 Okay, good morning, everyone. Welcome back to class. Before we begin looking at our course content this morning, can anyone lead us in prayer, please? Father, we want to thank you for this morning. Lord, we submit us as a class to your mighty presence, Lord, we pray, and as we go about learning your word, we pray to God that you would continue to speak to us. Enable us to listen from your word and understand the mysteries of your word, Lord Jesus, what you have intented while writing the scriptures, so we pray our God that help us to understand that in the same spirit. And we accept and pass the Salina to your hands and ask for your wisdom, your grace to be upon her, Lord Jesus. We bless this day, Lord, in Jesus' presence. Amen. Thank you, John. Were you able to go through your notes what we did last class? Can anyone tell us what we went through last class or what we learned last class? Anyone could do a quick short recap or just present one or two points what we went through last week or last class? What is the doctrine we were studying? Remember that, at least? We were studying about the Word of God. Okay, we were studying about the doctrine of the Word of God. Okay. We started learning about the canon, how the books were aligned, all testament canon. Okay. Thank you, John. Yes. So we were looking at the first doctrine that is the doctrine of the Word of God. And we were looking at canon of scripture, the canonization of scripture. And we saw that the terms canon or canonical signify standards by which books were measured to determine whether or not they were inspired or whether or not they should be in the Bible. So we looked at some specific tests that were considered for the canonicity of the books of the Old Testament. And I mentioned to you those were not in your notes, and I hope you wrote it down. So we looked at seven specific tests that were considered for the canonicity of the books of the Old Testament. The first one was the books indicate divine authorship. Second one, did it reflect God speaking through a mediator? Third, was the human author a spokesman of God? Fourth, was he a prophet? Or did he have the prophetic gift? The fifth one was the book historically accurate. The sixth one, did it reflect a record of the actual facts or the actual events that took place at that moment, at that time in history? And how was the book received by the Jews? So we looked at these specific tests that were considered for the canonicity of the books of the Old Testament. And we also said that there were a lot of other writings that were written during the Old Testament time and during the inter-testamental period but they were not considered as inspired books and hence they are not part of the Bible. And these are called as apocryphal writings. So there were many apocryphal writings that existed but since they were not considered as inspired, they were not included in the Bible. Now what are apocryphal writings? Now the word apocrypha means hidden or secret. So the apocrypha are the religious writings that were neither considered as authoritative nor canonical. Now the writings of the apocrypha should not be regarded as part of the scripture for these following reasons or the writings that were written. Other than what we see in the Old Testament, why weren't they considered as books to be in the Bible? Now these were some of the reasons they do not claim for themselves. The same kind of authority as the Old Testament writings and we know that what was the authority that these Old Testament writings were actually inspired word of God or they were the word of God was because the people around them, around the prophets, the scribes, the teachers, the priests, the leaders, they considered them as people were appointed by God, people who spoke the very words of God or people who through whom God spoke and gave commandments or laws or what the people had to do. So they were not regarded as God's word by the Jewish people from whom they were, they originated. They were not considered to be scripture by Jesus himself. So he did not quote them when he spoke and neither were they these writings quoted by the New Testament writers, the writers of the New Testament books. You know they don't quote any of these writings or sayings from these apocryphal writings. And they do not contain teachings that were consistent with the rest of the Bible. And since these were the reasons, hence these apocryphal writings were not considered as inspired and hence not considered in the canon and they are not part of the Bible. Now we'll move on to the New Testament canon. Now how did the books of the New Testament come into formation? So the New Testament canon begins with the writing of the apostles. We read in John chapter 14 verse 26 and John chapter 16 verse 13 and 14. So can somebody read, sorry it's not here. Okay can somebody read John chapter 14 verse 26 please and somebody else can read from your Bibles John chapter 16 verse 13 and 14. But the helper the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Thank you and chapter 16 of the same book of John verses 13 to 14. Can somebody else read that please? Can I read? Yes sure. John chapter 16 verse 13 but when he the Spirit of Truth comes he will guide you into all the truth for he will not speak on his own initiative but whatever he hears he will speak and he will disclose to you what is to come. He will glorify me for he will take of mine and will disclose it to you. Thank you John. So here we see that you know Jesus is saying that when he goes back to the Father the Father will send the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will teach the disciples the apostles you