We're going to continue looking at the Word of God and we are looking at our application to the Word of God and that is that we reject all forms of extra biblical revelation and we're in part two of that. So let's go to the Lord in prayer, shall we? O Lord God, this is your holy word. We are your servants. Give us understanding that we might know your testimonies. You have prayed, O Lord, sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth. Use your holy, eternal, inerrant written word to set us apart this day to your service and to your glory. Show us now great and mighty things which we do not know. The sower sows the word. Let not your word go out and return empty, but accomplish that purpose for which you have drawn us together and for which you are sending it out. Protect us from Satan who will snatch your word. Protect us from a wrong reaction to difficulties and discouragements and persecutions which make our hearts hard and unresponsive to your word. Protect us from the world's cares and the delight of wealth and the passion of other interests which enter in and choke your word. Rather plow up now the hard ground of our hearts, O Lord, Give us good soil that your sown word would send roots downward and bear fruit upwards. Unsheath now the sword of your spirit, O Lord. Cut to the dividing point of bone and marrow, soul and spirit. Judge now the thoughts and intentions of each heart gathered here. Spread your word before our lives as a banquet table, O Lord. Grant grace that we might eat of the rich meat and drink of the sweet milk of the great doctrines of your word. Give us the heart of the prophet who cried to you. Thy words were found and I did eat them. and thy words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. O Lord, we live in a dark and a wicked age. Broad is the way, and many are on it, which leads to destruction. Make your word a lamp to our feet. Make your word a light to our path. Show us that narrow way that you would have us run. And Lord, as we run in the paths of your commandments, enlarge our hearts that in loving you, we might be more obedient to your written word. Drop your word against our lives as a plumb line, O Lord. Grant grace that we might see how we deviate from its high and holy purposes. Make your word to us a mirror, O Lord. Grant grace that we might not be as those who look and go away and forget, but make us active doers, not forgetful listeners of your holy word. O Lord, because of our fealty to you, Because of our undying devotion to your Son, our resurrected Savior, we pledge to you our total submission to your holy, eternal, inerrant written word, and we pledge to you our unquestioning obedience to all of its commands. In the name of our Lord and Resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. Okay. Going to have a good time this morning. Let's look at Simply by Way of Review. These are the big four. What are the definitions of the key words in the passage? Interpretation is always subject to definition. Is this an Old Covenant or a New Covenant passage? Not Old Testament or New Testament, but Old Covenant or New Covenant. Is this historical revelation or doctrinal revelation? Is this hidden, higher, or revealed by Holy Scriptures? Those are the four questions that you always ask yourself when approaching the teaching or the study of a passage in Scripture or a topic. Then we had some applications. The first application was our strongest argument from Scriptures. A New Covenant doctrinal passage whose meaning is subject to the definition of the words in the passage, that you have an example from historical revelation and it is clearly revealed in Holy Scripture. We differentiate between authoritative and direct application and personal or devotional application. We looked at another way of looking at this principle, which is the doctrine, the means of applying this based on historical revelation, and the method of implying this, that would be man's devotional application. Our application number two was subjection. Historical context is subject to the Word of God. Historical context does not judge the Word of God, rather the Word of God judges all history. The church, Christians, Christian organizations, movements, theologians, so-called man of God teaching, all church councils are subject to the Word of God. The church does not judge the Word of God. Rather, they are judged by the Word of God. Culture is subject to the Word of God, both past and present and future culture. Culture does not judge the Word of God, rather the Word of God judges all cultures. Experience is subject to the Word of God. If the Word of God says no and we experience yes, then we reject our experience and hold to the Word of God. If God's word says yes and we experience no, then we reject our experience and hold God's word as true. Our personal experiences do not interpret God's word, but rather God's word interprets and judges our experiences. Prayer is subject to the word of God. We'll go into this in more detail in our next series when we look at prayer. But prayer man has never been able to pray any way, any place, in any manner he wants. God has always given instruction on how we are to pray. Children who've grown up calling adults by their first name, being able to say anything they want, anytime they want, in any way they want, have difficulty with this when they become adults. That's a key point in our child raising. Application number three was we looked at extra biblical revelation we define revelation second Timothy 316 as God breathed or inspired thus it is the word of God it belongs to God not to man and second Peter 120 and 21 