All right, I do horrible with the mic. Does somebody have a watch? I'm not going to take it. Can you tell me when it's 25 after? Just raise your hand or something so I'll know, hopefully. All right. You'll just what? OK, there you go. All right. So we've got here. All right, sorry. I've been driving all day, so I'm not as in tune as normal. So hopefully, I may be a little more note bound, but we'll see here. So again. looking at apologetics so we've got for this week we're gonna be building on what we've got how far we've gone and of course next week is VBS so we won't have anything here and then we're gonna continue on in two weeks Lord willing, that is the plan and so I know we've been spending a lot of time building a foundation and I've really tried to do my best to not get ahead of myself. How many of you guys well, I won't even ask, but there's a lot of implications already in regards to apologetics from what we've already talked about, okay? And I don't know if you guys have thought about those yet, but we're getting to the point where hopefully we'll start to really see how those flesh out in practice. And so hopefully, trying to go slow enough that I don't lose anybody behind, because some of these concepts can be hard But I also want to try to engage all of us because I do believe that this is, remember the gun analogy, if there's a guy with a gun in a room and escaping isn't an option, you've got two options. What are they? You've got dodge bullets or take out the guy. Those are your two options. And when it comes to apologetics, it's the same way. Is the Christian view, is Christianity, is the gospel, is it attacked in our day and age? all over. And so how do we deal with those things? And we're gonna learn. There's a way that we can do so that honors the Lord. There's a way that doesn't. There's ways that get to the heart of the issue. There's ways that don't. And so these things are important. I think you need to click on that for me, Timmy, if you're up there. Okay, so again, and I never know if I'm gonna have new people, so a lot of this I'm gonna go fast, but the Greek word apologia used eight times in the New Testament. It's also used in secular Greek, but what does that mean? Make a defense, okay? And 1 Peter 3.15 is the main, probably the most common passage in regards to apologetics. So again, let me read it. But sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to, there's apology, make a defense to everyone who asked you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence. And I always emphasize the gentleness and reverence, because anybody who's gonna make a defense, anybody who's gonna attempt that is gonna tend to be passionate about those things. And when we're passionate about something attacked, we tend to not be gentle and respectful. But the other thing is, the first thing to do is sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. Which means Christ has to be Lord in our thinking. He has to be the foundation for how we defend the faith. He has to be Lord in our lives. I mean, if we're not living like Christians, we're failing before we've even engaged anybody in a conversation. Does that make sense? But I wanted to take a second to look at the verse ahead of this, okay? This passage is used all the time, and this is obviously what comes before 1 Peter 3, 15. 1 Peter 3, 14, okay? I didn't get it, sorry. So this is the verse right before it. It says, even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. And he's talking about suffering for doing what's right, okay? And then it says, do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled. Who's the there? Do not fear their. Whose intimidation would that be? What do you guys think? Okay, those who are attacking the unrighteous. Okay, unbelievers. So it says, do not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled, but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you. Now, notice all caps there. Is that because Peter's starting to yell at him? That's how we think now, right? Is that what that means? What does that mean when it's all caps, at least in the New American Standard? It means it's an Old Testament quote, okay? Peter, in addressing these Christians who are being persecuted, he says, you may suffer for the sake of righteousness, but even if you do, you're blessed. And he says, don't be afraid of them, but honor Christ. Don't be troubled, honor Christ. And he's quoting Isaiah 8. In Isaiah 8, it says this. God is speaking. He says, do not call conspiracy all this that this people calls conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall regard as holy. Are you seeing the reverend? Sanctify Christ as holy in your hearts, okay? Or sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, okay? That's the same thing right there. But the Lord of hosts, Him you shall regard as holy. Let Him be your fear. Let Him be your dread. So the point I want you to see is two things. Number one is God is saying in that day is don't fear those who are standing against the way of righteousness, okay? So who are we to keep our focus on? Not those who might be making threats, but where should our focus be? On the Lord, okay? Don't fear those who are standing against the way of righteousness, but what? Fear God. Now, we don't fear him in the same way, but we honor him, we respect him. Second thing is, this Lord of hosts there, that's Yahweh, okay? And so, when Peter repeats it, does he say in the New Testament, honor Yahweh as Lord in your hearts? What does he say? Honor Christ as Lord in your hearts. Is it a big deal for a first century Jew to take a passage about Yahweh and say this is about Jesus? Jesus is God. I mean, the New Testament does this all the time. I mean, that's just kind of a side thing. But the point is just realize this expresses the deity of Christ. But then in Isaiah 8, a few verses later, see if the focus is on fearing God, not so much on the opponents to the gospel, he says in that context a little bit later, and this is gonna come up as we go through today's, he says, to the teaching and to the testimony. So what is he referring to with that? To the teaching and to the testimony? You guys are sleeping or something, my goodness. It's not a hard question. To the teaching and to the testimony. Scripture, okay? If they will not speak according to this word, it's because they have no dawn. And so again, think of Psalm 36 verse 9. In God's light, what do we have? We have light. Remember that? I tried to not do the same passages over and over and over, but certain ones you need to really know. That's an important one. In God's light, we have light. You're familiar with Psalm 119, right? Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. See, if they don't speak according to the word of God, they have no dawn. They have no light. This is super, super important, okay? Now, so apologetics, you guys are familiar with the defense of Christian truth as it has been revealed to man in the scriptures of the Old and New Testament. So let me ask you guys a hard question now, okay? And since the adults have answered all the questions so far, now it's on here, okay? But no, seriously, think about this. One of the attacks you'll hear often. Maybe you've even heard it. And so if, again, Peter, we're all supposed to be, as Christians, able to make a defense. Doesn't mean we all have the same abilities. But we're all, as Christians, supposed to be able, we're called to be prepared, to always be ready to make a defense. So one of the attacks that often happens is that it'll be the idea of, are you really so arrogant? Because if I asked you, I'm not going to put people on the spot, but if I said, is Christianity true? I think probably everybody would raise their hand, OK? I'm assuming we're all on that page. So what do you say to the opponent who says, how can you be so arrogant to say Christianity is true and Islam and Mormonism, all those are false? And not only that. but your version of Christianity, your interpretation of Christianity. How would you respond to that? Let's just take it from the world religion part. I won't get into the interpretation. How many of you guys think Christianity is the only way to God? So now the second question is, how can you be so arrogant to think your way is the only right way? What's the response? That's wrong. That's answering a fool according to his folly. But we'll get to that later. That's not today. OK. OK. Would anybody say differently? That was good. Because God said it. Is that going to satisfy most unbelievers? How can you be so arrogant to think your way is the only way? It's not arrogant because it's just what God said. I'm just depending on Him. But that's the right answer. If they don't speak according to the Word, it's because they're in the dark. We're going to see this principle come up again and again. That's real basic, but the point is, It's important. Apologetics is knowing what we believe, why we believe it, and being able to communicate that to others effectively. And that's the goal of what we're trying to do as we go. Now, so you remember that the Bible then, one of the main things, I don't know if you're catching this, but one of the things to do in the analogy of the guy with the gun, in order to take away the weapon so he can no longer deal with it, is we have to realize we can't deal with every little thing. Okay? And some things shouldn't even be dealt with. And again, I don't want to get into details yet, but one of the things that's important is to understand apologetics in the sense of like, some people call it worldview apologetics. In other words, it's more than just these incremental small attacks. Okay? Now, we have to deal with those at some levels at various places and all those sorts of things. But if we want to really disarm them, we have to understand apologetics as a whole. Okay? This unbeliever, what does he believe? What do you believe? Where's the issue? Why is there the differences? That's what we're getting. We're slowly getting to answer those questions. That's why one of the most important things is, how do you understand God? How do you understand the world we live in? How do you understand man? That's basically a worldview and everybody has a worldview. I don't care if you're an atheist, Mormon, Christian, I don't care if you're kid, adult, whether you're a philosopher, whether you're uneducated. I mean, it doesn't matter. All of us, we view these ultimate questions, and we live according to certain ideas we have, who we think we are. Do we think we're animals? Do we think we're gods? I mean, whatever. Now, some people might not think it through accordingly, but they do have those, and so God's word is very clear in dealing with these sorts of things, remember, in three stages. What are those three stages? So the Bible looks at mankind at creation, before sin, right? And then the Bible looks at mankind at the fall, what happened because of sin. And then, of course, what happens in redemption. So those three stages are really crucial. And I mean, this is why, guys, evidence, all evidence has to be interpreted. We look around the world, and what do we see? We see a lot of order. Like, well, there must be, right? There must be a creator. I mean, look at all the order. But the unbeliever looks at the same evidence and says, there's a lot of disorder. Your God did that, too? Well, the unbeliever doesn't understand that the world isn't exactly as God's created it. You see there's assumption. Now, they might not realize it. So the point is, guys, is that's what we're trying to see is we need to understand worldview type things. And that's what we've looked at. And so man at creation, and we've really emphasized knowing and morality. That's what we're focusing on. In other words, what does mankind look like in regards to what's the fancy word for how you know what you know? Epistemology. And what's that? Epistemology. Most of these big words just come from Greek or Latin. So if you know Greek or Latin, which I don't, but that would be helpful. That's why they used to teach these things. But anyway, and then morality. What's the fancy word