Psalm 19: The General, Specific Knowledge of God
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Today. So you can go to page 259 in your blue Bibles. The text will also be on the screen. Sometimes with people, you get a very general picture of who they are, but it takes time to get to know them specifically. You listen to their stories, get to hear more about them, and then the picture of who they are gets more colored in. That was true for me with my grandfather.
My grandfather passed when I was 10, and as a child, I had a very general picture of who he was. I knew he was kind of this Titan-esque type figure in our family. I knew that he was a good man, a respected businessman, but as a child, there's only so much you can know about the depths of your grandfather. He passed away, and then in the years that followed, I got stories passed down to me. I got to learn more about him. I got to hear from my grandmother while she was still alive, stories about who he was.
I got to hear from my mom, from different people who knew him, from people that worked for him. I mean, even he's been gone for almost 20 plus years, and about a month ago, I went to a place to get my hair cut that I don't normally go to, and I sat in the chair, and this woman in her 70s started cutting my hair, and we started chatting it up, and sure enough, she cut my grandfather's hair all those years ago and gave me more stories of who he was. And it helps complete the picture for me of who my grandfather was. It happens with people, because you can know them generally, but you get to know more about them.
You hear their stories. You get to know them more specifically, and the same is with our God, as what we're going to see in Psalm 19 this morning. The Psalm is going to start with this general picture of God as revealed in creation. Creation gives us a general picture of God, and that is known as the doctrine of general Revelation. And then the next section, we're going to see that the word of God gives us a more specific picture, that the stories that have been passed down to us in the scriptures help give us a different picture that helps fill in who God is, and that's known as the doctrine of special Revelation that we're going to see.
And then the Psalm is going to close out with what our response should be to this God. So let me pray for us, and then we'll jump into the text. Father, I thank you that we get to worship you, that we get to sing praises to you, and we get to sit under the authority of your word. God, I pray this morning that you would help us be present, that you'd help us listen, that you'd help us respond in faith and repentance and in praise. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, so we're going to be starting off in verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. So the psalmist starts by saying, look up, see the heavens, see how it proclaims the glory of God. Now, glory is a hard word for us to conceptualize. It's a hard word for us to really understand. Like, I can tell you that it means his splendor, his majesty, the honor and deference that is due to him, but that's still abstract and hard to picture.
But what we see here is that creation helps us picture glory, that God's creation helps us understand it further, that when you look at the heavens, you can see that. When you look at a sunrise or a sunset, you can visualize the glory of God. Like, when I was in college, I did a study abroad program called Semester at Sea, and got to travel around the world on a ship, and a lot of days on the ship, I'd sit out and look at the sunset that would drop into the ocean, and then I woke up for one sunrise, because all I could muster in college is to get up for one sunrise. I had one sunrise and a bunch of sunsets.
But man, when you see the sunrise and the sunset over the open ocean, it's beautiful. It's unbelievable. There's something transcendent, like surpassing about a sunrise and a sunset that everyone feels when you see it. That's why the author of Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, when he is describing a sunrise, he says, how small we feel with our petty ambitions and strivings and the presence of great elemental forces of nature. Now, he's not a Christian. He was a philosophical rationalist.
But he even says, in the face of a sunrise, how small and petty are our ambitions and our strivings. And he says, in the face of great elemental forces of nature, but someone who doesn't believe in God says, I feel small in the presence of something so big. And he's tapping into something that we just understand. There's a reason that we don't look at the sky and immediately think, oh, what a beautiful array of colors as the light is bending along the horizon. Like, we don't go technical. Even the most hardened atheists would look up at the sky and have to suppress this impressive feeling of transcendence.
When you look at a sunrise and sunset, that is glory. That's what that feeling is. It's we're tapping into the glory because creation declares the glory of God. The sunrise and sunset, the heavens shows his handiwork, reveals who the artist is. So when I'm with my kids and we're driving and we see a sunset, I say, kids, guys, look, look at what God has painted for us this evening.
How beautiful is that? How wonderful is that? To help us see and feel like this is the work of God on display. And it isn't just the day that reveals his glory. It's the night. In verse two, it says day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge.
The creation isn't just speaking. It's isn't just declaring. It's speaking. It's pouring forth knowledge. And night to night, it's giving us more knowledge of who God is. A few months back, I think I mentioned this in a sermon a while back, that I was reading my Garden and Gun magazine, which is what I do these days.
But I was reading it. And I learned that you could look at the, that you could see the Milky Way with the naked eye in certain parts of the world that don't have light pollution. I was like, you can actually see this thing? I was like, that, goals, I'm in. Like, I want to do that. Like, you can, you can look at, in certain parts of the world, just look up at the sky and see that.
I mean, how unbelievable is that? That's a, that's a, just a camera, you guys. Took that picture. The next one that you can stare up at the heavens in a way that the psalmist probably would have. This psalmist, they don't have light pollution back then. They're not dealing with what we got right now.
Hey, look at that in the sky when it's clear in certain parts of the year and see how powerful that picture is and feels so small. When you see something so beautiful, when you encounter this type of glory, you feel smaller and smaller, like you're part of something that is much bigger. Scientists will say that, they say that the, it's debated, but the universe is somewhere around 93 billion light years in diameter. Okay, so a light year is 6 trillion miles. So 93 billion times 6 trillion equals a lot of math.
And, and that's, and they said that's the observable universe. Some theorize that it's, it's even bigger than that. Like there's a new telescope that's out. This is kind of a new thing that's went online this week. The James Webb telescope took a picture that the Hubble telescope couldn't take as clear as this. That's an actual galaxy.
That's, that's a, that's a picture of God's grand creation. Like God made this. He, he, he is bigger than this. When you catch a glimpse of that and his greatness and his vastness, you're tapping into his glory, you're witnessing the glory of his creation. The, the fact that our God thought this into existence, made this out of nothing. It's incredible.
And that glory echoes across the world in verse three. It says, there is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the ends of the earth, to the end of the earth. One commentator said it this way, that creation resounds with a speech that human beings can neither hear nor understand. We just, we can't wrap our minds around how big this is. The psalmist continues, and then he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
But the imagery being here, that it got to set a wedding tent. The sun comes out like a bridegroom who after consummating his marriage is joyfully bursting forth every morn. And in verse six, it says, its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them. And there's nothing hidden from its heat. In Akkadian and Sumerian mythology, which I'm sure is what many of you dabble in in your spare time. But this is a dead, dead language, a dead religion, people group from, you know, 3,000 years ago.
But in their mythology, they have, they would worship a sun God, and they would use very similar language like this. It would burst forth from the wedding chambers every morning. And commentators theorize that maybe the language being so similar here is a bit of a shot that God is bigger than that. Not an object that we worship as it comes forth every morning, that he stretched the tent out for it. He created all of it and stands over all creation. So this first section of the Psalm poetically paints the picture known as general Revelation, a doctrine of general Revelation.
That when you look at the heavens, you gain knowledge of his power, of his wisdom, of his beauty, of his majesty, just by witnessing creation. That's why in verse 2 it says, day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. That creation gives us a general picture of who God is. That's what Paul is getting at in Romans 1. In Romans 1 verses 19-20 he says, for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made so that they are without excuse.
What he's trying to help us see is, is that when you look at creation, when you witness this, that you're getting a general glimpse of the invisible attributes of God, namely his eternal power and his divine nature, is evident in creation. It is why even the most hardened atheists can look at a sunrise and feel something and feel like they're a part of something bigger than themselves. Feel like that what they're seeing and what they're witnessing is transcendent, which shouldn't even exist for their understanding and their worldview. It is because creation points to its creator. That's why he goes on to say, they're without excuse.
That when you experience creation, you have a general understanding and a knowledge of who God is. No matter how hard we try to explain the beauty of that, of a sunrise and a sunset, as some subjective experience, no, this points to our God. Now, let me say one last thing on this. For the Christian that is witnessing this, this helps us picture glory better. This helps us understand glory better. C.S.
Lewis in The Four Loves said, But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. Meaning that looking at nature helped him understand glory better. I still do not know where else I could have found one. I do not see how the fear of God could ever, could have ever meant to me anything but the lowest prudential efforts to be safe if I had never seen certain ominous ravines and unapproachable crags. Which is really thick C.S. Lewis philosophical language.
But what he's saying there is, is I wouldn't have understood glory, I wouldn't have understood the fear of God had I not looked at some of the scariest aspects of creation. The ominous ravines, the unapproachable crags. What he's saying is, is that creation, that nature helps us understand this. That the sunrise and the sunset helps us see the divine beauty of God. That when you witness a very powerful storm and a fearfulness. I remember years ago I was camping on Lake Murray and we were on a tiny little island and a storm blew through.
And it blew our campsite into the water and we'd get pounded by wind and rain and thunder and lightning all around. And I felt so small and helpless. And that was just a small, tiny taste of the power of God. And that helps us picture, helps us feel, helps us understand what the fear of God and the glory of God is. So as Christians, listen, this means you should get outside a little bit.
Alright? Seriously, get off the phone. Put down the game controller. Get out of the meta. Whatever it is. Whatever your speed is.
And go experience God's creation. Like see it and witness it. So that we can have a better feeling, understanding for glory. So he walks through that. Gives us this general picture of God. And then he gets to the next section which is going to be a more specific picture.
Starting in verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect. Reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure. Making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right.
Rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure. Enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean. Enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous all together.
So, while creation gives us this general picture, the scriptures are going to color that in. It's going to give God definition. It's going to help us see the hows and the whys in understanding who our God is. Which I appreciate. That helps. The scriptures helps us really enjoy God better.
Like years ago, growing up, there was a big song when I was a kid called Closing Time. Right? Love that song. Right? And as a kid, really enjoying it. Good song.
But later, years later, the songwriter, the lead singer said, Listen, I wrote that song about becoming a father. It's not about closing time at a bar. It's about becoming a father where the next chapter of your life is about to start. And it's going to be very different. That's why he ends the song saying, Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. And I was like, man, when you understand the depth and the commentary behind that, that's powerful.
It helps us appreciate it better. That's what the scriptures help us do. It helps us see and savor God in new and better ways. And in this poetic section we just walked through, there are six synonyms for the scriptures. It says the law, the testimony, the precepts, the commandment, the fear, and rules. So we're going to work through each of these.
He says in verse 7, The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. So the law there is the first five books of the Old Testament. The Torah. So that would be Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That was, at the time, that was their scriptures. Later on, more Old Testament scriptures are starting to be added.
But for them, in this time period, they're looking at the law, which is their scriptures. And the psalmist says the law of the Lord is perfect. It is perfect. It is blameless. And we look, as Christians, at the scriptures, the very Bibles that are in this room. We say it's perfect.
When we say that, there is skepticism that creeps in. Some people will say, yeah, how do you know it's perfect? You don't even have the original manuscripts. And the reality is, is that the longer I study this, the longer I study the scriptures, the more unbelievably compelling this case is. How trustworthy and perfect and true they are. That's why we use words like inerrancy and infallible.
Because even though we don't have the original manuscripts, there are more manuscripts, more copies of the scriptures than any ancient text. And it's not even remotely close. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of those manuscripts all around the world. And now digitized on the internet. And when you overlap each of them, okay, over 99% of it lines up perfectly. I mean, think about 2,000 years or 1,500 years of a copying tradition.
And that lines up perfectly. And the less than 1% where this word is used here and this word is used here. There's an unbelievable tradition of scholars who are way, way, way smarter than me. That have studied the original languages their whole life. And they come up with really helpful explanations for why there's some differences there. It's unbelievably trustworthy and true.
And then other skeptics will come in and say, well, what about the contradictions in the Bible? And I just say, well, where? Show me. Point them out. And a lot of times, look at Google. Find them.
But you can work through each of those. Work through each of the things. You get the commentaries out and some closer study and basic logic. You can work through a lot of them. I remember in college, I studied religion at a school that did not believe the scriptures were true at all. And they knew I was, I did.
And one of my professors, she came at me real hard one time. She's like, oh, you believe the Bible's in error, right? All right, well, tell me the story of Noah. Did they load up two by two or was it seven? And as a new Christian, I was like, oh, no. I'll get back to you.
And I said, no. But a little closer study realizes, oh, wait, no. They did load up two by two and they added seven of clean animals. Why? Because those were for sacrifices they were going to offer later when they got off the boat. God didn't want to have these species go extinct.
Just basic stuff like that. That's a closer study of the text. Over and over and over again, the longer I studied the scriptures, the more I realized the law of the Lord is perfect. It is perfect. It revives the soul. Like someone wandering in the desert with cracked lips, thirsty.
And they stumble upon an oasis and they drink of the water. So the scriptures revive the broken soul. The law of the Lord is perfect. He goes on to say, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The testimony of the Lord is sure. It's trustworthy.
It's a trustworthy thing. It is secure. It means you can bank your life on it. We as Christians believe that. We believe that our life, our authority is God in the scriptures. It's God's word that shapes us.
It's our foundation for how we live our life. And some people would say, well, why would you choose something so old, so ancient, so archaic? Why can't you get with the times? Why can't you have a more updated understanding? And when that happens, a good thing to do is, okay, well, what is your foundation for belief? What is your foundation for how you live your life, for how you understand the bigger things in life?
And if you can ask some questions like, why, well, where do you get that from? Well, why? And press in a little further. There's typically two main places where the skeptic will land. It will land that they are their own authority, which is what I believe. Well, they are their own authority, or they place their authority in a handful, just a few different, mostly dead, older white guys, Darwin, Nietzsche, Freud.
But it's like, no, I believe that our foundation is more secure than that. I believe wholeheartedly that the scriptures that have guided the people of God for thousands of years still holds immense value. Like, last summer, we spent a summer in the Proverbs. And we looked at the Proverbs, which are, they're not promises. They're proverbial advice, guidelines for how to live your life so that you can stay out of poverty, so that, like, a passionate lover doesn't try to kill you. You know, basic advice for life.
We looked at that, and it's like, no, this is wisdom that is worth building your life upon. And if you do that, it generally goes well for you. There are a lot of young guys who just lost all of their life savings on NFTs. And if you want to know, if you don't know what NFTs are, it's okay. You never need to know what NFTs are. Just, it's basically a Ponzi scheme for people under the age of 40 that like really bad digital art.
Okay? Gambling on that kind of stuff. But they lost everything on that. And it's like if you just paid attention to the wisdom of the scriptures, which Proverbs 13, 11 says, wisdom or wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it. Man, if you built your life upon that, it generally will go better for you. That's worked well for the people of God for the last 3,000 years.
So when I was researching NFTs, I was like, oh, this feels kind of schemey. This feels a little bit better. If you build your life upon it, it is trustworthy and true. Verse 8, it says, The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The precepts, these are the rules. They are right.
That if you live your life in line with the will of God, you'll get more than happiness as the American dream defines it. You'll tap into some eternal joy that rejoices the heart. He goes on to say, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The commandments of the scriptures, the teachings, where God commands us to do a thing, that's actually pure and good for us. And it opens our eyes to what is ultimately good. One of my friends from study abroad, her husband, he got an acting role on a TV show that just got released.
And I've been watching, we're Facebook friends, I've been watching him post about it all the last year. He's like, I'm going to be on a show with Chris Pratt. I was like, sweet. So I turned it on, I watched the, it just dropped on Amazon, the terminal list. I watched the first couple episodes. I saw him in the first episode.
I was like, man, this is awesome. And then I was like, oh, this, this is just going to be a super violent show where he just brutally murders everyone who wronged him. I got to look at it ahead of time. I knew there wasn't like sex or nudity and stuff that wouldn't be good for my soul, but I didn't fully realize it was just going to be completely vengeance. He's going to brutally murder everyone. I was like, no, I'm good.
I don't need this. Because if you have a framework for your life that says, if you basically, if you, the prism for how you live your life was basically two basic commands. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength, and love other people, your neighbor, enemies, etc. If you love God and love other people, and that was how you made decisions, you'd realize there's certain things like, no, this doesn't actually help me love God. Does this actually inspire anything that is good for my soul? I'll pass.
It's because the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. Now, we don't normally see fear as a synonym for Scripture, but here it fits and it's like, oh, this is what he's getting at. The fear of the Lord is clean. And what this is tapping into is that the Scriptures help us fear God. Now, over the last 20-ish years in the American church, there's been like an attempt to say, well, fear of God, when the command says fear God, that actually what it's getting at is it's just saying worship Him.
Just revere Him. Reverence and awe and worship. And it's like, no, not quite. Yes, it does imply that. Fear is worship and awe and reverence. But it also means what it literally says, fear.
There's a command here to fear God. It is good for us to fear the Lord. Yes, He is gracious and good and kind and merciful. And all of those attributes. And also, He is the scariest object in the universe. He should be feared above all things.
We should absolutely see that. Because it is clean and endures forever. The roles of the Lord are true and righteous all together. That's highlighting more of the same things that we just walked through. That's how He paints the Scriptures. With these pictures.
