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Gary :
If you have a question for Dave and Tom to address in a future Contending for the Faith stay tuned, we’ll have our contact information at the end of the program. You are listening to Search the Scriptures Daily a radio ministry of The Berean Call. Now, our final segment:
UNDERSTANDING THE SCRIPTURES
We resume our excursion through the book of Acts. Here again are Dave and Tom.
Tom:
This is our Understanding the Scriptures segment and we’re in Acts 26 and we are going to pick up with verse 24: “And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou are beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. 25) But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.”
Dave:
Well he has been giving his testimony—he’s been explaining how he came to believe that Jesus had resurrected and how he put his faith in Him as his Savior, the one who died for his sins— [Festus says] Paul you’re crazy, you can’t believe this kind of stuff—
Tom:
Well, that a light appeared to him and voice spoke to him—it could press it a little bit, as far as Festus was concerned. It was not something that had happened to him.
Dave:
Yeah, but look at the riot you’ve caused, all the uprising and—Paul, calm down a little bit—much learning has made you mad that you could even believe these things—
Tom:
Well Dave, I find it interesting when I find the words madness. There are times when with insanity, people are, (what the Bible would say,) out of their “right” mind. In other words, they are not thinking clearly and sometimes it is pushed to an extreme. We have the example of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar would be an example of “going mad” because of his pride.
Dave:
Umhm, yeah he ate grass like an animal. His hair grew quite long, it must have been quite a while Tom, we don’t know, it doesn’t say how long. Well, you’re mad he says, and Paul replies: “I am not mad, most noble Festus, (verse 25) but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.”
Tom:
That’s an interesting phrase Dave,—truth and soberness. We keep saying over and over again and repeating the words of Jesus: “Sanctify them by thy truth…—Thy Word is truth.”
Dave:
I am glad you pointed that out Tom, because some people say well truth, what you call truth, I mean this is just emotionalism or —it goes back to the Emerging church. This is not emotionalism. This is not visualizing or quieting, or getting some—
Tom:
Yeah, mystery or mysticism…
Dave:
Right. This is truth and soberness. It’s facts. I’ve been listening to some debates, Tom, as you know, because I’ve got some debates coming up. I was listening to a debate between Richard Dawkins, Oxford professor, probably the leading atheist leading the crusade against God—
Tom:
Militant atheist, by the way.
Dave:
Absolutely, and John Lennox also an Oxford professor, Christian and I thought John Lennox out did Dawkins. But Dawkins begins by saying, I think even in the preface of his book The God Delusion — I have a chapter in my book that I am writing Cosmos, Creator and Human Destiny and I call it The God Delusion delusion. …a little take off on him. But he begins by saying, (and he said it in the debate), but he says in his book and he says it continually: The thing I have against religion is it teaches children that they don’t have to have any evidence, no reason for what they believe. You just believe it because God says it, or some preacher says it. Religion teaches that you just believe and its even against evidence. Well, of course that’s not true.
Tom:
But Billy Graham has said as much hasn’t he Dave?
Dave:
I am sorry that he has, yes, unfortunately, and he says it in his autobiography as well Just As I Am . But Tom in my debates I will not be debating to debate religion. I was a little disappointed in John Lennox; he shouldn’t let that go by. Christianity is not a religion. I think the word religion or religious occurs what is it three or four times in the Bible? It is not a religious book. It is about a relationship with Jesus Christ. But this is the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches in Isaiah 1:18 , God says “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord…” Or if we look back in Acts where we have been—go back to Acts 17, 18 and earlier chapters in Acts, Paul went into the synagogue, he reasoned with them out of the scriptures. He is in the marketplace and he is reasoning with them. On Mars Hill at the end of Acts 17 he reasons with them. “I see all these idols here—the God that made the heaven and the earth, he doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands neither is he worshiped with men’s hands as though he had needed anything seeing he giveth to all life and breath, etc. (That was his sermon.) So the Bible is about a reasonable faith.
Tom:
Dave, I have a question for you along that line. You have had somebody pose this to you and I have as well—they say now wait a minute, if God is infinite and we are finite, (this is what the mystics say, this is the way the Emerging church is going)—they say if God is infinite—He’s is beyond our comprehension. And if He’s beyond our comprehension then we can’t use our intellects; we can’t come to really know Him, but we can experience Him. We can have these—whether they be altered states of consciousness or going through these rituals and so on, we can get a feeling about God, an intuition, all of these kinds of things.
