Category: Article

            Last night FBC Columbia hosted a Tim Hawkins showe. As far as I can tell, the evening was a lot of fun for everyone who was there. While things are fresh in my mind, I want to put down a few thoughts about our experience of hosting the event.

 

Easy Preparation

 

            It was surprisingly easy to put this event together from the very beginning. When I got the call from Tim’s team offering us the opportunity to host the event, I immediately shared the opportunity with our senior pastor. My thought process was a simple one. Our church family had been very busily working through the building process. Our people had worked hard, and it seemed like a fun idea to offer them an opportunity for an evening of laughter and fun.. Our pastor agreed, and we happily put things in motion.

 

            The team at Rock Show Comedy made the process so simple. We had, of course, to put down a deposit. But that deposit would be returned to us so long as we sold a minimum number of tickets—a very easy task.  The team at Rock Show took care of all the ticketing and ticket sales. All we had to do was to put the link on our web site and use the promotional materials that they provided us as needed. Each week, I received a report of how many tickets sold. Tickets sold like hot cakes, and we had a sold out show on our hands before we knew it.

 

            A few weeks before the event, I talked with Chris, Tim’s road manager, to finalize details of the evening of the performance. Chris sent me a very clear email laying out the physical and technical requirements of the show. He was great to work with, flexible, and friendly. The guys did not ask for anything difficult, and it took very little to be prepared for the day.

 

            Then all we had to come up with was setting up for the event. I’m very grateful to our church people for making this part so easy. I had volunteers to help in a variety of ways, and everybody did their part. We had a lot of chairs to set up, sound and lights to run, display tables to man, tickets to check, etc. Everything came off without a hitch.

 

A Great Event

 

            Once the show started, Tim Hawkins and Daren Streblow kept our people in stitches for two full hours. The comedy was a solid combination of classic and very fresh material. People loved the new things they heard. I also noticed others singing along with silly songs that they knew from the past

 

            Tim brought out Daren Streblow in the middle of his performance. Daren’s part of the show allowed for Tim to have a break while the audience got to enjoy a comedian that most had not heard before. Daren brought in a solid mix of impressions, silly stories, and clean comedy that would be worth seeing at any time. I very much liked his sweet story of how he met his wife.

 

            Tim was exactly what any person who has seen him before either in person or on the Internet would expect. He’s goofy, there’s just no other way to put it, but it works for him. He has a great grasp on the way that our lives lend themselves to humor. He’s not uptight, and that rubs off on us all. Tim had us laughing at our relationships, our silly uses of the English language, our tendency to be uptight in church, and our own odd cultures.

 

            Tim also surprised me with is musical skill. Over the years, he has become a very solid guitarist. He played both electric and acoustic, rock and country, and just about everything in between. He played impressive chord patterns and did some pretty tough solo work too. As a guy who has played for years, I have to say that I was very impressed, especially considering that this was not a show that I thought would feature that kind of talent.

 

            Finally, I want to mention that Tim shared a very sweet and simple understanding of how the gospel of Christ has impacted his own life. At the end of the show, he shared, without being preachy, that his only hope is in the finished work of Christ. This is where we find joy and comfort and the ability to laugh. I was very glad to hear him share this, and he did it in such a way that I found compelling, not sappy or forced as is often the case at Christian performances.

 

Final Thoughts

 

            I was very pleased with the show. I found everybody I dealt with on Tim’s team to be very kind and very easy to work with. I believe that our people laughed and had a sweet evening to just be together. And so, I’m grateful.

 

            I would also recommend this group to any organization or church who might find it worthwhile. Of course, you should watch Tim’s videos on his web site or YouTube to be sure that his style of humor is something you and your people would enjoy. But, I will certainly say that, for me, the small amount of work we had to do to make this happen was totally worth it. 

The following was from the 9 Marks Twitter feed today and could be a helpful little list:

 

@MarkDever: Coming up:  a series of 5 modern, brief books to read through with someone else in order to disciple them.

 

@MarkDever: 1.  Greg Gilbert, What is the Gospel?  Begin with the Gospel!

 

@MarkDever: 2. Orlando Saer, Big God.  This books is good for what ales you in a number of differing ways.  Helpful & enjoyable.

 

@MarkDever: 3.  C. J. Mahaney, The Cross-Centered Life.  Wonderful to see what grace looks like in real life.  Well written.

 

@MarkDever: 4.   EITHER my book What is a Healthy Church?  OR (a little more advanced) Jonathan Leeman, Church Membership.  Church is important!

 

@MarkDever: 5.  Sebastian Traeger & Greg Gilbert, The Gospel at Work.  Wonderfully practical at carrying the Gospel into everyday.

            Friends and family, we are gathered here this morning to say goodbye and show our love for a husband, a father, and a friend. On behalf of the family, I want to thank you for joining us here today as we remember my dad, Tom Peterson.

 

            Thomas Robert Peterson was born on October 15, 1949, to Bob and Ola Peterson. Dad grew up in Dongola, and eventually married Janie Wright on January 11, 1968. Soon after, the Petersons had 3 sons, Jeff, Jody, and Travis.

 

            If you knew my dad, you know that he loved to laugh, loved to hunt, loved to golf, and loved his family. When it comes to laughing, Dad laughed often and laughed loudly. Honestly, he probably thought he was funnier than he really was. Dad often called me when he heard or read a new joke. He was always kidding us about something, and was often eager to remind us of those little moments in the past that we might have rather forgotten. Just ask Mom how long it took for her to stop being reminded about the experiment with Tuna Helper—the only real cooking disaster that I remember as a child.

 

            Dad loved to hunt, to golf, and to do just about anything outside. I remember coon hunting, deer hunting, turkey hunting, fishing, and just about anything else he could come up with to hunt. And Dad was pretty good. The home I grew up in sported a couple of very attractive deer heads to let us know. By the way, Dad was never happy when we chose to accessorize his deer heads by dressing them up with whatever hats and sunglasses we could find around the house.

