Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

Well, as I mentioned earlier, I want to pass on a little bit of information from the conference that the elders of the United Church of God held this past weekend. We all heard whatever was presented during the Sabbath service, and in many ways that was simply an introduction to what was going to happen on Sunday and then Monday throughout those two days. Many of the things that we covered were related to the messages we heard last week. And I would have to say, even though I've already mentioned that the meeting itself is really productive and very, very important, I would think that what we covered in the different sessions or what we heard through reports were some of the most uplifting, some of the most beneficial that I have heard. I know I've heard several in the last five or six years, and yet what we covered regarding, and of course the topic or the theme of the conference, was laboring in the Word. Laboring in the Word, that was the theme of this conference for the ministry, but then more so for the ministry to be able to pass on to the membership, how that all of us should be studying the Word of God with an intent, as Mr. Barnett pointed out, that God is preparing us. He's preparing us for something really big. He is preparing us to carry out His policies throughout the millennium and throughout eternity. And so we certainly want to know what they are. Now you can say, well, okay, I can read the Ten Commandments, or I can read... that's simply the beginning in a sense, because there's a lot of additional information. And clearly Jesus expanded on that in Matthew 5 and 6 and 7. And we have all kinds of messages that are available in the New Testament, instructions and messages, and in the Old Testament. And so I want to just give you a little bit of an overview. The themes that were covered in the conference, and this was stated several different times, so I'm sure this was intentional, the three things that were directed to the ministry as far as what the Word of God says. It says we should labor in the Word. It says we should rightly divide the Word of Truth. And it says, of course, that we should preach that Word. And I want to be reminded, and others of you who speak as we are here in services, we want to be reminded that we want to preach the Word of God. I might have something important to say, but it's very doubtful. Doubtful that it will have any significance. That would be truly beneficial without focusing on the Word of God.

And clearly, that's what we're commissioned to do. And I could go to verses, each of those verses. You have those verses in 1 Timothy and in 2 Timothy. Maybe we could quickly just read them. Here in 1 Timothy 5, it says in verse 17 and 18, it says, "...let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching." You know, you can get up and read the Bible, and I could get up and read you a chapter of the Bible, and perhaps any of us could get up and do a Bible reading, and that's good. That would certainly be better than many other things we could do. But here is talking about laboring, toiling with preaching and teaching. It gives you the idea that there may be more to it. There may be more that could go into the preparation. There may be more that would go into the emphasis that is extended to the audience. But it says in verse 18, the Scripture says, "...you shall not muzzle in ox while it is treading out the grain, and the laborer deserves to be paid." So that was one of the verses that we should labor in the Word. The second one I mentioned would rightly divide the Word of Truth here in 2 Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 2. In verse 14, it says, "...remind them of this, and warn them before God, that they should avoid wrangling over words which does no good, but only ruins those who are listening." Now there's some discussion and some conjecture and some things that are unsettling and confusing that are really not helpful to anyone talking or hearing. But it goes on to say in verse 15, "...study or do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed rightly, explaining or dividing the Word of Truth." See, now do we need to be able to rightly divide or rightly understand the Word of God? Well, I think all of us would agree we do. See, most people would find it unusual that we believe there's more than one resurrection. But that's rightly divided. It's what it says. It's how is it that we understand what it says. There are many other, you know, typical things that we could easily see. You know, we can see an emphasis that's placed on the nature of God that it would appear the whole world is completely confused about.

So you have to rightly divide the Word. And of course, even if you've got the, maybe the many different views that are written in the Gospels of a similar account, you've got to somehow be able to put those together. They've got to be, they've got to be, what's, you know, they're complementary. They're not, you know, contradictory. They're complementary. And so we want to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Again, that's what this says in verse 15. You need to study to be able to do that. And then finally, over in chapter 4 here, chapter 4, in verse 1, it says, in the presence of God and Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead and the view, in view of His appearing and His kingdom, I solemnly urge you, and so this was Paul telling Timothy, you know, because we've been given this high calling, because we've been given a responsibility before God and from God and Jesus Christ, I urge you to proclaim or preach the message. Preach the Word. Be persistent.

