Well, I want to turn your attention
to Psalm 147 and just one verse in it, verse 19. Psalm 147 and
verse 19. He, that is God, showeth his
word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. There is seemingly very little
faith in the earth, very little. In fact, the Son of God, as he
walked the earth, he said in Luke 18 verse 8, it's recorded
that he said, when the Son of Man cometh, meaning comes the
second time, shall he find faith in the earth? Now, of course,
he knows whether he shall find, he knows he's going to find faith,
he knows he is going to find all that the Father gave him.
in himself, in Christ, before the foundation. He knows he's
going to find them believing him. But it seems to us here,
and this is the question he's asking, when the Son of Man comes,
shall he find faith? You look around and you think,
is there anybody in this village of Datchworth where we are? Or
Nebworth? Or Wellington? Is there anybody
who believes the true gospel? It seems so small, doesn't it?
But it's always been the case. It's not a new thing. In the
days of Elijah, as we were looking over the previous few weeks,
he thought he alone was left. I, even I only, am left a prophet
of the Lord. And God showed him that he had
his 7,000. And you know, I'm not dogmatic
about this, but I I like the sound of it, so I tend to stick
to it. 7,000 is perfect completeness. God has his perfect completeness.
Whatever number that is, in every age, God has, however alone you
and I think we are in believing the true gospel, God has his
perfect completeness of people that believe him, in every age,
in every place. We think things are getting worse.
There's wholesale political overthrow of biblical principles, like
there's never been before. Here and in the United States
and throughout Europe and Australia, all what we call, I know Australia
isn't West, but you know, we call it the Western world, you
know, the modern prosperous economies of the world. And everywhere
in those societies, wholesale political overthrow of biblical
principles. And Christians are anxious. It
seems like we're such a little flock. We're in such a narrow
way. Is everything out of control?
Well, I was struck a couple of weeks ago in our daily readings
by this verse, these two verses, 19 and 20, in Psalm 147. He showeth his word unto Jacob,
his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt
so with any nation. And as for his judgments, they
have not known them. Praise ye the Lord. things are
not out of control. If you talk to so-called evangelical
Christianity, that's all around us, in its various forms, much
so in America than it is here, but it's all around us here as
well, they will say that this situation of there seeming to
be so little faith in the world is a result of our failure to
persuade the world to believe, because they think this, They
think that what Christ did was sufficient to save the whole
world. Oh, if only they would believe Him! Oh, if only they
would believe Him! There's enough to save the whole
world if only they would believe Him, but they won't. So what
must we do? We must try and try and try to persuade them to believe
Him. And that's not what his word
says. That's not what his word says at all. Not at all. Christ died for his elect. Christ
paid the sin penalty for his elect. It isn't a failure of
persuading the world to believe that causes the situation we
see. It is God sovereignly Do you
know what that means? God, I mean that's tautology.
God sovereignly, if your God isn't sovereign over everything,
you don't believe the true God. God is sovereign over all things.
It is God sovereignly choosing to reveal his gospel truth to
his elect, to the people of his choice. As that verse tells us,
he hasn't dealt so with any other nation. Any other nation? We're
not talking about the nations of the world, we're talking about
the people. He calls his church, his nation. We're citizens of
Zion, the city of the living God. He hasn't dealt so with
any other nation. What a blessing it is. What a
blessing. Does this overwhelm you? What
a blessing to be among the people to whom God shows his word. Now
what does God do with his word? I've got three points this morning.
He magnifies it. He directs it to his people,
and he causes his people to receive it. He magnifies it, he directs
it to his people, and he causes them to receive it. God's word
magnified, first of all. Psalm 138 verse 2 says this,
Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. God has magnified
his word. This book, the Bible, God has
magnified it above all his name. No, you know, words pass through
our lips and through our brains and half the time, more often
than that, We pay no attention to it, do we? Think about it. God has magnified this book above
all his name, above all his characteristics, above all his attributes, above
all his person. He's magnified his word. It has
a preeminence and an importance in the economy of God that is
beyond anything we can imagine. What importance do you or I give
to God's word? I tell you, nowhere near enough.
nowhere near enough. We don't give it enough importance.
