Free Preview of Another Level Bible Institute ( Part I )

0:00Well, I am so excited because this class is about to be brought to you live. I am so excited about this here because you are getting ready to get a free preview of another level viable institute. It just started this past weekend and guess what, you're going to get a free preview of the class that I taught. And guess what? Tomorrow, I'm going to show you another clip from another class and how you can still be a part of another level Bibles Institute. So this is an opportunity for you to get a little taste of what it is that we're doing to see how it can enlarge your Bible capacity and your knowledge of the word. It's going to be really good. It's a class called comparative religions. And man, you're not going to want to miss it.

1:00Listen, I'm giving you a free preview. You're actually going to get the class live. You're not getting all of it. I'm going to give you a big chunk of the class. So just in case if you missed it and you're saying, you know what, I really want to get in on another level Bible institute. Here is your opportunity. Listen, I hope that you'll take a minute and share this. It's phenomenal teaching. You're going to love this and it's going to really stir something in you. And I'm really excited about what another level Bible Institute is doing. And I just felt this because I'm going to give everybody one more opportunity. It was so good. I don't want you to miss it. So I want you to get in on this and so stay tuned because we're going to get into a little bit more of this and you're going to get a free preview of another level Bible institute, comparative religions, all that and more coming up right here on Dimensions. Howdy everyone, it's your boy, Pastor J. Anthony Gilbert coming to you live right now.

2:11Here on Dimensions, at least five days a week, Monday through Friday, every single day at 8 p.m. Dimensions is coming to you live and I'm excited about today. So listen, as always, don't forget to take a moment to like, subscribe, follow, and share especially this episode because it's really going to be a blessing to you and you're really going to be blessed. I'm not going to take a whole lot of time here today because I want to jump right into this because I want to give you an opportunity to be able to check this out. But listen, the class is called comparative religions. Here is one of the guides that you have to get and then here is the book that we're going through called So What's the Difference and listen, it is a 10 week class and it's amazing because check this out. You can take the class for $80, $80, that's less, I mean, that's just a few bucks a class and you can come and hang out with us and it'll be phenomenal. You can take it in your house, you can take it on the street, you got to be live, you know, you got to be up there, picture on the screen show that you're there. There's no exams, there's no type of real homework except for what you put into it which I encourage you to put as much into it as you can and also is an opportunity for you to

3:12sit under these good academic, anointed academic teaching that will help you. So that's the class. Here's the two resources that you have to get in order to get in on the class. It's going to be awesome. So that's why I want you to like, subscribe, follow, share and get this out because this is a free preview of free preview in the class. This will be the last one I'm going to give. This is your last opportunity you got from now until this Saturday, this Saturday comment up, which is what the 28th, I'm sorry, Friday, Friday evening, really the 27th. So don't miss this and check this out because this is really going to be a blessing to you. I know you're going to love it and it's really going to minister to your lives. And so I want you to take a look at this class. I'm going to leave you for a little bit, but enjoy the class talking, parent of religions, grabbing a note pad and a pen, get ready to go in because we're going to talk about the Christian worldview and how the Christian worldview, why it's important. There's three major questions that you have to look at when you're comparing the Christian worldview to every other religion and that's what this class, this first class is all

4:15about. So it's going to be a blessing. Stay tuned and check this out and I'll be back in just a little bit to base upon a few different things. Number one, who or what is God? That's the worldview. And what I like about the worldview too is a worldview is a plumb line. Everybody know what a plumb line is. If you've ever laid brick, they run a line that's completely straight and they lay all the bricks accordingly to the plumb line and you would lay the bricks with that so then you know that your wall is straight. The Bible is the plumb line for our lives. It lets us know we believe the Bible is absolute truth because somebody says absolute truth. The Bible is absolute truth. So it is the plumb line of how we view everything. So the first thing in order to understand a biblical worldview, who or what is God? Number two, who am I and how do I operate in my world? Number three, how can I tell right from wrong? You look at today's society and where we are.

