Thank you for joining us at Truth Matters Church. Connect with us at truthmatterschurch.org. In our last message, we searched the scriptures to learn more about the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. That study was very challenging and left us with a number of difficult questions. Today, Pastor Alex continues searching the Bible for answers to these questions, revealing that the whole of Scripture has a lot to say about this particular topic. If you've missed part one of this message, we strongly encourage you to listen to that one as well. It is titled, Equality with God. Now, grab your Bible and journey with us as we seek to learn more about the incredible relationship in the Godhead. Here is Pastor Alex. And as we're coming across these discoveries, I can't help but bask. And in my spirit, just praise the Father and praise the Son and the Spirit that is within me and within us. On that note, as we've been going through many discoveries, one of them is concerning the relationship within the Godhead. And the title of our talk for today is Unashamed of the Godhead. It's kind of a play on words here, because we know our Apostle Paul said that he is not ashamed of the gospel. And when we study scripture, we know that the gospel is the father's gospel concerning his son. So Paul could have very well said that I am unashamed of the Godhead, because he, being a Jew himself, and being zealous for the law, didn't know who God was until the Lord Jesus Christ struck him on the Damascus Road and revealed himself to Paul. And Paul, as part of that calling and transformation, God was revealed to him in Christ. And the apostle Paul, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and given the ministry of his apostleship, was given great insight into the mysteries of Christ. There's many mysteries concerning God, and there's one concerning the Godhead. and Paul being filled with these mysteries. And he accounted that for being a gift of grace from God and Christ himself because of the suffering that he had to endure. So another way to say this is the Father through Christ blessed Paul in a special way because Paul was gonna be used as an instrument to suffer for his name's sake. And he did that faithfully even unto death. and is beheading. But Paul could have very well said that he is unashamed of the Godhead. Some opening comments. This journey has taken us on many unexpected twists and turns. For me personally, it has challenged me more than I ever imagined. I've had sleepless nights, captivated and provoked by what we've been learning. I was up not so long ago at three in the morning, provoked by what we're learning, and then running to the scripture and saying, is what I am learning true? And what I found, at least for me, interesting is three in the morning, you would think that you're groggy and you can't think straight. I was focused as I can be. Man, if I could study a test at that moment, I would have aced it. And I can't help but feel that we're on an island. the further we go on this journey. I can't help but feel like I'm losing my mind, and I must have gone mad. But that's where this journey has taken us when we committed in saying, we're going to rely on Scripture and Scripture alone. And when we decided to come to Scripture as a blank slate, I did that of myself. I asked you guys to do the same thing. We think we know what we know. But I ask that we put any learnings or presuppositions, just put it in a little parking lot on the side. Let us go through this scripture with this blank slate. If it confirms, bring it back in. It's confirmed. If it's not, leave it there. But that's where this journey took us. For example, I never foresaw myself making the argument and the case that the Father is greater than Jesus. It goes against every grain and fabric of everything we know and we're taught. And with unpopular learnings like this, I feel like, am I going crazy? Just like when Festus raised his voice at the Apostle Paul as he was making his defense and proclaiming the resurrection of the dead, and Festus said to Paul, Paul, you are out of your mind. Your great learning is driving you mad. I'm talking to myself in that way. I'm like, Alex, you're out of your mind. Your learning is driving you mad. You're walking yourself off a cliff, and if you don't stop and repent, you will shipwreck your faith. But when I allow the truth in Scripture to settle within me, and I allow it to run its course and perfect its work, when I submit to it, have a teachable heart, and allow it to correct me, and only after I obey the truth Can I say in good conscience before you and before our God that I'm not out of my mind? I have not gone mad. I am unashamed of the Godhead. Yes, of course, there is a hierarchy in the Godhead and the Father is on top. Yes, of course, I can say that all authority belongs to the Father and He has chosen to bestow that authority to His one and only Son. As even Paul said, but I want you to understand that the Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ. Head in the Greek here, we're familiar with this term, chief in command. We all know that as believers in Jesus Christ, who's in command of us? Christ. And in a husband and wife relationship, who is the head of that relationship as patterned and communicated in Scripture? The husband. And then concerning Christ himself, who is chief in command of even Christ? Paul says, God the Father. So just like Christ Jesus is chief over the church, just like the husband is chief of his wife, even so the father is chief in command over his son in the family of God. We know this. Here's the crux of the issue. And this is why I've been having sleepless nights. Something went really sideways with the church. And here's