God has magnified it above all his name. Why? Why has he magnified
it above all his name? In a nutshell, because this book
is the revelation to his people of redemption. It's the revelation
of God justifying his people. It is the revelation of God justifying
the sinners he chose in Christ before the foundation of the
world. It's the revelation of redemption. And what is redemption
about? It's about the payment of debt, because we're all debtors.
We're all debtors. Who's righteous? There is none
righteous, no not one. For all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God. We're all sinners, we're all
debtors. And our debts are to the law and the justice of God. And we must all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ. We must all die, it's appointed,
and then comes the judgment. And we must stand there, and
it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. And what must we be? We must be righteous, we must
be holy to stand before the living God. And the great question of
this book is, how should a man be just before God? How is it
going to be that when you stand before God, in eternity, he says,
You're good. You're just. It's only one way.
It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. For in the Lord Jesus Christ,
our God became flesh and satisfied his own justice on behalf of
his people. What does the law demand? Be
perfect. Be perfect. And if you're not
perfect, what does the law demand? That you die. The soul that sins,
it shall die. We cannot be perfect. All have
sinned and fall short of that glory. There is none righteous,
no, not one. He who sins in one thing has
sinned in all. He's guilty of all, says James.
What has he done then? If we cannot be just, then we
must die. But he has died. How has he satisfied the law?
He has died in the place of his people. He went to the cross
of Calvary and he's died. And in his dying, he's paid the
debts. There's a lot of talk in the
news about debt at the moment. The Greek economy and the enormous
debt it owes to the Eurozone and how it cannot pay it. And
they're having meetings today and they're wondering whether
they can cancel any of that. How can they cancel the debt?
If money means anything, the money that we use to pay one
another for goods and services, if it means anything, how can
they cancel the debt? This is what they're troubled
about. It's only by some great act of grace that some incredibly
rich person or nation comes along and says, I will pay it for them.
That's the only way the value of the money can be maintained.
So it is in the economy of God and his justice. One had to come
who alone could bear your debt and mine if you were to be counted
just before God. If he's to say to you, as he
says to his sheep on that day, come, you blessed of my father,
enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. What a blessing that is to hear those words. The reason
why he's exalted his word above his name is because it's all
about his grace and his compassion and his mercy. How God who is
holy, how God who cannot look upon sin, is a compassionate
God. to sinners. And he doesn't violate
his justice in his compassion, but he satisfies his justice
in the death of his beloved son. The glory of God's being is displayed
most vividly, as he told Moses, in his sovereign, gracious salvation
of sinners. And concerning redemption, his
word reveals his plan of it, his intentions of it, his purpose
of it, and his accomplishment of it. And it's all made known
in the person of God's Word. What do I mean by the person
of God's Word? I mean Christ, who is the Redeemer. of His people. God calls Himself
the Redeemer. I am the Lord, the Redeemer.
He calls Himself. Christ is the Redeemer. Our God is Christ,
who is our Redeemer. And He is not only in His Word,
we don't only read the accounts of His life in His Word, He is
the Word. For John tells us, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. He, the same, was in the beginning
with God. He made all things, and without
Him was not anything made that was made. He's not a created
being. He's God. He's co-equal with God the Father.
He is the Word. And He is made of God, unto us,
unto His people, these things. He's made the wisdom of God.
In this world of ignorance concerning life and death and spiritual
things and eternity and where do I come from and what is my
consciousness that is me and where am I going when I die?
He has made unto his people wisdom from God. He has made unto his
people that. He has made righteousness Listen,
pursue, follow holiness, says Paul to the Hebrews. Follow holiness
without which no man shall see God. Are you holy enough? to
see God? In the Lord Jesus Christ you
are, for he is made unto us righteousness, all the righteousness. For he
who knew no sin was made sin, that he might make us the righteousness
of God in him. He makes us sanctification. How
many are struggling to earn their own sanctification, to establish
it, to fit themselves for heaven? No, Christ is made unto us sanctification. We're set apart from this world
in Him. When? Before the beginning of
time, justified from eternity and redemption. Ah, I have nothing
with which to pay. I'm bankrupt. In terms of spiritual
goodness, I know every day I am bankrupt. But He's redemption. He has made unto me redemption.