5:16A lot of people just come up with whatever they feel is right or wrong. Well, the Bible is the plumb line. That's how we have to know our Bible, which is why I'm so proud of every person online and those who are here for taking the time because this is different than church. This is academics. My pastor says something really cool. He says we need anointed academic activist. We need all three anointed academic Christian activists that stand up for the Word of God. We need to be anointed. We need to be educated or have academics. But then we also need to be activists, those that stand up and willing to stand up for truths and take the kingdom of God moving forward. But a lot of people just call right and wrong now anything. The Bible says that in the end times that people would call good evil and evil good, they would do that because why the plumb line has been removed. The Bible says also that if the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do? What do you do if there's no plumb line? The Bible says in the book of Judges that every man does what's right in their own eyes.

6:19When you leave the plumb line, your wall gets crooked. And we've got a lot of people trying to build the Tower of Pisa. Right now, it's leaning forward and leaning backwards. And it's off to the side because the plumb line has been removed, okay? Number four, when it's over, where do I go? The plumb line, we know what that isn't Christianity, but I'm not going to talk about all that right now. Number five, how can I know the truth? For that matter, how can I be sure that I know anything? This is a worldview, this is how we base our worldview. These are the questions we have to ask. And then number six, what does my life mean and how do I fit into history? So that's how we need to answer those questions when it comes to a Christian biblical worldview. So non-biblical worldviews, let's take a look at those. Non-biblical worldviews. There's naturalism, which means this. God does not exist and that physical matter is all there is.

7:24Naturalism. God does not exist and physical matter is all that there is. Then there's another thing called pantheism. I'll say again further, those of you that have taken notes, naturalism. God does not exist and that physical matter is all that there is. Then there's what's called pantheism. All is one, one is all and all is God. This is where Hindu, Buddhism, along with New Age, they have this type of worldview. So all is one, one is all and all is God. This is pantheism. Hindu and Buddhism, along with New Age, they have this type of worldview, pantheism. Then there is what's called polytheism. Polytheism, that there are many gods. There are goddesses and spirits that we must appease

8:25and pleased to have a reasonably good life. And I'll mind you all of these that we're talking about. You're going to see those in the different religions that we study over the next 10 weeks. You're going to see these here. There are many gods, goddesses and spirits that we must appease and pleased to have a reasonably good life. And then four is relativism, which is where a lot of people are here today. Now what I say here, I mean in the world today, not in this building. Relativism is whatever works for you is fine. Whatever works for me is fine too. I don't really believe any one system contains all truth. So whatever works for me, it's got, you say tomato, I say tomato. I mean, whatever it is that works for you is fine. Whatever works for me is fine, but I don't really have any belief in one system. I heard one person say like this, live and let live. You know, hey, whatever you want to do is totally okay. It's whatever's relative to you. That's why it's called relativism. And so that is something that's happening. Matter of fact, I would even go a step further and say that we've gone from relativism to where now,

9:27it's not just that it's whatever works for you is fine. Whatever works for me is fine. Now it's whatever works for me is correct. And I hate anybody that doesn't agree with me. That's where without, why do we see so many shootings and things that are going on? People are so not only at things divisive, it's like divisive and then people are just antagonistic. If you don't believe what I believe, then you're my enemy. You know, that's just the way that people look at things today. So my question to you is, can you articulate a biblical worldview or your biblical worldview? Can you biblically answer the questions pointed out to you that I asked before, which were, who are what is God? Who am I? How do I operate in the world? How do I tell right from wrong? When it's over, where do I go? How can I know the truth? And how can I be sure that I know of anything? And what does my life mean? And how do I fit into history? That's very important that you be able to answer that. And you're going to be able to know that better as we navigate through these 10 weeks. And the purpose of this class is to give you a true, a apologetic view on Christianity

10:29and how it compares and contrasts to other worldviews or religions. So that's basically the summary of this class. You're going to be able to know your own Christian biblical worldview and we're going to take this first week here and discuss the Christian understanding of the faith, the plumb line for comparing faith, biblical Christianity. So let's go on to there. Biblical Christianity, the definition of biblical, it's up there on your screen and those of you that are watching online, it's there for you. The Christian believer searches seriously and carefully for the meaning of the Bible on its own terms, not changing, it's meaning to fit the times. Y'all can amen me there. I know we're in a teaching class, but that's good preaching right there. That is really good. I'm going to read that again. The Christian believer, this one means have a biblical understanding of the faith. The Christian believer searches seriously and carefully for the meaning of the Bible on its own terms. Another word for that is called exegesis.