They help us understand God. They help us build our life on something bigger. And then in verse 10, He summarizes. More to be desired are they than gold. Even much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover, by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward. He says they're more desirable than gold. Gold was the most valuable and the most valuable objects of their time. Honey, honey. They didn't have sugar.
Cane, like us. That was the sweetest thing of their time. So He says, the Scriptures are more valuable than the most valuable object you could lay hold of. It's sweeter than the most sweetest thing you can taste. That's what George was tapping into last week when he said delight in the law of the Lord. There is, listen, there is immense value.
There's immense value in experiencing our Creator and His Word. By enjoying our God. By reading the message of the Gospel from Genesis to Revelation. By these Scriptures we are warned and we are rewarded. The Scriptures color in this picture wonderfully. We get this general, big picture of who God is.
We look at creation. And then it gets further colored in. And we get to see more of who our God is. And why He made us. And why He would redeem us. And how He redeems us.
As we look at the Scriptures more and more. And if we do that. If you look at creation. And see how big our God is. And then look at the stories that are passed down. It will help you understand our God better.
In the same way that a 10 year old can't understand their grandfather. I have a general picture. It takes stories being passed down. And we have the Scriptures that are passed down to us. That help us picture who this God is. Just look at the Gospels, y'all.
Look at the stories of Jesus. Over and over again. There's so many stories about our God in the flesh. That are just wonderful. Like I think about Jesus when He heals the leper. In Matthew 8.
When this man that has leprosy comes to Him. And it wasn't just that he had a disease. That he had to be healed. That he was seen by his culture as disgusting. And dirty. And had to live outside the people of God.
He couldn't be in community with other people. That he comes to Jesus. And Jesus puts His hand on him. And says be clean. And He heals him. And changes that man's life.
And that story happens over and over and over again. Even in a more spiritual reality now. For those of us who feel dirty. And broken. In a need of redemption. He cleanses us through His righteousness.
And His blood. When I think about Jesus on the cross. And He is dying. And He says, Father forgive them. They know not what they do. I look at that and say, how could you say that?
Jesus, they're murdering you. You're talking about people who are murdering you. And you're concerned about their forgiveness. How beautiful is that? How glorious is that? I think about even smaller stories.
Where Jesus, even after His resurrection. He's at the end of the Gospel of John. He has this moment with Peter and James and John. Where he's about to teach Peter about the need for shepherding. But they're on the boat.
And they're fishing. And they see Jesus on the shore. This is before He ascends into heaven. They see Him on the shore. And they come ashore. And it's just a simple picture of Jesus making breakfast for them.
He's cooking fish for them. Which is not my kind of breakfast. But if Jesus was doing it, I'm in. And He, just a simple, He's the God of the universe. He could have done it anyway. But He's simply, humbly making them food.
I mean, guys, there is story after story after story after story after story. That helps us see how good our God is. How much He loves us. How much He cares for us. How glorious He is. And how better it is to live with Him into eternity.
And when you finally understand that. When you see the general picture of God in creation. And are overwhelmed by His glory. And you mind the scriptures to see who our God is. Your only response should be how this psalmist finishes. 12 through 14.
Here's how He responds. Who can discern His errors? That's rhetorical. Nobody. Who can discern His errors? Who can call out God?
He says, declare me innocent from head and faults. He says, God, declare me innocent of a sin that I cannot see. And then He goes on to say, Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me. So He says, keep me from the hidden sins that I cannot see.
And keep me from the willful sins. I don't want any of it. The stuff that I can't see. The willful ones that I do. God, keep me from all of my rebellion. Don't let that have dominion over me.
He says, then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. And then He goes on to finish this off with this unbelievably poetic and powerful request. He says, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. He says, God, let everything. Let everything.
My thoughts. The meditations of my heart. Let the words that come out of my mouth. Let everything. Let all of it be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer.
The God who created the universe and created me and has every fiber of my being. Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer. What a powerful prayer. And as Christians, we read this Psalm. This side of the cross and empty tomb. We know how to do this.
And it's as simple as Romans 10, 9. Because you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. You will be saved. That is how we are blameless before the Lord. When you encounter how big God is and how glorious God is. And you realize how much we've sinned against Him.
How unacceptable on our own we are before Him. When you realize how our sin earns death and hell. When you realize that part of the gospel. And then you encounter how much He loves us because of His great love. The only reasonable response to the gospel is this. It is throwing our lot in with this God.
And saying, I believe in you, my rock, my redeemer. Y'all, we as Americans are so unbelievably blessed to have access to God. Where we can look up at the heavens and see the glory of God. And have a Bible on our phone. We have unbelievable access to our God. And if you're figuring this out.
If you're feeling out Christianity. You're not sure about this yet. I invite you. Look up at the stars. See the unbelievable design. Of this universe.
I mean, look at the earth. And how it's perfectly positioned from the sun. At the right distance. With the right tilt. All the way down to how the cells in our body are designed. And how the, like our eye and the complexities.
Look at all of it. And see. This points to our Creator. And then I invite you. From that position. Come to the Scriptures.
And see who He is. And if you are a Christian. Witness creation. And worship Him. Search the Scriptures. And delight in Him.
Don't miss that. Life is busy. Okay. It is boom, boom, boom, boom. Death. That's it.
It moves very, very quickly. And we as Americans are very, very busy. And fill our days with all kinds of things. Don't miss this. That when you're driving into work. And you're concerned.
And worried about the things you've got to do at work. And you see the sunrise coming up over. Don't miss that. Look at that sunrise. And be reminded of how big. And how glorious.
And how majestic. And how amazing our God is. And respond like this psalmist. When he says, Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. See the sunrise.
And go, God, you're so big. And you're so glorious. God, thank you for redeeming me. Thank you for loving me with a fierce, unbelievable love that I don't deserve. That when you look out in your yard. And you see the birds.
Mining the grass for food. Every morn. Remember. That God provides for His creation. Look at the Scripture. Remember what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount.
In Matthew 6. That's a picture of how God provides. That He provides. He takes care of His creation. That when you are in a storm. And your house is shaking.
Or an earthquake. Because that's a thing here nowadays. When you feel that. And you feel scared. Let that roll up into what the psalmist says. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.
Let them not have dominion over me. Let that fear roll up into God. You're so big. You're so powerful. Don't let the hidden faults. Or my willful sin against you.
Don't let that roll over me. Let that roll up into worship. And praise. And obedience. That comes from a position of deep love for God. Tonight.
As the moon rises. I think it's a full moon. Maybe. As it rises up over. The horizon. You see it against the backdrop of the stars.
And you see how big and vast. This universe is. And you think about that. The God who made all of that. Who stands over all of it. Knows every part of who you are.
Knows your past. Your present. Your future. And holds it all in his hands. Respond like the psalmist. Let the words of my mouth.
And the meditation of my heart. Be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord. My rock. And my redeemer. Let creation.
And the beautiful. Word of God. Help us. Worship. Our glorious. God.
Psalm 1: Delight in His Word
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is George Garcia and as Spencer said I am one of the community group leaders here at Mill City Church Casey we are going to be in Psalm 1 today that will be on page 254 of the blue Bibles if you do not own a Bible or do not have one currently please take that one today not only is today's sermon from the Word of God it is about the Word of God so today would be. A wonderful day for you to take home a Bible and since it is about the Bible we're going to be talking about reading the Bible now reading the Bible is something that I struggled to do a lot growing up and even to this day whether it was because I was lazy or I just simply forgot or because even when I was reading the Bible I did not know what I was doing growing up I didn't. Really grow with a lot of direction and a lot of explanation as to why reading the Bible is so important all I was told that it was just something that a Christian should do when I actually began implementing Bible reading as I grew as I grew and as I mature it's just I just added it to the list of something to do I just added it to my routine which I was fine with reality is for me I'm someone who. Can do the exact same thing every single day I can wake up I can shower read my Bible go to work come home play guitar if I have some time catch up with my wife eat dinner and go to sleep I could do that every single day for the rest of my life and I would have no problem with that now to some of you that sounds like a prison routine to me your prison is my dream regardless even if you grew up Bible.
Reading all the time or you've tried to implement Bible reading your life or even if you've never even opened up the Word of God Psalm 1 serves as a reminder and an explanation as to why we should not only just read the Bible but we delight in the Bible so we're going to read Psalm 1 it's only six verses then I'm going to pray for us and then we're going to tackle each verse one at a time Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night verse 3 he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and all that he does he prospers the wicked are not so but are like. Chaff that the wind drives away therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish let me pray Lord we are humbled and undeserving of this opportunity to open up your Word and I ask as we read through Psalm 1 may it serve to remind us and explain to us why we get to. Meditate and delight in your finished work Lord I ask that if there's any area any anywhere in our hearts that are distracting us from this morning I ask that you take that away and we focus and we pay attention and pay their respect to your Word that we are supposed to I pray this in your name amen verse 1 blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of the.
Sinner nor sits in the seat of scoffers now we're not starting off with the positives clearly we go from walking in the counsel of the wicked to then standing to then taking a seat among the scoffers this is a natural flow of sin sin is a very progressive thing and since we are naturally inclined to be comforted by sin this is sin this is the process of sin in our life an example of this. Is actually myself in the workplace I work in my free time not in my free time the summer is my free time I work at a school I am a PE teacher which is awesome but as if there's any teachers in the room you know that during the school year teaching can be draining and because it's so draining and sometimes it feels unrewarding it leaves room for gossip and for slandering so usually when I'm walking. The halls before or after school because we don't ever get an opportunity to talk to each other during school I'll listen I'll hear some gossip in the classroom or just wherever the break room is and I'll stand there I'll be walking then I'll stand I'll listen to it and I'll think to myself it's not worth it I shouldn't do it but that person's pretty terrible let me just see what they have to. Say let's just let me just let me just walk in we'll see and then before I know it I've taken a seat among the scoffers and I am either condoning what is being said or I'm contributing to it and it just happens just like that and so the reality is what verse one is getting at is what how sin progresses in our lives we also see this in social media where you can see someone asking for.
Help or advice and with the situation they're going through and all you you read through the comments you read through whatever is being responded to them and it's just terrible it's strictly worldly advice there's nothing it's rooted on but the problem is we go from mindlessly scrolling then all of a sudden we're also contributing that same type of advice we see this in movies and videos and shows we watch. We get so hooked they're very clever with how they bring us in and before we know it or being more influenced by the show we watch than by the word of God we see this with political commentary a show that I used to watch or listen to was the Ben Shapiro show I know Spencer has mentioned that a couple of times it's a political commentary show it's a conservative political commentary show which essentially. It's just an excuse to lash out on anything that isn't conservative and you know what I love it I love it because in my sinful nature for some reason is drawn to that is drawn not necessarily to the political idea but to the idea of someone lashing out on someone else and so I've had to stop watching it and listening to it because I get hooked. And I get influenced by it all of a sudden I'm I'm thinking these things that uh the show talks about we also see this with lust and the over sexualization of pretty much everything you can just be watching a movie with friends or your spouse and then some triggering or provocative scene comes up and now you can't get that out of your head and before you know it you're indulging.
And acting upon those thoughts and feelings now when you take a seat somewhere you normally take a seat when you're comfortable right you don't take a seat somewhere and stay there for a long time if you're not comfortable and so we see that in verse one that the last step is to take a seat among the scoffers because that's when you get comfortable and so we need to take a look a closer look at what. Gives us comfort where are areas in which we have taken a seat among the scoffers or even what we're playing with fire what catches our attention what makes you stop in that hallway and what makes you finally eventually join the psalmist goes on to give a direct count to this in verse two verse two but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. Now there's a very it's a big u-turn here we go from what the blessed man does not do to what he does do and what he does is he delights in the law of the Lord the hebrew meaning of delight being pleasure so what he is doing is he's taking pleasure in the law of the Lord now side note but also very important to the rest of this is that when the psalmist wrote this they were referencing the. Ten commandments when they said law of the Lord they were referencing the ten commandments which was the written word of God in the new testament we see the writers and the authors reference Psalms Proverbs as well as the ten commandments for the same exact reason it's the word of God so we fast forward to today and we have this right here so when we read that in Psalm when he meditates.
In the law of the Lord we are referring to the written word of God he is meditating on the written word of God now with knowing that we can go back to verse two the psalmist goes from listing what not to do to an all-encompassing encompassing word in delight the word delight is used several times in the Psalms all pointing to ultimate joy and satisfaction it's not just don't do this or don't do that. It's take pleasure in and delight in the law of the Lord this is why this is a the way verse one and verse two kind of go together is verse two is a complete uh opposite reaction it is it is a it is a counter to walking in the counsel of the wicked standing in the way of sinners and sitting in the seat of scoffers and it uh what that means is what the psalmist is trying to get at is that delighting. In the law of the Lord is the fundamental alternative to walking and sitting and standing in sin I'll say that again delighting in the law of the Lord is the fundamental alternative to walking and sitting and standing in sin now why is that the case well because the word of God is a story from front to back that all points to Jesus alistair beg who is a pastor in cleveland ohio put it like this. We find christ in all the scriptures in the old testament he has predicted and the gospels he has revealed in Acts he has preached in the epistles he has explained and a Revelation he has expected in Genesis God tells us that the serpent he will he tells the serpent he will bruise his head with the offspring of that woman and that eventual offspring being Jesus Jesus arrives in the new testament and we.
See miracles and his teachings all throughout Matthew Mark Luke and John such as bringing lazarus back to life turning water into wine and revealing that he knew the woman at the well these are just all of the countless examples of Jesus's miracles and his work that in Acts we see people like paul and barnabas preach the finished work of christ to the nations and then some areas and people need. Correcting or refining so they need Jesus explained to them they need that finished work explained to them so that's why we have the letters to the people in corinth and galatia and colossus and then in Revelation the bible ends on the expected return of Jesus and it's not just like oh he's coming back now it's if you take a look at revelations it is a triumphant return he will come back and collect his. People so all throughout the bible from front to back it's all about Jesus it's all about the wonderful story of Jesus coming to the earth and reconciling his people we get to delight in that story that's why it's the fundamental alternative now we can focus on the word delight a little bit it's used here purposefully delighting in something is an external and an internal reaction to something take for. Example you have a friend and by God's grace I do have a friend in our group by joe benton who uh he has a smoker so just picture that you have a friend who has a smoker and they text you like five in the morning because that's usually when these things happen and they say hey I'm gonna smoke a brisket today come on down later tonight first of all wonderful friend and second of all I'm there.
And once you get there you know you wait all day they pull that brisket out and I've just been smoking for several hours and it's being pulled ever so easily because it's been there for like 10 11 hours and it's on your plate mac and cheese and baked beans are there but they're not important right now you take that first bite and you just take in that moment I know some of you are already thinking. Of it and I know lunch is later but there you take in that moment and in that moment I am delighting in what's in front of me I'm delighting in the food in the brisket I am delighted it's not only internal it's external right I'm saying but I'm also like oh this is this is amazing but the crazy thing is ever since I found ever since I got that text ever since I was told that. My whole day got better I've been delighting the entire day my day was that much more enjoyable because I was looking forward to what was to come and then when I partook in it forget about it that's when the song that's what the psalmist is trying to get at here delighting in the law of the Lord day and night to the light in the law of the Lord day and night is. To constantly be influenced and affected by the word of God so much so that you are so eager to return to it after you're done reading it and you're eager to return to it because all you're thinking about or at least what some of the things you're thinking about are the word of God it's keeping you in check it's helping you respond to your co-workers it's helping you be loving and patient to people that.
Don't deserve it and the only way you can do that is by delighting in the law of the Lord we move on to verse three he is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither and all that he does he prospers now we're going now we're seeing what the blessed man is what what the word blessed is the streams of water that plant the tree is the. Word of God the tree mentioned has a firm foundation it has one that is everlasting and solid and that's where we need to be right where we are where we're naturally inclined to be is we like to walk and listen to the counsel of the wicked we like to stand in the way of sinners and we like to sit down because it's comfortable because it's easy it doesn't take that much effort. What we want to be is like the tree that's planted by streams of water that lasts forever even in seasons of difficulty even in seasons of suffering Jeremiah goes on to say it like this from Jeremiah 17 verses 7 through 8 blessed is the man who trusts whose trusts blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord whose trust is the Lord verse 8 he is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream. And does not fear when heat comes for its leaves remain green and is not anxious in the year of drought for it does not cease to bear fruit what a wonderful picture that is of a tree that is planted by streams of ever flowing water and that is what is true for the christian who is delighting in the law of the Lord that seasons of suffering seasons of anxiousness don't feel that anxious they don't.