Whether the time is favorable or unfavorable, in season or out of season. It says we need to be laboring in the Word. Convince, reprove, encourage the utmost patience in teaching. And down in verse 3, for the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine. See, in a sense, this was kind of an emphasis that, you know, as we get further into the undermining of this world, we want to certainly be not only convicted of what we believe, but continually mindful that, you know, some can be turned away. They can be turned away from sound teaching. It says in verse 3, for the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine. But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires and will turn away from listening to the truth. Sounds like they knew the truth.

That's what Paul was telling Timothy. You know, you want to encourage the people who know the truth to remain in the truth, and they will turn from the truth and wander away to myths. But as for you, be sober and endure suffering and do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully. So that was Paul's encouragement to Timothy. He says, you've been called to a responsibility that is really important, and you can help other people by doing exactly what I tell you. Part of that was preaching the Word. We might look in Acts 6.

I want to just cover a number of verses today that stood out to me that were, in many ways, emphasized by a whole hour of discussion or by preaching about these different verses. I want to be able to pass those on to you. But I thought it's significant to see here in Acts 6. I think most of us know this is where the first deacons were appointed. And my purpose of reading this is to point out that as those deacons were appointed, they were appointed to accomplish a goal. They were appointed to serve the people and to provide some physical assistance that was needed.

And so let's read this. In verse 2, this was after verse 1, the widows were being neglected. There was a conflict. There was maybe partiality being shown towards some and not towards others. Some of it may have had to do with background, and some of it may have had to do with a lot of other things. But here, in verse 2, it says, the twelve called together the whole community of the disciples and said, this isn't right. So the apostles were saying to the grouping of the membership of the church, people who were gathered there, this isn't right that we should neglect the Word of God in order to wait on tables. He said, this is not right. There can be people designated to fulfill this role. And it's not that the ministry can't do that. They could and should many times do that. But we certainly shouldn't neglect the Word of God. And to go on in verse 3, therefore, I want you friends to select from among yourselves seven men of good standing or reputeful of the Holy Spirit and wisdom and appoint them to this task. So this was a process that God was inspiring. And yet, what I want to point out is not so much about the appointing of the deacons here. But in verse 4, it says, we will appoint these individuals to this work. And in verse 4, we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. See, he was saying that the ministry really needed to be laboring in the Word.

We need to be studying the Word. We need to be preaching the Word. And that, of course, is directed at all of the ministry. But it does extend even into our congregations as we are focused on the Word of God. And so the emphasis is clearly on God's Word. It's on, if we're going to become like Jesus Christ, then we're going to have to know what it says in the Word of God. You know, Scripture cards used to be pretty common, and I think ABC classes made those available recently. You know, we might want to look back over those. I know I've looked at mine, and I don't know half of them. That's too bad. That's too bad because my memory is getting bad. I can't remember. I might have some idea of where it is, but I don't know for sure. And so I point that out to you. We were told at this conference that it will be made available to the ministry a 48-hour refresher course. You know, it's something that they can record, and then you can look at it and do that over the course of a half year or over the course of a year. That's going to be an emphasis this year. It's certainly going to be a big help to me, and I would hope that it would not only be to me but to others as far as the ministry and then the membership. Because, you know, we need to be focused on the Bible, focused on the Word of God. And so I have to ask, how interesting is your study of the Word of God?

Is it just something that you do or don't do? Is it something that at times takes on some life and at other times doesn't? Is it actually better than when you first believed?

Because I think back and I used to study in a certain way, and over the years I've kind of altered what that is or how it is. Is it more intense? Is it more motivating? Are you moved more by studying the Bible today than you used to? You know, I think whenever we were learning some initial things, perhaps that was exciting.

I remember studying the Bible, going through harmony of the Gospels, and in many ways just being completely stunned that the Bible makes sense. Up to that point it had not made very good sense. I mean, I'd read some of it. I can't say that I was fully versed in it, but it was amazing to start seeing. And you read not only through the Gospels, but through the book of Acts, and you find it's talking about a church.

It's talking about a group of believers that God had called to do the work of the church. And so I would like for us to think about what kind of study of the Bible are we doing? I know I often read the Bible. I read it for inspiration.

