Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/86816/famine-warning/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Amos chapter 8. Just to lead in a famine of hearing the word. A famine. Now there's a famine warning for Australia.! There's a famine warning for our world. I know some of our number have lived in refugee camps where they've lived under a plastic sheet for years and having the same food day by day.

[0:25] The same bowl of rice and minor things. And they know what it's like to go hungry. They know what it's like to have minimal food. To have minimal supply.

[0:36] And we're in a world such as that aren't we? Where there's a famine today. A famine of hearing the word. A famine of hearing the word. Amos 8 verse 11 through 12. The prophet says, Behold the days come. Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land.

[0:57] Amos 8 verse 11. Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

[1:12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. And they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.

[1:25] Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for your word. We can open it freely in this nation, in this time. Expound it, and receive it, and act upon it. Lord, for your glory and honour we pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.

[1:40] Where is the word of God? It's gone missing. Where is it? It's conspicuously absent. And who cares? Who cares? We should care, shouldn't we? We should care about the word of God. Why? It's important. It's important.

[1:57] The creator of life of the universe has given us a book. We should care about the book of God. It's important. It says, Romans 10, 17, Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

[2:15] God's word is extremely important for us. We must have it. It's vital. It's essential. It's a matter of spiritual life and death.

[2:26] And the real Bible and real Bible preaching is becoming as scarce as bread in a time of famine. People are hungry for it, yet they haven't got it. It's missing. It's lost.

[2:39] The real word of God. It's that for which many thousands of men and women have shed their own blood in church history. Multitudes have perished by the sword or the flame, by persecution, by burning, by torture.

[2:56] Many were slain, some with Bibles tied around their necks. They tied the Bible that they had in their own language, they tied it around their neck, as they were burnt at the stake for their faith.

[3:08] And we're living in a post-modern world. I've heard it even, you hear it, secular commentators, I think, I actually heard the Prime Minister, I think, for, there was some politician that used the word, we're living in a post-truth world.

[3:24] He couldn't have said it more truly, could he? A post-truth world. A culture that's saturated with godless philosophies, where folk are used to being amused and entertained, and just give people what they, scratch them where they itch, just give them what pleases the popular crowd.

[3:46] And these are truly perilous times. Perilous. There's peril. There's danger. And times that call for straightforward preaching, we see in 2 Timothy 4, Paul tells Timothy, he says, I charge thee, get a hold of this, this is important.

[4:01] He says, I charge thee, hear this. Therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing, and his kingdom, preach the word.

[4:12] Preach the word. Be instant. In season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine. Paul says, Timothy, preach it.

[4:25] Preach the word. Now I know someone who's about to turn 80 years old. He happens to be very close to me. I've known him all my life. 80 years old.

[4:36] And when he goes somewhere, and his dear wife, my lovely mum, they just can't keep quiet. They just can't keep quiet. It's like when someone goes round to their house to do a repair job, they've got to hear the gospel.

[4:51] They've got to hear it. It's like they can't get out of the door after they fix something to hear the gospel and hear the word of God. And when they go on a cruise, when they're meant to be having their feet up and enjoying basking in the sun, they've still got to go and tell somebody.

[5:07] Tell somebody. That's what we have to do, isn't it? Tell somebody. Yeah, my dad and mum met someone on a cruise they were on the last few days and they invited this woman to watch our broadcast.

[5:23] So she might be even watching now. But my mum and dad, they just can't keep quiet about the word of God, about the gospel. And Paul tells Timothy, preach it. Preach the word. Tell the people.

[5:35] Share the message. Give the gospel. Why? Because before the time will come, it says, when they shall not endure sound doctrine. And yet after their own lust, they'll heap to themselves teachers having itching ears.

[5:49] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth. And shall turn unto fables. Post-modern, post-truth. That's the world, isn't it?

[6:00] That's what it is. It's like, as it says in Judges 17, verse 6, where every man was doing what is right in his own eyes.

[6:12] Doing what is right? It's right for me. It must be right. If it feels good, do it. If it feels right, is it right or wrong? Well, this tells us what is right and wrong.