They don't you can bear it because you have the word of God you have the truth and the delight in that story that can bring you comfort peace and joy that actually lasts now if you look at me you can clearly tell that I've planted plenty of trees in my time regardless what I do know about planting a tree specifically trees that bear fruit or specifically fruit trees is that they bear fruit. And it bears fruit for the benefit of the planter and for those around it if you ever had a friend who gardens normally whenever their vegetables or fruits come in they come in a surplus and in almost and almost always because they come in a surplus they share it with those around them that's what it's like to be planted by streams of water the Lord delivers in a surplus. You prosper and you get to share that fruit with others you get to show love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control to those around you and it does not wither so you get to bear that fruit into eternity about been leading group for about four years now four and a half years and not that the first two years were bad by any means but something changed about two years ago. And you can chalk it up to people you know maybe we had some new people come in and they were great but something radically changed in our group and what that was was by God's grace we began to fall more in love with his word as a group and it came at a great time because then we multiplied we were a group that was in love with the word that was being taught the word that was talking constantly about the word.
And then we multiplied and now we have another group that meets in congress in the casey area and I know that they are being infatuated and in love with the word week in and week out and that changes that's what actually changes people it convicts it convicts us is the word of God and so and none of that has to do with the group leaders by the way it all has to do with his word. It's all because we decided that we we pressed on we kept reading his word that eventually it will it will change someone moving on to verse four the wicked are not so but are like chaff that the wind it drives away now this is a very contrasting image in that the chaff is being driven away by the wind we talked a little bit about this when we went uh when we were in Ruth but an example I can. Think of to kind of better picture it in your head is and and the reason I chose this example because I am a coffee snob but when you roast coffee beans uh it's a very tedious process you got to put it on the the roaster but on and off on and off it takes forever but after you actually do the roasting and the beans look like what we would all uh picture uh coffee beans to look like you have to put it into. A colander which I recently learned what I when I got married I learned what a colander was and you put it in the colander and you kind of shake it back and forth because you're trying to get rid of the skin of the bean or the chaff because it's no good you don't want that on your coffee bean the chaff brings no benefit to anyone and they have no foundation therefore it makes complete sense.
That the wind would drive it away charles spurgeon who was a preacher in the 1800s describes the chaff as intrinsically worthless dead unserviceable without substance and easily carried away it is very clear that the wicked have no foundation unlike the blessed one is planted by streams of ever-flowing water and the other one has nothing to stand on. It is driven away by the wind Psalm 1 is very very clear on this that's why I'm thankful for verses like 5 and 6 verse 5 therefore the wicked will not stand in judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish the one that walks in the counsel of the wicked the one that stands in the way of sinners and the one. That takes a seat with the scoffers will not stand with the congregation of the righteous it will be very clear to the Lord who is who we see this in Matthew John the baptist is making a reference to what Jesus will do Matthew 3 12 his winnowing fork is in his hand and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire. Jesus will return for what is his the rest will not make it which is why I'm thankful and completely humbled by a verse like verse 6 for the Lord knows the way of the righteous now this is more than just knows about okay so when you when you read that uh it's like a spouse knowing you or like a best friend who knows you they know a lot about you you know that they know.
Your tendencies they know maybe they know some of your thoughts because maybe you you know you talk to them you confide in them but there is only one person one being who knows everything about you all the good and all the ugly and when you think about it it's kind of terrifying imagine if your best friend knew every single thing about you and you think they know a lot about you but imagine if they. Knew everything about you it would be quite terrifying but the one that knows you completely is God the righteous can have peace because a loving God in heaven knows their way and will protect and he will preserve them if there's anybody I would want to know me like that it would be him and one of the main reasons I can think of is because a lot of times people will use. Knowledge of you to hurt you right when people find things about you one of the reasons we get a little scared to confess sin scared to talk in group is because we're scared that people knowing this about me what are they going to think of me what are they going to say about me what are they going to talk to other people about when it comes to me a lot of times that is a very very terrifying thought. But we can have peace knowing that there is an omnipotent loving gracious God who knows us and he will not use that knowledge against you that is the that is the grace aspect of the Lord now you may be asking or telling yourself what if I'm not good at this what if I'm not good at reading the bible what if I've tried and I've tried and it came to nothing what if I just can't.
Here's my encouragement to you last summer I was part of the summer internship here and just to give you a little insight on the summer internship there's a lot of meetings a lot of classes you go it's it's it's pretty rigorous honestly and one of the biggest things about the internship is showing up on time and I love punctuality um I do so when I discovered that punctuality was a major. Component of this internship I was really excited to show off my arriving on time skills but second week in I forgot that I had a meeting with isaac so not only was I late I was non-existent for the meeting third week I was very late or arriving just on time to the things between monday and thursday my pride was being tested the final straw for me was on sunday as it was on a on a sunday. And I forgot that we were supposed to show up at 8 a.m here we're supposed to show up at the church at 8 a.m and at the time chat was my track leader I was on the pastoral and like teacher development track and chat was my track leader and I remember that I I had to I was like I have to apologize this is like the fifth time and I remember the walk of me going to apologize to him and even as I was apologizing. Him the shame that I felt of my failure was honestly unbearable I had my head down I was I was talking to him and I was like this because of all the shame that I felt and after I apologized I kind of just stood there and chat looked at me and he said hey chin up I thought okay but then he said you're fully known you're fully forgiven and you're fully loved by a.
Savior who would gladly do it again feel that remember that and continue your your day like you believe that notice he didn't just say hey chin up show up on time next time hey chin up maybe what you can do is this this this this and this to show up on time now he reminded me of the gospel the work is finished and even in our shortcomings such as reading the bible we get to be forgiven. And out of that out of that forgiveness and grace we are empowered to be more like him and part of that is delighting in his word so then how do we set ourselves up for success in reading the bible I have a couple of practical ways that can work first and foremost pray pray pray for the desire to read his word the reason praying is the first thing I could think of is because praying sets. Us up for success and because it is the acknowledgement and the remembering of why we are able to delight in his word if we skip this step if we don't pray if we don't ask the Lord to make us more like him and to desire his word then we're just doing good works that we're just we're just it's just something else to do and we'll be missing the entire point of delighting in his word second recognize it's a battle. If you struggle to meditate or even just read through the bible like any goal you start with pure discipline now uh I started uh working out for the first time in my life about two years ago and when we started this was me and two other guys we we were we were on it like three or four times a week that was crazy but then the second I let go of that discipline the second one of us.
Was like it went from four three to four times a week to two to three times a week to once or twice a week to maybe once every two months so my point in that is that stay disciplined to reading the word read it in the morning great time to read the word of God now I know some of you are saying I'm not a morning person my question to you is what time do you go to sleep the night before. Now my point don't get me wrong my point is not that reading in the morning is the way but my point in that question is what are you doing to set yourself up for an opportunity to read the word of God third set a specific goal so if I'm up here and I tell you that I want to learn a new language and add it to my arsenal of languages and I just say hey I just want to learn a new language. It's really easy if I just keep it at that broad vague goal it's really easy for me not to be held accountable to it and you really don't know what to ask me really all you can ask me is hey how's that new language going and I can just say it's all right it could be better but if I told you I want to learn 45 new words write three new sentences and be able to have. A one-minute conversation with someone in that new language and the new language being portuguese let's say then you would know exactly what to ask me when you come up to me hey how's portuguese going hey how many words have you learned what's your favorite word what's the sentence you wrote it'd be a lot more difficult for me to kind of make something up there so set a specific goal fourth ask people.
In your community group to hold you accountable more specifically we all have that one person ask that one person that you know will hold you accountable sometimes we selectively choose who to hold us accountable because we know maybe they're not going to ask us also I learned this term recently it's called the bystander effect. Don't just tell your entire group I struggle with reading with the bible gather in two or three people because the temptation if you tell 10 to 12 people is that they'll probably be like oh I'm sure he'll ask him about his bible reading I'm sure they'll ask right and the problem is if everyone does that no one's going to ask you about your bible reading to get about two or three people and that. Just decreases the chances of oh I'm sure I'll ask him lastly don't forget why we get to do this we get to do this because of Jesus's finished work on the cross that is what empowers us and changes us to be more like him and follow him there is no one like him the band is going to come up we're going to sing a song that is based on Psalm one and I want this to be our prayer and our. Encouragement for this week there's a line in the song that I really love and it's in the chorus so we're going to hear it and we're going to sing it over and over again form us more and more into a people who love your word I love that because it implies and it's it's humbling because it's us admitting that we need the Lord to be able to love his word on our own.
We will we will easily and so fast we will so quickly we will take a seat among the scoffers but we love his word we love him we love people because he loved us first because he finished the work on the cross that is why I love this line because it is just it is that we are admitting that we need him first also I love the word form because you're not it's not going to be something you. You all of a sudden fall in love with tonight and then you're reading the bible every day starting tomorrow when you form something it has stages it takes time it takes steps so don't lose heart don't be discouraged because you lost you didn't read it one day but in those days of our shortcomings remind yourself of the finished work on the cross remind we need to remember that we are forgiven. We are fully known and that knowledge will not be used against us that knowledge is actually what is what brings us to him and because of that we get to delight in the whole we get to delight in that the whole time we delight in the story of salvation and the truth of grace and the truth of reconciliation we get to delight in that and that will give us joy peace and comfort that is everlasting let's pray. God I pray that as we are singing this last song as we are just thinking of what Psalm one has to say about your word Lord I ask that you through your grace and your forgiveness and in our shortcomings Lord may we not use your grace to paralyze us but may we use your grace to motivate us to push us to empower us to delight in your law.
Oh remind us as we are reading and as we delight in your word or as we fight to delight in your word Lord remind us that even if we even if we don't understand even if it takes time Lord you're not going anywhere you will sustain us you will preserve us you will maintain us the whole way we are so appreciative of that we are so humbled by that Lord we pray all of this in your name amen.
Sola Scriptura
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Morning. My name is Spencer and I am one of the pastors here. So we're going to be looking at Sola Scriptura today. We are in a series called the five solas. These are the five anthems that came out of the Protestant Reformation. And we are in, well, last week, Chet walked us through kind of an overview of all five and we're posting up in Sola Scriptura today, which means scripture alone.
So when I was in college, I was a new believer. I was excited about following Jesus. And when I got to college, I was like, I need Christian community. As Chet said at the very beginning, like you Christians need community. I realized that. And I was like, I want to find some people to love Jesus.
I went to a college, Presbyterian college, though it's called Presbyterian college. It was very much not a Christian college. So I got on campus and I met some people that said, hey, come to this, this discussion group, this faith discussion group on Monday night. And I said, sweet, I'm there. So I rock up, got my pocket Bible, ready to go, excited.
I walk in and they say, oh, they pointed at my Bible. You're not going to need that here. I said, what? No, seriously, like we, we don't, you're not going to need that here. And I was like, oh, okay. So I put it down and, uh, I was like, this is gonna be the worst Bible study ever, but we'll give it a go.
Uh, and for the next hour, I listened to a bunch of 18 and 22 year olds pontificate and theorize about what Christianity was all about by never pointing to the Bible at all. And it just blew my mind. It would be like going to a calculus class and day one, the professor just says, hey, put your books away. You're not going to need that this semester. What do you think math is? What is math to you?
You'd be like, no, I'm out. Well, guess what? I stayed the whole hour and, uh, because I didn't want to disturb the herd and make it seen. I was like, okay, I'm just going to be curious here and watch and see what happens. And it blew my mind that you could actually have a discussion about Jesus and Christianity without actually opening the Bible. And what I did not realize at the time is that I had been shaped by a view of the scriptures that has a long tradition.
That tradition is called sola scriptura. I like how one pastor defines this. He says, sola scriptura, he says, is the Bible has the final say on everything. The Bible has something to say about that. The Bible has the final say on everything. The Bible has something to say about.
So sola means alone. Scripture alone is the final authority for what is true. That's why I found that group so shocking. And also why I never went back that you could actually have a discussion about Jesus without going to the scriptures. And as I would go on to learn over the coming years, is that these beliefs were rooted in the Reformation tradition of sola scriptura that goes not just back to the Reformation, but goes all the way back to the early church. So today we're going to look at sola scriptura in this series.
It's basically what the five solars are answering this question of how are we saved? Okay. And if it's as Chet was walked us through last week, if it's by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone, if that's what that is, then we've got to have some source material for that statement. And this is where Protestants and Catholics have a different answer. Have a different answer for what the answer is for that. So we're going to walk through this today.
I'm going to walk us through the history of how this came to be. And then we're going to sit in what the Bible teaches on this. And then we'll close with some encouragements that I think are good for us as we continue to reform as the Protestant tradition is. That we can grow in this encouragement to continue to be people of sola scriptura. So let me pray for us.
And then we will jump in. Lord, we love you. We thank you for the goodness of the gospel, that it sets us apart to be a people that can sit under the authority of your word. God, I pray that you would mold and shape us this morning in your image, that you'd help us be present, and that we respond in Christ's name. Amen. Okay.
So one of them, one of the common misconceptions about the Reformation is that Martin Luther and the Reformers came up with new ideas. These were not new ideas. Luther was not the first to say these ideas like scripture alone. This goes back all the way to the first century church. The first century church believed the Bible was the final authority on what is true. And if that is the case, then how do things go awry?
How do the church go off the rails? In order to do that, we've got to walk through some church history. Now, I know when I say history, some of you are like, please, no. Like, don't. I hated history in high school. I don't.
Listen. Church history can be helpful. So come for the church history. Stay for some of the incredible baby names you're about to hear. For those of you that are thinking about starting families, boy, oh boy, do I have some special names for you. Church history is chock full.
It is fertile with baby names. All right. So you can stay for that and listen. But we've got to walk through some history to understand what's happening here. So like each of the five solas, the slow fade began when the Western church became the Roman Catholic church.
Because early on in the New Testament, the New Testament church, the New Testament people believed that the Bible was the final and sole authority for what is true and what is good. You can see that. We'll walk through a lot of the biblical evidence here in a little bit. But you see that in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17, when it says, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Like the church believed this out the gate, that if you want to be equipped for every good work, you went to the scriptures that would grow you and shape you in what is good.
This is what they believed early on. And as the final books of the New Testament were being written, and as the New Testament canon was being finalized, canon is just a word for standard of the books. So this is the standard, which is the 27 books in the New Testament, 66 books in total in our Bibles. The early church looked at the Bibles. You can look around. You got blue Bibles underneath your seats in front of you.
Okay? That blue Bible, the words that are in it, this is what guided the early church. They looked at this as the chief authority for their lives. Now there are skeptics that will say, wait a second, no, no, no. Didn't they just choose what they wanted? They just choose which books of the Bible they wanted.
They kicked out some of the other ones. What about the Apocrypha? What about the things that were included? I don't have the bandwidth to be able to get into the Apocrypha today. If you want to have a discussion on that, we can have that later. But that is a false argument.
That is not true. Early on, you can see it in early church history. They looked at the books of the Bible, and they didn't choose them and say, these are the ones. They were already recognizing, these are the scriptures. These are the scriptures that were handed down to the church. You can see that through the early church fathers.
You can take it Clement. Clement, a church father in 95 AD, was writing about this, pointing to these scriptures that were authoritative. You can look at Ignatius in 115 AD. Get your pens ready, guys. We'll see some baby boys named Ignatius. It's a good one.
All right? You can look at Polycarp. Maybe not a good one. You can give it a try. It's the Wild West of names these days, guys. You can name whatever you want.
Polycarp in 108 AD. Irenanus in 185 AD. Hippolytus in 200 AD. Church father after church father after church father is simply pointing out, these are the books that guide and shape the church. These have authority. Let me make this very clear.
The church did not choose the scriptures. They merely recognized what was already authoritative as the word of God was handed down to them. And for 300 plus years, for 300 plus years, the church was guided by this belief as it exploded across Europe and North Africa. And then early on in the fourth century, Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert Christianity. And then in 380 AD, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire. And that's when it became the Roman Catholic Church.
Rome meaning centered in Rome, Catholic meaning Latin for universal. So the universal church as centered in Rome. And a few things happened when that took place. The first is that it was now politically convenient to not just be a Christian, but to be a Christian leader. Because when the church got morphed into government, it became convenient to be a political leader and a church leader and corruption started to seep in. The elite started to convert to Christianity and become political leaders because that was convenient.
Second, the Roman Catholic Church commissioned one of the early church fathers, Jerome. They commissioned Jerome to create the first Latin translation of the Bible. The Bible was written in the Old Testament, Hebrew and Aramaic, and the New Testament, Greek. They commissioned him. We want you to translate that into Latin because Latin was the official language of the Roman Empire. So he did this and his translations ended up becoming something called the Vulgate and became the translation of the Bible for a thousand years.
From 500 to 1000 AD, that was the chief and almost sole translation in the Western church. Now around this time is when Rome finally falls. The Roman Empire falls and we enter into a period between 500 and 1500 AD, which is known as the Middle Ages. Okay, so in the Middle Ages during this time, there's no longer a need for everybody to learn Latin because the Roman Empire has fallen. It's a time where there's not a lot of technological advancement. There's a lot of disease that goes through.
There's not a lot of education. Some of the stuff you see in movies may be overplayed, but it certainly wasn't a very good time. And while this is happening, the only scriptures that are circulating around the churches in Europe and Northern Africa are in Latin. And the Catholic Church had those. And no one else except the elites knew Latin, which means, this is why this is really important. It means that for a thousand years, they held the keys to what the scripture said.
