Enjoying the Journey

Latest Episodes:

Believe and Be Born Again Apr 02, 2025

Show notes

(1 John 1:1-4) Belief in Jesus precedes the new birth into His family. Growth as a child of God depends on the same concept of believing. How can your belief be developed? (0981250402)

Visit https://enjoyingthejourney.org/you-can-know/ to download the FREE “23 Birthmarks of the Believer” handout.

Join Scott Pauley's study through Scripture this year. Find resources for every book of the Bible by Dr. Pauley and Enjoying the Journey at enjoyingthejourney.org/journey-through-scripture/.
Whether you're a new believer or have walked with the Lord for years, you'll find thousands of free devotionals, Bible studies, audio series, and Scripture tools designed to strengthen your faith, deepen your understanding of the Bible, and help you stay rooted in the Word of God. Explore now at EnjoyingTheJourney.org.
Extend the Work

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

3 Ways to Know You Are a Child of God Apr 01, 2025

Show notes

(1 John 3:1, 9; 4:7; 5:1) There is no greater relationship than being a child of God! A corollary truth is that there is no greater knowledge than knowing you are a child of God. Listen to today's episode to discover how you can know with certainty! (0980250401)

Visit https://enjoyingthejourney.org/you-can-know/ to download the FREE “23 Birthmarks of the Believer” handout.

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

What Do You Know for Sure? Mar 31, 2025

Show notes

(1 John 2:3; 5:20) Throughout the little book of 1 John, different forms of the word "know" are used thirty-eight times. In this age of increasing uncertainty and mass confusion, 1 John provides divine insight into the clarifying and purifying knowledge of knowing God. (0979250331)

Visit https://enjoyingthejourney.org/you-can-know/ to download the FREE “23 Birthmarks of the Believer” handout.

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

The Prayers of Saints Mar 29, 2025

Show notes

(Revelation 5:8) We will not see the answer to some prayers until we kneel at Jesus Christ's nail-pierced feet. Occasionally, God gives us glimmers of those answers here, but one glorious day, we will see them in whole. Imagine what we have to look forward to! (0978250329)

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

The Foundation of Our Faith Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

(1 Corinthians 2:9-13) The same God who gave us the Scriptures works in us to help us understand them. He also gives us a work to do! The Word of God is the foundation of our faith. (0977250328) ----more----

The Works of the Bible

Did you know that by the time of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Old Testament books had been generally accepted as inspired writings? The New Testament books were listed in their current form by AD 397. Most of them were accepted immediately after the time of the Apostles, but by AD 397, all of them had, if you will, passed the test.

In other words, they bore the mark of Divine authority. They were accepted by local New Testament churches as having evidence of being the very word of a living God. Throughout the centuries, the word of God has been passed on to us. It is beautiful to see how God has overseen the preservation of His word for every generation. I thank God for that because the word of God is the foundation of our faith.

The Importance of Applying God's Word

Now, I want to come full circle in our discussion about what the Bible says regarding the word of God, bringing it to where we live, to our hearts, and to its application in our lives. You see, my friend, you could accept the fact that the Bible is God's revelation of Himself.

You can say you believe that God breathed it, that it was inspired by God. You can even agree that God has promised to preserve His word for every generation, but if you don't allow that book to affect your life, you've fallen short. You've missed the whole point. God gave His word so that it would change our lives.

Did you know that there is a work God does through the word and a work we are to do in the word? That's what I want to focus on today as we conclude our study of what the Bible says. I am praying that this series will be the impetus, the motivation, the prodding from God, if you will, for you to love the Scriptures more, to engage with the word of God more deeply, and to learn all that God has to say to you.

God's Work Through His Word: Illumination

Let's begin with how God uses His word in our lives. In 1 Corinthians chapter two, the Bible states, beginning in verse nine, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

Hear me with your heart, please. You can't be spiritual without being scriptural. Do you see how the Holy Spirit is connected to the word of the living God? May I say to you that God's work through His word is a work of illumination. That is the work of the Holy Spirit, helping us understand the word of God.

One of the greatest prayers in the Bible is found in Psalm 119:18. The Psalmist prays, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” What is he praying for? Light, illumination. I want to tell you that the God who inspired the word now works in illumination. The same Holy Spirit who gave the word now opens your understanding to it.

