THE DOCTRINE OF GOD - CHAPTER # 3

GOODNESS OF GOD !!!!!!
MARK 10:18 - Only God is completely good in His nature and actions. His goodness includes all the positive moral attributes such as grace, patience, and kindness.
ILLUSTRATION: When the rich young ruler called Jesus "Good Master," Jesus reminded him that only God could be properly referred to as "good" (verse 18). The good that exists in the world around us truly reflects or expresses the goodness of God (GENESIS 1:10). There is no other source of true good." When God revealed His name to Moses, He described Himself as being "abundant in goodness" (EXODUS 34:6).
APPLICATION: - The goodness of God is illustrated daily in our lives by the many good things that add comfort and enjoyment (JAMES 1:17). Christians should be careful not to take these gifts for granted. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:10; Primary Reference, MARK 10:18; EPHESIANS 2:8).

JUSTICE OF GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!
ACTS 17:31 - The justice of God is the active extension of the holiness of God into matters of decision. It implies that God has the authority and ability to establish the standard for all relationships and that He will be consistent in relating to His obedient and disobedient creatures. The justice of God is both legislative and distributive.
ILLUSTRATION: When Abraham attempted to prevent the destruction of Sodom, he appealed to God's justice: he knew the judge of all the earth would do right (GENESIS 18:25). 
APPLICATION: So today, everyone can have confidence that God will deal with him justly, but the believe may additionally plead God's mercy. (First Reference, GENESIS 3:14; Primary Reference, ACTS 17:31; MARK 10:18).


TRUTH OF GOD !!!!!!!!!!!!
JOHN 14:6 - The word truth is used in Scripture in two ways: true as contrasted with false; and genuine as contrasted with unreal. Although both apply to God, when we speak of the truth of God, normally His genuineness is contrasted with false gods of other religions. The Scriptures in this sense declare Him "the only true God" (JOHN 17:3). ILLUSTRATION: When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, he challenged them to evaluate the genuineness of the Lord and of Baal (1 KINGS 18:21). The true God answered by fire. APPLICATION: Because the Lord is God, we are obligated to Him in all He demands. (First Reference, DEUTERONOMY 32:4; Primary Reference, JOHN 14:6; ACTS 17:31). 


HOLINESS OF GOD !!!!
LEVITICUS 19:2 __The Hebrew word translated "holiness" comes from a root meaning "to separate or cut off." The primary meaning of holiness implies God's positive quality of self-affirming purity; the secondary meaning implies separation, particularly separation from sin. The holiness of God means He is absolutely pure and absolutely separate from (and above) all His creatures, and also separate from sin and evil. 
ILLUSTRATION: Because God is holy, all sin is offensive to Him. For this reason He had to break fellowship with His own Son when Jesus became our sin-bearer (MATTHEW 27:46). Only through the identification of Christ with our sin as our sacrifice can we be reconciled to God.
APPLICATION: When the Scriptures mention the holiness of God, they also stress the personal holiness of His people. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:4; Primary Reference, LEVITICUS 19:2; JOHN 14:6).  

IMMUTABILITY OF GOD !!!
JAMES 1:17 __Since all changes are either for the better or for the worse, God is unchanging because He is perfect and cannot get better nor become worse. The Scriptures describe God's nature, will, and character as immutable or unchanging. ILLUSTRATION: To be immutable, however, does not mean to be immobile. God also has the qualities of personality and can act, think, create, and make decisions.
APPLICATION: God is unchanging; therefore, Christians can depend on His love and power, because God has not changed since biblical times. (First Reference, PSALM 9:7; Primary Reference, JAMES 1:17; LEVITICUS 19:2).  


LOVE OF GOD !!!!!!
JOHN 3:16 _Love is both an attribute of God and a description of His being. He alone is the epitome of divine love and the source of all true love. His love is unconditional and consistently seeks the highest good of the one who is loved.
ILLUSTRATION: God's love was clearly demonstrated at Calvary when Jesus died for all our sins (1 JOHN 3:1).
APPLICATION: Because God first loved us, we ought to love others as well (1 JOHN 4:11).
(First Reference, GENESIS 2:16, 17; Primary Reference, JOHN 3:16; JAMES 1:17).  

WISDOM OF GOD !!!!!
PROVERBS 9:1 _The "wisdom of God" is used in three senses in the Scriptures. First, it refers to the higher perspective by which God understands things that man is incapable of understanding (1 CORINTHIANS 1:25). Second, it can refer to the understanding which a Christian should have in life (4:7). Also, wisdom is seen as a type of Christ, who is our wisdom (1 CORINTHIANS 1:30). ILLUSTRATION: When David said Abner died as a fool (2 SAMUEL 3:33), he meant that Abner died because he followed his own intuition, rather than the wisdom of God, which would have saved him. He was killed as he turned aside in the gate of Hebron. Had he entered the city of refuge, as God had instructed, Joab would have been unable to kill him. 
APPLICATION: A wise Christian will obey the wisdom of God. (First Reference, GENESIS 2:16, 17; Primary Reference, PROVERBS 9:1; JOHN 3:16).  

