[0:00] Well, it is a joy to be here. Is this, am I on? Yep, there we go. It's a joy to be able to serve with you as we continue to seek out the will of God in our lives and in the life of the churches in Squamish. And so thankful to be able to be here as your pastor has been ministering to us and to our ministry. I just wanted to thank you for giving him the time to free up his schedule, to bless our people and our ministry. The opportunity to get to know him has been sweet.
[0:35] So very thankful for that and thankful for you as we are seeking the Lord in this transition time. So continue to pray, continue to seek his will in your own personal lives and in these churches' lives. And we're excited to minister with one another. Would you bow with me as we seek the Lord together before we go to his word? What sweet truths, Heavenly Father, that we are not abandoned.
[1:07] We have not been given over. We have not been left to ourselves. Because we are yours. And we're only yours because of your Son, Jesus Christ, the one in whom all treasures of heavenly wisdom consist. So we come to you this morning knowing that as you build your church, as you have promised to build your church up, that it happens according to your word, by the power of your spirit, as we humble ourselves before you. So make me nothing before you and your word. Make us nothing. And make Christ everything good and glorious.
[1:59] Help both of these services, both at 99 and here at Squamish Baptist, to be for the edification of the saints and the preparation of your will for your glory this morning, Lord, we ask in your Son's precious name.
[2:12] Amen. Well, this time of year for me is a personal reflective time. June 9th today is the exact day that we rolled from Jupiter, Florida into Squamish, British Columbia, as I received the call from Grace Church 99 to Pastor. And I know many of you from that time we have known and you have loved us.
[2:39] And so from our family to yours, thank you very much. We have just been so blessed. So it's always a sweet reflection for us to think back on the blessing of God and bringing us here and seeing what the Lord is going to do. So BK has been communicating and interacting with our ministry, beginning the pastoral process of the saints at 99. And what he's been seeking to do is to bring about a sense of unity and peace, but also urgency in what the Lord is doing. And I want to continue to foster that here. He has been preaching about the maturity of the saints in the truth of God's word to both congregations and passages that grip his soul for life and ministry. So my desire is to do the same.
[3:35] Many of you do know me here and I'm grateful for that, but in the Lord's kindness, he has been saving. He's been bringing many new people here and we praise God for that. And so maybe there's some faces that I do not know. And so I want to continue to allow you the opportunity to get to know me and my life in ministry as well. So I want to kind of get across to you this morning what rivets my soul in life and in ministry. So I want to ask you first, let's get the wheels turning a little bit. What rivets or anchors your soul in your Christian life and ministry? Maybe you can think about it this way. What were you just ready to jump out of bed this morning and excited to do when you knew you were coming to church?
[4:31] Hopefully you're thinking that way. Maybe I can be an encouragement to you in that way as well. Because think of the words we just sung. You're not abandoned.
[4:44] Christ is glorious. His words are everlasting. All creatures of our God and King are called to bow down and to praise our great God and King. And we get to, as the people of God, come together to worship Him.
[5:01] What would happen to the life of the church and what would happen to the souls in Squamish if they got to view a church that came together and were prepared and ready and what anchored their soul, they were prepared and ready to do when they got there.
[5:20] For me personally, it's when I see a mind sharpened in the truth. When a heart is humbled by the truth.
[5:35] When a soul is enlightened in the truth. When faith is strengthened by the truth. When light bulbs are going off about God has revealed Himself and the truth about Him and His world are coming from His Word.
[5:57] And it's now getting into the mind and in the heart and to the soul of the believer. And it's preparing them and anchoring them to go back into the world to be a witness to the Lord Jesus Christ.
[6:11] That's what rivets my soul. From the grandest and loftiest truths about God's aseity. Which means His self-sufficiency.
[6:21] Or His incomprehensibility. Meaning the human mind just can't quite get to the fathoms of who God is. Or maybe His transcendence. The separation between our great God and Creator to His creation.
[6:37] Or maybe His infinity. That He's not bound by space and time. I want to communicate those great and grand truths. But also down right to the bottom of these soul-satisfying truths of the gospel.
[6:52] That Jesus Christ lived and died and raised and believed by faith and you will be saved. To the verses that make us hit our knees on the ground and make us move our feet in the morning.
[7:10] The truths that we need to comfort our souls. I love the thought about how all theology is practical.
