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

Alright, we're there in Acts 17, and look at verse number 10. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who come in thither, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those of Thessalonica. So let's stop there a moment. We're talking about the Jews here. The Jews in Berea were more noble than those in Thessalonica. The word noble talks about having high standards, high moral standards. You know, if you said, you know, we're fighting a noble cause, you know, you're basically saying we're fighting a good cause, you know, this is something worth fighting for. And so the Jews here in Thessalonica, you know, they were a little bit, what's the word I'm looking for, they had a little, just a little bit higher quality than those in Thessalonica. In what sense? What made them noble? It says in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. For many of them believed also of honorable women, which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. The title for the sermon this afternoon is Search the Scriptures. Search the scriptures. It says in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily. You know, we're commanded to search the scriptures. I mean, I'm glad you're in the house of God. I'm glad you're listening to preaching and you're getting to know God's word better. But you know, you're commanded, you're instructed to take it upon yourself to search the scriptures. And I think you guys know, as I've been preaching, I've been your pastor, you guys probably know my pet peeves, like the things that frustrate me, the things that I maybe preach mostly about that I get more passionate about. And you guys know just how important it is for me to know that what I'm hearing, what I'm learning is true, all right? Again, I have the expectation when I come behind this pulpit, my goal is to preach that which is true. And I'll look at my notes and review them and test them and look at other passages and see if I'm right or wrong and I go to God in prayer and ask God, can you show me if I've got something in my notes, in my sermon that is not quite right, can you reveal that to me before I preach it to your people? But not only that, not only do I have this standard of truth when I preach God's word, but I also have that standard when I talk to other people. When other people give me information, they tell me about things that they've heard, they've listened, videos that they've watched, you know, they've gone into the internet and they've watched this or that and they want to communicate that. You know, what I want to receive, I want that to be true. You know, I take the default position to, my desire is to believe what you're saying to me to be true. One thing that frustrates me is when I've heard something to be false or someone, especially a Christian, a Christian brother has communicated something to me that is false, that they've assumed to be true, but they've not done the diligent research, they've not had critical thinking, they've not reviewed what they've passed on, and they say, well, look about this information, look at this video, and then I look into the video and it's not true. You know, it did not say, you know, and I've given you some examples, let me give you just a quick other example. And again, look, I'm not mad, I don't get angry with Christians that pass on false information to me. You know, I'm not that kind of way, I don't think, oh, what an idiot, you know. I just think, you know, we can do better. You know, if we're God's people, we're seeking truth, we can do better, we can be a little bit more critical with our thinking. And you know, I was forwarded a video of what was communicated on this video as, I think it was like the United Nations or NATO, I think it was NATO, and they had these crazy women doing these crazy dances, which meant nothing, just this crazy awkward dancing, and it's like this is what's taking place in NATO, right, and this was something that was like, this just happened apparently, okay. And then, you know, I didn't think much of it, I just thought, yeah, that's crazy, you know, that this is taking place in NATO, but then it just, as the days went by, I just thought, you know what, I kind of want to look into this. Why are they doing this dance? What does it mean? You know, why is this taking place in NATO? And then I tried to look into it, and I found that this dance, this scenario, wasn't some recent thing, this went back some four or five years ago, and the video was from a university. It was like some university was doing some performing arts, and they had these crazy dances, whatever it was, it had nothing to do with NATO, it had nothing to do with something that just took place, but what was communicated by that message was, look at our crazy world leaders. Now, of course, we have crazy world leaders, but I want to hear the truth. Like is that true, is that saying, no, it wasn't true, okay, it's false information, but someone saw it online and thought, well, I forward this to Pastor Kevin or other Christians, and this is a, I don't like this, okay. Especially as Christian people, you know, we should be more noble. We should have higher standards. We should be able to test the things that we're looking at, all right. And I, you know, I want a church where you, after I preach, I want a church that you go back to God's word yourself and find out if this is true. I never want you to get to the point where you just believe every word that I say. Now, I put my best effort forward to preach what is true, but I know I'm a human being, I know I'm going to make mistakes, and the worst thing is, let's say I do say something wrong, I do make a mistake, and then you believe that mistake, and then you live your life by that mistake, then I'm just like, no, I don't want that to happen. You need to be, you need to develop a filter in your life where if I say something wrong, you should be diligent enough to go into the scriptures yourself and find out whether that's true or false, okay. We have to take responsibilities for what we believe to be true. And so we have a few, you know, this passage that we just read, you know, we learned some important things here. Let's have a look at it again, in verse number 11, these were more noble than those in Thessaloniki, in that, look, now here's the thing, all right, if you want to be noble, in that, they received the word with all readiness of mind. Now, when you come to church, you ought to have the same attitude. You ought to be coming to receive God's word with readiness in mind. You need to be ready, right, if you want to take something out of church, you need to get yourself ready and say, you know what, I'm ready to hear what God's word has to say. Now, I said I can make mistakes, but I hope almost five years as your pastor, I've proven that I'm sound in doctrine, that I'm not just going to start preaching some outward crazy heresies. You know, and like, you know, I'm not saying to, you know, I don't want you to just believe every word because pastor said it, but at the same time, I don't want you to come to church and go, you know, every time you come to church, you're