I read it for encouragement. And I like the sections that are encouraging. It also mentions some things that I'll be doing that I am not doing well. And so that also is corrective. But I usually study it in order to try to teach it. And I don't know that you always do that, but it might not be a good idea. I mean, it might be a good idea to think of that.

You know, if I study this, and if I understand what this parable is about, can I teach it to somebody? Because I'm pretty sure God's going to expect us to teach his policies. He's going to have us teach what the Word of God says.

We're insiders here in that we know ahead of time what's going to become the standard for the millennium. So there are five points I want to make. And I guess I could say this is my RSTUV sermon, because these five happen to correspond with RSTUV.

This is not my ABC sermon. This is the RSTUV sermon. But the first verse that I want to focus on with the letter R is in 2 Peter 2. We were told last week, if you were here at services, we were told that we ought to be people of the book. That should be the foundation. It should be the basis. Now we understand our basis is in God, and it clearly is in Jesus Christ. But these are the words of God and the words of Jesus that we have.

See, many people have a Bible. Many people have dozens of Bibles or a number of Bibles around their house. But often, you know, they're not well-read. And of course, we want to be well-read. But whenever you think about reading the Bible, you know, what is actually happening? Because in many cases, I know many of you have been around the church for years.

You've been around the church for decades. Some of you young folks have been around the church of God all of your life. And yet, are there new things to learn? Are there new applications? Are there new insights? Can there be new understanding? I know I read things today. What's wrong with me? How come I hadn't seen that before? How come I hadn't studied or knew that that went together? There were many times, even during this conference, that they covered something that, well, I wish I would have known that some time back.

That would have been helpful, to be able to either explain it better or give a little more understanding of what I had. But I think it's amazing. And my R, from my first point here, is that we are to remember and recall. So we should be reminded of the words of eternal life. And we tend to forget. And as we get older, we tend to forget at a little more rapid pace than, you know, if you're quite a bit younger.

And yet, what it says here in 2 Peter chapter 2, 2 Peter chapter 2, this doesn't look right to me. I'm going to say it's 1 Peter. Is it 2 Peter? 3. No? That's not it. How come? Now, I've got it clearly written down, and it's clearly wrong. But it's got to... Okay, I know what the problem is. It's 2 Peter chapter 1.

So I'm sorry about that, because I should go over this, and I should know where it is. But I didn't. So I need to be reminded. I guess that's the point of this point here. In verse 10 of chapter 1 of 2 Peter, he says, Therefore, brethren, be all the more eager to confirm your calling in your election, for if you do this, you will not stumble. And so he's talking about being fully convicted, being fully moved by your calling.

And yet, in connection with this, in verse 12, he says, Therefore, I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them all, established in the truth that has come to you.

So was Peter talking to people who didn't know the truth? No, he was talking to people who did, who had been given a calling in an election, that he didn't want to stumble. He didn't want them to fall. And so he says, I'm going to remind you. I'm going to keep reminding you so that you continue to be established in the truth that has come to you. And I think, in verse 13, it is right, as long as I am in this body, to refresh your memory, since I know that my death will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus has made clear to me. And I'm going to make every effort so that, after my departure, you'll be able to, at any time, recall these things.

See, here Peter mentions, remind and remember and recall memory and recall.

You know, that's got to be one of the reasons why we would study the Bible. One of the reasons why we should be encouraged to study the Bible and perhaps even make time. That's what you have to do sometimes. And actually, when you think about it, things that are important to us, things that we value, things that we love, we make time to do. And in a sense, it can kind of tell us, well, I'm not as interested or not as moved by studying the Bible as I could be or should be. Now, I'm not saying we have to do that in any particular way, but I'm saying we need to do it. And clearly, what Peter was writing and what he was saying in general was that we all need to be reminded of what we are established in the truth of God. So that's point number R, or letter R. In 2 Timothy 3, let's go to letter S. 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3, of course, is Paul telling Timothy, you basically have been taught the truth of God most of your life, perhaps all of your life. He says your grandmother and your mother have passed on this information to you. And yet, what we see here in 2 Timothy 3 is that Paul was telling him that you have access, I think in King James it says, holy scriptures. So you could say S would be scripture. In the translation I'm using, it says sacred writing.

