Why We Can Believe the Bible and What it Means for Us - Purity 1243

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning! Today's photo of the last light of day fading on the horizon and reflected in the waters of the Skodak Creek and the Hudson River down the road a piece comes to us from yours truly as I was moved to get out of my car and capture this twilight time moment at the end of the workday yesterday. Well, it's Tuesday, and I'm happy to announce that another Freedom in Christ course has begun. Last night I had the honor of introducing myself and the course to men all across the country, and one in Canada, by explaining why it is perfectly reasonable to believe that the Bible is God's message to the people he created. As the course points out, we can believe the Bible is God's word because of its historical accuracy. Archeology confirms the things that the Bible tells us existed. Sodom and Gomorrah, the Hittites, and even places written about in the New Testament have all been rediscovered by archaeologists, proving God's word is true. We can also believe it's true because of its fulfilled prophecies. What the Bible says comes to pass, from prophecies about future judgments like the city of Tyre in Ezekiel 26, and all the things said about the coming Messiah that were fulfilled in Jesus. The Bible is proven to be a supernatural revelation because its prophecies come to pass, and we can believe it because of the resurrection of Jesus is credible. Entire books outside of the Bible have examined the testimony of Scripture and his other historical accounts and have the— have determined that Jesus's death and resurrection are true historical events. And, um, the church— another reason we can believe the Bible is the church never stopped growing. The body of Christ growing indicates that the Bible is God's word. We would expect his follow— you know, God's followers to increase, and it has. And I'm sharing a link from research.lifeway.com to give you the latest indications from an article in 2022 that shows The church continues to grow, even though in the West it might not seem so. And we would— we can believe that the Bible is true because it continues to change lives today, like mine. The reason I blog and podcast is to tell people that the Bible is true. Jesus is Lord, and he came to set the captives free. Jesus came to give us peace with God and an abundant life spent in his presence, where we can experience love, joy, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, patience, and self-control in the most unlikely of places in our lives, here and now. And that's where the difference in the Freedom in Christ course lies. It's not intended to be an academic class. It is intended to be a repentance process where the participants learn and agree with what God's Word says about them, where they develop a relationship with God and walk free of the spiritual and personal conflicts they are carrying— were carrying— to walk into the future unshackled from their false beliefs, pride, rebellion, generational curses, sins, and unforgiveness. But in order to experience it, to experience their freedom in Christ, they have to understand that God's word is true and to be willing willing to apply its truth to the way they live their lives. Before we started, one of the men asked me if this was a beginner's course because of the fact that Lesson 1 was teaching on why we can believe the Bible, to which I explained that the course is progressive and the first step is to know that the Bible is true, with the implication that they would progressively start living according to its truth. In all the aspects of their lives. I'm not talking about some nominal or intellectual belief that the Bible is a quote-unquote "good book." I'm talking about God's message to us and how it— if it is His message, we must be open to receiving it and demonstrating we have received His message by living according to it. Receiving a message from the Creator of life itself should grab your attention and cause you to obey it. If we don't hear the Bible's call on our lives to action, we have failed to receive God's message. Christ gave us the Great Commission. So, are we making disciples and living for God's kingdom, or are we doing something less than that? Are we consumed with God's plan for our lives, or are we busy and distracted with our own plans, ideas, and selfish pursuits? So, it's a simple lesson, but there is nothing simple or easy about the implication of what it teaches. If the Bible is true, and we will be, and we will be accountable for what it says, how can we do anything less than studying what it says and trying to connect with the God who wrote it by living according to its truth? So, for 10 men, The journey has begun. It was supposed to be 12. We had one no-show and one who got the time wrong and who couldn't see the Zoom link that was included in all the class correspondence, proving that even though you might get the call to pursue our freedom in Christ, it doesn't mean that you will answer it. To find your freedom in Christ, you have to seek the Lord and overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil to find it. While I am encouraged that 10 men showed up, I know that the battle has only just begun, and that unless they earnestly seek the Lord and what He has to give them through this course, more could fall away as their pride, sin, rebellion, or the spiritual forces of darkness will convince them that they don't need what this course has to offer or that they "already know it," and they will walk away unchanged. So wherever you are in your walk, keep on walking and talking with God, because if you are not progressing in the pathway of peace, uh, pathway to peace, it indicates that you've gone astray or are trying to accomplish things in your own strength. Life transformation comes through the Author of Life, so seek him, find him, and live free. Today's Bible verses come to us from the Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling by John G. Cruis. This morning's meditation verses come from Matthew 8, and the verses are 23 through 27. And the word of God says, and we got— and when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves. But he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, Save us, Lord; we are perishing. And he said to them, Why are you afraid, O you of little faith? Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

And the men marveled, saying, What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?