just like, not sure if what you're going to hear is true, because that is also going to prevent you from receiving God's word, right? You should know by now that I'm a legitimate pastor, legitimate preacher, I'm preaching the truth, you should be comfortable enough to say, hey, you know what, Pastor Kevin's going to do the best he can to teach us the truth of God's word, when you come to church ready to receive the word, all right? But once you have received that, okay, I've learned that, I see what Pastor Kevin is teaching, what's the next step? Just believe it, therefore, what Pastor Kevin said, I believe it immediately. No, the next step is, and search the scriptures daily. Now, usually our preaching has a lot of scriptures. So many times we're actually doing that at the same time. As I'm preaching or as someone else is preaching, we're turning to many passages, we can prove from the scriptures whether those things are so. But even then, you're not necessarily going to have enough time, you should use the days that you have ahead of yourself to go back to God's word and confirm what I said to be true, all right? If there's something that I said that challenges you, something that is new that you've not thought about, you should also take diligent research in your own time to see, does this line up with God's word? I appreciate between services that I had, I was praying for Ecclesiastes. I appreciate Brother Jason, Brother Matthew coming up to me and going, you know that verse in Ecclesiastes about the thorns? This is what I believe it's referring to, I appreciate that. That tells me, there are certain people going to God's word and trying to see, is that what it's saying? What am I getting out of the God's scriptures? Is this correct or is this not? That's good, that's healthy, that's awesome. I can learn from others as you can learn from me. You know, we ought to be, iron that sharpener for iron. And I want you to be critical thinkers. I want you to learn doctrine, because you've studied the scriptures. You're not just listening to a preacher, whether it's this pastor or another pastor online, that you're doing due diligence in your own efforts to go and see if God's word truly says that, which is what I've heard. And once you've done, once you've searched the scriptures daily, whether those things are so, look at verse number 12, therefore many of them believed. So when should you believe a teaching? When should you believe a doctrine? When you heard the preacher say it? No, after you've searched the scriptures. After you've done your own diligent research and study into God's word. The preacher said this, all right, I've learned something. Does God's word line up with that? Yes, it does. Now I can believe this truth. This is no different to what you listen to online or whatever videos you watch. Don't be just a listener, oh wow, forward it to Pastor Kevin or forward it to Brother so-and-so. You need a filter. You may not necessarily be able to search the scriptures, but you can find out if you just put the effort in and find out is this video correct? Is what's being communicated correct? No, this wasn't in NATO. No, this is not a dance that's taking place there. I just went back and had a look four years ago. It's got nothing to do. This is rubbish. And now you know the source where you got this information from is rubbish. You know this person does not care for the truth, but I want Christians to be people that care about the truth. You know, shouldn't we care? You know, and here's the thing. Again, when you listen to God's preaching behind the pool, but we have an advantage, the source of information is definitely 100% true. Now this man is weak. This man can make mistakes, but at least the source is truth, okay? We know that. But when it comes to other sources online or whatever, how much of that is true? We can't even put a percentage on that, right? And then you're just forwarding that information to others when you yourself have not done diligent research. And again, if this is you, I'm not mad at you. I promise you, I'm not mad at you. I just know it's something we need to improve, something we need to get better at, all right? You know, I'm very thankful for being a pastor because it's taught me to be more of a critical thinker. Like I've learned a lot over the years in church of my pastors and there are things that I've learned from my old churches, my old pastors that I want to get behind the pool and preach. And then when I get ready and I prepare a sermon and look at God's word and go, well, actually that's not quite right. Or actually that's just my pastor's opinion. It's not actually what God says. And then I've got to be, and look, there's nothing wrong with opinions. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with that. But you know, we don't want to, and we're going to look at this later. You know, I don't want to teach the traditions of men as the commandments of God either, okay? And so we need to be careful. We need to be careful. The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5 21, prove all things, hold fast to that which is good. Reverend, prove all things. This is a commandment to God to you. Wherever you get information from, church, school, online, whoever's teaching you something, trying to cause you to believe something. Don't just believe it. Prove it. Is this true? I've got to test it. This is the only way you get better. This is the only way you increase learning, okay? And then you can be an effective teacher is if you take something and test it for yourself. You know, I'll quickly read to you in 1 John 4 verse 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Now look, we know that passage, all right? Try the spirits. Is the preacher being moved and empowered by the Holy Spirit or is he under the influence of another spirit, okay? Preaching heresies. Of course, we understand that in context of church, behind the pulpit, but brethren, you need to apply this in all areas of your life, okay? You say, but this man is an expert in this field. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God. You know, one of the first things that I do if I'm hearing information from some credible source is try to figure out is this person even saved? It's not just if they're teaching the Bible. If they're teaching anything, all right? You know what? If that person is not saved and the likelihood is that they're not saved, then I have to be critical about what they're saying because what they're saying is not of God. It's of their opinion. It's of man. And I don't know whether the information they're passing on is correct. We've got to learn to try to test every spirit. Verse number two says, He by know ye the spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of Antichrist, wherever you have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world, all right? Now, of course, look, I'm not trying to teach about that idea, the concept of people that reject Christ or do not believe that Messiah came into the world, that there are Antichrists, that's the main teaching, but the thought is, the instruction is, that we should be critical, critical thinkers, okay? We need to have a filter