 The recording is on. Welcome back to the second hour of our lecture on interpreting Scripture. We are continuing our journey through the book, the ABC book, God's Word, the Miracle Seat. I'm just going through it kind of quickly because you can read it and just highlight some of the main things. So let's pick up where we paused. We're talking about the purity and the power of the Word of God. So the next point is pure words. Psalm 12 verse 6. The words of the Lord are pure words like silver tried in a furnace of earth purified seven times. So that's a very important truth for us concerning the Word of God. God's Word is pure or that means God's Word is truth basically. There's no error in it. So the Psalmist is using a comparison. He says it's like silver that has been purified seven times, meaning it's purified pure, but every trace of dirt is taken out. It's so pure. God's Word is pure. There is no lie. There is no error in it. So when you and I read the Word of God, read the promises of God, we must approach it that way. God, your Word is truth. I believe it. Now, of course, living in our world today, our world causes us to doubt everything, the way the things are today in our culture, in our world. You don't know what you read, whether it's true or not. You might, you know, some news you read, you don't know, is it correct or is it simply somebody has written something and it's being circulated, you know, you get a message, something, a video. You don't know whether it is, is it true or is it fake? We don't know. So our tendency these days is to doubt, is to question things. That's our, it's part of our culture these days. You don't know whether it's correct or not. So we are very suspicious about things. But when we come to the Word of God, we must say God, your Word is truth. It is pure words. I am going to just believe your Word, your promise. If you said it, God, okay. Outside news, you don't know, but God's Word is pure words. And next point is, it is a carrier of God's power. So that is the second thing we want to emphasize that God's power is in His Word. And that's why, you know, we understand from Scriptures, when God created everything, He spoke Hebrews 11-3, the worlds were framed by the Word of God. That means this whole universe, it was put in place, it was designed, it was created by the Word that God spoke. And we find that many places, Hebrews 1-3, it says He's upholding everything by His Word of His power. Everything is being held in place by the power of the Word of God. And God's Word is alive and full of power or powerful. So that's something you and I must keep in our hearts. His Word is pure, His Word is full of power. God's power is in His Word. God's power is in His Word. It's very important, two simple things, but very important things. God's Word is pure, God's Word is power. Or God's Word is truth, God's Word is power. God's power is in His Word. And that's why the last point is, we can stand on the promises of God. Abraham, it says, and I'm quoting for this from the Amplified Bible, even when there was no reason, human reason to hope for anything. He still believed as God had promised. Because God's Word is truth, God's Word is power. So even when there was no reason to hope in the natural, Abraham believed. Why? Because God had promised. God had spoken. And if God had spoken, then His Word is truth, His Word is power. And so Abraham believed. And that's how we should be. If God has spoken, if God has given His Word, I can believe it. I will believe His Word. Even if in the natural, it looks very, it looks impossible. It looks unreasonable. I will believe the Word of God because His Word is pure, His Word is power. So that brings us to the next major part. We go to chapter three now. The question is, how do I get the power of the Word to work in my life? Okay, I agree. There is power in the Word that God spoke, everything happens. So His power is in the Word. But the question is, how do I get that power to work in my life? I want to see something happen in my life. Maybe like we said, a change in my character, maybe a healing in my body or a healing in my mind or a change in my situation, in my circumstance. How can I get the power that's in the Word to be released in my life to cause something to happen? How do we do it? So this is where we look at the parable of the sword. And you find it recorded in the three Gospels. Mark, look in Matthew chapter 13 and Mark, Mark chapter 4 and Luke chapter 8. All of these three Gospel writers record the parable of the sword. And it's very interesting because Jesus, he gave a very simple story, very simple parable, illustration, very simple. And everybody in those days will understand because farming was part of what they did. Very simple. He said a sower farmer, you can think of farmer. He went to sow seed. Everybody knows that they're seeing it happen all the time. Some of the seed he was sowing, some seed fell on the footpath, wayside. He took it. Some seed fell amongst stony ground, next to the rocks. They grew, they started springing up, but the roots couldn't go deep because of the rock. So they died. Some fell among the bushes, the thorns. So it started growing, but then it was among thorns. It got choked, didn't get enough light, sunlight and water. But some fell on good ground, grew, bore fruit, and it brought forth fruit 30 times 60, 90, 100. But multiplied. He gave the story and he said, so is the kingdom of God. So this is about God's kingdom. So he's not just giving a story so that they can go to sleep. He's giving this illustration to teach us about the kingdom of God. So is the kingdom of