[6:24] This is the record. This is the rule book. This is the standard. This is the plumb line. Not what's right in our own eyes, because we're fickle.

[6:35] And we're changeable. And we are led by our emotions and feelings, not always by truth. And we're living in such a world, a post-modern society, that's such to the point that they're rejecting all truth, especially foundational truth, which is found in the Holy Scriptures.

[6:55] The people, by and large, the popular crowd, reject this book. They want it to be It's too hot to handle. Woo! I might get burnt. Now, that's what happens with the Word of God. This is too hot to handle.

[7:07] And so they reject it, because it's too uncomfortable. And so there's this sustained, an unrelenting attack in the media against the Word of God. And in the education institutions, sadly, where you're supposed to be learning, they're not learning the truth.

[7:24] And men of faith are crying out in these days, If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do? What can the righteous do? Psalm 11, verse 3.

[7:35] The foundations. It's like someone's got a jackhammer. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Bashing up the foundation. And then they wonder why. Everything's wobbly. Because the foundation has been destroyed.

[7:47] People are attacking the truth, the foundation, to try to destroy it, to take it away. And the postmodernist believes there is no truth. No absolute written truth.

[7:59] Nothing that we can know with certainty. That's the mantra today. And as we see the famine of God's Word, it's widespread. It's throughout this planet. As we see the society that's obsessed with pleasure-seeking and descending into lawlessness.

[8:15] As we see, and the record of Scripture tells us of just this. Because it's plain to see in black and white and red, in your Word, in your hands.

[8:26] We see the record. It's down through history. Man's history. Man's record through history. It's recorded through the pages of Scripture. We see the great tragedies. We see the great faults and failings of man.

[8:37] It tells us even the men and women of God. We see them warts and all. They were just human. They were just flesh, just like you and me. Subject to all the risks and faults of the flesh.

[8:55] Thank God they were human, just like you and me. We can learn from that, can't we? We can learn from their mistakes and not make them. But people today ignore. They refuse it.

[9:06] They do not heed it. And so society is impacted. There's a famine in the land, as Amos said there would be. We see this undermining, this watering down of Bible truth, of Bible doctrine.

[9:18] And people today, they're denying the sufficiency of Scripture. The sufficiency of Scripture. This is another important Bible doctrine. The sufficiency of Scripture. In other words, it's sufficient.

[9:30] It's sufficient. It's enough. There's everything. There's enough in here. There's a library in here, of 66 books. There's enough in this, in between this cover, to show us the truth.

[9:44] To guide us the way, to give us life, the message we need. It's in this book, wrapped in those covers. And so there's a sufficiency of Scripture. Yet in some quarters, we're seeing some turning away from the sufficiency of Scripture.

[9:58] They don't say this is enough. They say, I want more. I want more. I want to hear what, what's God telling me. I'm going to hear this prophet over here. Supposed prophet. I'm going to go and hear, this preacher over here, who's got a new revelation.

[10:12] They've been to heaven. Jesus talked to them, and told them some extra things, that aren't in here. So they're getting away, from the sufficiency of Scripture. And so there's new prophecies, supposed. New revelations, supposed.

[10:23] And so then people get all blown around, like a ship in a windy storm, as the Bible says, blown around, with lots of winds of doctrine. They don't know what the teaching is anymore, because it's all been added to and changed.

[10:37] But where is the faithful preaching, faithful Bible preaching? Where are the watchmen? Where are those who will plea, issue the plea to repent, who will declare the Gospel?

[10:49] People are denying the sufficiency of Scripture. Why so? How so? The reason is, the church has become, a place, a gathering, where the Bible is missing.

[11:01] It's missing. In some quarters, you scarcely get 10 minutes of it. And it's all about revelations, and conjecture, and interpretation, and fanciful stories.

[11:14] And there's not a lot of Bible content. It's leading to a church, that's spiritually bankrupt. There's no money in the bank, as it were, in terms of the spiritual treasures.

[11:27] It's locked up, and hidden away from the people. And so, we see, as prophesied would be, of the latter days, of a church that's spiritually bankrupt.

