Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] I want to greet everyone this beautiful Sabbath day.
[00:00:07] It's been a little warm, but it's not as hot here as it has been in other states.
[00:00:18] And we should be thankful that we're not back in back east or some other southern states where many people are dying because of the heat.
[00:00:27] But the Bible does tell us that the day of the Lord comes when the heavens are going to be on fire and the world also and the elements are going to burn up. Not necessarily the planet is going to be annihilated or completely destroyed or exterminated, but the elements are going to burn with fervent heat.
[00:00:52] So we can just get a touch of what's going to happen. Let's turn to Daniel chapter 12 and verse 4.
[00:01:02] Daniel, chapter 12 and verse 4 for our sermon this Sabbath morning.
[00:01:16] Among the many prophecies that God gave to Daniel and prophecies pertaining to world history and world empires.
[00:01:32] Among all these prophecies, God told Daniel that in the last days we would see phenomenal happenings or events that would really astonish every one of us. In Daniel chapter 12 and verse 4, this is what the Lord but thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end.
[00:02:04] Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.
[00:02:13] I want you to notice that among all these prophecies that God revealed to Daniel and prophecies that most of us know of the world empires, that this book of Daniel was to be sealed even to the time of the end.
[00:02:34] But he says here, the Lord says here through Daniel, that many shall run to and fro and one spec spectacular thing would happen, that knowledge shall be increased.
[00:02:48] The title of my sermon is A Modern Bible for a Modern World.
[00:02:55] A modern Bible for a Modern World.
[00:03:00] As we all can realize, I'm sure that we are living in a modern world. We call it modern because really, 50 years ago, just 50 years ago, people did not see or have or even visualize the things you and I have today.
[00:03:30] And I could just make a big list of all of the inventions of all of the modern equipment and the things that you and I are seeing, including the television that comes right into our home and through satellite, they can be down. Like recently I saw Barbara Walters down in Poland and she was over there talking and coming into the United States, right into your home. Now that's spectacular. That's really a phenomenal thing.
[00:04:11] And so we're living in a modern world, but what about a modern Bible?
[00:04:18] Does the modern world have any effect on the Bible?
[00:04:24] Is The Bible outdated.
[00:04:27] Is the Bible old?
[00:04:31] You know, we live in a time also of knowledge that has been increased. And not only in all of these inventions and gadgetries, but also we have seen the many versions of the Bible and they have tried to come up with all these various versions. And one version is supposed to be better than the other.
[00:04:53] That clarifies the Greek a little better and clarifies the Hebrew a little bit better. And so the volumes Bibles, really, there's no more into it.
[00:05:08] I have in my library I don't know how many versions of the Bible and I could just enumerate several of them right now.
[00:05:18] And how that these men of knowledge are theologians, Greek scholars and Hebrew scholars and archaeologists and geologists and all these other men that try to modernize the Bible. They try to make it easier, they say. But in doing so, I have learned that they have tried to make the Bible a modern Bible.
[00:05:45] They try to make the Bible fit our modern world.
[00:05:50] And so for that reason I might be old fashioned, but I stick to the good old James Bible.
[00:05:58] And the reason I do this, because I first learned the Bible from the King James Version. I'm not saying you should not use the other versions, you can use them if you want to.
[00:06:10] But I do believe that the King James has more of an authority to it. And I find that there is no contradiction.
[00:06:20] You might think that there are contradictions in the Bible, but I don't think there are any contradictions.
[00:06:25] So here we try now to modernize the Bible, try to make God say things in a modern way so that it will fit our lifestyle and so that the Bible will just fit whatever we want it to fit in our lives.
[00:06:43] Not necessarily that we let God talk to us and that we let God say, thus says the eternal God.
[00:06:51] And the word of God is for us that let God talk just the way he wants to talk. But we try to change the wording around to where it doesn't really hurt us at all.
[00:07:01] And so a modern Bible for a modern world. But let me say, let me say that the Bible, including what I have here before me, the King James Version, the Bible is up to date.
[00:07:17] The Bible is not an old fashioned Bible.
[00:07:21] The word of God is not outdated.
[00:07:25] The Word of God is still the same. And the Bible says that the word of God will remain forever.
[00:07:34] Let's turn to Matthew 24 and I want you to notice one verse of Scripture that Jesus said here in Matthew 24 concerning the Word and to see whether the Bible will ever get old or Outdated.
