High View of God's Word

Now that I am a father of two, my dad jokes have reached another level. Before, when it was just Anna and I, my wife would hardly ever laugh at my jokes. I thought they were funny, but apparently...my dry sarcasm only works when you have child-induced sleep deprivation. Over the weekend my wife asked me what I was planning to preach on today and I looked at her with a wry smile and said, matter-of-factly, “the Bible” to which she chuckled more than I had expected. But then I clarified to her that, no really I am preaching on the Bible - I am preaching today on having a High View of Scripture.

Core Values

In preaching on this topic, I am continuing on in our series preaching on the Heritage Core Values. Two weeks ago, Pastor Greg did an excellent job teaching us what it looks like to have a high view of God, our first core value, from Isaiah’s vision of the thrice Holy YHWH in Isaiah 6. And this week we will be looking at our other “High View” value - a High View of Scripture. We as an eldership are striving to constantly lead you and guide you into a higher view, a higher estimation, a higher comprehension, a high understanding of God and His Word. That is in a sense the idea or concept of treating something as holy - God and His Word are set apart, in a category of their own, elevated above everything and anyone else. And we are to see and to respond to God and His Word this way.

And these are our first two core values for reason. And the reason that we are studying them now is to remind and reiterate that as a church this is our goal, this is our fundamental mission. In fact this is in the very mission statement of our church - which is exalting Christ through His Word. Everything that we strive to do, every aspect of ministry that this church does flows from these core values.

And so, what we desire is that each of you members walk away from these core value sermons knowing these are the the values of my church family, these are my family values - this is who we are.

Main Point

So then the main point of my message today is this: The reason why we must always have a High View of God’s word is because it is just that... the very word of God.

Text and Context

And I get this main point today from Paul, who is impressing this very message on the man handpicked to carry on his mission, his disciple Timothy. Our text today will be from the book of 2 Timothy chapter 3:14-17. This text is split into two sections and our sermon will follow the same division. In verses 14-15 we see Paul’s command to Abide and in verses 16-17 Paul gives the reason for this command. So...

Main Point: Since the Holy God breathed the Holy Scripture we must treat it, then, as holy.

Structure:

The Command to Abide - vs 14-15

The Reason to Abide - vs 16-17

With that, let’s start to look at our text. Read with me verses 14 and 15 where we find the Command to Abide.

1. The Command to Abide - 2 Timothy 3:14-15

2 Timothy 3:14–15 NASB95

14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them, 15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

But You - Context

Now these verses serve as the main thrust of Paul’s argument in chapter 3. Paul is driving this message to Timothy, continue in or abide in in the holy scriptures, in God’s Word. Don’t forsake it, cling to it! But Paul sets up for this command in verse 14 by giving Timothy a couple of contrasts in the verses that come before. Walk with me through this chapter so we can get some context.

If you drop back to the beginning of chapter 3, in verse 1, we see that Paul begins by warning Timothy that “in the last days”, which refers to this age, between Christ’s first advent and the final Day of the Lord, “In the last days, difficult times will come.”

2 Timothy 3:1 NASB95

1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.

Paul is saying, “Timothy, difficulty is coming, the church is going to be under assault and the Devil’s attacks will only grow more intense.” Paul is not telling Timothy this to make him afraid, which would only increase the timidity he struggled with, but to prepare him.

The source of this difficulty is the wicked world around and even within the church. In verses 2-4 we see Paul describe the wickedness of men with similar words to what he used in Romans 1 and Romans 3. And spearheading this wickedness are these men who enter the church and prey on the weak and the burdened, who are those verse 5, “Having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” They are the ones who verse 8, “oppose the truth”.

Then in verse 10, Paul gives us our first contrast, “10 Now you, followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings...” Unlike the wicked world, who have been diabolically lead away by the opposers of the truth, Paul reminds Timothy that he didn’t fall after falsehood, he followed after Paul. Essentially Paul is saying, “don’t forget, you were not like them. No you were right - by - my - side, hearing my preaching, hearing my teaching, reading my letters, witnessing my life. What’s happening out there, is not what you learned from me. Don’t follow after those men, avoid them As MacArthur notes, just as he did to the Corinthians, Paul is exhorting Timothy here to “continue to be an Imitator of me as I am of Christ.”