In His face the face of Jesus Christ. In his face, in his physical
embodiment, shines the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God. And I know I say it often, but
it's so, it's such a vivid point. Philip said to him, John 14,
show us the Father, and that will satisfy. And Jesus said,
Philip, have I been so long with you? And yet you have not known
me. He who has seen me has seen the Father, the light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Only in him, in Christ, can sinners know God. In him are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Oh, surely there's somehow, you
know, all faiths, you know, let's have a big faith conference because,
you know, there's some truth in Islam and there's some truth
in Hinduism and let's learn from one another. No, no, I'm sorry,
the scriptures are absolutely uncompromising. In Him, in Christ,
are hid all, not some, not most, all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. So that, he said this, Luke 10
verse 22, Jesus said this, imagine, The disciples are there. There's
this man who has no comeliness that we should desire. He just
looks like an ordinary man. In fact, he looked a bit older
than his years. And he says this, all things
are delivered to me of my father. My father has given me everything.
And no man knows who the son is but the father. No man knows
who the son of God is except God the father. And no man knows
who the father is, God the father is, except God the son. Right,
close shop. What about us? And he says, and
he to whom the sun will reveal him. He to whom the sun will
reveal him. He knows those things. He knows
those things. The wisdom of God. The treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. How does he do it? In his word. By his spirit. That's how he
does it. His word is magnified. He has
magnified his word above all his name. It's magnified in his
son. Has God shown His word concerning
redemption in His Son to you? Has He? If He has, you are blessed. You are blessed for all eternity.
You have life. You have eternal life. You have
the righteousness of God in Him that you need to be with Him
in glory. Is your hope for eternity resting
on Him alone? You are counted among the Israel
of God. If that's the case, you're counted
among the Israel of God. You're the nation to whom he
shows his word. You're Jacob. You're Israel.
He shows his statutes and his judgments to Israel, his word
to Jacob. You're counted amongst them.
Why ought you to take heed of it? Why ought we to take heed
of this book? you know, when so few do in our
day. This book is scorned. This book is derided. This book,
they want to come along with their scissors and cut great
acres of pages out of it because they don't like what it says,
and it doesn't fit with the political correctness of our day. This
book is inspired of God. This isn't the words just of
men writing. It is the words of men writing,
but men who were inspired. I'm going to give you some scriptures
now, and if you want, try and keep up with them, but if not,
it doesn't matter. 2 Peter 1, verse 19. 2 Peter 1, verse 19. Peter is telling them, the people
to whom he's writing, about wonderful things that you can have. And
he said, I was on the Mount of Transfiguration. with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Peter, James, and John were taken
up the Mount of Transfiguration, just those three. And when they
were there on the mountain, the Lord Jesus Christ was transfigured.
He shone with heavenly glory. They were terrified. He shone
with heavenly glory. Moses and Elijah came and spoke
to him. And Peter said, oh, what an experience,
I was there. But then he says this, but we
have a more sure word of prophecy. This is what he's saying to you
and me. We have a more sure word of prophecy. This book, this
written word of God. Where would you sooner be on
the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter or here this morning
with this completed scripture open on your lap? I know where
I'd rather be, because God the Spirit tells me, here is the
place to be. It's a more sure word of prophecy,
where unto ye do well to take heed, as unto a light that shineth
in a dark place. You know when you're fumbling
around in a dark place, how desperately you feel the need for a light.
Spiritually, we're fumbling around in a dark place, in darkness,
and this is a light. This shines light on the situation.
Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts, knowing
this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private
interpretation. They didn't make it up, for the
prophecy came not in old time by the will of man. They didn't
decide, I think I'm going to write a religious book. But holy
men of God spake as they were moved, born along, carried along,
inspired by the Holy Ghost. 2 Timothy, chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verse
16. There's lots of chapter 3, 16's
in the scriptures, but 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16. All scripture
is given, how? By inspiration, breathing of
God. breathing of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness, that the man of God, the believer, may be perfect. How perfect? Through the perfection
that is in Christ, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
This book is inspired of God. It's unlike any other book. They're
great works of literature, but this book is unique. It's unique
in the books that we have in this world. There is nothing
else like it that is God-breathed, as this is God-breathed. It's
likened to a lamp. Psalm 119, verse 105. Thy word
is, and I'm probably going to get it the wrong way around,
but never mind, the meaning's the same, a lamp to my feet and
a light to my path. If you're young, you're setting
out on life, there are all sorts of questions. Where should I
go? Which way is the right way? It's
a dark place. I can't see. I can't see clearly
the pitfalls. I can't see the holes in the
ground. I can't see the dangers and the snares that lie there.