[7:22] Even the one that we might not quite understand yet and are learning and are growing in. All of God's Word is practical. And all of it is accessible with the discipline of prayer, humility, and study.
[7:37] I love to bring that to the people of God because it anchors them. As we sung in the storms of life.
[7:49] In a world that we know God is sovereign over. But we still know that sin has its great effect because of the curse.
[8:01] And we are called to go out into the world to be that salt and light. And how do we do that without the power of God and the Holy Spirit and without the Word of God, His revealed truth?
[8:12] It's impossible. So I'd like to take you through a timeline of the Scriptures that have gripped me and continue to grip me personally in life and ministry.
[8:23] So they get to know me in my heart. And so I'd like to invite you to Galatians 2 as we start. I hope you have your fingers ready. We're going to go through lots of passages of Scripture this morning.
[8:37] That's one thing that you're probably going to have to get used to as well as we work through the Scriptures together. I love connecting dots. I love seeing how the whole of Scripture is one unified story.
[8:52] Exalting Jesus Christ in the Gospel. Galatians 2.20 was one of the first verses that gripped my heart in salvation.
[9:04] This is kind of a gospel presentation in one verse. Galatians 2.20. I have been crucified with Christ.
[9:19] And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me.
[9:37] Early in my Christian life, I had to understand that I was no longer attached to the things that I loved. To the things that I thought would bring me joy.
[9:47] The things that I thought would satisfy my soul. And many of you know my testimony that it came out of an athletic world where you sought the fame, the stature, the status, the finances that would give you a pretty easy life.
[10:05] Knowing that the gospel in Jesus Christ crucifies you to the world. From the world.
[10:19] And that now Christ is your King. That's why he says in verse 19, I've died to the law.
[10:32] So that I might live to God. It is not your sheer obedience to God's law. The law actually shows you your need to be crucified with Christ.
[10:45] That you don't measure up to heaven's standards. That you need a Savior. And Christ is the only Savior. But think of these next verses.
[11:03] It is no longer I who live. Are you saying, Paul, that I don't make decisions? Are you saying, Paul, that I'm a robot and I just have to allow God's power to awaken me in the morning and he just does everything?
[11:17] No, absolutely not. Because he says, the life which I live in the flesh. But think of this, beloved. Christ lives in me.
[11:35] Christ lives in me. Early in my Christian life. Mentors, my father, pastors that I interacted with.
[11:50] Got me down to this very truth. That your life is lived because Christ lives in you. Your Christian life. So when Christ says, lo, and I'll be with you until the end of the age.
[12:06] He's fulfilled his promise. He's given you his Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's job is to testify to Jesus Christ. And the life that you now live is saturated by Christ.
[12:21] What a precious truth. The life you live by faith in the Son of God is because the Son of God lives in you.
[12:32] I think we just need to take a step back, beloved, sometimes and just think, do I meditate that on that enough?
[12:44] Do I meditate on the reality that in my Christian life, it is Jesus Christ, my Savior, my Lord, my King, my Master living in me?
[12:55] So that the life that I do now live by faith, it is because Christ lives in me and I can look to my author and perfecter of faith.
[13:05] Because he looked down on me in my sin, in my wretchedness, and he loved me. He could probably go out into the world right now and people are struggling and responding to this world because they haven't actually experienced true love.
[13:30] They just want to be loved. So they interact with this world and relationships out of this deep and dark hole because they know something's missing and they know something is wrong.
[13:47] And they haven't experienced the love of God. We are a people who have experienced the love of God because Christ gave himself up. That is what love is. It is a sacrificial love for the benefit of somebody else and not having to be repaid to gain.
[14:04] That's the definition of biblical love. To sacrifice yourself for the benefit or the spiritual benefit of somebody else and doing it, not asking for some sort of reward back.
[14:16] That's why Jesus could stay on the cross and say, Father, forgive them. Because he was giving himself up.
[14:37] This is kind of the whole of Christian life. This is the foundation that I was trying to learn. And as I go into life, into ministry, I'm still learning. That we go back to this.
[14:48] You and I never graduate from this truth. It is not that you just walk across the stage and you have some sort of ceremony and all of a sudden now you go into bigger and grander and loftier things.