Dave:
Right. Well, this is not what the Bible teaches—it never teaches this. For example, John:17:3And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent., you know it well, Tom as [do] probably many people out there that are listening—This is Jesus speaking, this is his prayer and I think we have mentioned it recently: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” Now what do we mean by “know”? Well, we go back to Jeremiah:9:23Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:, 24: “…Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the might man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” God wants us to understand! Or if we went to one of your favorite verses I think, Tom, Proverbs:4:7Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” Now you are not going to get understanding by going into a mystical state of mind and trying to visualize Jesus or whatever. So—
Tom:
Dave, I guess I am just a simple minded guy, but if God is infinite, the Creator of the universe, and He creates us, you would think (just logically) that He would be able to communicate to us in such a way that we as finite fallen individuals, could—well, that His promises to us could be fulfilled—that we could understand Him, that we could know Him, but you see God is going to design all of that and I don’t know why these guys, the mystics and so on are jumping off and saying well that can’t ever happen. Wait a minute…an infinite God can make this happen—he can present the information in such a way that we can comprehend it; that we can understand it—at least up to a point.
Dave:
But He’s going to do it, not with visual images, not with feelings, but He’s going to do it with words. “In the beginning was the Word—the Word—Jesus was called the Word over and over. If we went to I Peter 1:23, 24, 25—it says—we are born again by the Word of God—men need to be born-again, they need to believe the gospel by the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever and this is the Word by which the gospel is preached unto you…this is what we have to have, but we must have an understanding and this is what he [Paul] talks about.
Tom:
And this of course is where Paul is taking Festus. He says: 26) “For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; (no esoteric beliefs, here) for this things was not done in a corner.
Dave:
See he’s talking about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Facts, Christianity is based upon facts. It’s based upon historic events; it’s not a mystical religion. Paul goes on, and he says: King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.” The whole thing is founded upon the prophets and the fulfillment of that gives us the New Testament—it gives us the gospel; it gives us everything and we’ll have to come back and talk about that. That’s the number one proof that God gives of His existence and that the Bible is His Word. Prophecy that He utters and it is fulfilled.
Gary :
Dave and Tom will continue their discussion on the topic of salvation next week. We hope you can tune in. This is Search the Scriptures Daily, a radio ministry of The Berean Call. And now to tell you more about our ministry, here’s TBC executive director, Tom McMahon:
The name The Berean Call is taken from the book of Acts:17:10And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews., 11 where we find the Apostle Paul entering the synagogue in the Greek city of Berea after he had just come from Thessalonica. To these Bereans he preached that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah sent from God. They were commended for being noble, or fair-minded, not only for their willingness to hear what Paul had to say about the matter, but more specifically because they “searched the scriptures daily” to find out what the Apostle Paul was saying was found in God’s Word. That’s what we hope to encourage through this ministry. Our mission is to alert believers in Christ to unbiblical teachings and practices impacting the church. We want to exhort believers to give greater heed to biblical discernment and truth regarding what they are accepting as spiritual. Our prayer is that we can be used of God to stimulate Christians to look to the Bible alone as their rule of faith, authority and practice in living lives pleasing to our Lord and Savior. Gary .
Gary :
If you would like to expand your knowledge of God’s Word, we offer a wide variety of items that we hope you will find helpful from books and tracts, to audio and video recordings, our CD Rom, and much, much more. For a complete list of materials or to get a copy of today’s broadcast, write to us a PO Box 7019 , Bend , OR , 97708 . Call us at our toll-free order number 877-882-4253; that’s 877-88BIBLE, or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org . If you would like a copy of this broadcast on CD ask for program #5107 and be sure to mention the call letters of this station. And if you would like to watch Dave and Tom, our weekly broadcasts are available on DVD—ask about a subscription when you contact us. You can also download both audio and video podcasts at our website. Get a pen or pencil ready; we’ll repeat our contact information in just a moment. Next week we continue our series of programs addressing the latest spiritual phenomenon called the Emerging church and “Can the Emerging Church Increase Your Spirituality.” In “Religion in the News”— “How to Be More Open-minded.” We’ll take a look at that story and address the question “What’s Wrong with Mysticism?” We hope you can join us. If you have questions or comments about this program we urge you to contact our offices. Search the Scriptures Radio Ministry is made possible by God’s grace, your prayers and your financial support. I am Gary Carmichael and for Dave, Tom and everyone here at The Berean Call, I would like to thank you for tuning in and invite you to join us again next week. Until then, if you desire to know God’s truth, search the Scriptures daily.
For more information about The Berean Call, write to us at PO Box 7019 , Bend , OR 97708 . Call us toll-free at our order number 877-882-4253; that’s 877-88BIBLE or visit our website at www.thebereancall.org .