You have the Author living with you all the time. The best way to understand a book is to talk to the person who wrote it. The best way to understand God's book is to talk to God, because I promise you, He'll respond; He'll teach; He'll speak. Jesus said in John 14, 15, and 16 that the Holy Spirit would come to teach us all things and to bring all things to our remembrance. This is the work of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives, helping us understand and apply the truth. That is His work through the word.

Our Responsibility: Interpreting the Word

If that's His part, what's our part? Our work in the word is the work of interpretation. In other words, we have to be good students. Here's the verse: 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse 15 says, “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” That is our job: to rightly divide, to rightly interpret. If God's work relates to understanding the truth, then our work relates to investigating it.

In other words, we should approach the word of God by studying it for its literal interpretation to find out exactly what God has to say to us, with the goal of applying that to our lives. Now we are in 2 Timothy, so let's look across the page to 2 Timothy chapter 3. Let's complete the circuit. We began with this: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." You remember that in verse 16, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. But here’s the goal: “that the man of God may be perfect or mature, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Someone else said, "We can say God speaks in His word, the Bible."

This is true. We can provide book, chapter, and verse. We can quote scripture and state, "This is what the Bible says," because we are standing on a firm foundation. When you stand on the word of God, it becomes the foundation of our faith.

Outro and Resources

Simply repeating what others have said about the Bible is not enough; we must understand the biblical reasons behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, share the biblical content, and invest in helping us advance this ministry worldwide.Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on "Enjoying the Journey."

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

Can I Trust the Bible? Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

(Psalm 119:89) A person's character is only as good as their word. God's good name is connected to the innerancy of His Word. In this study we learn the principle of divine preservation and deepen our conviction in the trustworthiness of the Bible. (0976250327) ----more----

How Can I Know the Bible Is Right?

Psalm 119 is the Psalm of the Scriptures. In fact, of the 176 verses in Psalm 119, all but two make a definite reference to the word of God in some way. It is a powerful Psalm, and right in the middle of it, we read these words: Psalm 119:89 says, "Forever, oh Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." What does it mean? It means the word of God never changes. So the question is, "Can I trust the Bible?" We've been talking about the fact that God gave His word, He revealed Himself in Scripture, and he inspired the very words of Scripture to be written down by men. He used men to convey his truth to men, but he did it in such a way that we hold in our hands the perfect word of the living God. Can you trust it? There are so many proofs that the word of God can be trusted.

Historical and Scientific Proofs of the Bible

For example, there's historical proof. Think of all the fulfilled prophecy in scripture. Did you know that about 30% of your Bible is prophecy? Think of that. There's no real prophecy in any of the other what are referred to as holy books outside the Bible. All of these religions have their holy books, but read them carefully, and you'll find that one of the vastween them and scripture is that the word of the living God is full of very exact differences bet prophecies. Andcies have already been fulfilled exactly as scores of those specific prophe God said.

It's an accurate book. The Bible lines up perfectly with proven historical records. As a matter of fact, even archeology has begun to prove the Bible's claims. For years, historians said there was no such group as the Hittites, for example, no such group as the Hittites that was given in scripture.

That was a myth. And yet archeology has now proven the Bible's claims of a group known as the Hittite. It's proven the historical existence of David and a united kingdom (Israel). 100% of the time, after all the evidence was in the Bible, it was vindicated. Now, I'm not saying that to say that we vindicate the Bible with external things.

Remember that we accept the word of God by faith. We come to God by faith that he can be trusted. I'm simply saying that the word of God is accurate in every way. Scientifically, for example, the Bible revealed truth beyond its years. Leviticus 17:11 talks about the life of the flesh being in the blood. We've only really discovered that in the last few hundred years - this use of blood. Job 26:7 tells us that the earth is suspended in space. Isaiah 40:22 that tells us the Earth is round. Luke 17 tells us that the earth revolves on its axis. Genesis 22:17 tells us that the stars are more than can be counted.

Genesis 1 tells us that plants and animals reproduce after their own kind or species. Hebrews 1:2 tells us that there are other worlds or planets. Job 28 25 tells us the air has weight. Psalm 8:8 tells us the ocean has currents. I'm saying to you that the God of all truth can be trusted.

What is the Preservation of Scripture?

And so we've come today to another thing that must be discussed when you're studying what the Bible says about the word of God. We've talked about revelation, we've talked about inspiration. Let's talk today about preservation. What does preservation mean? It literally means that God Almighty, who was powerful enough to give his word, is powerful enough to preserve his word to every generation.