[14:58] Right? You've got your elementary school degree in the gospel. Then you're going to high school. And then you're getting your undergrad. And then your PhD. And some other systematic truth. No, this anchors all of our souls.
[15:11] And this anchors all of life in ministry. From birth to glory. This anchors our souls. Because you're never going to be abandoned.
[15:25] Because you are God's and he is yours. But from that point, we are called to grow. We keep going back to this truth.
[15:37] But we are called to grow. And so, as I continue to learn in my Christian life, we just can't stay there. That's our anchor. That's our foundation. We go back to it. But then we continue to grow.
[15:48] So, turn with me to 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. Verse 18. Because Peter is writing both of his epistles in the context of a world that is trying to make you stumble.
[16:07] In the midst of a world that is going to mock you for your faith. In the midst of a world that is going to come at you. And we know from 1 Peter 3.15 that we are called to make a defense for the hope that's within us.
[16:23] With gentleness and reverence. So, he comes to the end of his book here. After these mockers are saying, hey, where is the promise of the coming? Didn't you guys say that Jesus Christ was going to return?
[16:36] He died. He rose. And he's going to return. Where is that guy? And they're trying to knock them off the ledge of faith. So, we take the reality that we are crucified with Christ.
[16:49] It's no longer us who live. But Christ living in us. And the life that we live. We live by faith in the Son of God. So, starting at verse 17.
[17:00] You, therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard. So that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men. And fall away from your own steadfastness.
[17:13] But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
[17:26] Knowing that there's going to be false teachers. There's going to be unprincipled men in the world. And you can fall from steadfastness. You can't fall out of faith.
[17:36] But you can fall from steadfastness. So, the antidote is to grow.
[17:48] To grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, we take that understanding of the gospel from Galatians 2.2. What does it mean to be crucified with Christ?
[18:01] And we learn and we grow and we understand those truths. And what does it mean that Christ lives in me and no longer I who live, but it is Christ. We grow and we develop. We strengthen.
[18:15] In the grace and knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Grace is God's sustaining power in our Christian life.
[18:26] It is his ability to produce spiritual good in our lives. So, if he calls to make a promise or he gives us a command that we have God's grace to obey that command.
[18:42] And the knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ. So, we must know who our Savior is. We must know about why he came.
[18:57] We must know about the prophecies coming up towards his birth. We must know about his manhood and his godhood. We must know about his life and ministry.
[19:07] We must know about his crucifixion. We must know about his resurrection. We must know about his ascension. His seat at the right hand in glory. We must know about his coming return.
[19:22] We begin with, I've been crucified with Christ. But we are now called to grow in our understanding of theology. Why that is so important so that we are anchored.
[19:37] And we are steadfast. We are called to be following after Jesus Christ.
[19:50] And to be a disciple. The one who denies himself, takes up his cross and follows after him. Is learning about Christ. You're a disciple of Jesus Christ.
[20:01] So, you're learning about him. Why are you learning about Christ? Why are you continuing to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ?
[20:12] Well, going to another text that continues to rivet my soul in life and ministry. Go to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8 verse 29. I know you guys might be here.
[20:25] We all might be here in the next 6 to 10 years. We'll eventually get here. I can poke a little fun at BK because I'd be in the exact same spot. Romans is so rich.
[20:36] And I know you guys have been enjoying Romans 1. And it's such an important chapter for the life of the church to just anchor in as well. You could probably stay a lifetime in Romans, right?
[20:48] Romans chapter 8. I know that many of you have this verse down. Romans 8 verse 28. For we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and to those who are called according to his purpose.
[21:00] For those whom he foreknew. He also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. So that he would be the firstborn among many brethren.
[21:13] What is God doing in the causing of all things to work together for good? What is he doing as he is living within you?
[21:24] What is he doing as you are growing and learning about your Savior in grace and in knowledge? Verse 29. He is conforming you to his image.
[21:36] He is molding you. He is shaping you to be like Jesus Christ. So it is not just for lofty knowledge.
[21:51] It's not just for a grade on a paper. It is not just so that you can come in on a Sunday morning and say, Look at all the verses I've memorized and all the verses that I know. Keep memorizing verses. It's still good.
[22:03] But what is the direction? What is God doing, right? Isn't that what we're asking ourselves? What is God doing in our lives? What is God doing in our churches? He is conforming all of us individually and corporately to his son.