11:31That's, I'm not trying to make it fit what I want it to be. It's an exegetical understanding. I carefully searched the Bible on its own terms, not changing its meaning to fit the times. And what we've done nowadays is people have transitioned. We're now, we're trying to appease people instead of what did the Bible originally say and mean and how do we appropriate it accordingly. Heresy, or actually I've married this here, biblical Christians approach the Bible with reverence and respect because they believe it is true, authoritative and that it contains God's very words. So if it's not biblical, it's called heresy. What is heresy? An opinion held in opposition of the commonly received doctrine intending to promote division or dissension. So there are things, if you don't know your Bible, you can fall into what's called heresy. Heresy is basically something that contradicts the scripture. And then what is the plum line? We talked about that already. I love the scripture in Amos chapter seven in verse number eight.

12:32Amos chapter seven and verse number eight. Now I'm gonna move a little bit quicker because I only have one hour and I have to make sure I get through everything for you guys today. Amos chapter seven, verse number eight says this and the Lord said to me, Amos, what do you see? And I said a plum line. And the Lord said, behold, I'm setting a plum line in the midst of my people Israel. I will not pass by them anymore. Basically saying I'm putting a plum line in front of them so they will know how to accurately discern and instruct themselves accordingly. First Corinthians chapter number 15. First Corinthians chapter 15. We are gonna look at verse number three and four. Pride delivered to you first of all, that which I have also received that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture number one. Number two that he was buried. Number three and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. So there you go. That's the plum line for Christianity. It's important to understand that not only was he delivered, he was delivered.

13:33He died for our sins, he was buried and that he rose again. So those three things are important. There are three essential truths for Christianity, okay? Very, very important that we understand that. All right. All right, now let's take a look here. The plum line scripture is first Corinthians 15, three and four, truth and reliability of the Bible, divine inspiration of the scriptures. Number two, mankind's major problem. All of us are sinners and rebellion against God and in need of a savior. And then number three, the person work of Christ, who he is and what he did for us. That's all broken down in first Corinthians chapter 15, three and four. Here it is again, Christ died, buried, rose again. So therefore we have to understand the plum line scripture. Number one, that it is divine. We have to understand the scriptures are divinely inspired. Number two, mankind's major problem is sin. We're all born into sin. We have a sin problem. We need something to do it. We need a savior. We're in rebellion against God

14:34and we need a savior. And then number three, the person in work of Jesus Christ, who he is and what he did for us. Now those things right there are how you need to examine every other religion, okay? The death, burial and resurrection of Christ and these three things, divine inspiration of the scriptures, mankind's major problem and the person in work of Jesus Christ. Does that make sense? Y'all tracking with me. Very important to understand. Death, burial, resurrection, three things that we have to understand. The truth and reliability of the Bible, which means that the scriptures are divinely inspired. Number two, mankind's major problem, which is what? All of us are sinners in rebellion and we have need of a savior. And then number three, the person in work of Jesus Christ, which who he is and what he did for us, which is stated there in 1 Corinthians, chapter number 15, verse three and four. So those are the things you have to understand. Everything else comes along with that. You have to understand the scriptures are divinely inspired. It's well said again because if you don't get, if you don't understand the plumbly,

15:34you're not going to be able to measure everything else that's coming. So it's important to understand the scriptures are divinely inspired. They're not man's ideas. How do we know the Bible's true? That's why you're in school. So we can show you how the scriptures are true. We have to understand number two, that mankind's major problem, all of us are sinners in rebellion against God and we need a savior. And then in order to understand how that got fixed, the person in work of Christ. Who Jesus is and what he did for us. Those three things are the plumb lines for every other religion. And that's how we'll compare them as we navigate through these 10 weeks, okay? So the first thing we need to take a look at is that Christ died for us. Was Jesus really God or was he just a great teacher and nothing more than that? Why are we looking at that? Because a lot of religions believe it. So let's take a look at John chapter one. We're going to read through these quickly. Now, don't try to write every scripture down. Just go ahead, you can have them there.

