Say God’s Words

Introduction

Jesse might just have a future as a song leader, I don’t know. I appreciate him singing that last song in particular, as it relates to the introduction at least of my lesson. It’s good to see all of you today. We have a large crowd despite the Olinic absence. And for those of you who don’t know them, that’s ten people. So it’s good to see all of you today using our new seats in the back, even. Good to have some of the Parker clan here with us that we don’t normally see.

I want to mention briefly, by way of introduction, what we talked about last Sunday morning. Little did you know this was actually a series, as I talked about the Lord’s Prayer, better term the disciples’ prayer, and a phrase in particular that pops out at us thy kingdom comes, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven, and how significant that phrase is to us who are citizens of that kingdom, that Jesus embodied this, as he says, I have come to do thy will, O God, on earth as it is in heaven. And if we are going to be citizens of that kingdom, then that kingdom needs to be our priority. No wonder Jesus would say in the Sermon on the Mount in verse 33 seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.

And that’s what led me to the Psalm selection of none of self and all of thee. And if we are indeed citizens of that kingdom, at the very least, we need to be saying less of self and more of thee. Until at last his love conquers. Well, that’s all I’m going to say about that for now. If you want to listen, that song is already, that sermon is already on the website. And so you can listen to that at Decker Prairiechurch.org if you missed that last Lord’s day. But I mentioned Jesus being the embodiment of this. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And Jesus’ example to us is important in many respects. The New Testament continually talks about the importance of Jesus’ example that we should follow in his steps.

1. Jesus Quoted Scripture in Each Temptation

1 Peter 2 and verse 21. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Jesus. If we would be citizens of this kingdom, we have to embody those same principles. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And one of the areas where Jesus’ example is very powerful that I want to look at with you this morning, has to do with the series of temptations that began Jesus’ public ministry. When he was led out by the Spirit into the wilderness, and he fasted for 40 days, and there he was tempted by the devil at the end of that 40 days. Bruce Reeves preached on this when he was here a month ago, and so I’m not going to go into that, the explanation of Matthew chapter 4, but you’ll remember how that with each temptation in Matthew 4, the lust of the flesh, then the lust of the eyes, then the pride of life.

As those temptations unfold, how did Jesus respond to each temptation? And we’ve talked about this a number of times. Many of you in this audience know this. On each occasion when the devil made his appeal, what did Jesus do? He quoted Scripture. He said, Man shall not live by bread alone. As the devil said, command these stones to be made bread to deal with your problem of hunger. He said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. That initial quotation and statement is the key to what follows. The second temptation, he responds with the words of Scripture. On the other hand, it is written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

And then in the final temptation recorded in Matthew, when the devil invites him to fall down and worship him, and he’ll give him all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus says, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve him only. In his personal fight with Satan, the key to his success was the quotation of Scripture. All three times, as Bruce pointed out, he quoted from the book of Deuteronomy. No doubt Jesus is familiar with the scripture, or he would not have been able to access these statements. And so in defeat of the adversary, and if we would walk in his footsteps, it becomes critical that we say God’s words. And I know that’s a very simple point that I’m making.

2. We Must Know and Meditate on God's Words

But allow me to speak further about that this morning. A key to our victory, our spiritual success. We must say God’s words. As Jesus did in Matthew chapter 4. Now, if we’re going to do that, we must first possess knowledge, as I suggested Jesus had, of those words. And that’s what the psalmist reflects for us in Psalm 119, when he says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light to my path. We need to be familiar with God’s word for that to be so. Biblical ignorance is killing people by the millions in our world. The word cannot be a lamp unto our feet or a light unto our path unless we know it. He says, I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep your righteous ordinances.

I am exceedingly afflicted. You ever find yourself there? Revive me, O Lord, according to your word. Oh, accept the free will offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me your ordinances. My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not gone astray from your precepts. I have inherited your testimonies forever, and they are the joy of my heart. Is that true of us? I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes forever, even to the end. And then there must be frequent daily meditation upon those words that will assist us in the defeat of Satan. It’s more than just gaining facts and information. We must think about the relevance of this information to our lives and what it means as we live.