[22:17] He is making you more like Jesus Christ. I know it doesn't feel like it sometimes. I know it doesn't look like it sometimes.
[22:32] But that's what the church is for. That's what we're here to do. If you want to get excited about coming on a Sunday morning or whenever the church gathers, you can think about this.
[22:44] I'm going to be conformed to the image of Christ. And I want to help anyone else in that church and any Christian to conform to the image of Christ. You want to spring out of bed, put your feet on in the morning, put your shoes on your feet, and get going to church and be excited.
[23:04] That's something to get excited about. Because God, from before you were born, was already planning that to take place.
[23:14] And he's using the circumstances in your life, the church in your life, Lord willing, the pastors in your life. Before you meet your Savior face to face, before faith becomes sight, you're going to be more like Jesus Christ because you're here.
[23:39] You're more like Jesus Christ than you were yesterday, and you're more like Jesus Christ tomorrow than you were today. That's what he's doing. This is incredible. The image of his son.
[23:52] So we look to Christ. So how do we do that? What does that look like? These are great and incredible truths, but how can I know for sure that I can actually move along in that process?
[24:06] Well, here's a couple of verses that I just still cannot get over. Go to 1 Corinthians 2, verse 16. 2 Corinthians 2, verse 16.
[24:19] Did I say 2 Corinthians? I'm sorry. 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 16. So Paul goes into Corinth.
[24:30] He goes into the Greco-Roman world, and he's saying, look, I'm not coming with some sort of superiority of speech or of wisdom. There's nothing within me that I can tell you in a philosophical way that is going to bend your will and your heart towards Christ.
[24:47] I need to come with the pure, undefiled gospel, verse 4, so that my message and preaching were not in persuasive words, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.
[24:58] He wasn't getting caught up in the world in ways that they would talk about their deities and try to just kind of fit Christ into that mold.
[25:09] He's saying, no, I'm coming with the pure, undulterated, undefiled gospel of Jesus Christ. But we also know, how can we know where the power comes from?
[25:20] Well, he moves on to verse 11. For we know among the men the thoughts of man, but except the spirit of a man which is in him, even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the spirit of God.
[25:31] So how can we know what God thinks? How can we know what God calls us to do? How can we know that we have the gospel right, our theology right, that we're actually growing and we actually are being conformed to the image of Christ?
[25:53] Verse 16. For who has known the mind of the Lord that he will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
[26:05] So again, just like Christ lives in me, kind of we need to stop and meditate. Think about this. We have the mind of Christ.
[26:16] You wake up every day on this earth as a blood-bought and spirit-empowered believer with the ability to think about this world and to think about truth as Christ thought.
[26:33] No, you're not Jesus Christ. No one's going to confuse you for that. But we have the mind of Christ. We can think our thoughts after Christ.
[26:48] We can know what he desires of us and we can believe it because he's living in us because of the power of the Holy Spirit. And he calls us to grow and he's revealed his word to us.
[27:01] Remember that he is the head and we are the bridegroom. It's like when married couples are growing and after a while they just finish each other's sentences.
[27:13] They know what each other is thinking. And it takes a long time to get there, but it gets there eventually, right? Through communication, through time spent with one another, through challenges, through trials.
[27:27] Well, we have been married to Christ as a church. The church is the bride. Christ is the groom. So you in your life, every single day, have the capacity, not within yourself, but what you've been given because you've been crucified with Christ.
[27:48] And it's no longer you who live, but Christ. You have the capacity to think as Christ would think. That's part of my job as a pastor, as we get to some of these equipping passages.
[28:05] As you wake up in your daily life, as you walk through all the challenges, all the joys, all the struggles, all the triumphs. It's you growing and thinking more like Jesus Christ.
[28:18] Another verse that is very similar to this is Philippians chapter 2. Again, another passage of Scripture that we know well because of the great doctrine of Christ that Paul presents here.
[28:31] But this is not just a theological paper on the doctrine of Jesus Christ. This is in the context of how you live.
[28:45] This is in the context of unity, the church coming together and representing Christ. And what does that look like? Verse 3, Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves.
[29:04] Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. How do we do that as a church? And what's that going to look like in the coming days and years as we grow together in ministry?
