Address—Jim Hyland
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That was a thrilled to hear the young brothers pray, and I know it was a thrill to the heart of the Lord Jesus.
So thank you very much.
We're going to, in these talks we share together this weekend, take up the importance of God's Word in a very practical way in our lives. We'll give it a little outline of what the Word of God presents, but I want to present it as to how the Word of God applies to every aspect of our Christian life. I appreciated some of the prayers in connection with the Bereans and how they studied the Word of God, read the Word of God, and searched it out for themselves.
And so on. And so we're going to take it up in a very, very, I trust, practical way. And what I want to impress upon our souls this weekend is the importance of God's Word in our in our lives. It's a vital part of our life. And if there's going to be Christian growth and fruit in our lives as believers, we must read God's Word. God has given it to us. God has preserved it for us, and we need to open it and we need to read it. We need to value it.
So we're going to begin then in.
Second Timothy Chapter 3.
One time before a young people's meeting at a conference, I asked an older brother. I said, what do young people need today? And he said to me they need to read their Bibles. And that's true for all of us, young and old. We need to read our Bibles. But even more than that, it's not just casual reading of the word of God that's important, but we're going to notice how we need to really take it in, digestive meditate on it, and quite a number of things I hope we can cover.
In these talks together, but let me begin in Second Timothy chapter 3.
And verse 15.
And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, or in other words, the word of God, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now we're gonna stop there for now, because what I want to impress upon us first of all is.
That it is the word of God that shows us the way of salvation. You know, none of us in this room would know how to be saved if it wasn't for the word of God. Before I comment further on that, Timothy was a young man who had got saved and he was serving the Lord with the apostle Paul and so on. And we're going to notice some other things about Timothy in connection with the word of God later. But.
Paul is reminding Timothy here in this epistle that Timothy had had the privilege of knowing the word of God, hearing the word of God from the very early days of his youth. Now, of course, it was the Old Testament Scriptures that he would have heard when he was young, when he was a child, because the New Testament hadn't been written yet, and so it was the Old Testament Scriptures. Now I realized that I look into the faces of some here today.
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Who were not brought up in Christian homes. And you didn't hear the word of God from the time you were a young child. And the Lord has worked in some way. You heard the word of God, You've gotten saved, and we're thankful that you're here to further go over the word of God this weekend. But I also realized that many of us, like myself, have heard the word of God from the time we were very young children. I don't remember the first time that I heard the word of God read either in the home or the first time I came to meeting.
Because from the time I was adopted by my parents at two years of age, I was exposed to the word of God both around the dinner table and brought to the meetings and Sunday school and so on, and it's a great privilege. I'm thankful that I look back and I didn't always appreciate Dad or Mom opening the Bible twice a day in the home. I didn't always appreciate being brought to Bible meetings, but I look back and I'm thankful for parents who were consistent and persistent in bringing the word of God.
Before us, and I want to encourage you, I know sometimes when even as young people we don't always appreciate the godly heritage we have and being brought to the meetings and hearing the word of God at home. But Timothy was told to remember that time and to value it, and I hope everyone of us learn to value it. I wish that when I was a teenager I would have appreciated it, valued it more and availed myself of it.
Now what? The reason I began with this scripture is because as it says here.
It was the word of God that made Timothy wise as to the way of salvation. I appreciate it again, some of the prayers in connection with perhaps the fact that there's someone here who doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. Maybe even someone who, like Timothy, has heard the word of God from the time that they were children. If there's someone here like that I want to encourage, you know, I want to do more than that. I want to plead with you.
To get saved right now. Because we do not know even if this day or this camp is going to conclude before the Lord Jesus comes. Not only that, we don't know when we're going to draw that last breath and we're going to be taken into eternity. And as you have heard in the gospel many times after we leave this world, whether it's in death or through the coming of the Lord Jesus.
There is going to be no more opportunity.
To get saved, you know, very solemn to me. It's a little aside from our talk, but it's very solemn to me to realize that in the days of Elijah, when he was caught away to heaven, and it's a little picture in the Old Testament of the Rapture, when he was caught away to heaven, it wasn't the general populace in Israel that missed Elijah. It tells us that the ones who missed Elijah were the sons of the prophets. They've often thought of that in application to us.
Because I believe if the Lord comes today, those who really initially miss us will be the sons and daughters of Christian parents. It will be those who have heard the way of salvation from the days of their youth, those that have sat in camps and conferences and meetings like this. If the Lord comes before this meeting concludes this morning and you look around and most, if not all of everyone else is gone, you will realize what has happened.