16:34It's, there's some of them are in your book, but then some of them are up there on the screen. Just write them down, take a screenshot if you're doing anything. And then you can read those later on. John chapter one, verse one and then verse 14. In the beginnings was the word. Jesus Christ was the word. And the word was with God and the word was God, okay? Then you jump down to verse number 14. And the word became flesh, speaking of Jesus, that's why I'm reading in the Bible, the word W is capitalized in reverence to Jesus Christ himself. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus came down from heaven, wrapped himself up in a cloak of flesh, 100% God, 100% man, dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory. The glory has only been gotten to the father full of grace and truth. Now, same Bible or same book, John chapter 10, verse number 30. John 10, verse number 30. I, Jesus is speaking here. I and my father are one. So Jesus letting us know with he really God, or with such a great teacher, nothing else.

17:34Well, remember, what is the plum line? Number one, biblical, the divine inspiration of the word of God. So you first thing you have to realize, you gotta believe the Bible, 100% true otherwise, none of this matters. Jesus said I and my father are one. John chapter 14, verse number nine. Let's take a look at that. Jesus said to them, actually let's look at verse eight and then nine. Philip said to them, Lord, show us the father and it is sufficient for us. Jesus said to them, have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me as what? Has seen the father. So how can you say show us the father? So Jesus showing us in the scriptures and then there's a couple of other, I'll let you look them later. John chapter 8, 58, John 14, 5, 2, 9. He's letting us know that he's 100% God and 100% man. Jesus was really God. Now did the Virgin birth actually happen? Let's look at Luke chapter number one, verse 35. Now remember, everything here deals with apologetics.

18:36So the first thing of the plumber, I remember we went back to divine inspiration of the scriptures. So you have to believe that or otherwise, none of this makes sense. But since we have a biblical worldview, we line everything else up with the Word of God. And so we have to understand that first. Luke chapter one, verse number 35. Let's take a look at that here. Says, and the angel answered and said to her, a matter of fact, let's take it into context. Look, look at verse 34, then I go into 35. Then Mary said to the angel, how can this be since I do not know a man? Because the angel just came to her and said, you're going to have a child and his name is going to be Jesus. And so she's asking a question, how is this going to happen? I don't know anybody. I don't have a husband. And 35 says, and the angel said to her, the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the highest will overshadow you. And therefore also that holy one who is born shall be called the Son of God. So do we believe the Bible is divine and inspired? I do. I hope you do too. If we do, then this is our plumb line.

19:37This is what we believe. So the holy one will be called the Son of God. And this is the thing. People don't understand why was the version verse so important? Because the male, now this is important. The reason I couldn't come through a male because the Bible says in the book of Romans that through one man's sin came into the earth. So the male bloodline, the bloodline comes through the male, doesn't come through the woman. So therefore anything the man passes on comes to the male bloodline. So he could not come from a man. So the father himself had to place Jesus into the womb of the woman. And so this is, now watch this. This is what's so powerful. And this is where a lot of people understand salvation. And people say, well, what's the big deal? Why does that matter? If the bloodline comes through the father, you have to be born again. Because now watch this. The blood of Jesus breaks the generational curses of your natural father's bloodline. So it doesn't matter what your dad did, even though we are born from a human being. That's why Jesus said you have to be born again.

20:39Why? Now the blood of Christ breaks whatever was in my family lineage. I become born again. And when you read in the scriptures and the book of Peter, the Bible actually calls it, when you break it down in the Greek, the Bible calls it the divine sperm of God, which is the word of God actually causes us to become born again. Well, what does that mean? Now the bloodline of our Heavenly Father runs through me and it breaks the bloodline of my natural father. So it doesn't matter how many times your father messed up, your grandfather, the moment you come to Christ, there's a new bloodline in you. And as a result of that, hallelujah, we are free in Jesus' name, amen. That is so good. All right. So did that Virgin Birth actually happen? Yes, it did. And does the Trinity make three gods? Oh my goodness. That's another great question there. Does the Trinity make three gods? No, of course it does. This is one of the strongest reasons that many critics reject the doctrines of the Trinity, is that it makes Christ co-equal with God the Father.