They're the ones that knew it. And everyone went to the priesthood, went to the bishops to find out what God said because they weren't going to be able to read it for themselves. And this is when around this time is when the Catholic Church stops looking to the scriptures as the chief authority and it starts looking within. And it starts looking within. And that's when councils are start forming and bishops start forming doctrine and the church starts forming doctrine that is completely disconnected from the word of God. And the scriptures stop becoming the chief authority.
That is why to this day in the Catholic Church, the church is greater than the scriptures. The church is greater than the scriptures even today for the Catholic Church. That is how certain Catholic doctrines creep in that have no basis in the scriptures. Take purgatory, for instance. Purgatory is the idea that there's this limbo place between hell and heaven, that if you don't commit these super bad mortal sins, when you die, you have some venial sins. You can go to purgatory.
You can be purged of that before you enter into heaven. That's found nowhere in the scriptures. There's not a scriptural basis for that. You can go back to Platonic philosophy. You go back to Plato, who was a pagan Greek in the 4th century BC. But you're not going to find that in the scriptures.
And that's what happens. A lot of times with Catholic doctrine, they have debates, scholars have debates, and they have councils. And over time, it develops into a doctrine that's cemented. It's a little bit like a game of telephone. The game of telephone when you're a kid, where you would, you know, one kid would whisper to the next kid a phrase, and the next kid would whisper all the way around the circle. Then you get back to the final person.
They stand up and they say their phrase, and it's not the same thing. That's a little bit of how some Catholic doctrine came in to be. It was passed, it was passed, it was passed, it was passed, and then it's completely disconnected from the scriptures. And then in 1274, in 1274, purgatory became an official Catholic doctrine. And this happened with a host of issues we'll see in the other five solos. Things like pilgrimages, things like veneration of the saints, which is praying to Saint Mary or Saint Thomas.
This happened with things like indulgences. We'll see that more in sola fide, with paying to get out of purgatory. There are different doctrines that crept in and became official Catholic doctrine. And that was until about 300 years before Martin Luther steps on the scene in 1500. About 300 years before, there were some people that finally started to challenge the Catholic Church on this. And I'll give you a few examples.
From 1200 to 1400 AD, there were three different main figures in Europe. They started to challenge this idea that the church is not the authority on what is true, that the Bible is the authority. There's a man named Peter Waldo, who was a French merchant that began to challenge this with a movement. There was a man named John Wycliffe, an Englishman, a professor at Oxford, who began to also, like Peter Waldo, translate the Bible into their native tongue. They're like, we don't have the word. The common people need the word of God.
There was a man named Jan Hus, which is Czech. Hus is Czech for goose. So again, baby names, y'all. Hus. Who doesn't want a name? That's boy or girl, right?
Hus. Okay? Each of these figures over the next two to three hundred years began to challenge the Catholic Church by translating the Bible into the common tongue and preaching it to the people in their own language. And when they did this, well, the Catholic Church was not very happy. Back then, the Catholic Church did what they did best back then. They absolutely destroyed dissent.
Like during that period, if you challenged the Catholic Church, it did not go well for you. They came at you very hard. It's a little bit like, if you've ever seen Parks and Rec, which is an episode, which is a TV series on local town government, there's this episode of Parks and Rec where a Venezuelan diplomat comes into town to observe local town government. And then he, there's this, he shows up to a town council meeting and the people are doing what happens at town council meetings. They're yelling at the council members and they're protesting. And he sees this and he's like, why are they not being taken to jail?
This does not happen in Venezuela. If you do this, you go to jail. All right? You play music too loud, jail. You drive too slow, jail. You drive too fast, jail.
You undercook fish, jail. You overcook chicken, jail. Jail, jail, jail, jail, jail. All right? That's, that was the Catholic Church. You challenged them, jail.
You challenged them, inquisition, torture, death, crusade. During this period, they went hard after anyone that showed dissent. And that is what happened. So there's a first, there was a high stakes game of where's Waldo? Waldo, because Peter Waldo and his people were being hunted down. Peter Waldo was actually not killed by the Catholic Church, but thousands of his followers, thousands of his followers were called the Waldensons.
They're absolutely crushed. The Catholic Church couldn't get to Wycliffe. He was in England. They couldn't kill him, but they did excommunicate him and they did get him fired from his teaching position in Oxford. And then after he died, they dug up his bones and they burned him for good measure. And then Hus, they said, Hus, come to Rome.
We want to hear your ideas. We'll give you safe passage. And then he got to Rome and they said, ha ha, we don't make deals with heretics. And they arrested him and then they burned him at the stake. And there's this urban legend. I don't know if it's true or not.
I like to believe it's true, but we don't know for sure. That when he was being burned at the stake, that he said a hundred years from now, somebody is going to take up this cause. And then a hundred years later, Martin Luther steps on the scene and Martin Luther steps on the scene. And when he realizes that the Bible is actually the chief and final authority, when he begins to discover this, boy, the backlash was intense. It led to a very aggressive resurgence of this. Because when you're deprived of something that's really, really good, you get a little angsty when you realize you've missed out on it.
Like Chet and I were talking a few months back, we're talking about biscuits because Chet loves biscuits. About twice a year, you're going to hear a sermon illustration about biscuits in heaven. It's going to happen. He loves biscuits. And we're talking about biscuits. And I was like, man, I love biscuits too.
I don't eat them a whole lot. And then it hit me. I was like, I don't eat them a whole lot because we don't have them at home. And we don't have them at home because my wife doesn't like biscuits. And she's the one that makes the grocery list. And she's the one that cooks.
I was like, Chet, I've been deprived of biscuits for 10 years of our marriage. We haven't had biscuits. And I went home and I saw Anna. And I said, Anna, we don't have biscuits. Why don't we have biscuits? Why don't you like biscuits?
I want biscuits in this house. She's like, calm down, crazy. I'll get you some biscuits. All right. I was a little angsty because I was like, I want this. I've been deprived of something that's very good.
And we now have biscuits. I saw it yesterday in the bottom drawer. And I was like, yes, we have biscuits in our house. You could argue that Martin Luther's stand was as important as my stand. But he stood aggressively.
Y'all, he was in a debate. He was in a debate one time with a guy named Sylvester Prius, who's a Catholic scholar. And the scholar came at him. And this is what the, this is what the Catholic scholar Sylvester Prius said. He says this, he says, he who does not accept the doctrine of the church of Rome and the pontiff, that's Pope of Rome as an infallible rule of faith from which the Holy Scriptures to draw their strength and authority is a heretic. Now, look, look, look at that again.
He's saying, if you don't accept the doctrine of the church of Rome and the pontiff of Rome as the infallible rule of faith, the scriptures too support it. The scriptures support the Pope, it supports Catholic doctrine. But if you don't actually accept this, you are a heretic to which Martin Luther responded in true Luther form. You cited no scripture like an insidious devil. You pervert the scriptures. And that's Martin Luther in that show right there.
Very angsty, responds very aggressively. But that right there, that distinction of the Catholic church had a counter-reformation after this period. They reformed a lot of their corruption in a lot of ways. Thank you, Jesus, that that happened. But that right there, that argument that Sylvester Prius made and that Luther countered with, that still is the law of the land today.
That you either accept what the pontiff of what the Roman Catholic church teaches with the scriptures being underneath it, or that's heresy to them. And Luther says, no, it is the scriptures alone. And we're going to see this in the coming weeks, that as he realized what is in the scriptures, as we were going to see in Sola Fide, and Chet introduced this last week in Romans 1 17, when he read, for it is, it for in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. When he read that in Romans 1 17, and realized the church teaches something different.
The church teaches faith and works. And he was so tormented by the works aspect of that, that he had to earn God's favor. He had to be good enough. When he realized that, no, it is by faith. When that clicked for him, he realized, oh no. No, no, no, no.
The Catholic church has completely missed the boat on this. And he nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg on October 31st in 1517. And from that moment forward, Luther was guided by the scriptures are my authority. I don't answer to the church, I answer to God and his word. And the Reformation tradition continued after him through Zwingli, through John Calvin, through John Wesley, and the Reformers that followed, that the scriptures are our chief authority. And it shows up even today, literally in this moment right now.
That when we gather together on a Sunday, we are shaped by that tradition. It's the reason why the songs that we sing come from the scriptures. It's the reason why we read scripture all the way to the biggest moment of our Sunday morning gathering is the proclamation of God's word and a pulpit that is centered in the room. All of that is built upon sola scriptura because we find our chief authority in the word of God. So that's 2,000 years of church history for you.
You guys made it. Good Job. All right. But that's what shaped 2,000 years of history for why we believe the Bible is authoritative. But more importantly, let's look at the scriptures and see what the scriptures have to say on this.
All right. In order to look at the scriptures and how the scriptures speak about itself. Well, you have to acknowledge something. So we do believe, as I said earlier, the Bible has the final say on everything. The Bible has something to say about. But we argue as Protestants, the Bible is self-authenticating.
The Bible speaks to itself. And there have been skeptics who have said, wait a second. That is circular logic. That is circular reasoning. And we say, yes. Yes, it is.
It is a matter of faith for us because what circular logic, circular reasoning is, is that God has spoken in his word. And God speaks truthfully in his word. And the word actually testifies to who God is, that we should believe and trust in him. Because God has spoken in his word. And his word is true. And we trust his word.
And his word speaks to who God is truthfully. And therefore, we trust God. And God has spoken. You see how that works? And we say, absolutely. We take it as a matter of faith that God has revealed himself.
And he's revealed himself in the scriptures. And we believe that God has revealed himself truthfully. Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, if you really do get hung up on that, you and I can have a, have a fun chat later. We can have an epistemological argument, which is just an argument about how we know things.
And I will show you why it is that most of the things that you know that you might accept as fact, whether it's science or from other systems, work in the same kind of reasoning. We make assumptions all the time. There's not much logic that's actually concrete and foolproof. But we can have the discussion later. I spent the majority of our collective attention span on church history. I'm not going to subject to 98% of that.
You can come talk to me later. But the scriptures are absolutely self-authenticating. All right. Go back to 2 Timothy. Let me give you some lead into verse 16 and 17. He says this in verse 14, but as for you, and this is Paul writing to Timothy, a young pastor, but as for you continue and what you have learned and have firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings.
We pause for a second. What's being referenced there is what he says earlier that his, uh, his Christian mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois are the ones that led him in faith. And it would, well, I love that is as you're saying, listen, you know, you've learned the scriptures from, your mama and your grandmama, which y'all, this is why we care so much about teaching our kids the Bible. This is why we're trying to equip you to train your children, to, to love Jesus and to know his word. It's so important. That's why we developed, we had a whole training weekend in the fall on this.
We developed something called roadmap that is meant to help you lead your children in faith. It's so important to leave a legacy of faith by opening the sacred writings, as Paul says here, because you've been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise, for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. And these next two verses are worth committing to memory. He says, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. The man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Amen.
The Bible is, hear this, breathed out by God. That is a metaphor that God has breathed out. He has inspired. He has spoken. And as we look at his word, it is a gold mine for teaching and for reproof and for correction, for training in righteousness. It's meant to guide our lives that all other wisdom, all other advice.
We hold that against the scriptures to see whether it is good and true. The Bible is the standard for what is good. You can go back to the Old Testament. You go to Psalm 119, a passage out of the Old Testament, and just look at it over and over again, showing that the Bible is the chief authority. Verse 24, it says, your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors.
That the Bible, that his testimonies counsel us, that leads us. In verse 25, it says, give me life according to your word. It is life-giving. In verse 31, it says, I cling to your testimonies, that you cling to it like a life raft in the raging sea. He clings, he says, I trust your word in verse 42. In 105, he says, your word is a lamp to my feet, a light to my path.
In the midst of the darkness of this world, that it lights up the path for us to ultimately pursue what is good in Christ. Over and over again, you see this view throughout the Old Testament, end of the new, that the scriptures are the chief authority, that no tradition, no outside teaching goes above it. Absolutely. Jesus addresses this head on in Mark 7. In Mark 7, the Pharisees are very upset that Jesus is not washing his hands before he eats. You might be thinking, wait a second, I would like him to wash his hands before he eats.
It's not an issue of sanitation. That's not why the Pharisees are upset. They're upset because it's a religious ritual, a religious ritual that you're supposed to wash your hands before you eat. Only problem is, that religious ritual is found nowhere in the Old Testament law. It's actually based on Jewish outside commentary, Jewish tradition. A Jewish tradition that they followed, and Jesus absolutely just cuts through their argument.
And how he does it is so important for how we view the scriptures versus tradition. Verse 9, he says, And he said to them, this is Jesus, You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition. For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. So he's saying, You have some tradition. You get a fine way of rejecting that, and he references one of the top ten commandments, right? The ten commandments.
Honor your mother and father. He says, You have a fine way. And this is how he addresses this head on is where it absolutely makes sense. He says, But you say, If a man tells his father or his mother, Whatever you have gained from me is korban, that is, given to God, then you no longer permit him to do anything for his mother and father. And what Jesus is getting at in that is that he's calling out what the Pharisees were actually doing themselves. You see, the scriptures in the Old Testament teach us to honor our father and mother, that as they grow in their age, to continue to take care of them.
But they started this outside practice that was outside the Old Testament law, that was in this Jewish commentary tradition called korban, that you could actually bypass giving money to your parents to take care of them and give it directly to the temple. Because that was the holy thing to do. I'm not going to take care of my parents. I'm going to give it to the temple. And the Pharisees were doing this themselves. And what makes this so evil is, is that when the Pharisees did this, they were enriching themselves because they were the beneficiaries of what went into the temple treasury.
How messed up is that? And Jesus just cuts through their tradition to absolutely see you make voices, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down and many such things you do. You see, it cuts through it. Is it in the word of God or isn't it? If your tradition does not line up with the word of God, you have made void the word of God. And this is still what the Catholic church does today.
They have teachings that do not align with the scriptures and those teachings sit over atop the scriptures in authority. And as Protestants, we say no. As Protestants, we join Paul as Paul in first Corinthians when he writes, he says, I've applied all these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, that you may learn by us hear this, not to go beyond what is written. The word for written, there's the same Greek word for scriptures. Don't go beyond the scriptures because the Bible is the final authority for us. It is why Jesus in Luke six says, everyone who hears what I says and does it is like a man who's built his house on the rock.
It is why over and over again, when he's in debates with the religious leadership, he says, have you not read? Have you not read? Meaning, have you not read what the scriptures teach? It's why when he's in the wilderness facing off with Satan, that he's quoting scripture in defense. Here's the reason why when you have a study Bible and you open up your study Bible and you look in the middle and there's these things called cross-references. It's these Numbers that have different letters that correspond to different parts of the page.
And if you look at that and you follow this verse, actually cross-reference to this verse and this verse and this verse, because the Bible is quoting itself all the time, alluding to itself all the time, because the Bible sees itself as the chief authority. That is the biblical argument. And I could cite verse after verse, after verse, after verse, after verse, after verse that proves this. Now, some of you may be thinking, that's great. I see you're really excited about that. Thank you.
I'm not Catholic. I wasn't raised Catholic. Why do we have to spend so much time making that point? The reason why, because there are ways that we as Protestants, as Baptists, there are ways that we functionally reject sola scriptura today. Though our faith is built upon that tradition that shows up in a lot of ways, even in this moment, there are ways that we functionally reject scripture alone as our final authority. And with the time we have left, I just want to give some encouragements for us to continue to grow in scripture alone.
So first, we need to know our Bibles. We need to know our Bibles. One of the ways that we function, we show a functional disbelief of sola scriptura is we just don't know the Bible. That we're biblically illiterate. There are Christian survey groups, y'all, that survey those who identify as Christians. And the results that come back every year get more depressing in a lot of different ways.
But one of them is, is this idea of biblical literacy, people knowing their Bibles. I saw one survey that said slightly over half of the Christians who surveyed on that said that you can get to heaven by being good. You can get to heaven by being, just be a good person. You can get to heaven over half. And the scriptures adamantly say, no, you can never be good enough. That's the whole point of why Christ died for us.
There's one survey, survey, that 70% of the self-identifying born of Christians, born again Christians, in this survey, ages 18 to 55. They said that Jesus was not the only way. 70%, that's off by 20%. That's startling. Our faith is built upon, no, Christ is our only hope, as we'll see in Christ alone. He is our only hope.
Another survey, 66% of evangelicals answered and said that Jesus was not God. Jesus was, our faith is built upon that, that Christ is God. These are the most basic Christian beliefs. And what it reveals is a few things. One of them is, is a lack of biblical teaching in pulpits across the country. But another thing is that we just don't read our Bibles like we should.
We don't read our Bibles enough. Y'all, we need to know the scriptures. Y'all, this is worthy of our focus. It's worthy of our lives. That passage in 2 Timothy 3 shows the riches of the scriptures. Y'all, if I told you that I had a prophetic book, and this prophetic book had every single stock pick that you should make every day the stock market is open, the stock market is open over the next 10 years.
