In this episode, Arnie and Fred continue their discussion of various facts about the gospel in the Bible. We begin by noting that the gospel was confirmed by various miracles. We look at a couple of passages that indicate that. We also note that the Bible is complete and says that the writers were provided all truth by the Holy Spirit. We talk about some of the claims that some modern men say about receiving other words from God. We continue with a discussion of the uniqueness of the gospel by noting what Paul and the Hebrew writer had to say about that. We close out this episode by beginning to look at the immutability or unchanging nature of the gospel. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and will have to complete this discussion in the next episode. Take about 30 - minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript provided of this Buzzsprout episode for your convenience.
In this episode, Arnie and Fred continue their discussion of various facts about the gospel in the Bible. We begin by noting that the gospel was confirmed by various miracles. We look at a couple of passages that indicate that. We also note that the Bible is complete and says that the writers were provided all truth by the Holy Spirit. We talk about some of the claims that some modern men say about receiving other words from God. We continue with a discussion of the uniqueness of the gospel by noting what Paul and the Hebrew writer had to say about that. We close out this episode by beginning to look at the immutability or unchanging nature of the gospel. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and will have to complete this discussion in the next episode. Take about 30 - minutes to listen in on our discussion. Have your Bible handy so you can verify what we are saying. There is a transcript provided of this Buzzsprout episode for your convenience.
This is a presentation of the Woodland church of Christ meeting at 3370 Broad Street in Sumter, South Carolina. We meet for worship on Sunday at ten thirty am and five thirty pm. We meet for bible study at nine thirty am on Sunday, and seven pm on Wednesday. If you have questions or comments on this lesson, you may email them to Fred Gosnell at fgosnell@ftc-i.net. Or to Arnie Granke at agranke440718@twc.com.
Arnie:Good afternoon. This is what does the Bible say, brought to you by the church of Christ in Woodland in Sumter, South Carolina. I'm Arnie Granke and Fred Gosnell is sitting across the table from me. And we want to talk about some facts about the gospel, we began to talk about that topic last Lord's Day. And, for example, we discovered, pointed out the fact that that the gospel was mediated by Jesus Christ, and we defined what that involved in and we saw that it was inspired. In other words, God breathed, the number of passages of Scripture that that make that pretty clear. And that it was explicit. Inspiration was plenary. And it was verbal. It wasn't it wasn't anything vague about it, you could, if you were capable of reading you, you'd be capable of understanding those words. In fact, if you couldn't read and somebody read it to you, you'd probably be able to understand the Bible because it's very, very, very clear. Fred, what do you say we talk about it being confirmed today.
Fred Gosnell:Okay. Let's start in Matthew 16 then. Of course, when we talk about it being confirmed, we're talking about it being confirmed, miraculously, with miracles that were performed. In Matthew 16, 13, through 20, beginning in verse thirteen, Matthew writes, When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, He asked his disciples saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elijah and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee but my Father, which is in heaven. And I say, and also to thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my church; the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall have been bound in heaven, loosed in heaven.Then he charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. So, Peter's answer, Jesus said, Peter's answer didn't come from Peter, even though he said it. It was revealed to Peter by my Father, which is in heaven, Jesus said. So. So Peter's statement was a statement of inspiration, the words, the facts, that Jesus is the Son of God came from, from God, the Father. And then of course, he said, Whatever you and speaking of the apostles, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven. So, so whatever they said, was already in heaven, God is the one that would provide those things to them. And then of course, later on, we will, we will see things that were done to confirm those words by the miracles that they performed.