2 Timothy 3:10 NASB95

10 Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance,

However, this imitation will lead to similar persecution and suffering that Paul himself experienced, look at verse 12, “12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” And again, the source for this suffering, for this difficulty is the evil world, verse 13 “13 but evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

2 Timothy 3:12–13 NASB95

12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

There’s a pattern here: there is this difficulty, this suffering, this persecution that the godly are going to face. The source of this difficulty is the ever increasing wickedness in the hearts of men. And these men are being lead further and further in their depravity by these false teachers who oppose the truth. These false teachers are described in verse 13 as imposters. But what are they imposters of? The word here for imposter is only used this one time in the Bible. But most often in other uses in Ancient Grecian writing its used to refer to a sorcerer - to someone who creates or conjures up a false sense of reality. Actually, the word for imposter literally refers to someone who wails and howls. In the ancient Greek world such activity was a part of the divination ceremonies of the temple oracles who would practice such sorcery in order to receiving knowledge from the greek gods. So what Paul is communicating with this unique word is that they are imposters of divine truth. These false teachers are deceiving the world and causing society to move from bad to worse, by teaching them "divine truth”

So we have a problem: coming difficulty - trials, persecution, suffering…the cause: wickedness and evil driven by imposters of divine truth…So what is the response that Timothy must have? Look at verse 14.

Abide!…in what?

2 Tim 3:14-15 “14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

2 Timothy 3:14–15 NASB95

Paul said in verse 13 that the world proceeding from bad to worse. And in response, Timothy is supposed to go no where. He is to instead continue in the things he learned. Timothy was to know or to remember who taught him these truths. As we saw earlier Timothy sat at the feet of Paul. As a boy he was instructed by his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.

In verse 15 we see the source of his instruction, “15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” What Timothy learned and was convinced of and was taught were the teachings from the sacred writings, the Holy Scriptures. What Timothy was supposed to continue in and cling to was the Word of God. And the reason is this, the Holy Scriptures are the only source of wisdom - true wisdom - a wisdom that leads one to salvation through faith in Christ. As Paul said, in Romans 10:17 “17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

Romans 10:17 NASB95

17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Gospel Application

Dear friends I want to press pause and tell you that this is a marvelous reality. The God of the universe has communicated to us that He is Holy. He has communicated to us His holy Law. He has revealed to us that we are not holy but in fact sinful, that we violate His Holy Law and are deserving of death. And then He communicates to us how we can be made Holy. In this book we have the message of the gospel, that this holy God sent His Son to atone for our sin, to bear our punishment by dying on the cross and that we can receive this forgiveness and receive His holy righteousness if we repent of our sins and believe upon Him. If you are a believer, God’s love is most recognizable in the truth that God sent His Son to die for your sins. But where did this truth come from? This book. Every time you see your Bible, stop to think of what an immense gift of divine love God’s Word is. And if you are not a believer, I want to call you to respond to the gospel I just summarized for you, repent of your sins and believe in Christ. And if you don’t want to listen to me, I want to challenge you to go and read this book. If you don’t have a copy come up to me after I am done and I will gladly give you one.

Now this is the reason why Paul calls this book the sacred writings - the holy scriptures. There is no other writing with such wisdom. There is no other source of truth with the power to produce saving faith. This book is holy, set apart, sacred, in a category on its own, elevated above any other writing, by any other author, from any other time in human history. It’s the Bible up here, and then there is everything else. This is also why Paul reminds Timothy of those who taught him the truths of scripture - Timothy, do you doubt the power of this book? Look at my life, Timothy. Look at your grandmother’s life, look at your mother’s life.

Which brings us back to the main command in this chapter - continue. This word continue, or meno in the greek, is better translated as abide. This word is most popularly used by John in his gospel. Think of John 15:4 “4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” or John 15:7 “7 “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” Just as the branches is inextricably bound to the vine, Timothy was to be bound to the word. He was to be anchored. To remain. To stay put. To dwell. To persist in. To abide in the sacred writings.