God? Sorry, disciples. We know this. We are seeing this all the time. What is this teaching us about God's kingdom? What is this telling us about how God's ways? Remember we said God's ways are infinite, but he has given us certain things for us to understand. And now Jesus is helping us. So later on the disciples came and said, Lord, that story about the server, what does it mean? What are you trying to tell us? Nice story, very simple story. We understand. We're seeing it all the time. But what is the spiritual truths? Disciples also understood that whenever Jesus is giving these parables, it's not just about the story. It's about the meaning. And so they want to know, Lord, please explain what is the meaning? And then Jesus tells them, he says, See, if you understand this parable, you will understand everything else, all other parables. That means if you understand how to derive the meaning from this parable, you can derive meaning from all the other parables. So is the kingdom of God. When he tells, the sower sows the word or look, he writes it very explicitly. The seed is the word. So Jesus is now giving the meaning. So he said, don't just look at the farmer and what happened. That is, you see that all the time, but there is a spiritual meaning. There is a revelation about the kingdom of God. That's what I want you to understand. This is how the kingdom of God works. So he says, the sower sows the word or the seed is the word of... We will get into each of these, right? Very important. Just understanding the story. He said, the seed that was on the wayside. If somebody hears the word, but they don't understand it, then Satan comes and takes it away. So the birds of the air are representing Satan and his demons. They're waiting to take the word away. Then he says, the word that is among the stone... I mean, the seed that fell among stones, rocky ground, is the seed that is sown in our heart. But hardship comes, hardship, stones representing hardship, persecution and afflictions arise for the word sick. So think about that. We will explain this in detail. We look it in detail. But if we begin to face difficulties that is in connection with the word of God, we will explain this in detail, we look it in detail. But if we begin to face difficulties that is in connection with the word you just heard, challenges, hardships. So these people, they give up on the word because of the hardship. So then the word does not produce. Then he said, the seed that fell among thorns is a seed that goes into our heart. But then the cares... So what are the thorns? The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desire for other things. So he's telling us, what are those thorns? The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, the desire for other things. They come and they choke the word. They choke the word. Now think about this. The word is full of the power of God. But these things choke the word and it doesn't produce. Then the seed that fell on good ground. And if you compare the three Gospels, he says, it is those who receive the word. They retain the word and they keep the word. They bring forth fruit in their lives. So in this parable, we have the secrets of how the power of the word of God can be released in our lives. And also we have the warning. These are the things that will prevent the word from producing another. He's already told us in this parable. Are you with me so far? So we want to look at it in detail. So we just gave an overview of the parable. Now we will get into it in detail. So this parable is giving us the key. It's the key of the kingdom, key of the kingdom. Very important key. This is how you can have the word of God produced in your life. Or these are the things will prevent the word of God from producing in our lives. So we can learn some very important things. So let's go to chapter four. The first thing we must understand is this. The seed is the word of God. Look 811. The parable is this. The seed is the word of God. So first thing we must understand. God's word is like seed. God's word is like seed. Now think about this. Suppose you have a seed in your hands, whatever, apple seed, tomato seed, some seed, mango seed. Sometimes the seeds are very small, small seed. It looks lifeless, like nothing. So simple, so small. You have tomato seed, green chili seed put in your hand, so small. But inside that seed, there is the potential for it to become a plant or a tree. Seed looks so simple. But that seed has the potential even to become a big tree. So you think about tamarind tree, big tree becomes so big. What will seed, tamarind seed, so it's pretty small, but it becomes such a big tree. So seed is the word of God. That means every scripture is like a seed. It may look very simple or one verse, but that scripture, that verse, in that verse, there is the power to become something big in our lives. Every scripture is like that. It's like a seed. So when you and I are reading the scriptures, we are actually sowing seed into our hearts. So the next point here, in that particular chapter 4, God's word has been designed to produce just like every seed. Every seed has within it the programming, the design for it to produce. Now we don't understand everything. If you study a little botany, they will explain the seed germinates and this happens and this happens and this happens. But still it is a miracle. Somehow you put the seed in the ground and it starts growing. It is not in our control. We can of course make sure the soil is good. We can put water. We can make sure it's put in the right place. Those things we can do. But beyond that, there is life in that seed that