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Psalm 19:7-14
There's a parable in there somewhere about being prepared. I guess, you know 2023 is Over today is the last day. It's a unique year. 2023 is one of those rare years if you think about it. We're both the first day of the year January 1st and the last day of the year.
We're both on a Sunday and this happened back. What year was I believe? 2017 maybe it was but it it will not happen again. For because of leap year and those things it won't happen again for 11 years 11 years.
Now for some of you that doesn't seem like that big a deal. But I began thinking about that and I realized in 11 years I'll be 48 my oldest son.
Will be.
27.
11 years. How old will you be in 11 years? How old will your children be in 11 years. And if you're if you're you know around my age or older you know that used to 11 years were like that seemed like forever a Decade anymore goes like that and in you understand that before long you'll wake up and we'll be talking about this again.
It'll be 11 years down the road. Lord teach us To number our days. I believe a lot of good things happened in 2023. We added in 2023 another pastor, I Think he's alright.
We.
Reworked our Constitution and bylaws to better reflect who we were. We adopted I think a better confession of faith moved from the Baptist faith the message. To the 1689 we renamed our Church from Perryville Second Baptist Church to Providence Baptist Church.
We Bet how we saw two baptisms My daughter and Jacob's son.
Saw some families. Join the church. We became more closely connected with churches in Mexico. Missionary work in Belize. We added a family from Belize a members now who are here with us this morning who will be returning soon who we have Covenanted with to watch over to love to to partner with and and see the gospel take root and take hold in Belize.
A lot of good things. And yet this morning I want to encourage us that we must never grow Complacent as a church as we leave one year behind and and look forward to what the Lord has for us in The next year.
We must always consciously be seeking Reformation. And That is not Reformation according to what our government may say According to what men may say according to what our culture may say. A local church must always seek Reformation according to the Word of God.
Turn in your Bibles, please this morning to Psalm chapter 19. I Want to challenge us today as a church to saturate ourselves in the Bible in 2024 may Providence Baptist Church may the people here always be known as people of.
The book.
May we be characterized as a people who have the Bible ever on our lips. Who sing of it. Who talk of it. Who? Daily read it. Who do. Gather around our families and family worship. We memorize scripture together.
We sing the Bible together. We we share scripture with those in our community. We preach the gospel to those in our community. All these types of things are the things we want to be known for. We want.
To be known as people of the book. Because above all This is the King's book and it is by feasting on this book. That it's not about checking off a box. It's about knowing the God who has given us this book.
Our triune God has revealed himself to us Unworthy creatures in this book through Christ. What a glorious God we have that has revealed himself to us. Therefore we are adherence to the Word. Here we stand we can do no other.
And I want to consider this morning God's wonderful book will be reading from Psalm 19 beginning in verse 7. Would you stand with me as we honor? The reading of the word.
David.
David writes 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 and lightning the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold even much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them as your servant warned in keeping them. There is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord my rock.
And my Redeemer.
Father thank you for this book. I Pray this morning that we would see the chief end of this book is Christ. Knowing him and what he has done for us help us to understand. The purpose of this book help us to not see this book as a as a mere duty or burden but as a delight Lord shape us would help us to be willing even this morning to say Exposed to us the areas of our weakness.
Show us the areas we need to grow in. Show us by your word and give us the faith to follow you even even if it's difficult. Let us be people Who adhere to what your word has to say. To love it. To trust it?
To believe it. We pray it all in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated a number of years ago. You know how it is listen you can relate to this especially probably dads. But a number of years ago we're putting together something on Christmas Eve, I don't remember what it was some sort of May.
I think it was like a a tricycle type thing like a big wheel type thing. I don't remember what it was, but I as a man attempted to put this thing together without really consulting the instructions and I came to the end of it and I had a few parts left over.
And I remember I had to look at the instructions it turns out I'd missed a step but in order to Get back to that step. I had to like undo the other 15 steps, right? Like put this thing together in in 2700 easy steps, right?
Well, I like because I'd missed a spot I had to go all the way back and realize that this idea that they had put on the box of some assembly Required was a lot bigger deal than I was ready for. But I use that illustration to remind us.