Do you see the contrast here with the evil men in verse 13. They are in constant movement away from God, being led from bad to worse. They are the original progressives. Always progressing towards destruction. And What Paul is saying is this, “Timothy, don’t get pulled away with the rest of the world by these imposters with their fake claims of divine knowledge! Stand firm, don’t stray, live here, don’t move an inch, abide in the holy scriptures. Don’t follow those imposters, Timothy, abide in true source of divine knowledge.”

Application

This temptation was real for Timothy and it’s real for us, to set aside the Bible and look to the world for truth. We might not have temples with oracles conjuring up some knowledge from Zeus. But we do have so many things that compete for our understanding, so many things that want to take the place of God’s Word. So many things that want to cause us to shift away from scripture.

Just think of the all the modern philosophies that fill the universities and instruct students to “find your truth” or that “truth is relative”.

Think of the cultural pressures to reject the Bibles teaching on sexuality, on marriage, and on sin.

Think of the scientific community’s rejection of the historical truths of Christianity such as the resurrection, the virgin birth, the flood, the exodus and creation and the temptation to reinterpret these scriptures so as to be acceptable in the eyes of the world.

Think of all the movements within modern churches that diminish the preaching of the Bible. Church growth gurus teach that church is much more consumable and marketable when the preacher tells me a story for 10 minutes or preaches a message of self-help and positive affirmation with a little bit of Jesus sprinkled in

Commenting on this passage Abner Chou notes that, “So often the church gets caught up in running the rat race of the culture instead of running the true race of scripture.”

Dear saints, don’t get pulled along by the constant progressive nature of this world - don’t get intoxicated with the newest truth claims. Don’t be filled with the fear of being irrelevant in the eyes of your peers.

Resist the temptation to abandon the Word, instead cling to it, hold it fast, lift it up, Abide in it.

Which brings us to our second section where we will see the primary Reason to Abide. Read with me starting in verse 16.

2. Paul’s Reason - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Inspiration

2 Timothy 3:16 NASB95

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

The ultimate reason why Timothy is to abide in what he has learned, in the sacred writings is that - All Scripture is inspired by God - or as the ESV puts it, “all Scripture is breathed out by God” This book is not an ordinary book, this book contains the words of the living God. This book is divinely inspired.

You might be here today and this is a new concept to you. You may have assumed that this is just the “good book”, but never knew that every page, every word in its original language, in this book is divine communication. But what does this exactly mean? Aren’t these are Paul’s words? Those Psalms in the middle of the Bible say that these are the psalms of David. How does this work? Surely this book is not just a collection of the wise insights of these righteous men. And on the other hand, these men were not just passive, mindless instruments, scribing down the words of God with a blank stare out into the distance.

Listen to the how the Apostle Peter describes this process of inspiration in 2 Peter 1:20-21 “20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

2 Peter 1:20–21 NASB95

20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

These men, Paul, Peter, David, John, Luke, Moses, Isaiah, all of these biblical authors were, at specific moments, moved by the Spirit of God so that God’s divine words flowed through their intellect, through their hearts, through their souls as they wrote the perfect communication of God’s revelation. Each author has a unique writing style and has a unique background and yet in this uniqueness there is complete and perfect unity and harmony because each unique author wrote under the inspiration of the Divine Author. Notice that Peter says that these men were moved by the Spirit, this verb moved describes the action of bearing along or being carried. B.B. Warfield comments that “The men who spoke from God are here declared, therefore, to have been taken up by the Holy Spirit and brought by His power to the goal of His choosing. The things which they spoke under this operation of the Spirit were therefore His things, not theirs.” So then, the writings of Paul, and Peter, and of John and David, and Moses are the writings of God. This is what theologians call the duel-authorship of Scripture. And yet, this authorship did not happen on the human author’s initiative, but on God’s. He is the ultimate author of each of the 66 books of the Bible.

And this is how Paul talked about Scripture in his other writings. When quoting God’s words spoken in the Old Testament, in Galatians 3 and Romans 9 He writes that Scripture spoke. In Paul’s mind the Scripture is personified as God. Listen for example to Romans 9:17 “17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” In Exodus, God said these words. In Romans Scripture says these words - in Paul’s mind God and Scripture are one in the same.

In Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he similarly quotes Jesus words as recorded in Luke’s gospel as Scripture, 1 Tim 5:18 “18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” In Luke, Jesus said these things. In Timothy, Scripture says these things - again in Paul’s mind Jesus and Scripture are one in the same. We see this reality in his exhortation to the Colossians in Colossians 3:16 “16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you...” The Scripture is the word of Christ.

See how that quotation from the gospel of Luke also points to the reality that Paul and the first generation of Christians immediately recognized the inspiration of the New Testament writings. We see this in Peter as well who included Paul’s letters with the rest of scripture in 2 Peter 3:15-16 “just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

As the author of Hebrews puts it Hebrews 1:1-2 “1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” God spoke to the fathers through the prophets in the Old Testament and to us in these last days through His Son in the New Testament. But in both eras, God spoke.

Hebrews 1:1–2 NASB95

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.

And this Paul’s point to Timothy, and my point as well, all of scripture, both in the Old Testament and in the New have been ultimately authored by God by divine inspiration. And how could they not be divine? What human book possesses vs 15, “the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” No offense to MacArthur, Piper, Sproul, Calvin, Edwards, or Luther - their words are not inerrant, they fail to accomplish their purpose all the time. But as Isaiah writes in Isa 55:10-11 “10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” God has spoken to us through His Word and the Holy Spirit works through His Word to regenerate and sanctify those whom God has chosen. His Word does not return empty.

Isaiah 55:10–11 NASB95

10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; 11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

And so for this reason, Timothy, for this reason , Heritage, we must abide in God’s Word. There is only one source of divine knowledge. There is only one source of ultimate and infallible truth. There is only one place where God has spoken and it is in every single one of these words- in every single page of this sacred book. This is the very Word of the living God dear family. Don’t forsake it. Don’t distort it. Don’t ignore it. Abide in it. Treasure it. Hold it fast. Hold it high above anything else. Treat this book as Holy, for it is the Word of the Holy God.

Profitable for the Man of God

Now Look back with me again at the last words of our text as Paul impress his point further to Timothy, 2 Tim 3:16-17 “16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” There is no other book that is more beneficial, more advantageous, more effective for useful, or more profitable for the church and for the shepherd of the church than God’s word. Because the Scripture is God’s Word, when we teach it, we teach with divine authority. When we reprove and correct a sinning brother with scripture, they are convicted of their error and then built up to a right standing with God by God. When you train up or build up your children or your disciples with God’s Word, they are instructed and built up by God. See here how foolish it is then, to rely on the wisdom and philosophies of men for teaching and reproof and correction and training. There is nothing more sufficient and profitable for ministry than the powerful word of God.

Have you ever heard of the concept of negative calorie foods? There are certain vegetables and fruits like celery or apples that, as you are eating them, you burn more calories than you are consuming. Essentially, eating them will make you hungrier. Certainly these foods have some nutrients and vitamins that make them worth eating. But imagine that this thanksgiving a starving child, who is clearly malnourished, skin and bones, comes knocking on your door looking food. You have all the turkey and ham and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce with the real cranberries in it all on the table. And you give that child an apple and send him on his way. That’s not just silly, it is cruel negligence. So is it when we substitute the truths of scripture for the truths of men as we are teaching and reproving and correcting and training each other.

As David writes in Psalm 19:7-9 “7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.” Abide in God’s word dear saints.

Psalm 19:7–9 NASB95

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether.

This practical application is especially paramount for us elders to continue to heed. Paul is originally addressing Timothy, the man of God. This word, man of God, was a special term in the Old Testament. Moses was a man of God, David was a man of God, the priest and the prophets were men of God. These were men who were proclaimers of God’s Word to the people. Paul is the only New Testament writer to use this term, and he is using this special term to build Timothy up for the work of continuing his ministry after he is gone.

You see this letter contains the last words of Paul. He is writing to Timothy as he is enchained in prison, with little light to read or write, awaiting his death sentence that would come shortly after writing this. Several years earlier, Timothy was placed in the key city in Paul’s network of churches, in Ephesus. This church was the hub, the connecting point for all of the churches in Turkey and the church right in the middle of Rome and Jerusalem. And this key church was faltering. Corrupt theology and ungodliness was creeping into the church the leaders, including Timothy struggled with weakness and timidity as they tried to lead this church. The temptation to abandon the truth of scripture was real. And so Paul is here reminding Timothy once more of his calling and then pointing to the Scriptures and saying, “this book and this book alone will make you adequate, fit, capable and proficient to carry out the ministry that I am leaving to you.”