 

            Dad also loved his family. He always griped whenever we had parties at our house or wanted to take family photos, but he was always right there in the middle of what we were doing. He especially loved his grandchildren, Taylor, Valerie, Abigail, Alyssa, Josiah, and Owen.   

 

            Truthfully, Dad was willing to adopt lots of others into the family. Many of you who are here today are probably people that he thought of as family. I’m certain that he loved many of you as his own.

 

            My dad passed away on Saturday, August 31, at 8:23 PM in his home. He was 63. He had been in a ten-month battle with a very aggressive cancer. Thanks to the efforts and love of so many, Dad had a surprisingly good last several months. The doctors and nurses who cared for him did a great job of managing his pain, of knocking out symptoms, and of slowing down the progress of his cancer. Dad appreciated every call, every visit, every card, and every person who told him that they were praying for him.

 

            One thing that I was privileged to be able to do over the last few months was to talk with my dad very openly and honestly about what was to come. Dad expressed to me total confidence in his faith in Christ and in the life to come.

 

            Dad was raised by Christian parents, but for most of his youth he did not make following God a priority. It was after the death of his mother in 1995 that Dad really began to think about the serious truths of life and death, heaven and hell, salvation and sin. Not long after, during a revival service at First Baptist Church in Dongola, Dad prayed to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior.

 

            Like any believer in Christ, Dad grew at times and struggled at times. However, Dad never let go of his faith and Christ certainly never let go of him. Dad shared his faith with others, and was so pleased to see some with whom he shared receive Christ. I will always remember how excited Dad was when Ted Earnhart prayed to receive Jesus just before his own passing. 

 

            When I would talk with Dad about what was to come, he was confident even though he was not looking forward to the hard road ahead. He knew that his sickness would eventually take his life. But he also knew that the Bible is clear that a Christian who is absent from his body is immediately present with God. Dad knew that, the moment of his passing from this life in his cancer-ravaged body, his soul would go to be in the presence of God. He knew that he would be free from pain, free from sorrow, and more joyful than ever before.

 

            Dad leaves behind a loving family and lots of great friends. We will miss him. But we would not want to take away the joy he has in the presence of God for anything in the world.

 

            Let me open God’s word with you here this morning. I want to take a few moments to talk with my family, but I want you all to listen in too.

 

            There are two topics that the Bible puts together for us to consider as we walk through this hard time together. So, for just a moment, let’s think about grief and about hope.

 

            One of my favorite passages that I think of when I think of a grieving family is Philippians 2:25-27. In this odd little passage of Scripture, the apostle Paul is writing to a church. Apparently, one of Paul’s friends came from that church and nearly died of an illness. Here is what Paul said.

 

Philippians 2:25-27 (ESV)

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.

 

            In that little passage is a very important truth for any of us to understand. Grief, sorrow at the loss of a loved one, is normal and right. Paul, when discussing even potential grief, declared that he had been spared sorrow upon sorrow.

 

            So, learn this from the Bible. Grief is normal. Sorrow here is normal. Don’t let yourself feel the need to put on a brave face so that people won’t see you grieve. Even Jesus wept at a friend’s funeral in John 11:35. Throughout the Bible, we see time and time again the people of God mourning the loss of someone special. The people of Israel wept at the deaths of Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and many others. It was normal. It was not wrong. It was totally OK for the people to show emotion at the loss of someone special. 

 

            But the Bible also tells us something about grief besides that it is normal. Grief is normal, but it is not hopeless. Those who know Jesus have sorrow at our partings, but we do not sorrow like people who do not have any hope.

 

            Listen to Paul teach us about the hope we have for all who pass away in Christ.

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (ESV)

13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

 

            The passage I just read to you contains a perfect example of a Christians response to grief, grieving with hope.

 

            In verse 13, Paul begins by saying, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” This is God’s word talking to us about believers who have died. That phrase, “those who have fallen asleep,” is a metaphor for death. It is not an indication that those who have died are asleep in reality. They are not in some sort of stasis. Other passages such as Luke 16:19-31, Revelation 6:9-11, Philippians 1:23, and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8 all indicate to us that, when a person’s spirit departs from his or her body, that person is immediately awake and aware. Those who have been forgiven by Christ are immediately alive in a new way in the presence of God.

 

            Because those who go before us in Christ are immediately in the presence of God, we grieve, but not without hope. We have sorrow, but that sorrow is tempered. We know that we will miss our loved ones. We know that it is going to be a long time before we can see them again. But we also know, if we also have faith in Christ, that we will not be parted from our loved ones forever.

 

            Honestly, I do not know how those who do not believe in the Bible and in the resurrection of Jesus handle times like this. To believe that life comes to an end and that nothing follows would be overwhelmingly sad. That would be grief with no hope, no future.

 

            But Paul goes on to help us know what our hope is when he describes what is to come. From verses 13-17 of 1 Thessalonians 4, which we already read, Paul describes for us the return of Jesus Christ. He tells how Christ will descend from heaven with a loud cry. HE tells how, at that return, the dead in Christ will arise. I have no idea what that will look like. But the Bible is totally clear that those who have gone before us in Christ will return with Jesus. They will somehow be given brand new resurrection bodies. They will live again, physically, not just spiritually And they will live with Jesus forever.

 

            Then, at the end of the passage, Paul tells us to encourage each other with these words. AS we sorrow, as we grieve, we also encourage each other with hope. God promised that all who have died in Christ will live again. He has promised that They are not missing anything of eternal significance. He has promised that they are not lost forever. He has guaranteed to us that people like my dad who placed their faith in Jesus have life even now and they will have even greater life when Christ returns.

 

            This week, I have found myself reading a passage in John 6 that gives the very same hope. Listen to these words of Jesus. 

 

John 6:37-40 (ESV)

37 “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 

            Do you hear that hope? Listen again to verse 40: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jesus promises that he will raise to physical, beautiful, eternal life every single person who has ever put their faith in him. This is our hope.

 

            I know that it is possible that you are here this morning and this sounds so strange to you. I believe that my dad would want you to understand this as much as you can. He would want you to know how you can have the hope I’m talking about. He would want you to have the hope that the Bible promises.