Things aren't going to work unless you read the book. I Think there's an application there for us in this morning sermon. Take up this book and read it. Obviously, it's more than an instruction book. It's more than just life's little instructions for us.
But we are to be people.
Who.
Know the scriptures. So I want to consider first of all the necessity of the Word of God the necessity of the Word of God. The Bible is a hundred percent necessary for knowing the gospel for maintaining spiritual life and For knowing God's will I'll say that again.
The Bible is a hundred percent necessary for knowing the gospel for maintaining spiritual life and for knowing God's will now. Notice the reason I say that is because the Bible is not Necessary for knowing there is a God.
The text teaches us that I didn't read it but back up to verse 1 the heavens Declare the glory of God. Now listen, this is what I'll say this and I'll read it. David is teaching us here that all of creation like the psalm that we just sang psalm 8 the fish in the sea are Declaring the worth of God you go down into the depths of the sea and you found these weird-looking creatures.
Why do these creatures even exist right? They've got all these tentacles and or maybe they they look weird. They got an eye over here in a weird spot and they swim around they do weird things. Why do they exist?
They're declaring the worth of God. There's a sermon being preached right now you're up. Well, yeah, I know that I hear it. No, no, not me, right? There's a sermon being preached right now that has been preached every second of every hour.
Of every day since time began it has been preaching and it hasn't ceased preaching and that is God is glorious. The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above Proclaims his handiwork day-to-day pours out speech.
You understand the the the the poetry here day-to-day there is a speech being poured out day-to-day, that's a universal language and Night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor are there words whose voice is not heard.
That is whether you're in Asia or Africa or North America or South America or even you're doing research on the continent of Antarctica there's not a place in the world today in the universe if you're on a space station and you were able to go 10 ,000 light-years away in the universe still there Creation is preaching.
Their voice goes out through all the earth and their words to the end of the earth in them. He has set a tent for the Sun which comes out like a bridegroom. So think about the Sun here. Comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber and like a strong man runs its course with joy.
So it's rises. Sets its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of the earth and there is nothing hidden from. Its heat that is everywhere the Sun touches.
Right.
In my mind just jumped a a Lion King reference right everywhere the light touches if I could do the James Earl Joan.
Voice.
Everywhere the Sun touches God is being proclaimed. There is not a soul in the world today that does not know God.
Exists.
There is.
Really no such thing as atheists now. I know you know some atheists and I know some atheists but in their heart of hearts. The problem is not lack of knowledge. It's lack of belief. They know God exists there is enough evidence That God exists.
It's being proclaimed God is glorious yet because of sin. You can look at this later this afternoon. Romans 1 18 through 20 teaches us. Mankind knows there's a God but if you will they're in the Ocean, they've got the beach ball and that is knowledge of God and they've taken the beach ball and they've pressed it underneath the water and they're holding it they're Suppressing.
That's the language Romans 1 suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. There is evidence of God in all creation because God is being proclaimed by the Sun and the moon and the stars and the fish and the snow and the deer and the trees and the newborn cry.
God is being proclaimed in all creation as glorious. Mankind looks at that knowledge and says.
No.
We will not believe that and They suppress the truth and unrighteousness. So our confession chapter 1 of 16 and I rightly says the Holy Scriptures are the only sufficient certain and infallible Standard of all saving knowledge faith and obedience the light of nature and the works of creation and providence.
Sessions are not sufficient to give the knowledge of God and his will that is necessary for salvation. Therefore I say again, the Bible is a hundred percent Necessary for knowing the gospel for maintaining spiritual life and knowing God's will.
So when you get to verse 7 There's a switch. Did you not just look in your Bibles and just see if you notice something? What is the difference? between God in verse 1 and How God is referred to in verse 7.
I don't think that this is Accidental. In verse 1 if you know the Hebrew you have Elohim is used the heavens declare the glory of Elohim the glory of God. That's just a generic name for God but then in verse 7 We have God's covenantal name used Yahweh.
The law of Yahweh is perfect. I Don't think that's by mistake. The only way to know God personally because of our sin is through his revelation of himself in his word and God's law here is perfect. David is for the word is Torah the Hebrew word there the law of the Torah of the Lord.