[11:40] You know, the pockets just pulling out the pants, you know, just nothing, just nothing, just empty. Like the church of Laodicea, Revelation 3.17.

[11:50] And God says to this church of Laodicea, He says, You're wretched, poor, blind, miserable, naked. In contrast, we see, the church of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Phila, love, Delphia, brothers, brotherly love, the church of brotherly love, the church of Philadelphia, was commended.

[12:13] Because, why? Revelation 3.8, in part it says, They have kept my word. That is the church of Philadelphia.

[12:24] The church that keeps the word. They keep the word of God. They treasure it. They love it. They hold it fast. They desire it, and long, and want to hear it.

[12:36] And so we see, we need to be such a church. In the church of Laodicea, or the church of Philadelphia. Which one will you be in? And we see, in this post-truth, post-modern world, there's actually, a lot of spirituality.

[12:52] Spirituality. It's popular, to, the certain talk show hosts, that like to talk about spirituality. And that can be, a whole plethora, of crazy stuff.

[13:09] Philosophies, Mother Earth, relativism. It's all, like some, there's some fuzzy God. It's a fuzzy kind of God. It's just a kind of, you can't really know Him.

[13:21] You can't know what's right and wrong. It's all a bit foggy, and fuzzy, and airy-fairy. And there's a lot of talk about spirituality. And you can go and join various mysticism, and Eastern, transcendental meditation.

[13:38] All kinds of, there's all kinds of, offerings on the smorgasbord, if you like. Take your pick, whatever you feel like, as you feel like. That's what people are, going for now, isn't it?

[13:51] And, this, great talk about spirituality. Now, in fact, there's someone who is, very spiritual. Very spiritual. In fact, he's called an, angel, of light.

[14:08] The devil himself, is very spiritual. So, beware of spirituality, if it's not founded, on the truth. Because there's a spiritual famine. A spiritual famine is coming.

[14:20] So, where are the spiritually, hungry ones? We need to get hungry for it, don't we? So, hunger and thirst, after righteousness, our Lord says, blessed are they. There's a blessing. There's a, there's a fulfillment.

[14:32] There's a, a satisfaction. There's a joy that comes, for those who hunger, and thirst, after righteousness. Why? For they shall be filled. Matthew 5, verse 6. So, those who want to feed their soul, where are they?

[14:46] Amos tells of a time, where there'll be a lack of understanding, of God's word. In Isaiah 40, verse 8, I'm sorry, I'm flicking around, lots of scriptures here, it might be hard to keep up.

[14:57] But, in Isaiah 40, verse 8, it says, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but, the word of our Lord shall, stand, forever. Forever. There's a purity, there's a permanence, to the truth.

[15:10] You know, the truth isn't something you revise, is it? The truth is the truth. That's it. You don't revise the truth, or change it, or adapt it.

[15:22] It doesn't change with fashion, or fad, or time. It's permanent, and it's pure. So, truth. Think of truth for a time. The Lord Jesus says, John 17, 17, he says, that the word of God, his word, is the truth.

[15:40] Thy word, is the truth. But we're seeing a disdain, a disregard for it. I like to what Isaiah said, in Isaiah 59, 14, truth is fallen, in the stream.

[15:54] It's like, they've just, torn it up, and thrown it on the ground, and kick it along like a can, like rubbish down the street. Truth is fallen in the street.

[16:05] The word of God is treated like, rubbish, that they just tear out, and throw away, and scorn. Truth is fallen in the street. People throw something onto the street, because they don't value it.

[16:17] It's just rubbish. And careless people see no value, in the word of God. Friends, this is truly, vital, vital for your soul. There was a, a bohemian martyr, who said this, seek the truth, listen to the truth, teach the truth, love the truth, abide by the truth, and defend the truth, unto death.

[16:45] And that's what he did. He was burnt at the stake. Burnt at the stake, because he never recanted. I'll be stand for the truth. Seek it, listen to it, teach it, love it, abide by it, defend it, unto death.

