This is the first day of the rest of your life. In fact, we stand on the eve of 2010. I have trouble saying that. I'm just getting used to writing 2009, getting that straightened out, and now we got 2010 right around the corner here. So as we are on the eve of that new year, my question to you this morning is, what do you delight in? You could write three things down in that order, one, two, three. What is it that thrills your soul? What would you write down? A couple went on a cruise a while back. They were a poor couple from up in the hills and never been even in a rowboat, but they won this fantastic cruise trip. So they packed up their bags. They didn't have a suitcase. They had paper bags and threw some cheese and hard rolls in the bag and took off for this greatest of all trips, they were told. And when they arrived, they could not believe the size of the ship and found some lounge chairs out there in the deck and settled down there and had a great time on that cruise. Indeed, it was really nice, a beautiful ship. They enjoyed their hard rolls and cheese and someone came by and looked at them. So, you know, there is a buffet on this ship, right? A free buffet for all. And so, we didn't know that. So, they started enjoying that and couldn't believe all that was offered there at the buffet. But the nights were rather cold there on the deck side, and they huddled down in their blanket they found. And Stuart went by and saw them there and couldn't believe it. Well, you know, you have a state, you won the stateroom, the chandeliers and the gold faucets and the beautiful Ronda, and that's all yours. And so halfway through the cruise, they moved into the stateroom. And really, they just couldn't believe it. They almost thought they arrived in heaven. It was so fantastic. And enjoying that as they were, they noted Stuart came by and said, well, didn't you read the card there in the room and all the amenities? You have a guest seat at the captain's table every night. So on their last night as they steamed towards port, they just couldn't believe it. Eating with the captain and the finest delicacies of food. They really thought they had arrived. It was quite a cruise for them. But they had missed out on so much. How many Christians are like that? You know, we go second class. Maybe we're on board, but we fail really to hold to the promises of God. We fail really to... Live them out to rightly divide the Word, to live the Word, to claim God as promises, and we're content with eating the hard rolls of life when there's so much more. Is there ever? God's Word is glorious. The psalmist says, Oh, how I love your law is my meditation all the day. I like what our Lord Jesus Christ said in John 10.10. I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly. Don't be content with the middle class lifestyle, brethren. Far more. Did you see that word abundantly? More abundantly even. That word there is an agricultural word. This idea when you went down to grain, they took your sack with you and they filled it up with grain. The idea of it overflowing and abundantly coming out. That's the Christian life for those who draw close to our gracious God. Well, today we're going to look at the all-powerful Word of God. There's nothing like it. Inside the bullet, there is the outline. I encourage you to take it out and follow along here. Notice the proposition. There's three Three profound reasons why each and every Christian must partake of the daily feeding of the Bible. Notice that word, must. That's how we grow, isn't it? Three profound reasons here for it. First of all, the Bible is our spiritual food. Where else are you going to go, right? What else are you going to feed upon? I mean, you don't want to get a second hand. You wouldn't think of eating chewed food, would you? You want to digest right from the Word, right? That's what you want. So, let's go to Jeremiah chapter 15. Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 16. And take a look at this glorious spiritual food. Now, remember Jeremiah. In fact, remember when the Lord asked in Matthew 16, He asked His disciples, who do men say I am? And what did they say? Well, some say John the Baptist, right? And some say Elijah. And some of the other prophets. And they also said, some say what? Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the weeping prophet, wasn't he? It shows you a little bit about what our Lord's character was like, doesn't it? Israel would not follow God's word, so he wept. So, we see Jeremiah. Look at this in 1516 of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 16. Your words were found and I ate them. And your word was to me, The joy and rejoicing of my heart. Brethren, you see what the Word does for your soul? For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts. He ate them. You ever eat the Word of God? You ever really be consumed by the word, really eat of the Word? It's interesting. The WHO, World Health Organization, tells us that half the people in the world go to bed hungry every night. Now, if you and I go to bed hungry, we do something about it, right? We get up and take care of the problem. Half the world can't do that. In fact, they tell us, WHO, that every seven seconds a child dies of malnutrition in the world. So, imagine going without food three days, four days, five days, and you finally get a morsel of food. Imagine that. Imagine, it's on your lips. Imagine what it's like, your tongue finally experiencing, taste buds begin to burst as you enjoy that morsel of food. That's the idea Jeremiah's talking about. The idea was, did you see how he said it? Your words were found. It's like the idea was hidden and now I found it and I ate them. Jeremiah loves the Word of God. The ministry of the Word to your soul is sweet, delicious, wholesome, Nourishing, strengthening, it's all of those. It's like glorious food for the soul, is what the Word is all about. The psalmist said in 1910, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. It's like on a hot afternoon, you know, you're thirsting and finally somebody offers you that cold, ice-cold glass of water. How good it tastes and how it quenches the thirst, so is the Word of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ in the High Priestly Prayer put it like this, Sanctify them by your truth your word is truth Brethren, how are you sanctified in life the major way that we're sanctified? How are you conformed to the