Thru the Bible - Sunday Sermon

Steve Schwetz: Words matter. A single sentence can heal a heart or wound one. A promise can build trust or break it. Names matter too. The names we speak carry meaning, memory, relationship, even identity. So what happens when the name we treat casually is the name of God?

Welcome to the Sunday Sermon on Through the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz and I'm so glad that you're here for another of Dr. J. Vernon McGee's never before aired messages on the Ten Commandments. In his message, The Name of the Lord, Dr. McGee takes us to the third commandment, a verse many of us think we understand at first glance. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

While that may immediately bring to mind profanity or careless speech, and certainly that's part of the conversation, Dr. McGee helps us discover that God is after something much deeper than our vocabulary. He's talking about reverence, integrity, authentic worship, the alignment between what we say with our lips and what we live with our lives. Because it's possible to speak God's name carelessly, but it's also possible to sing His praises without meaning them, to make promises in His name and not keep them, to call ourselves Christians while living as though He has little claim on our hearts.

That makes this commandment far more searching than we may expect and it reaches beyond public profanity and into private sincerity. And if we're honest, that can be uncomfortable because this message isn't aimed only at those people out there. It lands right here with churchgoers, longtime believers, ministry workers, and anyone who has ever spoken the name of God. But here's the hope: God's commands don't simply expose our need; they point us to the one who can meet it. The holy name that we're warned not to misuse is also the name we're invited to trust. The God who calls us to reverence is also the God who offers mercy through Jesus Christ.

So whether you're listening from your living room right now, your car, or maybe on a quiet walk or somewhere halfway around the world, you're in for a great message. Speaking about those listening around the world, while you hop aboard the Bible bus and find your seat, Through the Bible's president Greg Harris is here with us and we've got a few letters that we want to read. Greg, what have you got for us this time?

Greg Harris: Steve, today we're going to go to Myanmar, also known as Burma, a place that I've had the chance to be. It's a fascinating place and we're going to look at our ministry in the Shan language, S-H-A-N, spoken primarily by the Shan people in Shan State, which makes sense, doesn't it, that the Shan people in Shan State would speak that language?

Steve Schwetz: It kind of does.

Greg Harris: It also goes to Northern Thailand and Yunnan, China, so it's kind of a bridge language in that area. It's closely related to Thai and Lao, so that whole area is often referred to as the Golden Triangle. There are several countries that come together, but the most important thing to know about the country of Myanmar is that it is a highly restrictive country for the gospel and there's often a lot of opposition as well as in some of the other countries that you mentioned.

Steve Schwetz: Here is a letter. This is a testimony actually from Thailand. It says, "I'm a new believer in my district and after coming to know Jesus, I wanted to share the good news with my relative that lives in a different district. We spoke by phone and I shared the gospel with him. I also began sending him your programs through Messenger and gave him the phone number of your team so he could ask questions and learn more." Now, don't miss that. Messenger is Facebook Messenger.

Greg Harris: In this country, it's Facebook Messenger.

Steve Schwetz: So here's a guy basically giving the gospel to a family member through digital media that we had nothing to do with. It's exciting, and the fact that we've got a follow-up team available and we have that throughout the world, so it's not just people hearing the gospel and trusting Christ, there's always someone to connect with in most situations. We try to accomplish that. Let me continue.

"After some time, he reached out and invited the ministry team to come and share the gospel in person. So in February, they traveled to meet him. Four families gathered to listen and by God's grace, three of those families accepted Jesus Christ." Now again, don't miss this. This is Thailand, Myanmar, tough place to be a Christian, not a lot of believers there.

"Before the team returned home, they helped connect these new believing families with a Christian in the area who could bring them to worship at a local church and help encourage them in their faith. They also gave them a memory card filled with your teaching and Shan language Bibles so they can continue learning more about God's word. Later, my relative shared that he listens to the programs and teaching on the memory card every day and that's helping him understand more about Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for what God has done. Please pray for these three new believing families that they would grow strong in their faith and remain steadfast in the Lord."

Greg Harris: That's a truly amazing story. If you know anything as you referenced about how difficult it is for the gospel to be freely given out in Thailand, because there's a saying in Thailand, "To be Thai is to be Buddhist." In other words, your cultural identity is if you become a Christian, you are forsaking your cultural and national identity. The fact that these in-country teams—I think we need to key in on that. Such an important part of what God does through Through the Bible is not done through us alone. It's so important for all of us to remember that.

