From the Source: Living in God’s Word

Introduction

What’s up guys.

by now you are back in the groove of school and I was just thinking back on my high school days.

Man I loved them, but I appreciated college life, but one thing I found in both was reading.

Do y'all have teachers that assign just annoying amounts of reading?

Like those are the worst. I feel like they get joy in seeing the pain of you having to read that much.

Then I got to college.

And it is so much worse. Every professor assigns at least a book or two for their class and expects you to read it.

I had a professor that taught Baptist History.

Man, I love Baptist Churches, that we are people of the Bible, that we have solid teachings, but I am not the biggest history buff.

Plus the teacher was monotone and it was just not a fun class.

On top of that, I had a Baptist History book that was assigned. It was anywhere from 80-150 pages a week of a dry history text book.

Don’t get me wrong, I will read a good book, but this was like watching grass grow in the dessert.

Then he let us know the greatest news on the face of the planet, it would not be tested over.

So do know what I did.

I did not read a single page of the book.

why? Because it didnt mean that much to me.

Then it came to my youth ministry book.

and man they know how to write books to youth pastors.

Short, applicable, stats and illustrations.

but reading that book, was going to guide my path, was going to show me how others have failed and what others have done that has worked.

I cared about it.

but guys, we all know there is a book that guides us better than any other book.

No matter if you hate reading with a passion, we are going to talk about the one book that you NEED to read.

If you only ever picked up one book in your life, this is the one.

Lets pray and jump right in.

Why We Need God’s Word

Before I dive on in, I want you guys to know this is the first time I have ever done a topical sermon.

What I mean by that is in the past I have picked one passage and preached through it, so even though I preached on prayer last week, I went all the way through the passage in Luke 11.

So be prepared, we are going from verse to verse, prancing our way through the Bible, preaching though the topic of God’s Word.

But our first passage is Psalm 1:1-3

Psalm 1:1–3 CSB

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! Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. 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.

We see this passage starts out by saying how happy or how blessed.

Generally if you think of ways that people are going to be happy or blessed you would tell them what to do first.

But here we see that we are told what NOT to do.

Being a Christian is counter cultural. The things in the Bible go against the world, but it is for our good.

We see this progression of sin here in this passage.

We have the people who walk, stand, and sit in verse one.

And we are told that this is the way the world is going.

We have seen this in our study’s on Sunday going through other religions.

People in this world believe crazy things.

It is a slippery slope. A lot of these cults make themselves to be “not as bad”

New Age, just pick whatever you want then you get into it and they are messing around with glass balls and tarot cards.

But in a world where the direction is heading to “do what you want” or “that is your truth but not my truth”

We have to make sure that we are standing on the truth that is the Word of God.

Because as I said this passage shows a progression.

It shows how the world is with sin.

I think about my life up stairs through out the week.

I might come in and walk by peoples office, say hi, but ya know just passing through.

Then if I have a question about something I will go stand in their office or by their door. I am not planning on staying for a long time because I am standing.

Then if I am going to go have a longer conversation, I would go and sit, make myself comfortable.

This is exactly what the passage is saying!

There is a progression the way the world is going, but by “walking” just having a glimpse of being in sin, you are opening up the door.

Then you catch yourself deeper in it than before, the passage says you would be standing in the path way of sinner.

And before you know it you can catch yourself down this slippery slope and be sitting with mockers.

because…

We will fall into sin when we do not know what the Word says.

Because that is what this passage goes on to say.

It says if you want to be happy do not go through that progression, but instead, mediate on God’s word day and night.

We have to know God’s word.

We are already fighting up stream.

This world more and more are coming after our beliefs.

Things that the Bible talks about are now starting to become political issues.

Same sex marriage.

LGBTQ issues.

and if you do not know what the truth is.

If you do not know that the Word of God says you will be caught in the current.

And I am not just talking about what we would say are big ticket items.

But also any sin.

Without the Bible there are no barriers,

but with the Bible there is instruction on how to live a God honoring life.

It has to be at the center of our lives.

We have to know that it is God’s Word.

These are men who are inspired by the Holy Spirit and every word is true.

And when we know by reading the Bible we are hearing the Words of God, we will be in it more.

We all want to know God more,

but to know God, we have to know God’s word, and to know God’s word we have to be in God’s word.

Psalm 119:105 tells us:

Psalm 119:105 CSB

Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

y’all his word is a lamp.

it isn’t a spot light

It isnt the over heads

If you want the light, you’ve got to be close to him.

because ultimately

We need God’s Word because we need God.