is causing it to come. God put it there. Similarly, God's word has been designed to produce. The power is in that word. So we must be convinced. And God says this. My word will not come back to me. Isaiah 55, 10 and 11 says the word that goes forth from our mouth, it will accomplish what I please and it will prosper for the thing in which I sent it. God's word has been designed to produce. And the word works in us. Next point. The word works effectively in you who believe. First Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 13. For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing. Because when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. The word of God effectively works in you who believe. So notice what Paul is saying. The word effectively literally means to put out divine energy. It releases divine energy. The word of God releases God's energy, God's power in you who believe. It works effectively in you who believe. So to keep that in mind, as we read the word, the word is like seed. Next chapter, chapter 5. The seed must be sown into the heart, the human spirit, the heart. That's where it has to be sown. Mark 4 and verse 15. It says the word that was sown in their hearts. So what has to be sown into the heart? But in order to get it to the heart, it has to go to the mind. We have to understand it. Okay. This is what God is saying. I'm reading the scriptures. I'm reading maybe in language, in English. I'm understanding. Yes, I'm understanding it. It goes through my mind and then I receive it into my heart. It has to be sown in our heart. If the goal is only to keep it in our minds, intellectual understanding, it will not produce. It has to go into our heart. So if there are people who read the Bible like a textbook or they read the Bible in order to argue with other people. Okay. Let me find all the verses that contradict what he is saying. I'll argue with them or fight them out. They read it like a history book or they read it like a literature book. They read it as just another ordinary book. That means it's stopping at the intellectual level. But the word must be sown into our heart. That means in my spirit, I must receive it for it to produce. If it's just an intellectual exercise. Oh yeah. I read it and I'm going to argue with it and study it and analyze it and whatever at the intellectual level. It's not going to produce because the word must be sown in our heart. Otherwise it's like suppose you bring a bag of seed and you keep it in the house or keep it on the table. Do you have seed? Yeah. But is it going to do you any good? No. Because it's on the table. It has to go into the ground. Only then that seed will produce. Otherwise it'll stay here. It might just rot. It'll go waste. So the seed of the word must be sown into our heart. In James chapter 1 verse 21, he talks about the implanted word. James 1 21. He says lay aside all filthiness and wickedness and receive with humility. Receive with humility the implanted word. That means it's a word that's becoming part of you. The implanted word which is able to save your soul. In Proverbs 4, 20 to 23, God makes it very clear. He says, my son, give attention to my words. Incline a year to my sayings. Don't let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. So where must God's word be? It must be in the midst of my heart. Get into my heart, not just in my reasoning or my intellectual understanding or comprehension. That's important, but it has to go from there into your heart. You have to believe it in your heart. Receive it in your heart. Then verse 20 to 23, it becomes life. It becomes health and from it come the issues of life. So I must receive God's word into my heart. And here you see how God is saying, pay attention to my word. Incline your year to my sayings. Keep them in front of your eyes and keep it in your heart. Let it go into your innermost being. Now, how do I get the word into my heart? In Deuteronomy 30, verses 11 to 14. Once again, God is telling here. And it's very interesting because Paul the Apostle uses the same passage in Romans. In Romans chapter 10, Paul quotes from this. And in Deuteronomy 30, chapter 13 verses 11 to 14, Moses is speaking. He says this commandment or this word, which I command you today, is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven that you should say, who would ascend to heaven to bring it to us that we may hear it and do it, nor is it beyond the sea that you should say, who will go with the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear it and do it. But the word is very near you in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. So two places God says the word should be. In our mouth and in our heart. So God's word should be in our mouth. That means I speak it. I keep saying the word and I say it. I speak it to myself. I keep the word in my mouth and in your heart. This is where you believe. God, I believe it. We will come back to this later as well. But the word of God must be near us in two places, in our mouth, in our heart. In your heart, you believe the word. In your mouth, you keep speaking the word. Keep believing the word. Keep speaking the word. So God's word is not far away. It's very near to us. So at this point, I will introduce to us this whole process. This whole process of meditation. Meditation is the process by which we can get the word of God into our heart. Meditation. So when you go to the next chapter, chapter six. So put this in a separate chapter. Meditating in God's words. And I'll be sharing some of this in the in the leaders conference also. It is a very, very important discipline that God tells us