Lord Jesus Christ? How are we going to grow in him? There's one way isn't there? It's what Christ said. It's it's the word. It's truth and it's God's Word Peter said it like this in first Peter 2 22 as newborn babes babes desire the pure milk of the word that they may grow thereby Newborn babes do what? Young mom knows this, right? When she brings that baby home, it better what? Better be hungry, right? Better be thirsty for the milk, right? And if it's not, great concern goes up. If the baby doesn't eat, it what? It doesn't live. Moms know that. How much more the Christian? If one is really born again... Remember when you first came to know Christ? Oh, I do. Remember I had to do hall monitor of the church and the pastor was preaching and it was on the loudspeaker, but I still wanted to be in there. I wanted to hear these words. The longing, the thirsting, the glorious good news. William Gurnall, the Puritan, said, the Christian is bred by the Word, and he must be fed by it. See, to profess Christ, the professing Christian who professes Christ, but yet has no desire for the Word, that really makes as much sense as somebody who is alive, but their heart doesn't beat. It just doesn't fit. It doesn't work that way. Jeremiah was a human. He was struggling in this passage here. He does not piously cover up his emotions here and think somehow God doesn't know it. Brethren, whenever you're struggling with anything, just tell God because what? He already knows it, doesn't he? He understands it far better than us, so it's good to be real with God. That's what Jeremiah is doing here. In fact, look at 1518 here of Jeremiah. He says, why is my pain perpetual? Oh, Jeremiah is complaining. and my wound incurable." You ever feel that way? Going through some pains and trials in life and it just doesn't let up. "...which refuses to be healed." It won't even be healed, Lord. Will you surely be to me like an unreliable stream? This is Jeremiah talking to God. An unreliable stream. Watch. "...as waters that fail." He has in mind here the wadis in Israel. When the heavy rains come, they flow. The rivers flow, but when the rains stop, they just dry up. He's accusing God of what? Being unreliable with Him. Can you imagine Jeremiah this greatest of all prophets? And if he treats God that way says that what does God do about this verse 19? Therefore thus says the Lord if you return if you return what's he saying there repent? Come back from your inaccurate way of thinking Jeremiah verse 20 I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall. Notice what he's saying here. You're going to be so steadfast that you'll be like this wall to take whatever the enemy throws at you if you come back, Jeremiah, if you repent. Verse 21, I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked. The Lord balances rebuke with what? Encouragement here. With reassurance. Jeremiah is to walk by faith. He is to take God's promises and not walk by his feelings. That's why he says in the middle of verse 16, Not only did I find your words and eat them, but he said, your words were to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. No matter how he felt, he could be faithful, right? By keeping God's promises, by following God's promises, following them out. And when he was faithful, when he obeyed God's words, what did he experience then? He experienced what? Finally, the joy came. He said, the second part, that your words were to joy to me. He understood that God was in it. God, there's a reason for this. The rejoicing of his heart. He delighted in enjoying God's presence. The psalmist says in 51.12, Restore to me the joy of your salvation. You ever get there? You kind of drift away and the joy of my salvation is not quite what it used to be. There's a way to get back to that. The psalmist asked for that. In Psalm 119.50 he says, This is my comfort, my affliction. Your word has given me life. Isn't that beautiful? God's Word gives us life when we stay in it, when we dwell upon it, when we eat of it. And because His words were found, because He ate them, because then He experiences joy. But notice what He says at the end of verse 16, "...for I am called by Your name." There's the real hope. Remember with the Lord Jesus, He said to His disciples, don't get excited about this in Luke 10.20, but get excited about the fact that I've called you. My name's written down. Your name's written down in the Book of Life. For you are called by my name, O Lord God of hosts," he says here. The Word of the Gospel, when we see the Newton by faith, produces what? Joy in our heart. We know we're one of his. In fact, there's excitement in walking with Jesus, isn't there? Because all these promises, as we read through the Word of God, they're all ultimately found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whether it's the Old Testament, the New Testament, there we see it gloriously being worked out. Our salvation. fulfillment, our satisfaction is in Him. Now, Jeremiah had to learn to walk by faith, right? Which meant what? Obeying God's words no matter how he felt. Not following his feelings, he had to obey the Word. Yet be real with his feelings and confess them to God. Question. Is it unusual for chosen servants of God to become discouraged and endanger their own ministries? Is that unusual? Servants of God in the Bible? No, it's not. They're human too, aren't they? We all struggle in this life, do we not? We certainly do. Moses became so discouraged he wanted to die in Numbers chapter 11. Imagine that. Joshua is ready to quit and leave the promised land in Joshua 7 after the battle of Ai. Out of here! Elijah even abandoned his place of duty and he hoped to die. Remember 1 Kings 18, he calls fire down, takes care of the prophets of Baal, but in verse 19 he gets down and prays and says, what? May I die? Can you imagine that kind of prayer? Maybe you've been there. That's Jeremiah for you. That's Jonah. Remember Jonah? He became so angry he refused to help God's people and even to save them in Jonah chapter 4. These are giants of the faith, and they struggle with these kind of feelings. See, God doesn't want us to ignore our feelings, but this He does want us to do. He wants to ignore us from following our feelings and follow the Word of God. And as we follow the Word of God, then the joy is replaced. Joy comes back as we're obedient to God and draw close to Him. We always must walk by faith and not by sight. Remember Job. He said it like this. Job went through so much, didn't he? I have not departed from the commandments of his lips. No, no. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. True, you? As I look around, I suspect each one of you had something to eat this week. Probably at least more than once a day. One time a day. How about the Word of God in your life? Job. put priority on the Word over his physical food. Well, the Bible is our spiritual food. Without it, we'd have no other place to go. It's a necessity. But the Bible is also our guide for life. It shows us where to go. It shows us how to go about this life without it. It's like the manual. You buy a lawn mower, what do you do? You get a manual. It tells you how to take care. You buy a car, you get a manual with it. You buy a toothbrush, you get a manual with it. And we read it over and learn. So, life comes with a manual. It's called what? The Bible. Have you read it? Are you following that manual? Here it is. Psalm 119. I love this chapter. Go over to Psalm 119. This is a glorious chapter. It's the longest chapter in the Word of God. Did you know that? 1,189 chapters. This is king. In fact, it's called the Mount Everest of the chapters in the book of Psalms. 176 verses. I'll never forget when I was in seminary and somewhat new in the faith and had just a a whole class, a whole term on Psalm 119. And I didn't take it. When I first saw that in the registrar's office, I said, why? Why on just one chapter? Until I got a hold of it and found out, you know what? Probably one course is not enough on Psalm 119 when we see what's in it. It is fantastic. You know, God is mentioned 176 times in these 176 verses. His word, the word, The Bible is mentioned actually 173 times in 176 verses. Sometimes it goes by precept or law or statutes or it's called by different names. Psalm 119 is an acrostic. It has 22 sections. Amazing. 22 sections in clusters of 8 verses each. Why 22? Because the Hebrew alphabet is what? 22 letters, isn't it? That's why it's 22. Take a look with me at Psalm 119, verse 1. Psalm 119, verse 1. You see that first letter? If you had a Hebrew text in front of you, that first letter of the verse would start with Aleph. You see that Hebrew letter above your text there in verse 1? That's the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph. By the way, verse 2 starts with Aleph, and verse 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, every one of those starts with Aleph. Then starting in verse 9, it starts with what? The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Veth. And all the rest of them in the clusters of eight, each one through the alphabet. Each verse starts with that letter. God wants to say what? That his truth cannot be exhausted by the capacity of human language. He can take all of it and tell us all that there is. God uses up every letter to get his message to us. And what a message it is. In fact, there's nothing like this message from Psalm 119. Young people, Do you want to avoid unnecessary heartache, turmoil, pain in your life? Here it is. Listen up carefully. Verse 9. Baith, the first one. Verse 9. How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your Word. How many wander off the path? Go in places they shouldn't go because they don't heed the Word. You see the beauty of our WANDA program? You see the beauty, dads, of doing devotions with your children and encouraging them on and memorizing Scripture? We hide that Word away in our hearts Hopefully, over time, we inculcate that and it becomes a way of our life. Look at Psalm 119, verse 104. Psalm 119, verse 104. Verse 104, through your precepts I get understanding. How do you understand things? Biblical understanding? It's through God's Word. Therefore, I hate every false way. You can see light and you can see dark. You can see the difference between the two. Your word is a what? Lamp to my feet. In those days, there was a small... I should have brought my clay pottery lamp in I got in Israel, but they had a small lamp. It was smaller than the size of your hand. They put oil in it, a little wick, and it was just enough light for the next footstep to get ahead. It's a lamp unto our feet. It's not a mile-long lamp where you see what you're going to do with the rest of your life. No, no. It's just enough for the day, just enough for where I'm going now. That's how the Word of God is. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. the beautiful Word of God. The world is a dark place, isn't it? We can't see where we're going. The Lord's commandments are light. They show us how to walk. Without the Word, you wouldn't know how to walk in this life. For 27 years, I wandered in darkness, went places I shouldn't have gone, thought things I shouldn't have thought. But now I've got light. I can understand it. When we were over in Israel, along the Sea of Galilee, they actually have minefields over there. They're still there. You can walk Yeah, I'm glad those signs there because I like to get out and roam and take pictures from different angles and all this and I'm so glad He had these big fields and every now and then you see this sign right here danger mines Job says when his lamp showing upon my head and when his when by his light I walk through darkness Indeed we can we can walk through darkness if that sign wasn't there. You know what would happen one wrong step, and you're a casualty and And without abiding in God's light of His Word, you know what happens in life? One wrong step, you can be a casualty, can't you? And how many can tell us of that? But you can actually walk in darkness in this dark world when we have the light of God's Word, can't we? The Proverbs says it in 3.14, For her proceeds are better than profits of silver, and are gained in fine gold. Do you know that? Do you love the word like that? Better than fine gold? Does your life show that? Never forget talking to someone and they struggled, you know, reading the Word of God like they should. And they said, it's so easy for me to sit down and watch TV, but I just don't have time for the Bible. See, I watch these four or five hours of TV, but... And I encourage them, well, put your Bible on your TV and don't dare turn that TV on until you had a good, healthy dose of the Word of God. We always have time for those things we really want to do, don't we? We sure do. Do you know it? Do you love it? Psalmist says in 119 here. He's talking about