Steve Schwetz: Amen.

Greg Harris: We're all part of the body of Christ. The local partners, the people on the ground, the people that engage with the audience in their heart language, they know the culture, they know the ins and outs of how you share the gospel. This is all being done by our partners and one thing we're doing very intentionally, Steve, in this season is we're reorganizing and staffing up, not in a huge way, but staffing up so we have the right leadership that can connect with these local partners and we're going to get more and more great stories like this one.

Steve Schwetz: Such an encouragement and here is another great story also from Thailand. Let me go ahead and read that. It says, "Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to join the Shan family camp and also teach the Bible to students at a church in Chiang Mai. It was such an encouraging time not only to teach God's word but to see how far the word is already reaching. While I was there, I met several students preparing for ministry internships. I asked them if they would help me distribute radios and introduce the Shan program. They were excited to help.

As I spent time with believers there, I was deeply encouraged to hear how many Christian brothers and sisters were already faithfully listening to Through the Bible. Again and again, I heard the same testimony: this program helps us understand the Bible more clearly. Others shared how their faith had grown stronger as they listened. Some families even told me that the Bible lessons had sparked meaningful conversations in their homes, conversations that brought healing, stronger relationships, and greater joy in their faith.

But one story especially stayed with me. I met a young woman named Thoon who believes in Jesus, but her husband does not. She was asking for another radio because her husband had broken the last one. He did not want her listening to God's word. She shared with tears that he would often beat her and destroy things in their home. She told me she had cried out to God for help, but instead of getting better, things seemed to grow worse. At one point, she became so discouraged that she even considered walking away from her faith.

Then one day, her daughter suddenly became ill. The next morning, Thoon turned on the radio and heard some words of scripture and felt God say, 'I have chosen you, I am with you, I will protect you with my mighty hand.' She couldn't remember the exact Bible reference the speaker was reading, but she told me she clearly felt the presence of God speaking directly to her heart. In that moment, she repented of her doubt and promised the Lord that she would follow Him for the rest of her life. My wife, my siblings, and I thanked God together as we prayed for Thoon, for her daughter, and for her husband. Please continue praying for her and for the Shan people that many more would hear God's word, believe, and stand strong in their faith."

Greg Harris: Steve, that's a long story, but it's an important story because we by the grace of God are entering deeply into the life of this family.

Steve Schwetz: Greg, pray for us as we begin, would you?

Greg Harris: Father, our hearts are touched to just hear the depth of impact in these very challenging places for the gospel. Lord, we thank and praise You for the power of Your word, the power of Your Spirit, and the power of the gospel. We pray that Your word would touch our lives deeply today as we study in Jesus' name, amen.

Steve Schwetz: Here's the Sunday Sermon on Through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: The name of the Lord. This morning we confine ourselves to the third commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy Elohim in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

A warning is added to this commandment. It's not a threat, nor is it a menace at all, but it is the statement of an axiom of truth. It's an eternal fact. It reveals an awful sanction. It's a solemn assertion. God will not hold a man guiltless that takes His name in vain. That adds to the importance of this commandment. Maurice years ago wrote: "I hold no commandment to be more permanent or more necessary for my nation and for me than this one." This morning we'd like to emphasize the importance of this third commandment.

First of all, let us see what the third commandment means. Let me give a little different translation of it: "Thou shalt not bring the name of Jehovah thy Elohim to a vanity or to emptiness by your life." This commandment says, or your speech, do not reduce God's name down to where it's meaningless to those that are round about you. The names of God tell us something about the reality of God, that He's real. They tell us something about the character of God, about His wonderful attributes: that our God is holy, our God is righteous, our God is love, our God is merciful, our God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, our God is immutable. These names all tell out something about the wonder and the glory and the reality of our God.

Scripture attaches a great deal of significance and import to the name of God. You go back to the very beginning, after Cain had killed his brother Abel and then Cain had been driven out from the presence of the Lord, you will find that at that very time, God raised up another seed, Seth. We're told that when God raised him up and moved into this line, we read that then began man to call upon the name of the Lord.