 

            Here is the simple truth of the whole Bible boiled down. There is one God, the God who created the universe. That God is perfect and holy. He has never failed. He does all things rightly. Because he made us, he has the right to call us to obey his commands and to judge us when we do not.

 

            And the truth is, none of us have ever obeyed God’s commands rightly. Dad used to say to me that he believed every person sins every day. While I don’t know if I would say it quite that strongly, I do know that the Bible tells us that every person has sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). None of us is perfect. All of us have failed to do everything we should do. All of us have, at times, done things that are against the commands of God. None of us is righteous on our own, not even one (c.f. Romans 3:10-12)

 

            This leaves us with quite a problem. God is perfect and a perfect judge. We are not perfect. We deserve to be judged by God. If we are left to ourselves, we have no hope at all. We can never do enough good to make up for failing to follow the commands of the perfect God who made us.

 

            But God did something wonderful. God chose to make a way for us to be forgiven. God had a plan from before the dawn of time to rescue people who could never rescue themselves. This is why Jesus came to earth.

 

            Jesus is God the Son, God in flesh. He lived a perfect life. He never failed where we fail. He then died on a Roman cross as a sacrifice for the sins of others. Then, on the third day after his death Jesus rose from the dead, he came back to life.

 

            Now God places before every single one of us a choice. He put this same choice before my dad. There are really only two options. You can either choose to ask Jesus to pay for your sins against God or you can choose to receive God’s judgment for your sins. If you choose not to trust in Jesus, you do not have the promise of eternal life. All that faces you is the promise of a judgment that is too horrible for me to describe to you.

 

            But there is good news. If you will turn from your sins and trust in Jesus, God will rescue you. Turning from your sins means that you acknowledge that Jesus is your Lord and Master. You certainly won’t follow him perfectly, none of us do, but you will be committed to him being in charge instead of you.

 

            Trusting in Jesus simply means that you believe that Jesus is God who came to earth. You believe that what he did on the cross and by returning from the dead is your only hope. In a very real sense, you place all of your hope for all of your eternity in the person of Jesus and in his finished work. You say to him, “ Please forgive me and make me your own. I have no hope of heaven apart from you and what you have done.”

 

            I remember well telling this truth to my dad on more than one occasion. Finally, when the time was right, God helped my dad to see how true it really is. God drew my dad to himself. Dad asked Jesus to be his Savior And God forgave my dad for all of the wrong he had ever done or would ever do. God promised my dad a home with him in heaven forever. God promised my dad a new life and a new body to last forever. God promised my dad that, when Jesus returns, he will return with him, have a new body, and never get sick or hurt again. God made my dad new by God’s own grace through faith in Jesus. Dad did nothing to earn God’s favor, he could not have done so. All dad did is trusted in Jesus and tried, to the best of his ability, to turn from his sin. God did all the work. God did all the real changing. God forgave Dad.

 

            And God is willing to do the same for you. If you would like the hope that my dad had as he approached the end of his days in this life, believe in Jesus. Ask Jesus for grace. Commit yourself to follow him. And then these words from Jesus will be true of you, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

 

            We will miss Dad very much. We will need to love and comfort each other for many days to come. But we grieve with hope. Dad has life with Jesus. I know he would want all who are here to have that same life too.

” Why should we be afraid of one another, since both of us have only God to fear? Why should we think that our brother would not understand us, when we understood very well what was meant when somebody spoke God’s comfort or God’s admonition to us, perhaps in words that were halting and unskilled? Or do we really think there is a single person in this world who does not need either encouragement or admonition? Why, then, has God bestowed Christian brotherhood upon us?” (Bonhoeffer, Life Together, 106)

 

Far too many of us think that we need to be perfect, or to surpass some undefined milestone, in order to mentor another Christian or to speak into another’s life. The faster we rid ourselves of that fallacy, the faster we will begin to make disciples and live the Christian life together in genuine fellowship.

It is not experience of life but experience of the Cross that makes one a worthy hearer of confessions. The most experienced psychologist or observer of human nature knows infinitely less of the human heart than the simplest Christian who lives beneath the Cross of Jesus. The greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is. Worldly wisdom knows what distress and weakness and failure are, but it does not know the godlessness of men. And so it also does not know that man is destroyed only by his sin and can be healed only by forgiveness. Only the Christian knows this. In the presence of a psychiatrist I can only be a sick man; in the presence of a Christian brother I can dare to be a sinner. The psychiatrist must first search my heart and yet he never plumbs its ultimate depth. The Christian brother knows when I come to him: here is a sinner like myself, a godless man who wants to confess and yearns for God’s forgiveness. The psychiatrist views me as if there were no God. The brother views me as I am before the judging and merciful God in the Cross of Jesus Christ. It is not lack of psychological knowledge but lack of love for the crucified Jesus Christ that makes us so poor and inefficient in brotherly confession.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together,  (118-119.

The following sermon might be useful to help leaders prepare for the Gospel Project, Session 9.

 

The Sacrifice of Christmas

Speaker:  Travis Peterson

Text:  Philippians 2:5-11

 

Philippians 2:5-11

 

⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,^{£ 6}who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,^£ being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

Pray

 

            One of the difficult aspects of preparing a Christmas themed message is that it is hard to look at the stories of the birth of the Christ and ask you to imitate His characteristics.  In many narrative passages of scripture, stories like we read this morning, we will see the actions of a character or set of characters and will be encouraged either to behave like them or not like them depending on their behavior.  A funny thing is, in the Christmas story, I can’t really call upon you to have children in stables, to invite shepherds to your child’s first night, or to expect wise men to visit your home shortly after a new star appears in the sky.  Thus, many Christmas messages remind us of the details surrounding the Christ’s birth without giving us something to go home and try to put into practice.

 

            Tonight, I want to change that.  I want us to look at the birth of the Christ from a different angle than we often do.  Tonight, we will marvel at the greatness of the sacrifice of Jesus’ incarnation, His becoming human.  We will then be challenged by God to imitate that sacrifice in our own lives.  In fact, the call to imitate Christ’s self-sacrifice is exactly the point Paul makes in the first verse of our passage for tonight.