UNITY OF GOD !!!!!
DEUTERONOMY 6:4 _The fundamental concept of the Shema (the name of this passage, which is the first word in Hebrew: Hear!) is that God is one and not many gods. By definition, there can be only one all-powerful, infinite, limitless God. ILLUSTRATION: To speak of more than one supreme, absolute, perfect, and almighty Being is to say something contradictory. There cannot be two absolutes, for than there would be no absolute. 
APPLICATION: By revelation, we know that only Yahweh is that one God. Therefore, nothing in your life should come between you and God. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, DEUTERONOMY 6:4).   


IMMENSITY OF GOD !!!!!!
1 KINGS 8:27 _Applied to God, immensity means that God cannot be limited by space and is in fact beyond space. Space is the area where physical reality (matter) and being (energy) exist, and to that degree is limited. Where space ends, God still persists infinitely beyond all limits. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, 1KINGS 8:27; DEUTERONOMY 6:4). 

SIMPLICITY OF GOD !!!!
1 JOHN 1:5 _Simplicity means that God is not complex, compounded, or divisible in His nature. Simplicity does not deny the three distinct persons of the Trinity. The three distinct persons all share in the same "essence" of God. Neither does this mean that it is easy to understand all that is to be known of God because (1) _sin has a limiting effect upon human understanding, and (2) _man's understanding is finite, whereas God is infinite. APPLICATION: Jesus taught that one must approach God as a little child to be converted (MATTHEW 18:3). (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1, Primary Reference, 1 JOHN 1:5; 1 KINGS 8:27).     


ANTHROMORPHISMS !!!!
GENESIS 4:14__16 _Adam hid from Yahweh in shame and guilt (3:8); now Cain must hide himself. From thy face shall I be hid is a passive verb from ("I must hide myself from your face"), and is part of his curse. Every one is "anyone" finding me"; it looks to the idea of blood revenge for this death and anticipates other murders. 

DEFINITION OF GOD !!!!
JOHN 4:24 _John gives three description of God. He is Spirit (JOHN 4:24), love (1 JOHN 4:8), and light (1 JOHN 1:5). God is a spiritual being who is invisible and without a body; He is a divine person who reveals Himself in perfect intellect, emotion, and will; He is the source and personification of all material and spiritual life; He is self-existent; He is eternal in relationship to time; He is unlimited in relationship to the immensity of space; He is immutable in His nature; He is the unity of all existence; and He is consistent in His being__that is, He corresponds in actual fact to His nature and attributes as they are revealed to us. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, JOHN 4:24).


NATURE OF GOD !!!!!
1 JOHN 4:8 _The nature of God is His "essence" or His "substance." God's nature includes all that He is that makes Him uniquely God. Any complete definition of God's nature should include the following seven aspects: Spirit, person, life, self-existence, uncangeableness, infinitude, and unity. (See JOHN 4:24 for a definition of God.) Without these things, God would not be God.
ILLUSTRATION: Because God is so difficult to comprehend, Jesus became a Man revealing the essence of the Father and proclaiming truth concerning God (JOHN 1:14, 18). As we read the gospel accounts of the ministry of Christ, it becomes easier for us to understand what God is like.
APPLICATION: The first commandment of the law requires that we love and worship God as He truly is, implying we should study the nature of God (EXODUS 20:3; MATTHEW 22:37, 38). 
(First Reference, GENESIS 1:2; Primary Reference, 1 JOHN 4:8; JOHN 4:24).    


ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD ANTHROPOLOGICAL !!!!!
ROMANS 2:15 _The existence of man as a moral and intellectual being is argument for the existence of a moral and intellectual being called God. This is true because man was created in the image and likeness of God (GENESIS 1:26), and even after the Fall he has the law of God written in his heart (verse 15).
ILLUSTRATION: When people follow God, they often follow of God they see in the lives of others. Paul taught the Corinthians to follow him as he followed the Lord (1 CORINTHIANS 11:1).
APPLICATION: So today, Christians ought to be careful to reflect the character of God in their lives and not become a stumbling block to the gospel. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:26; Primary Reference, ROMANS 2:15; 1 JOHN 4:8).   

 ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD HEBREWS 3:4 _The word ontological comes from the root "being" and is a deductive argument that only indicate the probable existence of God. (See ROMANS 1:20 and PSALM 94:9 for stronger argument.) It reason that the idea of a imperfect human being. Therefore, a perfect and infinite Being who exists must have placed the idea in mankind. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, HEBREWS 3:4; ROMANS 2:15).



TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD !!!!!! PSALM 94:9 _The existence of God is proven by the order and useful arrangement in the universe. The orderly world in which we live clearly demonstrates that a great mind was behind its arrangement. The Scriptures identify God as that great intelligence. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, PSALM 94:9; HEBREWS 3:4).

COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR THE EXISTENCE OF GOD !!!!!!
ROMANS 1:20 _The argument from cause and effect is one logical argument for the existence of God. As everything that exists must have an adequate cause, so an all-powerful and intelligent God is an adequate cause to explain the universe. The Scripture identifies that "cause" as the creative power of God (GENESIS 1:1; ROMANS 1:19__20). (First Reference, GENESIS 1:1; Primary Reference, ROMANS 1:20; PSALM 94:9)

BE STRONG__AND WORK!! - CHAPTER # 2 - CLASSIC SERMONS

GEORGE CAMPBELL MORGAN
(1863-1945) was the son of a British Baptist preacher and preached his first sermon when he was 13 years old. He had no formal training for the ministry, but his tireless devotion to the study of the Bible helped him to become one of the leading Bible teachers of his day. Rejected by the Methodists, he was ordained into the Congregational ministry. He was associated with Dwight L. Moody in the Northfield Bible conference and as an itinerant Bible teacher. He is best known as the pastor of Westminister Chapel, London (1904-17 and 1933-35). During his second term there, he had Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones as his associate.
# 1 __BE Strong__And Work !! _Be strong . . . . saith the Lord . . . and work: for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts (HAGGAI 2:4)
These words were uttered about 2,500 years ago, yet they come to us and to our day with a pertinence that is almost startling. This is not surprising, for our times have much in common with those of the old Hebrew prophets. There are certain senses__the statement must be made and received guardedly__in which the prophetic writings made a profounder appeal to us than do the apostolic writings. Men today know so much more than they do, with the result that they begin to question the things they know. That was the condition in the time of the prophets. Therefore these prophetic writings are powerful in the conditions addressed, in the principles recognized, and in the appeals made. So from this ancient writing of Haggai we take out these words and find that they are living and powerful words, coming to us not faint and far from that Eastern land and that bygone time, but with an immediateness that leads us to feel that they are verily the word of the Lord to us.
  # 2 __In the book of Ezra we have the account of the laying of the stones of the second temple. Because a decree forbidding the work had been obtained from Artaxerxes, the house of God lay waste for fifteen years. It had that almost appalling aspect of desolation, not of a structure battered and bruised and beaten, and in some sense made beautiful by the tempests and time, but of a structure commenced and never finished. At the death of the king this edict lost its authority, but the people did not proceed with the building, citing difficulty, danger, and poverty as reasons. Yet all the while neither danger nor difficulty nor poverty prevented them from building their own house__houses of beauty and luxury. To such a people the messages of Haggai came, and this brief prophecy of only two chapters tells the story of how he delivered these four prophecies in conjunction with Zechariah, and how the people arose and built the house of the Lord.  
# 3 __In our text three things are found with which I propose to deal: first, the need revealed by the command to "work"; second, the responsibility that rested on the people in view of the need; finally, the encouragement given to them to take up that responsibility and meet that need. The need was to build the house of God. The responsibility was that they should be strong and work. The encouragement was the promise and covenant that God made with them: "I am with you, said the Lord of hosts." 
# 4 __The Need for a House of God _The house of God has been neglected. We can imagine men saying: Why building to our children? The question was answered by the prophesyings of Haggai and Zechariah. One supreme answer was given to all such inquiry. It was the answer of the final, fundamental fact of all human life, the fact of God.
# 5 __In one of his sermons at our Mundesley Bible Conference, my friend John A. Hutton said something which those of us who heard him will never forget, and he said it in such a way that we shall never forget. Speaking of the spies who went to spy out the land of Canaan and afterwards described themselves as grasshoppers, Mr Hutton said that those men thought they were looking at the facts of the case, but they were not looking at facts, they were looking at circumstances. He declared that there is but one Fact, and that is God. All other things are circumstances related to that Fact. That is the underlying truth which made necessary the building of the house of God in that bygone age. God is the age-abiding Fact, the ever and everywhere present Fact, and men who forget Him are leaving out of their calculations the supreme quantity, and therefore their findings are inevitably doomed to be wrong.
 # 6 _A science that forgets God is blind, seeing only that which is near, and at last boasting itself that it has no interest in anything that is far. The philosophy that excludes God is equally incomplete, and therefore incompetent. Science starts with emptiness of mind and perfectly proper attitude. Philosophy starts with a question, What is Truth? That is a perfect fair method of operation. But science proceeding to the discovery of the facts will inevitably finally touch God. The question is whether it will dare to call Him God when it finds Him. That philosophy attempts to account for things and to give us the true wisdom of life must take God into account. The question is whether it will ultimately do so or not.
# 7 _The one fact from which there is no escape is that fact of God. God is not distanced from human life. In Him we live and move and have our being (ACTS 17:28). God is not uninterested in human life. If the great revelation of these sacred writings is to be trusted, there is absolutely nothing in which God is not interested.
# 8 _In passing, let me urge very seriously those of you who have not been reading the Old Testament recently to read it once more, without prejudice, simply to see it as revealing God's interest in the common things of life, the commonplaces of life. It is the Old Testament that teaches you that God puts human tears into His bottle. It is the Old Testament that tells that God knows whether the garment you wear is a mixture of wool and something else or not. The Old Testament tells us that God is interested in the fringes that people wear on their garments. Trivial things, you say. That is our God! He is the God of the infinitely small as well as of the infinitely great, not alienated from any part of human life, knowing our downsitting and our uprising, our going out and our coming in; near to us in the casual as well as in the critical, numbering the hairs of our head. That is the supreme Fact of life, and the Fact from which there can be no escape.
# 9 _The supreme obligation on human life is its relationship to God, therefore it is important to build His house. In the days in which Haggai exercised his ministry, the building of the house was entirely material. The house was the true rallying point for the people, the place of worship, the place where men gathering together did not seek the presence of God, but remembered His presence, recognized His power, reminded their own hearts anew of the abiding fact of His covenant with them and of His perpetual care of them. Moreover, in that ancient Hebrew economy, the house of God was essentially the house of prayer for all nations, as our Lord Himself did say in the days of His flesh, quoting from the ancient prophecies.
