Living Within the Word
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
To have the kind of help through the dark nights of the soul like we’ve been talking about, we have to have more than a mere belief that the Word of God is sufficient; that the Word of God is authoritative; that it is inerrant and infallible.
We can believe all of those things and the Word of God not have the slightest influence on our lives.
Illustration: iPhone
1. Instant global communication – Call, text, or video chat anyone worldwide.
2. vast knowledge – Look up anything in seconds.
3. Creative tools – Shoot videos, take photos, make music, edit content.
4. GPS navigation – Get real-time directions and avoid getting lost.
5. Health tracking – Monitor heart rate, sleep, steps, and more.
6. Productivity – Manage your calendar, tasks, reminders, and notes.
7. Entertainment – Watch movies, listen to music or podcasts, play games.
My parents had iPhones: used theirs for Facebook and phone calls.
Satan is very happy with you believing all the right things about the Bible…so long as you don’t actually open it. As long as you ignore your Bible from Sunday to Sunday, you’re no threat and you have no real strength.
For us to have help every day, much more during the “dark nights”, you have to have a deep and abiding love for the Word for it to benefit. You have to have a commitment to being in the Word, or it’s useless to you.
(Psalm 119:97) I. Prerequisite: We need a right attitude toward God’s Word.
97 How I love your instruction! It is my meditation all day long.
The psalmist demonstrates this as someone who has fallen in love with the Word of God. Why?
1. He believes this is the very Word of God; God’s gift to us!
2. He’s experienced enough darkness to know he can’t live without it.
ILLUS: Someone said, “People ask me: Do I really need Jesus to go to heaven? Brother, you need Jesus just to go to Walmart.”
We need the same attitude towards Scripture.
The love of God’s instruction is developed through all the trials we’ve talked about over the last few weeks that bring us to the end of our resources. Until then, you probably don’t feel the need.
Trials drive the wise to God’s Word. Wisdom keeps them there.
Not just as an emergency measure (in case of emergency, break glass).
Doesn’t work that way. Wisdom is a cumulative thing.
ILLUS Mastering a subject doesn’t come by attending one class, but over the course of an entire season of study, sitting under the instruction of a master.
That’s how you gain the understanding that helps you know how to navigate the subject and overcome the obstacles to mastery.
Hebrews 4:12 - 12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
II. In this psalm, we see the Word of God in action as our Instructor, Protector, and Expositor:
1. The Word as INSTRUCTOR (98-102)
Hebrews 4 pointed out how the Word of God penetrates to our deepest parts. As we engage the Word, the Spirit of God begins to reveal the condition of our hearts, our sinful nature, our need for a savior, and the revelation of the Gospel.
98 Your command makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is always with me. 99 I have more insight than all my teachers because your decrees are my meditation. 100 I understand more than the elders because I obey your precepts. 101 I have kept my feet from every evil path to follow your word. 102 I have not turned from your judgments, for you yourself have instructed me.
In these verses, it doesn’t paint the picture of an arrogant person, but one who has encountered the living God in Scripture, and it has a significant, supernatural effect:
· Wiser than enemies
· Deeper insights (than “teachers”)
· Greater understanding (than elders)
· Discernment to avoid evil paths
· Ability to remain faithful to Scripture
You can’t do any of this on your own! (102) “You yourself have instructed me.”
21 At that time he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, because this was your good pleasure.
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and I will set aside the intelligence of the intelligent.
20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of what is preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.
2. The Word as PROTECTOR (103-104)
One of the ways the Word of God protects us is by changing our tastes.
The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God in our lives to reveal the Truth about life:
· Sin always leads to ruin.
· Following Christ always leads to blessing.
That doesn’t preclude trouble in life, but redeems it into a blessing of growth and maturity.
Through this “gaining of understanding,” our taste for life changes from loving sin to hating it. When that happens, we hate every false way, keeping us on a path of life through following Jesus on the narrow way.
This is sanctification: John 17:15-19
15 I am not praying that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 I sanctify myself for them, so that they also may be sanctified by the truth.
· Jesus prayed for the protection of his followers
· This happens through sanctification through the Word of Truth
Praying for protection from the Enemy without engaging the Word of God is like asking a security company to protect your home without turning on the alarm system. It doesn’t work that way.
3. The Word as EXPOSITOR (105)
Defined: One who explains, interprets, or expounds
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
The word…
a. Illuminates your feet – shows you where you’re currently standing and points out where you shouldbe standing
Lays bare the condition of your heart. Back to 4:12 “…able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” X Psalm 139 search me. Usually happens as we search Scripture.
b. A light for your path.
ILLUS Boy Scouts – never camped without a flashlight, except the “OA Ordeal”
Didn’t know where I was or how to get out until morning. Things weren’t as I thought!
THE word illuminates your way in darkened world, showing you which way to walk.
1 How happy is the one who does not walk in the advice of the wicked or stand in the pathway with sinners or sit in the company of mockers! 2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Through the Word we see the world from God’s perspective which leads to a proper understanding of circumstances.
31 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
31 “ …Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Free from what?
· Power of sin – Romans 8:1
· Fear/anxiety – Isaiah 41:10, 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 John 4:18
· Defeating circumstances – Romans 8:28, 37
Sum it up: It is a comprehensive freedom! John 8:36
The world may look dark, but you’re walking in the light, free from the power of darkness!
These benefits build within us a…
III. DETERMINATION TO OBEY (106-112)
(106) He was committed to the Word, and because of that…
· Affliction won’t stop him (Psalm 119:107-108) 107 I am severely afflicted;
Lord, give me life according to your word.
108 Lord, please accept my freewill offerings of praise,
and teach me your judgments.
afflicted means deeply troubled or suffering (generic, general)
Romans 8:18
This light, momentary affliction
Paul’s affliction was anything but light, but the light of the Gospel overwhelmed the darkness associated with them, illuminating the glory ahead.
Psalmist focuses on what he knows is true, ties a knot, and holds on through the storms. They WILL pass. Christ is King and calms the storm (internally or externally).
· Enemies won’t defeat him (109-110)
109 My life is constantly in danger, yet I do not forget your instruction. 110 The wicked have set a trap for me, but I have not wandered from your precepts.
· Complacency won’t deter him (111-112)
111 I have your decrees as a heritage forever; indeed, they are the joy of my heart. 112 I am resolved to obey your statutes to the very end.
Conclusion