Arnie:You know, Fred, in some religions, the the idea of shall be bound in in heaven, is that some individual who has maybe primary authority in that particular religious group, decides this is, this is what we're going to believe. And God is sitting up there in heaven waiting for that and saying, Oh, okay, you said, this is what they're going to believe. So it's bound up here too. And of course, that's not what this is talking about. This is talking about if God didn't say it, we better not say it either. And God did say it, we need to speak where he spoke, as well. I'm fascinated by the fact that Peter responds when Jesus asks, Who do you say that I am? And as he responds to that, he really has a very good, good background by this point in time for understanding who, who Christ was. I don't think that he's just just saying something because he thinks that, that it'll satisfy Jesus. He understand that. You're in Matthew 16 at this particular point, you're over halfway through Matthew's account of the things that Jesus did. And by that point, there had been some 32 times that Jesus had performed miracles. Some of those miracles were recorded in Matthew, but in the same timeframe, Mark, and Luke also noted some of those miracles. So all of those, of course, were applicable. Peter had seen them. He'd seen people being fed, miraculously, he had seen the dead raised, he had seen cripples being able to walk, people that were, that were unable to do just about anything, healed by, by Jesus. As as a matter of fact, we're talking about quite a number of people. Some of those miracles involved a single individual, but others of them we just don't know how many they were. In one case, it is that the scripture says that, that there was a large group, and it was a crowd that was there, and Jesus healed all of their illnesses. We don't know how many there are. But my point is that Peter saw that, he understood that. He understood, he couldn't do that. He understood that Christ had to be divine, or he wouldn't have been able to do it, either. So I think it's important for us to understand it and make sure that we realize that.
Fred Gosnell:Course what Jesus said to Peter was, Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh, and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father, which is in heaven. So
Arnie:Be well. whatever Peter said, Thou art the Christ, Son of living God, Jesus said, that the Father has given those words to you. The Father revealed that to you. Of course, Peter, Peter had had seen all of the miracles that that Jesus did. But nevertheless, Jesus said that the Father is the one that revealed that to you. And of course, one of the ways that those things are revealed are through the miracles that Jesus performed. Of course, what he did was, what a lot of, no, nobody else could do. Nobody could raise the dead, nobody could just by his words, heal somebody from various diseases and from being born cripple.
Fred Gosnell:So so so, but but nevertheless, Jesus said that the Father reveal, revealed it unto. Y``ou, you didn't get this from somebody from from flesh and blood, some, some, some rabbi, you know, across the street, and around the corner. These words came from God.
Arnie:So, we need to understand that, since it's been confirmed, and confirmed, miraculously, it's it's reliable. Another passage, I think that that deals with that Fred, is in Hebrews chapter two, and Hebrews Chapter Two beginning and in verse one, the writer said, Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense. How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to his own will, will. So we're not talking about something that somebody just sat down and, and wrote it out and, and now we're supposed to believe it and, and live according to, to that. We're talking about it being divinely provided and being something that's, that's confirmed and not just guesswork.
Fred Gosnell:Yes. So the gospel doesn't come from just flesh and blood men that are speaking something that they decided they might want to say; the Gospel comes from God. And it has been confirmed by the miracles that were performed in the first century by those, by Jesus and of course, by by the apostles. And, of course, that's the next. The next point is the fact that it is complete.
Arnie:Can I add one more thing to that Fred? And I'm wanting to mention the Pope has has recently come up with a new understanding about morality; and morality and having sex change operations and all that, all that kind of thing. And I guess he probably thinks that God's going to, going to accept that and, and change his mind in heaven. I don't think that's going to happen. And I've realized that there are a number of Catholic people that that may be realizing that that's a problem as as well, a lot of them are not accepting it. And they think that he's wrong about that. But But how can he be wrong? He's the Pope. Of course, he's wrong. He's a human being. And he's, he's not telling what God has, has said to tell. He's telling what he wants to tell.
Fred Gosnell:And of course, that's the point now that the gospel is complete. And it was complete in the first century. And one of the things that Jesus said to the apostles in John's, John's account, in John 16, 12, through 14, now notice what he says, he says, I have yet many things to say unto you. He's speaking to the apostles. But you cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall speak that shall he, whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. So Jesus says, I'm going to leave. And I'm going to, there's more that you need to hear, it's going to come from the Spirit of truth, from the Holy Spirit. And then notice, he says, He will guide you into all truth. And of course, we have all of their, what they wrote in our Bibles today. So according to Jesus, it was going to be complete, the Holy Spirit was going to provide it, and to the apostles. And of course, they would provide us with the record, the written record, which we have. So so doesn't matter what the Pope says. If the Bible doesn't say it already, he's wrong. And of course, that's his problem is, he is not inspired. And, and he has no authority to change what the Bible says, you know, the Bible says, God made them male and female in the beginning, and that hasn't changed.
Arnie:You mentioned the fact that he will guide you into all truth. Was there some additional truth that hadn't been guided into that came about in 1830?
Fred Gosnell:Not that I know of. If the Bible has all truth provided to the apostles by the Holy Spirit, then there's nothing else to be provided.