men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God we Look last week at direct written revelation. We live in the age of the written revelation of God through the Holy Scriptures. And we look at the timeline of revelation. When I tell people we live in the age of written revelation, they always say, well you're putting God in a box. What about mystical revelation? But I never hear the converse of this in my discussions. What do I mean by that? Well, let's take from the Garden of Eden, that would be Adam, to Mount Sinai, that would be Moses on the Mount where he received the Ten Commandments. This was a period of mystical revelation. Let's get my sausage fingers typing here. This was a period of mystical revelation. There was no written revelation given by God as revealed in Holy Scriptures from Adam to Moses, nor, as presented in Holy Scripture, was there an oral tradition being passed down. Rather, everything we know about Genesis was given to God, given to Moses on Mount Sinai, and the period of wanderings in the desert. Now from Moses to the Isle of Patmos there we have the Apostle John This was a period of mystical and written revelation. Both. A period of mystical and written revelation. Now, from the Isle of Patmos to our death and ascension to Heaven, or to Christ's return, it is a period of written revelation only. Now, when I share this, it's not unusual for me to get pushback on this. People will say to me, oh, you're putting God in a box. I remind them, no, we are not putting God in a box. God is putting us in the book. 1 Corinthians 4.6. commands us not to exceed the written word of God so God puts us in the book also I notice that when I say well we have mystical revelation no written revelation from Adam to Moses but now for and we have mystical and written from Moses to the Apostle John but now from the period of the Apostle John, what we would call the Church Age, to the return of Christ, or our entrance into Heaven, there is only written revelation, no mystical. You never hear people say, John, you're saying there was no written revelation from Adam to Moses? Oh, man, John, how can you say that? You're putting God in a box. Surely there has to be written revelation. Oh, we love the written word of God. There must have been written revelation. You don't have to hear people saying that. They're perfectly happy for it just to be mystical. No written. But when I say from the Apostle John to our death or the return of Christ, there's no mystical revelation. People get all bent out of shape over this. And why is that? Because this period of the Church Age, once and for all, takes all authority of the Word and will of God away from man and places it squarely in the hands of God. And we don't like that. So that we looked at that, the timeline of Revelation. We live in the Church Age, the period of the written Revelation of God. Now, God can't, we begin now, with the fact that God can and does give leadership. God can and does give leadership without it being classified as revelation. We must remember though that this type of leadership is always subject to the written revelation of God through the Holy Scriptures. I'm going to give you some examples of this. It's not exhaustive. One is nature. Romans 1, 18-20, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which is known about God is evident within him. For God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, his divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse. God does reveal himself through his creation. I remember when I was at Moody Graduate School, working on my masters, one of the professors was sharing that Moody has a program to take inner city children out to a camp they run, a Bible camp they run every summer. And these children, once they were away from the concrete and steel and noise of the city and the glare of the lights at night, and were just subject purely to God's creation many of them responded in fear they were overwhelmed by the majesty of God's creation which had been masked by their city life that for me is a wonderful illustration of the power of God's creation I always say science is another wonderful example of the power of God's creation. I always say evolution is always worse as long as you don't think about it. I had a gentleman involved in Bible study who was getting his doctorate in geology. And he always referred to it as the theory of evolution. And he would get a lot of pushback from professors and students saying, you're acting like this is a theory. And he said, that is because it is a theory. It doesn't become a law of science without being subjected to the scientific method. not just because we feel it should. And one of the phrases he would always say is, evolution works well as long as you don't think about the details. Durham did not have available to him the advanced scientific methods we have today. To him, the single cell and the human body were very simple mechanisms which could easily be assembled by chance. We know now that it would be completely and mathematically impossible for any living thing to be created by chance. more or less an atom to be created by chance, or any of the elements to be created by chance. In the simplicity of teaching, when I was in high school, they would say, well, you know, if you put a million monkeys in front of a million typewriters and they just began typing at random. Pretty soon they would type together words and then you could assemble those random words into sentences and paragraphs and eventually you could have all the great pieces of literature. But that's not evolution. The analogy of evolution is that you