[17:01] Burnt at the stake, because he loved the word of God. He stood for it. The word of God, it matters, it has authority. Now sometimes, the sometimes flawed interpretations of men, are peddled as God's word.

[17:14] And so you've got to care, take care, what you're tuned into. Now there's good radio preachers, and bad, there's good TV preachers, and bad, but there's a wide variation, and this can cause confusion, and doubt.

[17:26] So make sure they line up, line it up, even as Paul said, they search the scriptures, to see whether it was so. Don't take what I say for granted, without testing it, checking it, making sure it lines up.

[17:40] Because people and preachers, sometimes are fallible, and some concern, to their own inner thoughts, or their imaginations, imaginations, or dreams, as truth, for the conduct of their lives, that can get shaky ground.

[17:55] They got on that wobbly foundation again. If only people would heed the authority, of the word of God. And we can't have confidence, in the book of God. Confidence, in this book.

[18:06] There's a story told, about the soul saving power, of the word of God. Even to mockers, even to mockers, and scorners, to the skeptics, the word of God still speaks, to stony hearts, to hardened, rock hard hearts.

[18:22] There's a story told, about a Moscow theatre, where there was some, famous man, who got up there, in some, sacrilegious play. It was a play, it was a performance, designed to, attack the Bible, and to mock Christianity, and laugh at Christians, and the Bible.

[18:41] And this man, was, scheduled to, play the role of Jesus. So he dressed the part, in his clothes, as the Lord Jesus, could be pictured.

[18:53] And he was, then supposed to read, two verses, of the Sermon on the Mount. Then he was supposed, to remove his gown, and cry out, give me my tuxedo, and top hat.

[19:05] It was, the sacrilegious play, was called, Christ in a Tuxedo. It was kind of a mockery, to scorn Christ, and the Bible. And so this, actor, read the words, blessed are the poor, in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom, of heaven.

[19:20] Blessed are, they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. And that was his cue, because then, he began to tremble. He was only supposed, to read those two verses. But he began to tremble, to tremble, and he, and quake in his boots, and he, he was reading the word of God, and he started to tremble, at what these words, were telling him.

[19:40] And then, instead of following the script, he continued, to read the word of God. He continued, to read the gospel of Matthew, chapter 5. And there was coughs, and calls, and there was foot stamping, in the audience, because, some of his fellow actors, realized, he's getting off track here, he was just reading the Bible.

[19:57] He was supposed, to step back on the, mocking, and scorning, of the Bible. And so, then finally, as this actor was here, he began recalling, a verse that he'd learned, in his childhood.

[20:08] And it was Luke 23, 42. Lord, remember me, when thou comest, into thy kingdom. It was the very words, of the thief on the cross. He knew those words, he'd learned them, as a child, and they came back, to his remembrance.

[20:24] And before the curtain, could be lowered, before the curtain, could come down, this man, had trusted, the Lord Jesus, as his personal saviour. The word of God, this has soul saving power.

[20:36] We cannot read this, with an open heart, without it touching us, deep, deep within, soul saving power. The word of God, is life.

[20:48] It is life. Luke 4, verse 4 we read, and Jesus answered him, saying, it is written, that man shall not live, by bread alone, but by every, word, of God.

[21:03] Luke 4, verse 4. Friends, there's a famine, in the land. Not a famine, of bread, or water, but of hearing, the words of God.

[21:16] And Luke 4, verse 4, really is, a standout, verse. Because it's interesting, that in many, so called, Bibles today, Luke 4, verse 4, six words, are left out.

[21:30] Some Bibles, it goes like this, it is written, that man shall not live, by bread alone. Full stop.

[21:42] Wow. That is pretty bad, isn't it? Isn't that bad? That they would miss out, but, by, every, word, of, God, missing from the Bible.

[21:53] God help us, when we've got Bibles, with holes in them. This is a big problem. And friends, we need to make sure, we've got a hold, of the Bible. That is truly, every, word, of God.

[22:06] That's what we need, we need the word. In a famine, situation, we need that bread, that is the word of God. And friends, this book is power, to change lives, to transform people.