Arnie:So you don't think that there is that somebody has, has found another gospel of Jesus Christ?
Fred Gosnell:No. Not according to what the Bible says.
Arnie:No. And we need to stick with what the Bible says, rather than the changes that human beings, and it's not just a couple of religions that change from time to time, what they what they teach and what they believe. It's a lot of the denominations are doing this and have for centuries.
Fred Gosnell:Well, according to what Jesus says here, then then he sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles, and he was going to teach them all truth. And of course, they wrote it down. So whatever we have written down in the Bible, is the Holy Spirit's words that were provided to the apostles. And if if he provided all of the words, all of the truth to them, and they wrote it down, then there's nothing else to be provided. And it doesn't matter what anybody might say, in the 18th century, the 19th century or the 20th century, anywhere else, there's no more truth to be delivered, other than what has already been provided, been written down by the inspired apostles, and has been kept complete by God through the ages, and it's not going to change, we have it all. And we have to go by what the Bible says, nothing else.
Arnie:Fact of the business is men want to believe what they want to believe. And they want to do what they want to do, and want God's to have to put his seal on it and that just doesn't, doesn't happen. He, the Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all truth and and he revealed all things as, as well. Peter is writing in Second Peter chapter one. And beginning in in verse two. And he says, Grace, and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according to as his divine power hath given unto us. Now watch this, All things that pertain to life and godliness. Let me just repeat that. He hasth given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that have called us to glory and virtue; whereby we, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. Some people who just want to do what they want to do never escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. And that's a tragic thing and will be more tragic when we come into it come into eternity.
Fred Gosnell:Exactly. Yes. And of course, Jesus said, made a statement that tells us that the the gospel would be a preach globally in all the world. And he says that in Matthew 24 four, verse 14, he says, And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. Of course, if you would like to read the context of that in Matthew 24, he, the end he's talking about, there is the end of the Jewish state, the end of Jerusalem, the end of the temple. And at the end of that, I think it's verse 35, Jesus says, This generation shall not pass till all these things shall be fulfilled. So and Paul, and in first, first, in Colossians, chapter, one verse, verse 23, Paul, Paul makes the statement there, he says, If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the Gospel, which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature, which is under heaven, whereof I Paul, am made a minister. So when Paul wrote that to the Colossians, he said, the gospel had been preached in all the world to every creature. And so once that was done, then what Jesus was talking about there, then the things that would occur, would happen to Jerusalem, were then going to be able to able to happen. So it's a global message. And it was provided in the first century, through the apostles and those they taught; of course they used, the transportation system of the, of the Roman Empire to, to go to all the places they needed to go. And so it's, it's complete, and it has gone everywhere, and the whole counsel of God, Paul, Paul talks about that in Acts, Acts chapter, chapter 20 there. He says, how, to the elders, from Miletus,, he's speaking to them, he says, How I kept back nothing that was profitable to you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly from house to house, testifying botht of the Jews and also to the Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit and to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there. Save that the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy in the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold I know that ye are all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day. I'm pure from the blood of all men for I have not shunned to declare unto you, notice, All the counsell of God,
Arnie:All the counsel of God.
Fred Gosnell:So Paul acknowledges it. He says, I've declared it to you. He said, he told to Colossians it had gone to every creature. And so it's been confirmed it's complete. And so any later revelations that we might, some might claim to have, they're simply not not from God, they're, they're made up from from men. And we're not to follow them.
Arnie:And And usually, it's what men want to do anyway. Yeah, and probably would already do it even if the Bible disagreed with it and probably does. Okay, so So the gospel is complete. And it's unique. There's, there's not anything that is that is like it. And I'm looking at, Fred, in Hebrews chapter nine. And, and verse 16, where I think that it's pretty clear that that the gospel is of one of the kind thing. Beginning in verse 16, For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator or testator, for testament is of force after men are dead. Otherwise, it is a no strength at all, while the testator liveth. And of course, the writer's point here is that it's the last Will and Testament of Christ, He's the one who had to die. And just imagine that, that probably everybody that we know when, when, when we get at some latter, age, you know, little fur, further along in life, and we realize that it's not going to be an eternal thing here on Earth, we make a last will and testament, what to do, with with our property, how to take care of members of the family, who perhaps may need special assistance, and, and so forth, like that. And when we die, that that testament comes into effect. And if someone disagrees with it, then in most places, certainly in the United States, he has to go to court and and explain to a judge why he thinks there needs to be a change, and the judge will determine whether or not that's a legitimate change or legitimate thing to, to do or not, he will probably be stuck with, This is what it says. That's what it means. There's no other way that is going to be handled. And the same is true with with the gospel of Christ. It's Christ's last will and testament.