Jesus saw the relevance in Matthew chapter 4 of those statements in the book of Deuteronomy to his present conflict with the devil. It was the key to his victory. Do we see the relevance of the word of God to our living? We must meditate upon it, think about it, ponder it. How does this pertain to my everyday circumstances? Be diligent about it. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 15, that I might be a workman, handling accurately the word of truth. And as Paul would say in Colossians 3 and verse 16. Let the word of Christ what? Richly dwell within you. That’s more than just taking the facts, reading the statements verse by verse, remembering or memorizing some of them. It’s the ability to meditate upon them, think about them, see their relevance.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It’s letting the word richly dwell in your heart. That’s why we have all these Bible studies. That’s why we have preaching. That’s why we’re commissioned to do those things in the New Testament. Because we need familiarity with the word that we may live not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Interesting, earlier in Psalm 119. How shall a young man cleanse his way? By keeping it according to thy word. With all my heart I have sought thee. Do not let me, what a prayer we should be praying. Do not let me wander from your commandments. Thy word I have treasured in my heart. That I might not sin against you.

3. Caleb and Joshua Said God's Words

And it’s an interesting one to me. It’s the example of Caleb and Joshua. Some of you know this story that’s recorded in the book of Numbers, chapter 13 and 14. I want you to begin turning over there, but we’re not going to start there. Numbers 13 and 14. Begin looking at that in your Bible. This is the account of the spies being sent out into the land of Canaan. Now remember what’s happened. The ten plagues have been brought upon Egypt, concluding in the Red Sea deliverance. The law being given at Mount Sinai. And now they’ve come to the edge of the promised land. And they send out spies, twelve spies, one from each of the twelve tribes. Two of those spies you are familiar with. The others you have no idea who they are.

And the reason why is because they gave the faithless report. But before we look at that incident, I want you to go to Deuteronomy chapter 1, because what we have later in Israel’s history, as they’re about now to enter into the promised land, after the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness that episode caused, there is a rehearsal of the problems that we read about in Numbers. This is fascinating to me. Look at Deuteronomy 1 and verse 21. See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you. Now this is what they were told back then. See, the Lord your God has placed the land before you.

Take possession. As the Lord, the God of your fathers has spoken to you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Now, circle that verse. I have a circle around that, my Bible. Do not fear or be dismayed.

Come down to verse 25. So the spies go in, they come back, they took some of the fruit of the land, and they say, It is a good land which the Lord our God is about to give us. Okay. It is a good land that the Lord our God is about to give us. Yet you were not willing to go up. But you rebelled against the command of the Lord. You grumbled in your tents, and you said, The Lord hates us, and more on this tonight. The Lord hates us. Sure. Are you kidding me? The Lord hates us. He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us. Where can we go up? Our brethren have made our hearts melt.

The people are bigger and taller than we are. The cities are large and fortified to heaven. And besides, we saw the Anakim there, the giants. Then I said to you, do not be shocked, nor fear them. The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight on your behalf, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and in the wilderness. Where you saw how the Lord your God had carried you. Just as a man carries his son in all the way which you have walked until you have come to this place. I’ll fight for you.

They did not trust the Lord. Who goes before you on your way to seek out a place for you to encamp in fire by night and cloud by day to show you the way in which you should go?

None of this evil generation shall see the good land. He says in verse 35, except Caleb. He shall see it. And to him and to his sons, I will give the land. Because he has followed the Lord fully. The Lord was even angry with me, Moses says. On your account. Not even you shall enter there. And then the mention of Joshua in verse 38. Here’s what’s interesting. You go back to the story of Numbers 13. And God says in verse 2, send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I’m going to give to the sons of Israel. You shall send a man from each of their father’s tribes, every one a leader among them. Now notice what he said.

They come back. At the end of chapter 13, oh, we can’t do it. The giants in the land, all the people are upset. Verse 30, Caleb quiets the people and says, We should by all means. Go up and take possession of it. We shall surely overcome it. Oh, no, we can’t do it. All the way down into chapter 14. Moses and Aaron fall on their faces before the assembly. Joshua and Caleb tear their clothes. And they speak to all the congregation, saying, It’s a good land. God is, if he’s pleased with us, he’s going to bring us into it a land that flows with milk and honey. Then verse 9. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land.

They shall be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them. And the Lord is with us. Do not fear them. And so what do the people do? They pick up stones. They’re going to kill them. Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and Caleb, they’re a killer. But here’s what’s interesting. Why was Caleb so confident when all the others were not? He said God’s words. Isn’t that interesting? Just like Jesus does in his example in Matthew 4. Do not fear them. The Lord is put, he’s going to fight for us. He’ll be there. Say God’s words. Simple. But profound. And often neglected. Now I want to say a word to you about how we read Scripture. Let’s make application of the principle. I want to challenge you to something.