So he's referring to the Torah, but with a completed canon of Scripture. That means we have a whole Bible now. We can apply Everything that David says here to the entirety of the scriptures. So in the Bible we have a perfect Revelation of God that is necessary to know him and his will.
The law of the Lord is Perfect, and then he says that it revives the soul. Reviving the soul. David is not saying that we get revived by keeping the law in and of ourselves. Of course, we cannot do that.
What he is saying is that the Word of God is the instrument by which God uses to Revive our soul to bring revival to our soul without the word. We're utterly lost. We're hopeless. Condemned by the testimony of creation, but with nothing to point our hearts toward reconciliation.
But the Word of God revealed how that reconciliation is possible through the gospel. That is Christ's life death burial resurrection for sinners. In other words, you can't look at the Sun and the moon and the stars and see Christ's righteous work.
You can't look at a beautiful night sky and say Oh Jesus died for me. You can't see that in creation. That's only revealed in the scriptures in the Bible. We see Christ on every page. We see our need for him.
We see him prophesied. We see him coming in the flesh. We see his perfect and holy life. We understand him as the only way to God. We see his death for sinners as a substitutionary Wrath satisfying sacrifice.
We see his victorious resurrection of triumph. We see God's command to all mankind to repent and believe the gospel. We see it as our duty to place our faith in the finished work of the Son of God. There is no other place I'm saying to get this truth outside of the Bible and The Holy Spirit uses his own word to revive the soul.
To regenerate the heart to Enlighten our understanding of who God is and who we are and what Christ has done and our great need for him. This is the necessity of the Word of God. Before moving on let me say to the church that we're in constant need of repentance constant need of renewal constant need of reassurement constant need of recalibration.
Friends. The Word of God is necessary. To bring these things into our life. Oh, I just want to be closer to Jesus. I want to be a better husband. I want to be a better wife. I want to be. I want to be a better worker.
I want to bring more glory to Christ. You will not do that apart from the Word of God. It's the Word of God that revives the soul. Secondly, I want to talk about the authority of the Word of God. Then that is the necessity now the authority of the Word of God.
The Bible bears Authority the highest authority on our lives friends to disobey or disbelieve. The Bible is to disobey or disbelieve God. Well, you're making the Bible God. No. No, we're not saying the Bible is God.
We're saying the Bible is a perfect treasure and revelation of God. We're saying the Bible is the Word of God. So we're saying the Bible is how God speaks to us now look at our text with a completed canon of Scripture.
We can understand these words that David uses here to apply to the whole Bible. So the law. The testimony the rules the commandments the fear the precepts. They are all different ways here of referring to the scriptures and notice something in our text.
What does David keep repeating in this psalm about the law and the testimony and the rules and the commandments and the fear and the precepts. He keeps saying they are of.
The.
Lord.
Now, let me just I don't know if this will be helpful to you or not. Let me do some translation as I read this. Very simple. I'm just gonna read God's covenant tool name here. Yahweh. Some people say Jehovah.
I think Yahweh is a better translation and I'm just gonna put it in the possessive because that's what it is. Oh the Lord of Yahweh that's possessive. So I'm just gonna put it in the possessive and read it and see maybe if it helps us a little bit.
So just listen to this. Yahweh's law is.
Perfect.
Reviving the soul Yahweh's Testimony is sure. Making wiser simple Yahweh's precepts are right. Rejoicing the heart Yahweh's commandment is pure. Enlightening the eyes Yahweh's fear is clean enduring forever Yahweh's rules are true and righteous all together friends the Bible.
Is.
God's.
Therefore we are under the authority of God as Mediated to us in his word. If you say to me this morning I'm under the authority of God, but I don't listen to the Bible then friend. You are not for practical purposes Acknowledging the authority of God in your life.
The authority of God in your life is the Bible. Deuteronomy 8 3 says this way man shall not live by bread alone. But what every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh our transcendent Holy Triune.
God has given us his own word. Every single word in Scripture is from the mouth of God. He has given us this word for his good for our good and his glory. He does not lie. He does not deceive. He does not play games.