See, now what was he talking about? Well, the New Testament was being written.

It wasn't yet compiled. It wasn't yet available, except through letters if that were accessed by Timothy. But see, what he was really ahead available to him was the Old Testament. The teaching from the Old Testament, from the sacred scriptures.

In verse 12 of 2 Timothy 3, it says, indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Jesus Christ will be persecuted. But wicked people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. But you, he says, people can go every which direction and be deceived and be confused and be conflicted. See, because that's what sometimes happens.

But he says, as for you in verse 14, continue in what you have learned and what you have firmly believed. See, we've been tested on that over the last 20 or 30 years, tested as to not only what we believe, but are we committed to it. But Paul was telling Timothy, I want you to continue in what you have learned and firmly believe, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood. See, those of you children have a great advantage. From childhood, you are being explained or having explained the Word of God, the Word that leads to eternal life, a Word that helps us know how to pursue eternal life, how to seek the kingdom of God.

But in verse 14, I want you to continue in what you have learned and how from childhood you have known the sacred scriptures, the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. See, the sacred writings, that's what we have in the compilation of the 66 books of the Bible, these have been put together by God. They are breathed by God.

They've been compiled by numerous people that God moved to put this together.

And yet they are the sacred writings, the holy scriptures that lead us to understand the purpose of life, how it is to have eternal life, and how we can be a part of the divine family of God. See, those are all, you know, how many people think that they're going to be in the family of God? Most people think they're going to be in heaven, whatever that means. That doesn't mean, I mean, that's very, very vague. It's very, very unclear. But see, what God has shown all of us, if we've rightly divided the word of truth, is that God created man for a purpose, and that purpose is going to lead to being a part of the family of God. To be sons and daughters in God's family, to be servants, teaching and serving others. So the sacred writings are the second thing that I'll mention. The third thing I'll mention is what Paul told Timothy in chapter 4 of 1 Timothy. Chapter 4 of 1 Timothy, starting in verse 11. Now he told him how to be a good minister. I want you to be a good example. He says, these are the things that you must insist on and teach. And so apparently there were some rock-solid things that Paul wanted Timothy to not only remember, but to teach and preach. These things you must insist on and teach. Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers in example, in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity, and until I arrive give attention to the public reading of Scripture.

Now that's one way of describing what we often do in church. We're reading through the Bible. That's the textbook. That's the book that we are to be well versed in. But it says, give attention to the public reading of Scripture to exhorting and to teaching. And don't neglect the gift that's in you that was given to you through the prophecy from the laying on of hands of the ministry. For these things, put these things into practice and devote yourself to them so that all may see your progress. Pay close attention to yourselves until you're teaching, continuing in these things. For in doing this, you will save yourself. But it goes on to say more. You will save yourself, both yourself and those who hear you, the hearers. See, the more we concentrate on studying and not just studying for the sake of knowing, but studying for the desired effect that God has for the Word of God, you know, to be implanted in our mind, implanted in our mind and in our heart.

Now, memorizing the Bible, of course, this is, you know, what Timothy was told, that he should labor in the Word, not in the world, but in the Word. And so I'm going to say he should toil. That's what the T is. He should toil. I don't think there's a T in here. I had to stretch that a little. To make it connect with RSTUV. But he was to toil. He was to set an example and study the Word, preach public reading of the Word, setting an example, and then teaching that so that those who hear would be benefited. The fourth thing, I want us to look back at Luke chapter 24, and I think Brian went over this the other day, or if I'm recalling right, talking about what was happening here in Luke 24 when Jesus, after his resurrection, was walking with some disciples. And of course, they didn't know who he was. They didn't fully comprehend what had taken place in town. And they were just amazed that he didn't seem to be too informed.

And of course, he was well informed. He was quite involved. And yet, what I want to point out, and of course, the RSTU is for... it's one thing to read and to know what the Word of God says. It's another thing to understand. To have understanding that can only come from God.