for morality? Ethics. So in regards to man and how he knew, and in regards to a man at creation, we just recognize certain things. Number one is what? God created the heavens and the earth. This is God's world. We live in God's world. Everything belongs to him. The earth is the Lord and all that he made. Everything, everyone belongs to him, even the wicked. You can read Proverbs about that. Even the wicked, God has made them for his purposes, for his purpose. So no matter who you are, we recognize we're in God's world, breathing God's air, dependent on God for all of life, everybody. And that's what we saw with Adam and Eve when they were created. And so that puts in this creator-creature distinction that I've emphasized again and again and again. There is a God. You're not him. God is independent. What's that mean? What does he need? Nothing. He is independent. You're not. You're dependent. He's eternal, meaning no beginning, no end. You're not. We're eternal in the sense that we'll exist But we all have a beginning. God is great. You're not. God doesn't change. You do. We just need to recognize God is not like us. Adam and Eve, prior to sin, in regards to their knowledge, they recognized their dependence upon God. They lived in dependence upon God. Did they know everything when they didn't have sin? Did they have all knowledge? No. God is omniscient. He knows all things. But was Adam and Eve? Were Adam and Eve? No. But Adam had true knowledge in regards as he was dependent upon God. So he didn't know everything, but he had true knowledge. As long as knowledge comes from God, it's true. That's the point. And you have the same thing in regards to morality. How did Adam and Eve know what was right and what was wrong? What was good? What was evil? that they think, well, we figure these things out on our own. They were dependent upon God. They recognize the creator-creator distinction, and they look to God to know what's right, what's wrong. They look to God to know, how do I interpret this world that we live in, OK? And so then at the fall, and so the creator-creator, there's a distinction. And guys, this is why I've said over and over again, all unbelievers seek to make the creator and the creator. creator and creation be the same. If you talk to unbelievers, many of them will say, because they don't believe in a creator, they'll say, well, matter is eternal. So they have a quality that is only true of God, that is eternal, no beginning, no end, and they try to give it to creation. See, what they're doing is they're eroding away this difference, that there's this independent creator and there's dependent man, okay? And so the point is we need to recognize that. So at the fall, and I go through this every time because it really illustrates what happened, okay? But at the fall, the serpent says, because what we have is the distinction, the getting rid of that creator-creature distinction. says but the serpent said to the woman you will surely not die for God knows this is the temptation in Genesis 3 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be open and you'll be like God knowing good and evil and so I've said again Eve is faced with this dilemma that God said what in the day you eat of this tree what's gonna happen you'll surely die okay and Satan says what you'll surely not die so so you understand she I think okay so Understand she has this this dilemma now who is she gonna she gonna believe Satan or she gonna believe God Okay, this is the dilemma going on at the temptation and the point is is in the temptation Satan is seeking to get them to doubt God's Word. This is not just about an act of disobedience Okay, it's an act of how is she gonna know what's right and wrong? How is she gonna know how to interpret the world? What does it mean if I eat this tree? God says this is Satan says this, and of course, what the temptation is is for her to no longer humbly be dependent upon God to say, well, what does God say? What's good and what's evil? But no, to say, I'm going to figure it out on my own. I will be like God, knowing good and evil. I'll figure it out on my own. See, this is the essence of the temptation. So she then weighs out between God's word and the serpent's word. I mean, that's so crucial. And of course, we see her conclusion. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. And so again, you can see she saw these things. What? That it was good for food, that it was a delight to the eyes, that it would make one wise. And so rather than being dependent upon God, She sought to be like God and determine good and evil on her own. I'm going to be the interpreter of my world and figure it out. And of course, the foolishness of that didn't lead to God. And I've showed you that the way she should have responded was how Jesus responded to his temptations. What did he say? When Satan tempted Jesus, did he say, well, let me compare Satan's word and God's word? No. As a man, he says what? But he answered, it is written. It is written, he looked to God, okay? Man shall not live by bread alone. Now if we look at the context of this, it really accentuates this point even more. It says, these are the verses right before Matthew 4.4. It says, and Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, if you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. I just want you to point out, what's the temptation there for Jesus? If you are the Son of God. Now, do you know what verse comes directly before that? behold a voice from heaven, so whose voice? God's voice speaks, so we have God's word. He says, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. And what does Satan come and say? Well, if you're the son of God, do this, okay? The point is, guys, he's seeking to get him to doubt, to play the role. Well, is God's word true? Is it not? And Jesus doesn't vacillate. He goes right. He says, it is written. And the point is, he's the illustration of what mankind should be when we recognize the creator-creation distinction. This quote from Calvin, he says, instead of bowing to God's revelation, We, since