[29:19] Verse 5, You have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus. So that's the expectation. That you have verses 3 and 4 in your mind because you have the capacity to because it was also in Christ Jesus.
[29:38] This word for attitude is think the same way. Think the same way that Jesus Christ thought. So in this glorious passage from verse 6 all the way down to 11, it is the representation of Jesus humbling himself.
[29:59] Even though he existed in the form of God, he didn't regard equality with God to a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself. He lowered himself. He took the form of a slave. Being made in the likeness of man, being found in the appearance of a man.
[30:15] He humbled himself by being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. So we ought to think to ourselves, what is ministry and life going to look like over the coming days?
[30:32] As we get to interact with folks we may not know very well, or maybe folks we do know well. And we think about life and ministry together. And I know we kind of have our little pockets of ministry that we like.
[30:48] What is going to glorify God? What is going to help us grow? What is going to help us to conform to the image of Christ and understand that we have the mind of Christ?
[30:58] It is when we humble ourselves just like Christ humbled himself. If you want to have the mind of Christ, you want to know how Christ would think, this is how he would think.
[31:13] What can I do to serve? How can I serve this soul that's right in front of me? How can I care for them? How can I love them in the truth?
[31:24] What do I have to give up of my time and my resources so that after this conversation or after the opportunity we have to connect that they're more like Jesus Christ today than they were yesterday?
[31:43] Think of how God can use a church like that. that have the attitude in themselves because Christ lives in them.
[31:56] They have the mind of Christ which is a group of people that continually serve like Christ served. Because he loved you and then what happened?
[32:09] He gave himself up for you. See why that's always kind of the foundation? We always go back there and how do we continue this growth, this conforming, understanding the mind of Christ, this attitude?
[32:28] Well, we sang the words of the song. Let's go to John chapter 6 verse 68. How can we be a group of people that continues to humble ourselves and to grow into the conformity of Christ?
[32:47] John chapter 6 verse 68 starting in verse 66.
[33:03] As a result of this many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. You remember why they weren't walking with him anymore, right? Because he said really hard things.
[33:14] Jesus wasn't tickling their ears. So Jesus said to the 12 verse 67, you do not want to go away also, do you?
[33:31] Some and Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. how do we think our thoughts after Christ?
[33:46] How do we be conformed to his image and growing in the grace and knowledge knowing what he has done for us? It's because we go to Christ because there's nowhere else to go to learn about eternal life.
[34:00] There's nowhere else to go to understand his mind. There's nowhere else to go to be conformed to his image. There's nowhere else to go to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ. We must be a people to have this in our minds.
[34:15] Where do I go but God's word? Because the people that left Jesus Christ were left to their own devices. And when Jesus condemned the Pharisees, what did he say to them?
[34:32] Why are you reasoning in your hearts like this? Why are you being the judge and arbiter of this situation when you have the living word of God in front of you?
[34:45] That's what got the Pharisees in trouble. They reasoned themselves out of the reality of God's truth. And then they started adding things to scripture.
[34:59] They started adding their obedience and their righteousness because they wanted to add to scripture. So Jesus says you think in the scriptures you have eternal life.
[35:09] Thinking if you just obey the right way or obey the way that you think you should obey. You think that will bring eternal life, not faith. They walked by sight, not by faith.
[35:26] They didn't come to Christ for their eternal knowledge, eternal understanding. So we need to be a people that ask each other, what does God's word say about this?
[35:42] Am I thinking rightly according to Christ about this scenario in this situation? That has been my love and my life in ministries, bringing people to God's word and understanding it because although it is written to us, God has condescended to us and he's written in our language and we have a full copy of it, you probably have numerous copies of it even thinking digitally, you have numerous versions, various apps, you probably have lots of theological apps and you can listen to sermons and we praise God for all of that but it still doesn't get us out of the reality of going to the word of God on a daily basis for our souls to understand truth, I love equipping you to understand what God says because he's the only one who brings light and life to us in this way.
[36:47] So I want to take you through a couple of texts, again more texts to help us understand this truth. So let's just go back to the beginning, Genesis chapter one. why God's word is so significant for life and ministry and you're going to get to know me in such a way where I will try to bring you back to the truth from the beginning because this is where it all starts.
[37:18] There's a reason why Genesis one and two you have this pristine place where God dwells with his people untainted by the curse and then the last two chapters of your Bible is the same thing.