afflictions that come upon us. And I want you to consider these four truths. All of us deal with trials of life. And number one, it pushes us. Now, God's Word pushes us into God, into His Word, when trials and afflictions come. Look back at verse 50. Look back at verse 50. It's verse 50 I love. We're going to state it again. Look at this. Verse 50 of Psalm 119. This is my comfort and my affliction. What's my comfort as I'm going through the trial? For Your Word has given me life. Martin Luther experienced all kinds of trials. Every time he laid his head down on his pillow, he didn't know if it would be on his neck the next day. He was under the edict of Rome. He had trials, and he said two things really helped him. First of all, not sitting around with the poor me's, but keeping his hands busy, number one. And number two, staying in the Word of God, especially the Psalms. Loving the Word of God and feasting upon it and claiming God's promises. Nothing like it. And what's it do? It gives me life. Secondly, it pulls us back into the path. When we're in trials, God's Word pulls us back into the path, too. Look at Psalm 119, verse 67. Verse 67. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Oh, how good the Word is. Third, it chisels God's plans into our lives. Look at verse 71. Verse 71. It's good for me that I have been afflicted. Can you say that? It's good for me that I've been afflicted. You know what you'd be like if you got every wish, if everything happened in your life just perfectly, just the way you wanted everything? You know what you'd really be like? You ever see the most spoiled brat on planet Earth? That'd be you. That'd be me. Oh, it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes. Oh, that's when we learn them, don't we? We're down in the valleys there. We learn how precious God is. He's there like no one else can be for us. He's my Lord. And fourth, it teaches us that God is faithful. Look at verse 75. Is he ever? I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. See, if you're just going through life and didn't have the Word of God, you'd think God was cruel. God wasn't right. God is wrongly. But because we have the Word, we know that everything's Father-filtered. We can walk by faith and we can draw close to Him knowing, yeah, this is in your plan, Lord. I can make it through this. It's interesting, anytime you board a ship, go across the sea, anytime you get on a ship, first thing you have to do before the ship ever leaves port, maritime law is what? You have to have the muster drill. What's a muster drill? You have to take your life preserver, show up at the station where the lifeboat is, and go through that drill just to be ready. Why do you have to do that? Well, when and if the disaster happens, you've already pre-thought it, you've already gone through it. So the Word of God does what? Helps us to pre-think who He is. Helps us understand trials and tribulations. What all these things are for. So when they do and come, what happens? We can make it through it. We know what station to show up at. And how to be preserved through it. Otherwise, we're tossed about with every wind of doctrine if we're not locked into the Word. I like what the psalmist said. 42. He also brought me up out of the horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock. and established by steps. Brethren, do you know what the Lord has done for you? Do you know where you'd be without Him? He's put us on the rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. And now I have stability. Now I have hope. Now I have faith. Now I have destiny because of who my Lord is. Because of His Word. And I understand that. He has kept the world of woes away from me because I'm on that rock and I follow His Word. Our Lord Jesus said it like this to His followers. Remember this? These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace." Interesting. Notice that underline. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Notice the certainty of tribulation. Any question? As a Christian, he says what? If they hated me, you will have tribulation in this world. There's no question about that. But notice this though. He says, in me you may have peace. Why does he put the may there? Well, some people go second class in this life, don't they? Some Christians. We don't lock into the Word. We don't walk by faith. We look at the storm and we get tossed about. I don't know if I'm going to make it. You may have peace. If what? If we're locked in the Word. If I follow Him. If I draw close to my Savior who has promised never to leave me or forsake me. What's better than that? To understand it if I draw close to Him. You see what Psalm 119 is all about? It's a call by the Lord to each one of us to unleash the Word of God in our lives. To live it out. to the full glory of the Lamb. Psalm 119. In a recent poll Barna did, he showed that 82% of Americans claim to be Christians. Did you know that? 82% claim to be Christians. Wow. I didn't know we lived in a Christian land. But 75% didn't believe the Word of God was their standard for life. Huh. They say they're Christians. That means they're supposed to love the Lord. But our Lord says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments and the Word of God's not their standard. So I guess they really don't love the Lord, do they? You know what my problem is? There's many things I don't know about the Lord, and there's so many things I don't know about the Word of God. I've only just begun. It's right down there, maybe below .001% of what I should know and could know about the Word. But that's not my problem. My problem is not knowing more about the Word. My problem is what? Knowing what I know, fulfilling it, living it out, obeying Him, keeping His commandments. That's my problem. There's one thing God wants, isn't it? Obedience. Obedience Helpful suggestions for daily reading that's right there in your notes. Let me quickly comment on these First of all what get in the habit of a regular time with the Lord he Brethren if this is how we grow in Christ. I mean it has to be a daily portion right I have time to eat I must have time to read his work so get used to a daily habit of doing it habit takes about what 30 days to establish a If we're inconsistent, if we can't do it, we're not going to form. So we have to be disciplined. And for 30 days, I must carry this out and then it will start to fit into my schedule. I like