You know, we want to seek that understanding, but of course, here you see an example of where that understanding comes from. So here in Luke chapter 24, verse 30, as they arrived, verse 30, he was at the table with them, and he took bread and blessed and broke it, and he gave it to them. And it says in verse 31, something happened. Their eyes were opened. In many ways, you could say their eyes were enlightened. They became aware of something that they weren't aware of up to this point. Their eyes were opened, and they realized who it was who was with them, which would have been a dumbfounding revelation. You know, here we were, saying whatever we said to him.

And here's Jesus Christ, having been resurrected from the dead and appearing to us as a person.

And yet it says their eyes were opened, and they realized who he was, and he vanished from their sight. You know, he was able to come and go as he saw fit.

And of course, they began to think about this in verse 32, and they said to each other, Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road? Well, he was opening the Scriptures to us. Maybe that was a gradual process. They were being led, perhaps, by what Jesus was saying. And of course, he was talking about what was supposed to happen and what had just happened. You need to realize, you need to believe who I am. You need to have faith in who I am. But if we jump on over to verse 44, you see Jesus appearing to his disciples here in this section.

And he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was with you, and everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled. The Old Testament is filled with information about Jesus Christ.

And he says, These are my words. And in verse 45, it says, He opened their minds to understand. So who has understanding to give? I think I'll just read this and I'll figure out what it says.

Well, I can read something and I can maybe understand what it says in a limited way.

But if I seek understanding from the one who has understanding to give, from God the Father, from Jesus Christ, I think we'll find our understanding of His words to take on greater meaning, maybe to take on greater impact, to take on more of a fulfillment in our minds and in our hearts. So we don't want to overlook that. And clearly it says that He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said, Thus is written the Messiah was to suffer and rise from the dead the third day. And that through repentance and forgiveness of sins, He is to be proclaimed, or forgiveness of sin is to be proclaimed in His name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. And you are commissioned with that job. You are witnesses of these things. And so I'm sending upon you what my Father promised. So stay here in the city until you've been empowered with power from on high. See, He said a mouthful there. He says, Come to realize what happened to Jesus and how He was the Son of God and how He was put to death and how He was resurrected and how that the message of the gospel is to proclaim that we all need to repent and that we need to receive the forgiveness from God and that we need to be a recipient of the Holy Spirit. See, that's what He said in this kind of encapsulated little couple of three verses. He said that those are somewhat the conditions. You know, we're going to need to do that. Doesn't do a lot of good to know everything, not be baptized, not receive the gift of the Holy Spirit because ultimately the gift of the Holy Spirit is what enables us to be in the family of God, what enables us to relate to God in a spiritual way. So clearly, we want to seek understanding from the source of understanding. Finally, the last thing I'll mention is that we want to have the vision. The vision of what the trunk of the tree really is. That was one of our topics or one of the keynotes that were given about the trunk of the tree and Dr. Ward went through what he almost always will go through of what we've covered here in our service some time back, several months, you know, about understanding does God exist. And if he does, then who and what is God and what is his purpose and who and what is man and what is man's purpose. And that we need to be baptized, that we need to be repentant and be baptized, and we need to be recipients of the Holy Spirit. See, that's an exhortation that we always want to keep in mind, and that also is a part of rightly dividing the word of truth, rightly understanding what the Bible shows. See, how could there be so many Bibles available and people so misunderstand? Be completely confused about what God's real purpose is. Here in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, Paul had been teaching this church, and I think he was encouraging them in this book to look toward the future, to look toward the time when Christ would return, to realize that that's going to be the culmination of the establishment of the kingdom that I'm preaching to you. But he says in verse 3, our appeal does not spring from deceit or impure motive or trickery.

He said, what I've taught you, what I've explained about Jesus Christ, what I've explained about how the church is put together and how you're called and how it is you are organized, whatever it was he had explained to the congregation, he says our appeal to you does not spring from deceit or impure motive or trickery. We've not been trying to deceive you in any way. But in verse 4, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the message of the gospel, just as we have been entrusted with the message of the gospel, so we speak not to please men, but to please God, who is the one who tests our hearts.

He said that was what that was his motivation. He says I realize I'm answerable to God. I'm not trying to trick you. I'm not trying to deceive you. I'm trying to point you in the right direction, and I realize that I'm going to be accountable to God.