 

Philippians 2:5

 

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

 

            In this verse of scripture, Paul calls upon the Philippians to have a mindset in them that was also evident in Christ.  Oddly enough, this attitude is plainly displayed in Jesus’ incarnation.

 

            Before we look at that, let us take just a moment to see the context of this passage.  Paul is writing to the church in Philippi with an express purpose to stop some of her internal conflicts.  In chapter 2, verses 1-4, he has called upon the people to be more selfless toward one another, to consider others more important than themselves, to look out for others’ interests more than their own.  Paul is calling upon these people to live differently than we tend to live in our world.  We are taught to fight for our rights and to not allow others to have what should be ours.  Paul is telling them to forget their own personal rights, and to fight for the well-being of their brothers and sisters in Christ.

 

            It is following this exhortation that Paul calls upon the Philippians to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus.  What was so special about Christ’s attitude?  Well, before we even look at the verses to follow, I will let you know that the life of Jesus was the perfect example of self-sacrifice and humility.  This is why Paul uses Jesus’ life as the example for how the Philippians ought to live in order to put their conflicts to rest.

 

            As we look forward into the passage, we will see Paul explain the humble sacrifice of Christ that is not actually limited to the cross, but which began with the incarnation.  Paul draws out this example by citing the lyrics of what many scholars believe to be a first century hymn on the same topic.  Let us look at verse six, and we will see what this attitude of Jesus was.   

 

Philippians 2:6

 

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

 

            In this verse we learn about Jesus’ nature as well as His behavior.  The first thing that we see is that Jesus was in form, or in very nature, God.  What does that mean?  It means that everything about Jesus from before the dawn of time until the ultimate end of eternity is God.  Jesus has always existed, and He has always existed as God.  John 1:1, referring to Jesus, says “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.”  Jesus did not become God at some point.  His deity has been established from eternity past.

 

            The Bible teaches us the doctrine of God as a holy trinity.  God, though one God, has revealed himself to us as three distinct persons.  These three persons are the Father, Son, And Holy Spirit.  These three are co-eternal and co-equal.  All three are God.  They are distinct in their personhood, and yet are not three Gods but one.    

 

            Jesus is God the Son.  He is referred to as the second person of the trinity.  He is just as much God as the Father and as the Holy Spirit.  While He is distinct from the Father and Holy Spirit, He is also one with the Father and Holy Spirit.  All three persons of the trinity are one God, and have one essence or substance.  While this takes us into depths of theology that can make our heads throb, it is important that we understand that Jesus is fully divine.

 

            Being fully divine, Jesus has had, for all of eternity, all of the attributes of God.  Jesus is all powerful, all glorious, all perfect.  He is worthy of all the worship and adoration that we attach to the Father, for He and the Father are one.  AS Jesus said in . . .

 

John 14:9

 

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”

 

Put another way, anyone who has seen Jesus has seen God.  Thus, any response that we make to Jesus is the response that we make to God Himself.   

 

            Next, Paul says that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.  While there are two interpretations for this phrase, both lead us to the same conclusion as the passage continues.  One view is that Jesus did not consider equality with God something He needed to grasp simply because He is God, and one does not grasp for what one already has.  The other view is that Jesus did not cling to His status as God like one might cling to a treasure.  This is true too, since one does not cling to what one can never lose.  In either case, we see that the deity of Christ is at the forefront of the mind of Paul.  We must remember Jesus’ status as God in order to see the attitude displayed in His life which Paul describes beginning in verse 7.

 

Philippians 2:7

 

but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant,^£ being born in the likeness of men.

 

            Now we begin to understand the extent of Jesus’ sacrifice as displayed years before the cross.  Jesus “made himself nothing.”  The other uses of this word in the scriptures tend to refer to words being made void, as in a promise or boast made empty by lack of fulfillment.  Another way to say this might be that Jesus “emptied himself” or “poured himself out” in the same way that you might empty a pitcher.  The picture here in the scriptures is that the Son of God, by His own choice, greatly and dramatically lowered Himself.  

 

            How did Jesus “empty Himself” or “make Himself nothing?”  It is by becoming a man.  Jesus, while never relinquishing His equality with the Father and Holy Spirit, took what we must see as in infinite step downward.  He stepped out of the throne room of heaven, and allowed Himself to take on the form of a human being, thus the “being found in appearance as a man” phrase.  In doing so, He subjected Himself to the will of His Father, a person with whom He is co-equal.  However, as the Son incarnate, Jesus had no authority to do anything on His own as He says in . . .

 

John 5:19

 

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father^£ does, that the Son does likewise.”

 

            Jesus veiled the infinite glory with which He had been robed for eternity by covering it with human flesh.  He stepped out of a life as the King and Ruler of all the Universe and became a simple peasant.  He, the only self-existent being in all the universe, made Himself dependant on a teenage peasant woman to carry Him, give birth to Him, feed Him at her breast, and change His diapers.

 

            The profound mystery in this is that Jesus never stopped being God and truly became human.  This event is not a slide of hand trick.  This is not looking like something while being something else.  Jesus was and is absolutely fully human.  He had all the needs that any human has.  He was hungry, felt pain, sneezed, cried, laughed, ate, drank, used the bathroom, slept, and did everything a normal human man does.  The only difference in Jesus and your average human man was the fact that Jesus never sinned.  At the same time, Jesus never became less than God.  He was fully God and fully man.  While this is hard to understand, you might think of it in the same category as the trinity.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are 3 and 1 at the same time.  In the same way, Jesus was fully God and fully man at the same time.

 

            Even though Jesus was fully God, the fully man part of the equation is an incredible sacrifice.  He was worthy of the worship of all the people around him, but all they could see was a little baby boy in a manger.  He was powerful enough to speak and create the universe out of nothing, and all the people saw was the carpenter’s kid.  He was the only perfect and wise being to ever exist, and the religious of his day looked down upon Him as a sinner and a fool.  