And you will also realize, I believe, that it is too late to get saved. So it's the the word of God that shows us or makes us wise unto salvation. You know, I've heard stories, and probably most of us have here too, of people who have got a hold of the word of God or a portion of the word of God, read it for themselves without anybody to explain it or give exposition. And they have gotten saved as a result. Because the Word of God makes it plain. It tells us that the Word of God is so plain.
That a wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein. Anybody who has ever heard the word of God has no excuse for not getting saved, and you will have no excuse if you're not saved and you leave this world in death. O the Lord Jesus comes and the believers go. You will have no excuse to give to God, or even a good reason to give to God or to the Lord Jesus. As to why you didn't get saved when you had opportunity. Now I want to read on to the next verse in our chapter.
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Verse 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.
For doctrine. For reproof, for correction. For instruction in righteousness. Now the last part of this verse we're going to take up a little bit later, but what I want to again point out and make it very clear is that the word of God is inspired. Now before I explain that, let's go to another verse or two in Second Peter.
Second Peter chapter one.
And verse 20.
Second Peter, chapter one and verse 20. Knowing this that the that no prophecy of the scriptures is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of man, but holy man of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. You know we talk about something being inspired. Sometimes we sing a hymn that we particularly enjoy and we say, oh that was inspiring or that was inspired. Now I understand what we mean when we use that word.
But in the scriptural context, there is only one thing that is inspired, and that is God's Word, and the verse we read in Second Peter explains to us what inspiration really is. The people that God used to write His word didn't just write their own opinions or thoughts or observations. They wrote exactly what they were told by the Spirit of God.
Now I'm gonna give you a little illustration. No doubt some of you have heard me use this before. It's a very simple illustration, but it helps me at least to understand what it is, to what what it it means when it says the word of God is inspired that all scripture is given by inspiration or is inspired Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. When my girls were little and learning to write, sometimes they would take a pencil in their hand.
And then I would put my hand over there and I would guide them as they wrote their name or something else, some words. And after they had written it, they would hold up the sheet and perhaps say to their mother, look what I have written now, who really wrote it? They held the pencil in their hand. But who really wrote what ended up on the sheet? I was the one that guided the pencil and formed the letters and the words.
And maybe that's a little simple illustration of what it means to be in to be inspired.
It's interesting how many writers, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament wrote things that they didn't observe themselves. For instance, when Moses wrote the book of Genesis, Moses wasn't around for that. Moses didn't come on the scene till later, but Moses is used to pen the book of Genesis. And great details about creation, about the fall of man, about different.
Individuals.
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob the patriarchs the story of Joseph and so on. Who could have written such a thing if it wasn't by inspiration? And you know, some of those men that wrote those things, like Moses, they must have really wondered what they wrote. Can this really be what? What? What Is this really the truth? But I suggest that they must have had a sense that they were writing under the direction and control of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so Moses wrote the book of Genesis. Then you take somebody like Jonah.
Imagine Jonah writing about himself the way he did. You know, if you and I were going to write our autobiography or about some incident in our lives, we wouldn't write so detailed about our failures, about running away from the Lord and going down in a ship and going to sleep and being tossed over and and so on. Jonah wrote that by divine inspiration. And so many of the writers write not only about their successes spiritually and how they followed the Lord and the Lord's dealings with them in that way.
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But so many of the writers write about their faults and failures as well, because they were writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Just to come over to the New Testament for a moment, you know Mark and Luke, two of the evangelists, 2 of the gospel writers, they were not observers of the Lord's life here in this world now Matthew and John were. And you can say I could understand how they could write various incidents.
In the life of the Lord Jesus. But we find that Mark and Luke, they were not ones who followed the Lord. And yet Mark is the one that writes the most details as to activity. He he he writes about what the Lord Jesus did, and Mark takes us from one busy activity to the other, and so on. I wonder what this point to stress that the four evangelist writers, the four gospel writers, they were not reporters.
I say that because I've sometimes heard it said, well, they they observe the Lord Jesus, and it's like reporters going out. And if you read USA TODAY and the Wall Street Journal or some local newspaper, the New York Times, you're gonna get a different view, different opinions, different aspects of the same event. That is not what the the gospel writers did. As I say, two of them didn't even observe the Lord in his life and the other two certainly didn't write their opinions.
