SEEDED BY THE WORD

Introduction

-Two weeks ago we had revival services here that I believe kind of was like a reset button for the church (or, at least for me personally)—we became renewed and refocused on Jesus Christ, the gospel, and the mission of the church

-But it is so easy for us to take a time like that and enjoy the emotional high, but then from laziness or neglect to let the revival fade far from our memory and get back into the same ole rut.

-So, instead, we need to take this time to capitalize on the spiritual blessings God has given us, and to use this time to grow more spiritually than we ever have so that we as members of the church can go outside the church and do the work of the church.

-But even if you are a visitor today or were not here for the revival services, now is the time to make a commitment to do what you need to do to spiritually grow, allowing that which has eternal value to take precedent over the worldly and the fleshly, so that you are used for God’s Kingdom work.

-Either way, if we who make up the body of Christ are going to grow the kingdom outwardly, we first need to grow up inwardly

-And so, for the next four weeks, I am going to talk about some spiritual disciplines that we can participate in that will mature us in Christ and prepare us for ministry outside the walls of the church

-I call this sermon series: GROW In to GROW Out—we need to spiritually grow and mature on the inside, in the heart, if we are to effectively grow outwardly and make a kingdom impact

-And the first spiritual discipline that I want to touch upon today is that of Bible study—getting into the Word of God

-Although I am not reading Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, the title of today’s sermon was inspired by it:

~In the parable there was a man sowing seed that landed on different types of ground. Jesus explained that in the parable the sower was seeding the ground with the Word of God—and the ground represented the different types of hearts that people have and how receptive they are to the Word that is being seeded.

~So, for some people, the devil stole the Word that was being seeded, so it never grew. For others, once they truly counted the cost of what it means to be a disciple, and the hardships that are entailed, the seed never took root. Still, for others, the cares and worries of the world choked the seed out. But for the few whose hearts were receptive the seed grew into a plant that bore much fruit.

-If we are going to GROW in the inner man and woman and then go out and make an impact for the gospel, we need to get into God’s Word, learn God’s Word, receive God’s Word, and obey God’s Word, and let God’s Word get into us

-And so, in the passage that I am reading today, the psalmist commended God’s revelation of Himself through His Word as the seed of spiritual life and growth for His people.

-My prayer is that this will motivate us to make it a habit to constantly and consistently seed our hearts and spirits with the Word of God as contained in the Bible.

Psalm 19:7–14 ESV

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving 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 rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. 11 Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. 12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. 13 Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. 14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

-Why is Bible study such an important spiritual discipline that all believers should participate in?

I) The Reliability of God’s Word

-So many people go to so many different sources to get guidance for life and clarity in decisions. From the latest self-help book or blog to asking your cousin Carl, we put a lot of trust in others to help us along the way.

-The problem is that books and blogs, and even cousin Carl, are fallible and make mistakes—they are not a rock-solid guide to prepare you or grow you in a way that is pleasing to God.

-God’s Word, on the other hand, is the inerrant, infallible revelation of God that is completely dependable to grow you and point you to focus on the Savior, Jesus Christ.

-The psalmist recognized this and used several descriptive words which indicate why the Bible is a reliable source to grow us inwardly so we can grow outwardly

-First, the psalmist says that the Bible is “perfect”—this means that the Bible is full of integrity, without blemish, and is complete in what God intended for it. {That doesn’t mean that it contains everything that can be known, only that it has everything that we need to know while living on this earth.}

~Theologically is contains everything that we need to know about God and gives us everything that is necessary for salvation.

~Ethically it tells us everything we need to know about God’s standard and what is expected of us and how, in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can live that out.

-The psalmist also notes that the Word of God is sure—this means that it is steadfast and faithful. We can put the full weight of our trust upon it, knowing that it will always tell us the truth and point us in the right direction. It does not change with public opinion or camouflage itself with the latest trends—it remains the same at all times in all generations in all places in all cultures.

-He also says that the Word of God is right—this means that it will steer you in the right direction. It’s like a GPS that actually knows where it is going—it will tell you where to turn, tell you what lane you need to be in, and get you to the destination that God wants you to end up at.

-The Word of God is also pure—it is morally clean and right. It will never mix truth with error, or goodness with wickedness. God has set His holy standard, and the Bible alone tells us what it is that God considers good and evil. We do not rely on our own definitions, society’s definitions, or even government’s definitions. God’s Word alone will shine the light on what is morally upright.

-The Word of God is also clean—it can have a purifying effect on our lives, and it leads us to fear the Lord which is the beginning of all wisdom and knowledge.

-God’s Word is also true and righteous altogether—taken within its context it gives us nothing but truth, although it obviously does not contain all truth that there is. The truth that it does contain can be leaned upon to point us to what God considers to be righteous thoughts, righteous attitudes, and righteous actions.

-There is nothing else on this earth that is as reliable as the Word of God in bringing us close to God and molding us to look like Christ.

~Social media, television, sports, novels, the internet, politicians, psychologists or any other earthly means of obtaining information will not grow you spiritually in a godly fashion like the Bible will—it alone is reliable, and so it ought to be sought after daily.

-But not only do we see the reliability…

II) The Benefits of God’s Word

-The psalmist not only lists some adjectives to describe the Word of God, he then talks about some beneficial results from getting into the Word of God

-One, the Word of God revives the soul and rejoices the heart.

~The world can be a dark place that can weigh heavy on the spirit. Between the moral and natural evils that we are exposed to daily, and the sin and temptation that bombards us constantly, our souls become heavy and burdened and it is easy to give in to some sort of defeatism or fatalism.

~It is easy to allow the troubles of the world to brings us to a point of doubt, desperation, depression, and despair.

