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It Is Written Canada

Life To It's Fullest

Chris Holland

The Right Map

God's book, the Bible, still relevant in today's complex world.

It is written, sharing messages of hope around the world.

Forest Fenn is an art dealer from New Mexico in the United States.

He's 82 years old and a multi-millionaire.

In 1988, Fenn was diagnosed with cancer and was given only a small percentage of living.

Now while fighting the disease and being in and out of hospitals, he came up with an idea.

Why not create a modern day treasure hunt by hiding some of his riches?

Remarkably enough, Fenn survived the disease.

However, Even though he survived, he decided to follow through with his plan.

So Fenn buried 265 gold coins, hundreds of gold nuggets, some weighing more than a troy pound each, a 2, 000 year old necklace made of carved quartz crystals and other semi-precious stones, hundreds of rubies, diamonds, emeralds, 2 Ceylon sapphires, and 2 ancient Chinese carved jade figurines.

Now because the price of gold fluctuates on a moment by moment basis, it is hard to estimate its total value.

But most experts place it at the very least, $3 million.

Fenn has written a poem with clues to finding the treasure.

In addition, he's been interviewed on countless television shows.

Then in 2010, he wrote his memoir, The Thrill of the Chase.

This memoir contains clues that will supposedly lead someone right to the treasure.

Did you know that we also have a treasure map?

In fact, the average household contains almost 5 of these treasure maps.

The map I speak of, friends, is God's book, the Holy Bible.

In our last show, we talked about the authenticity of the Bible.

You know, Jesus said in John 10, 10, I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly." Friends, this book is a roadmap to living life to its fullest, both now and into eternity.

Today we will take a look at this book and how it leads to living that life to its fullest.

So let's open our Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 3, verses 14 to 17.

The Apostle Paul writing, writes these words, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." So let's make the text very plain from the beginning.

Now I want you to take note that the Bible is useful for making 1 wise for salvation, that is given by inspiration of God, that is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness, and that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." Now right there you add them up and this scripture clearly outlines how to experience abundant living and living life to the fullest.

These 7 purposes of the Bible contain the keys to happiness in life.

Now first of all, the Bible says It makes you wise for salvation.

The word wise here means to teach or give understanding.

And you know of course what salvation means.

It is the deliverance from sin that Jesus offers.

But it is also the future benefit and blessing that Jesus offers when He will come again in His visible return to take those that are ready for Him to their new heavenly homes.

So the most simplified way to say that is that the Bible is instruction on a happy life today, and it is the road map to heaven in the future.

Now secondly, the text says it was given by inspiration of God.

Now the word here, inspiration, literally means to be God-breathed or divinely inspired.

This means that the Bible isn't just some made-up book of stories that somebody came up with in some night of restless activity.

No, no, no, this book here is filled with real life events, real life instruction.

In fact, it is not only real, but they are instructions that God told all these people to write down.

So when you read the Bible, it isn't just some other book, but this is God speaking to you.

Friends, can You see how important this book is?

It's not just black text on a white page, but it is God's Word to me personally.

So summarizing the point, the Bible is God's Word to us, to me personally.

So if you take those 2 purposes of the Bible and you put them together, the Bible is God's very word to me and instructs me on how to have a happy life today and how to be on the road to heaven.

Now the third purpose of the Bible is that it is profitable for doctrine.

Now the word doctrine literally means a teaching or instruction.

You know, too often the word doctrine is thought of as a bad word, but it simply means to be a teaching.

So many times these days, 1 preacher says this and another preacher says that.

Friend, we don't have to be confused about what to believe.

You know, I once heard it said, if the Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it.

Friends, we don't have to rely on human tradition or teachings.

And yes, pastors and teachers have been called to teach the Word of God.

However, we can't take things for granted.

We must find the Bible's teaching at the very source, in God's book.

We must check to make sure that what someone says is in fact the teaching of the Bible.

Even On this show, I would hope, friends, that you would check my teaching in accordance with God's book.

So quite simply, purpose number 3 of the Bible is that it teaches us what to believe.

The Bible is instruction on a happy life today and it is a road map to heaven.

The Bible is God's very word and the Bible teaches us what to believe.

Now The next portion of the text says that the Bible is good for reproof.

It's an old word that's not used much often anymore.

It literally means that it gives us the grounds to discover whether something is right or wrong.

The Bible is the basis of discovering what is right and what is wrong.

You know friends, I love apples, but I love only certain kinds of apples.