where I think the crux of the issue is. It is behind the statement, Jesus is God. I believe that there were some well-intentioned but unintended consequences regarding traditions, creeds, and doctrine around the person and deity of Jesus Christ, and behind the statement, Jesus is God. But I do want to take a moment to make myself very clear. Yes, Jesus is God. And if there was any hesitation in my part saying that, I repent. Yes, Jesus was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Jesus was with God the Father in the beginning, and that all things were created through Him, is saying that Jesus is God and Creator. Yes, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, John was communicating that God became man. Yes, although Christ being in the form of God did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, means that Jesus is indeed God in the flesh, but he set his divine prerogatives aside for the sake of living obedience to his Father. And yes, when Paul said that we are looking forward for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, this indeed means that Jesus, like his Father, is both God and Savior. So Jeremy, I stand corrected. You were spot on. And keep me honest. And when Paul, speaking of Christ, proclaims that he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together, for it was the Father's good pleasure for the fullness to dwell in Him clearly means that Jesus is God incarnate, sovereign, and creator. And yes, when the writer of Hebrew quotes the Father in chapter 1, verse 8, he says, but of the Son, he says, your throne, O God. This is the Father speaking to the Son. Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. The Father calls the Son, O God, even as the Father is God. Case closed, Jesus is God. But here's where I think their church and our doctrines went sideways. It was interpreting what it means that Jesus is God incarnate, creator, sovereign, God and Savior, et cetera. It was interpreting what it means when Jesus claimed to be equal with God. It was interpreting when Jesus would say things like, the Father and I are one. It was interpreting when Jesus said, before Abraham was, I am. It was determining how to interpret these things and form sound doctrine from it. That's why I struggled. Because sadly, such efforts to explain the person and deity of Christ, it has diminished the role of the Father from His rightful place as Father, Most High God. Because here's why I struggled. Because many teachings we know or have been taught today, that the Father is just one of the other guys in the Trinity. with equal power and authority, equally divided among three of them. That He's just one of them. Many teachings today claim that no one in the Trinity is greater than the other, all are co-equals. That's why I struggled with sleepless nights. That's why everything we're learning as of late using Scripture alone, it led us to the truth that there is indeed a hierarchy in God. Not only is there a hierarchy, I'm going to say this, the Father is the greatest God of all time and eternity. So what happened? Over the centuries, here's what I've reflected on. The church, in most part, didn't uphold to other claims of Jesus. It is my conviction that when tradition and man began to write doctrine concerning the person and deity of Christ, when counsels and creeds began to be written to combat false teachings, et cetera, that's when things went sideways. What wasn't balanced in many teachings, creeds, doctrines, theology books, not taught in many seminaries today, there are other aspects of Jesus, including statements and claims he made about himself and his subordinate relationship and subservient role within the Godhead. What a lot of teachings don't consider is what Jesus chose to call himself. in these titles and designations, and there was many of them, and here's just some of them. Son of man, Son of God, the Son, the only begotten Son, the light, Messiah, Christ, Son of David, living bread, living waters, the door, the gate, good shepherd, et cetera. They didn't consider, why didn't you just come out and say that you're Jehovah God? He chose other things. The church didn't uphold these other claims of Christ and the designations He chose to attribute to Himself. They didn't consider these things, like in John 5, just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself, and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. Here's the truth. Yes, Jesus is life. In Him is life. In Him, He is light. He is the light of men, because the Father gave that to Him. That's another study. I am not going to get into that right now, but the truth here is the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son to also have life in Himself. Here's another truth, Jesus has authority to execute judgment. Why is Jesus gonna be the judge of all man, including angels? It's because the Father granted him authority to execute judgment. They didn't consider things like in John six, when Jesus said, I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. So although the Father and Jesus are one, here's a truth, and this is just one, it's all over. The Father has a will, The Son has a will. He says, I didn't come to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. Wait, how can you be one, yet you have two different wills? But that's the truth. Church didn't consider this. When this Jesus is God claim, did you consider Jesus has a will? That's distinct from the Father's will, but He decided to use His will in loving service and obedience to His Father. Or when Jesus would say, I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me, but if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. So Jesus has authority because He came in the name or