             

            Can you imagine what it must be like to set aside your rights in this way?  Not even looking at the next verse, we already can see that Jesus undertook the most self-sacrificial act humanity has ever known when He stepped out of heaven and into the virgin’s womb.  IF you imagined the king of a vast empire voluntarily laying aside his crown and robes and working as a slave in the sweatshops, you might get a picture of what this looked like.  If you imagine the wealthiest man in the world giving away his money and living as a homeless person, you might have the beginnings of this level of sacrifice.  The problem is that the action done by Jesus is infinitely greater, since Jesus is infinitely more powerful than any king and infinitely more wealthy than any businessman.

 

            Amazingly, though the sacrifice of Jesus’ incarnation is incredible, He continues to sacrifice.

 

Philippians 2:8

 

And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

 

            Now we see what we have always viewed as Jesus’ sacrifice.  He humbled Himself even further, if that is possible, by becoming obedient even to the point of death.  Jesus, as a man who never sinned and who had no sin nature, did not in any way deserve to die.  Death, as is clear in Genesis 3, entered our world as a response to and punishment for sin.  Jesus, who had never sinned, had absolutely no reason to die for Himself.  However, in obedience to his Father’s will and out of love for humanity, Jesus voluntarily submitted Himself to death.

 

            As the passage states, the death that Jesus submitted Himself to was no ordinary death.  He did not agree to die of old age or instantly and painlessly.  Jesus suffered the death of crucifixion at the hands of Roman soldiers.  These soldiers were experts, not only in dealing out death, but in finding new and profound ways of prolonging and increasing the pain of death.  This death was painful and drawn out.  It was also humiliating.  The death of the cross allowed passersby to mock the condemned person as he hung naked and vulnerable before them.  All of this is what the Son of the most high God submitted Himself to voluntarily.

 

            With all of the above understood, we still have not reached the depth of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.  Not only was He physically and emotionally suffering, He was spiritually suffering.  The Bible tells us in . . .

 

2 Corinthians 5:21

 

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 

            The idea that Jesus would actually suffer the wrath of Almighty God for our sin is too much to imagine.  IN a moment on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself an infinite amount of punishment that you and I could not completely suffer in an eternity.  God the Father actually looked at Jesus as sin—He became sin for us—in order that He might fully punish Jesus for sins that He never committed.  Thus, He allowed Himself to be lowered to as low as is possible, and He came there from the highest point of glory possible.

 

            Thus we see that the sacrifice of the life of Christ is absolutely amazing.  It is amazing because of the fact that He is God, and lowered Himself to the position of man.  As man, He made Himself to be perfectly obedient to the commands of His Father in heaven.  As a perfectly obedient man, He lowered himself to the position of suffering for sin and allowed Himself to die in our place.  This sacrifice all starts with the incarnation.  We must never separate the beauty of Christmas from the horror of the cross.  They go hand in hand, and one means nothing without the other.    

 

            Now, let us look at the remainder of the text in order that we might see how God the Father responded to His Son’s sacrifice both in incarnation and on the cross.

 

Philippians 2:9-11

 

⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

 

            While there is much to be said about these final 3 verses, We will only take a moment to look at the overall point.  God the Father was pleased with the humble obedience of God the Son.  Jesus, who as we have already stated is equal in every way to the Father, made Himself obedient to the Father’s will.  He lowered Himself to the lowest possible level.  He sacrificed His life and His rights for the will of the Father and the salvation of humanity   

 

How great was the Father’s pleasure with the Son?  The bible tells us that, because of the Son’s self-sacrificial obedience, the Father exalted the Son to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name.  Jesus, who was lowered to the lowliest state that was possible and who took an infinite step downward to become man, was exalted above all others in the universe.  Jesus was lifted back up to the place where He deserved to be for all of eternity, and this brought glory to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

            One thing we can learn from this event in history is that God is pleased when we live a sacrificial and obedient life.  Remember that Paul said that our attitude should be the same as that of Christ.  Now we see that this attitude is one of self-sacrifice.  Jesus gave up His rights in order to be obedient to the Father and to help the lost.  WE too should be willing to give up our rights and sacrifice ourselves in order to obey our God and serve others.  IF we do this, we will please and bring glory to our God.

 

            So, as we look back at this passage, what are we to take away from the study?  Theologically, we must remember that Jesus took part in an infinite sacrifice, not only on the cross, but also in his incarnation.  The fact that Jesus would step out of heaven and into humanity should be cause for us to marvel.  AS we approach Christmas, let us take time to pause and remember the greatness of this loving sacrifice.

 

            Next, let us remember, as we think of Jesus’ sacrifice on Christmas, that it led to the sacrifice of Jesus on Good Friday.  Jesus did not remain an infant.  He did not stay in the manger.  Rather, He grew and lived a perfect life.  He pleased His Father in everything that He did.  Then, He allowed himself to be abused by evil men.  He suffered and died.  He took upon Himself the guilt for the sin of all humanity.  He died, but was raised to life again.  We must not separate the birth of Christ on Christmas from the death and resurrection of Christ which we celebrate on Easter.   

  

            Finally, we must also recognize that selfless and sacrificial love as demonstrated in Christ pleases God.  We must learn to put on the same attitude as Christ.  We must learn to let go of our own rights and our own self-importance in order to love and serve God and others.  That attitude will bring God joy in us, and will glorify Him.  We will then be satisfied as God is glorified in our lives.

The Perfect Word of God”

Speaker; Travis Peterson

Text: Psalm 19:7-11

 

** This sermon text might be useful to teachers who want to teach through the Gospel Project, Unit 1, especially session 3. **

 

Psalm 19:7-11 (ESV)

 

⁷           The law of the Lord is perfect,

            reviving the soul;

            the testimony of the Lord is sure,

            making wise the simple;

⁸           the precepts of the Lord are right,

            rejoicing the heart;

            the commandment of the Lord is pure,

            enlightening the eyes;

⁹           the fear of the Lord is clean,

            enduring forever;

            the rules of the Lord are true,

            and righteous altogether.