would put the raw elements of ink, sawdust, metal, all the raw elements that went in to making a typewriter in a tumbler. And then you would begin spinning that tumbler and pretty soon out of it would pop a typewriter and paper, which could be typed on. Because we're starting from scratch with evolution. So if scientists would take a moment and consider the RNA strand, the DNA strand, the complexity of the eyeball, the complexity of a spider eye, the impossibility of bees and other insects flying without muscle structure, they would submit to the God of the universe. So all you have to do is just not think about the details and it works. Another thing we realize when we look at the complexity of nature and God's revelation through it is found in Revelation as it continues from 21 through 23, for even though they knew God, and that is by his creation, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for the image in the form of corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Other religions are not failed attempts to seek God. Other religions are the realization that there is a God and the substitution of a pagan religion to free them from seeking God. I know Joel Osteen has a giant megachurch here in Houston. I've seen the interview with a then radio personality named Larry King, who had a television and radio show where he interviewed so-called great men of our era, and he asked Joel Osteen if It was indeed true that Jesus was the only way to God, that Hindus and Muslims were going to hell. And Joel spoke very freely. He said he had been to India and he had seen how spiritual they were and the miracles that occurred. And no, nobody this spiritual is alienated from God. I've had missionaries who've been involved in spiritist cultures like Native Americans or Muslims or Hindus who become so enamored by their spiritism that they begin trying to find ways of excusing their paganism and making that paganism seeking God which it is not. God the Holy Spirit says other religions are a way to reject the revelation of God through nature. It condemns them. 1 Corinthians 11, 14 and 15. In America, the Evangelical Church has totally given up on masculinity and femininity in terms of appearance. does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonor to him but if a woman has long hair it is her glory for her hair is given to her for a covering. You are not going to hear preached by any church of any size in America that A man's hair length is an indication of gender distinction. Nor will you have that spoken of women. And to tell you the truth, the liberal Protestant women who've infiltrated the Church of Africa are beginning to free our sisters in Africa. from her hair being her glory. And I see more and more so-called women Bible teachers in Africa who shave their head or cut their hair shorter than men's hair. And it's a sin. It's not unusual for me to sit and if I'm speaking in a church in America of any size and I'm attending the service, if I'm not sitting down front, to have somebody sitting in front of me. This happened just recently. It was a couple and they stood up and I thought the man was on the left and the woman was on the right because of their hairstyle. Then they turned around and began discussing with each other. And I found out the person with the pretty boy, the pretty hair down to the shoulders was the man. And the person with the short hair that could be combed was a woman. That's sin. God makes it very clear that even nature itself teaches that man has long hair, it is dishonor. That a woman's long hair is her glory. This is an illustration, we're going to talk about this more as we talk about the Word of God and its application in the family, where you gentlemen will have to take responsibilities in the spiritual guidance of your wife and in the spiritual guidance of your children. Ezra 7, 25 and 26. You, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges that they may judge all the people who are in the province beyond the river, even all those who know the laws of your God, and may teach anyone who is ignorant whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the King, let judgment be executed upon him exactly, whether for death, banishment, confiscation, or imprisonment." Now, notice this phrase, according to the wisdom of God which is in your hand, appoint magistrates. God does sanction us submitting ourselves to the principles of the Word of God and then as to that degree of wisdom which God has placed in our hands which would include the Word of God, make decisions. But our decisions are always subject to the written revelation of God. Our decisions are always subject to the written revelation of God. A good illustration of this is a pastoral search committee. You have a group of men who are trying to determine God's will in the search of a pastor. Well, they are doing it with the wisdom that God has given them, but they also must bracket that wisdom with the written word of God. I know I was involved in a pastoral search committee as a consultant and the men said, well, you know, we want a shepherd like David. That's who we're looking for. And, you know, I just shared with them that, well, you can look for a shepherd like David. I would suggest a shepherd like Moses. David said that if his flock didn't follow him, let God kill them. Where Moses said, the flock is sinning, kill me instead of the flock. But they said, no, David, you know, he had murdered. He had committed adultery. He was a polygamist. I mean, he had really lived in the world and could relate to men of the world. And we want to call a pastor, you know, who's lived in