[22:18] There was a well-known, evangelist, in old time England, who was returning home, from a service one night, and he was robbed. He didn't have a lot on him. But the thief, found this victim, to have only a little money, and some Christian literature.

[22:35] And as the bandit was leaving, the preacher called out, Stop! I have something more to give you. And the surprised robber, paused, my friend. And he said, You may live to regret, this sort of life.

[22:46] If ever you do, here's something, to remember. The blood, of Jesus Christ, cleanseth us, from all sin. The blood, of Jesus Christ, cleanseth us, from all sin.

[22:58] He simply gave him, that Bible verse. And the thief hurried away. And the preacher prayed, that his words, might bear fruit. And years later, this preacher, was greeting people, after a Sunday service, and he was approached, by a stranger.

[23:14] And what a surprise, it was for the preacher, to learn, that this visitor, was now a believer, in Christ. A successful businessman, the one, who had robbed him, years before. And he says, I owe it all to you.

[23:26] Amen. The preacher said, oh no my friend. Not to me, but to the precious blood, of Jesus Christ, that cleanses us, from all sin.

[23:37] Wasn't to the preacher, the credit wasn't, for the preacher. The preacher, had simply declared, the message, the word of God. And the word of God, has power, to change lives. It still has.

[23:48] In this post truth world, even. Yes. This truth, will prevail. It stands forever. The word of God. And so, be alert, to the undermining, of the word of God.

[23:59] You know, Satan's policy of evil, has, at its very base, an attack, on the word of God. This spiritual, angel of light, he hates the word of God.

[24:10] He hates it still. And he doesn't want you, to have it. Right back in Eden, at the very beginning, of time. He and Eve, mess around, with the scriptures.

[24:21] Look at these thoughts here, along Genesis 3. Right in the start, of your Bible. God's word, number one, it was questioned. Question. Satan questioned, the word of God.

[24:34] Notice that he led off, in a positive way, saying, yes. Then the question, did God say that? Genesis 3, verse 1, now the serpent, we know as Satan, was more subtle, than any beast, of the field, which the Lord had made, the Lord God had made.

[24:54] And he said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, you shall not eat, of every tree, of the garden. Question the word of God, the directive, that God had given, to not eat, of that one tree.

[25:12] Questioned, the word of God. Secondly, God's word, was subtracted from. Eve, altered the words, of God spoke, the words God spoke, by deleting. Genesis 3, verse 2, and the woman said, unto the serpent, we may eat, of the fruit, of the trees, of the garden.

[25:31] One word she left out, was freely. She left out a word, subtracted, from God's word. Because, in Genesis 2, 16, it says, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying, of every tree, of the garden, thou mayest, freely eat.

[25:44] We're justified, freely, by his grace, it says, in Romans 3, 24. That's an important word, isn't it? We're justified, freely.

[25:55] And freely, is an important word. We're subtracted. So we see, it's questioned, it's subtracted. Another one, it's added to. Some like to add, to the word of God. Eve's careless, toying with God's holy word, eventually led to her, disobeying God's command.

[26:11] She's subtracted from it, and she also added to it. God did not even mention, touching the fruit. To touch the fruit of the tree. Eve said, but of the fruit of the tree, which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.

[26:28] God said nothing of that. God did not say that. So he's saying, questioned, subtracted, added to. God's word has been watered down, and changed.

[26:39] Questions, subtracted from, added to. Another one, it's God's word, denied. Satan perceived, an independent viewpoint in Eve. He saw that he could get, her hearing him, and following along.

[26:53] And he flat out lied to her. He deceived her. In Genesis 3, 4, the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not, surely die. Satan's policy, is to question, the final authority.

[27:06] It always has been, always will be. But God's word is meant to be an anchor. Yet today, it's denied, it's disregarded. There was a preacher in the 1620s, just a few years ago.

[27:22] He was in a little village church, and he was preaching on the subject of the Bible, in the Christian's life. And that's still a reality for us, isn't it? And he, kind of, illustrated what he was saying, with some dramatics.

