me just take it you know leave the chairs because we need the chairs but you can take the hymns if you want you can take Bibles if you want it's all free because we want the Word of God to be free you understand whereas you know you go to Barnes & Noble you have to pay a crazy amount of money for some NIV Bible because you know the editors need to make some money off of it whereas the King James Bible you know the money doesn't go to a specific person who has copyrighted it or something it's free it's God's Word but another reason is why people don't understand the Bible is because they're a novice okay now what is a novice a novice is a person who is new in the faith who doesn't really understand the Word of God as much look what the Bible says in 2nd Peter 3 16 as also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures into their own destruction so the Bible tells us people who twist the Bible are often people who are unlearned and unstable this is one of the reasons why a brand new Christian cannot be a pastor they're a novice not a novice let's be lifted up with pride he fall into condemnation of the devil okay someone who's a pastor needs to be an elder someone who is spiritually mature who has read the Word of God multiple times they know the Bible etc go with me if you would to Ephesians chapter number 4 Ephesians chapter 4 I'm gonna give you two reasons real quick and then we'll be done another reason why people don't understand the Bible they don't ask God or others to teach them the Bible says open down mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law so it should be that when you sit down to read God's Word you say Lord help me to understand the Bible open my eyes so I can understand what you're saying through your word help me to understand the deep meanings of the Bible but now that you should come to church to be taught the Word of God now we obviously understand that you can learn the Word of God on your own but that isn't at the exclusion of being taught by someone else because the Bible emphasizes that as well that's why the church exists so we can fellowship together and you can listen to the Word of God being preached look at Ephesians 4 verse 11 he says and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the statue of the fullness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craft in this whereby they lie in wait to deceive this is really one of the reasons why we come to church so you can be preached to so you can receive a balanced diet and you can learn God's Word and one of the most satisfactory feelings that you as a Christian will ever get is when you read something in the Bible and then I preach on it you're like I just read that oh I just heard I just read about that this week what you're talking about right now I just I just learned that in my Bible you know what that is that's the Holy Spirit confirming truths in your life helping you to understand God's Word last one is this why don't people understand the Bible because they doubt the Bible it's a pretty crazy stuff in the Bible and once you read the Bible cover to cover there's some pretty crazy stuff in the Bible and if you're gonna understand the Word of God you just got to believe it all say well that's wild but I'm gonna believe it I don't know that's a little exaggeration you better believe it because nothing's impossible with God if God said it if God says that he's gonna burn this entire world we should believe it like everybody is there enough fuel to like light this whole thing up he'll make the fuel if God says that he'll provide for you even in the midst of whatever is going on around us just believe it like yeah but when I when I'm assessed the damage and I do all the accounting I look at my bank account and what I make and everything I have to spend and all these things it just doesn't add up well you better just believe it if the Bible says but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you you better believe it that's right because if you don't believe it then it's not gonna happen you know why because God does not provide for those who doubt nothing wavering the Bible says you know if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God who you know he gives to every man liberally and a braideth not you know the person who doubts the God says in James chapter 1 let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord so he says if you're doubting what I say about providing for you protecting you then don't think I'm gonna give you anything then because I'm not so the best thing to do is just say well I'm just gonna believe everything even before I read it even before I understand it I'm just gonna believe it you know cuz sometimes people will come to you and say so you really believe what God says in his law about X Y and Z you you believe what God's Word said don't be ashamed of it just said yep I believe it oh you're such a bigot and all this stuff well if bigot means I believe the Bible then I guess I'm a bigot because I'm not gonna stop believing the Bible just because you're calling me names or something oh you're just uh you're just a hate preacher this and that well if hate preacher means that I believe the Bible then I embrace it because I rather just believe the Bible than try to appease your opinions of me and try to formulate your opinions about me well I guess you're right maybe I well I don't believe it everything I think it's you know some some of it's just symbolic or something like that and I just believe it all everything all of God's Word no matter how radical it is no matter how offensive it is to this world I believe it I mean no matter if there's 10,000 people who are all saying the same thing against us and God's Word I stand with God's Word doesn't matter how radical it is why because of the fact that it's God's Word God said it that settles it and you know what the person who wants understanding of God's Word needs to not be ashamed of God's Word right the person who wants to understand the Bible you know who God gives understanding to the person who says I love the Bible I love God's Word no matter what people say about me or the Bible I'm always gonna believe the Bible I love the Word of God I have faith in God's Word I know that what he says is true if the whole world turns against us the Bible is still true and that's who he gives understanding to those who actually esteem the Word of God above their necessary foods the Bible says do you have trouble understanding the Bible today it could be because of one of these reasons if it's because you're not saved you can get that settled today but maybe it's just because you're just not using the right Bible that's fine trash it get a new one I literally I'll finish with this story I literally remember when I first got saved my friends they weren't too happy that I got saved because now I was going to church and you know I was a church boy now and all these things and and but you know they try to support me so they bought me a Bible they bought me a new King James Bible I didn't know any better and I went to an independent fundamental Baptist Church like ours okay and I remember my pastor was preaching and I was looking at the button I was just like okay maybe that oh wait it's off again you know like you'd read it just wasn't matching up it was kind of like troubling me like why is like my Bible not saying what his Bible say and I remember after service I was just sitting there in the front row and a guy came up to me and he says how'd you like the service I was like it was great it's just that like my Bible was saying something different than what pastors Bible was saying he's like what kind of Bible do you have I was like a holy Bible you know like holy Bible and he's like he's like no like what version is it I was like oh it's a new King James version he's like man that Bible is trash he's like throw that in the trash I'm gonna get you a new Bible and I you know I could have been like but my friends though my friend Jamie this no you know my attitude was I want God's work I mean folks if my friends handed me a satanic Bible there'd be no sentimental value there I don't care if it's a Book of Mormon and the sentimental value comes because it's God's work and I remember it was like it was like a little booklet it was like a little Bible like this the new King James it was like a little like a little girls Bible and he took you trashed it and he brought me like a really massive King James Bible I was like that's the one you're gonna use from now on and you know what I'm thankful he did that because after that I understood the Bible thereafter what about the these and the dowels and all that's such a lame argument against the King James Bible okay it's not hard to understand anyway and some parts are hard to understand why because the King James Bible is a literary masterpiece that's why unsafe people like to read the King James Bible even though they're not safe because it's so beautiful beautifully written it's such a masterpiece of a book that even unsafe people can't get away from it just love it they're just like wow so well written yeah cuz it's God's Word it's like the greatest author known to mankind and so if you do find yourself struggling to read the Bible it's because it's the Bible it's actually the Word of God don't look for something easier to read look look look for the Bible and look salvation in the Bible easy very easy he put as easy as possible end times Bible prophecy not that easy the depths of the Trinity not that easy but thank God for that because God is not stupid he's not a dumb God his intelligence exceeds beyond any intelligence that man has ever known and so he puts that content into the Bible and it makes us smarter when we read it let's pray father we thank you so much for your word pray God that you'd help us to appreciate the Word of God and thank you so much for thank you for the perfection of the Bible and Lord another thing that I even get to mention is that is the fruit that this Bible has produced it's produced zealous Christians people who love God's Word love souls who win people to Christ who stand for the truth Lord I pray God that if there's anyone here who doesn't understand the Word of God that they may examine their selves as to why and change in that area and if there's someone here who's not saved Lord who still doubts may they get that settled today and Jesus then we pray amen it's on number 145 as our