Then God's name meant a great deal. I wonder if you've ever realized that among the nation Israel how important the name of God was. Over in Leviticus, the twenty-fourth chapter, the sixteenth verse, our translation reads like this: "He that blasphemeth the name of Jehovah, he shall surely be put to death." Actually, the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation made by Israel in about the second century BC, translated it like this: "He that nameth the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death."

That's the reason this morning that in the realm of scholarship, you find that scholars disagree as to how Jehovah should be pronounced, that is, the word translated Lord. Some want to call it Yahweh, some something else, and you can come up with about a half a dozen different translations. Somebody says, why can't you agree on the pronunciation of a word? I'll tell you why: Israel did not pronounce it and they actually forgot how to pronounce the name of the Lord. It was so holy among these people.

What a commentary on the present hour where His name is mouthed in practically every sentence and sometimes even by Christians today. May I say to you that there is a tremendous importance given to the name of God in scripture. You'll find over in the ninety-first Psalm, I'd like to read just one verse there: "Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high because he hath known my name." Then in Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, we read: "And they that feared the Lord thought upon his name." Then you'll find in Psalm 9:10, where we read this morning: "Because he has known my name, and they that know thy name will put their trust in thee, for the Lord has not forsaken them that seek thee."

May I say to you that the name of God became a wonderfully holy and significant thing to these people. Let me give just one other scripture. I don't want to be boring this morning or tedious. Listen to this: "Hear ye this, oh house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth nor in righteousness." That, my friend, was to profane the name of God, the thing that Isaiah called to their attention: you mention His name, but not in truth and not in righteousness. That was to blaspheme, that was to profane His name. The New Testament sums it all up in the prayer that our Lord taught His disciples to pray: "Hallowed be thy name."

Scripture does not treat lightly the name of God. This morning I'd like to speak of three ways that men can take God's name in vain. You can take God's name in vain by profanity. You can take God's name in vain by perjury. You can take God's name in vain by perfidy. This morning we want to see all three of these. I want this morning to deal with this with the gloves off, because this is a sin, it's the prevailing and popular vice of America today.

That's profanity. It's like a creeping paralysis among a nation and in a society. It will eventually destroy the moral fiber of a nation and it will corrupt the language of any people that take God's name in vain. Here is what George Washington had to say in his orderly book of August the 3rd, 1776. Will you listen to this? "The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane swearing, a vice hitherto little known in the American army, is growing into fashion. He hopes the officers will by example as well as influence endeavor to check it, and that both they and the men will reflect that we can have little hope of the blessing of heaven on our arms if we insult it by our impiety and profanity. Added to this, it's a vice so mean and low without temptation that every man of sense and character detests and despises it."

After the First World War, the floodgates of profanity were opened in America. Then after World War II, it was given another boost and impetus. Today it's become a popular sort of thing, so that it's more or less accepted today in the world. Some men are so ignorant and their vocabularies are so impoverished that they need to enrich their language with profanity. Others are so disgustingly insipid and unimpressive that they feel the need of a salty conversation with mouth-swelling oaths. I'm not inferring this morning that all that use profanity are morons, however a good class are. But may I say to you that there are intelligent men and women who are addicted to this habit today. But we can certainly add this: when they use profanity, they do not need to use their intelligence.

May I say to you that we are living in a day when men think they can take God's name in vain and somehow or another they're going to get by with it. I picked this up some time ago: "Science seems to have made God unnecessary, philosophy seems to have made God impossible, psychology seems to have made God an illusion, communism has made him an enemy of mankind, capitalism has made him merely a convenience, and realistic novelists use him only to enlarge their vocabulary of profanity." It's in Shakespeare's Tempest that when Prospero was able to capture the savage Caliban, that he taught him to speak. This is what he said: "You taught me language, and my profit on it is I know how to curse." That's about all today some seem to do is to know how to curse.

Robert Hall, one of the great preachers of the past, said this concerning profanity: "It's difficult to account for a practice which gratifies no passion, promotes no interest, unless we ascribe it to a certain vanity of appearing superior to religious fear." Profanity is a symbol of spiritual sickness. It's a symbol of moral bankruptcy and breakdown. It reveals that there's a poison fountain somewhere. I think that I can illustrate this with a very homely and ugly illustration. There is a dirty epithet that reflects upon a man's mother. It's an insult that no man will take.