He has given us his word not as an optional thing for us to read or obey or whatever when we want to but because There is major Reassembly required in our lives and the Holy Spirit uses his word to move us to shake us to give us life to transform Us into the people.
He wants us to be. Jesus had a very so so some people are like I. The Bible is not my highest authority. Jesus is that sounds spiritual, but it's actually I Want to say STU P ID, but foolish it's dumb.
What do you mean? Jesus is your highest authority, but not the Bible. Jesus had a high view of the Bible by the way in in John 1035. He said Scripture cannot be broken. Then what he said in Matthew 24 35 He said heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
What the Rocky Mountains will pass away the Mississippi River will pass away. The Nile River will pass away the continent of Africa will pass away. The United States will pass away, but the words of Christ Will not pass away.
Friends you cannot have Jesus as your highest authority unless his word is your highest authority. I Heard a person say once listen to God's voice above all else even Scripture. That doesn't make sense.
Because Scripture is God's voice in written form men wrote the Bible as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. So that Scripture is a hundred percent God breathe. This is God's voice to his people so anything that you feel or any kind of tradition or anything that might be culturally accepted or anything and everything else is Subservient to the Scripture.
So for example, you say I feel this way, but the Bible says that your feelings are wrong. Your Bible is right. Yeah, I I you know, it's just traditional. Hey, you know what? I understand. We're not in the 50s no more, dude.
Like it's okay. If a if a man and woman need to live together outside of marriage, it's okay. It's the world that we live in. It doesn't matter what the culture says. It's what does the Word of God say?
It's not your tradition. It's the Scriptures. It's not your feelings. It's the Scriptures. It's not the way it's always been done. It's the Scriptures. It's always the Bible because this is Yahweh's Word.
The Bible is our supreme standard because it is the voice of God in written form. To disbelieve or disobey any word in Scriptures to disbelieve and disobey God.
Thirdly.
Now and I'm tempted to say finally but that signals to the listener that The planes landing and if we are just making our descent it's it's gonna be a minute here. I won't get. You know keep the seat belt fastened.
What I'm saying. Thirdly the sufficiency of Scripture. Because I'm really building up to this Point I think Psalm 19 is one of the greatest places that we can look to to help us affirm the sufficiency of Scripture.
I Also think that a denial of the sufficiency of Scripture is one of the main problems that we have in churches today. That is now now listen, I'm talking about conservative churches I'm talking about churches that if I stood in the pulpit and I said this is the Word of God They'd say amen.
I'm talking about conservative Churches, I think one of the greatest problems in conservative churches today is a practical denial of the sufficiency of the Word of God. John MacArthur said this all Truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life is taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture.
1689 our own confession says the whole counsel of God Concerning everything essential for his own glory and man's salvation faith and life is either Explicitly stated or by necessary inference contained in the Holy Scripture.
Both of those definitions. What MacArthur is saying with the 1689 is saying is saying both of those definitions say everything that we need. Everything that is essential for the glory of God and for our Christian life is given to us in the Bible.
God doesn't set forth the idea of Christianity. And then say you know what guys you just take it and you run with it. You look at the world today and you you decide what you think is best. You look at churches today and you decide what you think is best.
You get advice from from the philosophers and and from the cultural elites and from from the presidents and and leaders of the world today and and and then you take their thoughts and you mix them with some of my thoughts and then you come up with a Conglomeration of Christianity that will save the world.
You do it. I think it's good for you to do that. No. We have in the Bible. And in the Bible alone.
Everything we need.
To know God and to live for his glory. It teaches us the wonderful truths Of the gospel of the church the Christian life. Let me just read these verses again seven eight nine. The law of the Lord is perfect.
Reviving the soul the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise to 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 and during forever.
The rules of the Lord are true and righteous. All together walk through those for just a moment those attributes with me. This is the attributes of Scripture here. It is perfect. That is verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect.
It is whole it is complete. Perfect that means it is not lacking. There is nothing lacking in the Bible that you need to know about God or the Christian life. It is perfect. It can revive the soul or in other words transform the person.