know those who believed in him he will the Holy Spirit will teach them all things. He will also remind everything that Jesus has spoken and said to them and he also mentions Jesus also mentions in John chapter 16 that when the Spirit of Truth comes he will guide them into all truth. So here we see that Jesus is promising the Holy Spirit's empowering to his disciples to recall accurately the words and the deeds of Jesus and also he's promising them that when the Holy Spirit comes the Holy Spirit will guide them into all truth. So we see that it was the Holy Spirit who inspired the writing writers of the New Testament to write exactly to recall everything that Jesus had spoken had said exactly as he had done. Now those were apostles in the early church are seen to also claim authority equal to the Old Testament prophets and what is the authority that they were claiming authority to write and speak the words that were the very words of God. Okay now we read in in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 2. So can somebody read 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 2 please. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 2. It says that you may be mindful of the word which we are spoken before by the Holy prophets and of the commandments of us and the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Okay so here it's saying that you know Peter is encouraging his readers to remember the commandments which the Lord had given which they received through the apostles and in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verse 37 Paul is telling the Corinthians that he's writing to them the command of the Lord that means the very commands that the Lord had given him is writing to them and in 2 Peter chapter 3 verses 15 to 16 you know Peter is testifying that Paul's writings clatter and he testifying of Paul's writings and he's clarifying them as scriptures so can somebody read 2 Peter chapter 3 verses 15 to 16 please. It says and consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation as also our beloved brother Paul according to the wisdom given to him has written to you 16 as also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to understand which are taught and untapped people twist to their own destruction as they do also the rest of the scriptures. Thank you Lubega so here in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 15 and 16 Peter is showing you know clearly not only an awareness of the existence of written epistles from Paul but also clearly you know is classifying all of Paul's epistles with the other scriptures now in the end of this verse in verse 16 we say it says as they do the other scriptures now this word scriptures here you know when translated in the Greek you know it means and it refers to the Old Testament scripture now this word scripture here in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 16 scriptures is occurs 51 times in the New Testament and at all times it refers to the Old Testament scriptures in every one of its occurrence 51 times it's referring to the Old Testament scripture so this word scripture here that Peter is writing in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 16 he's saying that this word scripture was used not only for writings that were taught to be God's word you know but it was and hence it was considered to be part of the canon of scripture so these words this word scripture used here was used only of those writings that were taught to be God's word okay consistent with the rest of scripture that is consistent with the rest of the Old Testament and hence it was part of the canon of scripture okay so in this verse you know Peter's classifying Paul's writing with other scriptures meaning the other Old Testament scriptures and hence Paul's writings are considered by Peter to be worthy of the title scripture and thus worthy to be included in the canon and hence we see that all of Paul's letters are in the New Testament okay in 1st Timothy chapter 5 verses 17 and 18 can somebody read that please 1st Timothy chapter 5 verses 17 and 18 1st Timothy chapter 5 verse 17 and 18 the elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching for the scripture says you shall not muscle the ox while he is thrashing and the laborer is worthy of his wages okay here in 1st Timothy Paul is writing this letter to Timothy and Paul is saying that the elders who rule well should be counted worthy of double honor and in verse 18 he backs it up with scripture can you please mute your mic thank you okay so in verse 18 he backs it up with scripture scripture and he says for scripture says do not muscle an ox while it's shredding out the grain and the worker is worth his wages or deserves his wages so we see that in the 1st part of verse 18 you know Paul is quoting from Deuteronomy chapter 25 verse 4 but the 2nd part you know Paul is quoting from Luke chapter 10 verse 7 so Paul is quoting a portion of Luke's gospel and by quoting it he's you know he's accepting it as scripture he's calling it as scripture even though Luke was not an apostle and so here we see that you know there were some writings that were considered to be inspired because they were written by apostles but there were certain apostles who also wrote but their books were considered to be inspired and hence part of the canon hence part of the the New Testament why because of the other apostles who considered their writing as scripture as inspired by God and hence you know those were not apostles their books were also considered to be a part of the canon part of the New Testament now how did the church recognize which books in the New Testaments were canonical so