authority, you can say, of His Father. They didn't consider when Jesus said, not anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. So although Jesus is God, he is from God. He is distinct from the Father. Or how about in Jesus' baptism? When Jesus was baptized, the Spirit manifested as a dove, and the Father spoke from where? Heaven. Where was the Father? In heaven. And what did he say? This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. So when you say Jesus is God, what about the father? Where is he here? In heaven. Where is Christ at that time? On earth. And the father spoke from heaven and affirmed that in fact he is his one and only son in whom he is well pleased. So although Jesus is on earth, yet God was in heaven and spoke from heaven. We know this. I'm just showing you, we're not going mad. How about this, when Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is the one sent greater than the one who sent him. Who sent the son? Who sent the son? What did he say? The one who is sent is not greater than the one who sent you. Translation, he is not greater than the father. Or how about this, when Jesus told his disciples, you heard that I said to you, I will go away and I will come to you and if you've loved me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. Or how about this, when he's dying on the cross, bearing the sin, our sins on the cross, what did he say? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Or how about this, after his resurrection, when he told Mary, he said, stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father or to the Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God. Translation, the Father is Jesus' God from his own lips. So although Jesus is God and that's a true statement, he's not greater and he's not God the father. So this is why I said it was more balanced to say that Jesus is God because he is the son of God. Or, you know, Jesus doesn't rival his father. Jesus is the son of his father. Then we get into other issues. There's more. We're like, okay, so they neglected those things. What else did the church overlook? Or a lot of our doctrines and creeds and traditions that we were holding on to. What else? You know there's other aspects of Jesus, and it's also behind his equality with God statement, which we covered last week? How many of us have been taught this, okay? That since Jesus is God, which is true, he is fully omniscient, all-knowing. How many of us have heard that and have accepted that and embraced that? I was there. But what such teachings neglect to consider is when Jesus made the statement that leaves a door open that maybe, just maybe, He's not as omniscient as His Father. For example, here's one example. When Jesus spoke concerning His return in Matthew 24, verse 36, He says, but of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Jesus saying, I don't even know the day and hour of my return. The angels don't know, I don't know. That statement alone proves that Jesus wasn't fully omniscient, that he's definitely omniscient because he read and saw into the minds and hearts of men. He's omniscient to some degree, but in another degree, He wasn't omniscient enough to even know the day or hour of his return, not even the angels, but the son. But some of them, but someone will counter and say this. Oh, well, Jesus didn't know because of his humanity. His humanness was speaking. That's what I held on to. But in heaven, he knows it all. Well, here's my comeback to that. But didn't scripture also say that in Christ, the fullness of the deity dwelt in him? And that was before he was glorified? Doesn't the scripture teach us that Jesus, once he was born, he was always full deity? Always? And yet he did not know the day, he didn't know the day and the hour of his return, only the Father. So before we start explaining away things and using this human part of him as an excuse, the Father was pleased to have the fullness of the deity dwell within him before he was glorified. And yet he still didn't know the day or the hour of his return. And this is consistent with what we've learned in Revelation. The very first verses of Revelation, listen to the Apostle John. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his bondservants the things which must soon take place, and he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near. Here's what we learned in the very opening verse of this marvelous book, the book of Revelation, that the Father gave Jesus this book and this prophecy. And Jesus himself commanded an angel to deliver the message to his bondservant, John. And we learned this. This book of prophecy that we've been studying started with the father. The father gave it to the son. The son gave it to an angel and the angel delivered it to John. Where did it originate? The father, which God gave him. Here's a truth that we've learned from the very opening verse of Revelation. So remember back in Matthew 24, he didn't know the day or the hour of his return, not the angels or not the son. But when this prophecy was given to him by the Father, Jesus now knows the day and the hour that was given to him, and so do the angels, because they all have tasks to do to bring this to its fulfillment. So if you were to ask the question now, does Jesus know the day or the hour of his return? Amen. Blessed is he who reads the words and takes heed of the prophecy contained therein. Here's my case in point. The father is the one in the Godhead who is fully omniscient and the son only knows what the father chooses to show him. You're still not convinced? I know this is hard. How about you hear it from our very own Lord's lips? John 5.20, for the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself is doing. And the