the gritty, grimy aspects of the world and come out on the other side. Have I really exhorted them? No, you're not free to do that. That may sound wise in your mind, but 1st Timothy chapter 3 gives you the qualifications of a pastor and elder as does Titus 1 and 2 and other passages and your wisdom which is in your hand is subject the wisdom which is in your hand is subject to the written revelation of God So no, I would encourage you to seek a pastor who is tempted in all these ways but resisted that temptation. How much better to have that testimony. Testimony of victory over sin is always a better testimony than a testimony of repentance. A pastor being able to say, I was tempted in this area and this is how I resisted, is always a more powerful educational tool than I was tempted in this area and I sinned, so don't do what I did. So his pastoral search committees are subject to the written revelation of Holy Scripture. Nehemiah 7.5 is another example. Then my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles. Well, God does put things into our heart. We can say, God laid this on my heart. But that also is subject to the written revelation of God. We always subject what we claim that God has put into our heart with what God has revealed and commanded us to lay up in our heart. Psalm 119, how can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word. Verse 11, thy word have I laid up in my heart that I might not sin against God. So that's how the written word of God laid up in our heart is key for us to sort out what God may be putting in our heart versus what Satan may be putting into our heart. We have to be very careful about that. Just because it is spiritual doesn't mean it's of God the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4.1 says many spirits are out in the world of which one is God the Holy Spirit. These other spirits are not the equal and opposite of God, but they are nevertheless there. I was speaking at a conference in Kenya and a group of women were there also doing a parallel conference on listening prayer. and host of both of these conferences. I was doing the family discipleship conference and had us all in dinner together. And these women were just talking about listening prayer and how they were exhorting people. They spent a day in prayer. And part of that was an hour whereby people emptied their minds of all thoughts and all distractions and just waited for the Holy Spirit to put something into their heart. And they shared of a young man who had as a result of that decided to change his major and in fact move to a different city and leave his chosen career field and begin doing evangelistic street ministry in that city. And they were all cheering and exhorting him. And I said, you know, I have a real problem with this. First is Joshua 1.8. This book of the law shall not depart out of my mouth, but you shall meditate upon it day and night, that you might be careful to do according to all that is written in it. Then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. The first problem I have is biblical meditation is not emptying our minds. That is Hindu, that is Muslim, that is Eastern meditation. Scriptural meditation is filling our mind with God's word and thinking about God's word and how it applies to our present situation. The second problem I have with this is who is paying for this young man's education? I know he didn't have the money. Some father, some uncle, or some group of family members? Did he ask, did he check in with any of them? Does he have a pastor? Did he ask counsel from his pastor? Does he have a father? Did he ask counsel from his father? Was this decision honoring just to announce to his father that all the money he had invested in his education, he was going to walk away from it? It may or may not be God's will for him to do this. But I have some real problems with you equating him wanting to do something or some spirit speaking to him about doing it in a way which violates the written word of God. And, of course, they were greatly offended that I would say this. But the rule of being offended is, one, if you are in a public public place and having a private conversation, it would be rude of me to interrupt that private conversation and instruct you in a way more perfect. It's none of my business, even if I overhear it. On the other hand, if you're sitting around in a group situation and somebody says something out loud, you get to say something out loud too. Once it's out there, it's out there. And you do not have to sit by and allow unscriptural, even anti-scriptural statements to be made without you providing the scriptural parallel and response. So if you say God put something into your heart, that does not have the same weight as God's Word, God said. The best thing we can say in most situations is I really feel like this is what God wants me to do. But then we get counsel. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. Now, when we say we're going to do this, that means we are going to subject what we view as God's will to God's word. Let me show you what I mean by this. This is typically how it works. Here's a young man and he's going along here and then suddenly he says, wow, God's told me to go in this direction now God's told me to go in this direction now God's told me to go in this direction but his understanding of the leadership of God is always in the past So he's equating everything which he decided to do anyways, and then he's just tagging God, tagging God on that. That's not what that verse says. That says we trust in the Lord with all our heart. That means we trust God's word. And when God intervenes, when God clearly intervenes that we know it was the intervention of God not simply ourselves. Simply because you want to do something you don't get to say that it's God's will. God's will sometimes may involve personal peace and affluence But, according to the Word of God, more often than not, it will involve deprivation and turmoil. God will use cataclysmic experiences. Luke 15, 16-18. and he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating see here we have the prodigal son and no one was giving anything to him but when he came to his senses he said and his conclusion was I will get up and go to my father and say to him I have sinned against heaven and in your sight And God can use cataclysmic experiences to get our attention, but these are not revelatory experiences. Many times they are very difficult. Let's contrast two passages. Let's look at Hebrews 12, 10 and 11. Hebrews 12, verse 10 and 11. Here we find out, for they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good so that we may share in his holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful but sorrowful, yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. All difficulties are not temptations. They can be the discipline of God protecting us. The discipline of God is grace. We want God to intervene and discipline us. And He can use difficult situations to do that. Contrast Romans 1 24, Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity. Look at verse 26, And for this reason God gave them over to degrading passions. Verse 28, And as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind. So what do you want God to do? Do you want Him to discipline you for your good? Or to let you do what you want to do? See, we have this upside down Christianity. God wants me to be happy, therefore the things that make me happy are God's will. And that's not true. It is not true that a good God has happy children anymore than it's true that a good parent has happy children. Our responsibility for our children is found in Ephesians 6.3, that it may be well with them and they live long on the earth. Sometimes they will be happy, sometimes they won't be happy. God reveals his will for us in Hebrews 12, 10, 11, that we would be holy, righteous, fruitful, and at peace with him. In his training program, sometimes we will be happy and sometimes not happy. And that is the grace of God, his discipline. Romans 1, 24, 26, and 28 is the judgment of God, which is withholding of His discipline. In the Pentecostal and Charismatic movements, and now even in some Evangelical Protestant churches, the grace of God is shared that in prosperity and blessing and fruitfulness And that's transferred over into parenting. Be a gracious parent. Don't intervene. Don't be controlling. Don't use the rod in disciplining your children. Rather, let the little darlings have their way. In God's value system, the withholding of discipline is the ultimate form of judgment. In many Christian families, the withholding of discipline is viewed as grace rather than judgment, and that gets transferred into their view of God and God's will for their life. God could have allowed the prodigal son to prosper, but that would have been his judgment. It was God's loving discipline that brought the prodigal son back to his loving father, and we should remember that in the raising of our children as well. I have many fathers of whom it could be said they loved their children so much they ruined them because they couldn't discipline them. And yet Proverbs says, he who spears his rod hates his son. So these fathers weren't loving their children. They were expressing to them hatred by not disciplining them. So, God can use his creation, nature. He can use the wisdom that we have accumulated. He can put things into our heart. He can intervene, making our paths straight. He can use cataclysmic experiences to get our attention. God uses the husband to reveal his will to his wife. Ephesians 5, 22-24. Wise be subject to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife as Christ also is head of the church. For as the church is subject to Christ and all things, so also the wife to her husband. There are many things that wives do not have to pray about because of the leadership of their husband. I've been taking couples and teams on mission trips for 20 years. and i about ten years ago i saw a change a husband would say yes i really feel like god's calling me to go on this mission trip with you well is your wife and well this is uh... husband wife decision though uh... i won't you know i want well it's i'm taking couples so will my wife still praying about whether it's god's will for her to go well no If it is God's will for the husband to go, the wife already knows God's will. He asked her to go with him. Now she knows God's will. Now, the wife can pray for wisdom for her husband. She can't be his helpmate if he doesn't let her help him. She cannot be his helpmate if he does not let her help him. So she can pray about that, she can give him counsel, she can offer her suggestions. But in the final analysis, if the husband says, you know, we have an opportunity to go as a couple on a mission trip, and so I'm asking you to please come with me, then she knows God's will. Ephesians 6.1, children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. They know God's will. This is what their parent, we're going to this church. Now they know God's will. Now I wanted my children to enjoy church. So when we were praying about, before I was a pastor and we were praying about a church to attend, I would always get their input. But the final decision was mine with the counsel and wisdom of my wife. The children didn't choose the church. Husbands should be willing to listen to their wives. Genesis 2.18 God made our wife a helpmate. Genesis 21.12 God told Abraham, listen to Sarah. 