there were certain tests applied to answer you know the question which books were inspired or which books were canonical the first one is Apostolicity so was the author an apostle okay did he have any connection with any apostle for example Mark wrote under Peter's authority and Luke wrote under Paul's authority and we see that the book of Jude was accepted because of the author's association with James okay so even though some of them were not apostles like Jude like Mark and like Ruth we like Luke sorry you know we see it was these books were accepted in the in the New Testament because of their you know they wrote under Peter's authority or they wrote under Paul's authority and under James's authority and hence they were considered to be in the New Testament the second test okay sorry that was used was you know was this book accepted okay was the book accepted by the church at large was the recognition given to a particular book by the church was important so by this the canon false books were also rejected okay so if these books were considered as accepted by the church at large then it was you know a part of the New Testament but if they were not accepted they were rejected then you know they were not part of the New Testament the third test was the content now did this writings or did these books reflect a consistency in the doctrine which was already accepted as traditional was accepted as approved and established teaching according to what is in the Old Testament so where these books consistent with the doctrine if they were consistent with the doctrine then they were accepted if they were not in line and if they were not consistent with the rest of the Biblical doctrines then they were not considered in the canon or they were not considered in the as New Testament books the fourth thing was inspiration now that this book reflect the quality of inspiration that means but the inspired by God inspired by the Holy Spirit did the book reveal a high evidence of moral and spiritual values and did it reflect the inspiration or the work of the Holy Spirit and if it passed the test then you know it was considered in the New Testament so these were the fourth tests that were used to test whether the books that were written during the in the Testament repeated time during the New Testament period time if you know there were to be part of the books of the New Testament in them by both of the first one was whether there are apostles or did they have any connection or did they write under the authority of the apostles it was it accepted by the church at large you know the third thing was the content was it in line with the rest of the doctrines was it accepted as a traditional approved established teaching with the rest of scripture and the fourth one was it inspired you know did it reflect high moral spiritual values and did it reflect the work of the Holy Spirit okay before we move on to the characteristics of scripture do you have any questions about the canon or the canonization of scripture or the apocryphal writings no there are no questions and we'll move on to the characteristics of scripture what are some of the characteristics of scripture first of all what the first characteristic is it is authoritative that means all scripture every word that is there in God's word in scripture is you know is spoken by God so it's under his authority under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and you know any of us if we disbelieve or disobey any word of scripture it means we are disbelieving or disobeying God okay so the first thing is that it is authoritative the second is it is inherent inherent means that it is just free from all error so the inherently of scripture means a scripture in the original original manuscripts do not affirm anything that is contrary to fact they were considered to be facts because of the the cultural the historical settings the facts that were mentioned were all accurate and also was what they received through the inspiration of Holy Spirit or you know what they heard from God and what God had asked them to write so hence we see that scripture is inherent that means it's free from all error free from all mistakes the third thing is that it is scripture is clear the third characteristic of scripture that it's clear the clarity of scripture means that the Bible is written in such a way that you know we'll be able to understand its teaching understand its revelation when we seek God's help when we ask him to reveal deeper truths when we ask the Holy Spirit's help and ask the Holy Spirit to to teach us to reveal the deeper truths the the the hidden revelations and you know when we are willing not to just receive those revelations when we are willing not to just read it and acquire knowledge but when we are willing to follow it you know scripture becomes more clear there is more clarity because we are not just receiving the truths and understanding it as the Holy Spirit interprets it to us but they're also taking the next step of our willingness to follow it so the the next characteristic of scripture the fourth one is that it is necessary okay what is the meaning of the necessity of scripture it means that Bible is necessary for us to know the gospel the truth to know the nature of God to know how he works to understand the gospel and for also for us to maintain a spiritual life to walk in God's word to grow and mature in our faith to be transformed into Christ's likeness and also to know God's will at every point every stage and every step that we take in life so the next characteristic of scripture is that it is necessary necessary for our godliness necessary for our growth necessary