[27:36] So, he kind of, was acting the part of God, as it were, speaking to the congregation. It was just, as a way of, demonstrating, what he was saying. And speaking, as it were, as God's speaking to the congregation, he said this, Well, I have trusted you, so long with my Bible.

[27:55] You have slighted it. It lies in such and such houses, all covered with dust, and cobwebs. You care so little, not to listen to it. Do you use my Bible so?

[28:08] Then you shall have my Bible no longer. And he took the pulpit Bible away. In those days, I guess the, it was rare, to have a Bible. So he took the pulpit Bible away, so the church didn't have a Bible anymore.

[28:19] Then he knelt down, and impersonated the people, crying to God, Lord, whatever thou dost to us, take not thy Bible from us. Burn our houses, destroy our goods, but spare us thy Bible.

[28:31] Then he acted as God again. Say you so? Well, I will try you a little while longer. And here is my Bible for you. I will see how you will use it. Whether you will love it more.

[28:42] Observe it more. Practice it more. Live more according to it. And at this, the whole congregation dissolved in tears. What had happened, God had touched a nerve through the preacher to remind them of paying close attention to the Word of God.

[29:00] Pay close attention to it. There's some countries that you can scarcely get a Bible. How privileged we are that we should revere it and love it and take heed, not disregard.

[29:14] As some have said, really the greatest possible insult to the divine author is to disregard his book, isn't it? Can you spare some time with the Bible?

[29:25] Take time. Even if it's just moments of time. Even if it's just verses and words. Psalms, Proverbs, the Gospels, John, the letters, 1 John, feast on it.

[29:41] Dig deep into it. Mine its truth. Let it be that treasure trove because there's a famine in the land. We ought to value this book. We need to value this book.

[29:52] Let me just say two things. Furthermore, a two-fold reason why we should value. Why we should value this book. And we see two truths here.

[30:07] Inspiration. Inspiration. Inspiration. Inspiration is you've got man to paper.

[30:28] Man to paper is inspiration. Where the words that are written down, of course we know they're from God. The words came from God to the writer, to the author, to the human author of each book.

[30:44] The words that are written down, man to paper. Man wrote down what God wanted him to write. The words are God's words.

[30:55] These words are God's words. Amen. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

[31:08] Man to paper. And then we see the other truth is illumination. Illumination.

[31:22] Sorry, it's hard to get that. You can see it, hopefully. Illumination. And that is paper to solve. Paper to solve.

[31:43] So, we've got inspiration man to paper. Then we've got illumination to paper to solve.

[31:56] These are two two-fold reasons why we need to value this book. So we see it's given by inspiration of God.

[32:07] The human writer got inspired to pen these words, to pen, to paper God's words through the human writer. Inspiration.

[32:19] They were inspired of God. They were moved along by the Holy Spirit. And then we see illumination. That's for us. Isn't it? That's for you and me. That's why this book inspired can be illuminated to us, to our soul.

[32:35] So each one here, the Word of God is for you, for me. He's given it to the human writer, pen, man to paper. Now, it's paper to solve.

[32:45] It's illumination. And we get that through the work of the Holy Spirit. Because these words are spiritually illuminated. The light comes, the light goes on, the light shines, the meaning and learning by the Spirit's work.

[33:04] We need the Holy Spirit to understand the Word of God. And it's the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit. And God's Word, it builds sound doctrine in your soul. So the Holy Spirit gets it off the page into a person.

[33:18] Off a page into a person. That's illumination. We see that in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 9 through 13. But as it is written, I hath not seen, nor hath the ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, the things that God has prepared for them that love Him.

[33:37] But God hath revealed, revealed them unto us by His Spirit. He's revealed it. It's Revelation. He's revealed them unto us by His Spirit.

[33:48] For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.

[34:01] Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, post-truth world, post-truth world, fake news world, not the things of the world, not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, the Spirit of truth, the Spirit of life, that we might know the things that are freely.

[34:23] There's that word again given to us of God. Which things also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Ghost teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

[34:34] Friends, we've received not the Spirit of the world but we've received from the very Spirit of God that breathed on the waters, that brought life to this creation, this wonderful world.