to practice. And meditation, it is a biblical, it is a scriptural discipline. Now, when we say meditation, we're not talking about, you know, meditation as the world thinks the world says you sit down, empty your mind and whatever. You know, we're not talking about that. We're talking about Bible meditation, biblical meditation. In biblical meditation, you are using your mind. You're not blanking your mind. You're using your mind, but in the way God tells us to use it. So we see, you know, for example, as in Genesis 24, it talks about Isaac. He goes out into the field to meditate. So they practice some form of meditation then, whatever, you know, and we can understand as we go through scripture how they did it. In Joshua chapter one, we're saying God himself is giving Joshua commandments. He says, this book of the law will not depart from your mouth, but you meditate in it day and night. Meditate in my word day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. But then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success. So meditate in my word day and night, meaning all the time. Day, night. It's another way of saying, for us, we would say, meditate in the word of God continually, continuously, all the time, whenever you can throughout the day, meditate in the word. Now, how do you meditate in the word? How do we practice this? Now, in the Old Testament, the word meditation, I'm skipping a little bit of these references, but in the Old Testament, there are several scriptures here, subsequently in the Old Testament that I mentioned. For example, Psalm 1 verse 2, it says, about this man who is righteous, he meditates in the law of God day and night. Psalm 1 verse 2. And then again in Psalm 63 verse 6, the Psalmist said, I remember you on my med, I meditate on you in the night watches. Or Psalm 104 verse 34, my meditation of him shall be sweet. Then Psalm 143 verse 5, I meditate on all your work. Psalm 77 verse 12, I meditate on all your work and talk of your deeds. Psalm 49, the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. So you see, the whole thing of meditation is repeated many times. I meditate in the word, I meditate on God, I meditate on his works, what he has done. So different subjects or topics for meditation. You meditate in the word of God, you meditate on God himself, his nature, who he is. Or you also meditate on what he has done, his works. Think about it. So you meditate on the scriptures, you meditate on God, you meditate on his works. So how do we do it? So when you study the Hebrew words for meditation, the word haga, there are two Hebrew words, haga and siak. And the word haga, it includes several things that it means to imagine, to ponder, to mutter, to make a quiet sound, to contemplate by repeating the words. The word siak means to ponder, to speak to oneself, to declare, to speak and to talk. So there are different meanings of that, those two words haga and siak, different components of it. So if we try to put it down in a way we can all understand, in a simple way, how to practice it. I would put it down in these three steps. In this book, I've put it down in these three steps. One is contemplation. Second, we will explain this, it's all in this book here. The second is visualization. Like we said, one of the meanings of the word haga is imagination. So I'm just using the word visualization. And the third is confession, because both haga and siak, both those words mean to talk, to mutter, to speak to yourself. So three components that we can find in both the Hebrew words haga and siak. Three components. What is it? One, there is contemplation. Second, there is visualization or imagination. Third, there is confession. So I'm just breaking it down so that we can practice. So what is contemplation? Contemplation means to think deeply on the words. Think. And means you are focused. You're thinking about either the scripture, about God himself, or about his works, what he has done. So you say, okay, God, you did like this for me. You're remembering, you're thinking, you're focused. At that point, you're not thinking about anything else. Contemplation. So the way they used to practice, I'm talking about in the Old Testament, I'm not saying we have to do it like this, but I'm just saying in those times, they would put a shawl, a prayer shawl on the head to block out any destruction. So sometimes you may have seen pictures of these Jewish people playing. They have a pressure cover their head to cut off all this. They have the prayer book, which could be the scriptures written on it. And then they had to talk back and forth in meditation. They are reciting the word to themselves. So there is contemplation. Have you talked about each one? Contemplation, visualization, confess. But in contemplation, you're cutting off all destruction. Remember in Props 4, we read, God said, God said, my son, attend to my words, incline your ear to my sayings. Attention, that means my focus is completely on the word of God. Incline, meaning I'm leaning away from destruction, leaning toward God. So how do you meditate? Contemplate. Block out every all disturbance. And just okay, I'm just going to read the Bible, read the scriptures. Contemplate on the word of God. You may have the Bible open in front of you and your eyes are on the scriptures and you're reading, contemplating, thinking about it. Or you can think about the word of God anywhere. It's good to have the Bible right open in front of you. But you can be contemplating walking down the streets. But be careful, crossing the road. But what I was saying is you can contemplate anywhere. You can be deep in thoughts. You