Sometimes in your evangelistic conversations you say I just don't know what to say to that person whenever you come to a Point that you don't know what to say to a person. How about just giving them the Scripture?
How about just saying I don't know everything that I supposed to say to you right now. But I do know this. Jesus commands us in Mark 115 repent and believe the gospel. Jesus tells us in John 6 3 16 for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him Should not perish but have everlasting life.
I know that in Acts 16 31 Paul and Silas told the Philippian jailer to believe in the Lord Jesus. And you will be saved. Quote the Bible. You can't go wrong with quoting the Bible because God is pleased to use the Bible.
He's perfect Bible to transform the person. Let me move on. It is perfect. It is sure just following along the text here. It is perfect. It is sure the testimony of Lord is sure that is it is trustworthy.
You can count on it. It is convincing the Spirit uses it here. It says to make a simple undiscerning mind skilled in all the issues of life. The Testament of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. Hey, we can joke about Arkansas right?
We're just simple folk here. We put on our shoes on on Sunday to come to church. Listen to me. It is the Word of God that makes simple people. Discerning people wise people the Word of God takes the simplest of minds and Transforms it into discerning after the righteous and holiness of Christ.
It is right I'm just following along look now. I'm on verse 8 the precepts of the Lord are right. That is it it points to the one right way. The narrow road it points us to Christ who is our only source of Eternal joy, it is our sure compass again.
The precepts of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart that is when we read the Bible and when a Christian when a regenerate heart reads the Bible and here's the commands of the Bible and says this is what it looks like to be.
A Christian man to be a Christian woman to be a pastor to be a church member to be a deacon. This is what it looks like. We don't feel an overwhelming sense of burden and drudgery rather our hearts are rejoiced.
We are rejoicing because we want to do the will of God. Rejoices the heart it is pure the second half of verse 8 the commandment of the Lord is pure. That is in this sense. It is clear. That is another area.
We're battling today. If you just listen closely is The perspicuity of Scripture now, that's a Long word to communicate something simple. It means clear. The clarity of Scripture that is the Bible is clear.
There's some people want to say things like this. Well, you know, everybody just has different beliefs about the Bible. So you just take this and and I'll take that and I'll go my merry way and you go your merry way.
And it really doesn't matter. No, this is an indictment against God because It says to us That God doesn't know how to talk to his people. Now that may be true of me. I can give confusing commands. I can give commands to my children that confuse them.
It's actually they may be being disobedient or it may be I just gave confusing commands. Is this our view of God that God does not know how to communicate his word to his people now I understand not all passages are easy.
I think that's by design. I think there are difficult passages to interpret because God wants us to study and to and to and to grow and to and to. And to do the hard work, but the message of God's salvation Through the perfect work of Christ it is plain and a lot more of the Bible is plain and simple.
Than some people try to make it out to be it is pure. Next it points us to a proper perspective of God. Verse 9 says the fear of the Lord is clean again. These are all attributes of Scripture. So this is not a subjective fear of the Lord so much as it's talking about The Scriptures the the words of God are the fear of Yahweh.
It's clean. That is undefiled. It's not mixed with error. It's not that you have to reach through the Bible and say, okay. Well this parts true and and that parts not true.
It's infallible and inerrant. It does not pass away and then it is true. It is true in other places in Scripture like John 17 17. It is truth. So it is true truth. It is true. It is the book. That is the standard.
For judging the life and eternal destiny of every person. It is the book. That is the standard for judging the lives of men when you communicate what the Bible says you are not judging someone in The sense that it's being used.
So for example. If you say to a person no liar will inherit eternal life. All liars will burn in the lake of fire. You are communicating Revelation 21 8. You're not judging someone you're communicating what the judge has said.
You're communicating the scriptures because the scriptures are true they are Reliable. It gives us the very will of God for our lives now. You can read and you know me come to come to my study and see.
I can let you borrow a lot of books. We can read much wisdom in others writings. We can gain glean. We can glean truth. From schooling and such social interaction even certain television shows, you know, I'm not saying it was aliens.