And if we drop down, verse 9, he says you remember our labor and toil, brethren. We work night and day among you. And then down in verse 11, as you know, we dealt with each one of you like a father with his children. Urging! So this was how Paul was telling them that they had worked among them, and of course it's an example for all of us today in the ministry and in the congregations to know that this is the way that Paul viewed his job.

Verse 11, or verse 10, let me back up. You are witnesses, and God also how pure and upright and blameless our conduct was toward you believers, but as you know, we dealt with you as a father with his children, urging and encouraging and pleading that you lead a life worthy of God who has called you into his own kingdom and glory. See, that was how he wanted to help them to have a vision of what their purpose in life is.

And of course, in verse 13, he says, we also constantly give thanks to God for this, that when you received the Word of God, when you received the Word of God, that you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as to what it really is, God's Word, which is also at work in you believers. See, many of us can think back over many decades and even going back 50, 60 years ago, we were told to read the Bible.

Don't believe what I say. Believe what the Word of God says. And of course, you know, that's exactly what Paul says. He told the people there, Esalonica, we're thankful that you received the Word of God and that you realize it wasn't just us talking, it was truly God's Word that is now at work in you to produce, you know, the vision of what God is doing, His purpose for our lives.

So there are a lot of words or a lot of verses that we could go to focus on the Word of God. And these are ones that in a sense stood out to me, but there's a couple more that I want to conclude with because they focus our mind on studying the Word of God, not only with zeal, but with purpose, with understanding, and with appreciation.

Here in 1 Peter 4, it says in verse 10, Like good stewards in the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. And so this is Peter saying to those members of the church that you have a responsibility toward each other to serve one another. And in verse 11, Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God. And whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies. And yet what it points out, and of course this was directed at the ministry, and yet it's directed to all of us who speak at times, and maybe it ought to be thought of us as, you know, wherever we represent, you know, the truth of God, that we are speaking that truth, but that we are speaking the very words of God.

And that, of course, you know, makes it important. It doesn't make it important because I say it. It makes important because God says it. In Hebrews chapter 4, we'll conclude here, Hebrews chapter 4, of course, all of these verses are about the Bible, about the Word of God, as we have it together here, as we're able to appreciate it, as we're able to enjoy it, because I think that should be the case. You know, we should enjoy.

And maybe if we look forward to the Bible study that we do as something that can be beneficial, something that is enjoyable, something that, in a sense, we kind of have to tear our self away from. You know, that's, that's, I think, going to be a benefit to all of us. But here in Hebrews chapter 4, it says in verse 12, indeed, the Word of God is living and active. It's not just ink on a page.

It's not just, you know, what, you know, you can look at when you look at a book, any type of, you know, there's myriad different Bibles anymore. It says the Word of God is living and active and it's sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joint from marrow. It's able to judge the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

And before Him no creature is hidden but all are naked and lay bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. See, amazingly, you know, we are given a living, active Word to study. And of course, the description in verse 12 shows how deeply the Word of God can impact a being who has been created by God to be transformed. See, that's why He created us. Of course, He gives us the Spirit of God to be able to empower us to do that, but He wants us to study the Word of God knowing it's living, it's active, it can break down our defenses. It can give us insight that there's no other way of having.

And so we want, you know, to understand the value and importance and significance of studying the Bible on a regular basis and then truly benefiting from what this talks about. You know, the dividing of the soul from spirit and joints from marrow, able to judge the thoughts and intents of the heart.

And we often don't even want to see those. We often shy away from that. You know, we may be aware of it, but we shy away from it sometimes. But what we want to see is exactly what the Word of God, the power, the power that is in the Word of God. So we want to be studying the Word of God. I know we're going to be going over more. It's not that we haven't gone over it before, but we will go over it more this year as we look into whatever is being provided, what God would like for us to focus on, how He wants to protect us from the myriad of distractions and the confusion that is quite evident in this world. But we can be quite secure. We can be quite protected by the powerful and the living Word of God. And it does have a power, a power to transform human hearts. And so we want, as our conference was themed, we want to labor in the Word. Not only that the ministry should do that, but all of us should labor in the Word of God and be grateful that God has provided it in such a way where we can be the recipients of His fulfillment, of His purpose for drawing us to be a part of the Church of God to begin with.