Back east some time ago, a young man was talking to me at a filling station and he called himself that several times in the conversation. May I say the fact that he said that of himself is no proof that his mother was a cheap and vulgar woman, but it was proof that he was a cheap and vulgar man to talk that way about his mother. Also I remember when I was a boy—I don't think I was over six years of age—my dad ran a cotton gin and I used to hang around as a boy the cotton gin and I do not believe men ever get any more foul-mouthed than they do.

To this good day, I can remember what one man who got married and he came back and the fellas were kidding him, and I'll never forget till my dying day the vulgar, crude things he said about his wife. Even as a six-year-old boy, I despised him and to this day I despise him. A man that will talk about his mother or his wife like that is low. My friend, if it's low to speak about your mother and your sister or your wife like that, it's ten thousand times worse to speak about God like that. Somebody says, well, I do it but I don't mean anything by it. Do you mean to tell me you're trifling with the Creator? Do you mean to tell me you're using language so loosely when God has said He'll not hold you guiltless? Do you believe it, or don't you believe it? God says He'll not hold you guiltless if you take His name in vain.

Now there is another common expression that men use today: they ask God to damn some person or some thing. Some men can't speak without doing that. May I say to begin with it's a prayer, and it's an awful prayer to ask God to damn some person. May I say that when you use it, you misrepresent God? What an awful libel it is upon our holy God. My brother, this morning, God is not in the damning business, He's in the saving business. God is saving, not damning men. This morning if you're lost, you're lost because you choose to be lost. And if you walk out of this place or tune out the radio this morning, it's because you will to turn your back on God. God's will is that none should perish, but that all might come to the knowledge of the truth.

Listen to Peter as he speaks yonder: "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." It's not a name to damn anyone, it's the only name this morning that can save you. And this morning, profanity is condemned of God and He says He'll not hold them guiltless.

Then there's another way that men take God's name in vain and that is by perjury. Elisha is to my judgment one of the greatest prophets of all and Elisha went to Hazael, or rather probably I should turn it around and say that Hazael came to Elisha. When he came to Elisha, Elisha was weeping. Hazael asked Elisha, why are you weeping? Well, he said, the reason I'm weeping is because God has shown me that you are going to murder the king's sons, you're going to corrupt the people. This man said when he was brought to Elisha, he says, am I a dog that I should do this thing?

Let me read it to you in the scripture: "And Hazael said, why weepeth my lord? And he answered, because I know the evil thou wilt do unto the children of Israel; their strongholds wilt thou set on fire, and their young men wilt thou slay with the sword, and wilt dash their children and rip up their women with child. And Hazael said, but what is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing?" I don't know whether Hazael was a dog or not, but he did that. He perjured himself. He came into the presence of God's prophet who had a revelation and there in the very presence of this man, he perjured himself and he said, I'll not do this, and at that very moment he planned to do it.

That's to take God's name in vain. To ask God to witness to a lie seems to be almost an unpardonable sin if there was an unpardonable sin. Even among the heathen down through the centuries, they have always held that a man should never go against his oath. Philo, one of the great writers among the Greeks, wrote: "To invoke God to attest the truth of a lie is a most impious deed." Then he went on to say speaking very personally: he says, you ask God to bear witness to the truth of my lie, aid me in my wrongdoing and help me in my crime.

Friend, this morning, we may not use profanity, but it is possible that we have signed a confession in which we've agreed to do something and we've taken it lightly and have not done it. We have taken God's name in vain. Maybe we've accepted an office and we are not performing the duties of that office. May I say to you by that we take the name of God in vain. It may be that we promised to do something and we have not made good. My friend, when you and I do that, it is nothing in the world but taking the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

It's a practical atheism. It's to act as if God didn't hear you. It's to act as if God didn't know. It's to act as if God was not around when you said it. May I say for the benefit of those that think not, He said, "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good." Solomon wrote that and he found it was true. Then the psalmist wrote: "The Lord looketh from heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of men, from the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth."

Then the writer to the Hebrews put it like this: "Neither is there any creature that's not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." And then finally: "For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil." And he says: "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." It's practical atheism, my friend, today, to take an oath or to promise something in the Lord's work and then not make good.