1 Corinthians 7.4 Our bodies do not belong to ourselves. We need to consider and listen to our wife. Now, as I say, when I tell people that one of the ways that God leads us and directs us is the authority structure in the family, husband, wife, parents, ministering to children, husband who has a wife as a helpmate, wife who has a husband as a spiritual leader, I remind them that we live in an age when those in churches and ministries are all treated like single adults. Rarely do you hear an exhortation on the need of Sunday school teachers on the opportunity to go on a mission trip, on a mission activity, or even a personal decision. where the pastor or Bible teacher will stop and say, but I want the wives out there to understand that you are not to make this decision independently from your husband. You must submit to his leadership in this area. And husbands, I want you to remember, that you have responsibility to your wife, 1 Corinthians 7, for your body doesn't belong to you, it belongs to her. And 1 Timothy 5a, that if you do not meet her needs, you are worse than an unbeliever. So you cannot simply make this decision as a single adult. And you, you think children out there, as you pray about this decision, remember you to obey your parents. And you cannot simply make this decision as if you didn't have parents. Well, those statements are not made from the pulpit or the Sunday school class any longer. People are All are treated, whether they're high school, college, young, married, families with children, everybody's treated like a single adult. So gentlemen, you will not only have to fight against this, you will have to take responsibility to educate your wife and children concerning the family authority structures given by God in Holy Scripture. Hebrews 13, 17 says, Obey your leaders and submit to them as those who would give an account. Have them do so joyfully and not with regrets that would be hurtful to you. God has given us spiritual leaders to help us understand God's will. Romans 13, 1-5, He's given us governments and laws. Proverbs 11, 14 says, There is safety in many counselors So we have beyond Holy Scripture, but always subject to Holy Scripture, we have these 11 areas. Remember, God can give leadership without it being revelation. But it, leadership, is subject to the written revelation of God, the Holy Scriptures. The leadership of God will never violate the written word of God. That is very important. So whenever we're making a decision and we are saying, well, I feel like this is what God has laid on my heart. We are always open to a scriptural cross-reference to that statement, which either affirms or judges the decision. The Achilles heel of the American church is the doctrine of self-evident truths. It's enshrined in our constitution. We hold these truths as self-evident. It's so much a part of our culture that it's very easy for us to say, naturally, this is God's will. It's just self-evident, but it's not self-evident. All truths are given by God." Deuteronomy 29, 29. The secret things belong to the world. The things revealed belong to God. The secret things belong to the Lord. The things revealed belong to man and all his generations. There are secret things, there are revealed things. Deuteronomy 29, 29. Kelly's heel of the European church as I've traveled in Europe over the last 20 years is the subjection of Holy Scriptures to reason and science. A common doctrinal statement of Protestant churches in Europe and in America influenced by Europe is the Word of God is inspired in all areas except for science and history, which is not true. All scripture is inspired by God. The Achilles heel of the African church, in my observation, is the man of God syndrome. In a wrong application of respect to the pastor or the spiritual leader to fail to subject anything he says or does to Holy Scripture. And we know that's not true. We do not confuse earthly forms of leadership with the sole mediatorial role of Christ and the sole revelatory role of Holy Scripture. We know in 1st Timothy 2.5 there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. The Roman Catholic priest, the Pentecostal charismatic man of God, the parachurch, regional, country leader, national leader, is not your mediator between God and man. Your mediator is Jesus Christ. And those people are not the revelation of God's will, that is Holy Scripture. All Scripture is inspired by God and promptful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may what? Be equipped for every good work. And we need to remember that. The equipping of men for every good work comes from the holy, eternal, inerrant written word of God. These other forms that we've looked at, where God can lead us, nature, wisdom, God placing something in our heart, God using circumstances, God using cataclysmic experiences, a wife's husband, a child's parents, a husband's wife, spiritual leaders, government laws, counselors and advisors. God can give leadership without it being revelation, but all of these forms of leadership are subject to the written revelation of God, the Holy Spirit, through holy scriptures. The leadership of God will never violate the written word of God. Therefore, we do not confuse earthly forms of leadership with the sole mediatorial role of Christ and the sole revelatory role of Holy Scriptures. Well, I hope this was helpful to you. May God add His blessing to His holy work. Amen.