[37:29] So what happened in between? That's what I love to do. Look at verse three, chapter one.
[37:41] Then God said, let there be light and there was light. So God's word started all of creation.
[37:51] God's word started life and light. God's revelation, what came from God's mouth was the reality of what brought life to this world.
[38:06] What brought revelation? What brought light? I have nothing in and of myself that can bring you life and light.
[38:19] I'm created. I was born sinful. I was given light and life because the God of this universe and my savior shone the light of life into my dark heart.
[38:34] And it's the same for all of your pastors and the same for all of you in the church. So we come to the beginning. Where does all of this take place? It takes place, it begins with God's word word because it always started with God's word from the beginning and why any of this even exists.
[38:55] Because his words bring forth light, life, and power. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 4 for a moment. I know a lot has happened in between Genesis 1-3 and Deuteronomy 4.
[39:09] And Lord willing I'll have lots of time to bring that connection to you. But here Israel is going back into or going into the land.
[39:20] Not back into the land. They're going into the land. So they're getting the second giving of the law because the first generation were derelict and were disciplined.
[39:34] And look, he's already given him, given them the law. They already have the Ten Commandments going all the way back to Exodus chapter 20. They've already been given their purpose in the world going back to Exodus chapter 19.
[39:48] They're going into Canaan. They're going into the land. And here's what he says in verse 2. You shall not add to the word which I'm commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I commanded you.
[40:06] Verse 6. So keep and do them. For that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of all the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
[40:23] For what great nation is there that has a God so near to it as is the Lord our God whenever we call on him? Or what great nation is there that has statutes and judgments as righteous as this whole law which I'm setting before you today?
[40:39] They were to take God's word as a nation and then when they went out and lived their lives in the world, the world is supposed to see that is significantly different than how I think and live.
[40:52] What is that that this church gathers together then they go out and they look wholeheartedly different? Why is that? It seems really wise actually.
[41:06] It seems actually quite righteous and life giving actually. That's because they don't add and take away from God's word and what God has already said.
[41:21] This is our evangelism experience. We go out into the world and we show the witness of God's law into the world and why it is right. Because of that three fold argument right?
[41:35] Paul says that we have a conscience, we have a moral law built within us, and we have a sense of eternity. Every human being has that.
[41:47] So when that's presented, the Spirit of God is at work because the Spirit of God convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. So we cannot go out into the world thinking that if we look more like them then they're going to now all of a sudden be drawn.
[42:06] that's what unprincipled men do that Peter was warning about in 2 Peter. So we take God's word as he gives it to us and we understand it so that we can go out into the world.
[42:20] Look at verse 9, give heed to yourself and keep your soul diligently. So there's a personal responsibility that you have. Think of this as the Old Testament grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.
[42:47] This is a multi-generational reality that you and I are accountable and culpable for. To pass on from one generation to the next God's word not adding or not taking away given the clarity of it.
[43:03] Giving the power of it. Look at verse 10. Remember the day you stood before the Lord your God at Horeb when the Lord said to me assemble the people to me that I may let them hear my words so that they may learn to fear me all the days they live on earth that they may teach their children.
[43:30] That the effect of the gathering of the people of God produces a fear of God. Just like we sung right that you are God and we are not.
[43:41] We continue to remind each other of this. That we've been crucified with Christ we're growing in the grace and knowledge being conformed to his image as we think after Christ sacrificially we go to God's word because he's the only one that brings light and life and he produces wisdom in God's people to create fear the fear of God.
[44:00] the right kind of fear. That as we go out into the world we are a humbled group of people. So that we show the effects of God's word.
[44:16] Go to Psalm 19 for a moment. So that we can show that it's nothing within us. Psalm 19 verse 7 to 9 to 9 that the law of the Lord is perfect restoring the soul.
[44:40] The testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple. The precess of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever.
[44:54] The judgments of the Lord are true. They are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold. Yes, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of honeycomb.
[45:07] Is that how you see God's word? Is that how you come to the attitude or think the same way that Christ thinks?
[45:19] Because you know you cannot add or take away anything from God's word because it's already perfect. perfect. It's whole. It's blameless. There's nothing within it that is untrustworthy or deficient.