for us to understand God his nature the way that he acts what he does and also for us to know God's will okay the last characteristic of scripture is that it is sufficient uh sufficiency of scripture means that scripture contains all the words of God that he intended to reveal at different points or at different stages in the redemptive history of mankind and so we see that God revealing different things at different stages of or at each stage of the redemptive history of mankind and the word of God now contains you know everything that God wanted to reveal or that he purposed in his mind to reveal to us everything that we need for salvation everything that we need to for us to know him to trust him and for us to know his will and for us to perfectly obey him so you know scripture is sufficient and we do not need anything more we do not need any more revelations from God whatever he wanted to reveal is already there but of course we need the Holy Spirit's help to reveal to us what those revelations mean the deeper truths of what God has already revealed to us okay so this is the end of chapter 2 the doctrine of the word of God anyone has any questions any comments to make anything that you like to say anything you all then understand you want me to teach again or explain no questions nothing I'll want to say I hope you are able to understand sorry to beg I'm saying that you're straight to the point and use your straight and sound thank you let's continue okay thank you okay we'll then continue and move on to the third chapter the doctrine of God okay now what do you think we'll be studying in the doctrine of God what do you think we'll be studying in this chapter doctrine of God existence nature okay the existence of God the nature of God thank you John anyone else yeah so we'll be basically looking at the existence of God and his nature so first we look at how do we know that God exists okay how do you know that God exists come on it's not a difficult question can we have some class participation please how do we know that God exists or how do you know that God exists I think oh yes go ahead Loubega and then we'll go on to Roselyne I think when we look at so many other things in on earth that are being created by by humans like artistic pieces it actually shows that also the earth did not just come from nowhere to explain that the earth must have been okay thank you Loubega so you're saying when you look at what man creates everything from spacecrafts to engines to machines to things that they invent so the knowledge of man you're saying that it's not from there you know from their own wisdom or their no understanding or knowledge it has to be from somebody that is eternal somebody who's superior being somebody who's more powerful somebody who's all wise right that is what you're saying Loubega okay we'll move on to Roselyne yes Roselyne ma'am when I see the creation around me so I believe there is a creator okay so when we yeah thank you Roselyne when we look at creation there's harmony there's order there's perfection there's no chaos everything just works in perfect order we know that it just did not come about with the big bang it does not just happen on its own but there is somebody who is a a wise god a creator who sustains everything who holds everything who you know has brought everything into perfection and order okay thank you anyone else how do you know that god exists nobody mentioned about scripture the word of god right when we read scripture we see god's nature we see his attributes we see what he's done it it shows us or tells us there is a god and who he is right okay so even scripture tells us the existence of god and also we have our own conscience okay so the first thing is humanity's inner sense of god okay all persons everywhere have a deep inner sense that god exists and and that we are his creatures and that he is their creator I remember when I was studying theology my teacher told us this you know they were having a debate you know with you know one group an atheist and the others who believed in the existence of god and it's sad but who won the discussion was the atheist and when the when the the atheist won one of them said you know thank god we won okay so I just I still remember that so even though they try to prove there is no god or you know god does not exist but you know deep down there is you know their conscience or their inner sense that there is a god you know there is some there is a thing at least a superior being and everybody is you know in that pursuit of looking for who the superior being or you know trying to find the superior being in their own understanding and worshipping that superior being and we also see Paul writing about this in Romans chapter 1 verses 19 to 21 so can somebody read that it's on your screen please Romans chapter 1 verses 19 to 21 because what may be known of god is manifest in them for god has shown it to them for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and godhood so that they are without excuse because although they knew god they did not glorify him as god nor were thankful but became futile in their thoughts and their foolish hearts were darkened yeah so here we see that you know Paul is saying that you know what is known or manifested about god is known to people because it is seen in the creation of the world god has manifested himself or shown himself through his creation and through his creation you know mankind is able to see the invisible attributes of god though the attributes of god are invisible but it can be clearly seen it can be clearly understood you know and even his eternal power of god god can be seen and the godhead