¹⁰          More to be desired are they than gold,

            even much fine gold;

            sweeter also than honey

            and drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹          Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

            in keeping them there is great reward.

 

Pray

 

            In the seventh century B.C., a man named Josiah became king of Judah.  Josiah was the grandson of Manasseh, the most wicked king Judah ever knew.  Manasseh governed Judah for 55 years, and led the people into idolatry, immorality, and even child sacrifice.  But Josiah, his grandson, was a strong, God-honoring man, as we read in. . .

 

2 Kings 22:1-2

 

¹Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath. ²And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.

 

 

After Josiah was on the throne for 18 years, he commanded that repairs be made in the temple of God.  The temple was, at that time, over 300 years old, so you can imagine that a few home improvement projects would have been in order.  So, Josiah gave the command, and the work began.  While the work went on in the temple, something fascinating happened:

 

2 Kings 22:8-10

 

⁸And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. ⁹And Shaphan the secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” ¹⁰Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.

 

            That reading of the book of the Torah, the law of Moses, the only form of the Bible that was available to Josiah, sparked the greatest reform in the history of Judah.  Josiah heard the word of God, wept over the sin of the nation, tore his robes, sought God’s favor, and set about the business of cleaning up the idolatry of a nation that had sat for years upon years in rebellion against God.  How low had Judah sunk?  Well, just think about this for a moment:  they were supposed to be the people of God, and when the priests uncovered the book of the law, their portion of the Bible, they did not even know what it was.  The king had never heard those words before.  They had gotten so far away from God’s word, they, as a nation, had forgotten his commands.

 

            We could learn a lot from studying the life and times of Josiah in depth, but that is not our purpose here this morning.  I do want us to learn one thing from this account that will set the tone for what we need to do together over the next few weeks.  Judah had fallen away from God, and their sin before God led them to great sorrow and loss.  And, without question, a major factor contributing to their fall was the fact that they as a people had rejected and eventually simply forgotten the word of God.

 

            Now, let’s contrast the people of Judah before the time of Josiah to one other group of people:

 

Acts 17:10-11

 

¹⁰The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

 

            While nobody would have called the people of Judah under the reign of Josiah’s father or grandfather a noble people, the Bible calls the people of a little city called Berea, “noble.”  The determining factor about why the Bible calls the people of Berea noble is the simple fact that, when they heard teaching about God, they immediately checked the scriptures to find out if the teaching was true.  They believed the scriptures to be the source of truth for how to live.  They were people of the book.

 

            In our time, we have two options.  We can choose to be like the people of Judah under the reign of Manasseh, or we can choose to be like Josiah and like the people of Berea.  We will choose either to be people who have forgotten the word of God, or we will become people of the book.  This choice is a choice between sinful and noble, of ungodly or godly, of doing evil or doing God’s will.  Ladies and gentlemen, we want to become people of the book.

 

            As a church, we have a statement of faith that helps us to simply spell out the official theological position of the church on important topics.  Let me read for you what this church believes about the Bible:

 

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man.  It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction.  It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter.  Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.  It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried.  All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.  (The Baptist Faith and Message, 2000, Article I).

 

            While it is good for us to know what the scholars who wrote that doctrinal statement say about the scriptures, and while we truly should agree that those words are true, it is even more important that we see what the Bible, God’s holy word, says about itself.  Does God claim that the scripture is all that our statement of faith claims?  Can we trust the Bible to be true, trustworthy, and clearly the revelation of God?  Is it important to God that we be a people of the book?

 

            Emphatically, I answer, “Yes!”  We must become a people of the book, and not simply because some scholars said so.  We must become a people of the book because the book says so.  And if the book says so, God says so.  Is that logic circular?  Of course it is.  But any argument that attempts to logically express a source of ultimate authority will end up being circular, since that argument must depend, ultimately, on the very source it claims has ultimate authority.  Thus, today, we will look at God’s word to see what it has to say about itself in order that we might become stronger believers in it.

 

            Last week, I only spent a short period of time looking at verses 7-11 of Psalm 19.  That is the section of the psalm that speaks about God’s special revelation, his written word.  If you remember, verses 1-6 celebrate the glory of God’s general revelation.  They applaud how the heavens declare for all the world to see that God is, and that God is glorious.  But we learned, as we looked at God’s glory in the heavens, that general revelation can only convince us that he exists; it never tells us all we need to know to know him.  Knowing God requires his special revelation, and that special revelation is the focus of verses 7-11.  I want us to take a bit more time on those verses this morning, to call you to trust, treasure, and obey the Bible as God’s holy word.

 

Point 1:  Trust the Bible as God’s Holy Word.

Psalm 19:7-9

 

⁷           The law of the Lord is perfect,

            reviving the soul;

            the testimony of the Lord is sure,

            making wise the simple;

⁸           the precepts of the Lord are right,

            rejoicing the heart;

            the commandment of the Lord is pure,

            enlightening the eyes;

⁹           the fear of the Lord is clean,

            enduring forever;

            the rules of the Lord are true,

            and righteous altogether.

 

            In this power packed little section of scripture, we find six parallel statements made about the word of God.  In each statement, we learn a title for God’s word, a description of God’s word, and a function of God’s word.  Let’s waste no time in learning what these things say to us about the book.

 

Statement1

Psalm 19:7a

 

            The law of the Lord is perfect,

            reviving the soul;

 

            The Hebrew word here translated law is the word Torah.  While it means law, it also means instruction and teaching.  It first appears in Genesis 26, where Abraham is said to have followed God’s instruction or law.  There Torah simply meant what God instructed Abraham to do.  But, by the book of Exodus, we have God giving Moses instructions that he wrote down.  The Torah, in the books of Moses, then refers to both the commands given by God on Mount Sinai as well as the particular rules and instructions for all parts of Hebrew life.  The book of Deuteronomy tells us that Moses wrote down all of the words of the law, the Torah, and preserved them for future generations.  By the time Joshua comes on the scene, the word Torah is used, almost exclusively, to refer to the written down commands of God.  Torah means God’s teaching that was written down in the book.  And, while the word can mean instruction in general, when it is used in the formal sense as we read here in verse 7, there is simply no question that David is here speaking about the written down revelation of God.