He is our everything.

He gave us his Word as a gift.

Give it to him so we can know him.

Know God, know his word.

Reading can suck. I know its not everyones favorite. But everyone needs God.

How We Approach God’s Word

Big books are scary.

I told you guys at the begining about reading text books.

and I think a lot of it is the size of the book.

When you look at a Bible and see just how big it is, then say oh there is an old testament, and a new testament, and oh yea this is not just a book it is actually 66 books, it can get over whelming.

If it is your first time in the Bible, super scary.

Even those of us who have grown up in church parts of it can be like woah.

Like Revelation, craziness going on.

Leviticus, also craziness but in a totally different way.

So taking a step back, how do we approach the Bible?

and it is by knowing it is the source of life.

we have to treat it that way.

I will be the first to admit there are things in there that are hard to understand. Do you guys want to see a funny verse in the Bible?

2 Peter 3:15–16 CSB

Also, regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him. He speaks about these things in all his letters. There are some things hard to understand in them. The untaught and unstable will twist them to their own destruction, as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.

Peter! The Peter! Walking on water guy who was with Jesus, says yeah that guy can be complicated.

So it is okay to read something and go yeah Ive got no clue what that means, but that opens the door for us to ask questions.

but we are to approach the Bible knowing we need it for our lives.

Because we need God we need his word.

Matthew 4:4 CSB

He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

In the ancient world bread was huge. It was a basic need that they had. If you wanted to survive, you needed to have bread.

Jesus comes here when Satan tempts him and tells him to turn the stones to bread so he can eat even though he is fasting.

But Jesus stops and says this.

meaning hey you have to survive on the dependance of God and the power of scripture.

When we approach the Bible because we know we need the Bible, our love for God will grow.

That is the key guys.

Thinking back to the first week and talking about abiding… if you want to produce fruit, the word of God is the instruction manual.

But it cannot be to check the box.

It has to be because you want to know God more, you want to be in a relationship with him,

so you do it out of love for him.

The main goal is not about knowledge.

There are people out there who study the Bible just for the history of it.

People who know the Bible, but do not love God.

But this is not a text book.

It is God’s Word.

knowledge will com by being in God’s Word.

You should strive for knowledge and to know God.

But guys approach it knowing that you are reading the Words of God and he wants to change your heart.

to grow you into something more.

beacuse

God’s Word transforms us because it is living and active.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “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.”

We have to know this.

That God is on the throne.

Jesus is alive.

and his word is more relevant than ever.

What God’s Word does to us

Guys like we just talked about, God’s word has to change our hearts.

and if you spend time in it, it will.

Psalm 119:10-11 says this

Psalm 119:10–11 CSB

I have sought you with all my heart; don’t let me wander from your commands. I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

When you have God’s word in your heart, when you have sought after him, you are going to keep his commands better.

When we grow closer to God, we grow further from sin.

We are still going to sin, it happens, it is in our nature.

But the closer that you get to God, the more you are to do the things of God and not the things of man.

The Word draws us closer to God and pulls us further from sin.

This why we need to be in our Bibles every single day.

Our desire should be to grow closer to God, and we do that through his word.

It is one thing to say this, but another to show that it is true.

So there have been some studies released that show the intake of the Bible really does change your life.

Reading your Bible 1-3 times a week shows really not a whole lot of change.

But it is once you hit 4 days a week, we see the stats go up.

Grace Evangelical Society then Lifeway did a study on the Bible. It shows that being in the Bible at least 4 days a week will:

Feeling lonely drops 30%

Anger issues drop 32%

Bitterness in relationships drops 40%

Alcoholism drops 57%

Sex outside of marriage drops 68%

Feeling spiritually stagnant drops 60%

Viewing pornography drops 61%

Sharing your faith jumps 200%

Discipling others jumps 230%

The odds of memorizing scripture jumps 407%

Y’all God’s word can change you.

but only if you are in God’s Word.

Ill finish by saying my favorite line even though I have said it once.

To know God you have to know God’s Word and to know God’s Word you have to be in God’s Word.

If you do not have a relationship with God, Jesus is the way the truth and the life.

He is the only way to the Father.

So if you do not have this truth that is the gospel in your heart, I would love to have a conversation with you.

but do yall have any thoughts, comments, questions, concerns… stones for heresy?

If not, I’ll pray us out.