the father son and the holy spirit can be seen clearly okay and hence men or women are without any excuse that you know they nobody shared the gospel with them or they did not know about Jesus but you know Paul is saying that telling the Gentiles that you know Gentiles are the unbelievers that you know they cannot make this excuse because god has manifested himself or made himself known his invisible attributes can be clearly seen can be clearly understood his godhead his eternal power can be clearly seen and understood when people look at creation and hence they are without any excuse and it was 21 Paul is saying that you know the unbelievers knew god but even though they knew god they did not honor him as god or gave or give him thanks okay so they did not honor him as god they did not give him thanks and so we see that sin causes people if we read Romans chapter one verse 18 Paul is saying that you know the verses the verse proceeding to Romans chapter one verses 19 to 21 we see that sin causes people to deny their knowledge of god and also by their wickedness they suppress their truths of Paul is saying that you know even though god has made himself manifest okay through his creation and people are without any excuse but in verse 18 he says that it's sin that causes people to deny their knowledge of god and also by their wickedness they suppress their truth okay so the first thing is you know our inner sense or our inner conscience that holds us accountable that you know there is a god and the second thing is believing the evidence in scripture and nature okay so we see that when we look at the Bible we know and we have the evidence that god exists and we see this throughout the Bible and also Bible assumes that god exists so if you're convinced that the Bible is truth or it's you know it's the truth of god then we know that the Bible not only that god exists but we also know about his nature and his deeds or his acts what he has done okay now we also look at the creation we look at the world and the world gods and god's creation gives us abundant evidence of the existence of god romance chapter one verse 20 can somebody read that please it's on your screen romance chapter one verse 20 for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power godhead so that they are without excuse yes so here we see that you know that creation declares you know the invisible attributes of god it declares his eternal nature and the divinity of god is clearly seen in the things that god has made also Psalms chapter 19 verse one can somebody read that Psalms 19 verses one the heaven declares the glory of god and the pheromones shows his handy works yes he says that the heavens are witness to the glory of god that the glory of glory of god means who god is and what he does okay so all of creation you know the sun the moon the stars sky clouds are continually declaring by their existence by their beauty by their greatness that there is a powerful and there's a wise creator that has made them and the same creator sustains them in their order okay the next thing that we can look at are the traditional proofs for the existence of god okay there are some traditional proofs that are there which we can study which people have studied philosophers have studied and they're trying to prove whether god exists the first one is the cosmological argument cosmos universe so in this cosmological argument they say that you know every known thing in the universe has a cause and therefore the universe itself must also have a cause and the cause of such a great universe can only be god okay so they're trying to say that understand prove the existence of god by saying that you know everything that we know everything that is there in the universe has a cause okay and therefore universe itself must also have a cause why it was brought into being or into existence and that cause is you know can only be god so that is the cosmological argument the next one is the theological argument okay theological arguments is the evidence of harmony order and design in the universe so they are looking at you know creation being in such perfect order harmony and design and since there's such a perfect order and harmony you know it gives evidence to an intelligent purpose okay somebody who's you know brought this about purpose this to happen and somebody who's done it in perfect wisdom and intelligence and since the universe appears to be designed with a purpose you know there must be an intelligent and purposeful god who created it to function this way okay so this is what is the theological argument that since perfection design order and harmony and a purpose why this whole creation was brought about hence there must be a purposeful god who is intelligent or wise who created it to function in such a harmonious in a perfect way okay the next argument is the moral argument okay and moral we know is you know what morality is right and wrong okay since man has a sense of what is right and wrong and also the man you know looks for justice to be done when they face injustice hence there must be a god who's a source of what is right and wrong okay so he's saying that those who are holding on to this moral argument or pre about this moral argument is saying that you know since mankind has a sense of knowing what is right and wrong and they're looking for justice it cannot be brought about on their own there must be a god who is a source who is you know giving them or giving mankind this this whole moral attribute of what is right and what is wrong okay so this is a theological argument and so we looked at the existence of god we saw it you know through our inner sense we looked