in our minds that the information that we receive passes through that filter of critical thinking before we believe it to be true, and certainly before we forward information onto others or teach others. Can you please take your Bibles and turn to First Timothy chapter one. Turn to First Timothy chapter one. First Timothy chapter one. Search the scriptures is the title for the sermon this afternoon. Search the scriptures. First Timothy chapter one verse number three. It says here, this is again, Paul to Timothy, two saved men, two godly men. Paul says to Timothy, as I besought thee to abide still in Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine. And so as a pastor, it's my job to ensure that you are not teaching other doctrines. When preachers get behind this pulpit, look, there are things that people say that I don't necessarily agree with when they preach. That's fine, okay? But if someone's just preaching some false doctrine, that falls on my shoulders. I've got to make sure that does not happen, okay? And the way I make sure that doesn't happen is to try to help you study God's word, know it better so that when you can teach it, you can teach it more correctly, all right? But it continues, verse number four. Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies. We're doing some endless genealogies earlier, brother. Endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying, which is in faith, so do. But verse number four, neither give heed to fables, to make-believe stories. Don't listen to that. Look, it's here in the Bible for a reason. It's because for some reason, we like fables. Like, we kind of step toward the, this is why, you know, movies are popular. This is why fiction books are popular. Look, it's not that these things necessarily are evil and wrong of themselves, some fable, some story. It's that when people start to believe that fable as truth, then we have a problem. That's why you need a filter, okay? You know, you go to the library, they say this is the fiction section, this is the non-fiction section, okay? Fiction is the fables, okay? That's the make-believe, all right? You don't want to take the fictional books and put it into non-fiction, but that's the idea in your heads. You are constantly bombarded with fiction and non-fiction in life, okay? What you want to do is be able to compartmentalize in your mind. That's fictional, that's non-fictional. As soon as you start teaching fictional as non-fictional, Brevin, you've taken in fables and now you're teaching fables. You're forwarding fables. You know, it's things that are not true. We have to be careful, okay? Please be careful. Like, you know, if we're reading the story of, I don't know, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, I don't know, I've never seen it, okay? Anyway, all right? And I start teaching that as doctrine. You say, Pastor Kevin, you're ridiculous. What's wrong with you, okay? But you know what? Internet, forwarding, videos, articles. How many articles am I getting of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? Many, many! I'm not mucking around, I'm being serious, all right? And look, I don't want you to be a parrot. I don't want you to, look, I'm not talking about online so much. You can apply it to that, okay? I guess I'm trying to apply this sermon to church. Don't parrot another pastor. You've received the word with readiness of mind. Okay, next thing. I needed to pass it through my filter. Is what is said true? Let me search God's Word. I've got the Holy Spirit of God. I've got a Bible. I too can look at this and figure out if this is true. You can do it. I want to be a help. I want to be a facilitator. I don't want robots. I don't want parrots. I want to enrich your understanding of God's Word. I want to encourage and motivate you that you understand you have it within your capacity to know God's Word better yourselves, okay? Can you please turn with me to Matthew 18? Turn to Matthew 18, verse number 15. The rest of this sermon is basically just trying to give you some things to think about when you study the scriptures, all right? Matthew 18, verse number 15. This is one of my favorite principles when studying God's Word. It says in Matthew 18, 15. Moreover, if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear, there has gained thy brother. So it's teaching us how to reconcile differences, conflicts that develop in church. Verse number 16 says, but if you will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. Now let me encourage you. Let's take the principle out of this, okay? How do I know if I should believe a certain doctrine? Well, the very first thing that I find to be very helpful in my life is see if the Bible has two or three witnesses confirming that truth. Brethren, once you've got those two or three witnesses, you just hang your hat on that and say it's done, God's Word has said so two times, three times, 10 times. I can be confident in this scripture. I can be confident in this doctrine. Listen, salvation by grace through faith. How many scriptures are there? Over a hundred, okay? More than two or three witnesses, right? You hang your hat on that and say, I'm gonna believe that salvation is by grace through faith without works. Praise God. There are some things that are straightforward and easy. I like that. And you know, usually when I write down my notes and you don't always see all, you know, I don't preach everything that I write, but things that I've written that I'm gonna preach about, I wanna make sure, usually, usually not always, but usually that I can turn to two or three other passages you know, where the Bible is consistent with what I'm saying, okay? I mean, that's a great beginning. That's a great start. Sorry, where's the passage I wanted to read? Oh yeah. Let me just give you an example of this. Let me give an example of this. If you can turn to Luke chapter one. Turn to Luke chapter one. Now within Christianity, I know this is not really a biblical thing, but within Christianity, I'm sure you've heard of the, you know, there are doctrines that we call foundational doctrines, okay? Or fundamental doctrines. We're an independent fundamental Baptist church. That word fundamental comes from the early 1900s where, you know, there were churches that were becoming liberal. They were not trusting God's word. And some Christians got together and said, no, there are some doctrines that are too fundamental. We can't walk away from these doctrines otherwise we don't have Christianity. And one of those doctrines was the virgin birth. Because when you start to not believe every word of God in the Bible, you know, and you start to not really even trust God's word as the final authority in your life, then you're going to end up with things like, well, what about the virgin birth, the birth of Christ? Because no virgin can give birth, right? I mean, you need a man and a woman in order for a child to be born into the world. So then people that are, you know, well, that's not possible. I don't think it's a virgin birth. And so, you know, within the Christian realm, some people had to get together and say, no, look, this is a fundamental doctrine, okay? Now, I go to turn to Luke chapter one, look at verse number 31. Luke chapter one, verse number 31. Actually, before we read that, you know, if I were to ask you, how can you prove the virgin birth in God's word? Why do you believe that to be true? I think the passage that most of us will turn to would be Isaiah 7-14, which says, therefore, the Lord himself shall give a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel. I think most of us will think of that passage if we wanted to prove the virgin birth of Christ. All right, you got a verse there in Isaiah, but look at Luke chapter one, verse 31. Luke chapter one, verse number 31. It says, and behold, thou shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest, and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Look at verse number 34. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? So what's Mary saying? That she's a virgin. What am I saying? We've got Isaiah. We have Luke confirming that Mary was a virgin when she brought forth Jesus Christ. We have two witnesses right there. I can show you other witnesses, but I just want to show you the principle, all right? So you know what you say? Hey, we locked that in. We believe it, all right? We're not trying to explain one cryptic verse there. These are clear verses. We believe it. We've got two or three witnesses. In fact, this is a fundamental doctrine. It might not sound that way, but it truly is. The virgin birth. So the reason why it's a fundamental doctrine is because Jesus did not have an earthly father. Jesus' father was the heavenly father, okay? You know, this starts to affect other issues. You know, another fundamental doctrine of the faith is that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man. But if Jesus Christ was born of an earthly mother and earthly father, he would simply be 100% man, not 100% God. You can see how it starts to affect other doctrines, okay? Another fundamental doctrine of the faith is the Trinity. Well, if Jesus Christ is 100% God, does that mean he's the father? Does that mean he's the Holy Spirit? Now, when you read the Bible, there's clear distinctions between the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. Therefore, we believe in the Trinity, one God in three persons. You know, these fundamental doctrines, when you start to play around with them and not believe them, you know, you start to move away from Christianity completely, okay? But I just wanted to show you the example there. Why do we believe in the virgin birth? Well, we've got two or three witnesses stating that truth. All right? Now, turn with me to another passage. Please go with me to Matthew chapter two. Turn to Matthew chapter two. And look, what I'm teaching here is just what I do. I hope it helps you. It's what I do to confirm things to be true or what I do to check before I preach on certain things from God's word, all right? Now, let's say in Matthew chapter two verse number one, let's say, and I know this is not the only way we can prove this, as an example, let's say we only had one verse about a certain issue. Should we believe that one verse? If God's word is true and that one verse is black and white, believe it, okay? You don't necessarily need the two or three witnesses, all right? Let me give you the example. Matthew chapter two verse number one. Let's pretend this is the only verse that we have here about this topic. Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the King, let's stop there. Let's say this is the only verse we had that says that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem. Now, of course, there are other passages I can prove that from, but let's say that's the only verse that we have. You know what would be silly? Saying, well, I know the Bible says that, but I haven't got the two or three witnesses. Therefore, I don't know. I don't know, Pastor Kevin. Now, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, yeah, but it's just one verse. Where's the two or three witnesses? Well, the next thing I'm trying to say is, if you have a clear black and white statement, even if it's the only one, okay, even a non-believer would read that, okay, and conclude that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, okay? We're not talking about deep doctrines of the Bible here. We're talking just basic English grammar. You know, you read that, say, well, obviously Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, even though let's pretend it was the only verse that we had. Hey, you hang your hat on that clear black and white verse. You say, this is true. God's word is true, all right? So, you know, don't take the view that, well, it's only mentioned once, therefore I can't really believe it because I haven't got the two or three witnesses. If that one time mention is clear as day, that no matter, even the unsaved person would read that and understand what it's saying, then you hang your hat on that and go, well, that must be true, okay? So, but you know, generally speaking, when it comes to the deeper doctrines, you want to have the two or three witnesses, okay? To confirm what is true. All right, can you please turn to March of the Seven. Turn to March of the Seven. Let's talk about this one. And this is something that, well, let's read it. March of the Seven verse number one. It says, then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say with unwashed hands, they found fault. Now brethren, we've had, you know, some morning tea here earlier, right? Now if my kids went and played in the mud and they had dirty hands and then they went and grabbed some fruit, okay, and there was mud all over the, you know, the fruit and whatever else, you'd be like, come on guys. I mean, can't you at least wash your hands? And you'd be like, I don't even want to touch that because I don't know where the hands were, all right? I mean, look, it's a legitimate concern is what I'm trying to say. You know, obviously I would rather have my hands washed than unwashed when I go and eat, all right? I think we'd all understand carnally where the Pharisees are coming from here, okay? They found faults. Hey, Jesus, your disciples, you're not washing your hands before you eat, you know? Let's keep going there, verse number three. For the Pharisees and all the Jews except they, sorry, for the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands off to eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. Again, is this tradition wrong, sinful, ungodly? No, it's just the tradition, all right? It's just the tradition. Okay, let's keep going there. Verse number four. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not, and many other things there be, which they have received to hold as the washing of cups and pots, braised vessels and of tables. Is there anything wrong with washing your cups and plates? We do this every time we have dinner, lunch, you know, either we wash it in the sink or in the dishwasher, right? We have that tradition in our house as well, all right? You know, I don't want dirty pots in the pantry or whatever, you know, in the cupboards. That has to be washed first, okay? I'm trying to say to you, this is not bad tradition. This is actually good, all right? Let's keep going there. Verse number five. