Reading the Word (Spiritual disciplines)

1 Timothy 4:7 KJV 1900

But refuse profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.

Looked at the discipline of “hearing God’s Word”

Illustration:

Robert L. Sumner, in the Wonder of the Word of God, tells of a man in Kansas City who was severely injured in an explosion. His face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He had only recently become a Christians when the accident happened, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could not longer read the Bible. Then he heard about a lady in England who read Braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in Braille. But he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been too badly damaged to distinguish the characters. One day, as he brought one of the Braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he realized, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Sumner wrote his book, the man had read through the entire Bible four times.

The Pursuit of Holiness Chapter 10: The Place of Personal Discipline

Discipline toward holiness begins with the Word of God.

The Pursuit of Holiness Chapter 10: The Place of Personal Discipline

Discipline toward holiness begins then with the Scriptures—with a disciplined plan for regular intake of the Scriptures and a disciplined plan for applying them to our daily lives.

Quote:

It is the consistent witness of the New Testament that growth in godliness requires exertion on the part of the Christian. - DeYoung, Kevin. The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness (Kindle Locations 1282-1283). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

The scripture is not silent about the matter of taking in the Word of God.

Illustration: USA Today reported a poll that showed only 11% of Americans read the Bible every day. - Whitney, p. 27

A Barna Research Group of “born-again” Christians showed that only 18% read the Bible daily, and 23% never read the Word of God. (Ibid.)

Of all the disciplines, this must be one of the most neglected disciplines that should exist in our lives.

Propositions: Christians ought to be people of the Book!

Let’s first note a few things about the context:

The book of Matthew is about King Jesus

The book of Matthew is about the Kingdom of Heaven

This passage in Matthew emphasizes various different groups as they relate to the kingdom of Heaven.

The initial conversation in this chapter set’s forth the foundation for the rest of the structure:

Illustration: When we were on the couple’s retreat, a couple of the men were playing life-size Jenga outside of a pizza place where we were getting ready to eat. As they pulled pieces from the bottom of the structure, it was important for the structure to stay as stable as possible. Of course the whole point of the game is that you are pulling pieces from the foundation.

For us to understand the text, we want to take close look at one of the blocks in the foundation of the text. This will help us to understand the emphasis of the message this evening and the foundation of the text.

(1) The expectation of reading (v. 3 - 4)

DeYoung, Kevin. The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness (Kindle Locations 1282-1283). Crossway. Kindle Edition.

We immediately note that scriptures can be read by unbelieving individuals.

We note that Jonathan Edwards the preacher of the Great Awakening came to faith in Christ upon reading the word of God.

The implicit truth here though is that readers of the word must be recipients of the Living Word, if there will be any spiritual understanding at all.

1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV 1900

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Secondly, (v. 4) the reading of the scriptures confirm for us who is the Sovereign Creator - it tells us WHO IS IN CHARGE. I shows authority.

Illustration:

It is not uncommon for me to walk out of a room and overhear conversations among our children where one is trying to tell the other what to do. This then leads to an argument of words. Then, when I enter back into the room I usually have to reestablish who the authority is in the room.

Similarly, the word of God has a way of reasserting into our hearts who the authority is. The word reminds us that He is the Creator and we are not.

Psalm 100:3 KJV 1900

Know ye that the Lord he is God: It is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Application:

If and when we live without the discipline of reading the word of God, we will tend towards a kingdom where we envision ourselves to be gods.

We make our retirement plans

We make our family plans

We make our relationships choices

As if we are little sovereigns in our lives; we set up our little tower of Babels; but the word of God has a way of toppling this structure.

Transition:

The expectation of the word of God is that it be read.

(2) The clarity in reading (v. 5 - 6)

God’s word gives practical direction for how mankind is supposed to live.

In this case, the practical direction is as it relates to marriage.

In God’s Kingdom, God has initial intention, and his initial intention has not changed.

DILEMMA: Some will say, “So, does that mean that every man should be married or visa versa? The answer is NO.

The beauty of the scriptures that we have is that the “good news” of Jesus has helped us to further understand relationships.

Illustration:

There is a game called “Sequence that we like to play with our friends.” Each time we have friends who have never played it, we explain the game to them; but there is not explanation of the game that is as good as them just getting right into it.

Similarly, there are some who have only heard of dilemmas and objections to NOT reading the Bible.

Application:

Maybe they have even attempted and they started in a place like Numbers. The bottom line is that as you read, the Lord gives your greater understanding to process how the “good news” of Jesus allows you to see even the Old Testament commands, but this does not come by you sitting on the sidelines and simply making assumptions. You have to get into the Word! Clarity cannot come if you are not immersing yourself in the scriptures.

Transition:

The expectation of the word of God is that it be read.

The clarity of the word is that is gives practical direction to the reader.

(3) The challenge of the word of God (v. 7 - 8)

This is the real issue here. The Bible challenges the heart of men. It challenges the authority of our proud hearts.

You see, for some people, the issue is a heart of unbelief or a heart that seeks to govern itself.