 

            Why is it important for us to recognize that the word here translated law is a reference to the written down revelation of God?  We have to understand this, because we have to understand that what is here said about the law of the Lord applies to what we have and what we believe today.  David wrote about the Torah, because that was the scripture he had available to him.  We now have that writing, but in addition, we have the other books of the prophets in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament scriptures.  All of these writings carry the same weight; all are written down revelation from God.  So, where David talks about the Torah, we need to talk about the Bible.  And it is vital for us to recognize what the Bible says to us about itself.

 

            Notice also that in all six statements about the scripture, the phrase “of the LORD” follows the title given to the word of God.  David knew, and you and I must also know, that the written down revelation that we study here is the revelation of God.  It is his book.  These are his words that he inspired men to write.  This is his revelation of himself to us.  These are his standards, his principles, his judgments, his words.     

 

            And, look at the description that God gives us for his law, his Torah.  He says to us that his law is perfect.  Perfect is a Hebrew word that literally means complete, sound, or blameless.  God’s law does not fall short, it lacks nothing, it says nothing wrong.  It is right from beginning to end, and it misses nothing in the middle.  John MacArthur, commenting on this word, says, “It is to say then that the Scripture covers everything.  It lacks nothing.  It lacks nothing.  It is a comprehensive source of teaching from God which therefore embodies all that is necessary to the spiritual life of God’s people.”

 

            And what does this perfect, written down teaching of God do?  David says that it restores the soul.  The word for restores here is a Hebrew word that means to turn around or change directions.  It is sometimes used for repentance, to make a complete turn-about.  Thus, the law of the LORD turns your soul around.  If your soul is in danger, walking down a wrong path or facing destruction, the teaching of God as it is written in his book will restore your soul, turning it away from destruction and toward righteousness, restoration, and life.        

 

Statement 2

Psalm 19:7b

 

            the testimony of the Lord is sure,

            making wise the simple;

 

            In this line, clearly intended to be a parallel line to the first, the word used for the written down revelation of God is “testimony.”  The word for testimony is a word that can mean testimony or admonition and warning.  It was used to refer to the written down revelation of God, as the testimony (written Torah) was to be placed in the ark of the covenant.  This carries with it the idea of God testifying, in a legal sense, about who he is and what he demands.  It warns us about the standards of God that we must follow.

 

            That testimony of God is sure, meaning strong, faithful, and trustworthy.  Sometimes that word is used of the doorposts of a house or temple, indicating their sturdiness and reliability.  We live in a world of people who think that all truths are relative and all truths change; but the word of God is neither relative nor changeable.  It is not wavering, fickle, or malleable.  God’s word is sure, sturdy, strong, steady, and reliable.

 

            And this trustworthy testimony of God makes wise the simple.  Again citing John Macarthur:  “And here is a marvelous promise.  The Word of God can take a naïve, inexperienced, undiscerning, uninformed, ignorant person and bring them to such wisdom that they can live out a godly life according to the will of God.”  So, if you would like to be wise in the eyes of God and not naïve, simple, or foolish, the place that you look to gain the wisdom you need is his written word.

 

Statement 3

Psalm 17:8a

 

            the precepts of the Lord are right,

            rejoicing the heart;

 

            Here the word of God is called his precepts.  This word for precepts only appears in the psalms, and points to God’s commands—commands written in his word.  It carries with its meaning the idea of God’s divine principles, guidelines, or instructions.

 

            These precepts of God, his principles, are right.  That is to say that God’s precepts are never crooked; they are always straight and true.  They will never lead you in a wrong direction or down a wrong path.  You can follow God’s precepts in his word, and they will never lead you out of God’s will, but will guide you straight to where he wants you to be.

 

            When you follow those straight and right precepts of God that you find in his word, they lead your heart to joy.  The idea here is gladness or celebration.  As John Piper points out, “We are commanded to rejoice in God.  If obedience is doing what God commands, then joy is not merely the spin-off of obedience, it is obedience.”  Joy is the result of obeying God, and it is itself obeying him.  God’s commands lead us to the ultimate of all joys, the joy of having done the very thing for which we were created, glorifying God. 

 

Statement 4

Psalm 19:8b

 

            the commandment of the Lord is pure,

            enlightening the eyes;

 

            The word for commandment is interesting.  In Exodus 24:12, it is combined with Torah to say what God gave Moses on the mountain.  It is the Hebrew word mitzvah, from which we get the word bar-mitzvah, son of the law, which is the Jewish boy’s right of passage from childhood to adulthood.  As the commandment of God, the scripture has authority.  It is not optional.  It is the command of God that we must follow, or we rebel against him.

 

            The commandments of God are pure.  The word for pure means just that, pure, clean, innocent, or choice as in a choice offering.  The 2 other times it occurs in the psalms, it refers to one who has a pure heart.  There is no evil, no blemish, no taint of sin in God’s word.  It is completely and perfectly pure. 

 

            And these pure commands of God enlighten our eyes.  There are two possible ideas behind this phrase, and I think both perfectly apply to what the word of God does.

 

Psalm 119:130

 

            The unfolding of your words gives light;

            it imparts understanding to the simple.

 

One idea is that the word of God gives us light, imparting to us understanding or wisdom.  Without question, God’s commands do that for us, as they teach us who God is and what he demands of us.

 

But there is also. . .

 

1 Samuel 14:27

 

But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.

 

Ezra 9:8

 

But now for a brief moment favor has been shown by the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant and to give us a secure hold within his holy place, that our God may brighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our slavery.

 

Psalm 13:3

 

            Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;

            light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

 

In all three of these passages, where light is connected to your eyes, it means to refresh or rejuvenate you.  I honestly think this is more in view in our treatment of God’s word.  Yes, God’s word gives us wisdom.  But, it also gives us life.  It gives us strength to serve God.  When we, as believers, read, meditate on, and follow the pure commands of God, we are strengthened, energized, and empowered to follow our God.

