Religious text

To think only of victory and not of the dark road that must be walked before the victorious picture emerges.

And that is what Jesus told those two men as they studied Scripture.

Was it not necessary? The word necessary carries with it the thought of inevitability.

You should have assumed the suffering, for God had already foretold these things.

Indeed, that is the witness of the First Testament.

Before the glory, before the ultimate victory, before the morning breaks, and before resurrection, there must be a cross.

Indeed, what are you thinking when the events of Jerusalem surprised you rather than fulfilled all your expectations? You should have believed not just your favorite Scriptures, but all of Scripture.

How foolish you have been not to take all of Scripture into consideration.

Welcome to the First 15 Podcast.

[gentle music] Our scripture for today comes from Ephesians 5:14.

Scripture says, "For anything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!'" All throughout scripture, God reiterates a consistent, powerful metaphor: light and dark.

Scripture depicts darkness as that which is without God and light as that which has God in it.

As children of light, it's vital for us to dive deeply into this concept of light and dark, that we might experience the fullness of all God has made available to us.

We must accept that both light and dark exist, that we can engage with both and learn what it is to choose light at every turn.

He shaped you.

And it, the Scripture says He will be your guide.

David cries out in ecstasy, Psalm 139:14 and verse 14 and 15, "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Marvelous are your works and that they m- my soul knows well." Think about it.

And so don't get yourself into the place where you are trying to explain.

There are parts of our faith, all right, many parts that are explainable from Scripture.

In fact, for the most part, but there are many things that has to be received by faith.

If somebody listens to what I'm saying here, and this is extremely important, extremely important.

You're going to work to earn your sustenance.

On the other hand, Scripture has a lot to say about lazy people.

Proverbs says, poor is he who works with a negligent hand.

It also says the soul of the lazy person craves but gets nothing.

The Talmud is a codification of Jewish tradition and law.

And it has a very interesting prayer that was prayed by the scribes.

Scribe, you remember, was a person who devoted his entire life to studying Scripture.

That's all he did in his life, and he was supported by the Jewish community to do nothing but study the law.

Scripture reminds us to guard our hearts and minds so that we may focus on the peace of God in every situation.

Today on Telling the Truth, we'll hear from Stuart Briscoe about looking to God's word for true peace.

You'll hear that message in just a moment.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent and praiseworthy, think about such things.

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me or seen in me, put into practice, and the God of peace will be with you.

Now, there's a very straightforward, really quite startling passage of Scripture.

Notice it gives us some very definite instructions, and it gives us two monumental promises that are relevant for all of us at all times.

Now, we're going to be talking about the fact that we need to learn how to handle our anxieties.

Right.

So so looking at outward appearance, I mean, Scripture even talks about what happens with outward appearance.

And now that we've been married, as long as we've been married, we get that on both sides.

Right.

There's a whole nother episode.

This is part one of two parts of this finding what matters.

And really, ultimately, when we're talking about what am I looking for in a spouse, what am I looking for in a relationship, Scripture says a man who finds a wife finds a good thing, so we're trying to find what matters.

We're trying to find something that's important, but we've got to continue our conversation in the next episode.

Let's watch this video clip of Bill Johnson.

As we watch each little segment, we're going to correct it from Scripture not only the bad doctrine, but also he's going to make a claim that is just a demonstrable lie.

And we'll see that in just a moment.

But first, let's listen to Bill Johnson as he teaches us on the presence of God.

It's meaningless.

That's not what seeking first the kingdom of God means.

These people take verses of Scripture, isolate them from their context, and they read into whatever meaning, whatever their predisposed, preconceived theology is into the text.

They shoehorn their own theology into the Word of God.

I will arise and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture move with us in sundry places to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness, and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of Almighty God our Heavenly Father, but confess them with an humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart, to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same by His infinite goodness and mercy.

And although we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God, Yet ought we chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together, to render thanks for the great benefits that we have received at his hands, to set forth his most worthy praise, to hear his most holy word, and to ask those things which are requisite and necessary, as well for the body as the soul.

Wherefore I pray and beseech you, as many as are here present, to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice, unto the throne of the heavenly grace, saying