Then my beloved, to live a lie is perjury and it's to take God's name in vain. It's to say something or do something or to pretend something that we really are not at all. I heard of a donkey who suddenly became rich and he felt he was too good to associate with the other donkeys. So he went to the beauty parlor and he had his ears trimmed and then had them pinned down and then he started going with the horses. He was a little uncomfortable, but he didn't want to associate with donkeys. Then one day they called on him to sing and the minute he did, he gave himself away and was driven from the presence of the horses because you see he was pretending to be something that he was not. That's perjury. That's taking God's name in vain. I picked this up out of the nursery rhyme from Mother Goose and I'd like to pass this on to you. I used to enjoy reading this little poem:

"A jolly old sow once lived in a sty,

And three little piggies had she.

She waddled about saying oink-oink-oink,

While the little ones said wee-wee.

'My dear little brothers,' said one of the brats,

'My dear little piggies,' said he.

'Let us all for the future say oink-oink-oink;

It's so childish to say wee-wee.'

These three little piggies grew skinny and lean,

And lean they might very well be,

For somehow they couldn't say oink-oink-oink,

And they wouldn't say wee-wee-wee.

And after a while these little pigs died.

They all died of a felloe-de-se,

From trying so hard to say oink-oink-oink,

When they only could say wee-wee."

Old friend, today, it's perjury and it's to take God's name in vain to sing something or say something that we are not. That is to take God's name in vain. Then the last that we mentioned this morning, we take God's name in vain by perfidy. By perfidy, we mean an act of violating faith and it has a flippant and frivolous note to it and it means a flippant and frivolous attitude toward God and sacred things.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave a parable, a parable of two sons. The father came and he said to the one, I want you to go work today in my vineyard. And the boy said, I will not go, though he's a son. Oh, the insolent indifference to the father of that boy. He's guilty of perjury, but later on he went. But the second son, he smoothly and soothingly said, I go, but he did not. He perjured himself also, but more than that, he's guilty of perfidy. He was substituting a profession for practice. He treated as commonplace the things that were sacred, my beloved. It's to walk in the dirt the holy will of his father and that, my friend, is perfidy. That's what it means to take the name of God in vain.

This is what Dr. G. Campbell Morgan meant when he wrote: "I'm more afraid of the blasphemy of the sanctuary than the blasphemy of the street." And this is it: it's to treat holy things as if they were everyday things. It's to leave the shoes on our feet in an impolite way when we're on holy ground. It's to be frivolous when we should not be frivolous. It's daily familiarity with worship and it may breed contempt in our hearts and it may breed a carelessness in our lives, treating holy things as if they were everyday things.

My friend, this is the danger of church members. This is the danger of this poor preacher this morning. I constantly remind myself, when I come into this pulpit, I have never walked in here without reminding myself this is where Dr. Torrey stood, this is where Dr. MacNeil stood, this is where Dr. Philpott stood, this is where Dr. Talbot stood. And I dare not stand here without being faithful to the trust that's given to me and remind myself this is a holy spot. And you dare not sit there and treat as flippant and frivolous the things of God unless you want to take His name in vain.

To sit here slovenly, idly, unattentive, and dozing is to take God's name in vain. We need to teach our children today that there's something shocking about levity and vanity and irreverence in God's presence. Oh, to sing praises here in a meaningless fashion, to make bold promises here that we do not intend to keep, to go out and contradict them by our lives: prayer without practice is blasphemy, praise without worship is taking God's name in vain. We might well ask ourselves, why am I here today?

Have you come here for a low motive? Have you come here for show, for pretense, for performance, or have you come here to worship God? Our Lord says in that day there are going to be those that will say to me, Lord, Lord, in thy name we've cast out demons, in thy name we've done many wonderful things, and I'll say to you, I don't know you. Trifle with God here is serious. God says, I'll not hold you guiltless if you take my name in vain.

When we do, even here and now, our spiritual life ebbs out. We are bleeding spiritually. We become numb and lifeless and our conscience becomes seared with a hot iron and we come into God's presence and we walk out of God's presence and we're never affected and our lives are never transformed. That, my friend, is worse than swearing on the street. And to take the name of Jesus and not be saved, that is to take His name in vain.