These last words in chapter 3 then serve as the exclamation point to Paul’s imperative from verse 14 - this is why you must abide in the Word, Timothy it’s the only thing that will make you adequate to fulfill your role as the man of God. My fellow Pastors may continue to heed these words with me. If God some day calls some of you men to join us elders in shepherding the flock, begin preparing today by abiding in God’s Word as you minister to this church. Brothers, church, this is where we must stand, where we must live, where we must be anchored anchored. Let us always and ever abide in God’s Word.

Application - Communion with God in His Word

Before I conclude I want to press in on this truth, that this Word is God’s Word, one more time and see how this applies to our individual Christian lives. It is relatively easy to understand how prayer is a means by which we communicate with God. That’s actually a great way to describe it, we are talking to God, communicating our praise, our thanksgiving, our needs and confessing our sin to Him. And we know, by faith in His Word, that He hears us.

But the idea that we hear from God, that He communicates to us is a bit harder to grasp. I want to be careful because we do not teach the Neo-orthodox idea that God’s Word becomes inspired only in the moment of it being read. In that scenario, what ever the text means to us at any given time is its inspired meaning. Most of us have been in bible studies where the leader asks, “so what does this verse mean to you?” That’s wrong. We are not in charge of the meaning of the text, the divinely inspired author is. The inspired meaning of each passage of scripture is fixed and set in the context that it was originally written. The original meaning of these words that Timothy read as he opened this letter from Paul was and is the divinely inspired meaning for all of time.

But what that does not mean is that God only communicated through these words to the original audience that one time. The message spoken to Timothy is the message spoken to us. Which means that God still speaks to us today through His Word. When you open this book and you devote yourself to read it and understand what is being said, you are communing with God in His Word. Every single one of us can hear from Him right now as He reveals Himself and His will to us through His word. And yet I think that so often we have difficulty looking at our Bibles this way and instead we approach it like a history or apologetics text book. We’d much rather hear God speak to us in an audible and discernible voice like I’m speaking to you now and the reason we have this desire is that we do not have a high view of God’s Word.

In 2007, John Piper wrote a blog post entitled, “The Morning I Heard the Voice of God” which is worth reading in full when you get home. Piper wrote it as a response to a Christianity Today article where a seminary professor had written a personal account of God speaking to him, this professor claimed that the voice of God came to him one morning and revealed to him a book title and a book outline for his next writing project, promised that his book would do well and then instructed him to use the proceeds to put a student through seminary. Piper responded with his own account of God speaking to Him. In the post, Piper talks about hearing a powerful message from God one morning. God declared to Him the awe and splendor of His mighty deeds, and how He is exalted over the nations of men. Piper wrote about how gripping this moment was and how it filled him with a sense of reverence, awe and peace. And then in the climax of his article, he reveals that these words from God came from his devotion that morning in Psalm 66. Piper writes, “Oh, how precious is the Bible. It is the very word of God. In it God speaks in the twenty-first century. This is the very voice of God. By this voice, he speaks with absolute truth and personal force. By this voice, he reveals his all-surpassing beauty. By this voice, he reveals the deepest secrets of our hearts. No voice anywhere anytime can reach as deep or lift as high or carry as far as the voice of God that we hear in the Bible.”

Do we read our Bibles this way. I’ll be the first to confess, not always. I am of the generation of young people who reads their bibles on their phone. And the cool yet convicting thing about this is that your phone tracks how much time you spend in each application. And I would be ashamed to show you the comparison between my screen time with my bible app and my screen time with apps like twitter or podcasts, or audiobooks. Who is speaking to you more dear saints? Is it the apps on your phone? Is it talk radio? Is it cable news? Is it your facebook feeds? Ask yourself, as I have all week, why isn’t it God?

