Talk—Bill Prost
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Well, while Virgil's handing out the handouts, I'll just make a comment that I've made over and over again, and that is.
That is that the handout is intended to be yours for the duration of camp. We don't have unlimited quantities of them, so please keep your copy in your Bible or your Bible case or somewhere safe like that and bring it to the next meeting. Please do not, please do not leave them lying around on chairs or under chairs. The wind just picks them up and they get dog eared and trampled on and so on if you can't hang on to it.
We understand if you're in a teepee too difficult to hang on to it, bring it back up after the meeting. We'll put it in the stack and you can have one at the next meeting. So let's remember that. Also, one little announcement that John didn't make, but he and I discussed it and that is that if there is anyone that wants to go to the bar J and who is going to find it a little hard on their wallet.
We don't want anyone to be unable to go to the bar J because.
Of financial constraints so don't be embarrassed if you have a problem that way we understand come and see me or John Jonathan and that can be accommodated okay so just remember that if anyone wants to go to the bar J and is hesitating because.
They're they took all their money to get to camp here and spend a little extra is going to be a bit rough. We don't want you to miss it for that reason.
OK, well let's go ahead then. Let's have a word of prayer, and then we'll get started. Our loving God and our Father, we look up to Thee now again this morning, thanking Thee for another night of quiet rest and a wonderful day. And we would just commend the day to thee, but especially we look to Thee as we open Thy word again this morning.
We thank Thee that Thou dost want to have a relationship with us, Thy creatures, and we thank Thee that Thou hast made every possible.
Opportunity for us to do so. So we pray now as we look into Thy word and ask for Thy help. We pray for guidance by Thy Holy Spirit. We do so. Independence upon Thee and ask all this Lord Jesus, in Thy precious and worthy name. Amen.
For those that weren't here for the past few meetings, as you can see we have the subject before us this year of knowing God. Knowing God, and we saw in some of the earlier meetings that God created man with the ability to relate to him.
Man has, because of the way he was created, a God conscious part to his being.
Man is composed of body, soul and spirit, and we read in Genesis that God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.
But we know that sin came in through our disobedience to God's one command that was given to Adam and Eve, and the result was separation between God and man.
And Adam as we know, instead of being available and ready to enjoy God's company.
Went and hid himself in the trees of the garden because he had a bad conscience.
But thank God His grace triumphed over all of that, and because of the work of Christ on Calvary's cross, you and I can now be reconciled to God and enjoy His company in an even fuller way, in a more complete way than Adam and Eve could in the Garden of Eden.
Yes, this world still bears the marks of sin. We see it all around us. People get sick.
People have accidents, people die. The animal Kingdom suffers from it, the plant Kingdom suffers from it.
When I was in university I didn't study philosophy, but some of my classmates did and I remember their coming back from a lecture in philosophy and saying that the professor had raised the question, if there is a God, why did he create everything so that it eventually had to die?
00:05:24
Everything eventually dies. Some things live a long time. Big turtles live to be several 100 years old.
When I was a boy, I remember reading about a tree called a bristlecone pine and they had a bristlecone pine somewhere in the world, I forget where, and they had calculated that it was 4600 years old. Whether they were accurate or not I don't know, but I assume they were. But everything dies.
If that professor had read the word of God, he would have understood why things die.
As by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. For that all have sinned, and the animal and plant Kingdom suffers too well to day. We're ready for section. I think it's section 6. Yes, section 6.
Section 6 concerning God's Word. God's Word.
What we hold in our hands today is the Word of God, and let's read one verse concerning that word in Matthew chapter 24.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 24.
Beautiful verse.
Verse 35, Matthew 24 and verse 35.
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
And then bringing it closer to home, John's Gospel, chapter 5.
And a verse that probably most here who have grown up in Christian homes could quote from memory verse 24.
He that heareth know. Verse 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you.
He that heareth my word.
And believeth on him that sent me.
Hath everlasting life.
And shall not come into condemnation, but is past from death unto life.
We're not going to take too long this morning. Sometimes it's better to say one thing and say it well and say it shortly.
What we hold in our hands is the Word of God.
And it is the most wonderful book in the world. Why?
God is infinite. Who can tell me what the word infinite means? Somebody tell me what the word infinite means. What do we understand by that word when we talk about it? We talked about it a few. Have you got the you got the answer. Go ahead.
Forever. Something that has no ending.
And as I said in one of the earlier meetings, I remember as a 5 year old boy trying to grapple with that and I couldn't wrap my mind around it. And you know, no more than 70 years later, I still can't. Why? Because you and I, as created beings, are bounded by time and everything in this world.
Is bounded by time, and it's within a time frame that you and I live and move.
00:10:02
We cannot wrap our minds around something that has no ending, or no beginning either for that matter.
And yet, as we saw in an earlier meeting, and we won't turn to it again, but in Ecclesiastes chapter 3, it tells us God hath set the world in their heart, or eternity in their heart, meaning that you and I as creatures were created not merely for time, but for eternity.