4. Let Him Speak as the Oracles of God

And I want to take you to an important verse in 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 11. And you may be familiar with this. Many in the audience are. What does it say? If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God or the utterances of God. There it is. That’s the principle. If you serve, do so by the strength that God supplies. If any man speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God. My question is, how are we reading the scripture? Isn’t it true that sometimes when we read the scripture, we start fighting a secondary battle. Not an unimportant one, but a secondary battle. Let me show you what we do. Romans 6, great passage about our new life in Christ.

The whole chapter talking about what it means to be in Christ. And we come to Romans chapter 6, and there is a point to be made, obviously, and we’re good at making it, about what grace doesn’t mean. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound, may it never be all kinds of misconceptions about grace? And we’ll spend a lot of our time talking about a misuse of the concept of grace. And that’s certainly there in Romans chapter 6, and it’s an important battle. And then we’ll talk about our baptisms as he talks about what it means, burial with Christ, rise to walk in newness of life. And we’ll talk about this passage is teaching that baptism isn’t an afterthought in God’s plan of salvation. It is essential to the process of being saved by grace.

That’s correct. Romans 6 teaches that teaches it clearly. How can you rise to walk in newness of life as Jesus was raised from the dead without being baptized? We also talk about the way one is to be baptized, not sprinkling or pouring, but it’s an immersion, it’s a burial as Jesus was buried. It’s a submerging in water, it’s a plunging into the water and rising up. So we talk about the mode of baptism. And that’s all absolutely correct. You know, a lot of times when we talk about those things, we’re preaching to the choir. This audience knows that. If you’re in this audience and you don’t know that, those are some important points of Romans 6. I ask you to go home and read it. Or we’ll study it with you further.

But I would suggest to you, those are secondary battles. That’s not the main issue of Romans 6 to the audience that first received it. Can you tell me what really the point is of Romans 6? This business about shall we continue in sin that grace may abound, rising to walk in newness of life? Let me tell you what Romans 6 is about first and foremost. It’s about our victory over sin. That’s what it’s about. He’s saying, don’t you know what your baptism meant? You’re rising to walk in newness of life. You’re dead to sin. The rest of the chapter said, don’t go on presenting the members of your body to unrighteousness. He’s saying your baptism meant that you were dying to self and living to God.

Don’t go back to sin. Romans 6 is about victory over sin. These other points are important. They’re made by the context of Romans chapter 6. But that is a very practical point. That Romans 6 speaks to us. And I make this point because I think so often in our study of the scripture we do this. We’ll go to the Lord’s Prayer, the disciples’ prayer that we looked at last week, and we’ll talk about the misconceptions people have about the kingdom. And we did that briefly, talked about that. It’s good to talk about that. But how many times have we talked about what the kingdom is, what it doesn’t mean, the misconceptions people have, and not really stop to look at what it does mean on earth as it is in heaven.

I’ve got to tell you, I’m guilty. I admiss that praise and the significance of it. And so, what do we see when we read the scripture? Receive the word implanted, which is able to save our souls, remove all that remains of filthiness and wickedness. How many times has that passage been referenced to say, you know, we’re born of the word, that’s how we come into Christ, and all of that’s true. 1 Peter 1 teaches that. Well, see, what James 1 is saying first and foremost is I’m still fighting the battle against sin. Remove all that remains of wickedness. Let’s talk about somebody who’s already in Christ, who’s fighting a battle against sinfulness, and he says, the way to win is to receive the word implanted. Say God’s words.

5. Abraham Did Not Stagger at God's Promises

Receive the word implanted, and it will save your soul. Let us not read the scripture through the lens of the errors of others. Let us read the scriptures to its practical relevance in our victory over sin. Now, we want to be prepared for battle against the evil one as Jesus was. What about the example of Abraham? This is awesome. I love Romans 4. Not going to read that text, but I wanted you to have it down in your notes where in hope against hope, Abraham believed. And it says, he did not stagger in relation to the promises of God. If we went through this morning and talked about the whole story of Abraham to where he was promised the seed through whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and the 25-year process that unfolded before Isaac was born.