# 10 _Then how supremely important it was that the house should be built. There, for fifteen years, having been raised but a few feet in all probability from the ground, the first few courses laid, it had stood desolate, overgrown with verdure, moss-covered, a perpetual revelation of the fact that people who bore the name of  God had largely forgotten Him. The supreme need in that hour was not the rearrangement of policy with surrounding nations, not the rediscovery of a lost art, not increase in commerce; the supreme necessity was that the house of God should be built, the sacramental symbol of the nation's relationship to Him.
# 11 _Today the house of God is no longer material; it is living, it is spiritual, it is the church of God in the divine economy is an institute of praise and prayer and prophecy. An institute of praise, a living temple of living souls whose eyes are toward the light, whose faces are irradiated with joy, who are living in the midst of the sorrows and desolations of time as men and women who have found mastery over sorrow and desolation in their fellowship with the unseen and eternal.
# 12 _That is true of the Catholic Church, the whole church, and in that function of the church all things that divide us cease to be, and we realize that the building of the church of God is of supreme importance in order that there may be maintained in the midst of the sorrows and sins of humanity a living testimony to the gladness and holiness that are possible to men as they live in right relationship with God. Nothing, therefore, can be more important than this building of the church, the building of it stone upon stone, of living stones brought into touch with the Living Stone, whose preciousness is made over to them that they may share that preciousness and bear testimony in their glad, pure, consenting life to what the Kingdom of God really means in the world.
# 13 _Whereas the house of God today is no longer material but spiritual, the material is still a very real symbol of the spiritual. When the church of God in any place in any locality is careless about the material place of assembly, the place of its worship and its work, it is a sign and evidence that its life at a low ebb.
# 14 _Let us not, however, lose sight of the larger matter, the necessity for the continuation of the building of the spiritual house of God. There is nothing this nation needs more than that the church of God itself should be more clearly seen. Therefore there is no work more important than that of the continuity of the building of that spiritual house which, in the life of the nation, is not to be dictated to by the nation, but to exercise its threefold function of praise, prayer, prophecy, and so contribute to the true essential strength of the national life.
# 15 _The First Responsibility: To Be Strong
These words spoken in the olden days by the prophet indicated not only the need, but the responsibility. The spiritual value of this old-time story is here most marked, most definite. These people were to "be strong"; that is the first thing. And they were to "work"; that was the second. These two things cannot be separated. There can be no work apart from strength; there can be no strength, such as the prophet referred to, which does not express itself in work. "Be strong . . . and work." 
# 16 _This charge to the people was a suggestion of their weakness, the weakness that had prevented, and still was preventing, them from building the house of God. We discover the elements of the weakness in the most simple way by looking at the prophecy. In the first place their weakness consisted in the fact that they were careless about this matter. They said, "It is not the time for us to come, the time for the Lord's houses to be built" (HAGGAI 1:2). That is so startlingly modern that I hardly know what to say about it. It is not the time! The modern man will not speak so simply; the modern man will  say that it is not the psychological moment. That means the same thing. Whenever, in the presence of super abounding need, man says, "It is not the psychological moment," know well that the cleverness of his argument is revelation of the carelessness of his heart. The time is not come; we are waiting for the time, for some moment electric with inspirational opportunity. People who wait for that moment never find it, and do not want to find it.  
# 17 _Another element of weakness to which the prophet drew attention is revealed in the question he asked: "Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your cieled houses, while this house lieth waste?" (HAGGAI 1:4). The second element of weakness in the life of the people was luxury and comfort; they were dwelling in their own paneled houses, perhaps even while discussing over and over in their social gatherings the neglected condition of the house of God. The set time had not come to build it; but the time had come to build their own houses, and to panel them with beauty.
  # 18 __There was yet another element of weakness. We discover it by another question: "Who is left among you that saw this house in its former glory? And how do ye see it now? Is it not in your eyes as nothing?" (HAGGAI 2:3). The third element of weakness was contempt for that very house which lay unfinished, and contempt for any man who suggested that it ever could be restored to its ancient glory. This contempt was born of a great past, of which the people were always talking, and in which they rejoiced, to the neglect of the present, with its terrific responsibility and its glorious opportunity. The collateral writings to this prophecy reveal some of the reasons for the contempt. The sacred fire was no longer burning, the shekinah glory was no longer manifested, the ark and the cherubim were no longer in their places, the urim and the thummim had been lost, and the spirit of prophecy was silent. All these things were absent. The people looked back to the days when these things were there in all their glory, and they held the present in supreme contempt, both as to its conditions and as to the idea that it was possible to restore the lost glory.
# 19 _I say again, the picture is wonderfully modern. We still have the carelessness which says, The time has not come. It expresses itself often in prayer for revival. The revival is here, if we will but have it so, I pray you talk no more about the indifference of the nation; talk if you will of the indifference of the church to its own evangel, its own gospel, its own living powers. The set time has not come, so men still say. 
# 20 - Then there is the weakness resulting from comfort. The church of God today is suffering from material prosperity within her own borders. Things which our fathers spoke of as luxuries we speak of as necessities. For all spiritual service we are being rendered weak, anemic, enervated by the beautiful houses and the comforts of our lives. The old Spartan heroism of our fathers, the simpler life, and the great poverty, have largely passed away. It is the time to build our own houses and dwell in them. 
# 21 - Another element of weakness present with us is our perpetual looking back and sighing for departed glories, for the voice of preachers of other days, for the prayer meetings that once were held, for all those peculiar manifestations of the presence of God in past  days. The old men are sighing for these and looking with contempt on the present hour, disbelieving in the possibility of  revival and the building of the house of God. 
# 22 - Said the prophet to these men, and now says the Word of our God to us, "Be strong" (2:4). If we would know what our strength is, we may know it by examining our weakness. Over against every element of weakness we are to place an element of strength. Over against carelessness what shall we put? Listen to the voice of the prophet. "Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put ot into a bag with holes. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways" (1:5__7). One of the first conditions of real strength will be obedience to that command, the consideration of our ways. 