Now I wanna give you a number of scriptures that may help with this in your own mind.

Scriptural Evidence of Preservation

Listen to the words of Psalm 12:6-7. "The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times." Now listen to this. "Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever."

I hear people say I believe God may have given his word perfectly the first time, but after all of these years. Certainly it's been tainted by man, wait a minute. The same God who gave his word is powerful enough to preserve His word to every generation. That includes our generation. How about Psalm 33:11, "The council of the Lord standeth forever. The thoughts of his heart to all generations." We're in the all generations. How about Psalm 100:5? And by the way, for every verse I'm showing you today there are a dozen more just like it. I'm just giving you a little sample here. Psalm 100:5 says, "For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endureth to all generations."

I want to remind you that the character of the word is tied to the character of the God of the Word. So if you want to agree that the Lord is good, if you want to agree that His mercy is everlasting, then you must agree that His truth endured to all generations. Psalm 105:8 says this, "He has remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations." In other words, it's hyperbole. There's no end to God's truth. There's no end to his word to us.

God's Word Is Eternal

I go back to Psalm 119, this great psalm of the scriptures. I told you it's full of the word of God. Listen to Psalm 119:152, "Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old that thou has founded them," and here's the word that just keeps popping up over and over again, "forever." We believe that our God is the eternal God, and because of that, we believe that His word is the eternal word. Nothing and no one will ever change that.

I remember reading the story years ago of a man who hated the word of God, and he made it his mission to stamp out as many copies of the scripture in his lifetime in his country as he possibly could. And so he spent great sums of money gathering copies of the word of God and burning them and destroying them. When he died, one of the Bible societies purchased his home and made it a center for Bible distribution in that part of the world. Don't tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor. Men are gonna pass away. The ideas of men are going to pass away. The word the Lord stands forever. How about Isaiah 40:8, "The grass withereth. The flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand." You know the word forever. He is a forever God. Let's let the Lord Jesus speak to this. Go to the New Testament, Matthew 24:35. Listen to the very words of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." If you come to the end of the New Testament and let Peter, one of the first disciples testify. He says in 1 Peter 1:23, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." All through scripture, you see the word of God being preserved.

Examples of Preservation in Scripture

For example, in Deuteronomy, the scroll of Moses was placed inside the Ark of the Covenant under the cherub's wings. What a beautiful picture In Joshua 24:26 Joshua's written additions to what God gave him to write down were placed in a safeguarded place. First Samuel 10:25, the words of Samuel were placed in the Holy of Holies. The Lord made sure that Moses had a handwritten copy of the scriptures given a second time. You remember that the priest were given the responsibility in Deuteronomy 17:18 to make copies of the scriptures, and later scribes were appointed for that job. That's what Ezra was with a scribe. Why would God take such care of preserving his word? Because he wanted us to have it Preservation. Is God extending his truth perfectly to every generation? We believe that those scribes took care of the Old Testament Scriptures. The apostles took care of the New Testament scriptures, but God took care of it all. And here's the amazing thing, did you know the Bible speaks more of preservation than it does inspiration? It's not a lesser doctrine. So if you're gonna believe that God gave his word, you have to also believe that God has preserved his word to every generation. Would you stop today and just thank God that you have the preserved word of the living God, perfectly given to us in our generation, just as God gave it and rejoice today that you're serving the God of eternal truth?

Outro and Resources

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

The Very Breath of God Mar 26, 2025

Show notes

(2 Timothy 3:16) Every Word from God is "God breathed"—it is connected to His very nature and life. Today we learn more about how God gave His Word to man and see the amazing proofs of divine inspiration in the Bible. (0975250326) ----more----

The Inspiration of Scripture

Is God perfect? If God is perfect, would everything that comes from God comes out of God? Be perfect. If that's the case, then would you say God's breath? Is perfect. Someone says, that's a strange line of questioning. Not at all, because the Bible says that the word of God literally was breathed out from God. In other words, it came directly from God's very nature. It came from God's heart to us. Here's the verse 2 Timothy 3:16 says, "16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:"

Now, we can't believe that the word of God is profitable if we don't believe the word of God is inspired. We use the word inspired fairly loosely today. Writers say, I had a moment of inspiration. Speakers say I felt inspired to say something, but the word inspiration in two Timothy 3:16 is not some some passing surface emotion.

No, the word inspiration there literally means God-breathed. It was breathed out from the very nature of God. It came directly from God. To man.