21:40Judaism, here's important. Islam, your tenetarius, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormonism, they all deduce Jesus to being second in command. Or just another teacher, same as a Buddha, Krishna, or a Moses. Jesus was not. He is God. And that's why we believe in the Trinity. The Trinity is not mentioned in the Bible. It is not. But we've developed that word as a part of the theological construct. It's not a made up construct. The name was given to it. Just like the word rapture is not in the Bible. But the Bible says we'll be taken up. So we've put rapture as a definition or that concept that makes sense. So that's important and we understand that. Let's look at page number 19. In your book here, second paragraph, says one of the strongest reasons that many critics reject the doctrine of the Trinity, is that it makes Christ co-equal with God the Father. The Trinity is the particular target

22:40of critics in religion like Judaism, Islam, and cults such as Unitarianism, sorry. Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormon and all of these groups reduce Christ to a creative being with seconded command at Beth or just another teacher on the same part with Buddha, Krishna. Well, I want to show you in the book, so you can highlight that if you want in the second paragraph there on page number 19. Deuteronomy chapter number six, verse number four. Deuteronomy chapter six, verse number four says this. Here, oh, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. That's so powerful. The Lord our God is one God. And that word there is Elohim, which is a plural world, speaking of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Very important. That word is used 2,346 times in Genesis 126 where it says there, let us make man in our image.

23:41It's speaking of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that word Elohim in the Hebrew is the plural world for God. It's not Jehovah speaking of God the Father. It's a plural word. So this is the reason why he's the only, he's just the same, but notice when we read in John chapter one, or he's not the same as the Father, he's not co-equal with him, he is. That's why the Bible says in the beginning was the word, the word was God, the word was with God, the same was in the beginning with God, all things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made. When we jump down to first number 14 of John chapter one, so the and the word became flesh, speaking of the word that was the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He's speaking of the Son come now into the earth and becoming just like man, hallelujah. So that word Elohim there helps us to understand and break down the fact that Jesus is God, hallelujah. In Jesus' baptism, I'm not gonna spend time there, but it's there in your notes, you can write it down. You take a look, what does the Bible says?

24:42After he came up out of the water, the Bible says, the heavens opened and what descended upon him, the Spirit descended upon him like a dove. And a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son of whom I'm well pleased. All three were present at Jesus' baptism. Jesus was there, the Father spoke, the Holy Spirit descended upon him, which lets us know all three are separate, but co-equal, hallelujah. And what did Jesus say in Matthew 28 and 19, baptized him in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? So very important that we understand it. We should not be surprised that in the Trinity, there is an element of mystery that defies any human analysis or understanding because we are only human and God is God. And we have to remember, God does not have to make everything make sense to us. Just because we can't figure everything out, don't mean it ain't true. You don't like they say, how does a black cow eat green grass

25:42and make white milk? Well, I don't know how it does, but it works. So the reality is that's what we believe it by faith. Now let's look at page 20, page number 20. Second paragraph here. However one question might ask, if God is supernatural beyond nature, why must he be understood only in natural terms? The biblical believer accepts the mystery of God's greatness, realizing at the real point, is that God is not the big fella upstairs, as Wayne Gruden points out. The Trinity is a kind of existence far different from anything we have experienced. We should not be surprised that the Trinity there is an element of mystery that defies any human analysis or understanding because we are only human and God is God. Amen, somebody, that is good. Let's keep moving forward here. Did Christ actually rise from the dead? Now we just covered Christ die. That's important. Remember, we talked about that. So we're looking at all three of these. We have to understand, we gotta look at all three. The death, the burial and the resurrection, because, all right, there we go.