But it was aliens, you know the guy on the history channel. I don't know how much you can truth you can glean from that but even certain television shows we can we can glean truth. But at the end of the day what I'm trying to communicate here is they are all imperfect for sufficiently.
Understanding everything we need that pertains to Christ his church and eternal life. We depend on the Bible. I'll make a comment. It's not affecting most of you in here, but I'll make this comment. So I think it fits here some of you this is important to everyone, but you need to listen carefully, but there's debates today.
About philosophy and where how you know natural religion. Natural theology I should say natural theology philosophy. I'm using those terms synonymously. Let me say this any doctrine of God that we develop that begins with man is Ultimately going to lead us to the wrong God where we have to begin in our understanding of God is.
Where God has revealed himself to us in his word. This is where we start. So I believe there has been a massive breakdown happening in conservative churches over the last couple of decades. Intellectually we affirm the necessity of the Word of God we affirm the authority of the Word of God.
Intellectually, we affirm the sufficiency of the Word of God, but practically this is not lived out. Okay preacher. Give us some examples. Well, I'm glad you asked that because I want to give you some examples our methodology of evangelism our methodology of worship or or missions or or Ecclesiology how we do church.
These things are based upon studies or Experience or what the experts say or what works and not upon the Word of God. Why are you going out preaching the gospel? Why are you going out knocking on doors?
Why that doesn't work studies show that doesn't work. I don't give a cotton-picking care about your studies. I want to do what the Bible says to do and it doesn't matter to me. Culture has to say I want to be a man of the book and this must be the desire of every regenerate heart.
The scriptures are enough. I Don't even know if you can say cotton-picking from the pulpit anymore. I think that's offensive but you understand what I'm trying to say. I Don't give a rip. Is that better?
I don't know if that's right. I don't care What the culture has to say we will not be pragmatist here. We will not be scared to be different here. May we fear God more than man? Because we don't have the right to do things outside of God's Word.
I read the other day. It was an emotionally gripping story. But I read the other day about a conservative pastor. He'd been dealing with some stuff and it was hard and he showed up to church one day and.
And and the music leader called and he couldn't come and and like he just didn't feel up to it. He was like man. I can't leave music. I can't preach. So he called his deacons and and they just canceled service that day.
The corporate worship of the Living God on the Lord's Day canceled. I'm just trying to tell us this is a disregard for what the Word of God says. When we do things like Dismissing worship or adding to worship or letting culture dictate our practices over God's Word.
We are saying that we are smarter than God and that we ultimately don't care what God says. We create wrong ideas in our mind about who God is and about what he wants. I am convinced. So the problem is.
The problem is when we when you you talk to so many people who who profess to be Christians today in our culture the the problem is not that.
They.
Let me rephrase that the problem is that they have convinced themselves in their mind that they are following Jesus. They have convinced themselves in their mind and heart That they love God. But here's the great problem.
So, how do I know? So this is my encouragement my exhortation my warning to you. How do I know that? I'm not like that. How do I know that I haven't just invented Jesus in my mind and I'm following the wrong Jesus friends it's the Scriptures.
We must exact these are the plumb line, right? These are the standard we look at our lives. We look at our church. We look at our families and we say are we ordering these things by what this says? And if we are not then the God we have in our heart and mind is a God of our own invention and Not the God of the Bible.
David says in verse 10 and 11 more to be desired. Are they than gold even much fine gold sweeter? Also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb moreover by them as your servant warned in keeping them.
There is great reward. Oh man now some of you. You like spinach, but maybe for the children and the rest of normal people. I'll Use spinach as an example. Aren't you glad he's like he doesn't say the Bible is like spinach tasteless but good for you.
No, and I know this speaks to the the Carter's heart here. The Bible is like honey. Honey, what is honey? It's sweet. It tastes good. It's a Bible. It's not a drudgery. It's it's good for you. And it's sweet like honey and and it's more valuable all the time that we spend with the time that we spend to make a dollar and in the the time that we worry About money and and David is sitting here shouting at us in this song.
The Bible is better than money. It's more valuable than gold even much fine gold. It's better if I said to you, can you memorize a passage you would say? Oh, it's hard for me to memorize a passage. My brain just isn't like I used to be but I said hey listen if you every verse you memorize between now and next Sunday I'm gonna give you a thousand dollars.