THE DOCTRINE OF THE BIBLE !!!!! - PART # 2

THE DOCTRINE OF THE BIBLE - PART # 2   ILLUMINATION !!!!!
PSALM 119:18 __Illumination is the ministry of the Holy Spirit by which He causes Christians to understand the truth of God revealed in Scripture. The word conviction, meaning "cause to see," is primarily used of the Spirit's work in revealing sin in the unsaved (JOHN 16:8). The word understanding is used of the Spirit's work in revealing other truth in Scriptures and prayed that his eyes would be opened (verse 18). This would also be a good prayer for Christians today as they approach the Scriptures. APPLICATION: Since the Bible was written by holy men of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit, it should also be read by holy men and women of God illumined by the Holy Spirit. (First Reference, PSALM 119:18; Primary Reference, PSALM 119:18; DEUTERONOMY 29:29) 


CANONICITY !!!!
GALATIANS 6:16 _The word canon originally meant "reed" (a measuring rule) and came to signify a standard for determining which books were Scripture. The books placed in scripture: 
(1) _were considered inspired; (2) _gave evidence of containing revelation; (3) _gave evidence of apostolicity; and (4) _were uniquely used by the Holy Spirit. When the church finally collected the 66 books into a "canon," it did not make the books become Scripture: the church was only recognizing what God had done. The books were Scripture the moment they were written. ILLUSTRATION: Not all Christian literature of the first century is included in the canon, only that which is inspired. The church at Ephesus was one of the first to collect the books of the new Testament, and it carefully examined them before endorsement (REVELATION 2:2).
APPLICATION: As Christian read the Scriptures, they should walk according to their rule. (First Reference, EXODUS 19:5; Primary Reference, GALATIANS 6:16; PSALM 119:18). 


LOST BOOKS !!!!!!
2 CHRONICLES 33:19 __There are at least a dozen books cited in Scripture that are not part of our Bible, including the Book of Jasher (JOSHUA 10:13; 2 SAMUEL 1:18); the Book of the Acts of Solomon (1 KINGS 11:41); the Prophecy of Abijah the Shilonite, the Visions of Iddo the Seer, the Book of Nathan the Prophet (9:29); the Book of Gad the Seer (1 CHRONICLES 29:29); the Book of Shemaiah the Prophet (12:15); the Acts of Uzziah (26:22); the Sayings of the Seer (33:19); epistles of Paul to the Corinthians (1 CORINTHIANS 5:9) and the Laodiceans (COLOSSIANS 4:16); the Book of Enoch (JUDE 14); an epistle of John (3 JOHN 9); and probably other accounts of Jesus life (LUKE 1:1__2). These are sometimes erroneously referred to as the "lost books of Scripture."
ILLUSTRATION: There is no indication that any of these nonbiblical books were inspired. The doctrine of preservation argues that inspired books providentially survived, implying that the lost books were not inspired. They may have recorded interesting background to the inspired record of God, but they were not Scripture. APPLICATION: Christians do not need to be concerned about missing portion of their Bible, since Scripture is complete with 66 books. (First Reference, JOSHUA 10:13; Primary Reference, 2 CHRONICLES 33:19; GALATIANS 6:16).

PRESERVATION OF SCRIPTURE  JEREMIAH 36:27 __God, who inspired the Scripture, has throughout the years protected His Word from the attacks of evil men so as to preserve its content and existence. While the autographs (the original manuscripts) have long since disappeared, ancient copies and quotations from early Christian leaders demonstrate the preservation of Scripture could be reproduced simply from the many quotations found in the writings of the church fathers.
ILLUSTRATION: God's preservation of Scriptures was demonstrated in the ministry of Jeremiah. When the king destroyed  the first scroll of his prophecy, God had it reproduced to ensure its preservation (verse 27). APPLICATION: As we read the Scriptures, the fact that God has preserved them for us over the years should emphasize their importance. (First Reference, JEREMIAH 30:2; Primary Reference JEREMIAH 36:27__32; CHRONICLES 33:19).

INERRANCY - JOHN 17:17
When applied to Scripture, the term inerrancy means that what God revealed and inspired is accurate, reliable, authoritative, and without error. Since all Scripture is inspired every Word of God is true. Just as a book often reflects the character of its writer, so the Scripture is without error because God is without fault.
ILLUSTRATION: Jesus upheld the principle of inerrancy when He preached in Nazareth. He carefully stopped reading in the middle of a verse before announcing the fulfillment of Scripture that day (ISAIAH 61:1, 2; LUKE 4:18). The rest of the Isaiah passage will be fulfilled at His second coming. 
APPLICATION: As we read the Scriptures, we can have total confidence in their reliability and accuracy. (First Reference, PSALM 119:160; Primary Reference, JOHN 17:17; JEREMIAH 36:27).   

AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES -JOHN 10:35 __The Scriptures (both Old and New Testament) were recognized by the early church as the final authority on all matters of faith and practice. Jesus spoke to the letters (MATTHEW 5:18) and verb tenses (MATTHEW 22:31, 32) as being significant and authoritative. Part of Paul's argument against the legalism in Galatia was based upon a simple noun that the apostle held as authoritative (GALATIANS 3:16). Jesus said the Scripture could not be broken, that is, treated as though it does not exist (verse 35).
ILLUSTRATION: A brief reading of Matthew shows how authoritative the Old Testament was to early Christians. That this authority applied also to the New Testament is illustrated by Paul in 1 Timothy 5:18. There Paul quotes from both Old and New Testament (DEUTERONOMY 25:4; LUKE 10:7) in biblical support of his argument.
APPLICATION: As we study the Scriptures, we must be careful to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. (First Reference, GENESIS 3:1; Primary Reference, JOHN 10:35; JOHN 17:17).

HOLY SPIRIT IN INSPIRATION - 2 PETER 1:21 __The Scriptures were written by holy men of God (about 40 in all) "as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." While in no way denying the personalities of the human writers or rejecting the distinctiveness of their particular styles, the Holy Spirit controlled the process of bringing things to the writers' memories (JOHN 16:13) and ensuring what they recorded was the very Word of God (See "Inspiration," 2 TIMOTHY 3:16)
ILLUSTRATION: Jeremiah once became so frustrated that he wanted to quit, but God's Spirit compelled him to go on (JEREMIAH 20:9). Likewise, Jonah at first refused to take God's message to Nineveh, but later obeyed God's second call (JONAH 3:1). APPLICATION: As Christians read the Bible, they can be confident that it is the very Word of God. (First Reference, JUDGES 2:1; Primary Reference, 2 PETER 1:21; JOHN 10:35).  

INSPIRATION - 2 TIMOTHY 3:16 __This refers to the supernatural guidance of the writers of Scripture by the Spirit of God, so that what they wrote was the divine Word of God, transcribed accurately, reliably, and without error in the original manuscripts ("autographs").The word inspiration itself pictures God breathing out His Word to men.
ILLUSTRATION: Not everything written by an apostle or a prophet was neccessarily inspired. Paul wrote at least three epistles to the Corinthians, but apparently only two were an inspired record (1 CORINTHIANS 5:9). Samuel, Nathan, and Gad each wrote accounts of David's life; only one of these prophets produced an inspired record (1 CORINTHIANS 29:29). 
APPLICATION: Since the Scriptures are given to help Christians grow in maturity, they should rely upon them for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (right living). (First Reference, GENESIS 1:3; Primary Reference, 2 TIMOTHY 3:16; 2 PETER 1:21).    

REVELATION - DEUTERONOMY 29:29 _There are some things God has chosen not to reveal to us, possibly for the following reasons: 
(1) _Our finite minds cannot fully understand the infinite aspects of God's nature and the universe (ECCLESIASTES 3:11); (2) _some things are unnecessary for us to know until we are more mature; and (3) _God is infinite and all-knowing, and we do not have the capacity to know everything he does. This verse shows that although God has not told us everything there is to know about obeying him, he has told us enough. Thus disobedience comes from an act of the will, not a lack of knowledge. Through God's Word we know enough about him to be saved by faith and to serve him. We must not use the limitation of our knowledge as an excuse to reject his claim on our life
MEANS OF REVELATION !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HEBREWS 1:1 __God has revealed Himself through various means, such as visions (ISAIAH 6), dreams (DANIEL 2), poetry (PSALMS 139), biography (especially the Gospels), sermons (MATTHEW 5__7), face-to-face conversations (DEUTERONOMY 5:4), tablets of stone (DEUTERONOMY 10:4), miracles (JOHN 1:14), parables (LUKE 15), inner compulsion (ACTS 21:10__13), history (1 and 2 CHRONICLES), angels (LUKE 1:26__38), historical research (LUKE 1:1__4), and the person of Christ (JOHN 1:14). His means of self-revelation today in the Bible.
ILLUSTRATION: __When God wanted Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, He imparted this through a vision (ACTS 10). Even then, Peter appears to have been somewhat reluctant to obey God completely. APPLICATION: __Today we do not depend on dreams and visions to learn about God and His will for our lives, but rather on God's revelation in the Scriptures. God did not impart the gospel to Cornelius in a vision but commanded a man to go and preach the Word of God to him. (First Reference, GENESIS 1:14; Primary Reference, HEBREWS 1:1; EPHESIANS 3:3__5).  

 MYSTERY !!!!!!!
HEBREWS 3:3 __To the Jewish people, Moses was a great hero; he brought their ancestors, the Israelities, from Egyptian bondage to the Promised Land. He also wrote the first five books of the Old Testament and was the prophet through whom God gave the Law. But Jesus is to be more highly regarded as the central figure of faith than Moses, who was merely a human servant. Jesus is more than human; he is God himself (1:3). As Moses led the people of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, so Christ leads us out of slavery to sin. Why settle for Moses, the author of Hebrews asks, when you can have Jesus Christ, who appointed Moses?