the fall, we follow Adam and Eve's example and suppose that we need to measure everything, this is Calvin's quote then, by the yardstick of their own carnal stupidity. We stifle the light of nature and intentionally stupefy ourselves. The point is, if we reject God's word, we reject all truth. And we have seen passages, agnosium, that show that. And so I'm not going to go to a lot of those. We need to have everything resting on the word of God. God's word, okay? Wisdom begins with an acknowledgement of our dependence on God, okay? And we're gonna look at this in a minute, okay? Then last week we looked at man redeemed, okay? Eve's, so she assumed her independence, that she, not God being the independent one whom she was dependent upon, but she was independent and could determine good and evil for herself. And so that rejection of the creature distinction, thought she could know truth by her own insight. And so in Christianity, to be redeemed is to do what? Is to recognize the exact opposite. It's to recognize we need Christ. Instead of using human wisdom to determine truth, we look to Christ and we trust in him. That's why faith, OK? is what's used to bring us to salvation, okay? Romans 10, 17. Faith comes through hearing and hearing the word of Christ. It's not us trying to figure out the way and all those sorts of things, but redemption is what? We recognize we can't figure out life on our own. We recognize we're sinners. We recognize what our sin deserves. Ask the young kids here, not here, but in the other room, what does every sin deserve? They would say the anger and judgment of God. Okay, so it's recognizing that's who we are And so it's looking outside of ourselves to Christ to save us, okay? Through faith, faith alone. And so that's why the point is that I'm trying to emphasize is we don't get saved by our own human wisdom, okay? And our own insight to figure out the best way to get, the only way it happens is through faith in what Christ's word says, okay? And so that's why, again, the trusting God's word is crucial for the Christian, because it's bringing us back to how we were created, what we should be. And so we spent a lot of time on 2 Corinthians 11. I'm not going to spend time there today. Now, what I want us to see, then, as this leads, when we understand, so you've got man at creation with the creature distinction, looking to God, dependent upon God for what he knows, for truth, from morality and then you have that lost at the fall and now seeking to be independent apart from God and trying to live like we don't need God. That's the state of sin, that's the state of fallen man and then at redemption, because remember we looked at being born again, it doesn't happen from our own insight, but being born again having life from Christ, we now become ones who, what, look to Christ. We look to God for truth, to know what's right. We don't look to ourselves, okay? And so what you see in that then, since redeemed man, not perfectly, but as a return back to Eden, you're starting to see that there's two two ways of life. There's two basic approaches, two kinds of people in the world in regards to how they know things, how they find out what's right and wrong. You seeing that? Even though we looked at three stages, there's two different ones, okay? And we see this in passages like this. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. The fear of the Lord, okay? Humbling, recognizing He's God, I'm not, and looking to him. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. And we're going to look at, you have a Christian way of thinking that's characterized by dependence. And we have a non-Christian way that's characterized by independence. What I want to do this time and then, Lord willing, in two weeks, is focus on the unbeliever. But I just want to point out something. We see it in passages like this. There's two ways of thinking, two ways of living. One that's dependent upon God, that looks to him and to his word, and the other that says, I can figure it out on my own. And my point is this, just to kind of show you one of the implications of where we're going, is a lot of people think apologetics is where we lay out enough evidence so that people, because maybe they're ignorant and don't understand enough, they can then weigh that evidence, and they'll see, and then the end of all their wisdom and knowledge and looking will be that they'll fear God. Is that what that verse says? Does that verse say that the fear of the Lord is the end of weighing knowledge independently apart from God? Or does that say the way you get to knowledge is by first bowing your knee and saying, it's not in me? You see this? It has huge implications. Because when it comes to talking with folks that don't know the Lord, what we think their problem is is going to determine how we argue. I hate to use the word argue, but you know what I mean. How we engage them, right? It's just going to be on a very different level. We'll get to the practicals as we go on. But the point is there's these two ways. And guys we see this in the scriptures all over think about Luke 10 where Jesus Pastor Josh preached on this. I don't remember when but it was a really good sermon, but Jesus rejoicing when the 12 came back from the Casting out demons and stuff or the 70. I think it was but anyway, the point is look at what it says here Jesus says in the same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said now think about what Jesus is saying here Okay, I thank you father Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and Revealed them to little children. Yes father for such was your gracious will a lot of people struggle with Clearly Jesus is praising God for his sovereignty there. Okay, my point listen to Pastor Josh's sermon audio on that was really good, okay? Yes, Jesus is praising God for his sovereignty there, but the point I want us to emphasize, okay? If you struggle with God's sovereignty, you can talk to me afterwards. The point I want you to focus on is this, okay? These things are hidden from who? Those that the world