And if you, or something you ought to do, crypto, there you go, for the rest of you. That if you follow this book every day over the next 10 years, you will be a billionaire in 10 years. And you're like, I don't know, I'll give it a shot. And a month in, you're like, I just made $1,000. Two years in, I just made $10,000. A year in, I'm a millionaire.
You would read that book every single day the market opens so that you could make the trades because that's a tangible thing. Of course, I want to be a billionaire. And the scriptures show something that is infinitely and eternally better than riches. That there's a wealth of eternal riches in the scriptures. And our lack of reading, it shows a functional disbelief that it is the sole authority for what is good in this life. We need the scriptures.
If we want to do the things that we talk about being a gospel centered community on mission, if we want to make disciples, if we want to train our children to know who God is, if we want to share the gospel to a dying world that desperately needs Christ, if we want to taste and see that the Lord is good, we need the Bible. We need to know our Bibles. And if we don't, we functionally show that we don't believe the Sola Scriptura is true. Second, we need to submit to our Bibles. We need to submit to our Bibles. We are increasingly shaped by an anti-authoritarian culture.
There's a culture that does not care about authority. And this shows up. I mean, we have conversations and we're not unique. We talk to other pastors. You read about other pastors online. They're having the same conversations that you sit across the table from somebody who is choosing sin.
And you open up the Bible. You say, you should not be cohabitating with the person you're dating. Don't do this. Let me show you from the scriptures why this is sin. That you should grow in generosity. To not be stingy with your money.
Jesus talks a lot about this. We sit across the table from someone that says, I'm getting a divorce because I want to be happy. And say, no, look at what the Word of God says here. Don't do this. And we have heard people say, and we're not unique in this. We've heard people say, I don't care what that says.
I'm going to do what I want to do. And where the Bible supports my life, I will, I will, yes and amen. But where it doesn't, I will reject it. And the Bible becomes a buffet where you choose what you want and you reject what you don't. And that anti-authority, that, that shows up. Y'all, every now and then I have this complex ethical situation, like a variety, just complex ethical situations that come up.
And I'm like, oh, goodness. I know that I'm supposed to consult God's Word. I know I'm supposed to pray. I know I'm supposed to consult other Christians who are consulting God's Word. And there's a part of me that just says, that's really exhausting. I just want to go from here.
I want to go from the gut. Let me just make the call. And that is a rejection of the authority of God's Word. And we'll submit the lesser things, y'all. We will go to the internet. We will go to mom blogs and to podcasts and to anything else to find advice and wisdom.
Or even worse, we'll go just with ourselves. We'll see ourselves as the authority on what is good for us. We spent a summer, last summer, in the Proverbs. And the Proverbs basically acknowledged that. The assumption is, is humanity, yes, you want to choose what is good for you because of your fallen flesh. Here is what the wisdom of the Scriptures says otherwise.
But we show a functional disbelief in Scripture alone when we say, I don't want the Scriptures. I want what is best for me. And the Bible holds a better way out. It shows an eternally better way that is for us if we would just submit to God and His Word. Last, we need to stand on our Bibles. Not literally.
We need to stand on our Bibles. That song we were singing earlier, it's based on the solid rock, comes from Luke 6, 47. It says, Everyone who comes to me and hears my word and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. Y'all, the Scriptures are worth our lives. We can stand on them.
They are trustworthy. They are tried and they are true. Every now and then, I will hear the objections say, the Bible has contradictions. The Bible has this in it. Look at this. When I was a younger Christian, I used to wig out.
I am like, oh, where? And then over the years, I hear someone say, oh, look at this in the Gospels. Look at this. And I go and I look at it and I study it and I go deeper, deeper down the well, deeper into the riches. Consult commentaries from 2,000 years of church history, of church interpretation. I look at it and I look at it.
I'm like, man, no, absolutely. This is true. And it's good. And the older I get, the less I'm not thrown off when someone says that. I'm like, no, show me. Show me the Scriptures.
Let's study it together. It is trustworthy and it is true. It is worth banking our eternities on what it says. We can firmly stand on the Word of God. Martin Luther understood this. He understood that the church standing on its own authority is a road lined with corruption that leads to self-destruction.
And that is why when he stood on trial for his teachings, his teachings like this on Sola Scriptura, when he stood on trial and they said, you need to recant. And he knew exactly what he could face. He knew what happened to Hus a hundred years before him. He knew that he could be burned at the stake. And he considered it for a day. And he came back later and he said, here I stand.
I can do no other. And what he was standing on was the Word of God. The Word of God alone as his authority. And from that moment forward, I mean, he would rather have faced a gruesome fate from a wayward church than disobey God and his Word. And that tradition has continued over the last 500 years. We are beneficiaries of the ones who stand on that tradition while we also look at the ways we can continue to grow into it.
Matt's going to come up and he's going to sing a song over us that you have not heard before. My hope is that you would consider those three things that are behind me. Consider how we have functionally rejected the scriptures alone as our authority for what is good and what is true. We have fallen short. And how we need to absolutely know our Bibles, we have fallen short in the ways we have said, I don't want to submit to this. We have fallen short and not standing firm on the scriptures.
Praise Jesus that Sola Scriptura isn't the only five, one of the five solas. That we can receive grace because the faith has been gifted to us in Christ. That where we fail to believe this, there's mercy that is given to us. And that we as Christians get to walk this out in beautiful repentance saying, I want God. And his word. And I get to commit the rest of my life to that.
Let me pray for us. Lord, we lack faith and wisdom. But you have it in abundance. God, may you grant that to us and more so. That we would trust you and your word. That we would see your word as valuable, as profitable, and as beautiful and good.
Help us be a people that continue to stand on scripture alone. Because it is one of the most beautiful gifts that you've given us in the church. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. The beginning of the Psalms.
And Psalm...
Abide in the Word
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Spencer. I'm one of the pastors here. Just a quick note, a follow-up from last week. If you were here last week, it was Elisha. And if you were not here, glad you're here this morning.
We're going to be in Psalm 119, which is on page 294 in your Blue Bibles. Go ahead and flip there. We're going to be continuing to walk through this series, Abide. Today we're going to talk about abiding in the Bibles. So this morning I would encourage you, please open your Bible, grab a Bible.
The blue ones are near you in the rows. You can also pull it up on your phone. But we're going to be walking through, jumping around Psalm 119, so please go ahead and flip there. This is my first time back up here since Egypt. Since we got to go to Egypt, that was an amazing trip we've gotten to talk about. It was a blessing to be able to go and for three days teach and equip leaders who are leveraging their lives to see the gospel advance in a culture that is hostile to it.
As we were preparing to teach, each of us, we were giving our sermon material to Ben and Patricia. Ben, who's the president of 1040 Hope, a member of our church who is going with us. We gave it to them to kind of look at, to kind of help us think through, because we never taught in the Middle East. We never had really our work translated before. So I was reaching out to them and I was like, what do you think of this?
How do you think this is going to go? And Ben was like, man, this is going to be the best teaching that they have ever heard. And I was like, man, Ben, I love you. You are awesome. But Ben is a really, really encouraging person.
He's just, it exudes from him. And I needed a dose of realism. And that is his wife, Patricia. So I went to her and I said, Patricia, what do you think about this? And she said, honestly, a lot of the teaching, a lot of the teams that come in, it's really bad. Really bad teaching.
So yeah, by default, yours will probably be some of the best teaching they've ever heard. I was like, awesome. Got the full picture. But it was exciting to be able to go and be able to teach. And when I heard that, that this church and these ministries really don't have access to really quality, sound teaching, I had an assumption that because of that, they probably didn't know their Bibles. And man, was I wrong.
Because we were teaching, we had our translator. She would translate and we would read a Bible verse. And as she's reading the Bible verse, in the crowd, they are completing it. They knew their Bibles. And it makes sense. If you believe in Jesus so much that you would leverage your life and safety to see Jesus advance in a country that is hostile to it, you absolutely would believe Jesus at His Word when He says the Bible is important to abide in the Word.
And in our country, where we have an abundance of really sound teaching and a mix of some really bad stuff as well, it becomes apparent that we actually don't know our Bibles all that well. Because when you can hear a snippet of something on K-Love, which I know is family friendly, but at times it's really off base. When you can hear something online, on Facebook, when you can listen to a podcast, and it teaches something that is incorrect, it doesn't line up with the Bible, that gives a faulty view of Jesus, how often are American Christians so quick to accept it and believe it? It's because we lack the discernment because we don't know our Bibles.
Today we're going to be looking at the need to abide in Jesus as we abide in His Word. And we're going to be in Psalm 119 to see how this is fleshed out. Psalm 119 is a celebration of the Word of God. It's the longest chapter in the Bible. It's 176 verses. It's a Hebrew acrostic that goes to the Hebrew alphabet and celebrates how good the Bible is.
So as we jump around in Psalm 119, we're going to see four different things. We're going to see the revealing of Jesus and His Word. Second, we're going to see what happens when we meet Jesus and His Word. Third, we're going to see how we practically meet Him and His Word. And lastly, we're going to see the result, which is delighting in Jesus and His Word. So let me pray, and then we'll jump in.
Father, I'm so thankful that You have given us this amazing gift that we get to open up every Sunday. God, I pray that You would open our hearts to the reality that this is a beautiful, profoundly amazing gift that You've given us in the Bible. And that we would abide in You as we abide in Him. In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so real quick, I want to flesh out the revealing of Jesus and His Word.
Last week, Chet introduced this series, the series on abiding, and he walked us through John 15, that we might grow in these ancient practices that we've been given. And in John 15, we got to see the picture of how we abide in Jesus. And last week, he held up that branch that was broken off that was dead. And said, this is the picture of what it looks like to be outside of the abiding in Jesus. And I want to make something very clear. That if you believe in Jesus, if you've placed your faith in Him, you abide in Him.
You are already abiding in Him. In this series, we want to press deeper into a deeper abiding, that we might grow, that we might flourish, that we might bear the fruit that Jesus calls us to, that we might look very different in the picture of a broken off branch. So as we learn to abide in His Word, I want to go back to John 15, when He says, If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. That Jesus calls us, He calls us to abide in Him, and He qualifies us. He says, And your words abide in you. That Jesus and His words, they get equated.
That we get to see Jesus revealed in His Word. This goes all the way back to the Old Testament. If you look at 1 Samuel 3.21, it says, And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the Word of the Lord. That He reveals Himself personally by His Word to the prophet Samuel. That means that God reveals Himself in His Word. His character, His goodness, His justice, His love.
We get to see the face of God displayed in His Word. Therefore, we should lean into that. We should get to know Him personally in His Word. We should be transformed and shaped by Him as we celebrate and walk through this gift of the Bible. So Jesus is revealed through His Word.
Now I want to look at what happens when we meet Jesus in His Word. There's a lot of things that happen when we get to know Jesus and we meet Him in His Word. I want to walk through four specific things that we see from Psalm 119. The first one is that we are blessed. When we meet Jesus in His Word, we are blessed. Verse 1 and 2 says, Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord.
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with their whole heart. So He starts out by saying, If you walk in the Word, which means if you live your life by this, if you keep His Word, which means you follow His commandments, if you seek Him with your whole heart, which primarily comes through abiding in His Word, you are blessed. And I don't want to skip over that, because blessing here is deep. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, blessing is much bigger than how we use it in our own context. That blessing means profound, deep, abiding happiness. It means joyful happiness and flourishing as humans made in the image of God.
That we might be so joy-filled, that we might be so happy, that we might be so flourishing. That is the picture of those who abide in His Word. That we are blessed. Which is very different than how we use it. Because when we use it, you know, you have someone who's in their 50s, who has kids that are successful, that has a great business, has a great life, and they would say, I am blessed. And that's true.
They are blessed, but on such a temporary scale. On such a here and now. In the grand scheme of eternity, it's temporary blessings. And God is trying to lift up our head and say, no, no, no, no. Think bigger. Dream bigger.
This is eternal blessing. If you abide in My Word, there's a much bigger blessing that awaits you. So we are blessed when we meet Jesus and His Word. Second, we are enlightened. And flip over to verse 105. He says, Your Word is a lamp to My feet and a light to My path.
The psalmist says the Bible is like a lamp that lights up the darkness. It enlightens us. And those of us who, before meeting Jesus, the picture of us in the Bible is that we are in darkness. Another picture is that we are groping and feeling our way that we might find Him. Then Jesus, the light of the world, steps in and reveals Himself.
And then we get the gift that He's given us as a lamp. We get the Bible. But the picture when we're not using the Bible is that we're like a fool stumbling around in the darkness. This is a vivid picture for me because often when I wake up in the morning, you know how like a ninja is stealthy and inconspicuous? I'm conspicuous. In the morning, I just, I fumble around in the darkness because I wake up before my wife and she really hates it because I wake her up very often because I wake up groggy.
We have blackout curtains and it's dark and I'm crashing into things. I'm loud. She's like, why are you so loud? It's like, I just, I don't have it in me. I'm heavy-footed. I'm going to run into things and it's dark often when I wake up like a fool stumbling around in the darkness.
That is a picture of us. When we don't use the word as a lamp to our feet, that is what we look like. We need the Bible to be a lamp that guides us, that shows us, that's almost a corrective kind of light, that shows us the iniquity, the sin, the darkness that is within us and also the darkness that surrounds us and needs to correct what is in us. This past week, Anna, my wife and I, we had some stuff to talk about. We had a series of conversations that needed to have big conversations, some future stuff, thinking through things and we knew that when we were going to have this that it was not going to be fun.
So my theory was, it's like, listen, these three or four things we need to talk about, let's ruin one night. We'll ruin one night, we'll pick this night, we'll discuss it on this night and then we'll get it over with and then we'll be good after that and that was more of a field strategy. If your husband leads your home in the way that you think you should be led, there is some merit in getting it all done at once but after you've had the third or fourth different item that you've talked about and everyone's upset, I don't know how much you accomplished but we did it, we went for it and we talked about all of it and the next morning, it became clear as I was thinking about how I talked about things that I was actually not gentle and that I was harsh with her and passages like Colossians 3.19 lit up my way, it says, husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. It corrected me.
I reached out to her and said, I'm sorry, I was not gentle, I was not loving, I was harsh, do you forgive me? We need this, we need the Bible to step in and to correct us, to show us what is within us that we might repent of sin and turn to Jesus. It lights up the darkness within us, it also lights up the darkness that is around us. I want you to hear this, the more that you read the Bible, the more it changes your views of the world. Especially, hear this, when culture and the world is actively attempting to shape your view of Jesus, your view of the Bible, your view of the world. Let me do something that hits both sides of the aisle.
Our culture actively is trying to shape our ethics on sexuality. I mean, it is, and it's consistently shifting at seemingly light speed pace. Culture is consistently trying to shape this and saying, no, your views are archaic, no, you are backwards, and it is tempting to listen to it. That we might be shaped by it and the Bible comes as a lamp and says, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, the Bible says this, that this is good for you, that you might not be shaped by culture. On the other side of it, over the past few years, I've seen and heard some very dehumanizing and hateful language thrown towards the foreigner.
Hearing it over and over and over again. And if you are not careful, culture is going to shape your view of the foreigner. when the Bible specifically teaches that every single person is made in the image of God. They have dignity and value and worth. That you can't read the Old Testament law without seeing that we care for the foreigner. That you can't look at the prophets and see how they correct us. That we should have a loving and generous view towards the sojourner or towards the foreigner.
Both sides of culture are trying to shape us and the Bible says, no, no, no, no. It is a lamp to our feet. It is a corrective light that lights up what is within us that needs to be lit up and also what is around us that we might walk and follow Jesus faithfully. The Bible enlightens us. It also calms our soul. That's the third thing that happens when we meet Jesus and His Word.
We are at peace. Flip over to 165. Verse 165. He says, Great peace have those who love your law. Nothing can make them stumble. What a picture of peace that we have for those who love His Word.
You see law and precepts and testimonies and His Word all interchanged to share the Bible. What a picture that no matter what the situation is in life, no matter what you are facing, that if you love God's Word, you can stand firm that you will not stumble and fall. And you might stagger a little bit. You might get wobbly. But the picture and the ideal that is being held up here is that we would love God's Word so much that when chaos comes we would stand firm, that we would not stumble, that we would not fall.
I feel like this so much is a picture of my life as of late. I kind of feel like that lately, like one of those UFC fighters that's been pinned on the mat and it's just getting punched in the face over and over and over again. Those last few months that's kind of how it's felt. And some of y'all you'll get that. Like there are seasons where it's just one thing after the other, one thing after the other. And in those seasons where it is chaotic, in those seasons where there is darkness hovering over you, you'll have a question.
Is the Bible the most important lifeline for you in those seasons? How many of us have a love for God's Word that is so deep that when chaos comes, that when trials come, we come to His Word? That's the hope. Is that we would have peace from His Word. That we would exist so much. Like when you are deeply anxious and that darkness is hovering over you, you could exist in a Philippians 4 mindset that says, do not be anxious in anything but through prayer and supplication.