INTRODUCTION TO DOCTRINAL FOOTNOTES !!!!!!

INTRODUCTION TO DOCTRINAL FOOTNOTES  !!!!!!!!! 
  TRADITION !!!!!!!
2 THESSALONIANS 2:15 __The word tradition literally means "a giving over by word of mouth or writing." It refers to teachings handed down from one person to another. Tradition is not in and of itself wrong; it is only wrong when opposed to the Word of God. In the early church, good tradition was the principal means of Christian instruction (LUKE 1:2). Paul used this word to describe his teachings, especially at Corinth and Thessalonica (verses 15; 3:6). False tradition ends up as heresy or apostasy. ILLUSTRATION: The religious leaders of Jesus day erred in placing the tradition of men above the Word of God (MATTHEW 15:1__9). In contrast, Luke sifted through existing records and apparently interviewed witness in writing as inspired record to instruct Theophilus in the faith (LUKE 1:1__4). APPLICATION: Christians need to sit under the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, but when the content conflicts with the Scriptures, the teachings of men should be disregarded for the certain truth of the Bible. (First Reference, MATTHEW 15:2; Primary Reference, 2 THESSALONIANS 2:15; 2 TIMOTHY 2:15.)  



 FUNDAMENTALISM !!!!!!!
HEBREWS 6:1__2 __In Jewish legal tradition, there were 39 categories of activities forbidden on the Sabbath__and harvesting was one of them. The teachers of the law even went so far as to describe different methods of harvesting. One was  rubbing the heads of grain between the hands, as the disciples were doing here. Since God's Law said farmers were to leave the edges of their fields unplowed to travelers and the poor could eat from this bounty (DEUTERONOMY 23:25), the disciples were not stealing grain. Neither were they breaking the Sabbath by doing their daily work on it. In fact, though they were violating the Pharisees rules, they were not breaking any divine law.   

WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT !!!!!!!
ROMANS 8:16 __The witness of the Spirit is the inner assurance of God's truth. One of the conditions of this inner conviction concerning the things of God is obedience to His known will (JOHN 7:17). God uses this ministry of the Holy Spirit to convince us of truth that cannot be understood other than through divine help (MATTHEW 16:17).
ILLUSTRATION: This witness was obvious in Peter's confession of Christ (MATTHEW 16:16, 17). Even though others had observed Christ and drawn certain erroneous conclusions, Peter received spiritual insight from God as to who Jesus really was (MATTHEW 16:17). APPLICATION: Christians should be careful always to obey the clearly revealed will of God, so as not to hinder this ministry in their lives. (First Reference, MATTHEW 16:17; Primary Reference, ROMANS 8:16, HEBREWS 6:1, 2.)  

FAILURE OF FAITH !!!!!!
ROMANS 4:20 _There are six New Testament expressions that trace the decline of faith in an individual. Before a person is saved he may have (1) _"vain faith" or belief in the wrong doctrine (1 CORINTHIANS 15:14__17); or (2) _"dead faith," or belief in orthodox doctrine without personal belief in Christ (JAMES 2:19, 20). After a person is saved, he can experience the following varieties of faith: (1) _a kind of unbelief__experienced by believers who fail to accept the whole work of Christ (MARK 16:11__14); (2) _"little faith"__a mixture of faith and unbelief (MARK 7:26); (3) _"weak faith" __referring to belief expressed as mere legalism (14:1); or (4) _"strong faith"__faith that is rooted in the promises of God (verse 20). ILLUSTRATION: As  Christians mature, they should grow in faith. This was the experience of Abraham. Early in his pilgrimage with God, he could not trust God to protect him in Egypt. This was weak faith (GENESIS 12:10__20). He was later able to trust God, in sacrificing his son Isaac. This was strong faith (HEBREWS 11:17__19). APPLICATION: The Christian life is a continual growing adventure in faith. (First Reference, GENESIS 15:6; Primary Reference, ROMANS 4:20; ROMANS 8:16).  



FAITH-DEFINITION !!!!!!!
ROMAN 1:17 _Six kinds or expressions of faith occur in Scripture. Doctrinal faith, called "the faith," refers to the content of Christian belief (JUDE 3). Saving faith is trusting in Christ and in Him alone for salvation (ACTS 16:31). Justifying faith is the believer's reliance on the fact that God has declared him righteous (GENESIS 15:6). Indwelling faith is trusting God's Word in and through us (GALATIANS 2:20). Daily faith is that day-by-day dependence on God which is part of the sanctification process (2 CORINTHIANS 5:7). The gift of faith is a special ability of faith, resulting in a vision of what God can do, faith that is the means by which we can achieve that vision, and the power with God to get answers to prayer (HEBREWS 11:1__3).
ILLUSTRATION: God's hall of faith (HEBREWS 11) identifies a number of Old Testament saints who experienced God's blessing as a result of their faith. Although they did not all experience the same kind of victories, all pleased God by faith (HEBREWS 11:6).
APPLICATION: The Christian should remember that it is impossible to please God without faith (HEBREWS 11:6). (First Reference, GENESIS 15:6; Primary Reference, ROMANS 1:17; ROMANS 4:20).