Thy word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. It shows
me the way to go. In the light of it, I can see
clearly. I can make right choices. It's like a mirror because when
I read it, I see what I am really like. And isn't that a lovely
thing that that hymn tells us, that a sinner, because when we
look into this word we see what we are in the light of God's
holiness, a sinner, we see what we are. And a sinner is a holy
thing, the Holy Ghost, a sacred thing, the Holy Ghost has made
him so. And how, it says, we look into
this like looking into a mirror, and it reflects back to us what
we're really like by nature, in our heart of hearts. It's
a sword. This book is a sword. What does
a sword do? It cuts. It strikes. Until the
days of gunpowder, it was the weapon of warfare. It's a sword. It's quick. It's powerful. Ephesians
6, 17. The sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. Hebrews 4, 12. The Word of God
is like a sword. Quick. Lively. Powerful. Sharp. piercing. This book, like
no other, cuts right down into the core of your being. It pinpoints
what you're really like. It's like a judgment It's like
a fire of judgment. It's like a hammer of judgment.
Is not my word, says Jeremiah, God through Jeremiah 23-29, is
not my word like a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that
breaks a rock in pieces? This book is a hammer in the
hands of God. It breaks a rock, a stubborn
rock of a stubborn heart. It breaks a rock in pieces before
it with the gospel of his grace. It's true. It's full of truth. It's prophecies are all fulfilled
except one. Do you know there's only one
remaining to be fulfilled? Do you know what that is? That's
that Christ will come again and end this world. That's the only
one to be fulfilled. Think of the prophecies. concerning
Cyrus, the king of Persia, written 300 years before he came on the
scene. Think of the prophecies of Josiah and all the other situations
that happened, all prophesied, all happened exactly as God's
word had said. Think of all the prophecies concerning
Christ himself. Who he was, what he would do,
where he would be born, how he would die, the words he would
say. All of those things were prophesied and all came perfectly
true. Do you know, I know I've told
you this before and I can't remember the exact details, but you know
how unlikely that is if it just happened by chance? You know
the scholars say, well it's so unlikely it's impossible, therefore
people must have fiddled it and written the copy after the event.
They must have written about Cyrus after Cyrus came on the
scene because they couldn't have known that a man called Cyrus
would come and free the Jews from captivity. That's what they
have to say. But it didn't. It happened. As
it was prophesied. Do you know, don't think for
one moment that I'm encouraging you to buy lottery tickets and
to gamble on the lottery. I'm not. I'm not. But let me
just do this for an illustration. Let's say that you bought a national
lottery ticket every week for a year. And you put, what is
it? Six numbers? Something like that, I can't
remember. And the probability of winning a jackpot, winning
the jackpot prize, they tell me is 14 million to one. So, the average person would
have to fill out a lottery ticket 14 million times, and in that,
there's no guarantee, but you'd probably win once out of the
14 million times you played. Right, that's what it means.
Now, imagine you bought one the next week, and then the next
week, and the next week, for a year. And they'd make the draw,
and the first week, you win. And the second week, with a different
set of numbers, you win. And the next week, with a different
set of numbers, you win. And the next week, with a different,
and so on, to 52 weeks. Can you imagine how unlikely
that is? Well apparently, statisticians
tell me, I can't even say it, they tell me that the probability
of all the prophecies of the word of God, all of them, especially
those concerning Christ, coming true as they did after they were
prophesied is a much smaller probability than the probability
of you winning those 52 lottery tickets. What does that tell
us? It's of divine origin. Why is
that so hard? It's of divine origin. It's unique. This book is unique. He's magnified
his word above all his name. It was written by 40 or so authors. It was written in three different
languages. It was written in widely different
places. It was written over more than
1600 years. Can you think how long ago 1600 years was? AD 4
or 500 we're talking about. You know? Distant, distant history,
isn't it, to us? We know very little about it,
in fact. We call it the Dark Ages, because we know so little
about it. 1600 years. It was written by
fishermen. It was written by shepherds.