Is God's Word Perfect?

So I ask again, is God perfect? Oh, yes. God is perfect. If God is perfect, would everything that comes from God be perfect? Yes. Everything that comes directly from God would be perfect, untainted by sin and corruption.

If everything that comes out of God is perfect, then would not the very God-breathed words of Scripture be perfect? One of the great struggles that people have is whether the word of God can be trusted to be perfect in every way. My question is this: Does it come from a perfect God? We're going to talk more about how God preserved his word through the ages and God's promise to do that.

But let me just say right up front that to question the authority and the accurateness of scripture is to question the very nature of God. In fact, the Bible says that God has set his word above his name. Do you understand? God's name is on the line? Is God powerful enough to preserve his word? Is God wise enough to give his word perfectly the first time?

All of this goes to our theology, to what we believe about God. So I read again that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God. Aren't you glad it's been given that God spoke through the Bible writers? So that when they wrote it was without error, without omission, and without exaggeration, we might say it this way. It was the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Human Penman and the Bible

And that doesn't mean that God made men robots. He never does that. He allows men to work with him. What a privilege to be laborers together with God. And such was the case for these Bible writers. The truth was conveyed in such a way that it employed those men.

For example, the human penman personal experience comes out. There's no doubt. They're giving firsthand accounts many times. You can see Peter's personality shine through. You can hear Paul's educational background come through their historical accounts and read the gospel according to Luke. And it's very obvious that a medical doctor, a physician, someone with knowledge of the human body and of those types of things is writing a very detailed account.

So, the information is given directly from God through men, and he employs and uses those men, their backgrounds, their style of writing. It's wonderful. And before scripture was written down, information, truth, historical accounts, and information handed down through parents were passed along verbally.

Words that were passed on from generation to generation. But aren't you glad God wrote it down for us? He wrote it down on the pages of holy scripture. So we're not resting on dreams and visions and experiences. Now, somebody said, I wish we had the truth in black and white. You do have the truth in black and white.

God gave us the truth in his holy word. It is literally the voice of God to us. Lemme give you some examples. Acts 28:25 is a beautiful expression the Bible says, "25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers,"

Then who does he say is speaking? The Holy Spirit was speaking. He was speaking through Isaiah, but Isaiah was simply the mouthpiece, if you will. But the word was the very word of God. How about this one? Peter chapter one, verse number 11 says, searching what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ, which was in them did signify when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow who was speaking through these prophets, the spirit of Christ.

Which was in them. A Peter would use a similar expression in his second letter. In 2 Peter 1:21, read this "21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."

It was God speaking through the man. The truth was always, no matter what the means was, the truth was always given by the inspiration of God. That inspiration extends to the very words, not just the general ideas. God didn't just give us the big idea. He inspired the very words that were given. We believe that he inspired every word, not just some of them.

The only thing in your Bible that's not inspired are the chapter and verse divisions. Chapter divisions were inserted by a man named Stephen Langston. Who died in about 1228, and the verse divisions were added in 1551. Now let me just pause and say I appreciate chapter in verse divisions because they ate in our study, but those divisions were not given by inspiration.

What was given by the inspiration of God was the very words in the Word of God.

Proofs of Scriptural Inspiration

There's so many proofs to the inspiration of scripture. There are internal proofs. For example, think of the unity of the Bible. A book written over 1,600 years, by 40 different human penman in different languages on three continents covering 1,600 miles and yet perfect unity, no contradiction.

You read its internal claims repeatedly, phrases like, "Thus saith the Lord," "God said," and "The word of the Lord came." Those kind of statements appear more than 2,000 times in the Bible. The word claims to be holy. It claims to be the Oracles of God. Think of how truthful and transparent the scripture is.

There's not another book on earth where the author would speak so plainly about the great failings of men that a man, a human pen, when would write down his own sins. They're given by inspiration of God. It's more than the words of men, and there are only internal proofs. There are external proofs. It's powerful.

No other book has literally transformed people's lives. I. Somebody said that where the Bible was best known, civilization rose to its highest levels. It's the first book in printing, the first book ever printed. It's the first in literature. No book has ever been translated intoes. It's the first in history, theology, prophecy, biography, and so many language laws. Why is that? Because it is the very word of the living God.