To sing about Him and talk about Him here, and God says, thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He'll save His people from their sins and He hasn't saved you. That's blasphemy. You say, preacher, that's a strong message. Yes, it is. Somebody needs to declare it today because a great many people are blaspheming God's name, a great many are taking His name in vain. My friend this morning, do you dare stand and look in the face of heaven and say today, oh God, I have never blasphemed your name, I have never taken your name in vain?

If you can do that, then you can get into heaven on this commandment at least. But my brother, my sister this morning, I don't believe you can if you're honest. You look down in your heart today, you have to say, I've taken His name in vain. What are you going to do? Going to be saved by keeping the Ten Commandments? My brother this morning, like that poor publican who stood off at a distance and beat upon his breast and said, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

And you know he didn't really say it quite that way, he said, "Oh God, for me a publican, if there was only a mercy seat." You see, he'd been shut out from the one in the temple; he turned his back on God and he couldn't get in. But this morning, oh I'm glad to tell you, He's already made a mercy seat for every sinner, for you and for me and for everyone. And what we want and what we need today is mercy and God is prepared to extend mercy if we're honest with Him, if we're willing to come and say, Lord, I have fallen short of Thy glory, I cast myself upon Thy mercy.

And He says, "Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Because the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin, even the sin of taking His name in vain.

Steve Schwetz: What a powerful message from Dr. McGee. The third commandment reminds us that God's name isn't ordinary, never to be treated casually. His name is holy because He is holy. If this message has stirred questions in your heart, what it means to know God personally, we would love to help. Just click on "How Can I Know God" in our app or at ttb.org, or you can always call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE. We'd love to send you some free resources to help you begin that relationship with Him.

And if you're already riding along with us on the Bible Bus, let me encourage you: don't make Sunday your only stop. Our daily journey through the Bible is really the heart of this ministry. It's a steady five-year trip through the whole word of God with Dr. McGee as our faithful guide, one chapter at a time, one day at a time. If this message reminded you how practical and relevant God's word really is, then join us during the week as we continue this journey together.

To help you get even more out of that daily study, just download our free digital book, Briefing the Bible. It includes Dr. McGee's notes and outlines for every book of the Bible. It's perfect for preparing before the daily program or reviewing afterward. It's like having a Bible study guide right beside you as you ride along. You'll find Briefing the Bible in our app or at ttb.org, and if you'd prefer an abridged print copy, just call us at 1-800-65-BIBLE.

Now while you're exploring resources, be sure to take a look at our Bible companions as well. I love these. These are especially helpful if you enjoy digging deeper into a specific book of the Bible. Each one includes teaching summaries, key scripture passages, thoughtful reflection questions, and then tools designed for personal study or small groups. Our Bible companions are available as free downloads and many are available for purchase in paperback editions as well. These are especially popular for those leading small group studies in their homes or churches.

You can find them all over at ttb.org or by calling 1-800-65-BIBLE. And when you do reach out, be sure to tell us, how do you listen? Is it on traditional radio, is it through the app, online, podcast, YouTube? There's a bunch of different ways to catch us. Whatever or wherever you listen, we'd love to know that information. So as we go, we hope that you'll remember this: the Bible Bus is carrying far more passengers than we could ever count.

Around the world, brothers and sisters are climbing aboard every day, hearing God's word in their own languages. So if the stories that we shared from listeners around the world have ever moved your heart, I want to invite you to join our World Prayer Team. This is one of the most meaningful ways that you can partner with us. Each week members receive real prayer requests from Through the Bible viewers and listeners around the world, stories of lives being changed and believers standing firm in difficult times and circumstances.

So share in the privilege and joy of seeing God at work around the world by joining the World Prayer Team today. Just go to ttb.org or you can sign up through our app. And if God's putting it on your heart to help keep the Bible Bus moving, maybe it's like by providing a tank of gas or even a new set of tires as we travel through your community and around the world in more than 250 languages, well you can give through the app or at ttb.org or by calling 1-800-65-BIBLE. Every gift helps take God's whole word to His whole world.

I'm Steve Schwetz, and until we meet again, I leave you with this prayer from Psalm 19:14: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer." Amen.

Join us each weekday for our five-year daily study through the whole word of God. Check for times on this station or look for Through the Bible in your favorite podcast store and always at ttb.org.