Father will show him greater works than these so that you will marvel. Here's an implication. Remember, Jesus was deity and divine his entire earthly life. But if Jesus was truly fully omniscient, then the father doesn't need to show him anything because the son already knows. It's kind of like trying to throw a surprise party and you can't be surprised because you know everything. And this teaching robs and takes away from the beauty between the father and son relationship. Christ Jesus knows to the extent his father reveals to him. That's what the scripture teaches. And here's my case in point. Although Jesus is God, is co-equal with his Father, is and always was fully God and fully man, yet there were some aspects about the Son that limits even his greatness within the Godhead. It's there. So again, I haven't lost my marbles. I haven't lost my mind. I haven't gone mad. Like I said, something went really sideways with church and doctrine. And it was behind that statement, Jesus is God, or the Father and I are one, or equality with God, and much teachings today tipped the scales out of balance concerning the hierarchy and made them all equal. And if the church missed these things, would it surprise us that the church also would be off on mostly other things? If you're gonna miss that, What are the chances of other doctrine in other places? You think that'll be off kilter too? Of course. And that brings us to our next question. Why are we not all united? As the body of Christ, we're his body, his spirit is within us. Why are we not all united? Well, there's a lot of reasons, but I'm gonna share some with you. This is just in my heart, guys. Just bear with me. I believe there's a lot of reasons why the Church of Jesus Christ isn't united. A lot of it is because we're stubborn. A lot of it is because we're worldly. A lot of it is because we're prideful. A lot of us are as guilty as much as the Corinthians were when Paul said, now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I of Cephas, and I of Christ. And what does Paul say? Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Since the beginning of the church, that first century until now, you know what many of us do? We pick our favorite pastors, teachers, theologians, and we stack themselves against each other. We have our favorite doctrines, we have our favorite creeds, traditions, and then we look down on others who aren't on the same page or the same level. There is this spiritual pride within us. That's why we're not all united. We're as guilty as the Corinthians were. Here's the heart of it. It's pride. That's the heart. It's because of the many different denominations, the many different traditions, the many different doctrines, the different creeds, etc. We're out to prove how much more spiritually elite we are over the rest. So if you ask me, I believe that spiritual pride, arrogance, and the lack of love for one another is one of the greater reasons why we're not all united. Of course, there are other factors why we're not all united, and I want to draw our attention to what Paul warned Timothy, itching ears. Paul warned Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter four, verse three. He says, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled. they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." Folks, Paul was talking about the church. Another reason the church isn't united is because of itching ears. Many in churches today, they would rather have inspirational speeches or entertain with stories or a pastor and teacher with charisma or personality to keep and hold their attention. Many in churches today would rather hear what God can do for them versus what we can do for God. Many in churches today, they want to hear how can they get rich and blessed in this life? They don't want to hear storing up treasures in heaven. Many in churches today, they want to hear how God is their personal genie, at their beck and call, and that the entire universe revolves around them. This idea or notion that we are the center of God's universe. Many in churches today, they don't want to hear about the pursuit of holiness, sanctification, killing of sin, obtaining from sexual immorality, self-denial, self-control, and the grave warnings that come with it. You know what the Apostle Paul said? Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor liars, nor drunkards will inherit the kingdom of God. People don't want to hear that. Many churches would rather hear how much God loves them and understands them, and that it's okay to continue to sin and just ask God for forgiveness later. These definitely don't want to hear our Lord's warning, what we learned in Sardis. about soiling their garments, our Lord warned, you better stop or else I will come upon you like a thief. Translation, those within the church in Sardis were sleeping with temple prostitutes and soiling their garments. And our Lord said, if you don't stop, I will come upon you like a thief and you will be judged and damned for all eternity. They weren't saved. But we don't wanna hear that in the church today. Oh, I'm struggling with, Pornography. I'm struggling with, you know, being faithful to my wife or my husband, or I'm struggling with this. We just come and say, we understand. We give this cloak of God's love and mercy and we just put it over it and somehow God in his naive mercy will just forgive you. Where are you getting this from? Where is that in the word? What about working out your salvation with fear and trembling? What do you do with that? Yeah, you better be shaking in your boots if you're sleeping with prostitutes and you're committing adultery and sexual immorality. You better be scared straight and you better get right with God. But isn't that