sees as wise and understanding, learned people. The people who have all the knowledge that we would think are the ones that don't see it. but the ones who do see it are the what? Little children. Little children, okay? See, the point is it's not because of something innate in them. That's why Jesus praises God for his sovereignty, and we should too. Because guys, if God wasn't sovereignly opening people's eyes and revealing it to children, none of us would be saved, okay? So just understand that. But the point I want you to see is Jesus is saying here that it's absolutely, Revelation is absolutely necessary. If God didn't reveal himself to us, we're in the dark. That's the point. That's the point. And that's why it's so important where he goes on to say all things. So it's not even just religious truth or what say all things have been handed over to me by my father. No one knows who the son is except the father or who the father is except the son and anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. So revelation from the from God is essential. Okay, absolutely essential. It's not a matter of some people just don't know enough, okay? And if you can give enough evidence, then that's all it takes. Guys, they need revelation, and only God can open hearts, okay? Which is why I think about this, guys. Think of the passage of 1 Peter, okay? Does he tell us that we're responsible to persuade people to the gospel? No, we're responsible, we're required, we're to be faithful in what? Being prepared to make a defense, okay? We're not accountable for persuasion, okay? Why? Because you can't. You can't persuade anybody into the kingdom, okay? Now, and that's why, think about it, that's why calling him, to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this, child, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. My point is this, guys. Until people will bow the knee and look to God, they'll never be saved. God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I mean, this principle is everywhere through scripture. This is the most vital thing, is that we bow our knees, recognize there is a God and I'm not him, and we look to God. We look to God. This is very, very basic. And so that's what we see, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom instruction. Why do they despise it? Because they refuse to submit to the Lord. That's what we're gonna see again and again and again. There's gonna be a lot of passages today because we live and breathe in a society, even many Christian societies in our day, that think you can know a lot of things apart from God. I mean, even the idea that most people, most unbelievers' problem is just they don't have enough knowledge. Guys, that is nowhere in the Bible. Think about this. How many times in the Bible, okay, how many times in the Bible will you find, where in the Bible will you find the best argument for God's existence? Let's say, before we say what the best one is, that's subjective, let's just say how many times in the Bible does the Bible give us an argument for God's existence? You guys know? Anybody? Got a guess? There's zero. There's not one place where it gives an argument for God's existence. Think about the first verse. In the beginning, God. And it doesn't have a little footnote that says, you know, we know God exists because of blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. In fact, we're not going to look at it today, but if you want to read ahead, read Romans 1, 18, really 18 through 22, but 18 through the end of the chapter, but Romans 1, 18 through 22, and see what people know about God. Unbelievers, okay? We're gonna look at that, Lord willing, in a couple weeks, but the point is, there's these two approaches to life, these two approaches to thinking, these two approaches to morality. One is dependent on God, we're gonna look at that, Lord willing, in a couple weeks, or three weeks, and then what we're gonna see today is the the trying to live independently, like you don't need God, which is the natural, normal way for the unbeliever, which is why 1 Corinthians 2 says that the natural man, the unbeliever, can he understand the things of God? What does that verse say? 1 Corinthians 2, 14, I don't have it. The natural man cannot understand the things of God, okay? And so, but we'll look at some of the others. Look at 1 Corinthians 1 21 says, for in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom. Okay. This is what I want you to see. So human wisdom, what we think of as wisdom guys, God calls foolishness because it doesn't lead to God leads away from God. Okay. And so through the wisdom of God, which is true wisdom. Okay. The world did not know God through wisdom. It pleased God through the folly, the foolishness of what we preach to save those who believe. So the point is, guys, is the preaching. Why? Because the preaching of the word of God, when the Holy Spirit unites that and gives faith to believe and to trust, that's the bowing of the knee. That's the recognizing there's a God. That's a, see, the whole way of salvation requires faith, not smarts, not smarts, okay? And so there's these two ways. Now, we're gonna look at Colossians 2, and then we'll look at several other passages, but Colossians 2 is an important one. He says here in verse 1, for I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery. Now, when you read the word mystery in the Bible, what's a mystery? Is it a, let me say it this way, is it a, like a mystery novel where you gotta figure it out with your own thinking? No, at this point, that's not it. A mystery in the Bible, the New Testament talks about mysteries all the time, is something mankind would never come up with on their own. that God has to reveal it for us to know it. That the Gentiles would be children of Abraham. I mean, there's various things that are mysteries. And so the point he says, he says this assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery. And then he says, what is this mystery? Which is Christ. So here's Christ. And then he says, in whom, who's the whom? Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And so deposited in the person of Christ is all the wisdom of knowledge, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, okay? So think about all these verses that go along with that. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, okay? In God's light, we see light, okay? 1 Corinthians 1, I think, says that Jesus is our wisdom, okay? So the point is, is all wisdom and knowledge are deposited in Christ. If we want to have true knowledge and wisdom, it has to be related to Jesus. To avoid Jesus in your thinking is to be misled, to be untruthful, to be spiritually dead. My point is, is that how most even Christians think today? You can't have true knowledge and wisdom apart from relating everything to Jesus. Guys, if Christians thought that, there would be no Christians in the public school ever. I'm not getting into the debate of why and how and all those sorts of things, but truths are not taught in the government schools and how every truth relates to Jesus. It's just not. In fact, that's why these things have huge implications to education. That's not my point, but my point is to say, almost every Christian in our day thinks there's facts about the world that you don't really need Jesus to know about. And you can make a good living and you can do fine, but and then there's spiritual religious truth that you need Jesus and the Bible for. And as long as the schools are just preparing you for life, I mean, things that don't really matter and deal with God, then that's fine to send you there. See, what's the problem with that? What part of your life doesn't matter and deal with God? None. That's the biggest problem with thinking that way, is it trains one to think, I don't need God most of my life. It trains people. That is the definition of the world, is living as if there's no God. And my point is, guys, it's not just a public school. That's just an easy, I think, example to see. My point is to say, this is the air we breathe. It's to think there's facts about the world, that you don't need the spirit of God for, and there's wisdom and truth, religious stuff that we need Jesus for. And we can keep them separate, they're not, okay? And remember, we talked last time, do unbelievers sometimes get things right? When they're inconsistent, yeah. Do Christians always get everything right? Are Christians ever wrong? Yeah, when they're inconsistent, okay? Or misunderstand God's word, okay? The point is you have Christians who are wrong or in falsehood, but it's when they're inconsistent. When they're consistent and dependent upon God, they'll be in truth. And the unbeliever, if they're consistent, would not have any And we're gonna get into why that's true, not have any truth or knowledge. Now, let me go on. So he goes on to say, and then he says, I say this. Why does he tell us that in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge? I say this so no one may delude you with plausible arguments. And NIV translates that persuasive arguments, okay? I think King James is enticing words. See, the point is, Does it seem pretty plausible that you don't really need Jesus to know about the War of 1812? That you don't really need Jesus to know about geometry? But what did Paul just say so that we wouldn't be deluded with plausible arguments? He just said, in Jesus is deposited how much wisdom and knowledge? All. Why? So that you wouldn't be deluded by plausible, persuasive, enticing arguments. Then he goes on to say, therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. How do you receive Christ Jesus as Lord? By your own wisdom and cunning and thinking and insight going to Him. It's by faith, by trusting in Him, His Word. As you've received Him, so walk in Him. This is how we live. And that leads to what? Being rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. And then he says, and so the point is, the way we grow and mature and are established in the faith is the same way we come to Christ. It's by bowing the knee as little children, recognizing there's a God and I'm not Him. This world, I can't figure out on my own. I need God and His truth, His word to know. I need God to know what's good and what's evil. I mean, if you've ever talked with very secular, educated people, OK? I mean, they'll think you're dumb. Why? Because it's like a child. And children are dumb. I mean, and I'm not trying to be mean. I'm just saying they have to learn. You get what I'm saying? And I'm just saying. Educated, secular people, that's what they look at it as, okay? And so understand these are, but guys, that's what God's word calls us to, to bow the knee and look to God as Lord, okay? And then he says, see to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit according to human tradition, according to elemental spirits of the world and not according to Christ. And so the question I want you to think about is this, Is Paul right here, he mentions philosophy. Is he against all philosophy? No. Philosophy, anybody know what philosophy means? Are you saying it, Kate? Oh, I thought I heard him say it. Philosophy. So philo, I don't know, but that's the word for love. Sophie, Sophia, word for? wisdom, so philosophy, love, wisdom, it's the love of wisdom, okay? So is Paul against wisdom? What's deposited in the person of Jesus, guys? The treasure of what? All wisdom and knowledge is deposited in Christ. So he's not against all philosophy, okay? He's against philosophy, wisdom, that what? Two things there that are according to human tradition, okay, and that are according to the elemental spirits of the world, elementary principles of the world, okay, which is the principles of the fool. We'll look at more in a couple weeks, but it's the idea that we can figure out life on our own, okay. And so think about, what I want us to think about is this, vain thinking, okay, empty deceit. What makes thinking vain? I want you to see this, because this is so everywhere in the scriptures, but yet we don't tend to think this way as modern folks. Vain thinking is thinking that is not in accord with God's word