-But the Word of God is able to lift us up out of that, so that we are able to live in freedom to fulfill God’s will and plan for us on this earth.

-The Bible is able to reinject some life and vitality into our battle-weary souls so that we live in the hope and joy of the Lord and have the proverbial new spring in our step in our walk with the Lord. Our heart is light and able to concentrate on God because the Bible has led us to place all our cares upon Him.

-Second, the Bible is able to give us knowledge and wisdom—it says that is makes wise the simple and that it enlightens the eyes. We could say that knowledge is knowing what we need to know, and wisdom is knowing how to use what it is we know.

-The Bible really gives us both. We may not like the fact that the Bible says that it gives wisdom to the simple, but in an eternal, divine respect, we are all very simple-minded people.

~Oh sure, we like to think we’re smart and wise—but our smarts and wisdom are of this world, and it doesn’t do us a lot of good when it comes to the things of eternal value.

-We wouldn’t know how to be spiritual or live in God’s light were it not for the Bible telling us who God is, what God has done, and what God expects from His people.

~We would have no spiritual growth relying on our own resources. The Bible needs to give us the knowledge and wisdom that is necessary to walk in the light just as Christ Himself is in the light.

-Third, I would say that the psalmist indicates that the Bible is more valuable than anything else on this earth. When you have a grasp of God’s Word, it doesn’t matter what kind of house you live in, what kind of car you drive, or what kind of TV you own—when you have the Bible you are very rich indeed.

-That is why he says to desire it above anything else—the Bible is sweeter than honey and more precious than the finest gold that there is. To be rich in the world and to be poor in the Bible is to be more poor than the poorest person on earth; but to be poor in the world and to be rich in the Bible is to be richer than all the millionaires and billionaires in the world combined.

-The Bible will give you more benefit than every single dollar that there is in the world. They say money can’t buy you happiness, but not just that: money can’t buy you hope…peace…love…joy …spiritual growth and maturity…heaven—money can’t, but the Bible will…

III) The Application of God’s Word

-The psalmist discusses that not only are there theological and ethical benefits to the Word of God, but the Word of God is practical in that what it teaches can be applied, and through that application one grows closer to God and closer to the likeness of Christ.

-Specifically, he talks about the fact that the Bible is able to point out to us what our sin is, how to correct our sin, and then how to keep ourselves from falling into sin again.

-This reminds me of what the apostle Paul says about Scripture:

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

17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Tim. 3:16-17 ESV)

-God’s Word places us on the path of living a righteous life so that we can do the work of ministry that He calls us to do. It teaches, it admonishes, it corrects, it trains, and it equips

-Or, to put it another way, the Bible points out to us exactly how far from God’s standard that we really come; that God in His righteous justice has to punish our sin

~But then the Bible points us to the Savior, Jesus Christ, who left heaven to become a man, reveal God in the flesh to mankind, die on the cross for our sin, and then be raised again to rule and reign over all of creation.

~And then the Bible points us to the strength of the Holy Spirit inside of us who empowers us to walk with Him, grow in Him, and live for Him

-The Bible doesn’t just give us theory, it gives us fact and evidence and practical application so that we spiritually grow into the men and women of God who will be world changers

-But what can we do to take in Scripture and let it have its way in our lives—I want to conclude:

IV) The Cultivation of God’s Word

-In v. 14 the psalmist says:

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. (Ps. 19:14 ESV)

-This verse is the cry of a person who desires the Word of God to grow him or her into a mature follower of God—but that means that this person allowed the seed of the Word of God to be implanted in his or her heart and let it grow into fruitfulness

-And there are ways for us to allow the Word of God to come into our hearts and we can cultivate the Word to be fruitful in our own lives. What are some ways in which we can do this?

1) Listen to the Word of God taught or preached

~That’s what you are doing here and in Life Groups and if you listen to radio or TV preachers. They expound the Word for you. While that is helpful, this is not enough because it is like waiting on someone else to chew and swallow the food for you. You need to spiritually nourish yourself.

2) Read the Word of God

—go through a reading plan maybe or do a devotion. While it is good to be exposed to the Word of God in this way, this too is not enough, because mere reading only scratches the surface of what is there.

3) Study the Word of God

—take a passage of the Bible and study it in its context, taking into consideration the cultural and historical and literary nuances that give the passage its meaning. But we don’t stop there.

4) Meditate on the Word of God

—to meditate means to chew over and over, like a cow chewing the cud, you think and ponder and pray over a passage of Scripture so that it settles itself in your mind and heart. But don’t stop there.

5) Memorize the Word of God

—Ideally you would memorize passages or chapters or books to memory, because there would be a tendency to take a singular verse out of context. But either way, hide God’s word in your heart so that you will not sin against Him. But, finally…

6) Apply and obey the Word of God

—you can do as much scholarly learning of the Word of God that you want, but it isn’t until you put it into practice that it does anything for you. You will not grow and mature spiritually without doing it after you have done everything else we just mentioned to cultivate it in your life.

Conclusion

-I would hope that we would all want to be world changers—and what I mean by that is we want to be used by God to make a difference in the world. It might not be on a worldwide scale, but at least have some sway over our own sphere of influence. But that’s not going to happen until we ourselves grow into maturity. So, we’ve got to grow in before we can grow out.

-And that takes constant and consistent exposure to the Word of God—allowing that seed to come in and take root and grow and bear fruit.

-But before the Word of God will do that, you have to believe in Jesus Christ, that He died for you and rose for you…

-Christian, I am calling you to come to the altar today and commit yourself to allowing God’s Word to be seeded in your heart—maybe it just needs to start with daily reading, but then it grows from there…

-Maybe there are some here looking for a church home committed to the Word of God—you found it, and maybe you want to come forward and join today…