[45:35] Only that restores the soul. Only the gospel, hearing the word and the word of Christ, it makes the simple wise.
[45:47] It rejoices your heart. It enlightens your eyes because of its purity. It endures forever. And it's righteous. So what are you and I going to add or take away from that?
[46:02] That pretty much encapsulate everything that God's word does. That's the effects of God's word. And we can know for sure, beloved, that any attack that Satan has on the church is going to begin with the attack on God's word.
[46:22] God's word. God's word. Because you go back to the beginning. Did God really say that was Satan's first attack? Did God really say? He makes you start to question the validity, the veracity, the sufficiency of God's word.
[46:41] So we need to keep coming back to this point, this reality. Where else can we go? We must go to God's word. And if we're going to think after Christ's thoughts, let's go to him as an example.
[46:53] So let's go back to John. John chapter 12. John chapter 12 verse 49 and 50.
[47:09] Was the second person of the Trinity, was he just some lone ranger when he came to earth? That he was the son of God, son of man, so he could just come down and do whatever he wanted because he was God?
[47:20] Absolutely not. The Trinity worked in unison together, in unity. Look at what Jesus says in verse 49, for I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.
[47:39] And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told me. So even the Son of God second person of the Trinity, when he came to earth, he was intimately connected to his Father and he received instruction from his Father and did exactly what he said, exactly what he was told to do.
[48:06] This is our Savior. This is our Master. And if we are called to be like our Master, how are we doing with this verse?
[48:17] when there's something in our lives that we need wisdom on, do we start reasoning within ourselves or we start praying and going to the Word of God?
[48:30] That is your wisdom. In Christ is the treasure of the storehouse of all wisdom. Do we run to Christ? Do we run to those who point us to Christ?
[48:42] Or do we go to people who just will give us the answer we want in our own reasoning? That's our example.
[48:56] If you want to think like Christ, then go to Him. Reason the way that He reasoned. He went to His Father's Word. We go to Christ's Word.
[49:09] These last couple of texts I want to give, we're going to head into 2 Timothy, but there's this transition that happens in the life of the church. You have the apostolic witness, those who knew Christ intimately, personally, saw His resurrection, they were taught by Him personally, and we know that there was a period of apostolic gifts that were unique to that time, and as Paul and the apostles start transitioning off the scene, he gives this letter of 2 Timothy to his young apprentice, to this young church planter, to this pastor, to the next generation, and you're going to see very similar language even to Deuteronomy.
[49:48] So go to 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy, starting in verse, 2 Timothy 1, starting in verse 12. For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed.
[50:07] Right? There it is. I've been crucified with Christ, no longer I who live. I'm growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know whom I have believed. I know my Savior.
[50:18] I know who He is and what He has done, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until this day. So there's a convinced reality.
[50:31] There's an anchor to the soul when you continue to know what you believe because you've studied it. You're humbled under God's word. You believe it. You're tested in your faith.
[50:45] Verse 13. Here's Paul to Timothy. Retain the standard of what? Sound words which you have heard from me in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
[50:57] So the doctrine that has been passed down from one generation to the next. Retain that. Guard, verse 14, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us the treasure which you have been entrusted to you.
[51:11] Do you believe that the truth passed down, the word of God that has been revealed as a treasure to you to guard and then to pass down into the next generation and to do so you must do that rightly.
[51:27] Well how do we know that? Well go to chapter 2. Chapter 2 we know that verse 9 the word of God is not imprisoned. It doesn't matter if you're in prison.
[51:40] It doesn't matter if the church is persecuted. The word of God is not imprisoned. But look what he says about verse 15 here. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God.
[51:53] As a workman who does not need to be ashamed accurately handling the word of truth. I understand that this is kind of from one pastor to the next. But this is the charge that I would give you. Do you know how to accurately handle the word of God?
[52:05] Can you go into the world like Peter says to give a defense of the faith because you can go into God's word and you're not going to be stumbling around by unprincipled men.
[52:20] By the religions of the world that are trying to put down Christ. Put down the church. Put down the word of God and morality. To accurately handle it.
[52:34] You might hear this big word often. Hermeneutics. It's just the art and science of handling God's word. Just like you grew up and you learned the understanding of English and math and sciences.
[52:49] You learn foundational truths about how to know those things. We must know how to handle God's word accurately. It's the word of truth.