mornings. Get up early. You know, if truth be known, the last 15, 30 minutes of the day are not very profitable for any of us, I suspect. So get up earlier, go to bed earlier and get up a little earlier and spend some quality time. It's amazing when I'm up at six in the morning, 530, you know what happens? My phone does not ring. Nobody bothers me. It's just a beautiful thing to be there with the Lord. Secondly, have a private place, a prayer closet. No interruptions, no phones. Don't have your devotions in the car. Don't have your devotions anywhere else where you, no, where you and the Lord alone. You ever talk to someone, but they're distracted, they're talking to someone else or listen to someone? You know what that's like? Imagine the Lord, you know, we're trying to draw close to Him, but Lord, you know, I'm busy driving this car. No, no, no. You and the Lord alone so He can really pour your heart out and He can really come next to your soul. Aloneness, private place. Third, Before you read the Bible, begin with what? Prayer. Prayer cleanses the soul. I have to get rid of the sin. Plus, the Holy Spirit wrote it. I can't understand it of myself. It's foolishness of the flesh. So, the Spirit wrote it. I ask Him to help me understand it. I love Psalm 119.18. You know what that says? Pray this prayer. Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from your law. It's a good prayer. Fourth, ask questions. What's the main truth? How do I apply it? Does the context help me understand the light? Do other scriptures speak to this subject? Ask questions. Who said it? What was the setting? All these things that help us understand it and apply it to life. Fifth, keep a notebook. Record truths that speak to your heart. Jot down unresolved questions. That's good just to journal as you take notes what the Lord impresses upon you. Sixth, meditate and memorize. From each day's reading, share that truth with someone. Memorization is key. You know, someday it's very likely the government could outlaw the Bible in our country. Can you believe that? I believe that's true. That's possible, and they might take it from you. You might be able to have the Koran and any other book, but the Bible they will jettison, and you have to know the truth. Memorize it. Get it in your soul. Seventh, conclude with prayer. Thank God for His Word and His understanding, and ask Him to help you to carry out what you just heard. Don't be like James 1.22. Remember? They were hearers of the Word, but what? Not doers, and deceived themselves. James 1.22. And eighth, never give up. Never give up. If you fail, that's okay. We all fail at things. Be consistent. Pick yourself back up. Get up with it. Pick up where you should be reading, and maybe you can come back and pick up those verses later, but pick up where you need to be. Ninth, systematic reading. Don't jump around. Can you imagine receiving a love letter from someone, from someone, from your lover, and you read the end of it first, then you go to the middle, and then maybe you go to the beginning, or someone, you don't read a letter like that. You start at the beginning and work your way through. Be consistent in your reading. We're going to have a schedule here passing out, and I'm going to encourage you to take one of these up and consider working it through, marking it off, put it in each one. One's the Old Testament Scripture, one's Wisdom Lineage, and one's the New Testament. We've used these before here. Consider that. If you want to just do the New Testament, it's only one chapter a day, five days a week. But systematically, go through the Bible. Question. Have you read every word of the Bible? I wonder if I raised hands here, for those of you that know Christ, have I read every one of God's words? Here's His love letter to me. Have I read His words to me? Just one time. Actually, I don't think once enough. I think at least once a year is probably starting to approach where he would have us. But have I read his love letter to me? All of it. And tenth, be accountable to someone else. It always helps. Come alongside someone else. Will you hold me accountable? I'll hold you accountable. And just come alongside someone and do that. So important. The Word of God without it, tossed to and fro. Guard your times, brother. Sister, God has given you so many seconds to breathe. He's got each one numbered. And when the last one comes, the night is over. It's done. You are finished. You stand before the Lord. Redeem the time. Redeem it now. Hosea 4.6, my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Wow. Gracho Marx. I love the quote, Gracho. He said he found television very educating. He said anytime somebody turned on a television set, he'd always go in the other room and read a book. I advise you to do the same, but read your Bible. Excellent advice. So, the Bible is our spiritual food, number one. The Bible is our guide for life. That's how we get through. It's like those guide rails, aren't you right? When you go up those mountains, are those guide rails there? Imagine somebody taking those off. We need the Word of God. It shows us how to, in the dark world, how to go. But the Bible is also the source of truth. We've been saying this, but we're going to hammer this home now. Look at Psalm 119 again, and 159 now. Psalm 119, 159. Psalm 119, 159. Consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness. Verse 160. The entirety of Your Word is truth. and every one of your righteous judgments endures forever." Oh, I love that. Back in verse 142 of Psalm 119, he says, your law is truth. In 151, he says, all your commandments are true. But here he says, what about the Word? The entirety, everything it talks about is truth. You know, some of these liberals out there, they say, well, God accommodates error in His Bible. No, He doesn't. This says it's truth. In fact, it's interesting, the word truth here, emeth, Hebrew means certainty, firmness, stability. Whatever Bible says about it, whether it's life or death, whether it's God or demons, whether it's history or science, whatever it said and all that it says is truth. God's character is at stake and He spoke it. It's true. The psalmist, Isaiah, says it like this, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands Forever, doesn't it? Oh, how men love to chop it up, dice it up, say it's not true, to say this and that about it. Guess what? Up in heaven, it's a done deal. It's already settled. I suggest you take the side of God that He's on. In fact, the phrase, thus says the Lord, the Word of God, the Word of the Lord, those three phrases are used over 3,800 times in the Bible. Thus says the Lord. In other words, you know what you have here? You actually have a copy of God's words, of the Bible. All 66 books. These are communicated. The only book God has ever written. Here it is. And you happen to have a personal copy. And you are literate. You can read this thing. What are we doing? What am I doing? Are we redeeming the time? Living out what it says? You know, once an organization or church group loses its truth, once they start to compromise in Genesis 1-11 or whatever part of the Word of God, Once you plant that seed, pretty much it goes across the board and they've lost everything in just a matter of time. They soon become a social club. Peter says it like this, 2 Peter 1.21, prophecy never came. It never came by the will of men. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. That word moved is a powerful word there. The same when you pick up a pen and write with it. God picks up 40 men over a span of about 1,600 years and writes his 774,746 words that breathed out through him. So we have the Word of God. Nothing like it. It's God breathed. You see Moses or Peter, they never got up one morning and said, you know, it's a beautiful day. We have this mountaintop experience. I think I'm going to write some scripture today. No, they were moved by God. God's the one who breathed upon them and gave them precisely the Word of God. It's God's divinely superintended, the accurate recording of His Word. Yes, there's dual authorship. There's two authors. Man wrote it, but God wrote through them so we can say every word is from the Word of God. John MacArthur said it like this. In a supernatural way, He has provided His divine Word, in human words, that any person, even a child, can be led by the Holy Spirit to understand the sufficiency to be saved. See that? Even a two or three or four-year-old can come to know Christ. The beauty. Philosophers, scratch the head, they can't figure this thing out. But those who come with a childlike spirit and attitude, oh, it makes so much sense by the grace of God. Now, something's happened here lately. We've lived 300 years, Reformation, Luther, Calvin on down. It's been pretty much the same in the churches until all of a sudden, recently, in recent times, things have changed radically. You used to be able to walk in a Bible-believing church in the 1700s, 1800s, 1900s, even in this century here, and they sang the same kind of songs, same kind of hymns they would sing. And the worship would be similar, yet different, but it'd be the Word of God, and God would be worshiped through the Word of God. See, there was continuity. A brother or sister from yestercentury would find himself at home in the church today, in this kind of church here. But there's a radical change going on out there. Now there's a break in that. All of a sudden, after 300 years, continuity's been lost. The songs, the worship itself, everything is radical. They would not find themselves at home in that kind of environment. It started back in 1980. You know what happened in the 1980s? The seeker-sensitive church started to develop its philosophy to meet the felt needs of the people. Seeker-sensitive. They wanted to attract a generation that was disillusioned with the traditional church. Pews were replaced by theater seats. All of a sudden, choirs and hymnals were out, the worship team was in, and they sang praise songs in front, often just to spice it up to be a large beach ball or two flowed around in the middle of the service just to keep things moving. Organs were shut down. Drums and electric guitars were turned on. Casual dress replaced the ties and the suits and the dresses. No preaching sermons behind wooden pulpits. No, no, no. Now the pastor would sit on a barstool and just share his opinions. What he thought some people might like to hear. Radical changes going on. What? The cohesive glue that held them together? Entertainment. The music. I do believe if those were taken out, those kind of churches would probably fall apart after a short time. Five cardinal rules of the secret church. Here they are. Get ready. Don't judge, number one. It's unloving to correct, number two. Unity is more important than truth, number three. Don't tell people what to do, number four. And minimize teaching and preaching. You know the sad problem with all that? Jesus would not be welcome in that kind of environment. In fact, if you look at where Jesus went and what he did, he almost violated every one of those rules most of the time. Amazing. Corners of truth have been rounded. Truth becomes a casualty as we appeal to man. But, like any fad, it's waning. It's going off the scene. Now we have a new one on. It's being replaced by the emergent church. That appeals to Generation X now, the ones who are really wired into everything, savvily wired in to the latest technology. They don't read about wars. They experience wars. When there's a war going on, they're in the middle of it through the Internet. Radical difference. This appeals to Generation X. Their views are shaped by the mass media, high-powered celebrities who portray Christianity in a negative light. They believe Christians are close-minded, intolerant, bigoted, biased, and dangerous. In fact, Hollywood has taught them well. The seeker-sensitive church sees the church growth movement, The felt-needs type of church as impersonal, materialistic, mirrors of corporate America. They stress money and big buildings and people. So the generation next doesn't want anything to do with that. The emergent church deconstructs the worship time and refashions it into a more meaningful environment where feelings are pronounced. Smaller, more intimate. Their goal is to create a participation now in the worship. Often it means meeting in darkness. Maybe just one candle lit in the room, the seeker sensitive. Sometimes, heightened to senses, they would have some incense there. I'll never forget seeing a seeker-sensitive church or watching a film of it, and they were celebrating the Lord's table. And instead of little cups with the juice, they had an actual tire. They would ladle the juice out of it. I hope they washed the tire first. But I'll never forget this. One lady brought her Labrador retriever forward to partake of that. And