Jeremiah 17:9 KJV 1900

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Quote:

Boa (p. 221), “It is impossible to progress far in our walk with Christ without a radical shift from an earthbound to a biblical perspective on life. Yet a surprisingly small minority of believers renew their minds on a consistent basis with the Scriptures, and this means that the majority are more likely to be influence by their culture than by their Creator…for many believers Christ is present in their lives, but his lordship is often resisted or rejected...”

Illustration:

Recently, I was watching a documentary about the African Continent and the various climates and changes that take place. As part of the documentary, they covered some of the migration of Hippos. The hippos, as many animals, during the dry seasons migrate to different areas with intentions of finding water to abide in. The documentary showed how territorial they can become. In one story, a young hippo saw some young hippo girls and wanted to come meet them. As he attempted to enter the water, and older hippos from those waters engaged in a fight with the younger hippo. In the end, the winner would have to leave that watering hole and try to find another spot.

As territorial as animals can be, our hearts can be quite territorial when the word of God is entering in. The word of God points us to the supremacy of Jesus. The word of God calls us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow up. The word of God challenges our hearts, and it is to our detriment if we harden our hearts to the advances of the word of God.

Transition:

The expectation of the word of God is that it be read.

The clarity of the word is that is gives practical direction to the reader.

The challenge of the word of God is in our hearts - against the hardness of them...

(4) The crush of the word of God (v. 9 - 10)

The word of God brings us to sobering realities. The word of God is constantly bring us to the end of ourselves. This is good!

Jeremiah 23:29 KJV 1900

Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

Quote:

Boa, “The Word of god is the primary vehicle of God’s revelation of himself, his plan, and his purposes.” [p. 224]

Illustration:

Who can bear these things? There was a young woman who was a weight lifter. She had made the point that she could do what is called a wall seat and maintain it while a team placed 900 lbs on her thighs. She was doing the challenge when she fell beneath the weight, so they tried it again. This time, they placed the 20th plate on and it stayed on there for about 1 second before she fell beneath the weight again.

As we approach the scriptures, we are often weighed down. We think that this is bad; but in reality it is good. You see, we read about the holy God. We read about the law. We are crushed beneath the expectations. This forces us to look for someone to help.

Application:

One of the common symptoms of those who are not serious readers of the word of God is a lack of humility. Pride certainly goes before destruction. We do not see our need for coming to Christ unless we have been crushed by the law.....this leads us to our last point:

(5) The freedom of the word of God (v. 11 - 12)

These individuals have seen the worth of the kingdom.

In a passage about marriage, eunuchs are shown to be exemplary.

This is in contrast to the rich young ruler - , ,

This is exemplified in the disciples -

The word of God points men to the kingdom and the ONLY way into that Kingdom. The word of God shows us the value of the Kingdom.

Quote: “The written Word centers on the living and incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.” [Boa, p. 224]

,

Luke 24:27 KJV 1900

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Luke 24:44 KJV 1900

And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Illustration:

Turn to

There was a young man in northern Africa. He had a good testimony, was faithful, and a trustworthy estate caretaker. He had recently taken a long journey and was sitting in his vehicle on his return journey home. As far as the account goes, this man was not able to have children, yet he was part of a religion that often placed a tremendous amount of value upon family. I am sure that he must have thought, if I am part of a religion that places so much value on the family, how can I be valuable, if I can’t have a family.

In his searching, he had stopped and was sitting in his vehicle reading a book trying to find some answers. He came upon an interesting portion of scripture which spoke of someone who would come. This Person who would come would be able to make men like him to be able to have families and to be more fruitful than even those who were able to be married and have children.

He was perplexed because this Person who was coming to be able to make this happen was to be killed. As he sat their reading, another man, by the name of Philip, is sent by the Lord to explain to this traveler who Jesus is.

Let’s read

Similarly, the scriptures not only crush us, but the scriptures also liberate us because the scriptures point us to Jesus Christ. Here, this man is, bound by a situation that was possibly out of his control, yet he was hopeful.

While he was at an apparent stop, he was trying to understand some things. He was reading a book trying to understand the point of the story.

Friend, listen, the longer you delay from diligent reading of the scriptures, the further to grow from freedom that can only be found in Christ.

Application:

Whatever it is that keeps you from the Lord of the scriptures can also be that which you make the lord of your life.

Just because you have been freed from the penalty of sin does not mean that you will live free from the power of sin.

We need to read the scriptures.

Conclusion:

Conclusion:

I want to remind you:

(1) If you are not a Christian, these disciplines will not aid you in spiritual growth. must be born again.

(2) If you are a Christian, these should flow out of your secure identity in Jesus Christ and not because you have to work to gain your salvation.

Illustration:

I want to hear and value the opinion of Catrina Fernandez because she is my wife, not because hearing her opinion my lead her to be my wife.

We should hear and read the truth of God’s word because of Who Jesus is in our lives, and not because this gains us status with the Lord.

Will you discipline yourself to read the Word of God?