Make your requests known to the Lord. That would be so vivid in your brain that you might stagger a little bit but your hope would be so firmly in Jesus because you are abiding in His Word that you would be at peace. That when suffering and trials come, you would exist in a Romans 8 reality that says, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the surpassing glory that is to be revealed. That's the goal. That's the hope. That we'd be so in love and abiding in God's Word that we would stand firm and our souls would be at peace.
When we meet Jesus in His Word that we would be at peace. the fourth thing that I'll say here is that when we meet Jesus in His Word we are counsel. That the Word of God counsels us. Flip over to verse 24. He says, Your testimonies are my delight. They are my counselors. The Bible gives us counsel for all of life's situations.
No matter what you are facing, the Bible has a word for you. That is why we talk about so much in our church, good news before good advice. Because you'll hear some good advice from friends, from family. And it's good, but oftentimes it is temporary and the Bible is trying to uphold. No, no, no. There is eternal wisdom here.
Give the good news. Give the wisdom that we need from His Word because this is where Jesus, our Chief Shepherd, gets to counsel you. He has revealed in His Word that our Chief Shepherd might counsel us with wisdom, counsel us with His testimonies, that He might give us a word that would encourage us, that would guide us, that would give us counsel. So often as I've walked with people that have been going through different difficult circumstances or just have big life choices, like choosing a job, choosing a career, moving forward, big life decisions, family, all the big stuff. As I've walked with people over the past few years who have had to make these kind of decisions, there's something that I've seen over and over and over again is that as they're making these decisions, as they're trying to figure out where they should go, what they should do, it is clear they haven't even thought to open up the Bible to see what our Chief Shepherd has to say.
How He might counsel us. That we're so quick to seek wisdom from family and friends that we will do pro and con lists, that we will chart it out, that we'll tally it up before we even think, what does my Shepherd have to say? How would He counsel me through this? What does His Word have to say to me? Trying to navigate through all of life's difficulties without the Bible is like navigating in the dark. It's like driving on a winding mountain road where you've got a cliff on one side and you've just decided, no, I don't think I need the headlines.
I think I'm just going to trust my gut. You might make it around one curve, but if you continue to do this, you will fall off the cliff and it will not be pretty. We need the Bible to counsel us. We need His testimonies, His wisdom to guide us through the curves of life. And we also need it for others. With wisdom, that we would help others be counseled by the Word.
That when someone is walking through something, it's not trite or cliche to give them a Bible verse. I know that's assumed sometimes, that if someone just gives you a Bible verse, that that's not helpful. How could that not be helpful? How could pointing you to our chief shepherd counseling you? How could that not be good for our souls? Yes, it can be done unwisely.
Some people come in like a home run hitter with a bat swinging on you. Just be more like a surgeon with a scalpel. That's the picture we should give. But we should grow in wanting to counsel one another from His Word. So those are four pictures that we get from Psalm 119 of what happens when we meet Jesus and His Word.
There are so many other ones that I don't have time to get into. That it's sweeter than honey. That it's richer than gold. There are pictures throughout the Bible of what the Word of God is. It's a sword that pierces in Hebrews 4. It's a mirror that reflects in James 1.
It's a seed that grows in the book of Matthew. It's milk that nourishes. It's a fire that consumes. It's a hammer that shatters. And on and on and on we see pictures of what the Bible is for us and what happens when we meet Jesus and His Word. Now, I know what you may be thinking.
That's great. Good. I wish I had the time for it. I wish I had the time to spend in His Word. I know you do because you preach because this is what you do but I am busy and it is hard. Now, I know that we are busy.
I know that none of us has had time to watch the new season of Stranger Things and to get to that final eighth episode in the mall which is so good. I know that we're not going to have time to watch football in the fall all weekend long. I know that we don't have time for the hobbies that we make time for all the time. Here's the deal. It's not that we don't make time for the Bible. It's that we won't make time for the Bible.
We don't make space for it because what you value you will absolutely make time for. I know this is true because if we got done with this sermon I said we have a challenge for our church family. We want to read the Bible over the next 365 days. All of the Bible and if you complete this challenge we will wire $100,000 into your checking account. If you weren't immediately confused and disturbed as to how we had this money who was bankrolling this what's the wisdom of this we would have a 100% success rate. All of us would be reading the Bible if it meant early payment we'd do it in 90 days because you make time for what you value.
That's just the reality. So the goal is that we would make time that we'd see the value of this and as we see the value in this that we would not be distracted. We wouldn't have our gaze be captured by other things. Verse 37 in Psalm 119 says Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things and give me life in your ways. Turn my eyes from worthless things. Over the coming weeks we're going to take shots of the things that are capturing our gaze that keep us from abiding in Christ the things that are worthless in the grand scheme of eternity and one of those things that I'm seeing really in my own life but I would assume isn't on in many of your lives is that our phones regularly capture our gaze.
I'm reading this book it's called 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You it's by Tony Reiki one of the ways that he lists that we are being changed by our phones is that we have become addicted to distraction that our phones have literally trained us to be distracted and that's true think about your day you wake up in the morning what is the thing that wakes you up? Most of us have alarm clocks on our phone and then how quickly do we pick it up do we scroll through some things? He polled some Christians for this book and he said how many of you spend time on your phone before you spend time in the Bible?
The Word of the Lord
Transcript
We're going to talk about why, and we're going to talk about this gospel proclamation. So grab your Bibles, go to Romans chapter 1. We're going to be in three different places in Romans today. We're going to Romans 1, then we'll go to Romans 5, then we'll go to Romans 10, as we talk about why, as we talk about, why would we spend our time, proclaiming the gospel, and seeing people grow up in the gospel, so that they might proclaim the gospel. That's what discipling is, that we would share the gospel, people would become Christians, they would grow to the point, that they could share the gospel, and train others to follow Jesus.
Let's pray, and then we'll begin reading in Romans 1. Father, we thank you, for how good you are, and for this time we get to spend this morning in your word, and we pray that it would be fruitful, and effective, and that your Holy Spirit would move in us, that we might commit to being people, who share the gospel, and that you might center in us, ground in us, why we can do nothing else. In Jesus' name, amen. We'll look in verse 16. This is Paul writing to the church in Rome, and he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel. The gospel is the news of Jesus, the proclamation of the news of Jesus, what he had done on the cross for us, that he paid for our sins.
So he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it, for this message, this news, is the power of God for salvation, to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it, in the gospel, in this message, in Jesus' work on our behalf, in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith, for faith, as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith. Now this is kind of his thesis statement as he carries out the rest of this book, but what he's saying is, I'm not ashamed of this news, because it's where we get salvation. It's the power of the gospel, the power of God for salvation, is in this message, that Jesus Christ died for sinners, that he rose again, and that from faith, for faith, we get righteousness, which means, that you don't bring your own righteousness to the table, you get it, by having faith in Jesus, and he gives it to those with faith, so that we have faith, it's from faith, it's for faith, that we trust him, that everybody comes forward as a Christian and says, it's all on you, Jesus, I'm trusting you, I'm not holding anything back, I'm not trusting in myself, I'm trusting you.
By having faith in Jesus, and he gives it to those with faith, so that we have faith, it's from faith, it's for faith, that we trust him, that everybody comes forward as a Christian and says, it's all on you, Jesus, I'm trusting you, I'm not holding anything back, I'm not trusting in myself, I'm trusting you. And so as I read that, and I just spent some time this week thinking about the idea of being ashamed, or being not ashamed, being unashamed, and I know that if you ask me, are you ashamed of the gospel, I would answer, no. And the reason I would answer no,
Is because, I don't think I'm ashamed of the gospel, and secondarily, I know I'm not supposed to be ashamed of the gospel, I want to be like Paul, where he says he's unashamed, and there's this idea throughout the scriptures, that we're to proclaim Jesus, we're to hold him up, we're to be not ashamed of him, and that he won't be ashamed of us, and so I think for most of us as Christians, if you asked, are you ashamed of the gospel, you'd say, no. And if you've been around the church for a while, maybe in your head, you'd start being like, no, it's the power of God, for salvation, like I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Now,
I want to change subject for just a second, to help us picture this idea of shame, I, some of y'all may not follow this section of news, as I have some unfortunate news to share with you, if you haven't been keeping up with it, something terrible happened, on Monday night, my wife and I, were on vacation, we got to go on a free trip, they said, do you want to go, it's free, I said free is my first cousin, we would love to go, but even while we were on vacation, this news reached us, the Clemson Tigers, won the national championship, in college football, now this is terrible news, some of y'all again, don't follow this,
Don't pay attention to this, but you live in Columbia, South Carolina, the home of the Gamecocks, I am a Carolina fan, and as we were going to travel, we went and got on an airplane in Columbia, where there shouldn't be Clemson fans, but they've infected the whole state, and we saw so much orange and purple, two very ugly colors, that they've mixed together for some reason, and these people were very proud, and they're on their way, to the national championship, and I remember thinking, like I was sitting near them, and I remember thinking, like I was glad, I didn't just accidentally, wear some Gamecock stuff, because I don't want to have to talk, to them about it, that's all it was,
It was like I realized, I didn't want to get in a conversation, because the truth is, as a Gamecock fan, those conversations, haven't been going well, for the last five years or so, they're not good conversations, and Carolina's not doing great, and Clemson's got continually better, they looked amazing on Monday night, it hurt my feelings to watch, and here's what happened, like I just realized, and I remember thinking about it later, and I was like, why was that, like what was that feeling, that feeling was shame, I was ashamed to have to talk, like I didn't want them to be like, oh yeah, how was y'all's bowl game, because they knew how our bowl game was,
First of all, we worked really hard, to barely make it to that bowl game, just to have our feelings hurt, and so I got to thinking about it, and the truth is, for a lot of us as Christians, we would say we're unashamed, but at the moment, we come to, maybe I should tell this person, about Jesus, is there something in us, that goes, I don't really want to talk about that, I don't really want to be that guy, I don't really want to be that girl, I don't want to, wouldn't that make things weird, I saw a comedian stand up, he said I'd love for everybody, I hope everybody's having a good night, I hope everybody's comfortable, and since I want everybody to be comfortable,
I'd love to speak with you, tonight about Jesus, everybody busts out laughing, because, they're immediately uncomfortable, like I know, that when I have to tell people, I'm a pastor, I don't even have to say Jesus, I just say ask me what I do, and I'm like here we go, this is going to get weird, you can't tell people you're a pastor, without it getting kind of weird you guys, they're either way too excited, they got a lot of questions, they got a lot of stories, or they're like oh, you can see them thinking, like it's okay, how do I leave, like it, that's just saying pastor, it's not even saying Jesus,
Is there something in us, at that moment, when we're like oh, maybe I should share, maybe I should say something, maybe they need to hear this, it goes oh, but what would that do, would that be weird, and is that in us, shame, for people who would declare, I am unashamed of the gospel, is there something, that we trip over, in our own hearts, when it comes time, to actually tell somebody, about the goodness of the gospel, and we believe it's good, you know who's not ashamed, right now, Clemson fans, and do you know why,
They're not ashamed right now, Clemson is really, really good, and do you know why, we are to be unashamed, of the gospel, because it is really, really good, far better than Clemson, the gospel is good, so grab your Bible, so if you've already, hold them, go to Romans 5, as we talk about why, why would I spend my time, sharing this, why would I go out of my way, why would I jump that hurdle, of hesitation, why would I push past, into the awkwardness, why would I do this, the first answer,
Is that the gospel, is too good, this news, is too good, and so we're going to read this, we're just going to talk about, how good it is for a second, we're going to remind ourselves, how good it is for a second, because for some reason, we get caught up in life, we get to following Jesus, and we forget, how good this is, maybe it's because we've forgotten, how lost we used to be, Romans 5 chapter 6, for while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died, for the ungodly, now that sounds like, a not very godly thing to do, Jesus,
The son of God, God the son, is coming to rescue, humanity, and who does he rescue, the ungodly, now I don't know, if y'all are familiar, with basic English, but that's the opposite, of godliness, he's godly, who does he rescue, the ungodly, now if you're ungodly, that's really good news, that he comes to rescue you, at your worst, at your ugliest, at your meanest, at your pettiest, at your most despicable, that that is who, Jesus redeems,
That is who Jesus dies for, is the ungodly, let's keep going, because this news, gets better and better, for one will scarcely die, for a righteous person, though perhaps, for a good person, one would dare, even to die, but God shows his love, for us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, he shows his love for us, he says, some people would dare die, for a good person, that maybe you would, you would know of a good person, who is worth dying for,
Maybe you know, this happens with like, the secret service, or whatever, they're like, this person's life, is valuable to the country, so I'm willing to die for them, that like, we understand that concept, but he says, who dies for scoundrels, who dies for people, who are basically human garbage, someone who loves them, that's what he says, that Jesus loves the ungodly, that he dies, while we're still sinners, that while we were still weak, that he redeems us, do you know how good, that news is, you see,
We're tempted to believe, that the way that we go to salvation, in Christ, the way that we come to salvation, in Christ, is much like getting a mortgage, like he's going to check, your credit history, and you need to show, some credit worthiness, that you know, he's got the money, he's, I know Jesus saves, I know Jesus saves, he's the one with the money, I realize, I got to go to him, do the interview, fill out the paperwork, I get that, I can't save myself, I don't have the net worth, but he does,
I understand that, and so this is how people, think about it, like yeah, I can go get salvation, from Jesus, but, you know, he's going to check my credit, I got to show credit worthiness, or if I don't have, any credit worthiness, I'm not really going to bring that up, I'm going to bring pay stubs, super good Jesus, like I, don't look at that, look at future me, maybe it's a little bit of both, you also, maybe you kind of think, there's like an interest rate thing, where like, well he was pretty good,
Jesus saved him, but like he didn't have as much to pay back, I was super bad, Jesus saves me, I got a higher interest rate, I got more to do, that's not what it says, he doesn't take people with good credit, he takes people to get that 39% APR, that they don't even tell you about, that's who he gets, he's the buy here, pay here, people like you, you go like he, you don't have to have credit, no credit, no money down, no nothing, you just show up and say, hey, I really don't deserve anything, and he says, this is my team,
Do you know how good that is, because the truth is, even you, who believe you have good credit, have zero before God, that's what Paul spends his time doing, in the first four chapters of this, he says, those people are terrible, they're the worst, they've rebelled against God, that's all Romans 1, they've sinned, they've replaced God with idols, and he gets everybody going, yeah, those people, and then in chapter 2, he goes, so you have no excuse, those who judge, and you're like, why did you, why we were talking about them,
Why did you bring me into this, and he spends the rest of the time, saying that good works, and good morals, aren't going to save you, and then he comes here, and he says, he died for sinners, he died to save the ungodly, and if you know you're a sinner, and you know you're ungodly, that's good news, it's also good news, for all your sinner friends, and your sinner relatives, that he loves us, we're going to put verse 9, and through 11 up here, and we're going to talk through this, so this is, he saves, he dies for the ungodly, he dies to rescue those, who don't deserve it,
Who have no credit history, no future pay stubs, who only bring debt, all I have is debt, I have nothing else, I just bring debt, he pays that off, he dies for us, to redeem us, to buy us back, since therefore, we have now been justified, by his blood, much more shall we be saved, by him from the wrath of God, for while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God, by the death of his son, first thing I want to show us there, is it says, we have now been justified, by his blood, that if you are in Christ, you are justified,
By his blood, justified is a legal term, which means that if you went to court, you would be declared, not guilty, that if you are in Christ, his blood has covered you, so that you have no record of debt, you have no record of sin, that we think sometimes, when we go to judgment, he is going to pull up, every bad thing we have ever done, not if you are in Christ, we are declared not guilty, more than that, that is all that our legal system, will declare you, is not guilty, God is going to declare us innocent, because we are blameless, and above reproach in Christ, that if you are in Jesus, you are justified,
By his blood, you have been made right, you walk out scot free, in a legal sense, but it says, it didn't stop there, he says that we are saved by him, from the wrath of God, so that we are not just justified, but that we are saved, this idea that we are saved, from the wrath of God, or that Jesus absorbs, the wrath of God, so if you have the word justification, which is a big Bible word, this is the word propitiation, for those of you who care, about those sort of things, I will say it again, and for those of you, don't ignore the next second, propitiation, that he absorbs wrath,
On our behalf, so that it's not just, that we are made holy, before him, it's not just that we are justified, that we get to walk out, in a legal sense, but that actually, he absorbs the wrath, that we deserve, because Romans 1 says, that wrath is coming, towards the ungodly, and then it says, that he saves the ungodly, but then he keeps going, for while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God, by the death of his son, much more now, that we are reconciled, shall we be saved, by his life, more than that,
We also rejoice in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom, we have now received, reconciliation, reconciliation, means that we are, brought back in, we're made right with God, and we are brought to neutral, and he's like, alright, not guilty, but I better not, see you back in here, he's like, alright, not guilty, you wanna go grab a hot dog, like he, he invites us in, he brings us in, we're reconciled, our relationship is good,