26:47Get there, we got that where I'm at. Give me, this is, there we go. That's where we need to be. We have to cover all three. The death, the burial and resurrection, because that covers the three things that we're gonna talk about and why Christ is so important. I remember this too, every religion that we will study, it will always try to remove Christ out of the equation. The reason being, or somehow nullify what he did. This is why, because Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth in the life. No man comes to the Father except by me. So if you were Satan, what would you do? You'd block the way, you'd block the truth. Well everybody, I hope that you enjoyed that there. I wanted to let that play a little bit longer, but I'm gonna finish that statement there. If you were Satan and you wanted to block people to get to heaven, you would stop the way, the truth and the life. Jesus said, I am the way, I am the truth,

27:47and that's what leads to life. And if you notice them, there are three major questions there that are very important. Number one, in order to make a plumber line, you have to first understand that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. Number two, you gotta realize, mankind's sin problem is that we are all fallen short of the glory of God and we are all in need of a savior. That is the human condition and the human problem. And then number three, the person and work of Jesus Christ, who he is and what he accomplished for us. That is the plumber line that you have to draw. I'm gonna say that one more time. Number one, you've gotta make sure that you believe and can defend. The Bible is the divinely inspired word of God. That's important because that's what all truth hails from. Number two, the condition of mankind is that we are sinful and we've fallen short of the glory of God and we are in need of a savior. And then number three, the person and work of Jesus Christ,

28:48who he is and what he accomplished for us. All religions have to come underneath that plumber line. So how do you, every religion will violate one or all of those three things, every one of them. Either that scripture is not inspired, man does not have a sin problem, doesn't need a savior. And also that the work, the person and work of Jesus Christ, whether it's saying that he's not the Messiah, whether he was just a prophet, that he wasn't virgin born, that he's not colloquial with God, all those things. And so therefore, as we move forward in the classes, as we move forward in the next nine weeks, which I hope that you'll be a part of, you'll be able to take the plumb line of those things. There's more in that class as well, but you gotta sign up in order to get that. And that will measure it up, and we'll be able to go and look at those three things and how it violates the scripture every single time. We're going to want Hinduism, Buddhism, I mean, there's so many of this right here, there's a little cheat sheet that you get, mysticism, we're gonna get into that orthodoxy,

29:51even Roman Catholic church and how our views differ and all of that is in this book as well. So what's the difference? And we're gonna go through these, and it's gonna be a blessing. It's not too late for you to get in, not tomorrow. I'm also gonna be giving you a part two of the class, and I might even throw a part three in on Friday, just to give you an opportunity to experience some of the class and what we're teaching and what we're doing, and you'll be able to be a part of that, whether it's in your home, whether it's coming here at the church and taking the classes here. We are working on our accreditation, listen, there are payment plans that are available, if you are interested, I need you to go to another level, dot church, and sign up under another level Bible Institute, or you can text the word Bible Institute, all one word, to 412-586-7159. Can you sign up for that? If money is an issue anywhere, we do have payment plans that are available, it's only $80 a class, not each week, the whole 10 weeks, a total of $80 per class.

30:55So that means $80 for all of comparative religions, and then $80 for all of overview of the Bible, total 160 bucks for over 20 hours of teaching. You can't get that anywhere, and we're working on our accreditation. I would love for you to join with us, it's not too late, you've got till Friday night to get in, don't miss this opportunity. I hope that you'll come join us. If you have questions, you can also call us at 412-586-7159. It's been so awesome to be with you. Please download our app as well, our Dimensions podcast, please get that, and share this, let other people know that you're hanging out with us here on Dimensions, and then tomorrow, like I said, I'm gonna be showing you part two. I'm gonna show you another class. So if you're blessed by this, tune in tomorrow, you've got part two coming to you as well, overview of the Bible, then maybe I'll throw in a couple of different clips for the rest of the class that we've had, the other two clips that we haven't shown. So, just the way to be a blessed guy,

31:57I don't want you to miss this. I want you to get in on it. So I want this to be a blessing to you, and I want people to know the word of God, and it's gonna be great. So we've got nine more weeks after this one, if you do decide to sign up, whatever classes you miss, we will send you the links to you, but watch those on your own time, and be caught up for this Saturday. There's no homework, there's no exams, it's gonna be coming, but we just want people to get hungry for the words. So we're just giving you a little taste, we want people to come and see what we're offering, and I hope that you'll come and join with us. So until tomorrow night at 8 p.m., pass the chance that you're over signing off, and I'll see you tomorrow for part two of a preview of another level Bible Institute, right here on Dimension. See you then.