You would find all of a sudden how How much of a recovery you have of your memory now, right and I'm telling you the Bible is better than that. It's better than a thousand dollars that I could give you.
But we're now in a state of Christianity where we have masses amount of people who say that they are Christians, but they're biblically illiterate. Given the access we have today to God's Word. I believe we are the most biblically illiterate generation that has ever existed.
Ever.
May that not be true of us here. Who can discern verse 12 now who can discern his errors declare me innocent from hidden faults? Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression. And then verse 14. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh Lord my rock and my Redeemer.
God is our rock and our Redeemer. David penned this psalm but one from the line of David came to be our Redeemer. Christ born of the Virgin Mary Who lived sinlessly. Who is as I love? Hey when gunner uses the word quintessential, I know it's gonna be a good day.
Jesus is the quintessential fulfillment of Psalm 1 and Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 and all the Psalms, right? Like this is this is Jesus points us to Christ the sinless one who obeyed the law for us who suffered under Pontius Pilate who was Crucified for our sins dead and buried and rose again on the third day.
He alone is our Redeemer. There's redemption in no one else but Jesus if you go to him in faith and David says if we want to live lives essentially if we want to live lives that love Christ. Then we're gonna need to be in his word.
Why. Well presumptuous sins you saw that in verse 13. That's blatant disregards for for God's commands. Yet so many Christians can get caught in these because they don't give serious attention to God's Word.
The redeemed don't want to just guiltily obey Scripture. Rather they desire to please God because we love him. God has given us a perfect layout of what pleases him and how to do so in his precious Word many people think today.
How it is I'm supposed to please God. We were talking to a man in evangelism a few weeks ago. I broke his stick. You can ask Alex and Jacob about that if you want to humble one of your pastors myself, I'm talking about anyway, this man said.
That he was talking to God and that God said to him What's important to you. And the man said my truck. So God said him. Then that's important to me. And he said what's important to you and he said my wife which I thought it was funny.
He put his truck first. He said well then that's important to me. But but you understand I'm not trying to be too harsh on this man. That's the way a lot of people think that they please God. They please God by just living however they want and trying to do right in their own eyes and then God just comes in and he blesses that and I'm Pleading with us here to understand this morning that the way that we please God and understand his will for a life and live.
The way that he desires us is by conforming our life surrendering our life to what this book says. May the Bible not be a burden to you. Do we value? The privilege of heavenly counsel. So much more that I want to save.
I don't want to just belabor a point. So here's what I'm going to do for the remainder of the sermon. The city's getting close where the plane is coming closer. I want to issue a Challenge to you for 2024.
God has blessed us in 2024 because we get an extra day. It's a leap year 366 days. My challenge is this. That everyone in this room if not providentially hindered. If you're not hindered providentially by sickness or disaster or calamity that we would read a portion of God's Word 366 days straight.
That begins tomorrow. This book gives us the mind of Christ. What?
Poor.
Wretched creatures we are these little bitty viruses that we can't even see they can knock us down. They can take our lives like we're so dependent. We're so helpless. We're so miserable and wretched in and of ourselves.
But here we have the mind of Christ we can be filled with Christ and his mind and his heart in his word. And I'm saying take up and read. What are your habits with this book? Do you believe? What God's Word has to say about itself?
Do you really believe that it is like a fire and a sword and a hammer? Is the Bible just a conservative talking point for you, or is it merely a nice idea? If God's people were to wake up tomorrow and really be committed to reading the scriptures every day Perhaps the great dust cloud itself by shaking off so many unused Bibles would be enough to spark Revival in our nation all sudden tomorrow they wake up and they're like what is all this dust everywhere in the United States?
The people of God have woken up and have shaken the dust off their Bibles and are committed to read it. What would that be like? In our nation and in the world. I Understand there's days of sickness and tragedy and disaster and unforeseen Issues, but if I can set aside the thousand qualifications that we could come up with for a moment and let you hear my heart.