And most of the good poetry in the world. Most of the beautiful music in the world.
Things that man is able to do if you really get round to the bottom line. It is a lament for what they have lost and for the fact that nothing in this world satisfies. It's a lament for what Solomon found out by experience.
That no matter what he had, no matter what, he enjoyed his pleasure in this world.
It never satisfied.
You know, I grew up on a farm and we raised mostly fruit crops, but we had a few animals. We had several cows. And I'm old enough to remember as a boy going out there with my father and milking a cow the old fashioned way because we only had three of them. So we didn't need milking machines. And we had some work workhorses too. And if you gave those cows a square meal.
And gave them pleasant surroundings. They were satisfied. They never complained to us, at least not in language we could understand. And they're satisfied. But man isn't satisfied because there is something deep down inside that says I want something that is eternal.
And only God can satisfy that longing. Why are we saying all that when we're talking about God's Word?
Why is this book the most wonderful book in the world?
Simply because.
It reveals in human language things that have to do with a God who is infinite, and ultimately it reveals God himself.
How can that be?
I don't know, but here's an infinite God who writes a word for finite beings like you and me that are bounded by time.
And it's in language that in so much as it's a language that we speak and write and understand. In your case, in mine it's English. There are many languages in the world, doesn't matter, but they all communicate thought. Thought can can be communicated through language. And God has communicated with you and me.
In language that we can, as far as we know the words understand it.
And yet it communicates things from an infinite God.
That in many cases you and I cannot totally understand.
Now we know it tells us in First Corinthians chapter 2, let's turn to it for a moment. First Corinthians chapter 2.
And it says there.
Verse 14.
But the natural man understands receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Yes, the Word of God can speak to the natural man, but he cannot pick up this precious book and read it in the same way those who are saved can read it. And I would say to anyone here once again who isn't saved, the starting point is what we read in first John 5 and 24.
00:15:08
He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me.
Lasting life and cometh not into judgment or into condemnation, but is passed from death and delight. That is the starting point. I had a good friend in university who really got an interest in the things of the Lord, and I believe with Him it was real.
I said to him, you need to read the word of God and he said I will. I've got a Bible. I will, I will start reading it.
A week later I was talking to him. I said, well, have you started reading your Bible yet? Oh yes, well, I said, how did it go? What he said I can't make head or tail of it. Doesn't make any sense to me.
What I said, I'm interested, where did you start reading? He said. Revelation.
I said, well, what? What book, in a natural sense, do you start at the end of the book reading? Why do you start at the end of the book? Oh, I don't know. I just thought it would be interesting. Well, I had to tell him that no, you don't start with Revelation. That's not where you go. You start earlier on where the Bible tells us how to be saved.
And I'm thankful to tell you that eventually, he did get saved.
But not by starting with revelation. He couldn't understand it. And that's quite common. Of course, the point is, the natural man doesn't understand the things of God, but he can understand that he's a lost, guilty Sinner. He can understand that Christ came to save him or her. And if there's anyone here that isn't saved.
The starting point is to recognize that you need to come to God as a as a Sinner.
And not merely as a Sinner, but as a helpless Sinner. You have to get to the end of yourself and realize there's nothing you can do to save yourself. Only Christ can save. But we're talking largely to believers here and when we pick up the Word of God.
We very quickly find that there are things that we cannot even as believers.
Totally understand.
And God often gives us truth by giving us two parallel truths, both of which are distinct, both of which are very true, and yet.
Unable to be reconciled in the human mind.
There are many examples. One very basic example is the.
Sovereignty of God on one hand and the responsibility of man on the other. And man can't put those things together in his own mind.
But we can enjoy them and appreciate them because they relate to an infinite God. If you and I could understand everything in the Bible, we would be God himself, wouldn't we? We would be gods.
They were singing this morning. Farther along we'll know more about it. Farther along we'll understand why. And I believe we will. But we will never be gods. Certain religions, even those that call themselves Christian, and some of them are right here in this neck of the woods of the United States, try and persuade us that.
God was once a man, and he became God.
And therefore you and I, even though we are men, can aspire to be God.
That is blasphemy.
We will never be God.
Let me show you a verse that proves that First Timothy chapter 6.
I Timothy 6.
Now this is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Who became a man and who will remain a man for all eternity?
To enjoy your company and mine. But here's what He is as God.
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Verse 14.
Speaking to Timothy, that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebucable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it should read which in its times.
That is the appearing.
Shall show who is the blessed and only potented, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And what does it say?
Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach. Unto whom no man hath seen, nor can see. To whom the honor and power everlasting. Amen.
We will never be able to view the official glory of God even in heaven. We will remain creatures in that sense for all eternity, even though we will be with Christ. And like Christ in that sense, we will never be gods. Man is aspired to be a God. He makes himself out to be a God. New Age teaching says we're all gods. The whole world is part of the great.
Cosmos which is God Blasphemy. God created all things, but the point is in the word of God.
We have concepts that are infinite, but here's the most wonderful thing.
