Good morning on this rainy 23rd day of June. I have been studying the Bible for nearly forty-five years. Since I am currently preaching a series from the book of Acts entitled, Acts: Believer's in Action, I have been re-reading and re-studying every chapter of that New Testament book. Even though I have read and studied its pages many times over the years, God has shown me many new truths and provided numerous fresh insights as I am examining this powerful book yet again. This is not surprising based upon the teaching of Proverbs 25:11, "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." The Word of God is indeed a word fitly spoken. The imagery is of a bowl of silver beautifully decorated with ornamentation which makes it attractive and appealing in appearance, but upon closer inspection, apples of precious gold are revealed inside the bowl. This is so true about the Bible. Its pages at first present the truth as a bowl of silver (so simple and evident that even a child can receive its message), but at the same time, so deep that the greatest minds have poured over it and never exhausted its depths because it reveals the very mind of God. There is an important difference between reading the Bible and studying it. Each is important and both are necessary to mine its great truths. Both the preaching services and Edgewood's many classes are offered so as to provide both the bowls of silver and the apples of gold as well. The sequence of offerings in adult Bible studies at 9:30 on Sunday mornings include a thorough understanding of salvation, Godliness and its achievement, victorious Christian living to become a genuine Christian overcomer, the developing of practices necessary to develop the very character of Christ in our lives, the secrets of prayer both in learning how to powerfully pray and how it will change your life and relationship with God and others, and the methods to study your Bible to receive from God and understand the truths He has intended for you. Are you seeing the apples of gold in the settings of silver?
Tomorrow's message will focus on the growing pains among the early Christians. Those growing pains are remarkably similar to what many encounter today. I hope to see you in the services tomorrow.
Pastor Brown