[53:02] And we don't need to be ashamed. But we'll present ourselves to God. The pastoral staff, the elders, we're ultimately going to have to be approved to God.
[53:12] Not to you. Not to some doctrinal statement. But to God. And the revelation of his word.
[53:24] Look at chapter 3. Chapter 3 verse 16. Again, probably a verse you all know well. All scripture is inspired. Or maybe your translation is breathed out by God.
[53:36] And profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. It's not going to be easy.
[53:48] Look at the words he uses. Reproof, correction, training in righteousness. That means things aren't going to go all that well sometimes.
[54:03] That what God's word is going to do, and how it's going to be profitable for teaching, it's going to reprove you. Or maybe your translation might say like rebuke.
[54:13] It might convict you in ways that you weren't realizing you needed to be convicted. There's going to be truths that God's word is going to clarify for you that you didn't really realize needed clarity.
[54:25] You thought you had that one nailed. But the equipness of your every good work for ministry is going to be how the word of God is passed down to your soul.
[54:42] So what you believe about God's word is significant. It will anchor your life. How you handle it, what you believe about it, what you're convinced by, because it gives you the mind of Christ, Christ, which helps you conform to Christ, which helps you grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ because he loved you and he gave himself up for you.
[55:02] He gave himself up for you. So that's where your pastors come in. And all who handle the word of God, verse 1 of chapter 4, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God in Christ Jesus, who is the judge, the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom.
[55:19] So that's the approved by God right there. You have to stand before the one who is the judge of the living and the dead and the one who is going to bring his kingdom on earth.
[55:30] This is not the kingdom of SBC or 99, it's not the kingdom of BK or Dave or David. It's the kingdom of God that's coming to earth because of his word.
[55:42] So what do we do? Preach the word. That's what the church is called to do. Herald the word of God. We don't make it up.
[55:54] We don't manipulate it. We just preach as is. We don't take away and we don't add to it. We're ready in season and out of season.
[56:05] Here's that reprove, rebuke, and exhort language again with great patience and instruction. The word of God is going to hit heavy on your heart.
[56:22] That's a good thing. It's going to comfort your heart. It's going to convict your heart. It's going to humble your heart. But we can't back down from preaching the word because it will make you adequate and equipped for every good work.
[56:39] That's what our role is as pastors, right? Going back to Ephesians chapter 4, I know BK preached on that last week or a couple weeks ago and he preached at our service as well. this is what my pastor said.
[56:58] The word of God will never cease to yield riches to the one who faithfully pursues its knowledge coupled with obedience to its command. Should you be able to live a hundred lifetimes, you cannot exhaustively plumb its depths.
[57:13] It doesn't matter how many times you've read and memorized John 3, 16. Keep memorizing it, keep learning, keep growing, but you'll never exhaust it because it comes from the living and breathing word of God, from God himself.
[57:34] We open up our Bibles and we learn, we grow together. From God's promises from the beginning to his completed work, he promised that.
[57:46] He who began a good work will complete it, will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. That's what we're here for. That's what I long to see in the life of the church, I long to see in you and I pray that we long to see that together.
[58:03] That we see the word of God, the word of truth, the word of Christ because it comes from Christ himself because he's going to conform you into his image before glory.
[58:16] Where else can we go beloved? He alone has the words of eternal life. Let's pray. Father, thank you for this church.
[58:29] It was your word that planted this church. It was your word that began the seed that would grow and flourish to this day.
[58:40] It was your word that planted and grew 99. And as you cultivate the life of each church together now, Lord, I pray that the word of God would be central, that the gospel of Jesus Christ would be proclaimed, and that Christ himself would be exalted and glorified.
[59:04] may we be a people then who would go out into the world in the great commission and to show off your glory by being a wise and understanding people.
[59:20] So would you bless this period, this time, this transition? Would you strengthen our hand and would you make us more like Christ through it?
[59:30] may you give us a heart of humility in the mind of Christ, that as we start to gather together, Lord, that there would be a humility of Christ-like love and service to the body.
[59:48] And Christ himself said that the world may know that we are yours because of our love for one another. So take us back to the old paths, the old ways of the gospel that Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.
[60:02] Let us continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ so the world may know that you are God. In your son's precious and holy name, amen.