I have a three year old son, so I am learning, how to parent, consistently, every day, he is challenging, he's great, but he's also challenging, and I really love, being a daddy, and the opportunities I get, but I, my wife and I are always like, I just, you know, parenting, you don't get to think, you just, you just have to go, and then you get to think, so like I've entered into situations, and I'm like, well I finished the situation, but goodness,
That shouldn't go that way next time, so I'm always like, you know, I go into parenting, and Anna and I, like she coaches me up, we talk about it, or whatever, it doesn't go well, when she tries in the middle of everything, to coach me up, but it goes better, if we get to discuss it later, because as soon as she shows up, he's like, my advocate's here, excuse me, if you'll just speak with my legal counsel, from now on, thank you, so it goes better, when in the situation, I get to handle things, we talk about it later,
But the other day, I was doing stuff with him, and when he's getting more amped up, I get more amped up, and I don't get loud, I've never been a loud person, I don't shout, I just get intense, and so I do this, I say, boy, let me tell you something right now, and I was talking to him, and he was getting louder, so I was being more intense, or whatever, and I came out, and the situation didn't go super well, you know, I parented through it, it's fine, but it wasn't my best work, I came out, and Anna said,
You're talking to him too intensely, like it's too much for a three year old, she said, I honestly think the way you're talking, you might, could make some grown men cry, and I was like, baby, you really think I can make a grown man cry? You know, just the sort of thing to say to me, she felt like I focused on the wrong part, so, but one of the things I've had to learn with him, is that like, it's not just that, like I, kids have parents for a reason, they don't, they don't have good sense, they need adults around them, there's a reason why they're not like, you know, I watched a TV show about iguanas,
And those things like, born and they can run off, and go do their own thing, your child can't, because it needs you there, making decisions for it, for a very long time, but one of the things I've realized, is as I correct him, and as I discipline him, one of the things I've started doing, is I just afterwards, I hug him, I tell him I love him, I get down on my knee, you know, the other day, he had gotten in trouble for something, and he got popped, and I said, you can go play, and he said, wait daddy, you forgot the part where you hug me,
And I was like, yeah, dude, come here, it's a good point, I'm glad you know the system, he wouldn't, I don't think he'd be like, what about the part where I get spanked, he probably wouldn't do that, but the hug, he remembers, and that's what that says, that we're reconciled, that he doesn't just say, okay, I've made some people even with me now, you're not guilty, it says, no, that he brings us in, that he loves us, that you're right with God, that when he thinks of you,
He thinks fondly of you, that he enjoys you, that you're reconciled, that your relationship with him is good, because of Jesus, do you know how good that is, he goes on, this is what we're covering in this section, but he also talks about in Romans 8, that we're adopted, that it's not just our relationships, right, but that he brings us into the family, other places talk about, that he does expiation, which means that he takes everything, that's ever happened to us, everything that would be on our record, he removes it, everything that's ever, all the sin that's been committed against us, all our shame, he cleans us, this news is too good,
For us to have even a twinge of shame, when it comes to telling somebody about it, it's too good, it's too eternally good, and too eternally urgent, it's too soul satisfying, that we would even trip, or have a hint of a, this propels us forward, and here's the thing, it's not just that it's too good, the stakes are too high, because if you don't have Christ, everything we just talked about, is flipped on its head, that when you stand before him, he does have a record of your guilt, you are not justified, you will not be declared not guilty, you will not leave that courtroom, that when you meet him, it will not be a moment of reconciliation, you will not get the hug, you do not get welcomed in,
You are not adopted, that you will stand before your judge, and your maker, on your own account, and it will not go well, and that rightfully, and justly, you will bear the wrath of God, because Jesus did not bear it for you, on the cross, and that is true, infinitely, eternally true, for everyone outside of Christ, now he died for the ungodly, which means that everybody is welcomed in, who will follow him, this news is too good, and the stakes are too high, for us to not spend our time, sharing it, for us to keep this to ourselves, you think about your life with Jesus, if you are in Christ,
And how you handle your life, when you are faced with anxiety, when you are overwhelmed, you see when you are talking to people at work, or you are talking to your neighbors, or you are just enjoying a friendship, with somebody who doesn't know Christ, they are going to talk to you about their life, and life is messy, and life is sinful, and life is hurtful, and life is fearful, and they are going to talk about, their fears for the future, and their fears for their children, and how difficult they are having, time in their marriage, and how anxious they are over money, or over how this job may not work out, or they have got a new boss, and they are not sure, if the new boss likes them, and they are going to talk about, all these things in life,
And the truth is, if you were walking through this, with yourself, or with someone in your community group, what would you be saying, I am dealing with anxiety, I am going to remind myself, that there is a God, who rules over the universe, that he is sovereign, that he tells me, that if I am fearful and anxious, I actually have no ability, to accomplish anything, but that he is good, and I can cast my cares on him, but I am worried about the future, if I really, you want to know, if I really get worried, about the future, you know you can pick up your Bible, and jump to the back end of Revelation, and see how it is going to shake out,
There is a part in there, where it says, everybody who loves Jesus, is gathered around the throne, in a place where there are no tears, and there is no suffering, and there is no night anymore, and there is no pain anymore, and that he welcomes them in, and that we get to spend eternity there, and sometimes, when you are fearful about the future, just go to the back end of Revelation, and say the future is going to be fine, for those who are in Christ, when you are worried about, being able to pay bills, don't you remind yourself, that Jesus looked at some people, and said, consider the ravens, they don't toil, they don't have barns, but they eat every day,
Look at the lilies, they don't sow, they don't spin, but they look better than Solomon ever did, you remind yourself, that you are going to be cared for, that he loves you, when you feel down, and shameful, and dirty, and all the enemy has been doing, is bringing up everything wrong, you've ever done, do you remind yourself, that one day, you'll be clothed in righteousness, that Jesus will stand in your place, that you will be justified, that you're holy, and blameless, and loved, and welcomed, and that he adores you, because he adores Christ,
And that Christ has swapped places with you, and then we have a co-worker, talking to us about their anxiety, and we have the shameful audacity, to say yeah, sounds awful, and to hold our hope, and not share it, when they talk about their fear, for their children, and their fear for their future, and we have the audacity, to say yeah, I deal with that too, but without telling them the cure, that there's a God, who works, and who redeems, who they can know, who loves them, who loves them, and they can know him, and he can work in them, and for them,
Because he's good, and we just say yeah, doctors are scary, this news is too good, and the stakes are too high, for us to not learn how to respond, and for us to not be active in this, turn to Romans 10, we're going to pick up in verse 8, Paul's talking about the gospel, he's referring to some Old Testament passages, and that's why he says, but what does it say, quote in Old Testament passage, the word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, that we proclaim, so he's talking about the gospel there, this word is near you, it's in your mouth, and in your heart,
This gospel, this truth about Jesus, and who he is, he says, because if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes, and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses, and is saved, for the scripture says, everyone who believes in him, will not be put to shame, there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is the Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, will be saved, there is not a person in the history of the world, who has cried out to God, and said,
I need you, I need your help, I can't do this on my own, that was put to shame, that that turned out to be a mistake, there is not a person in the history of the world, that has claimed, Jesus I love you, I need you, I need your help, I know I am a sinner, I know all I bring is debt, but I need you to redeem me, that was not, and will not be saved, by Christ, everyone, so this news is too good, and the stakes are too high, and everyone who believes, will be saved, everyone, think of the worst person you know, that person,
Will be saved, if they believe, and if it's you, if the only person you can think of, that you think is terrible is you, you will be saved, if you trust Jesus, he loves you enough to die for you, while you were a sinner, not waiting for you to clean yourself up, let's keep going, 14, how will they call on him, in whom they have not believed, so he says, all who call on the name of the Lord, will be saved, but he says, how are they going to call on him, if they don't believe in him, because if they don't know what he does, and how good he is, and what he's accomplished, they're not going to,
Nobody's going to call on him, you understand the logic there, and how are they to believe in him, and whom they have never heard, and how are they to hear, without someone preaching, now most of the time, when you think about preaching, you think about what's going on right now, what I'm doing this very moment, this is preaching, I don't know why you laughed, it is, but what he means there, is preaching is a broader term, than just what happens on a Sunday, in a church, church, it means to proclaim the gospel, to tell of the gospel, to tell the good news, of the gospel, and so it also happens at gas stations, and in dorm rooms,
That the gospel can be shared, and proclaimed anywhere, so he says, how will they call on him, if they haven't believed, and how are they going to believe, if they haven't heard, and how are they going to hear, without somebody preaching, and how are they going to preach, unless they are sent, those last two ones, are the ones that we get involved in, we preach, and we send, as Christians, that's what we're supposed to do, that's discipleship, that's teaching them to obey everything, is sending, is that we're proclaiming, we're training somebody up, and we're sending them out, to go proclaim this gospel,
And having them, having people be baptized, in the name of the son, is us proclaiming the gospel, so that we proclaim it, we preach it, we tell people about it, we see people baptized, we train them up, we send them out, this is why we always talk about, multiplying our groups, because we want to multiply our groups, because we want to see more people, in more areas, in more times, during the week, with more room at a table, to see people proclaiming the gospel, we want to see, a group in Irmo, and a group in Gaston, we want to see, this continue to move,
And more people be welcomed in, and more people invited in, because there's more people, in this city proclaiming the gospel, we got, right around 80, members, in our church family, people committed to membership, we've got around 100 adults, in groups, and our goal, our prayer, is that that would be 100 preachers, it'd be 80 preachers, people that are going around, and so unashamed, of this gospel, they're telling people about it, how are they to preach, unless they're sent, as it is written, how beautiful, are the feet,
Of those who preach, the good news, so that's, that's this, this idea, that as you travel, you know, your feet would get, dusty or dirty, or grosser, as you travel, as you go around, but he's saying, it's the opposite, that there's beautiful feet, that those who carry good news, those who bring you good news, have beautiful feet, say that to someone, next time they tell you good news, they tell you good news, and you just say, wow, those are some good looking feet,
But that's what he's saying, that we get to be that, that we get to carry good news, he says, but they have not all obeyed, the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed, what he's heard from us, so faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, so some people would say, well not everybody's going to believe, right, but some will, some will believe this news, you did, and how many people, after you believed the gospel, and Jesus began to change you, were like, wait, who?
Nah, do we need to go back, to your high school reunion, I'll go with you, so this person follows Jesus now, look at people's faces, some of you, you were the most unlikely candidate, but people will believe, this news is good, what Jesus does, and who he is, and what he's accomplished for us, there's a couple of things, that I think crop up, as soon as we start talking about, that we would go around, sharing the gospel, first there's this idea, that it would make us weird, I think it's worth being weird for, honestly, if the culture doesn't like, talking about Jesus,
They're confused about who he is, and as soon as they know him, they think it's a good idea, so okay, let's be okay with that one, let's roll past that, that little bit of shame, where it's like, I think people will think, I'm like a Jesus person, and I think that's a good way, to be defined, I think sometimes we go, okay, but I'm too busy, I have to make special time, for this, I'd have to try to figure out, like what, I got to start going to five points, and just yelling at people, you can, probably won't be the most effective, but people do believe that way sometimes,
Most of us, that's not that true though, you have a 40 hour week Job, or you go to school, or you live in a dorm, and you are surrounded by people, who need to know this news, some of you have children, or multiple children, and they don't know the gospel yet, and you ought to be active, in proclaiming the gospel to them, another thing that happens, is people think, well I have to be perfect, if I'm going to start telling people, Jesus, I got to get my act together, well first of all, it's not a bad idea, for you to start repenting of sin, and getting your act together, so I'm not against that idea, but the concept,
Of I have to be perfect, to share the gospel, is not a biblical concept, it's actually nonsense, because if the gospel, is that you're a really, well behaved person, you don't understand the gospel, the gospel is that you're ungodly, and that Jesus saves sinners, so that when I do something, really terrible, I had somebody say, well I can't share the gospel at work, because I get mad and cuss, like bro, the gospel is that Jesus saves sinners, not well behaved, perfect people, there are times that I do things, and people are like, man you do that, aren't you a preacher, I'm like yeah,
Jesus saves sinners, people who act like a complete fool, you saw me at Walmart with my son, yeah, sinners, people who don't do right, that's who he saves, that he works to redeem, those who are broken, so if you say, well if I do this, and it's not good or whatever, then I've messed it up, it's like no you haven't, the gospel is that Jesus is good, not that you are, that he saves people like you, do you know how refreshing, and hopeful that is to people, now continually change, and repent, and ask for forgiveness, certainly, the other thing is,
That we'll think, well I have to know everything, no you don't, I have to know everything, I have to have every answer, what if they ask me this, what if they ask me that, what if I say this, and they're like, alright, I believe in Jesus, tell me about dinosaurs, first of all, dinosaurs is not the route to Jesus, so they won't, that's not how that works, secondly, they may have some questions, and you can say, I don't know, let's talk about it, but you know enough, if you follow Jesus, you know enough,
You know he saved sinners, you know he saved you, we're going to talk more about that next week, specifically how to share, this news is too good, the stakes are too high, everyone who believes, will be saved, not everyone will believe, but some will, the news is too good, the stakes are too high, not everyone, everyone who believes, will be saved, not everyone, will believe, but some will, so I want to ask you this, if you become active, in sharing your faith, this becomes a normal part, of your life, that you're praying,
To the Lord, and saying, give me opportunities, lead me to people, who are receptive, help me to have windows, where I can share, how I would think about anxiety, how I think about the future, how I think about parenting, help me have windows, where I can tell people, how good Jesus is, let me ask you a question, how many times, could you tell people, about Jesus this next year, if you became active in this, if you committed to, this is too good, and I'm going to share it, because that's what we want to do first, we want to commit to why, we want to commit to,
Yes I'm going to do this, I want to have beautiful feet, they ain't so pretty right now, but I want them to be beautiful, by the end of next year, what's that look like, how many people can you share the gospel with, and I'm not saying, it's like a challenge to, to like we all got to pick a number, but what I'm saying is like, if you think about it, and you can share the gospel, with five people this next year, five people that you know, that you care about, that you're around, let me ask you a question, what if one believes, what if their eternity is changed, what if you end up being able, to share the gospel once a month, what if all 100 of our preachers do, and 1200 more people,
Get to hear how good Jesus is, isn't that a good year, isn't that 1200 people, who are blessed, with some really helpful information, sometimes we say, well they know I'm a Christian, so they'll ask, they don't think they need Jesus, because they don't know what he does, they don't know how good he is, Bianca's going to come back up, she's going to play the piano for a minute, we're going to take communion here in a second, but here's, I want us to consider for a second, I want you to sit and think for a second, that if you are a Christian, I want you to ask the Lord, am I ashamed of the gospel, where is that, what's causing that, and I want us to repent, I want us to ask him to help us,
And I want us to grow, to be active, in telling people about him, we're going to talk about how next week, but that we ought to, that why matters, now some of us, it's enough for you to know, that Jesus told us to, you didn't need today, you're like Jesus told me to, I'm going to, and that's a good reason, but it's such good news, and the stakes are too high, for us to not be active in this, so our prayers, we've been kind of setting some, goals for ourselves, and we'll talk about this, at the end of every sermon this year, at the end of every sermon this series, as we've set some goals for ourselves, our prayer,
Is that our church family, our community groups, that each of us would be active, in sharing our faith, because I want to guarantee you something, if you spend the rest of your days, telling people about Jesus, that some will believe, and everyone who believes, will be saved, nobody who calls on the name of the Lord, will be put to shame, it's worth it, that there are going to be days, without end, where we are with the Lord, and that means that everything, in this life is going to pale, in comparison, it's going to fade, except for Christ, who will shine in eternal glory, so I want us to ask, am I ashamed,
And I want us to pray, that we wouldn't be, and I want us to commit, I want you to take the time, to genuinely commit yourself, to the Lord today, and say I'm, no I'm going to, I'm going to share the gospel, I'm going to begin doing this, I'm going to figure out how, so that some, might believe, you don't have to be perfect, you're not going to have to do it excellently, that puts all the weight on you, that's not the gospel, it's Jesus who saves, but I'm going to do this, and we're going to figure out how together, and if you're in this room this morning, and you, have not, called on Jesus,
You've not run to him, with your debt, you still are trying, to get your resume together, your credit history, your pay stubs for a future, whatever you're going to do, that's nonsense, Jesus saves the ungodly, and I would ask you, to run to him, to him who loves, sinners, and redeems them, and welcomes them, and adopts them, justifies them, reconciles them to God, brings them into the family, and glorifies them, and his glory for eternity, all because he's great, and those who run to him, won't be put to shame,
So take a moment to pray, as she plays, she's going to play for a little while, and then when you're ready, we'll take communion, communion is a physical representation, of what Jesus has accomplished, for us on the cross, that he literally died, that he was buried, that he rose again, that his body was broken, his blood was shed, and that we as the church, remind ourselves, how much we need the gospel, and how good it is, so if you are a Christian, we would invite you, to take communion, if you are not a Christian, we would invite you, to trust in Jesus, but if you have not yet done that,