at romance chapter one and then we looked at god's existence which is evident in his scripture and also nature proves the existence of god and we looked at some of the traditional proofs that were held on traditionally by people people and how they proved the existence of god any doubts okay if there are no doubts we'll move on so we're looking basically at the doctrine of god and so we looked at the first one is you know in the doctrine of god we study whether he exists or not the existence of god and then we will all are going to also be looking at the nature of god now when you think about the nature of god what comes to your mind when we think about the nature of god what comes to your mind his character he's being powerful he being sovereign okay thank you we when we talk about the nature of god we talk about the characteristics of god anything else thank you john only his characteristics yeah his compassion his love for mankind okay so we can say that as his qualities his attributes okay so the nature of god is basically his characteristics his attributes and his qualities and we're basically talking about who god is and what he does okay so god's nature is revealed both in his attributes and in his names okay that is why we see throughout scripture gods there are different names of god that represent who he is reveals who he is reveals his nature also the covenantal names of god that reveal his covenant relationship with mankind okay so we see that god's nature is revealed both in his attributes and in his names okay and all of creation reveals who god is and speaks of his greatness read about this in Romans chapter one verse 20 and Psalms chapter 19 verse one can somebody read that please Romans 120 and Psalm 91 it's 19 one it's on your screen can somebody read yeah go ahead yeah Romans 120 for since the creation of the world his invisible attributes are clearly seen being understood by things that are made even his eternal power and good head is so that are without excuse yeah we already read the scripture passage and we saw that you know creation reveals the invisible attributes the nature the eternal power and the godhead is seen in and through creation Psalms 19 one we also see that you know it reveals creation reveals the glory of god we already read that scripture the word of god reveals the nature of god to us we already saw that in you know some of the scriptures that we read and you know we see that Jesus Christ the logos the word who became flesh revealed or is the perfect expression the perfect representation of god and hence he revealed truly who god is to us you know Jesus when he became man he was the perfect expression he was a perfect representation of god and god's picture of who god is his nature and what he does is revealed in the person and the work of Jesus Christ we read that in John chapter one verses one and John chapter one was 14 we've already read this scripture passages a couple of times in the last few classes we also see this in read about this in Hebrews chapter one was three so can somebody quickly read Hebrews chapter one was three please Hebrews chapter one versus three who the who being the brightness of his glory and the express of his image of his image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power and he had by himself purged our sins sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high thank you so we see that here you know Jesus is the express image of his person that means he's a perfect expression the perfect representation of the nature of god or who god is before we end this class we'll just look at an important point in the nature of god you know god's nature and his works always are inconsistent with you know sorry god's word and his works are always consistent with his nature okay so whatever we read in scripture and whatever we see about god's word and and what he has done his works it is always consistent with this nature that means it's always consistent with who he who he is what he has said and what he does god will never say something or do something that contradicts who he is okay so an important test for us to evaluate if something is truly from god is to see if it aligns with god's nature and how do we know that we can always go back to scripture because scripture you know is always in consistent with god's nature scriptures revealing things that are in consistency with the nature of god okay before we close you know bill johnson faster bill johnson said whatever you think you know about god which you do not find in the person of jesus christ you have to a reason to question whatever you think you know about god which you do not find in the person of jesus christ you have reason to question okay so if you want to know more about god then you look at the person and the work of jesus christ what he has thought what he has done it if it's consistent with his nature of what he has done and what he is said then you know you know that's the truth about who god is and if it is not inconsistency with who jesus is and what he has done then you have a reason to question pastor bill johnson also said that jesus christ is perfect theology that means what jesus said what he did how he lived he revealed god the father exactly to us with no contradictions and hence he says jesus christ is perfect theology so if you have any questions about who god is his nature his doing his working his will then look at scripture and also look at jesus christ his person and his work okay we'll end with that any questions sorry i've taken two minutes extra time any questions if not we'll end class okay thank you everyone have a good day and i'll see you on friday bye