rebuke? Isn't that love? Hey, this is some serious stuff here, man. So you take this together with the fact that we have an enemy of our souls whose sole purpose is to seek, kill, and destroy. And can I add this? That the enemy's mission is also to divide the church. So if you're thinking, like I'm thinking, like, wow, we're in the minority of what we've been learning. I was also drawn to the story of Noah. Noah, only Noah and his family, eight in all, believed the word of God. As he was building the ark in that ancient of time, those around him thought he was a madman. He was a maniac building an ark in the middle of a desert where it never rained. And our Lord said concerning the days before his return, it'll be just like that. Matthew 24, pick it up in verse 37, he says, for the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah, for as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving the marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away. So will the coming of the Son of Man be. And from here, I'd like to do a bit of reflection on this. Okay, I wanna reflect on Noah. It's estimated, you could take these for what it is, that from creation to the flood is around 4004 BC to about 2348 BC, give or take. That's about 1,656 years of human civilization. So how long has the, how old was creation, at least from the creation of man? About 1,656 years, that's a long time from the creation account to the days of Noah. It's guesstimated, and you take into consideration, people in the days of Noah lived hundreds of years. We all know about Methuselah, who lived over 700 years. So not only has civilization been around for over 1600 years, but if you had people living that long and multiplying and filling the earth, there's been guesstimates that there may have been millions of people, maybe even billions. But here's a truth reflection. Remember, no one in his family was only eight. Okay? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. There was only eight of them in the ark. Out of eight, out of millions, maybe even billions of people were saved. Just no one is family. Now, I want us to reflect on this truth, this reflection. Let's be conservative. Let's just say, let's be over-conservative. Let's just say there was only one million people. I think that's on the very low side, by the way. Let's just say there was only a million people alive in Noah's day. And if you were to take, what is that percentage? How many percentage of the people were saved? 0.00008. I believe that's 10 to the negative 6th power of a percent. It is way far from 1%. It's like a dot of 1%. I want to put this in perspective. So if there was only 1 million people, 10 to the negative 6th power, 0.00008% were saved. Pretty much everyone was damned. Now, here's a conjecture, okay? We're like, okay, let's take that conservative estimate of one million. Using that calculation and ratio, how many people are saved right now? And I'm gonna use a conservative estimate, okay? So right now, if you Google it, like how many people are populating this earth right now? About eight billion. 8 billion, that's 8,000 million people. Okay, that's a lot of people. If we were to multiply 0.000008, out of 8 billion people, there's only 64,000 people saved. Out of 8 billion, we're less than less than less than 1% of the world. And that's a conservative number. You wanna hear more estimates? Okay, let's not be so conservative. Okay, you know, there's definitely more than one million people in Noah's day, okay? What does that do to the number of those who are really saved on earth? Here, I did the math for us. Let's say there was two million people alive in Noah's day. That percentage drops to .0000004%. Our number got cut in half. If there was two million people alive in Noah's day, and you were to estimate how many truly born again Christians are there on this earth, and were to use that as a ratio, we're talking about 32,000 people. How many of us have went to a sporting event that holds 30,000? Well, that'll kind of give you an idea. Out of the eight billion people, if we were to go to one place and fill a stadium, that's how many Christians are truly on this earth right now. That's still somewhat conservative. Wait, wait a minute. 5 million. If there were 5 million people alive in Noah's day, it drops to 0.000016%. That means only 12,800 are saved, kind of like the 12,000 from every tribe number. So I kind of stopped. You guys get the picture, right? If you look at Noah, Only eight were saved from the flood that God wiped out the earth. Only eight, which means there isn't many of us. And this shouldn't be a surprise, because our Lord told us of this reality. Only a few will be saved. So now with that, I want to help shed some light behind our Lord's teaching about the wide and narrow gate, or the wide and narrow road. You know this. Matthew 7, beginning in verse 13, our Lord said there, He says, enter through the narrow gate. He goes, for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction. And there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life. There are a few that find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly there are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Those grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn't bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire, so then you will know them by their fruits. Listen to the words of our Lord. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. Back to my case in point. If only Noah and his family ate and all believed the word of God, if only Noah and his family ate and all were saved when God flooded the earth, do you think that they felt that they were on an island too? Actually, they were much worse. They were in a smaller, isolated place in an ark, about 500 feet long, boarded with animals. No one his family were separated from the rest of the ungodly and all of whom perished when the flood came upon them unexpectedly. All this is to say, I think they were and they felt that they were an island too. So if you feel like in the minority and that we're somewhat on an island, join Noah's family. You will know, at least even the teaching, by its fruit. Are you ready for some closing reflections? This is just me opening up my heart to you guys. If you ask me, I believe that the church as a whole is in an apostate state. As Paul warned Timothy, in the last days, not many will endure sound doctrine. Yes, there are some good churches out there, just like there were some good churches of the seven churches in Revelation, but good quality, Bible teaching, Bible believing, bound in unity and love and spirit and peace, not bound by traditions, being true and being free in Christ, being free and not bound by traditions or creeds or doctrines of man, it's hard to come by. If you ask me, as I reflect on things, I believe that the church body should be a living and growing organism. If you ask me, I believe that pastors and teachers of the church, you're not supposed to know it all when you hear God's call to lead His flock and begin shepherding. If you ask me, I believe you learn on the fly, just like life. When you take a job, you take a role, you take a responsibility, some of us, let's say you become parents, you don't know how to become parents, you learn the job on the fly. I believe that pastors and teachers are also to learn on the fly and not to be in the mindset that you know it all. I believe that pastors and teachers shouldn't just go to seminary just to learn and pass down traditions, creeds, and doctrines of man. I believe that pastors and teachers who feel compelled to shepherd are to grow in discovery while leading the sheep entrusted to them. When Jesus' disciples became apostles, they didn't know it all. They relied on the Holy Spirit that was promised and given to them. Even the apostles, they needed to meet and in wisdom seek out what the Spirit in them and the scripture said is the will of God for any given situation. And as I pondered kind of the state of the church of Jesus Christ, where we are now, I'm also drawn to Romans 11. If you guys think about it for a moment, when the fullness of time came and God sent his son, born of a man, born of a woman, and Christ was born, and when Christ began his earthly ministry, there was different traditions and sects even within Judaism. By the time Jesus came, Israel, they weren't obeying the gospel as revealed in the scriptures that they held. Instead, they were holding on to a religion that was built not by faith alone, but by works. And there was different sects of them, S-E-C-T-S, sects. The state of Israel was in an apostate state in that regard, such to a point where they didn't even recognize the coming of their Messiah. And Jesus even said, if you believe that by having the scriptures that have life, he goes, if you believed what it says that you're holding so dearly, you would have seen clearly that I am He who was spoken of and promised by God the Father. So there were many traditions in Israel when Jesus arrived. How hard was it for them to let go of tradition? They wouldn't. They wouldn't. No, they had a stiff neck people. They would not let go of tradition of man. They wouldn't let it go. Even though the truth, the God of glory is in their presence, I will not let my traditions go. and that's why they weren't saved and will be judged. I believe there's some truth here in parallel to the church, that the church won't be saved because they held on to tradition. They held on to it. They wouldn't listen to the truth revealed in scripture. They refused to be teachable and corrected by the word that they claim that they love, hold, and cherish. Just like the Jews, they don't want to break away from that. I want to be on this side of tradition. This is what's been passed down. That's what I'm holding on to. And it's behind that that I believe when Paul made the statement that for God has shut all things in disobedience so that he might show mercy to all. So even the state of the apostate church was in the will and plan of God. There is a parallel here. The church is as guilty as the people of Israel were at the time Messiah came the first time. And the church will be in that similar state when he comes the second time. And they will be in for a rude awakening. And those are the warnings that we've been hearing and learning as we studied the seven letters to the seven churches. If you ask me, I believe there's only one interpretation in scripture. Not many. Here's another thing that I've come to grips with. How many of us heard of this? That's not an essential doctrine. How many of us heard that? What does that promote? Continued division. That promotes, that fosters continued disunity. Oh, hey, if you believe that, I believe this. I am a Paul, I'm a Paulist. Or you believe in this view, I believe in this view. Or you believe in that, I believe in this. What? There is one interpretation of Scripture, not many. All sound doctrine is essential. All of Scripture is important. All of it. I don't believe that there are non-essential doctrines. Even, yes, the end times. I don't believe that anymore. Because He wrote it for us so that we could discover these things. I believe that the Bible from Genesis to Revelation is telling one consistent story concerning the redemptive will, plan, and purpose of God. I believe that as a church of Jesus Christ, whoever is a pastor or teacher before you needs to teach that one consistent story from Genesis to