Fred Gosnell:Yes. And Paul, Paul talks about the uniqueness of the gospel and, and the faith that is included there. In Ephesians, four, one through seven, and he to the Ephesians. He says, I therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering,forbearing, one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who was above all, and through all and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. So there's, there's one, there's one faith, there's one God, God is unique. There's one of them, there's one God, this the Spirit is unique. There's one Spirit, there are not several Holy Spirits. There's one Spirit. There's one Lord, He is unique. There's one faith, there's not many faiths, there's one faith. There's one baptism. There's not many baptisms. There's, well there's several baptisms in the listed in the New Testament. But there's only one baptism that saves. And so, the uniqueness of the Gospel, the uniqueness of the faith that the Lord provided when he died for us, is undeniable. You cannot establish a different faith and think that it's from God. It just simply is not true and it's a false false faith and something that will be of no benefit when it comes time to stand before the Lord. He provided one faith one Lord one baptism, one body, which is the church. And so it's unique, and there's nothing else like it. It's established by God, established by the Lord, confirmed by the Holy Spirit. And there's no other, no other like it, regardless of what some uninspired man might say.
Arnie:When you were using baptism, as an illustration, that's certainly something that a lot of people need to consider. Because there, there are so many variations of something that people call baptism, that isn't necessarily baptism, whether it's sprinkling, whether it's pouring, I even heard a denominational pastor, make the statement that, that if you happen to be out in the middle of the desert somewhere, and someone was in serious condition, and, and needed to get right with God, you could baptize him by sprinkling dust on his head. Well, that's, that's not the baptism that's spoken of, there the One Lord, one faith, one baptism type of thing. And as a matter of fact, there are numerous varieties of it. And and it should be a clue that will help you understand exactly what it's supposed to be if you understand that the word baptism in the Bible is translated from the Greek word baptizo. And baptizo is is immersion. It's a dyers word. So that a dyer if you took a piece of cloth, he wouldn't just sprinkle or dab a little bit of dye on it, he would soak it in, in a pan of dye or however big facility he would, he would need and evenly and completely change it's color there. Baptism is immersion. And I know a lot of people don't believe that. But that's a dangerous thing, I think to argue with if, if that's the case, and they disagreed. Did you have a point that you wanted to make?
Fred Gosnell:Well, you know, the the eunuch in Acts eight verse 36, says, Philip was preaching Jesus to him, he said, See here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? So you can only be baptized, immersed in one thing, and it's water. It's not dust or sand or, or cornbread or anything else? It's what the Bible says.
Arnie:He was definitely surrounded by sand, wasn't he? He had all the sand he wanted there. So so the gospel
Fred Gosnell:Yes he was. is also immutable. And I don't know if we'll have time to. To finish that up. We'll just give you a passage or two of Scripture because we're nearly nearly out of time. But but it its immutable. It's unchangeable. Yes, people do try to change it. But human changes would actually invalidate the doctrine, the document, as as being gospel, it wouldn't be gospel anymore, it would be it would be something else. And so it's immutable. It has to be obeyed the way that that it's written, or, if you do did something different, you haven't obeyed the gospel. Hebrews chapter 13, and beginning in verse 20, the Hebrew writer is winding down and he says, Now, the God of peace that brought again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you, that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. If it's an everlasting covenant, ain't nothing missing Fred. Well, that's right. And so it cannot be changed. Paul to the Galatians in Galatians, 3, 15 said, brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be a man's covenant, if it be confirmed, no man disannuleth or addeh thereto. And it is, immutable, cannot be changed, as Paul says, and it's an eternal Gospel, and so eternally will never be changed. And I guess we've got to pick up at this point next week.
Arnie:I think that that's the that's the case. We hope that we hope that you've listened carefully. We hope that what we've talked about will be helpful to you. By all means correspond with us. If you disagree or if you need some help in in obeying the gospel, and we'll do what we can we'll get someone there to give you a hand with with that if that's the case. We wish you a good week. We look forward to being with you again next Lord's day.