I couldn't help but ask him, how much does that Lab understand of the cross of Calvary? It's amazing, isn't it? The emergent church buys into post-modernity. There's no meta-narrative. There's no overarching story. The creation, fall, flood, nations. There's none of that. No. You have your personal story. I have mine. But we cannot tell each other that we're wrong. There's no such thing as absolute truth. That is frowned upon to say it like that. Preaching is de-emphasized. It's often replaced by stations. One station might have earphones on. We can listen to soothing music. Another station where you can journal. Another station where you have poetry. Different stations throughout the the worship service. In fact, for those in EC, in the emergent church, who are consistent with post-modernity, the gospel no longer includes judgment, no longer includes repentance. In fact, what's in is relational stories that appeal to the motion. Feelings replace righteousness and justice. The Word is replaced. Now, what's important is sentiment, the pathos. That's the key that we're feeling oriented. You see what becomes The casualty here with the emergent church, the same thing as before. Truth is rounded. Truth is lost in the process. See, we reverence the Word of God with the heart. Look at what the psalmist says in 1 Corinthians 1.61 here. Look at this. Princes persecute me without a cause, but my heart stands in awe of your word. That word awe means to fear. It means to tremble. It means to have reverence. You want to come face to face with Jesus? You want to be excited? Look into the Word, the mere Scripture, and get a hold of who we really have here, the God of the universe. I stand in awe of Your Word. The psalmist says in verse 84, As a deer pants for the water brook, so my soul pants for You. Is that true, you? When you come to this Word, is there a longing for it to hear from God? Is it just a thirst? I draw on to Him. Am I one of those who say I have a passion for Jesus? Or do I just say I have a passion for Jesus? This is words. This is light. This is my Savior who died for me and has given me His love letter to me. Do I long to be with Him to read His love letter? Or don't I? So important. Where do you place the Word in your life? Psalm 162 here watch this 119 162 I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasures Can you imagine that do you feed upon it as a great treasure? Do you remember what Paul warned Timothy in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 and you're welcome to turn over there and we're going to end up over here 2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 and He knew the end times were coming. Listen to this charge. He puts him under an oath, in a sense, a court of law, a solemn oath. He says, I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead. Second Timothy, chapter four, verse two, at his appearing and his kingdom. And then he says, what? Preach the word. Let's say I have a candle in a dark room and have a meditation station. What do you say? The Greek word there is keruso. It's when the imperial legate would take the king's edict, go down to the marketplace and simply declare, not share, not debate, just declare what the king said. That's all. Keruso. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Uh-oh. Did you see that? There's a time coming when what? The word will be out of season. What do we do? Preach the word. Be consistent. Be faithful. We never look for results. We just leave the results with God we'd be faithful Convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching for the time will come oh When they will not endure sound doctrine you know what that means many people become intolerant of Demanding preaching of teaching a preaching that says you must persevere in Christ if you're really one of it They won't like that kind of preaching So, because they don't like it, what do they do? They will not endure a sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. They will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. 2 Timothy 4, 5, But you be watchful in all things, endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Our generation is one that craves entertainment. They love entertainment. And if you've got entertainment going on, you can attract a crowd. Granted. But that's not what the Word says. In fact, these people are so enamored. They like these people that... He says, imagine this big pile of dung. They pile up these teachers for them that will tickle their ears, that will encourage them, say nice sweet things to them, but they won't give them the truth of God's Word. End times. That's what the Word of God says. It's coming. Is it here? Proverbs says, he who despises the Word will be destroyed. You know one of the best places you can find Satan today? It's always been true. Right here, right behind the pulpit. One of the best places. He's got his agents right behind him, where they never hear the gospel, never really hear the truth. Remember what he said in Luke 18, 8, our Lord? Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? There's a day coming, the Lord's going to come back, and there's going to be so few. Everybody has a faith, right? Everybody in church today has a faith across America. It got him there, whatever that was in their mind. But notice what he says there. Actually, in the original, there are definite articles left out. You should really read that. Will he really find the faith on earth? The faith that saves. The faith that locks into Christ and let go of everything else. The one that sees our depravity, our sin, and simply trusts in Jesus. Well, that faith. How many will have that one? Our Lord knows. In end days. Won't be many, apparently. It's sad. So many religious people But religion never got anybody to heaven. It doesn't deliver. Only Christ can deliver us to heaven. There's only one. Martin Luther said the highest worship of God is the preaching of the Word. See, in the Word, we come face to face with Jesus. I see his demands. I see his love. I see his care. I see all his promises. It's the Word. It's the Word. Satan's first recorded words in Scripture were what? Genesis 3, as God said. He wants to separate us from the Word. He'll make you successful. He'll make you discouraged. He'll do whatever He can just to drive the Word away from you. That's our hope. That's our light. That's how we grow in Christ. And then we see over here in 2 Timothy 3.16. Look at this. 3.16 of 2 Timothy. All Scripture. Did you see that, brethren? How much of it? All of it. All Scripture is given by what? Inspiration, theos, nuptas. God breathed. When God breathes, fantastic things happen, don't they? Adam was formed and he breathed life into him. God breathed his word out through these forty-some men. It's given by inspiration of God and it's profitable for what? For doctrine? That's theology. Some churches say we have no theology. That's too bad. That's what the word's about. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof. That word reproof means what? We're going the wrong way? Stop. For correction, that means what? Get back on the right road. For instruction, that means keep going on the right things. That the man of God may be what? Complete. Watch this. It's what the Word of God does. May be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. This Word enables you, whatever God gives you to do, whatever task we have, we have all that we need right here. We don't need anything else. Signs and wonders, the razzmatazz, the entertainment. We don't need that stuff. In fact, the more you have that stuff, the more it takes away from the Word of God. Jesus asked Peter, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? He failed him three times. He asked him three times. And then what did Jesus say? Feed my sheep. Feed them. Not self-actualization. Not visualization. Not psychology. Not hypnosis. Not therapy. No, no. If we say yes to any one of those things, we're denying what God says. It's complete right here. It thoroughly equips us right here. It's all we need. You know what happens when a church does not take a high view of the Word of God, when it stops preaching the Word of God as it is in its full essence? Their concept of God is shallow, number one. Number two, the worship of God is shallow. Number three, the gospel will be shallow. And number four, the lordship of Christ will be shallow. You go over to Israel, right on Jerusalem environment there, you'll find the book of the shrine. It's where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed, most of them. The complete scroll of Isaiah is there. And that dome, the shape of that dome is actually the shape of the lid that the scroll handle fit up into to hold those scrolls for about 2,000 years. Can you imagine? But what's interesting is the black box there. You see that black-faced basalt box? The contrast is stark, isn't it? We have this white gleaming dome that stands for the Word of God, and then we have this blackness. Once you turn your back on Jesus, once you turn your back on the Word of God, whether you be a church or an individual or an organization, there's nowhere but despair and death and darkness. Once you turn from the Word, there's no hope. That's why Philippians 2, 6 calls it the Word of Life. Ephesians 1, 3 calls it the Word of Truth. Acts 13, 26 calls it the Word of Salvation. Hebrews 1, 3 calls it the Word of His Power. Nothing like it. I'll never forget James and Jackie Smith coming here. We used to support them when they were in church planting out in Kansas City and Jackie giving her testimony. Remember what she said? They grew up in Cleveland, very poor home, and her dad would go in these raving madness attacks on the family. Once he was in a drunken stupor and he was beating her brother unbelievably. She didn't know if he was going to live or not, but she's underneath the bed. crying her eyes out, hiding from her dad, crying out to God, if there is one, deliver us, give us peace. And about two weeks later, after that incident, someone came and knocked on their door. Would you like to have a Bible study? Local church down the road. The family happened to say yes. And within a few weeks, Dad was saved. And the rest of the family came to know the Lord. And all of a sudden, Dad saw that drink for what it was and never went back to it. Sobered himself up. Amazing, the power of God's Word. He started loving his family. He could finally hone down a job. They saved a few dollars together. They finally had a car. Oh, it was an old one, but they finally had a car they could go somewhere in. But you know what she said the best thing was? The Prince of Peace had come into our house and now there was peace there. Why the change? What made the difference? God's Spirit with God's Word, brother. This is it. The enemy would have us do anything else to get away from this. May we always stay sold out for the Word and live it and proclaim it. It's the Word of God. Do you bear the fruit of the Spirit this morning? The love, the joy, the peace, the long-suffering, the kindness, the goodness, the faithfulness, the gentleness, the self-control? Do you bear those attributes? That's the fruit of the Spirit. That's not of you. That's not of me. That's what the Spirit produces. God can take a wife abuser and make him a wife lover. God can take a drunkard and sober him up and he never touches the stuff again. God can take a fornicator and cause him to live a pure life for the glory of God. God can take a blasphemer, one who curses God. In fact, one who just lives independently of God. There's no greater blasphemer than that. I don't need God in my life. And take that person, drive them to their knees where now they love God and want to serve them with all their heart. Why the difference? It's the power of the Word. It's the Word going forth. Are you here today with Christ? Come, come before it's too late. Turn from your sin and trust in the only one who can deliver you. His name is Jesus, the God-man who's died for sinners and by faith alone in his finished work you have eternal life. Come before it's too late. Christ loves sinners. You know how much he loves them? He died for them. He's coming back for them. Come now before it's too late. Let us pray. Father, Your Word is glorious. There's nothing like it. Forgive us of our apathy, our pathetic attitude, the thing that we of all generations of the past can actually own a copy, and the ability to read it. Lord, help us to rightly divide it. Help us to devour it. Help us to know it so well, Father, it's a road map for life. It's a lamp unto our feet. Father, if there be one here today who knows you not, by your glorious power, by your glorious Word, bring them light. Take their dark soul and give them a heart of flesh. Bring them unto you for the glory of the Lamb we ask it. All in Jesus' name, Amen.