It was written by scholars. It was written by judges. It
was written by kings. But it's one book, in perfect
harmony, without any contradiction. I love orchestral music, especially
when it's performed by a professional orchestra. And you go to the
festival hall or to the proms, and for a big work you will see
probably 120 players. Violins, violas, cellos, double
basses, piccolos, flutes, oboes, bassoons, I won't name them all,
but you know, all the different parts. And they're all playing
their own bit. And the result, timpani, the
drums, the whole thing. And the result is sublime music. Sublime, conveying the most powerful
emotions. Wonderful, wonderful. And you
come across this and you think, wow, that's a fantastic thing,
isn't it? There's all these individual
players and they've just all turned up on the stage and they
all start playing their own instruments and listen to the combined sound.
What a wonderful coincidence that is. No, you don't. You think,
who composed this? This couldn't have happened by
chance. You think somebody of great genius composed this, don't
you? You think it must have been someone
of great genius. Who composed this? Who composed
this book? I think the point's made. In
the coronation, when the monarch of this country is crowned, The
Archbishop of Canterbury, concerning the Word of God, says to the
monarch, this is the greatest treasure the world affords. Whether anybody there involved
actually knows experientially what that means, I'm not sure.
I'm sure there are some occasionally. The greatest treasure this world
affords. Isaiah 820 says this, to the
law and the testimony, to the Word of God, Whatever it is,
if it speaks not according to this word, there is no light
in it. Concerning what? How you conduct
your family life, how you conduct your nation, how you conduct
married life, how you conduct relationships. It's not just
a book about things like that, it's about Christ and salvation,
but in every respect, you know the way our society is walking
away from it, if they speak not according to this word, there
is no light in them. So then, That's probably used
up most of the time on that one point, but we'll move on swiftly.
God's word directed. Who receives this wonderful book?
Who is it that gets it? Who is it that receives it? Well,
you might say, and again, you know, you've heard me use this
illustration, but I like Desert Island discs on the radio. I
like that. And the castaways on the Desert
Island are always given the complete works of Shakespeare and a copy
of the Bible. And I really do wonder if there's
one in a hundred of the guests that go on there that think other
than this. Well, I'd be quite happy with
the works of Shakespeare. I might learn something. But
as far as that Bible's concerned, I suppose it might be useful
for lighting a fire one day. I pretty much guarantee that
that's what the vast majority of the guests on there think.
No. It's not for them. Who receives
this wonderful book? Those to whom God, in grace,
chooses to show it. What's our text? What's our text?
He shows his word to Jacob. His statutes and his judgments
to his... Who does God show his word to?
The people of his choice. Who's Jacob? Who's Israel? His
elect. The church of God. The Israel
of God, Galatians 6.16, the Israel of God. That's the nation to
whom he shows his word. He doesn't show his word to those
who are perishing. He shows his word to Jacob, to
Israel. And who is that elect? You say
that's very narrow, isn't it? Isn't that going to cut lots
of people out of this? The elect of God is a multitude.
that no man can number. Revelation 7 verse 9. A multitude
which no man can number. Oh, just of white people. No,
of every kind of people. Of all colors, of all races,
of all languages. So we've got our brother that
we've learned about recently, Munir in Pakistan. in such opposition
to the truth. And he's heard the gospel of
grace. How do we know that he is among
this elect of God? The same way that Paul knew the
Thessalonians were. You're beloved of God. I thank
God always for you, brethren. Beloved of the Lord, who has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. How did Paul know
that God had chosen those Thessalonians to salvation? Through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. That's how. That's how. So, not in the world, in general. He doesn't show his word to the
world in general. In John 14, there's a question
asked in John 14 and verse 15. Jesus is talking. If you can
turn there with me, do so. John chapter 14 and verse 15. Jesus says, If you love me, keep
my commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give
you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because
it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. But ye know him, for he
dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you
comfortless. I will come to you yet a little
while, and the world seeth me no more, but ye see me, Because
I live, ye shall live also. And that day ye shall know that
I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that hath
my commandments and keepeth them, that doesn't mean the ten commandments,
it's the whole word of God, the whole gospel declaration. He
it is that loveth me, and he that loveth me shall be loved
of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself
to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
not Judas Iscariot, there was another Judas among the twelve,
Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and
not unto the world? How are you going to do it? How
are you going to manifest yourself to us and not to the world in
general? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he
will keep my words, and my Father will love him. and we will come
to him and make our abode with him." God is discriminating. He reveals his word to Israel,
to his Israel. He comes to those to whom he
wants to reveal his word. 2 Corinthians 4 verses 3 and
4 say this, If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are
lost, in whom the God of this world, Satan, hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not. lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them." This is why Jesus spoke in parables, that it might be
to his people, that they might understand. They asked him in
Matthew 13, why do you speak in parables? And he said he was
fulfilling Isaiah chapter 6. God shows his word to Jacob. Who is Jacob? The elect of God,
a multitude that no man can number. Do we know who they are? No,
we don't. So we go into all the world and preach the gospel.