Revelation, and it's going to take us a lifetime to get through it. but we learn it together, and we are open to whatever the scripture revealed, whatever the truth is revealed, and not what we've learned through some tradition, creed, or doctrine, or some theology book, or some seminary student that is bringing to us some of these things. We're like, is that what the scripture says? Then we will accept it for ourselves. I believe that we as a body, we can break out of the stronghold of the tradition and the opinions of men if we played by the rules and principles modeled for us by the Old Testament and New Testament authors of Scripture. I believe if we played by the right rules, whose heart of hearts, here's what the heart of every pastor, every teacher, here's the heart, let God be true and every man a liar. If that was the case, there wouldn't be all these different denominations or sects in the church of Jesus Christ. There wouldn't be different doctrines, creeds, or even camps. There wouldn't be different views on God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, election, predestination, human will, eschatology, you name it. This is why I'm thankful that before we even set out this journey, I go, okay, what rules must we play by, must I play by? And this took some prayer and reflection. I'm like, okay. Let me just take a step back. How did the authors within themselves handle scripture? They used scripture with itself or they added to it. And I was like, okay, well, okay, what are some principles, guiding principles? And you know this by now, and that's why I'm thankful for our ROEs. Here are those rules. Remember, If you were to ask me, Alex, how do you study the Bible? How should anyone study so that we're not all over the place, that we're united, that there's, we find, okay, we might not find the interpretation right away, but that's the goal, is this unity and growing together. What guiding principles must we use so that we don't fall into the traps of this disunity that has happened over the centuries. Here they are. Remember, thou shalt interpret Scripture with Scripture. Thou shalt not add or take away from Scripture. Thou shalt not take Scripture out of context. You shall interpret Scripture with a literal fulfillment. You shall not impose personal bias. Don't pass down man's opinion. Thou shalt not over-spiritualize Scripture. Don't present speculation as truth. Don't resist what the Spirit says to the churches. And of course, don't sensationalize scripture. Can I call this Rules of Engagement 1.0? Because as we're growing as a body, as an organism, we made some refinements even to this. And I want to call this Rules of Engagement 2.0. Here are some of these guiding principles. So here's where I'm getting at. If we truly want to seek out the truth, whether it's within the body of Christ or a fellow believer, and you're like, and we really care about what God says, not who's right, we need to come in with that spirit of humility, and we need to have some guiding principles, some rules that we both must play by. So Jeremy, I'll give you one example. When you brought up that scripture, you're like, well, it says, we look for the glorious appearing of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. I kind of explained it away. But even though what I said is true, that the Father's coming too, but I was violating these principles. No, don't explain it away. What does it say? That's what it says. Keep it there. So I repented. But here are the guiding principles. Let's call this 2.0. This is if we as a body of Christ, if we follow these, we will find ourself on the side of truth. We will find ourself in the side of unity. And then God is true. And every man is a liar and his spirit can correct us, shape us, mold us and our knowledge. of God and our faith and our understanding of Him and the spiritual blessings that Paul has tried to communicate that he was experiencing, we will experience it too. Here they are. Very similar, but I did make some tweaks. Of course, the first day is the same. You shall interpret Scripture with Scripture. Two, you shall not add or take away from Scripture. Every word matters. Every word so like when Jesus said no one knows the day or the hour not the father not the son Don't explain away that he doesn't know he didn't know the day or the hour of his return That's what our Lord said don't add don't take away You shall not take scripture out of context. Here's one don't cancel scripture with scripture. Oh gosh, you do that. Hey Scripture says this But scripture says this, ha ha, knock down that scripture. It's like, you know, when you play like a thumb wrestling or something, and you're like, this scripture says this, and then you lose. Do not cancel scripture with scripture. And I used this example last time. One classic one, predestination and election. is biblical. God the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Before God and Christ created everything, you and I were chosen in Him. Amen. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, for just as God in Him chose us to be blameless and holy before His sight. But yet, there's this call. Repent. for the kingdom of God is at hand. There is this call to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't be like, well, God chose us, your will don't matter. No, you need to repent or else. Don't cancel out one or the other. In some cases, it's not an or, it's an and, an end. So don't cancel scripture with scripture. Guess what? There's no more camps, isn't there? Oh, you believe in free will? Amen. Oh, you believe in predestination? Amen. Let's come together and let's harmonize this in our walk with Jesus Christ. No, I'm serious, right? Am I right? But no, no, I'm spiritual than you. You think that God chose you? You're mistaken, friend. Oh, you think your will matters? Who are you? Spiritual pride and haughtiness and arrogance is what's fostering this division. But if you followed this, there's no division. You shall interpret Scripture with a literal fulfillment. Classic one. Revelation 20, the thousand-year reign of Christ. Well, some say, oh no, there's no thousand years. There's no thousand years? That's what it says. A thousand years. Or like, it doesn't really mean a thousand. It means, wait, what? Christ will rule and reign with an iron scepter as proclaimed by the Old Testament prophets and Christ himself. He's gonna rule and sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem. And he told his disciples, he will also set up 12 thrones that they too will judge the 12 tribes of Israel. There is a thousand year period. Believe it with literal fulfillment. Oh no, but they'll say, oh, but the scripture says, oh, but the kingdom of God is with you. It doesn't come with observation. So are you gonna cancel that scripture with that scripture? How about they're both true? How about, no, the kingdom of God is within you. It doesn't come with observation. And Christ is king of that kingdom because the father placed them as king. Amen, amen. In that case, it's not an or, it's an and. Is there a division? Is there a camp? What side are you on? Amil? What's Amil? There's no such thing as Amil, because that's not what the scripture teaches. How about this? Yeah, same thing. Number six, you shall not over-spiritualize and explain away scripture. Don't over-spiritualize it and then it doesn't go anywhere. No, there's a literal fulfillment. It's going to come to pass. Here's the number seven. This is one of the tweaks. Don't make church tradition, creeds, or doctrines. Don't put that on par with scripture. What did the people of Israel do with their tradition and the teachings of their rabbis? They took their tradition and they put it on par with scripture. Don't do that. Keep that kind of on the side. If it lines up, embrace it. If it doesn't, keep it there. Here's another one. Don't elevate man's teaching with scripture. Oh, well, this man said this, explaining this, he's on the same level. Unless he was the apostle of Christ back in the early days or a prophet, like infallible, what he wrote, because he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, amen, that's scripture. But we have it already. So don't take man's teaching and put it on par with scripture. Don't take my teaching and make it on par with scripture. But if what I'm saying is true, amen. Be corrected by it, accept it, believe it, and grow from it. And then number nine, don't impose your personal bias. I think we all have that tendency. And that's why I'm not in a Russian revelation. I go, I think I know where it is. I have a bias. But I go, let me work it out until I get there. See what my hunch is true. And if I don't know, I'll tell you I don't know. And if it's there, or I could put scripture, I'd be like, here's what we can get from this. And then last but not least, this is the big one, and this will break everything. You shall be corrected by and obey scripture. How many Christians would you say, they believe a certain set of things and that's what they're holding onto, even though Some of what they're holding on to doesn't line up. But yet, hey, I'm just holding on to this. If you don't come with a heart of being teachable and learning and growing, what can God do? You think he's gonna give you more? Oh, because you've lined up certain teachings and doctrines and you put them all together that somehow, and you think God's gonna give you more spiritual blessing because you think you found the right answers? Or is it in this pursuit of His Word, in pursuit of His love for His Word and truth, and that you come in that spirit of just wanting to continue to grow in the knowledge and the grace of Him. Don't you think that over time, our Heavenly Father will bless your spiritual blessings? versus just making sure you have the answers right. So this folks, this is what I've been doing. I've been following and when I do violate it from time to time and then it brings me back, I repent. Let God be true and every man a liar. So if you think our learning is making us mad, there is some truth to that in that there's just a few of us who are open and willing to be corrected by Scripture and obey the truth. I'm not going crazy. You're not going crazy. The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. It's been living in me, and I'm sure it's been living in you, and it's perfecting its work. That's why I'm unashamed of the Godhead for proclaiming with the Spirit's help the true relationship within God, with God the Father on the top and Jesus Christ, His Son, in subjection to Him. And despite this subordinate relationship, the Father wants us to come to His Son, to love His Son, to obey His Son, to worship His Son as God, just as the Father is God. That's why, among many reasons, I am unashamed of the Godhead. Amen? Amen. Thank you for joining us today at Truth Matters Church. We hope this special message challenged you to search the scriptures for yourself and not rely solely on what is taught in theology books or passed along from a pulpit. Each one of us is personally responsible to God for what we do with his word. So never take man's word alone as truth. Instead, challenge every doctrine and every creed with the question, what does the scripture say? If you've missed any part of our studies, you can find each of them archived at our website, truthmatterschurch.org, or simply search for us on Sermon Audio. Contending for the faith, one verse at a time. This is Truth Matters Church.