Here I would say this for the average person in this room on an average day. When you do not read a portion of God's Word, it is not because you can't because you won't. It's not for lack of ability. It's not for lack of access.
Here it is. I don't even know how much this weighs. I Have on this device Every word the 66 books of the Bible in here here it is in my pocket. When I don't read it's not for lack of ability or access.
It's lack of desire. Now that's a serious indictment. I Understand that I'm saying something very weighty to you. I am saying you still need to grow in grace. You still need a more sanctified heart. You still need Christ you sin against his great grace and kindness when you fail to take advantage of something that 99 of human history could not do and that is to take up listen 99 of here 99 more than that 99 .99 of human history could not do what you can do and that is you can take up a Bible that is completed from Genesis to Revelation you can take it up without fear of arrest or imprisonment or jail.
You can take it up and you can read it not in Latin not in Greek not in Hebrew not in Aramaic. You can read it in English. They even have translations out there that a simple Arkansans can understand.
You can pick up the Bible and you can read the Bible and you can understand the Bible. We have a great privilege that 99 of human history has not had and we sin against God's great kindness. When we don't take advantage of this you should know the Bible better.
But the world has distracted you now. That can either make you mad. You can kind of you know, like I ain't listening to that guy. He's adding new. He's adding new rules Nowhere in the Bible does it ever say one time you have to read the Bible every day true you win that one.
Response.
Nowhere in the Bible does it ever say that I have to speak to my wife every day. You will not find a Bible verse you'll search in vain that says a husband has to speak to his wife every single day. Frankly, there are some days.
I'm just busy. I See my wife in the car. I see my wife in the home. I see my wife in church, but I'm busy. Would you let me pastor this church if that's the way I treated my wife, please say no. Then why would it be okay if I treat treated my Bible that way and why would it be okay if you treat your Bible that way so you can get mad and you can push back or or you and I can humbly confess our sins our misplaced desires our misplaced priorities and we can remember the grace of our Lord Jesus and we can take up his book and read.
I set Christ before you today. That when you read this book it is not about I. Thought I had a little I had a Bible reading plan in here somewhere. It's not about just checking off the boxes. It's about knowing God.
It's about knowing who God is. Is there a single soul in this room today who would say I don't need to know any more of God. Oh. Don't be foolish with such a with such a claim. We need God and God is willing.
Here's Christ before us ready to be sought by us. It will seek him in his word here. He said come and seek me. The reality is and I didn't come up with this. You can have as much of Christ as you want.
But you already did you see you already have as much of Christ as you want. So plead with God to increase.
Our want.
And let us be people of this great and wonderful book. Let me read again. Verses 7 through 9. Till all the Lord is perfect. Reviving the soul the testimony 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. Is there a single day in your life that you would say you don't need this.
That you don't need to know God. That you don't Need the mind of Christ.
Man.
Let me give you the hope. Well, what might change in your marriage in your life in your home in our church in this town in our country? If we took the Word of God so much more seriously. If we said, you know what, okay challenge accepted 366 days straight now don't do it.
Don't do it just to do it do it because you hunger for Christ. This isn't about getting through the Bible in a certain amount of time. Hey, look, I Think it's important to read through the Bible. I Personally do it on a yearly basis.
You may not do that. You may have never read through the Bible. You may want to take a three-year plan a five-year plan right now. Our church is going to start a two-year plan. I do think it's important to get through all of the Bible, but that's not even the ultimate point.
The ultimate point is seeking God in his Word. And if we sought him for 366 days straight if we adjusted our life according to its precepts if we continually sought reform in our church according to its Instruction if we believed its necessity.
If we bowed to its authority and if we trusted its sufficiency. What might happen in this place? Oh May our triune God grant us this grace. Oh The glory of Christ Set before us in his Word in God's wonderful book friends.
Will we take up and read? Let's pray father I thank you for your word. And I thank you that as we come to a close of another year that we are a people who have been given Such a tremendous privilege. Who are we God?
Who are we here in him in rural, Arkansas? That you've given us such a high and Wonderful blessing your word in a language that we can understand with access to it. Who are we that you've given us such beauty?
Oh Let us not forsake this wonderful.