Now I just want to very, very quickly we're not going to really speak much about this ha, green hand out you have. But I just want to very quickly go over, while we're on this subject, the four Gospels And remember young people that every writer has a theme and it's helpful when you go through the word of God, whether it's the gospel writers, the Old Testament writers, the epistles and so on. It's helpful to just have some.
Idea of how they are presenting things. And I wanna give you just an A quick outline of the Gospels and you can study this for yourself. Because in Second Timothy chapter one, verse 13, as it has on the heading of your sheet here we find here that he says have an outline of sound words, which words thou has heard of me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That's the J&D translation. It is important young people.
To develop and have an understanding of an outline of the word of God.
Again, what each writer presents the various aspects. I know we can spend our whole life on scripture and we'll still only have an outline, but it's not hard to just have some idea sometimes just a key verse or a key phrase so that you keep what they are writing in their context. So we have Matthew. Matthew presents to us, Christ as the King of the Jews, Israel's Messiah, And I've given you a key verse. I won't take time to read it, but I've given you a key verse.
To understanding the book of Matthew. It was written by one of the 12 who accompanied with the Lord doing during his public ministry. In Luke's gospel, he's referred to as Levi, same person a Matthew. Now one thing that's helpful in taking up Matthew, it's the gospel that's most Jewish in its character. There are things that are unique to Matthew as I've got here. It's got the most Old Testament quotes of any gospel.
Somewhere around 80 times it quotes from the Old Testament. The term Kingdom of Heaven appears 32 Times and it is the only gospel in which the expression is used.
We have the genealogy from Abraham through Joseph, the husband of Mary. This is his official genealogy according to Jewish reckoning, and that's why it's presented in that way. Matthew traces his descent from Abraham, the depository of promise and David the depository of royalty, the only gospel that introduces the subject of the church. I think that's very interesting. You'd think it would be John's Gospel or one of the other gospels that would present the go, the truth of the church.
But twice in Matthew, in the 16th chapter on this rock I will build my church. And in the 18th chapter, instruction to go on in the local assembly. It's the only gospel that presents that showing that Judaism was going to be set aside and Christianity, the church period, was going to be introduced. It's the gospel that's most dispensational in its character. Now what I mean by that is it's the gospel that the stories present a dispensational outline. I I don't have time to go into that, but young people, let me just say this.
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That I believe there is a great deal of the work of the enemy in Christian circles, even I dare say Fundamental Christianity Today, to set aside the dispensation, the dispensational character of the Scripture. And what I mean by that is God has, through his dealings with man, dealt with man in different ways, from Adam right through to the Kingdom. There's different ways that he's dealt with man at the beginning of a dispensation.
He gives light and responsibility as to the light he gives at the end of the dispensation. He brings in judgment when there's failure to act on that light, when there's ruin. And then he introduces something brand new. And remember, you and I today are not under covenant. The Church is never under covenant. The Bride of Christ is not under covenant. Covenant theology is what the Church fathers taught, and it's been revived again.
And the church fathers didn't understand the difference between God's feelings in different ways. In the Old Testament, the difference between Israel and the church, and so on. And we don't have time to go into that. Then we find Mark's Gospel. Mark presents Christ as the perfect servant. And I've given you a couple of verses to that are to me, at least to me, keys to understanding GOS The Gospel of Mark. It's written by the Lord's failing servant, John Mark, who was later restored.
And he was not an apostle or an eyewitness of the Lord's ministry. It begins with his baptism, temptation in public ministry. The reason there's no genealogy in Mark's Gospel is because back in ancient times it was not important or necessary for a servant to be able to declare his genealogy, and so it's omitted in Mark's Gospel in keeping with the character in which the Lord is presented.
It presents one busy activity after another. They go from from healing to feeding to the multitudes, and they he uses words like immediately and Anon and forthwith. Just one activity, as it says, they didn't even have so much time as even to eat. It's the shortest of the four gospels. But as I said, it gives more detail than as to his service and activity and as to historically events.
Than any other gospel. It is the most the gospel that's most chronological.
And it's uh uh presentation as well. Loop presents to us Christ as the perfect man, or the Son of Man. On the other side of your sheet. It was written by a Gentile referred to as the beloved Physician. And who better to write details about the Lord Jesus as a man than the Physician one who understood, uh, those those uh things. And so, uh, he introduces us his He introduces his genealogy through Mary.
Notice it's different here than than Matthew's Gospel is through Mary to show that he was truly a man because it was. He was conceived of the Holy Ghost, a begotten of the Holy Ghost, and he was conceived by a by a virgin. The man begets of the woman can see just the the spirit of God guarding his his deity. Luke traces him fro up to Adam and to God, for his is simply his manhood. That is the point. And so on.