The Eternal Truth of the Bible

Did you know that the average life of a bestseller is about five years? That's all. And that 75% of all books go to the scrap heap within 90 days. Yet the Bible is still the bestselling book of all time. Why is that? Because truth is timeless. It is the eternal truth of the living God.

It was Carlisle who said, no lie can live forever. Friend, the word of God is forever settled in heaven. It is indeed the word of the living God. God still alive and so is his word.

And I want to challenge you today to spend some time meditating on God's word and realize that it is not simply the word of David, Paul, or Moses.

This is the word of the living God. Ask the God of the word, the author who lives inside of you to use his book to speak to you today.

Outro and Resources

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of Scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

What The Bible Says About God's Word Mar 25, 2025

Show notes

(Isaiah 34:16) The Bible is the very Word of God. It is God's special revelation of Himself! The more we seek God in the Scriptures the more we come to know Him personally. (0974250325) ----more----

What is the Bible?

What is the Bible? Where did it come from? How can we be sure that it is accurate? Can it be trusted? And we're gonna deal with some of those questions over the next few episodes, and

The Bible's Divine Foundation

I'm very excited about this final section in our study on what the Bible says because we've come to know what the Bible says about the word of God, literally what the Bible says about itself. Now, there are lots of external evidences that the Bible is the word of God. We're gonna talk about some of those, but internally, just read the Bible and the power of scripture will bring great conviction and assurance to your heart that indeed this is God's divine revelation. That it is the perfect revelation of our great God.

I'm excited about this section, and I've saved it last, not because it's the least, but because, in fact, it lays a foundation for everything that we believe. All of the great truths we've been talking about for the last several weeks are built on the foundation of the word of God. If you don't have an authority to draw from, then it's just my opinion and your opinion.

And this lays a foundation for any other question that might come up. Certainly, this study has not been exhaustive on even the subjects we've discussed, and then there are so many questions that arise in the world we live in today. Where do you find the answers? We believe that the Bible is the very word of the living God and that you can trust the word of God because you can trust the God of the word.

Where Did the Word "Bible" Come From?

Now the term Bible is an interesting term. Where does it come from? It actually comes from a word that means role or book. Now book. We understand role is a reference to the way an ancient civilization that they would write. I remember many years ago being in Cairo, Egypt, and they gave us a demonstration of how they created papyrus paper.

These roles that would oftentimes become scrolls. They took reeds that grew along the Nile River and they would cut them into strips, lay them line up upon line at right angles, and then beat them and press them and polish them. And after they have dried and strengthened and bound together, it created a wonderful paper that could be written on.

I remember bringing a sample of that back with me. It was just an idea about what an ancient civilization was done. We take so much for granted in our modern era with all the technology we have to convey writing, I. But in the early days, it was a very expensive and laborious process. Much work went into both writing it and then preserving it.

The word Bible literally means a role or a book. It is a library of 66 books that all come together to be divine In fact, this is revelation. It's referred to throughout the word of God as scripture or the word of God. The Bible says in Isaiah 34:16, "16 Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read:"

That's powerful, isn't it? This book that we're studying, this book we're talking about is not just any book. This is not man's book. This is literally the book of the Lord. And did you notice that he gave two action verbs? Two things we should do. He says, first, seek and then read. There is here a process.

That's what reading is, but there's also heart in it. That's what seeking is. This is more than just something to read like you'd skim the headlines of the newspaper. No, my friend. This is something to read on a heart level. It's something to read with a great passion to know the God of the Bible.

The Bible as God's Revelation

The Bible is the finished revelation of God. It is the place where God reveals his person, his work, and his will. For mankind, it is God's record of who he is. And he said to man, write it down. Now, the first mention of such writing is all the way back atf the Old Testament. In fact, in Exodus 24:4, the Bible says, " 4 And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord," We believe that though men were used as instruments of writing the scriptures. That all scripture is given by inspiration of God. That means it has a divine source. It may come to us through many tributaries. It may come through many human penman, but it has one source, and that is, it comes from God.

Peter wrote and said that Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, literally as they were born along by the Holy Ghost. In other words, this is a spiritual book because this is a book the Holy Spirit wrote. It is the foundation for everything that we believe. And now I wanna talk to you for just a moment today about the most basic truth about the word of God.

And it is this the Bible is God's revelation of himself. The God of the Bible is a God who wants to be known. Is there mystery related to our God? Certainly because there are things we can't fully understand. Comprehend, fathom, we're finite beings. He's an infinite God. And yet how loving and wonderful to know that the God who created the world wanted man to know him. He wanted us to be brought into the knowledge of Him.