Suppose and let me just suppose the situation. Suppose you picked up and let's.
Let's pick something that can be pretty difficult.
College physics can be a bit complicated, can't it? I studied physics in college. Wasn't my best subject, but I managed to make a go of it, managed to pass it and so on. And I kind of enjoyed it, but there were things that I found it hard to understand, and there were other students that had an easier time with it.
But there was our professor.
Who really knew what he was talking about?
Suppose that I were to be trying to work my way through some of those physics problems and physics concepts, and I went to the professor and I said, I don't understand. I'm having a hard time getting a hold of this. Supposing he said to me, well, Bill, I'll tell you what, you know what I'm going to do.
You're going to have a hard time no matter how hard you try understanding all this.
But I'm going to stick with you and even though you don't understand it.
I'm going to help you work through it so that you can at least get the idea. Wouldn't that have been something wonderful? That would be very nice to have. I would relax, wouldn't I? You know, that's a feeble illustration, but it's what the Lord does to you and me. He gives His Spirit to indwell us. And then the Lord says, as it were.
I will be with you and even though you are not God.
You are a finite creature and there are infinite concepts in Scripture that, even as a Christian will be beyond you.
In walking with me, you will be able to.
Walk in the good of these things and most of all, enjoy my company.
Here's the main point. The Word of God read properly always drives me back to its source. Very important because the important thing.
Is not if I can say that I don't want this to come out the wrong way. God wants you and me to focus.
Not on trying to read this word in an intellectual way, but rather to enjoy Christ himself.
It's not, and I can say this here at Morningstar, I've watched people go through the line and at my age you don't have the kind of appetite you had when you were younger, says in the last chapter of Ecclesiastes. When you get old, desire faileth and.
I still have a decent appetite but not the way I was 50 years ago and I watched people going through the line and enjoying that food.
00:25:08
But you know about.
40 years ago I got a dose of Giardia when I was in India and I still had a good appetite. But as I was telling some people last night, I lost 13 lbs in one week. Can anyone tell me what the problem was? I was eating, what was going on, why wasn't I at least maintaining my weight? And I didn't have a lot to lose but I still lost a lot of weight. Why did I lose it? Can anyone tell me?
Who knows?
Metabolism. What was that?
Right. And what did they do to my stomach?
Kept me from absorbing the fat food. It went right through me. I didn't digest it. It's not what you eat that nurses your body. It's what you digest. And in Christianity, it's not what you know that gives you the enjoyment in your heart. It's what you enjoy.
Years ago there was a young man many years ago, long before my time, who wrote to a well known.
Teacher of the Word of God, and he asked some very difficult questions.
And this man was very capable of answering them. But after about the 3rd letter he wrote back to this young man and he said.
After answering his question, he said, you know, from your letters I discern that you are studying the Bible a little too much and not reading it enough.
Was he trying to make double talk? No. What did he mean?
He meant that that young man was approaching the Word of God in an intellectual way, as he would a textbook in school or university or something like that.
Instead of reading it as if it were a direct communication from God to Him.
An intelligence in the things of God comes through the heart and the conscience, not through the intellect.
Yes, you have to have a brain to be able to read it, but at the same time, the most intelligent Christian isn't the one who knows the most, but the one who enjoys the Lord the most. Now I've spoken long enough, but one more verse again in John chapter 5.
John, Chapter 5.
Notice what it says here.
Toward the end of the chapter, verse 39.
Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life.
That was the Jews, and they are they which testify of me.
And ye will not come to me that ye might have liked.
One more in second, Peter.
Second Peter, chapter one.
Verse two. Second Peter one and two.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you. Notice this through the knowledge of God.
And of Jesus our Lord, that's our theme.
According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain in the life and godliness, through the what? Through the knowledge of him that hath called us two, or more correctly, by glory and virtue.
The Word of God without a relationship with the Lord Jesus.
And with God, the Father will not keep you.
Phil was talking to us yesterday about ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. That is most blessedly true. But where is the truth? I am the way, the truth and the life. And so I would just close by saying read this precious book. Don't let anything interrupt your reading of the word of God.
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Life is busy these days.
Sometimes I wonder though if the Lord didn't allow this Covic pandemic, at least in part. Some of us were a little more restricted in certain parts of the world than other parts, but nevertheless, I have wondered if the Lord didn't allow this Covad pandemic to help Christians to maybe be a little more.
Reading the word of God themselves and spending personal time with the Lord instead of traveling so much. Bible conferences, camps like this.
Young people's weekends, all those things. Wonderful.
When I would never say a word against them.
But there is such a flood.
There is such a thing as personal time with the Lord, and there's no substitute for us reading the Word of God and prayer, because through this word God is revealed. The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed and honored and glorified. But again, it's not through the intellect, it's through the heart and the conscience.
Read the Bible in that way.
And it will be blessed to your soul.
I believe so, yes. I wouldn't say exclusively. I have known those that started in Matthew's Gospel. I've known those that started in the book of Genesis, but I believe John's Gospel is an excellent place for us to begin. Thank you.