Today's verses fall under the 13th point of our Counseling Reference Guide's resource section on Comfort. And that 13th point is: Jesus rebuked the disciples. The disciples for their little faith and calmed the storm. Today's verses clearly demonstrate that Jesus is God and that we are secure in Christ. We have to forgive the disciples for their fear. Have you ever been on the ocean or a large body of water like the Sea of Galilee? Drowning is an ever-present danger. If you are in the— if you go in the water, you might not get out again. The ocean and seas were associated with death in the ancient world, and the dangers of traveling over water should be taken seriously. So I get why the disciples were freaking out in the storm. I would have been freaking out in the storm. And when they encounter Jesus sleeping through it, they were— are incredulous toward their fearless leader because they can't comprehend how he could be without fear. But one word from Jesus calms the storm. And shows them that he is no ordinary man, has power, and knows something they don't. Jesus is God, and he knows that there is life on the other side of death. There is God's kingdom out there, and when we— you— when you have been accepted into it, there is no reason to fear. After Jesus was resurrected, these scared men went fearlessly into the earth and and toward their martyrs' deaths proclaiming Jesus and the kingdom of God, because they understood when we are a part of Christ's royal family, we have eternal life and death itself is not to be feared. These men of little faith would become men of great faith because they learned through this episode and Christ's resurrection that what Jesus said was true, and they were safe with him in whatever storms they would face. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org, where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we continue sharing from According to Your Word: Morning and Evening Through the New Testament by Stephen F. Alford, which is a collection of devotional journals from 1940 and '41. And as I explained yesterday, basically this is just sort of Bible study notes, as this resource, you know, encourages you to read the Word of God and makes a couple insights every day. So the reading for today would be Matthew 2. I invite you to check out Matthew 2 if you have the time, but our resource basically highlights verse Matthew 2:11.. And the Word of God says, and you know, basically it's— it— there are dot dot dots in between what I'm reading here. So, um, you know, if you read Matthew 2:11, there's words in between. Um, but the Word of God says in our resource, when they saw the young child, they fell down and worshiped him. Matthew 2:11. And our author writes, Stephen Alford, writes, um, Paul says, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh.

1 Timothy 3:16.

The young child, God manifest in the flesh. Is it any wonder the wise men worshiped? They fell down and worshiped him. Notice how they— notice how often men fell at the feet of Jesus. And birth— in verse 11, they fell down at his birth. They fell down, they fell on their faces at his transfiguration, Matthew 17:6. They fell down and held him by the feet at his resurrection, Matthew 28:9. And I fell at his feet as dead at his glorification in Revelation 1:17. There are even more occasions, but at each they felt in, they fell in worship, wonder, and awe. And so that's what we should do. That's not Alford's stuff, that's me. Fall down at His feet and worship Him and follow Him. Alford closes his little devotional notes here by giving the prayer, "Lord, give me these visions by faith that I may similarly worship." And that concludes our sharing from Alford's devotional notes. And like I said, they indicate that we should have reverence toward our Lord and worship Him. And the best way we worship the Lord is not at a worship service or even screaming hallelujah and raising our hands and singing loudly, although those are definitely good ways to do it. But it's in the simple agreement of following and studying His word and following Him with the way we live our lives and proclaiming the truth wherever we go, over ourselves and over others, to encourage people to find the truth and live. And that's what this blog and podcast is all about, is to encourage people, because I was lost and once, you know, once lived in darkness, and now I've been found and been liberated from my addictions and the bondages that I was held in. And discovered that a life of Christian discipleship was possible, that you can live in the context of faith all the time, in the presence of the Lord all the time. That's what living in the Kingdom of God means. It means we live according to God's truth and try to, you know, do His will on the earth. We surrender to it. So I invite you to surrender and follow the Lord. As we, as we will do it on the road today, uh, when we go to work, and, uh, you know, later tonight when study, uh, in prayer and Bible study with my wife, and then I go to sleep.

Um, and the life is simple and it's good and, um, it's glorious actually, the things I'm allowed to do because of the Lord.

The fact that I who didn't like public speaking, do a blog or a podcast and teach a class, facilitate a class, lead a ministry is miraculous.

Believe me when I say that. I used to live alone in the basement, you know, basically that was my man cave in the basement with alcohol, drugs, and TV. All the stuff and my sin was ever there. But I was, I was taken out of the darkness and brought to this glorious light of freedom in Christ. And until I'm brought into eternity, I'll be telling people about it. That's the commitment.

I'm not telling you to follow me, although I do appreciate followers on Facebook and Twitter and all that. Um, I'm telling, I'm telling you to follow the Lord, and we can encourage one another as we go.

So let's do that.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you so much for the goodness of this life that you've given us in Christ. Lord, we pray for anyone who's listening or reading today's message, that you come alongside them and their prayer request and their walk of faith. Lord, uh, we all need your help, so we pray for you to help them. Lord, I'm selfish. I want your help too. I need it every day. I need to be reminded of my self-worth in Christ and my purpose on this earth to do what I need to do, but to always follow and worship you. Lord, so help me to see the things you want me to see. Open my eyes to what you want me to see and lead me in the way I should go today. Help me to be, um, be a good representative for your kingdom.

Help me to, um, to do that, to do what I can, uh, to solve the problems that face me today and to do it in peace. So Lord, we just thank you, we praise you, we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.