in regard to anything. Look at some of these passages. In Deuteronomy 32, when Moses finished speaking all these words to all Israel, so he just gave the law, he said to them, take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that you may be careful to do all the words of this law. And he says, for it is no empty word. It's no vain word. Why? Why was it not a vain word? Because it came from God. Which, understand the implication then, is if a word doesn't come from God, it's not in accord with God, then what is it? It's vain. It's empty. And then he says, but it's your very life. And by this word you shall live long in the day, in the land, that you are going over to the Jordan to possess it. Here's in Acts 4. It says, for it is no empty word, I'm sorry, for through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, and then he quotes Psalm 2, why did the Gentiles rage and the peoples plot in vain? Who are the Gentiles? Who here is a Gentile? Trick question. Because when he says Gentiles there, Gentiles is in contrast to what? To Jews. And so in the Old Testament you had God's people were the Jewish people, the heathens, the pagans, the enemies of God were the Gentiles. But when you come to the New Testament we find that oftentimes, again context determines, but oftentimes Gentiles is just used for unbelievers. And Jews is used often for just believers, not talking about any ethnicity. So he says, why did the Gentiles, the pagans, the unbelievers, those who don't belong, who aren't in covenant with God, why do they rage? And the people's plot in vain. So they plan things, but it's what? It's not in accord with God's word. It's in vain. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 20, again, Contrasting these two things, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise. Is he talking about actually wise people? The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise. He's talking about people in this world according to the human traditions, the elemental spirits, the elemental principles of this world who have that kind of worldly wisdom. So he says, the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise. What are they? That they're futile. They're empty. They amount to nothing. And we're going to look at why these things are so. 1 Timothy says, the aim of our charge, the goal of God's word there in the epistle of 1 Timothy, is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion. So you wander away from God's word. And then they what? Desiring to be teachers of the law. So these are even teachers in the church, but they did what? They swerved from God's word. Desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or of the things of which they make confident assertions. So our unbelievers, people with worldly wisdom, are they confident often or do they realize that they don't know much? Confident. Confident assertions, but what do they know? without understanding. We see that right there. At the end of Timothy, he says, Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. There's God's word again. Avoid irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. See, there is knowledge apart from Christ, guys. Falsely called knowledge. It's not real knowledge. It's worldly wisdom. By professing it, some have swerved from the faith. Andrew was talking about Ken Ham has a thing about, I can't remember what it was, what you were saying about standing. It's an apologetics thing. Will they stand? But Ken Ham put out years ago about the amount of people who grow up in the church and who they profess it for a while, but then they go off to college and they swerve from the faith. And it's a really good thing to think through why that is. But again, I would say one of the hugest things is where do we look for wisdom? Where do we look for truth? Where do we look for these things? Are we looking to God and his word? Is that what they teach at state universities? You go to a biology class and they say, all right, and I'm not saying the Bible should be a biology textbook, but you get my point. Do they start by saying, well, let's look and see what God's word says? That's falsely called now. Anyway, I have to go on. He says, in 2 Timothy, he says, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness. And so we see there, again, just this principle of staying strong, staying close to God's Word, because if you don't, it leads to what? Futile. Futility. Emptiness. Vainness. OK? Well, he says in another place in Timothy to shun foolish controversies, which we'll get into some of that. It's not, I would argue, just a basic question. He's not just talking about, like, So what's irreverent is not recognizing proper authorities, proper spheres. I mean, I would say that's what irreverence would be. And then Babel is just, I mean, again, kids, help us understand that. But it's very similar to foolish controversy. These are not just dumb questions. These are things that are coming from a fool's perspective, a biblical fool's perspective, which we'll look at more next time. Titus says that pastors need to what? They must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction and sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Every pastor has to, that's our qualification, that every pastor, he has to know the word of God and be able to teach and be able to rebuke those who contradict it. Why? For there are many who are insubordinate. What's insubordinate mean? Not recognizing proper authority. What's the fundamental proper authority? There's a God and you ain't Him. He made you. He owns you. You owe Him everything. For you to not look to Him is insubordinate. My point is, guys, that's the heart of the insubordinate. That leads to vain, futile, foolishness. And he says, there it is again, empty talkers and deceivers. You'll notice this, it leads to deception, principally self-deception. If you've ever talked to somebody who doesn't think they need, they are self-deceived. And again, we're going to look at this more next time, but see those two things go together. Empty deceit, these things