[00:07:54] Let's turn to Matthew 24.
[00:07:57] And in verse 35, in Matthew 24:35, Jesus said, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
[00:08:14] See, God will have his way, no matter how much men will try to modernize the Bible and modernized ways and have schools of theology and have some other forms of schools of thoughts to kind of change things around. But Jesus says here that heaven and earth shall pass away. But my words, he said, my words shall not pass away.
[00:08:43] And I want you to always remember that, that the words of Jesus shall never pass away, even though the heavens and the earth might be gone away, but the words will always remain.
[00:08:57] So if we want to remain with the Lord, remember that we must keep his word according to the way God has written his word.
[00:09:07] Now, Daniel was told to seal the book even to the time of the end, and that during this time of the end that many should run to and fro.
[00:09:18] The phrase running to and fro could mean the modern transportation that we have, the supersonic planes, aircrafts, jets, airliners, and, and also rockets that are even going up into space, a space shuttle, and many to run to and fro. It says the knowledge will be increased in Revelation. Let's turn to Revelation 22. And we read verse 10.
[00:09:47] When Jesus Christ gave the revelation to John in the isle of Patmos. These are the words of Jesus, what he told John in Revelation 22:10.
[00:10:02] It says, like this, Revelation 22:10. And he saith unto me, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
[00:10:16] Notice then that John was told to not seal the prophecies or the sayings or the prophecies of this book, because the time is at hand.
[00:10:29] See, the book of Revelation reveals to us the prophecies of Daniel, the prophecies of the prophets, all through the Old Testament. It reveals to us all these prophecies. And for a long period of time, these prophecies were sealed.
[00:10:51] No man could understand the prophecies.
[00:10:55] And so people will read the Bible, and I suppose that they would read the four beasts of Daniel in Daniel chapter seven, and they would read that. I wonder what that means.
[00:11:06] And they will read Daniel chapter two, the metallic image, the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar.
[00:11:13] And people will read that throughout the centuries before the things were revealed.
[00:11:19] And they would probably say, I wonder what that means.
[00:11:25] But now you and I know what it means.
[00:11:27] We know what that metallic image means.
[00:11:30] We know what the four beasts of Daniel, chapter seven mean.
[00:11:35] We know what the Book of Revelation is talking about because Jesus tells us here, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
[00:11:47] Some people call the Book of Revelation that John was a Revelator.
[00:11:53] They say John the Revelator.
[00:11:56] I want to make a correction that that is not the right way to say about the Book of Revelation. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ given to John.
[00:12:09] The revelation of Jesus Christ.
[00:12:11] It is not John the Revelator. John is not revealing anything to us. It is the Lord Jesus Christ revealing all these things to John. And then John has passed them on to us. And so we have the Book of Revelation. Today let's turn to the book of Ecclesiastes. I hope you can find it. It's right after Proverbs in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 7.
[00:12:40] And we read verse 29, Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 29.
[00:12:49] Notice what this man of God wrote hundreds and hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus Christ and how true it is for our modern day.
[00:13:03] He Ecclesiastes chapter 7. And verse 29, it says, Lo, this only have I found that God hath made man upright.
[00:13:15] Now what is the meaning of upright?
[00:13:18] It means that God has made man in a straight way. In other words, there was no imperfection in him.
[00:13:27] Not necessarily that man is upright, he stands upright, and he's not hunchback, but that God has made him in the right direction, the right way.
[00:13:38] But it says, but they speaking about men, but they have sought out many inventions.
[00:13:48] They have sought out many inventions.
[00:13:51] And among these inventions that men have sought out or have invented, many of those inventions are to destroy the human race.
[00:14:03] You know what? If Jesus doesn't come very soon, men of this world are going to pollute this planet so bad that people will be dying like flies and mosquitoes.
[00:14:18] And like during the Black Plague in Europe that happened many years ago, or perhaps worse than that, because of the inventions, they have polluted this planet with all the pollution of the smog, the pollution of the chemicals that have been disposed of in various places.
[00:14:45] And people are getting cancer, people are getting sick. These nuclear reactors that they are building, also people can get, can get radiation from those things and they can actually die.
[00:14:59] All these inventions that man have invented are really most of the time to destroy the human race.