But God, the Spirit, miraculously shows his word to his own people.
Preachers are sent. You know that the chain in Romans
10, 13 to 17. Preachers are sent. Why does
God send preachers? Why does God send such earthen
vessels? Such weak, fragile, breakable,
brittle human vessels, because he puts in them his glorious
treasure. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels. And he sends out his preachers, because he pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching, to save those who believe. And
as they preach, people hear. They hear the word. They hear
the word preached. And that word concerns Christ. And when they hear of Christ,
they believe it. They are sent to the truth of
it, yes. And believing, they call. Because
having heard of him, and having believed the truth of him, they
call on him. They cry this, having believed
on him, pass me not, O gracious Saviour. Hear my humble cry,
whilst on others thou art calling, do not pass me by. And they're
saved. For whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved. This is the way God works. He
reveals his word to his people. We know, 1 Corinthians 2.14,
the natural man doesn't receive the things of the Spirit of God,
for they're foolishness to him. Neither can he know them. They're
spiritually discerned. You only discern the things of
the Spirit of God by spiritual revelation. As he said to Peter,
he said, to the disciples, Matthew 16, who do they say that I am?
Some say you're Elijah, some say you're one of the other prophets,
but who do you say that I am? And Peter, the spokesman, speaks
up and he says, you are the Christ. the son of the living God. How
did you know that, Peter? Jesus says this to him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Is that unfair?
Oh, he said that's unfair, election's unfair. John 5 verse 40, listen
to this. Jesus is talking to the unbelieving,
rejecting Pharisees, the Jews all around him. He says, and
ye will not come to me. you will not to come you of your
own free will will not to come you will not to come to me that
you might have life there it is he said he who said come unto
me all you that labor and a heavy laden and I will give you rest
and you will not come to me that you might have life everyone
in hell listen to this carefully everyone in hell will have to
confess that it was not that God's word was not directed at
them that put them there in hell, but their willful rejection of
his testimony in nature and in the word. Romans 1 verse 20,
they've got nature all around, therefore says Paul, they are
without excuse come that day of judgment. But God's word is
directed at Jacob, at Israel, by God's Spirit. And then finally,
quickly, God's word received. He shows his word to Jacob. I've
already mentioned to you about how he knew that the Thessalonians
had believed, but in his first epistle to the Thessalonians,
in chapter 1 and verses 9 and 10, he says this, Listen to this,
he says, for they, who's the they he's talking about? He's
talking about witnesses in the surrounding area of Macedonia
and Achaia, that surrounded Thessalonica, he's saying that witnesses in
Macedonia and Achaia to the Thessalonians belief, the fact that they believe,
for they, these people, themselves show us what manner of entering
in we had unto you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve
the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven,
whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us
from the wrath to come. As Paul preached and his companions
with him, as they preached to the Thessalonians, You know,
rather than it being barricades and defenses and portcullises
of the heart up against it, the doors just opened. What manner
of entering in? The doors just opened and it
went in. Why? Psalm 110 verse 3. He, God, makes
his people willing in the day of his power. Willing. He makes
them willing in the day of his power. Do they believe of their
own free will? Yes, they do, because he's given
them a will to believe him. He makes them willing in the
day of his power. There was a lady called Lydia.
in Philippi, as Paul preached, Acts 16, 14. And a certain woman
named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which
worshipped God, she wanted to know the true God. She heard
us preach. And what did Paul preach? Woe
is me if I preach not the gospel. Woe is me if I preach not Christ. He was determined, wherever he
went and whatever he said, to know nothing among them except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And she who sincerely wanted
to worship God, she heard the truth of the Gospel, whose heart
the Lord opened. The Lord opened her heart, that
she attended, whereas others didn't, she attended to the things
which were spoken of Paul. And the word went in. And the
Psalm says, Psalm 119, verse 130, the entrance of thy word
giveth light. And the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ came on in that
woman's heart. God who shined out of darkness
to say, let there be light, when the universe was created, hath
shined in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Can you see these spiritual things?