General and Special Revelation

He began by giving us what we might call general revelation. That's the revelation that everybody on Earth has. It just reveals there is a God. For example, Psalm 19, "1The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard." What does that mean? It means that even the creation. Cries out. There is a God, the sun, the moon, the stars, the birds that fly through the air all are a testament to the fact that there is an all powerful, all wise, all good God that ma not only made the world, but sustains the world.

So the creation testifies. Romans chapter one, alludes to this same principle. As a matter of fact, the Bible says in Romans 1:18, "18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;" In other words, they've been given some truth, but they've not responded the right way to it.

He goes on to say in verse 19, "19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:"

In other words, God's made it so that all men have some light, and if they follow the light they have, God will give them more light. So many people reject the light that they've been given. As a matter of fact, Romans chapter one says, A great number of these people begin worshiping and serving the creature instead of the creator.

They stop shy of the actual source, which is God himself. So there's general revelation that begins with creation. It also includes man's conscience. Every man has a conscience built into him. The very next chapter in Romans, Romans chapter two, verse 15, says, "15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)"

So God gives us creation and conscience to reveal the reality of God. But he goes beyond that in scripture and the word of God. He not only gives general revelation, he gives what we might call special revelation because in scripture we have not only the reality of God. We have the message of redemption from God.

Only through the word of God can we come to know how we can have a personal relationship with the creator God of the universe. We're born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abid it forever. General Revelation prepares man for special revelation, but the special revelation of scripture is necessary for any man to have a personal relationship with the creator God. And this revelation, of course, is given in the Bible.

Read Your Bible

I wanna encourage you today to spend some time just reading your Bible. Seek ye in the book of the Lord and read. Spend some time today reading the Word of God and say to the God of the word, Lord, I want to know you better, because the Bible is the foundation of our faith.

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe.

Outro and Resources

We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening, and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

How It's All Going To End Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

(Revelation 22:20-21) Come with us to the last page of the Bible. This is how it all ends. Prophecy leads us beyond earth to a new heaven and new earth, beyond time to eternity. (0973250324) ----more----

The End of the World

There's nothing quite as exciting as coming to the end of a book and seeing how it all ends. How the pieces all come together, how the story concludes the victory of the end. The same thing is true in scripture. When you come to the end of the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, you discover how it's all going to end.

The Return of Christ and the Rapture

And we know the next thing on God's agenda is the return of Christ in the air, the rapture of the church that sets in motion the tribulation period here on Earth. And while we're in heaven, we'll have the judgment seat of Christ and the marriage supper of the lamb. What a great celebration that will be, but that's not the end of it all. No, immediately after that, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back to this planet. That's right. He's coming back to this earth and we are coming with Him. Listen to the words of Revelation 20:1, "1And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up..." Won't that be a good day when the devil gets shut up? "...and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." Did you catch the little expression there, "a thousand years,"? In fact, that expression, "a thousand years" is used six times in Revelation 20:1-10.

The Millennial Reign of Christ

It is commonly referred to in prophetic language as the millennium of the millennial reign of Christ. It's a reference to the thousand-year visible earthly reign of the Lord Jesus on this earth that follows the great tribulation. He returns from heaven. We come with him. He sets up his throne to rule and reign on this earth. If you read through Revelation 20, there's an amazing description of all that takes place during this time, or at least everything that God wants us to know at this point. And some people have questioned, do you really think that's gonna happen?

Oh, yes, I do. Because when the Lord Jesus sets up his kingdom and rules and reigns here on the earth, then he is gonna have the opportunity to completely fulfill his unconditional covenant covenants that he made with the nation of Israel. He's going to free this world from the curse of sin. Think of that and reward the faithfulness of saints.

I had a Bible teacher years ago that used to ask this question. He said, "Are you getting ready to rule?" According to scripture in the millennial kingdom, the saints are awarded positions of authority based on their faithfulness in this life. We're allowed to rule and reign with Christ. So let me ask you, "Are you getting ready to rule once and for all?" The Lord Jesus is going to rule and reign on this earth for that thousand year period, it's gonna be the most wonderful time. If the tribulation is the most awful time in world history, this is gonna be the most wonderful time this world has ever known. According to scripture, people are going to enjoy increased lifespans. Isaiah 65 tells us that. Isaiah 65 also tells us that the nature of animals will even be radically changed. The lion will lay down with the lamb. Somebody says that's not natural. No. That's what happens when the Lord brings peace. All of nature will be fruitful as it's never been before in this cursed world. Isaiah 35 tells us about that and the head of the government, who will that be? That's gonna be the King. The King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. It will be truly a theocracy. God's going to prove once and for all that only he is able to perfectly govern this earth. We believe according to the book of Isaiah, that he's gonna rule and reign from his throne in Jerusalem.