 

Statement 5

Psalm 19:9a

 

            the fear of the Lord is clean,

            enduring forever;

 

            The word for fear means terror, awe, and reverence.  If you look at it, this word is the one in the list that does not have a particular tie to the written book.  However, you can see in several places where the fear of God is actually paralleled with his instruction, that which you can only get from his word.

 

Psalm 34:11

 

            Come, O children, listen to me;

            I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

 

How is this psalmist going to teach the fear of the LORD?  It is not that he is going to teach an emotion.  Instead, he is going to teach the word of God that brings about the right reverence of God.

 

Psalm 119:38

 

            Confirm to your servant your promise,

            that you may be feared.

 

The promise of God that is to be confirmed is the promise in his word.  It is that word that is directly connected to fearing God.

 

Proverbs 1:7

 

            The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge;

            fools despise wisdom and instruction.

 

Notice, in this parallelism, that the synonym to the fear of God is wisdom and his instruction.

 

            So, the point here is that the fear of the LORD is a fear that is directly connected to the written word of God.  As we get to know God through his book, we learn to reverence him as he commands.

 

            That fear, and the book that brings it to us, is clean.  The word for clean here is the word that is often used for what is ceremonially clean.  It is what is pure and acceptable to God.  It is what you can offer God in worship.  And so we see that the level of perfection that God demands of those who worship him is found in his holy word.

 

            And that clean fear of God that is brought about by his holy word is something that will endure forever.  The cleanness of God’s word does not fall apart over time.  It does not stop, change, or become unclean simply because nations rise and fall or because cultures change.  What was righteous before God two thousand years ago is still righteous before him.  What was evil before God two thousand years ago is still evil .  Kingdoms and nations rise and fall, but the word of the LORD endures forever.

 

Statement 6

 

            the rules of the Lord are true,

            and righteous altogether.

 

            The final word for God’s word is his rule.  This word speaks of God’s judgments or his justice.  These are what MacArthur calls the “divine verdicts from the bench of the Judge of all the earth.”    

 

            The verdict or rule of God is true.  This is a word that indicates firmness.  God’s holy word is always, in all things, absolutely true.  It stands firm.  It does not deceive.  It does not crumble under genuine scrutiny.

 

            The word for righteous in “righteous altogether” is a word that means justified, acquitted, shown to be just or right.  When the word of God is examined over the test of eternity, the word of God will stand as righteous.  All other systems of thought, all other philosophies, all other man-made systems will be proved to be incorrect, insufficient, and guilty of wrong.  The word of God will stand justified, proved to have been right from beginning to end.

 

            The point of this study was to call you to trust in the Bible as God’s holy word.  The bible is here called God’s law, testimony, precepts, commands, fear, and rule.  All of those words are intended to bring to our minds different aspects of the written revelation of God.  We have that written revelation of God in the Bible, and so what is said about God’s word is said about the Bible.

 

            What is said about the Bible should give you great confidence in it.  The Bible is perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true.  Those words tell us that it is not full of errors, not sinful, not faulty, not flawed, not wavering, not wrong in any way.  As such, it is totally true, totally trustworthy, totally right in every way.  While there may be debates on how a very small number of passages are translated, there is no debate in the word of God that the words, as they were inspired by God, are incapable of error, perfect in every way, and fully sufficient for everything the Christian needs.

 

            And the impact of the word on our lives is priceless.  The Bible is said to revive the soul, make wise the simple, rejoice the heart, enlighten the eyes, endure forever, and be righteous altogether.  You want every last one of those things to happen in your life.  You want your soul turned back from destruction to life.  You want your life to be one of wisdom rather than naivety.  You want your heart to rejoice.  You want your life to be rejuvenated—your eyes to be enlightened.  You want your life to be built around something that will last forever and that will be proved altogether righteous when all is said and done.  And if you want all those things, you can find them in no other place than in the word of God.

 

            So, yes, trust the Bible, God’s holy word.  And let us only read the remaining two verses to be reminded of how our hearts should respond to this totally trustworthy word of God.

 

Point 2:  Treasure and obey the Bible as the holy word of God.

 

Psalm 19:10-11

 

¹⁰          More to be desired are they than gold,

            even much fine gold;

            sweeter also than honey

            and drippings of the honeycomb.

¹¹          Moreover, by them is your servant warned;

            in keeping them there is great reward.

 

            If you are a believer in Jesus Christ here this morning, these verses ought to mark your response to the Bible.  It is worth more than the greatest treasure and sweeter than the sweetest pleasure.  It warns us away from danger.  It leads us to ultimate joy.  It is a treasure the like of which we can not find anywhere else.  It is a guide, the following of which leads to eternal joy and ultimate reward.  Treasure and obey God’s holy word, the Bible.

 

            If you are here this morning, and you do not know what to make of Christianity, I urge you to start with the book.  God revealed to you everything you need to know about him and about yourself in the Bible.  The Bible makes claims about itself that demand your attention.  The God of the universe will ultimately respond to your life before him, and his judgment will be directly in line with what he has revealed in his word.  His word tells us that we have all broken his laws, but that he sent his Son to pay the penalty for our crimes.  His word tells us that if we will put our trust in Jesus, turning away from our sin and turning in faith to Jesus, he will forgive us for all the wrong that we have done before him and grant us eternal life.  That is a promise worth looking into, and you can receive that promise today.

 

            If you are a believer, the call is very simple:  trust, treasure, and obey the Bible as God’s holy word.  To fail to believe the Bible is to fail to believe God.  To fail to obey the Bible is to fail to obey God.  To fail to treasure the Bible is to fail to treasure God’s words for you.  Do not be guilty of such a great insult toward God.  Do not lose sight of the word of God.  Do not forget God’s commands, as we read about the nation of Judah doing before the reforms of Josiah.  Instead, become a person of the book, and encourage others to become people of the book, trusting, treasuring, and obeying the Bible, the word of God.