The kinds of apples that I like, they need to be crisp, and they need to be juicy.

So when I look at an apple, how can I tell if it's good or not?

And next I pick up that apple and I give it a good squeeze.

These are all tests to find out if I have a good apple or a bad apple.

The Bible is the test to find out what is right and wrong, what is good and what is evil.

So purpose number 4 is that the Bible teaches us what is good and what is evil.

Next, the Bible says it is good for correction.

So if we make a mistake, the Bible tells us how to correct that mistake and not make the same mistake again.

Friends an integral part of discipline both for our children and for ourselves involves teaching and learning, then being assessed so we can be corrected.

You know in the modern world many have diminished the idea of correcting someone and have diminished the idea of discipline.

But the only way a person can become better and can grow in life is through correction and through discipline.

The Bible points out why something is wrong, but doesn't leave us there.

Then it gives us instructions on how to not make that same mistake again.

So purpose number 5 for the Bible is that it helps us correct our mistakes.

Next the Bible says that it gives us instruction in righteousness.

Righteousness is to live right, to do right, to be pure, to be holy, to do those things which are pleasing to God.

Now this goes along with some of the things we have already said, but this teaches us a little bit further.

The Right Adoption

It is written sharing messages of hope around the world.

The past weeks we have been studying how God desires that each of us would experience life to its fullest.

And we have seen that God has given us a guide in his holy book, but the Bible speaks of salvation.

The word salvation means the act of saving.

What is it that we need to be saved from?

You know, the Bible records that God's people spent 400 years of bondage in Egypt.

Then they experienced a terrible time of disobedience as they wandered in the wilderness.

And afterwards, God's people were in a kingdom that was divided after the reign of Solomon.

They experienced constant attacks from their neighbors, the Philistines, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Jebusites, just to name a few.

And then they were persecuted under the Babylonians and persecuted under the Medo-Persians and the Greeks and then the Romans.

To many it would seem that all hope was lost and they weren't living life to its fullest and there was no possibility to do so.

In fact, many of the Israelite people wondered, would deliverance ever come in their lifetime?

Where was the promised Messiah of Israel?

Where was the 1 who would retake the throne of David?

In the classic book on the life of Christ, The Desire of Ages, it says these words, The Savior's coming was foretold in Eden.

When Adam and Eve first heard the promise, they looked for its speedy fulfillment.

They joyfully welcomed their firstborn son, hoping that he might be the deliverer.

But The fulfillment of the promise tarried.

Those who first received it died without the sight.

From the days of Enoch, the promise was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping alive the hope of his appearing.

And yet, he came not." And it is at this point in history and this piece of history that Paul utilizes as the background for the passage we will study today.

So let's open our Bibles to Galatians, the fourth chapter, beginning in verse 1 and reading through verse 7.

Now I say that The heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father.

Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son, And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." Paul is writing to a group of believers in the region of Galatia.

It would seem that this letter was not intended for 1 church, but rather a group of churches there in the region.

Somehow apostasy had slipped into the church.

Teachers had entered that were particularly trying to Judaize the group.

This group was erasing the gospel principle of being saved by grace through faith alone and they were replacing it with a more works-oriented gospel.

They were reinstating things such as circumcision as a means of salvation.

Paul here is trying to fend off the erroneous idea that a man can earn his own salvation by a rigorous adherence to the law.

And so it is here where we join Paul in the midst of his argument.

So again, in verses 1 through 3, Paul says these words, Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the Father.

Even so, we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world." Paul here wants to address the Galatian people where they are at in their understanding of the gospel message.

They believe because they are children of Abraham and are adherents to the letter of the law, that they have earned their inheritance as children of God.

But Paul begins to pluck apart such an argument piece by piece.

He first meets them head on by assuming that they are in fact heirs.

But then he deflates their puffed up egos by saying, as long as he is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave.

The Greek word for child in this instance literally means a minor or small child, not much more than 3 or 4 years in age.

Paul says, yes, a child of 3 or 4 is an heir.

However, at that age, he's no different than a slave or a servant.

The parents are still in control of this child.

Therefore, just as a servant or a slave, the child is not free.

Now Paul continues along this line of reasoning by saying, Though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the Father." Yes, someday this small child will be the master of all, but for now he is under guardians and stewards.

Quite literally, he is under a teacher and a supervisor.

This child, who is the heir, who indeed will be the master of all things, right now is under the tutelage of a teacher and a supervisor until a time appointed by the father.