It was said of John Bunyan that he was so devoted to his time in God’s Word that if you cut him open he would bleed scripture. Oh God may this not just be an anomaly for the heroes of the faith. May it be true of all your saints here. May we be able to honestly say with David in Psalm 19:10, that God’s Words, “are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb.” I’m paraphrasing C.S. Lewis when I say that the problem is not that our desires for other things are too strong, but our desire to hear from God in His Word is too weak. Remedy this by asking God for help. Come to the Spirit inspired Word asking the Spirit Himself to magnify and glorify Christ as you read so that you will taste and see that He is good. Pray as the psalmist did in Psalm 119:18, “open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your law”. Each morning sing in your heart as we sung earlier this morning, “Lord, I come to hear Your Word. Shine Your light! Unsheathe Your sword! Send Your Spirit forth in power.” May each of us, in our daily lives, abide in God’s Word. May we increase more and more in our high view of Scripture together and individually. Help us Lord.

Psalm 119:18 NASB95

18 Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law.

Conclusion

Yembi Yembi Illustration

I want to close with an illustration of what this looks like for a church. Last January the young adults ministry was able to participate in a live stream conference on missions called the Cross Conference. At the close of the final message there was a clip shown from a missionary documentary called Yembi Yembi: Unto the Nations. I will make sure this gets posted to our facebook page for all to see.

The documentary follows Brooks and Nina Buser who are modern-day missionaries that took the gospel to the unreached Yembi Yembi tribe in Papua New Guinea. They spent 9 years ministering to these unreached peoples, 9 years faithfully preaching the gospel and eventually planting a church in the tribe. In the clip Brooks speaks, “I used to wonder, what am I doing here? Will this matter? Will it even last? Now I just stand and wonder, how did God take us, a few regular people to this remote village in the middle of the jungle to plant the seed of His word and watch it grow, watch it transform, watch the dead come to life, and watch a new people proclaim God’s glory in their own language.”

At the end of 9 long years...9 long years of never setting aside the scriptures, of never failing to lift God’s Word up High, the Busers had one last thing to do before they phased out of the mission field. They returned one final time to the tribe bearing the first translation of God’s Word in the native tongue of the Yembi Yembi. The clip shows the missionaries flying by plane and then sailing by boat to the tribe with Brooks carrying the word of God in his hands.

As Brooks and Nina sail up to the dock they are received by the hundreds of new believers jumping and waiving, smiles on their face revealing the excitement and anticipation in their hearts. The people place feathered head dresses and paint the missionaries faces. And then the entire group carry God’s word behind a banner with an illustration of God’s Word sown into it. The procession is filled with musicians and people singing and dancing for joy as the Word of God is carried through the village to the Yembi Yembi church. Finally as the Bible arrives with the crowd of people singing a hymn together as the bible is finally handed to the pastor who receives it with a beaming smile and then triumphantly lifts God’s word over His head as the church continues to sing.

With Brooks by his side broken down with tears of joy his mission complete, the Pastor prays, “God I want to say thank you. I am so happy and so grateful. It’s been a long time, that we the Yembi Yembi have waited for this translation of Your word.”

Dear church this book is not just the B.I.B.L.E - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth - it’s not basic. This book isn’t boring. It’s not ordinary. This book is Holy. And this book is a holy book because each and every word in this book are very words of the Holy God. There is no other source of truth, no other book like this one and we must treat it as so. We must treasure God’s Word as the Yembi Yembi church treasures it. We must cling to God’s Word and never depart from it. We must Abide in God’s Word and never stray. We must have a high view of Scripture. Dear church, this is our family value.

Let’s Pray

Oh God may you give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand your message to us today. May we not just be hearers of your word but doers. Lord we thank you for the legacy of the preaching of your Word here at Heritage for almost 25 years. May it be your will that this legacy will continue for 25 more, that I and the other elders in this church will never stray from your Word but instead abide in it. And Lord may you work in all of us today so that the eyes of our hearts may be enlightened, so that we will know from your Word what is the hope of your calling, and what are the riches of the glory of your inheritance to us your saints. Amen

Benediction

Before I do the benediction I want to just give you an idea where we are headed in our preaching calendar...

Dear church, since the Holy God breathed this Holy Scripture we must treat it, then, as holy.

We elders would like you to know that we stand ready to pray with you or to talk with any of you who want to know more about being saved.

I will dismiss you with the words of the prophet Isaiah, in Isaiah 40:8 “8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God endures forever.” To which the church said Amen!

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