DOUBLE VERILIES !!!!!!!
JOHN 21:18 _Twenty-five times in the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the expression Verily, verily to introduce a concept the hearer might have difficulty believing. This intensive expression emphasized that what was stated was true just as God is true. In the Old Testament, a person who might be doubted would use such an expression to insist that he was telling the truth (NUMBERS 5:22).
ILLUSTRATION: In the New Testament, Peter confessed he found some of Paul's epistles hard to understand; nevertheless he accepted them with the other Scriptures (2 PETER 3:15, 16).
APPLICATION: When a Christian approaches his Bible, he should do so with a commitment to believe the whole Word of God and not just part of it. (First Reference, JOHN 1:51; Primary Reference, JOHN 21:18; ROMANS 1:17).    


HERESY !!!!!!!
Titus 3:10 _The word heresy literally means "choosing one's own ideas," but now refers to that which is untrue. Even the New Testament church had false or heretical teachers who taught erroneous doctrine. Some epistles were specifically written to combat them (GALATIANS , 2 THESSALONIANS). Paul warned the Romans against identifying with those who promoted divisive, heretical teachings (ROMANS 16:17). He advised Titus to reject heretics if they did not respond after two warnings (verse 10). John warned that a heretic should not be admitted into a Christian's home (2 JOHN 10).
ILLUSTRATION: Not everyone who makes an incorrect doctrinal statement is a heretic. When Apollos was further instructed concerning the gospel, he grew into a mighty Christian leader (ACTS 18:24__28). By contrast, Hymeneus and Philetus were heretics when they rejected God's truth and hurt the faith of some believers (2 TIMOTHY 2:16__18). 
APPLICATION: Christians should as much as possible dissociate themselves from every heretic so as to be unhindered in their Christian lives. (First Reference, ACTS 15:1; Primary Reference, TITUS 3:10; JOHN 21:18).   


ANGER !!!!!!!!!
MATTHEW 5:22 _Christ begins this series of contrasts by quoting the statement of the law.Thou shalt not kill (EXODUS 20:13). The reference to killing is clearly understood in its context in both the Old Testament and New Testament as referring to an act of murder. Jesus goes beyond this outward demand of the law by stating that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause is in just as great danger of judgment as a murderer, for anger is the emotion and inner intention that leads to murder. The term raca (meaning "vain fellow" or "empty head") was a Hebrew or Aramaic expression of contempt (2 SAMUEL 6:20).  



APOSTLES DOCTRINE  _ACTS 2:42 
The word doctrine derives from the Latin term for teaching and refers to the content that was taught in the New Testament. The proper teaching of Scripture was called "the apostles doctrine," meaning that which the apostles taught. This contrasted with erroneous teaching called "doctrines of devils" (1 TIMOTHY 4:1), meaning that teaching whose source is not (2 CORINTHIANS 11:13__15). 
ILLUSTRATION:__The apostles doctrine was true, not because an apostle taught it, but because it was consistent with the Scriptures. The Bereans examined the teaching of Paul in light of the Scriptures before accepting it (17:11). Also, the church at Ephesus examined some who called themselves apostles and found them liars (REVELATION 2:2).
APPLICATION: A Christian should attempt to understand and believe true dictrine, while rejecting all that disagrees with the Word of God (1 JOHN 4:1). (First Reference, ACTS 2:42; Primary Reference, ACTS 2:42; TITUS 3:10).   




APOSTLES DOCTRINE _ ACTS 2:42
CHURCH DISCIPLINE _One of the first religious exercises of the New Testament church after Pentecost was persevering in the apostles doctrine. Doctrinal purity was essential to a New Testament church. The local churches placed themselves under God's authority by accepting the discipline of the Word of God. The proclamation of the Scriptures became a positive discipline, developing correct beliefs and life-style. When Christians need to be confronted and rebuked for sin or false belief, either individually or corporately, negative discipline will correct the error and bring the church back to its biblical role. When an assembly of people removes itself from the authority of Scripture, that assembly ceases to be a New Testament church. ILLUSTRATION: Although the church at Sardis had quite a reputation in its community, Jesus viewed it as having already died (REVELATION 3:1).
APPLICATION: All Christians should carefully evaluate the beliefs and practices of a church by the standard of God's Word. Then they should associate with and support the one that meets the New Testament standards. (First Reference, MATTHEW 18:17; Primary Reference, ACTS 2:42; MATTHEW 28:19.) 

PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION 2 TIMOTHY 2:15 __As we study the Word of God, we should apply both the spiritual and literal principles of interpretation. The spiritual principles include prayer (PSALM 119:18), cleansing (1 JOHN 1:9), and the illumination by the Holy Spirit (1 CORINTHIANS 2:12__16). The principle of literally understanding Scripture is to interpret it according to: (1) __the mind of the author; (2) __its historical background; (3) __the context of the passage; and (4) __the basic rules of grammar. ILLUSTRATION: Joshua was promised success if he meditated on the law (JOSHUA 1:8), and he won that success when he conquered the kings of Canaan. As a disciple of Moses, and as one who had a personal relationship with God, he could interpret the law of God and understand God's will for his life. APPLICATION: If we desire the will of God in our lives, we must regularly and systematically interpret God's Word according to its proper meaning. (First Reference, JOSHUA 1:8; Primary Reference, 2 TIMOTHY 2:15; ACTS 2:42.)