is vain. Here it is again, Ephesians 5 verse 6, let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon those sons of disobedience. My point is, look at the warning. Let no one deceive you. How are they going to deceive you? With empty words, with words that are opposed to the word of God, that are not in accord with it. And that leads to a deception of opposing God. So here's my point that I wanted to emphasize today, and then Lord willing, in two weeks, we'll follow up to look at who the fool is. Because this thinking, this thinking, I don't need God, this insubordinate type thinking leads to a very specific kind of thinking and living that the Bible talks about very, very clearly. And so I want to look at that. But this helps us understand that every, you could argue every religious controversy, What I want you to understand is this comes down to authority. How do we know what's true and what's right and what's good? How do we know? I mean, my point is, what I'm hoping you can begin to see, and I know I'm jumping ahead a little bit, but I'm hoping you can begin to see it, because we haven't looked at the Christian kind of thinking and living. We're just looking at the non-Christian type of thinking and living. And it's dependent. It's insubordinate. leads to vain thinking and words. It leads to self-deception. But who does he think the authority is in his life? The unbeliever. Yes, themselves. God can't tell me what to do. I'm not going to bow my knee before him. I can do what I want. I mean, that's what we need to see. And so whereas the Christian, what is the ultimate authority? It's God's Word. The London Baptist Confession, guys. The authority of the Holy Scripture. That's why, remember when I said that the Bible is the foundation that we build everything on, but it's also what? It's also attacked. Incessantly attacked by culture. Why? Because it is the authority. Okay? And so, listen to what the Confession says, and this is the same as the Westminster, I believe this paragraph is the exact same. The authority of the Holy Scriptures obligates belief in them. You have to believe the Bible. Why? Why does the Bible have authority over you and every person in this world? Because it's God's Word. Now, do unbelievers like that answer? But that, I mean, that's the answer. And that goes on. This authority does not depend on the testimony of any person or church, but on God the author alone, who is truth itself. Therefore, the scriptures are to be received because they are the word of God. Every person, if they don't recognize God's word is God's word, they're insubordinate. They're prideful. They're full of themselves. They're trying to be self-sufficient and independent living in God's world on their own terms. And guys, it's vain, it's futile, it doesn't work. Last passage, okay? This is an important one though. Ephesians 4 says, Who are the Gentiles again? Unbelievable. He says don't walk, don't live like the Gentiles do. How do the Gentiles live? in the futility of their minds. Okay? Then he says what? They are darkened in their understanding. Why are they darkened in their understanding? Where do you get light? In God's light, we have light. When you turn from that light, where does that leave you? In the dark. See? They're darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them. And it's really important, guys. Is it a sin to be ignorant? If I took a rope right here and I threw it at Joseph and said, tie a bowline knot, could you do it? You could? That's good. I did it to Nathan. Could you tie? Couldn't do it. Is that a sin that he can't tie a bowline knot? That's maybe a debatable one, but no, I'm just kidding. Is it a sin that he's ignorant of how to tie a bowline knot? So that's not a sin to not know something. Do you understand? But understand guys, what's the ignorance of the unbeliever due to? Is it just due to lack of knowledge? Lack of evidence? What's it due to? Hardness of heart. I will not bow my knee to God. I will live and think and do how I want. I'm the authority in my life. Guys, just understand how wicked that is. We don't give in and meet a person on those terms. and seek to persuade them on their terms. I'm getting ahead of where we're going, but the point is we just need to understand that their problem is not they just need some more information. Their problem is they have a wicked heart that's alienated from the life of God and they're in the dark. There's no amount of evidence you could give them that's gonna turn a light on for them. There's none. And we'll look and see specifically what has to happen and how we can be Lord-willing conduits to help facilitate, to be used of God, to bring the gospel. But we need to recognize where people are apart from Christ. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. If you refuse to acknowledge God in your thinking, you'll refuse to acknowledge God in your living. And in fact, most people don't want to come to God in their thinking because of how they're living. Because they know that they're not living according to it. So let's pray and ask God to give us grace to understand these truths and to help these truths to help us to be better witnesses for Christ. Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you for who you are. Lord, we recognize what a treasure your word is. We recognize what a treasure Christ is. And so Lord, help us to truly recognize that in your son has deposited the treasure of all wisdom and knowledge. Help us to look to Christ, help us to be dependent upon him for all things. Lord, we're again so grateful for the gospel, that we can be made right with you. We're thankful for the Holy Spirit, who's enlightening and opening hearts and minds all over the world, even to this day. And we just pray, Lord, that you would help us to understand these truths, that they would be applied in our own lives that we would be dependent upon you and live our lives in a way that would honor and glorify you and that you would use us to further your kingdom in this world. So help us with that and we pray in Jesus name, amen.