[00:15:07] They're not inventing things to better. You might say, well, medical science have come up with a lot of good things and they have a lot of good inventions and a lot of good things in medical science.
[00:15:20] But in the process of doing that, many other people have died along the way.
[00:15:26] And so these inventions keep getting worse and worse and perhaps greater and greater.
[00:15:34] And one man told me, he said, this preacher that I was talking to one time, he said, you know why? He said, the Lord says that the heavens being on fire, shall be destroyed with fire, and the earth also being on fire.
[00:15:50] You know why? Because men are sending these satellites up into the sky, into space, and all these satellites are orbiting the Earth. He said, and so God is going to have to destroy the heavens, meaning those satellites that are out there, God is going to have to destroy all those inventions of men, plus all the other horrible inventions that they have invented here upon the planet Earth. And all of them, most of those inventions are to destroy the human race.
[00:16:26] Very few things you find that will help a human race.
[00:16:30] And so that is what modern or modern modernistic world is doing to us today.
[00:16:39] Instead of helping us, you might say, well, I have a fancy car and I drive a nice car. We have good highways. Yes, all these things are good and nice.
[00:16:49] They're good.
[00:16:51] And I'm not speaking against all the things that might be good, but in the process of having all of these inventions that we have, a lot of people die along the way. I lived in the Los Angeles area for a long, long time.
[00:17:10] If you ever want to see pollution and smog, if you want to see traffic bumper to bumper for miles and miles and miles and freeways that are just so congested with cars and people going to and fro, just go to Los Angeles area and just spend a week there.
[00:17:34] Just spend a week there in Los Angeles and try to drive especially early in the mornings and kind of about five o'clock in the afternoon. Try to drive even through the day. Try to drive around the freeways and then you begin to see all the black smoke hanging around all over.
[00:17:54] That is the smog that is there and the pollution there is, is there.
[00:18:00] We turn to Ecclesiastes chapter one, since we are here in this book, Ecclesiastes chapter one, and we read verse nine, Ecclesiastes chapter one and verse nine. It says, the thing that has been, it is that which shall be. And that which is done is that which will be done.
[00:18:24] There is no new thing under the sun.
[00:18:30] You might say, what is the meaning of this no new thing under the sun?
[00:18:35] Because it says the thing that hath been, it is that which shall be.
[00:18:41] And that which is done is that which shall be done, meaning that there is nothing new under the sun. Things have Already happened.
[00:18:52] You might say to me, you mean to tell me that at one time the world was as modern as we are today, that people were as smart as we are today, that people had knowledge.
[00:19:05] I believe that before God destroyed the world in Noah's time, that people back There lived for 16, 50 some years, and people lived so many years back then, that people became very, very modern.
[00:19:33] They became so modern during.
[00:19:36] Before the flood, the days before the flood, they became so modern that they actually drifted away from God.
[00:19:46] And that's what the modern world will do to you.
[00:19:51] They will usually drift away from God.
[00:19:54] Jesus told us in Matthew 24.
[00:19:58] Let's read Matthew 24.
[00:20:00] These words, verses 37 through 39.
[00:20:05] Matthew 24, verses 37 through 39.
[00:20:11] Notice how Jesus predicted that the world would degenerate, that the world just prior to the second coming of Jesus Christ, that we will become so modernistic that actually the world would degenerate in such a way that God will have to destroy the human family again.
[00:20:38] Matthew 24. Beginning at verse 37, we read through verse 39.
[00:20:42] But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
[00:20:50] For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
[00:21:12] In the book of Luke, we find the very similar words, but it says that they were building. Also they were building.
[00:21:20] But we find here that in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day that Noah entered into the ark. Now, there's nothing wrong with eating and drinking and giving in marriage.
[00:21:35] But what was actually wrong, it was that man became corrupt and they polluted the planet. Let's turn back to Genesis, chapter six.
[00:21:53] Genesis, chapter six, and I want you to notice what it says here.
[00:22:03] Genesis chapter 6. Beginning at verse 5, we read through verse 7.
[00:22:09] It says like this.
[00:22:12] And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
[00:22:24] And it repenteth the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
[00:22:32] And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
[00:22:47] Coming down to verse 11, beginning at verse 11, it continues on. It says, the earth also was corrupt before the Lord, and the earth was filled with violence.