And then he’s told to go sacrifice him on Mount Moriah in Genesis 22. Let me tell you about the example of Abraham, what he teaches us. He just kept clinging to the word of God over and over and over again. When it seemed impossible, when it wasn’t coming about like he imagined, twenty-five years he waited, and then when the son got here, God said, go sacrifice him on Mount Moriah. But he just kept hanging on. And the text says he did not stagger. Bruce referenced that when he was here. He did not stagger. What does that mean? He didn’t labor. We’re not to waver in unbelief in James chapter 1 and verse 6. Confidence in God’s word. The text says that Abraham was fully assured. God would provide as promised.

He believed God’s word was real, it was alive, it was trustworthy, even if he couldn’t see it.

6. We Must Accept God's Reality, Always

Even if he didn’t see how it was all going to happen, he said, if I have to kill my son, God’s going to raise him from the dead. I love that because, you know, we’re familiar with the concept of resurrection. Abraham was not. He had never seen anyone or heard of anyone being raised from the dead. And yet he believed if he had to kill his own son. I can’t imagine having to do that, but if he had killed his own son, he believed God could raise him from the dead. That’s not staggering. That’s fully assured that God would provide his promise. So here’s the practical point in all of this morning. We must accept God’s reality. Always. This is God’s reality. Whatever this book is telling us, we accept God’s reality.

Always. Perhaps it’s a troubled marriage. Well, I just don’t see a solution to this. You know I can’t focus on what I cannot fix or I cannot change. I’ll tell you what I can do. I can focus on God’s word and what he calls me to be. And what he calls me to do. In that relationship and in every relationship. That’s what I need to focus on. I need to just say God’s words. I mean, I see this situation. I see it. But I’m going to say God’s word. Isn’t that what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7? For we walk by faith, not by sight. So we have this circumstance that unfolds. Some troubling situation where I have some anxiety or concern.

What are you going to do about that?

Perhaps by now you’ve heard the story of the Straysener family from Searcy, Arkansas. David and Carla Strasener were in their home. When it was hit by a tornado on April 27th. Another couple from the congregation was with them in the home. Paul and Matilda Dunham.

There’s the house.

Is a man by the name of Tim Norman. He’s a good friend of mine. He wrote this about the tragedy of April 27th. He said, By the time the family left last night, the entire house had been searched. This was the next day. The entire house had been searched for what was salvageable, and the entire house had been cleared down to the slab. He took that in the early morning when they were doing that. Apparently, a utility worker told someone that Christians must have lived in that house.

He says, I’m thankful life is uncertain. We already take too much for granted. So let’s all go out and make the best of this day that God has given us.

That’s not the worst part of this story. Eight days ago. Their son, Ben, and his fiancee, Samantha Fowler, also members of that church, visited with Tim, the preacher about their impending marriage. Had a two hour meeting. Within an hour, they were killed on their motorcycle. This. And then you lose your only son and future daughter-in-law. That’s the closest thing to the story of Job I’ve ever heard. What do you do? I’ll tell you what you do. You see that. But you say God’s words.

For we walked by faith, not by sight. Perhaps it’s my disillusionment with my life, my desire for something more fulfilling, that I am presently experiencing something more fun and exciting, perhaps even something illicit that appeals to me. Or we say to ourselves, you know, that religion bit, well, that’s a lot of hard work. It’s time consuming. I’m not into it sometimes. I see that.

But I say God’s words.

We walk by faith and not by sight. The things that are alluring me away from the Lord and his word are empty wells. Whatever they are. As God would say to his people in a time when judgment was coming in Jeremiah 2 and verse 13, my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. What an unimaginable absurdity. But they have done it. And people still do it. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters. And I’ll tell you the other evil. They have hewn themselves out cisterns. They’ve made their own water source, their own wells, and he says, they can hold no water. Now, whatever it is you leave the Lord for, it’s a broken cistern. It’s an empty well.

Conclusion

It can hold no water. So whatever your circumstances are, I know there’s problem and there’s pain and there’s hurt. I see that. But be anxious for nothing. In everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, more on that tonight. With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. I see that. We walk by faith, not by sight. Say God’s word. Complying with God’s word is salvation. It’s smart. It’s wisdom. Living by God’s word is purpose and blessing unimaginable. And persevering in God’s word is hope and immortality.

The power of the living word, spoken by the breath of God, revealed through the Holy Spirit, enlivened by the sacrifice of Christ, can bring you to life again. That’s the message of the gospel. Souls purified in obedience to the truth, born of incorruptible seed, that is the living and abiding word of God. And once we’ve been born again, we live our lives doing what Jesus did. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We say God’s word.