can be deep in focused thought where your attention and inclination is on God, his word, anywhere. Now obviously it's good to be in a quiet place with the Bible in front of you and that's the best. But it doesn't have to be only there. You could be walking and just deep in thought. Contemplation, musing, you're pondering on the word of God or his words. You understand? First one, contemplate. Second part of our meditation process is visualization because in the word haga, in the word haga, it also means imagination. And we also read in Proverbs 4.22, God says, Do not let my word depart from your eyes. Now don't get it out of your eyesight. But now that doesn't mean I hold the Bible in front of me, physical eyes. No. He's talking about your inner eyes, the eyes of your imagination. What you're seeing inside. Physical eyes, of course, we have to keep our eyes open. We are looking at different things when we're going. That's different. But he says don't let them depart from your eyes. What you're focusing on inside your imagination. So the second step in while you're meditating is to let the word of God fill your imagination. So you begin to imagine the word. It is you're seeing the word in your imagination. How is that word being fulfilled in your life? How are you living out that word? You're seeing that word fulfilled. Your imagination is involved. And we've looked at, you all with me so far? Yeah. So for example, you know, God had, God gave this. You know, he worked with Abraham like this in Genesis 15. You know, God had spoken the promise to Abraham a long time back. He said, Abraham, I'm going to bless you, make you a big nation. Oh, almost 15 years have come and gone. Abraham is like, God, no, no promise that word is not happening. What is, you know, what's, and then God, that's the time. God says, Abraham, you come outside your tent. Look up in the sky, in the night sky. What do you see? You see stars. You're seeing all the stars. Says Abraham. That's how many your descendants will be. Right. So now Abraham has in his imagination a picture of the promise of God fulfilled in his life. This is what it will look like. When my promise is fulfilled in your life, this is what it will look like. You will have descendants as numerous as the stars. So from that point on, Abraham had in his imagination a picture of the fulfillment of the promise of God. This is what it looked like. Or another place God said, it'll be like the sand on the seashore. Another picture. Sand on the seashore. Oh, you can't count the sand on the seashore. So a picture of the promise fulfilled, the word of God fulfilled, was in his imagination. So that's visualization. And the third one, and I know we're coming close to the end of this class. The third one is confession, which is saying what the word says. The meaning of the words haga and siyaka both have the words, the meaning to mutter, to talk to yourself, to speak to yourself, to declare. So it's part of that meaning of those two Hebrew words, meditation. It is to mutter, to say. So I just use the word confession. I meant you're saying the same thing as God said. So example, suppose you are meditating in someone. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He doesn't sit in the seat of the scornful. Nor does he walk in the way of sinners. But his delight is in the law of the Lord. And in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. His leaf will not wither, and whatever he does will prosper. He'll bring forth his fruit in its season, and whatever he does will prosper. So what do you do? You contemplate on those verses. You're thinking about those verses. Leave out all distractions. Then you begin to visualize. You begin to see what does it mean to me in my life that I don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly. I'm not part of, participate with those who are scorners. I don't participate in the way of the sinful. What does it mean? And I'm meditating in God's Word. And then I'm like this tree that is very fruitful, that is green. And that whatever I do will prosper. What does it mean to me in my life? You begin to visualize. Then you begin to speak it over your own life. I am like that tree planted by rivers of water. I bring forth my fruit in its season. My leaf does not wither. Whatever I do will prosper. So that is meditation. You're contemplating, you're visualizing, you're confessing. And through the meditation, what happens? The Word of God is sown into our heart. It is God said, you meditate in my Word day and night so that my Word can be in your heart. You understand? Okay. So we're going to stop here. Let's see if there are any questions from anyone else in the class today. Okay. Any questions from anyone? So I want us to, I will talk next week about how to apply this and practice this in our lives. But today we just broke down, broken down in meditation. Very important. And actually when we meditate, we are connecting with God. We're connecting with God. So meditation is not just some exercise I'm doing. No, no. In meditation, you're actually connecting with God. You will encounter God through His Word when you meditate. Okay. We'll continue this next week. So let's close in prayer and we'll get ready for our next class. I want to be, thank you for the opportunity to be in your Word. And I pray that you help us love your Word more, to love you through loving your Word. Make us more hungry for your Word, more desirous for your Word. And fill us, Lord, with your Word. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Right. Thank you, everyone. Let's see you again next week. Thanks. I'll pause the recording here.