[00:23:03] And God looked upon the earth, and behold, he was corrupt. For all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
[00:23:25] Notice that the Lord Jesus Christ predicted that our modern world would be just like it was before the flood destroyed the human race.
[00:23:41] You might say, well, those people over there, before the flood, they were cave people.
[00:23:47] They didn't have any modern equipment.
[00:23:51] Those people didn't know anything about cars or building things.
[00:23:58] You know what, to build an ark like God told Noah to build, it took ingenuity.
[00:24:09] It took ingenuity to build an ark like that. It took equipment.
[00:24:14] You just can't build a huge, great big boat called a boat or a ship or an ark, about the size of an aircraft carrier, which is almost 600ft long and about three decks high, and no telling how high it was, but it was so high and so big.
[00:24:36] You suppose that they can build an aircraft carrier today with just a little. A little tool made out of stone or something that, you know, a little hammer that is made out of stone, that it can build an aircraft carrier like we have today.
[00:24:53] You got to have modern equipment to do that.
[00:24:57] So these people before the flood and Noah had to have modern equipment to build that ark.
[00:25:06] So the world was very modernistic, but along the modernistic ways of man during Noah's time, they became corrupt.
[00:25:19] And the Bible says here that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was on the evil continually.
[00:25:30] And, you know, this is the way the world is getting today.
[00:25:33] It is harder. It's getting harder and harder to get people to come to church and to learn about the Lord.
[00:25:43] It's getting harder and harder to get people to attend church.
[00:25:48] You know why? Because people love the world.
[00:25:52] Sometimes I turn, especially on Sundays, you know, or any day of week, two also, but especially on Sunday, you turn the television on and there is the football game.
[00:26:07] And they have a huge stadium.
[00:26:10] And you know how many people, how many people there are watching the football game in that stadium? They can watch it through their TV if they want to, but they would rather go and pay. I don't know how much money to go into the stadium. And there's from 40 to 50 and 60,000 people watching a football game that's inside of the stadium. No telling how many other millions are watching the game. In their homes, right there in front of the television set.
[00:26:44] The same thing about baseball.
[00:26:46] I like to watch baseball once in a while, but I watch all the crowds of peoples all around, all the people watching the baseball game.
[00:26:59] The other day I was telling my wife, I wonder how many of those people you could get to go to church and for them to serve the Lord.
[00:27:10] I wonder how many of those people even think about the Lord. And there they are, you know, they're just hollering and they're praising the players and they're just screaming and then. And you know, the football players, the more they hit each other, the more they bang each other, the more the people roar, the more they just like it. And it seemed like the arenas during the Roman Empire, the time of the gladiators, you know, the time when the loins would come in there and just swallow the people up and the people would just roar, you know, and it seemed that that's the way people like it.
[00:27:48] The same thing about boxing. I watched this one time, I turned to a box scene and these guys were boxing in there, and all the people were hollering, all they were screaming and, oh, hit him. You know, hit him and knock him down. And all these other things we're talking about, about the Lord, about coming to church and coming to church to praise the Lord and to say, lord, praise you and thank you, Lord.
[00:28:15] To lift up our hands and to do something for the Lord. Oh, no, not that.
[00:28:21] Not that. No. We come to church and we just keep looking at our watch and say, boy, it's getting late.
[00:28:29] It's getting late. Boy, it's getting late. I hope he'll shut up pretty soon. And I want to go home.
[00:28:36] You know, that is our modern world.
[00:28:39] Our modern world is also that.
[00:28:42] That if the preacher preaches over 30 minutes, he has already gone too far too long.
[00:28:50] And so the people just can't stand to just hear a sermon and know about the word of God.
[00:28:57] But you can surely stand behind the television set and you can sit there three, four hours and more.
[00:29:05] The whole thing goes round and round, one story after another.
[00:29:11] There we sit with our eyes glued on there, watching all these things.
[00:29:17] And then we get so tired of watching television, and we get so tired that we just don't even read the Bible. We don't pray anymore. We don't study our Sabbath school quarterlies. We don't have any more time for God.
[00:29:29] And the Bible says here. And God saw.
[00:29:33] And God saw. And I believe that God is also seeing today.
[00:29:38] And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was on the evil continually.
[00:29:49] One thing that really gets to my heart when it says here, and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
[00:30:00] You know, it really repented the Lord that he had made man.