It is the spiritual center of the whole Earth. Zechariah 8 tells us that, and we believe that God is going to rule and reign during that period.

Satan's Final Revolt and Judgment

Now you'll notice when I read you from Revelation 20, the Bible says, "After that, Satan will be loosed for a little season." Can you imagine that? After a thousand years of perfect peace and harmony and the Lord's ruling reign, the devil's gonna be released for a short period of time and is gonna attempt one last revolt as described for us in Revelation 20:7-9, "7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." It's not really much of a battle. God's just gonna breathe fire from heaven and consume all of them. Once and for all. Satan is gonna meet his final judgment and be cast into the lake of fire forever. And all who follow him will be cast into the lake of fire forever. It's at that moment that God will bring the final judgment into this world that moment, the heavens and the earth are gonna be destroyed by fire.

Revelation 20:11 tells us that everything is going to be gone, it's going to be consumed. Peter describes it also in 2nd Peter 3. Then there's going to be a resurrection and a judgment known as the great white throne. God is going to once and for all judge all of the unsaved dead. Those who've rejected him from all time are going to stand before God. They're going to be judged by holy God, and they're gonna be cast into the lake of fire forever with the devil. What a sad day that's going to be, but my friend, that's not the end. Here's how it's all gonna end.

The New Heaven and New Earth

Once all of that is concluded and final judgment has come, God is going to create a new heaven and a new earth. Revelation 21, that's the next chapter. Verse 1 begins like this, "1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

God's going to create a new heaven, a new Earth, and a new Jerusalem. In fact, he goes on in Revelation chapter 22 to tell us He's going to make all things new. Listen to that expression. All things will be made new. We're going into eternity with the creator, God of the universe and the savior of our soul. And to borrow a phrase from scripture, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. That is how it's all going to end.

Where Will You Be At the End of Time?

Now, my question to you is this, how's it going to end for you? If you're not a believer, your end is final judgment and hell separated from God forever. I wanna plead with you today, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. Look to Jesus in simple faith now and receive Him as your Savior. And if you're a Christian, if you've believed on the Lord Jesus, you can take this by faith as God's promise to you, that it's not gonna end in defeat. It's gonna end in victory. It's not going to end with the devil. It's gonna end with the Lord. It's not going to end with earth. It's gonna end with eternity. I. It's going to end with us being with God forever.

Years ago, I heard the story of a mother who asked her son to do some chore, and he was reading a book and kept putting it off and putting it off. And finally she said, "Son, lay the book down and do what I've told you to do." And just a moment, he came to the house grinning from ear to ear, and she said, "Why are you smiling?" And he said, "I found out how the story ends." And she said, "You read it all?" And he said, "No, but I flipped to the end of the book. And I found out who wins in the end." Can I tell you? You may not understand all of the details, but if you go to the end of the book, read the last page of scripture, Revelation 22, I'll tell you how it ends. The Lord is victorious. He is the conqueror, and we win with Him. Let's end what the Bible says about the end time with the last words of the Bible. "20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen."

Outro and Resources

Repeating what other people have said about the Bible is not enough. We must know the biblical reason behind what we believe. We hope you will visit us at etj.bible to access our Library of Bible teaching resources, including book-by-book studies of scripture. You'll also find studies to watch, listen to, or read. We are so grateful for those who pray for us, who share the biblical content, and for those who invest to help us advance this ministry worldwide. Again, thank you for listening and we hope you'll join us next time on Enjoying the Journey.

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

The Weekend Pulpit: Who In the World Mar 22, 2025

Show notes

(Revelation 5:1-7) It is not a sin to ask questions! The Bible is full of them, and even Jesus Himself asked them. Listen to today's episode to receive the answer to one of Scripture's supreme questions. (0972250322)

Enjoying the Journey provides every resource for free worldwide. If you would like to help extend this Bible teaching, you may give at enjoyingthejourney.org/donations/

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