Now, it's important to understand ancient culture and customs.

And so it was in the Middle Eastern custom to have a tutor and a supervisor watch over an heir so that the heir would not squander away his inheritance.

There was a time, however, that was appointed when the child would enter into the full enjoyment of the inheritance and would have the freedom to choose.

And so then Paul completes his argument by adding these words.

The word elements here in the Greek means the very basics, the beginnings of the alphabet, the very rudiments of knowledge.

Paul points out that even as a child, and being under the tutelage of a teacher and a supervisor, that a child is limited.

It is limited to the very basic rudiments of knowledge.

They do not yet have the information in life to make good decisions on their own.

So the tutor and supervisor point them in the right direction and gives them guidance in decision-making.

Quite eloquently, Paul has metaphorically discussed the history of Israel and their understanding, or their experience, of the promises of God.

You know, the Hebrew people were the chosen of God.

They were heirs according to the promise given to Abraham.

Yet their experience was a very limited experience.

They were still toddlers in a spiritual sense.

They were only enjoying a very limited aspect of the covenant promises of God.

They were given a great number of symbols of the grace and mercy of God.

They were given the symbol of circumcision.

Yet in all of this, they were still babes.

All of these symbols acted as guardians or tutors or supervisors.

They educated, certainly, and they pointed to 1 very important thing.

Yet these symbols only give us a very basic and rudimentary understanding of who God really is.

And it is here where Paul pauses and he uses a small word, the word, but.

Moreover, on the contrary, he makes a distinctive pause to inform us that he is about to give us a very powerful exposition on the plan of salvation.

He is about to give us a new hope and the real key to abundant living.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father, therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Here Paul says, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son.

The Bible does not state when an emergency came and all thought was to be lost, then God sent his Son.

It says when the fullness of time had come.

The word fullness in Greek literally means that which has been brought to completion.

The Bible states that when the time came to its fulfillment and when it had been completed, God sent forth His Son.

What was the indication of this fulfillment?

God had sent messages of hope through His prophets over the centuries.

In Micah 5, 2, God promised, But you, Bethlehem Ephrata, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the 1 to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting.

You see, the fullness of time had come when this small city would bring forth the chosen 1, the Messiah.

The prophet Isaiah also would give many messages speaking to the coming of the Messiah, speaking to this fulfillment of time.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.

The Right Focus

Judah was enjoying the reign of 1 of their 2 greatest kings.

King Hezekiah had built the empire up to the greatest prosperity it had known since the time of David and Solomon.

They had averted the destruction that their counterparts in Israel had experienced.

And although the Assyrians had come to take Jerusalem, God provided their deliverance.

Much of this can be attributed to the tremendous amount of religious reform that had taken place in Judah.

But in approximately 712 BC, Hezekiah was very ill and he received a visit from the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah gave him the kind of news you really don't want to hear.

Isaiah told him that it was time to set his house in order because he was about to die.

Hezekiah was very troubled, as any of us would have been.

He prayed that God would deliver him and allow him to live.

God heard this prayer and granted him 15 more years of life.

2 significant events happened in that additional 15 years that Hezekiah had been granted.

1 of them is significant to our study today.

The other is not so much, but an interesting note.

That first event was the visit of the Babylonian delegation.

Hezekiah welcomed this delegation and showed them all of the items in the palace in the house of God.

Those Babylonians would never forget this, and they would wait about a hundred years before they would come and take it all in the time of Daniel.

Now the second event was the birth of his son, Manasseh.

The story of Manasseh can be found in 2 Kings 21 and in 2 Chronicles chapter 33.

Now the Bible reports nothing of Manasseh's early childhood.

But at the age of 12, he ascended to the throne to be the king of Judah.

Manasseh did not follow in the footsteps of his father, however, and he was evil in his heart.

The Bible reports that Manasseh was more evil than any of the other kings of Israel.

He began by erecting altars and worship places for the Canaanite sun god, Baal.

He wasn't satisfied with that, so he erected what the King James Version calls a grove.

Now this word in Hebrew is actually the word Asherah.

Asherah was the formal name of the sensual fertility goddess Astarte, who was the counterpart to the Assyrian fertility god Ishtar.

But places of worship for Asherah were literally groves that had been set up and each of the trees in this grove would be cut and trimmed to make some image or some semblance of a God.

And these groves would be the home to worship and festivals and various sacrifices.

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The Right Adoption

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