We would not invite you, to take communion, so we're going to pray, she's going to play, and in a moment, when you're ready, we'll take communion, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit, would be active, right now, to lead us, that we might, genuinely commit ourselves, to you, to be, preachers, where we work, and where we live, and where we, play, that we might, share this good news, that we would not,
Keep it to ourselves, in those moments, that you would help us, to be unashamed, and we ask Lord, that some might, hear, believe, and call on you today, in Jesus name,
You're talking to him too intensely, like it's too much for a three year old, she said, I honestly think the way you're talking, you might, could make some grown men cry, and I was like, baby, you really think I can make a grown man cry? You know, just the sort of thing to say to me, she felt like I focused on the wrong part, so, but one of the things I've had to learn with him, is that like, it's not just that, like I, kids have parents for a reason, they don't, they don't have good sense, they need adults around them, there's a reason why they're not like, you know, I watched a TV show about iguanas,
And those things like, born and they can run off, and go do their own thing, your child can't, because it needs you there, making decisions for it, for a very long time, but one of the things I've realized, is as I correct him, and as I discipline him, one of the things I've started doing, is I just afterwards, I hug him, I tell him I love him, I get down on my knee, you know, the other day, he had gotten in trouble for something, and he got popped, and I said, you can go play, and he said, wait daddy, you forgot the part where you hug me,
And I was like, yeah, dude, come here, it's a good point, I'm glad you know the system, he wouldn't, I don't think he'd be like, what about the part where I get spanked, he probably wouldn't do that, but the hug, he remembers, and that's what that says, that we're reconciled, that he doesn't just say, okay, I've made some people even with me now, you're not guilty, it says, no, that he brings us in, that he loves us, that you're right with God, that when he thinks of you,
He thinks fondly of you, that he enjoys you, that you're reconciled, that your relationship with him is good, because of Jesus, do you know how good that is, he goes on, this is what we're covering in this section, but he also talks about in Romans 8, that we're adopted, that it's not just our relationships, right, but that he brings us into the family, other places talk about, that he does expiation, which means that he takes everything, that's ever happened to us, everything that would be on our record, he removes it, everything that's ever, all the sin that's been committed against us, all our shame, he cleans us, this news is too good,
For us to have even a twinge of shame, when it comes to telling somebody about it, it's too good, it's too eternally good, and too eternally urgent, it's too soul satisfying, that we would even trip, or have a hint of a, this propels us forward, and here's the thing, it's not just that it's too good, the stakes are too high, because if you don't have Christ, everything we just talked about, is flipped on its head, that when you stand before him, he does have a record of your guilt, you are not justified, you will not be declared not guilty, you will not leave that courtroom, that when you meet him, it will not be a moment of reconciliation, you will not get the hug, you do not get welcomed in,
You are not adopted, that you will stand before your judge, and your maker, on your own account, and it will not go well, and that rightfully, and justly, you will bear the wrath of God, because Jesus did not bear it for you, on the cross, and that is true, infinitely, eternally true, for everyone outside of Christ, now he died for the ungodly, which means that everybody is welcomed in, who will follow him, this news is too good, and the stakes are too high, for us to not spend our time, sharing it, for us to keep this to ourselves, you think about your life with Jesus, if you are in Christ,
And how you handle your life, when you are faced with anxiety, when you are overwhelmed, you see when you are talking to people at work, or you are talking to your neighbors, or you are just enjoying a friendship, with somebody who doesn't know Christ, they are going to talk to you about their life, and life is messy, and life is sinful, and life is hurtful, and life is fearful, and they are going to talk about, their fears for the future, and their fears for their children, and how difficult they are having, time in their marriage, and how anxious they are over money, or over how this job may not work out, or they have got a new boss, and they are not sure, if the new boss likes them, and they are going to talk about, all these things in life,
And the truth is, if you were walking through this, with yourself, or with someone in your community group, what would you be saying, I am dealing with anxiety, I am going to remind myself, that there is a God, who rules over the universe, that he is sovereign, that he tells me, that if I am fearful and anxious, I actually have no ability, to accomplish anything, but that he is good, and I can cast my cares on him, but I am worried about the future, if I really, you want to know, if I really get worried, about the future, you know you can pick up your Bible, and jump to the back end of Revelation, and see how it is going to shake out,
There is a part in there, where it says, everybody who loves Jesus, is gathered around the throne, in a place where there are no tears, and there is no suffering, and there is no night anymore, and there is no pain anymore, and that he welcomes them in, and that we get to spend eternity there, and sometimes, when you are fearful about the future, just go to the back end of Revelation, and say the future is going to be fine, for those who are in Christ, when you are worried about, being able to pay bills, don't you remind yourself, that Jesus looked at some people, and said, consider the ravens, they don't toil, they don't have barns, but they eat every day,
Look at the lilies, they don't sow, they don't spin, but they look better than Solomon ever did, you remind yourself, that you are going to be cared for, that he loves you, when you feel down, and shameful, and dirty, and all the enemy has been doing, is bringing up everything wrong, you've ever done, do you remind yourself, that one day, you'll be clothed in righteousness, that Jesus will stand in your place, that you will be justified, that you're holy, and blameless, and loved, and welcomed, and that he adores you, because he adores Christ,
And that Christ has swapped places with you, and then we have a co-worker, talking to us about their anxiety, and we have the shameful audacity, to say yeah, sounds awful, and to hold our hope, and not share it, when they talk about their fear, for their children, and their fear for their future, and we have the audacity, to say yeah, I deal with that too, but without telling them the cure, that there's a God, who works, and who redeems, who they can know, who loves them, who loves them, and they can know him, and he can work in them, and for them,
Because he's good, and we just say yeah, doctors are scary, this news is too good, and the stakes are too high, for us to not learn how to respond, and for us to not be active in this, turn to Romans 10, we're going to pick up in verse 8, Paul's talking about the gospel, he's referring to some Old Testament passages, and that's why he says, but what does it say, quote in Old Testament passage, the word is near you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that is, the word of faith, that we proclaim, so he's talking about the gospel there, this word is near you, it's in your mouth, and in your heart,
This gospel, this truth about Jesus, and who he is, he says, because if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes, and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses, and is saved, for the scripture says, everyone who believes in him, will not be put to shame, there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord is the Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord, will be saved, there is not a person in the history of the world, who has cried out to God, and said,
I need you, I need your help, I can't do this on my own, that was put to shame, that that turned out to be a mistake, there is not a person in the history of the world, that has claimed, Jesus I love you, I need you, I need your help, I know I am a sinner, I know all I bring is debt, but I need you to redeem me, that was not, and will not be saved, by Christ, everyone, so this news is too good, and the stakes are too high, and everyone who believes, will be saved, everyone, think of the worst person you know, that person,
Will be saved, if they believe, and if it's you, if the only person you can think of, that you think is terrible is you, you will be saved, if you trust Jesus, he loves you enough to die for you, while you were a sinner, not waiting for you to clean yourself up, let's keep going, 14, how will they call on him, in whom they have not believed, so he says, all who call on the name of the Lord, will be saved, but he says, how are they going to call on him, if they don't believe in him, because if they don't know what he does, and how good he is, and what he's accomplished, they're not going to,
Nobody's going to call on him, you understand the logic there, and how are they to believe in him, and whom they have never heard, and how are they to hear, without someone preaching, now most of the time, when you think about preaching, you think about what's going on right now, what I'm doing this very moment, this is preaching, I don't know why you laughed, it is, but what he means there, is preaching is a broader term, than just what happens on a Sunday, in a church, church, it means to proclaim the gospel, to tell of the gospel, to tell the good news, of the gospel, and so it also happens at gas stations, and in dorm rooms,
That the gospel can be shared, and proclaimed anywhere, so he says, how will they call on him, if they haven't believed, and how are they going to believe, if they haven't heard, and how are they going to hear, without somebody preaching, and how are they going to preach, unless they are sent, those last two ones, are the ones that we get involved in, we preach, and we send, as Christians, that's what we're supposed to do, that's discipleship, that's teaching them to obey everything, is sending, is that we're proclaiming, we're training somebody up, and we're sending them out, to go proclaim this gospel,
And having them, having people be baptized, in the name of the son, is us proclaiming the gospel, so that we proclaim it, we preach it, we tell people about it, we see people baptized, we train them up, we send them out, this is why we always talk about, multiplying our groups, because we want to multiply our groups, because we want to see more people, in more areas, in more times, during the week, with more room at a table, to see people proclaiming the gospel, we want to see, a group in Irmo, and a group in Gaston, we want to see, this continue to move,
And more people be welcomed in, and more people invited in, because there's more people, in this city proclaiming the gospel, we got, right around 80, members, in our church family, people committed to membership, we've got around 100 adults, in groups, and our goal, our prayer, is that that would be 100 preachers, it'd be 80 preachers, people that are going around, and so unashamed, of this gospel, they're telling people about it, how are they to preach, unless they're sent, as it is written, how beautiful, are the feet,
Of those who preach, the good news, so that's, that's this, this idea, that as you travel, you know, your feet would get, dusty or dirty, or grosser, as you travel, as you go around, but he's saying, it's the opposite, that there's beautiful feet, that those who carry good news, those who bring you good news, have beautiful feet, say that to someone, next time they tell you good news, they tell you good news, and you just say, wow, those are some good looking feet,
But that's what he's saying, that we get to be that, that we get to carry good news, he says, but they have not all obeyed, the gospel, for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed, what he's heard from us, so faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, so some people would say, well not everybody's going to believe, right, but some will, some will believe this news, you did, and how many people, after you believed the gospel, and Jesus began to change you, were like, wait, who?
Nah, do we need to go back, to your high school reunion, I'll go with you, so this person follows Jesus now, look at people's faces, some of you, you were the most unlikely candidate, but people will believe, this news is good, what Jesus does, and who he is, and what he's accomplished for us, there's a couple of things, that I think crop up, as soon as we start talking about, that we would go around, sharing the gospel, first there's this idea, that it would make us weird, I think it's worth being weird for, honestly, if the culture doesn't like, talking about Jesus,
They're confused about who he is, and as soon as they know him, they think it's a good idea, so okay, let's be okay with that one, let's roll past that, that little bit of shame, where it's like, I think people will think, I'm like a Jesus person, and I think that's a good way, to be defined, I think sometimes we go, okay, but I'm too busy, I have to make special time, for this, I'd have to try to figure out, like what, I got to start going to five points, and just yelling at people, you can, probably won't be the most effective, but people do believe that way sometimes,
Most of us, that's not that true though, you have a 40 hour week Job, or you go to school, or you live in a dorm, and you are surrounded by people, who need to know this news, some of you have children, or multiple children, and they don't know the gospel yet, and you ought to be active, in proclaiming the gospel to them, another thing that happens, is people think, well I have to be perfect, if I'm going to start telling people, Jesus, I got to get my act together, well first of all, it's not a bad idea, for you to start repenting of sin, and getting your act together, so I'm not against that idea, but the concept,
Of I have to be perfect, to share the gospel, is not a biblical concept, it's actually nonsense, because if the gospel, is that you're a really, well behaved person, you don't understand the gospel, the gospel is that you're ungodly, and that Jesus saves sinners, so that when I do something, really terrible, I had somebody say, well I can't share the gospel at work, because I get mad and cuss, like bro, the gospel is that Jesus saves sinners, not well behaved, perfect people, there are times that I do things, and people are like, man you do that, aren't you a preacher, I'm like yeah,
Jesus saves sinners, people who act like a complete fool, you saw me at Walmart with my son, yeah, sinners, people who don't do right, that's who he saves, that he works to redeem, those who are broken, so if you say, well if I do this, and it's not good or whatever, then I've messed it up, it's like no you haven't, the gospel is that Jesus is good, not that you are, that he saves people like you, do you know how refreshing, and hopeful that is to people, now continually change, and repent, and ask for forgiveness, certainly, the other thing is,
That we'll think, well I have to know everything, no you don't, I have to know everything, I have to have every answer, what if they ask me this, what if they ask me that, what if I say this, and they're like, alright, I believe in Jesus, tell me about dinosaurs, first of all, dinosaurs is not the route to Jesus, so they won't, that's not how that works, secondly, they may have some questions, and you can say, I don't know, let's talk about it, but you know enough, if you follow Jesus, you know enough,
You know he saved sinners, you know he saved you, we're going to talk more about that next week, specifically how to share, this news is too good, the stakes are too high, everyone who believes, will be saved, not everyone will believe, but some will, the news is too good, the stakes are too high, not everyone, everyone who believes, will be saved, not everyone, will believe, but some will, so I want to ask you this, if you become active, in sharing your faith, this becomes a normal part, of your life, that you're praying,
To the Lord, and saying, give me opportunities, lead me to people, who are receptive, help me to have windows, where I can share, how I would think about anxiety, how I think about the future, how I think about parenting, help me have windows, where I can tell people, how good Jesus is, let me ask you a question, how many times, could you tell people, about Jesus this next year, if you became active in this, if you committed to, this is too good, and I'm going to share it, because that's what we want to do first, we want to commit to why, we want to commit to,
Yes I'm going to do this, I want to have beautiful feet, they ain't so pretty right now, but I want them to be beautiful, by the end of next year, what's that look like, how many people can you share the gospel with, and I'm not saying, it's like a challenge to, to like we all got to pick a number, but what I'm saying is like, if you think about it, and you can share the gospel, with five people this next year, five people that you know, that you care about, that you're around, let me ask you a question, what if one believes, what if their eternity is changed, what if you end up being able, to share the gospel once a month, what if all 100 of our preachers do, and 1200 more people,
Get to hear how good Jesus is, isn't that a good year, isn't that 1200 people, who are blessed, with some really helpful information, sometimes we say, well they know I'm a Christian, so they'll ask, they don't think they need Jesus, because they don't know what he does, they don't know how good he is, Bianca's going to come back up, she's going to play the piano for a minute, we're going to take communion here in a second, but here's, I want us to consider for a second, I want you to sit and think for a second, that if you are a Christian, I want you to ask the Lord, am I ashamed of the gospel, where is that, what's causing that, and I want us to repent, I want us to ask him to help us,
And I want us to grow, to be active, in telling people about him, we're going to talk about how next week, but that we ought to, that why matters, now some of us, it's enough for you to know, that Jesus told us to, you didn't need today, you're like Jesus told me to, I'm going to, and that's a good reason, but it's such good news, and the stakes are too high, for us to not be active in this, so our prayers, we've been kind of setting some, goals for ourselves, and we'll talk about this, at the end of every sermon this year, at the end of every sermon this series, as we've set some goals for ourselves, our prayer,
Is that our church family, our community groups, that each of us would be active, in sharing our faith, because I want to guarantee you something, if you spend the rest of your days, telling people about Jesus, that some will believe, and everyone who believes, will be saved, nobody who calls on the name of the Lord, will be put to shame, it's worth it, that there are going to be days, without end, where we are with the Lord, and that means that everything, in this life is going to pale, in comparison, it's going to fade, except for Christ, who will shine in eternal glory, so I want us to ask, am I ashamed,
And I want us to pray, that we wouldn't be, and I want us to commit, I want you to take the time, to genuinely commit yourself, to the Lord today, and say I'm, no I'm going to, I'm going to share the gospel, I'm going to begin doing this, I'm going to figure out how, so that some, might believe, you don't have to be perfect, you're not going to have to do it excellently, that puts all the weight on you, that's not the gospel, it's Jesus who saves, but I'm going to do this, and we're going to figure out how together, and if you're in this room this morning, and you, have not, called on Jesus,
You've not run to him, with your debt, you still are trying, to get your resume together, your credit history, your pay stubs for a future, whatever you're going to do, that's nonsense, Jesus saves the ungodly, and I would ask you, to run to him, to him who loves, sinners, and redeems them, and welcomes them, and adopts them, justifies them, reconciles them to God, brings them into the family, and glorifies them, and his glory for eternity, all because he's great, and those who run to him, won't be put to shame,
So take a moment to pray, as she plays, she's going to play for a little while, and then when you're ready, we'll take communion, communion is a physical representation, of what Jesus has accomplished, for us on the cross, that he literally died, that he was buried, that he rose again, that his body was broken, his blood was shed, and that we as the church, remind ourselves, how much we need the gospel, and how good it is, so if you are a Christian, we would invite you, to take communion, if you are not a Christian, we would invite you, to trust in Jesus, but if you have not yet done that,
We would not invite you, to take communion, so we're going to pray, she's going to play, and in a moment, when you're ready, we'll take communion, Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit, would be active, right now, to lead us, that we might, genuinely commit ourselves, to you, to be, preachers, where we work, and where we live, and where we, play, that we might, share this good news, that we would not,
Keep it to ourselves, in those moments, that you would help us, to be unashamed, and we ask Lord, that some might, hear, believe, and call on you today, in Jesus name,