[00:30:04] It repented him and it grieved him at his heart.
[00:30:09] God was grieved because of man and his wickedness.
[00:30:15] And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth.
[00:30:22] And here it says both man and beast, and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.
[00:30:32] And so our modern world, Jesus predicted.
[00:30:35] Jesus predicted that our world will become just like it was before the flood.
[00:30:42] That we would have wickedness, corruption and violence.
[00:30:48] And all these evils would be prevalent in the earth and that God will again have to destroy.
[00:30:59] This time is going to be by a flood.
[00:31:02] But this time the apostle Peter says in second Peter chapter three, he says, the heavens and the earth being on fire, in flaming fire. The Lord is coming back in flaming fire.
[00:31:14] You might say, well, you know, those kind of sermons of a fiery sermons, trying to scare me or something like that, you know, I'm not trying to scare anybody.
[00:31:26] I'm just trying to tell you what the Bible predicts and what is going to happen so that you and I can prepare ourselves and we can be ready for these times that are that are right here, right now.
[00:31:44] Let's turn to just one more part of the Bible, and that's second Timothy chapter three.
[00:31:51] In second Timothy chapter three.
[00:31:54] And notice what the Apostle Paul says beginning at verse one, Second Timothy chapter three, beginning at verse one.
[00:32:08] Notice it says like this, this. Know also that in the last days perilous times shall come.
[00:32:19] For men shall be lovers of their own selves.
[00:32:23] Notice that. For men shall be lovers of their own selves.
[00:32:28] Covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truth breakers, false accusers, and incontinent, fierce despisers of those that are good.
[00:32:47] Traitors, heady, high minded, Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
[00:32:56] That's what it says. Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
[00:33:02] And it says here that in verse five, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such turn away.
[00:33:13] And so we are now living in those perilous times when men Are lovers of their own selves, more than lovers of God, lovers of pleasures.
[00:33:29] And this is the kind of world we live in and that is the modern world.
[00:33:35] Now I have showed you from the Bible what the Bible has predicted about our world. Now do you believe for one moment that the Bible is old fashioned and outdated or do you believe that we have a modern Bible for a modern world?
[00:33:54] I believe that our Bible that we have today, our Bible that we have today right here in front of us is up today to the very second.
[00:34:05] Not only up today to what now, but also the Bible predicts what's going to happen in the very near future.
[00:34:13] The Bible tells us about the Middle east, about the Jews, about Israel, it tells us about Russia, it tells us about the Western powers. It tells about all the communistic world. The Bible reveals to us all of these things.
[00:34:27] And believe me, what this Bible says, it is news in advance.
[00:34:37] If we just take the time to read it and let God show us.
[00:34:42] This Bible reveals to us the news, the headlines ahead of time so we can expect. Brethren, we're not going to expect beautiful things and that the world will become better right now that through government or our President of the United States or our governor or somebody is going to bring utopia to the United States and to the world that we're going to now solve the problems in El Salvador like we try to solve the problems in Korea and we try to solve the problems in Vietnam. We try to solve the problems all over.
[00:35:25] We try to bring Utopia to these peoples.
[00:35:28] Are we really doing that?
[00:35:31] No, brethren, there's only one way.
[00:35:33] There's only one solution to all of these problems and that is God's ways.
[00:35:41] And Proverbs says, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
[00:35:49] May God help us, brethren, all of us, to look at this book a little closer. Take time to study it.
[00:35:58] Take time. And if you don't understand, why don't you open the Bible?
[00:36:02] And there at home, if you're alone, wherever you might be in your car, wherever, open the Bible and put your hands on it and say, lord, I don't understand your Word, like I should.
[00:36:15] Give me power.
[00:36:17] Give me youe Holy Spirit, Father, help me to understand your Word.
[00:36:23] Give me your Holy Spirit that it will just enlighten me, guide me in the path of righteousness.
[00:36:31] And I believe that God will just open your mind, your understanding and God will show you the way of His Word.
[00:36:43] May God bless us.
[00:36:45] We continue to serve the Lord and I pray that when Jesus comes, that all of us that are here today will all be in the kingdom of God.
[00:36:57] I know I'm going to be there.
[00:36:59] I'm going to be in the kingdom of God because I am determined that I'm going to be there.
[00:37:05] And you do the same. God bless you.