Or are you blind? As Jesus walked this earth he
came across a number of blind people whose blindness he cured.
Not because he went around as a kind of a travelling doctor
healing things, but to show the spiritual reality behind these
things. A certain blind man, born blind
it tells us in John 9, I believe that means he had the sockets
but no eyes there. genetically, something had gone
wrong. There was no eyes there. And Jesus bent down and took
clay from the ground and he spat on it and made mud and put it
in the sockets and there were eyes created. And the Pharisees,
the religious folks, wanted to know, how did this come about?
Tell us what you've been doing. Have you been meddling and going
along with the teachings of this man? Because they were convinced
that he was a sinner and he was wrong. And the man says, having
told them several times, and they don't agree with him, and
they put him to their aggressive scrutiny, and the man ends up
saying this, and this is the testimony of the child of God,
to whom God has directed his word, and opened eyes and opened
hearts. This man said this, I don't understand
all sorts of things, but one thing I know, that where as I
was blind, now I see. Likewise, he shows his word to
Jacob. Now then, what can I do? What can I do? What can you make?
What can we do? I don't want to make this sound
like a work that you do that gets you ready for heaven. You
know, so many people make Bible reading and things like that,
they make it works that you must do, that prepare you, fit you
for heaven. No, not at all. But there are
things you can do. You can search. Jesus said, search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life.
And I know he was saying that to the Pharisees, but he says
it to us. Search the Scriptures. What was it that made the Bereans
more noble than the others who listened to Paul, who wanted
to stone him in their religious ignorance? It was this. the noble
Bereans searched the scriptures daily to see whether what Paul
preached was true. I know we all have busy schedules.
I know some of you have busier schedules than others. I must
say that since I've retired I'm enjoying the fact that my schedule
isn't that constrained by the need to get on a train and go
to work. So don't think I'm speaking from the standpoint of somebody
that's never gone out the door to earn his living. I have. I've
been there. I've done it. I've suffered the
sweaty, crowded tube trains and all of that sort of thing. I've
suffered the stress and the hassle. But in the middle of busy schedules,
daily reading of the scriptures, I know we're just slightly running
over, but it won't take much longer. Deuteronomy, chapter
6. Deuteronomy, chapter 6. Where's
my reference? Deuteronomy chapter 6 verses
6 to 9. This is what God says to his
people. He says it to you and me. And these words which I command
thee this day shall be in thine heart. This book. And thou shalt
teach them. Listen. Parents, listen, teach
them diligently unto thy children. And shalt talk of them when thou
sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt
bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets
between thine eyes. Everything you do in the light
of God's word. And thou shalt write them. What's
going to direct my steps in my life? What's going to advise
me? What's going to give me wisdom as we walk through this life?
This book, this word, Thou shalt write them upon the posts of
thine house, and on thy gates, and it shall be when the Lord
thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware
unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give
thee great and goodly sights, and so he goes on. That's it. This word before your mind all
the time. Psalm 119 verse 11, the Psalmist
says this, Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not
sin against thee. I know all the texts of the Psalms,
yes they apply to us as individual believers, but you must always
read them in the context of Christ as the man redeeming his people
walking this earth. But nevertheless, thy word have
I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. This book
is your bread, your manna from heaven. It is Christ, the bread
of life. It's what we read in Psalm 19.
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. Read it
again. Oh, how I love thy law, says Psalm 119, verse 97. He shows his word to Jacob. His statutes to Israel. He hasn't
dealt so with any other nation. So few? 7,000. His perfect completeness. all according to his sovereign
purposes and grace. What does he tell us to do? Witness
it, preach it, declare it throughout the world to every creature.
What a blessing to receive it, to hear it, to see the light
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What a folly,
what an utter folly to reject it. If you read on from Psalm
147, you probably only need to turn one page, read the first
chapter of Proverbs from verse 24 onwards, the folly of rejecting
it, flying in the face of it. Read it, see what God says, be
wise, hear what God says. Ezekiel 18, 31, why will ye die? Why will you die when there is
such a feast of truth and eternal life?