[34:46] He's given us a wonderful word. Amen. Let's treasure it. We see in 1 Thessalonians Paul writes, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing because when you received the word of God which you heard of us, you received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

[35:12] There's that illumination again. It works in you. This word is not some dusty theological textbook, some theoretical thing you scarcely note or refer to.

[35:26] This is the book of life. I know, I love this one here. You might have seen this one before. Bible, what does it stand for?

[35:39] Basic instructions before leaving earth. That's a good one, isn't it?

[35:52] Basic instructions before leaving earth. We need this book. Amen. We need it. We need this truth for us all. This word effectually works in you that believe.

[36:03] We need that illumination. So friends, recognise the famine is coming. It's here. It's already here. Our nation, our world, realise the importance, the great importance of the word of God.

[36:16] It's our real source of truth. It tells us how to be saved. This is soul-saving truth. This will guide us to heaven. It shows us God's truth that changes us from the inside out and gives us new life.

[36:30] There's authority, there's power, there's life, there's salvation here in this message. Yet it is being subtracted to, added to, denied, questioned, still.

[36:43] The devil hates this book. He doesn't want you to get your trembling hands on it because it might turn you, change you, revive you, save you.

[36:54] There's inspiration, man, God touching man, the human author, man to paper, inspiration, God's word, in black and white, in print, that you can believe, 100%, veracity, truth.

[37:12] truth. That's why they say, do you swear as much as we're not supposed to swear? This is the truth, nothing but the truth.

[37:24] That's why they still do that today, isn't it? Even the world, in all of its waywardness, still says there is truth.

[37:35] And yet, we must have inspiration, we must have illumination, paper to soul, it's got to work in you, it will effectually work in you that believe, 1 Thessalonians 2.13, if you receive it, receive it, don't deny it, receive it, have an open heart and mind, a soul, to receive, to treasure, to follow the word.

[37:58] And so, the time is coming, we're told, the word will be scarce, it'll be scarce, it'll be rare. The word tells us one last verse, it says, Proverbs 13, verse 5, every word of God is pure.

[38:16] He is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. I'm preaching here about the word of God. Have you received the message?

[38:28] Have you received the gospel? That Jesus came, he died on the cross, he rose again, he's coming back. If you put your trust in his work at the cross, where everything was paid, and receive it on your part, you'll know his life, you'll know his salvation, you can cry like the thief, Lord!

[38:51] And he meant it, Lord, Master. And Jesus said, you shall be with me today in paradise.

[39:01] He knew death was just around the corner. friends, I lost a loved one this week, last week, someone dear to me, and he died in tragic circumstances.

[39:16] We don't know how long we've got. And it was very telling to me when I heard the shocking news, this man, a youngish man, probably a little bit older than me perhaps, but it's sad, isn't it?

[39:29] Here are people passing away. Friends, we've got to make sure you've got your passport stamped. Please do that. I'm talking a little bit flippantly with that, but it's a reality, isn't it?

[39:40] There's going to be a transfer. Now, some of you might think, I'm going to be in my home forever. No, you're not. There's another one. There's another one there or there.

[39:51] Forever. There's going to be a change of your location, a change of address. You've got to make sure you get to the right place. Amen? Make sure of that. Please, please make sure of that. and the only way to be sure is to trust Jesus for your salvation.

[40:06] Let's pray. Lord, we bless you. Lord God, that even the thief on the cross could simply cry, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Lord, you did just that.

[40:17] You answered his prayer, that simple prayer of faith. And likewise too, for we that trust you, let us be such a people that will treasure your word, that will trust your word, that will declare it where we have time and chance to, tell others of this message that we can't keep to ourselves.

[40:34] Lord, that it can be such a life-changing truth. In Jesus' name. Amen. Praise the Lord. We'll close the book and open our other book.

[40:45] But don't close your book. Don't close your Bible, as it were. Keep reading it. Amen. I know there's folk that love and treasure the word such that they want to put it in their hearts. That's an even better place to put it.

[40:57]  Put it into your memory, put it into your hearts. Learn it so you can recite it, so you can recall it and share it. One more종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종종