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, why walk not by disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashing hands? Verse number six. He answered and said unto them, well have Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, this people honor me with their lips, but the heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain they do worship me. Look at this, teaching for doctrines, the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Isn't that interesting? Christ rebukes them. For having this tradition. But is the tradition in of itself wrong? No, it's actually good. It's common sense. Of course you want to wash before you eat of something, okay? But the problem with the tradition is they taught this as a commandment of God. In fact, they would rather teach their own opinions, their own traditions, instead of teaching that which comes from God. And you go, these scribes and Pharisees, if only they could get themselves into a good IFB church. And yet I've been in IFB churches and I've heard plenty of traditions of men taught as the commandments of God. Plenty. Many. Now look, are those traditions wrong in of themselves? No. But when you look down at someone because they don't wash their hands and go, it's not godly. That's not right. Listen, this is another thing that I teach a lot. We're all different. We do things different ways. Sin is a transgression of the law. Sin is not what you're not comfortable with or what you prefer not. Sin is not based on your preferences. Now look, sometimes I will teach my preferences and I say, look, this is God's commandments. This is how. These are ways. These are examples that we can keep that. But the problem with the Pharisees, they put away the commandments of God and started to teach a tradition that preferences their opinions as god commandments. And this is where you start developing cults where people do things exactly the same. There are so many ways of doing things. All right. You know, if your men, if your mother-in-law comes to your house and tells your wife how to fold the clothes, how to wash the dishes, how to do the laundry, you say, mom, leave us alone. There are many ways of doing things. We don't have to do it by your tradition. Oh, but the pastor said to do it like this. Is that God's word though? I'm glad if the pastor wants to do it that way. That's his family. That's what he thinks is best. But that may not be best for our family. And look, I actually mean what I'm saying here. Because one of the scariest things in churches like ours are people that try to be the same parrots, you know, not understand that they're unique, they're created differently, different personalities, different way of doing things. When you start down this path and you expect people to be like you, or I've got to tell other people to do it my way, what you're doing, you're just putting people into a prison. There's just this one way. This is how to be godly. This is the way to do things in the IFB world. No, there are many ways. There are many ways. Okay, that family does it that way. You may say that's not the best way, but that might be the best way for them. It may not be the best way for you. And that's fine. Yes, it would be better for Jesus and his disciples to wash their hands. But it's not a sin to eat food without washing hands. Don't start teaching that as doctrine of God. All right, and look, I can go back and I can think of so many preaching, so much sermons, where a family may do things differently to the pastor, and then some other church member goes, hey, you're not doing it right. That's wrong. Pastor said, no, let's do what the Bible says. Okay, let's do what God says. It's not a sin. Oh, that's not biblical. You know, is it biblical to do this? You know, people ask me, is it biblical? So many things are not biblical. But just because it's not biblical, doesn't mean it's sinful. You know what? It's not biblical to drive a car. I've never read in the Bible where God's commanded us to drive the car. Did you drive a car today? I think most of you guys, probably everyone did. Oh, you're all sinners then. It's not biblical, but it's not sinful. Okay. If you start creating rules, and hey, that's what the Amish are like, aren't they? They're like against all technology, because it's not biblical. They're against electricity, or not everyone, but you know what I'm talking about, the Amish in America, right? They're against the cars, they just go on the horseback, you know, what do you call them? Little buggies, little horseback buggies, because it's not biblical to drive a car. It's not biblical to have electricity, but it's not sinful, you see. The reason they're so backward, and awkward, and strange, okay, is because they've removed teaching the commandments of God, and they're teaching the traditions of men, and they've made that the commandments of God. That's why they're so weird. Okay, you start creating cults. I don't want the IFB world, new IFB, old IFB, regardless. I don't want it to be a cult, where you start just doing what man says. No, you listen to what God says. And there's many ways to do what God says, many ways, you know, God's given us freedom, liberty. Past teachers had to raise our kids. No, husbands and wives, you put your heads together. You've got God's word, you've got God's Holy Spirit. Okay, just do what God says. But how many smacks? I don't know, I'll do five. You do two, it doesn't matter. Just do what God says. God says, take out that rod of correction. Just make sure you take out the rod of correction. Whether it's five, whether it's three, don't worry about it. Just do what is right. What's gonna work for your family. Search the scriptures. Don't be a searcher of man. I like this man, I like this pastor, I like this preacher, I like his family. I'm gonna then tailor my life around them. Did you listen to pastor's wife's blog? Because she teaches you how to make lasagna properly. Let's go make lasagna her way. Crazy, that's crazy. That kind of life is honestly a life of restrictions. You're not going to enjoy your life. God gives us so many ways of doing things. I'm not against pastor's wife's blog. And if you need some direction, some guidance in that area, praise God. But you probably know how to make a better lasagna. Your way. The way your family likes to eat it. Okay, with the extra beef instead of all that pasta. I don't know. There are many ways of doing things. Don't take the traditions of men and make them commandments of God. Can you please turn with me to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse number 6. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse number 6. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse number 6. Now we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh this orderly and not after the tradition which he received of us. Do you see how tradition is not wrong in of itself. Tradition has the right place. You know, we are traditional in our church. We have tradition. We start with a song. We have an opening prayer. We have another song. We have another song. Then we have the Bible reading. Then we have the preaching. And then we have another song. That's just basically how we do things. Okay. And I'm willing to just be open with you and say that is our tradition. Okay. But look, am I getting behind the pulpit and saying that's how every church ought to function. You know, that's how God requires every church to do things. I've been making the traditions of men into the commandments of God. But again, is there anything wrong with traditions? No. Is there anything wrong with washing your hands and saying this is something good to do? No. Is it good to have order and do things a certain way because it's the way we're used to. It's the way we're comfortable with doing things. It's fine to have certain traditions. Okay. But just make sure it does not override God's commandments or be taught like God's commandments. Okay. And I guess I'm teaching this because, again, I don't know. Sometimes I feel like the things that I talk about maybe don't even apply to you. You don't see it. But I guess one of the advantages of being a pastor, I communicate a lot. A lot of emails, a lot of phone calls, a lot of text messaging. And I see these kinds of things and, you know, oh, but pastor so-and-so doesn't do it that way. Is it in the Bible though? If he wants to do it that way, great. But I don't want to do it that way. Is that okay? Right? We're not here teaching the traditions of men. Right? And the way I do something doesn't have to be the way this other pastor does it. You know? There are many ways of doing things. Just do it right. Just don't sin. Sin is the transgression of the law. Sin is not your different opinion. Okay? All right. Can you please turn with me to Hebrew chapter four? Hebrew chapter four. Now that I'm preaching this, I realize, man, each of my points can be done on sermon. All right. Get ready for another hour-long sermon. I'll do my best. I'll do my best. All right. Hebrew chapter four, please. Verse 11. Now, we're teaching how to search the scriptures. Okay? Again, the traditional things. It's fine. Just don't make it about God. Don't make it saying that God said to do it this way. All right. But Hebrew chapter four, verse 11. Let us labor therefore. So we spoke about this passage on Wednesday, brother. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest. Lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. All right. This sounds like, yeah, you have to work to enter into that rest. You've got to work to be saved. So how do you address this passage? And look, you know, before I keep going, you know, if you have biblical questions, I actually enjoy the questions. I appreciate the questions. Okay. But here's what I want you to do. When you get a question, I want you to take your time and effort to figure it out for yourself. In fact, remember how I told you last time with diligence and when I was preaching on and take initiative and diligence, I said, Hey, you know what? If someone has a problem, try to figure out the solution. Then come with me with a problem and the solution. Same thing. If you have a Bible question, like let's say you read the Bible. I don't understand that. Let's go ask pastor. Wrong attitude. Wrong attitude. I don't know this passage. Let me ask God. God, help me understand this passage. Maybe not today. Maybe not this week. Maybe there's not this month, but at some point, Lord, help me to find out the answer to this question because I don't really understand it. That's much better. And then, Hey, you might have a view. You might have an answer. Then it's better to come to pass at that point. Hey, pass on strung this verse. But this is what I think it's saying. What do you think? That's a much better attitude. Okay. Much better because you're actually trying to search the scriptures yourself. Okay. You're going to God yourself. You're not thinking, you know, you're not just thinking that a man is the one that I got to go to, to find the answer to the question. And look, this passage, it does sound like you have to work, do the works to be saved. But again, the first, you know, the first thing I want to teach you in this, when you do find a verse that is difficult to understand, stay within the context. 99% of your answers are in the context. Okay. And if you just backtrack a little bit, let's go to verse number nine. Hebrews chapter four, verse number nine. The Bible says, there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. So we know to make the same topic here. There is a rest for the people of God. Verse number 10. For he that is entered into his rest. Okay. Let's talk about the one that enters into the rest. He have also ceased from his own works as God did from his. So in order to enter into the rest, we have to cease from the works. Not thinking that salvation is by working. All right. We know that it is rest in Christ. And so you merely know, if entering rest is ceasing from works, then when you get to verse number 11, keep it within context. You know, when it says, let us labor therefore, this is not saying, hey, then work your way to rest. Cause in other passages before that said, you got to cease from your works. All right. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest. And then what's the answer? Well, again, it can't be works because the verse is leading up to what it says. You got to cease from works. Okay. Like God rested from his works. All right. Same idea. But the idea of labor is not work. It's not the same definition of work, but labor is the effort that you put in. Okay. You might have a work. You might have a job to do, but your labor could be different. You might labor harder than someone else. You know, you put more effort into it than someone else. And so when it says, let us labor therefore to enter in that rest, you know, some people have to labor more than others to enter into that rest. Let me give you an example. I grew up in a Christian home at four years old. My mom gave me the gospel childlike faith. I believe in Jesus and I got saved. I did not have the labor at all. I grew up in a Christian home. I had childlike faith. Very, very easy for me. Others. Many of you went to churches or had unbelieving family. Okay. Believing false doctrines, caught up in false religion, not knowing how to be saved. Some of you had to search. Say, God, I don't know. How do I go to heaven? God, give me the answer. You know, when you go to soul winning, some people labor. The effort is to realize that what they believe this whole time is not going to get them saved. They've got to put that effort in to say, you know what? I need to now trust this truth that has been presented to me. It's not easy for everybody. It's very hard for someone that said they're born Catholic and they're going to die Catholic. It's hard for them to reject Catholicism. They've got to put the effort in and labor, say, you know what? I want to enter into that rest. But then once you find the rest, it's without works. What I'm trying to show you is the context already tells us that this cannot be work your way to salvation. But just some people have to labor more than others to figure out what the truth is to be able to enter into that rest. Let me show you another passage. John chapter five. Please turn to John chapter five, verse number 28. John chapter five, verse number 28. John chapter five, verse number 28. Someone asked me this question once. It says in John chapter five, verse number 28, Marvel not at this, these are the words of Christ, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth. Oh, that sounds like a resurrection, right? Look at this, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. So this sounds like you've got to do good, like good works to be saved, to have that resurrection of life. Sounds like, I guess it sounds like that if that's all you're reading. But again, the majority of the answers are within your context of what is being read there. So all we need to do is backtrack to verse number 24. What good thing does someone have to do to be saved? Well, John chapter five, verse number 24 says about Jesus Christ. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. So what is the good thing that we have to do to have everlasting life? To have a resurrection of life? What do we have to do? We have to believe, all right? We have to trust. The Father sent the Son for us. It's our faith that is the good thing to do. You see, it's not teaching do good works to have the resurrection of life. The good thing to do is to believe on Christ, to believe on the Father who sent the Son. So again, just the context, right? You just go back a little bit, but I want you to be the one that does that, right? When you get stuck on something, the pastor told us, just read it again. Maybe the answer's there. The vast majority of time, the answer will be there. Now, it's not always found in the same chapter. Please turn with me to Romans 11. Turn with me to Romans 11. If you can't find it within the same chapter, you know, you're scratching your head. I still can't figure this out. Well, you got the rest of the book. You can go to the other chapters in that same book, all right? So Romans 11, 26, I better speed up. Romans 11, 26, and you guys know that many churches teach this incorrectly. Romans 11, 26, it says, and so all Israel shall be saved. But there it is, as it is written, they shall come out of Zion, the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. And so all Israel shall be saved. And you have preachers behind the pulpit saying, see, every Israelite, every Jew, will get saved in the end times. But it says all Israel. I've asked, what do you mean by all Israel? Well, it says all Israel. Okay, but is that true? I mean, does every Israel just get saved? What if they don't believe in Jesus? Like, what? Isn't that the condition of salvation, to trust Christ? Like, what if in the end times, a Jewish person takes the mark of the beast? Can they be saved? Are they all Israel? And you guys know, the answer to that is not found in this chapter, many of you know, at least. So you go back a few chapters, you know, you don't just get to Romans 11, you had to start with Romans one, and two, then three, then four, all right? Then nine, so go to Romans nine, Romans nine, verse six, Romans nine, verse six, which reads, not as though the word of God have taken none effect, look at this, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. You see, just because you're an Israelite, that does not make you part of all Israel. Just because you're physically a Jew, does not make you someone who is saved, that will get just saved automatically in the end times. Verse number seven, neither because they are the seed of Abraham, but they are all children, so are they all children? Sorry, let me read that again. Neither because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children? Just because you're fathers of Abraham, doesn't mean you're really a child of God, or a child of Abraham. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called, that is, they which are the children of the flesh, look, the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. Just because you're part of the fleshly line of Abraham, does not make you a child of God, okay? And then as you keep reading through the chapter, go to verse number 31, Romans chapter nine, verse number 31, but Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, have not obtained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore, because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. That stumbling stone, of course, is Jesus. As it is written, behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. So what do we learn there? All Israel is everyone that has believed on the rock, Jesus Christ. If you've believed on Christ, you are part of all Israel, therefore all Israel shall be saved, of course. But again, you've got to go back, okay? It's not in the chapter, but you just go back a couple of chapters. You didn't just start Romans 11, you had to read chapter by chapter to get to Romans 11. All right? So if you can't find the answer within the chapter, look for the answer within the book. You say, but now I can't find the answer within the book. Please turn with me to 1 John chapter five. 1 John chapter five. The next step, brethren, you can't find the answer within the book. And again, I'm just teaching you how I do things. The tradition of Pastor Kevin, okay? If you don't do it this way, it's not a sin, but I'm trying to help you to search the scriptures, doing things a good way. All right? If you can't find it within the book, figure out who the author is. Who did God use to pen these words? And then look at that author's other writings. You're there in 1 John chapter five, so who wrote the book of 1 John? John. All right? I'm going to read to you from Revelation. Who wrote Revelation? John. Okay. I'll quickly read to you from Revelation 3-5. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. Verse number 12. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. Verse number 21. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne. So the question is, well, who overcomes? Do we have to like work really hard to like be this sinless, perfect, righteous person? And if I just overcome and I do the best I can, and I just were able to overcome this world, then maybe I'm that person. That's going to be in the white raiment. I'm going to be all this kind of, again, people start teaching works, salvation based on this. What's the answer? Well, you go back to 1 John chapter five, verse five, and you guys know this. Who is he that overcometh the world? Who is the overcomer? Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God. You're the overcomer. If you believed on Jesus, you are the overcomer. So when you read the passages in Revelation chapter three about him that overcometh, you know that's me already, not because of my works, but because I put my faith and trust on Jesus. All right, so look for the context in the chapter. You can't find the chapter. Look in the other chapters in the same book. You can't find it in the book. Find other books by the same author. And they usually are speaking on the same things. Okay, I'm not saying you can't look at other authors. Okay, but I'm just saying, start that way. Start that way. It's gonna really help you in your Bible study. You say, well, I can't find it in the same author. What's the next step? Look for the answer within parallel teachings. There are many teachings in the Bible that are repeated, different authors, different ways of putting things. Please turn with me to Matthew chapter seven. Turn with me to Matthew chapter seven. Matthew chapter seven. Parallel teachings. Now, while you're turning to Matthew chapter seven, I'm going to read to you from Luke 13 23. So obviously, Luke wrote the book of Luke. Matthew wrote the book of Matthew. Amen. Different authors, but many times, especially in the gospels, there are parallel teachings. Okay, well, in Luke 13 23, it says, then said one unto him, that's unto Jesus, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, strive to strive. That's like labor. Strive, put the effort in. Strive to enter in at the straight gates. That's straight S-T-R-A-I-T, meaning narrow. Okay, salvation is very narrow. It's one man Jesus. Okay, but strive. You've got to put the effort in. Oh man, you've got to work to get saved. Is that what it's teaching? Strive to enter in at the straight gates. For many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and shall not be able. So what does this mean? You've got to strive. You've got to work really hard to get saved because it's such a narrow way. And I've just got to make sure I reach a certain level of righteousness to be able to get into that narrow gate. Is that what it's teaching? Well, you know what? I can see how Luke 13, 23 can be a little bit challenging. I can see that. I mean, I feel like it's self-explanatory, but I can understand that someone might read that and be like, I'm not sure. No, it wasn't meant to strive. You know what? I'll just give you the answer. It's no different to what we read in Hebrews, to labor into that rest. Some people have to put the effort in. Okay, some people have to. Not that your righteousness saves you, but you've got to put the effort in to find the straight gate, to find the narrow gate, okay? And so you've got the parallel teaching in Matthew chapter seven. Turn to Matthew chapter seven, verse number 13. Matthew chapter seven, verse number 13. Jesus Christ says, enter ye at the straight gate. For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at. So there are many on this broad way. Many on their way to destruction. There are many people on the way to hell because of false religion, because of false gospels, because they trust in their works to be saved. There are many going that way. Jesus Christ says in verse number 14, because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware, and look at verse number 15, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Christ continues about the false prophets. I won't go into all that now, okay? But obviously the false prophet is leading people into the path of the broad way, of the wide gate, the way of destruction. So if most people are going the broad way, and salvation is by this very narrow way, this very narrow gate, which is just Jesus Christ, faith on him alone, then what do you have to do if you're on the path of destruction? You're on this broad path. You know what you have to do? You have to go, you know what? I'm going the wrong way. Man, I need to get out. Man, I need to find this narrow way. I need to find this straight gate. This path's leading me to hell, and you got a man, Lord, you're gonna start praying, you know, like the Roman centurion that started to pray God, you know, trying to have the fear of God, and seeking to know him, and then God touches the heart of Peter, and sends him to preach the gospel to that man. People have to put the effort in. I need to figure out, hey, which church is gonna teach me the truth? You know, there are testimonies in your life where you've gone from church to church to church to church, and you know, you're trying to find the truth, but they're teaching you false things, false things, false things. I've got to find the church that's teaching me the truth. I've got to find a preacher that's preaching me the truth, that's showing me the straight gate. Remember, for some people, you've got to labor. You've got to put that effort in. You've got to strive, knowing full well that the way I'm going is wrong. But then, you find the right preacher, or someone comes and locks your door with the right gospel, okay? And then you go, oh man, there's the narrow way. There's the straight gate. You know, I've put all this effort in. I sought it. I found it. Yes, praise God. And then you know what? It's just rest. I just have to walk through the gate. Jesus Christ is the door. Just as easy as it is to walk through the door. That's how I get saved. Jesus Christ is that door. Open door. Thank you, Jesus. Yes, I receive you as my savior. Yes, I trust you. Death, burial, and resurrection. Thank you. You walk through. Easy. It's resting on the other side. So, I'm just trying to show you different ways that at least I study and search the scriptures, okay? And I hope this is helpful for you. You know, if you find a passage and you're kind of stuck, you know, I don't recommend just looking everywhere. Don't start everywhere. Chapter, stay there. Usually, you'll find the answer. If not, look at the other chapters, especially the chapters that led up to that part that you're struggling with. You can't find it there. Look at the other books that the author has written. It's probably there. And if you can't find it there, look for the parallel passages that are other passages. You know, we're to compare spiritual with spiritual scripture with scripture. This is good practice. But make sure you start here. And brethren, even then, if you just cannot find the answer then, then start looking at the rest of the Bible, okay? And then if you still can't find the answer, give me a call. Send me the text message. Ask me a question at church, okay? But at least, you know, you've put the effort in to do the due diligence, to search the scriptures. I want you to be capable of doing this. And you are capable of doing this. You are capable. Look, do you think it's more fun to come to ask the pastor and get the answer? Or is it more fun for you to search it yourself and for God to lead you? I'm telling you, once you find the answer yourself, you're rejoicing. Oh man, I was blind, but God made me see now. I get it, wow. And you've probably discovered a truth that maybe nobody else in church has realized. And then you can share it with your brethren. Say, hey, brethren, look what I found in the scriptures. Did you know this? Hey, that's a lot more joyful, right? A lot more exciting. You know, God's word is living. It's quick. It's powerful. You know, and God wants you to labor and get the answers and rely upon him and be a critical thinker and not just be the follower of a man. I want you to do this in your life. You know, I want New Life Baptist Church church members to be like the most knowledgeable Christians in the Bible, at least in Australia. You know, I want us to be people that are noble, more noble than those of Thessaloniki, that we would go and search and that we would have a ready mind to hear what God's word is being said and then applying it, learn it for ourselves, and then believe in that to be true. All right, let's end in a word of prayer.