It presents an order of moral principles rather than an direct and exact order of events. And so, as I've listed here, it's the gospel that's least chronological in its presentation. Sometimes people have been confused by reading Luke and saying, well, that's not the way it's presented in Mark or even MA Matthew. What's What's the deal here? Luke is presenting moral principles rather than a, uh, chronological outline John presents to us.
The Son of God as the Word. And I've given a key verse. It's written by the Apostle who calls himself the disciple who Jesus loves. There's no mention of his birth or his genealogy here again because.
He's the ever existing one. He's the eternal word here. He's the one from the past eternity.
Uh, God has no, again, no genealogy. God is his father. He's presented as the I am, and I've given some a list of some of them.
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Uh, eternal life is presented to us in John like in no other uh gospel, no record of his ascension as the omnipresent one. He was in heaven and on earth at the same time. And you can notice the verse that that I've listed there that gives that uh that true. It's the most doctrinal and it's in of the four gospels. There's more doctrine in John's gospel than any other of the doctrine of the gospels. For instance, you have the chapters of the upper room ministry.
From 13 to the end of 16, where the Lord Jesus is expounding truth in connection with his leaving the disciples and uh the seeds of Christianity are sown there as well. And what would characterize them after uh the Lord was was gone back to heaven and the Christian era began. Then I've just listed a couple of verses as to the purpose of the gospel. 1 is that uh as John records that you might believe and so again if there's someone here and you haven't put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
These things are recorded that you might believe and it's also given as say a pattern for our life. So the life of the Lord Jesus here, he's left us an example that we should follow in his steps. I trust you'll go over that and study it. Look up some of the scriptures and so on. So we have the the word of God, it's inspired. We've established that the.
The.
Go uh, gospel that. We've given some examples as to uh, those who have written it. Uh, the word of God. Uh, we've gone over the gospel writers. Now I want to develop this a little bit by going to first Peter chapter one. We've spoken of its inspiration. Now I want to speak of it as a living book. That's the next heading uh, that we'll take up these verses under. So first Peter, chapter one.
And verse 23.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all fleshes as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Now just hold your finger here. We'll come back. Let's follow this up with a few verses in John 3.
John's Gospel chapter 3.
John's Gospel chapter 3 and verse 4.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, ye cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, you must be born again. I do want to read one more verse before we make some comments in Hebrews chapter 4.
And verse 12.
Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12.
For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a is a desert and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So I believe these verses bring before us the fact that the word of God is not only inspired, but it is living now, young people, the book we have before us today.
Is the only book in this world that's living every other book. And some of you study pretty hard at school and have very intense curriculum, and you have some pretty thick books and some pretty deep books on science and other subjects. But every book written by man, no matter how deep and profound it is, with event, with study, it can eventually be exhausted.
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But not the word of God. You can read the word of God for 100 years, and you will never exhaust the word of God, and you'll always find that there is something fresh brought before you. And so we find here that Peter first of all says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God that liveth and abideth forever every person here today who's saved.
And every person who has ever been saved, it's the result of having read or heard the word of God in some way. It is the Word of God taken and applied in the power of the Spirit that God uses to impart divine life to us. When we got saved, we got a new life, the very life of Christ. And this is what the Lord Jesus was trying to explain to.
Nicodemus that night that Nicodemus stayed up.
And talk to the Lord. You know, Nicodemus had some questions. And the Lord had to say to him, you're a teacher in Israel and you don't know these things. Why did the Lord say that? Because actually in the Old Testament it's brought out if we he, if Nicodemus, being a ruler of the Jews, had been reading the Old Testament with the prayerful exercise He should have, he would have understood what the Lord was talking about, because in Ezekiel, in different places.
It talks about giving a new heart, and I know it's a little different application in the Old Testament, but the Lord was applying what you have in Ezekiel as to getting a new heart. It's Israel and it's a National Heart transplant for them in that day. But the Lord was applying it to us as individuals. Now, I don't say this to be critical and I don't have any problem with making the gospel as plain and simple as we can, but you know, I never say in the gospel, give your heart or your life to Jesus.
Because what God wants to do is give us a new heart and a new life. Now, after we're saved, we should give our heart and our life to the Lord. Jesus, my son, give me thine heart. And we need to dedicate our life to the Lord and to his service and for his glory and so on. But God wants to first of all in the power of the Spirit, the living word. Through the power of the Spirit, He wants to give us a new heart and a new life. Again, I'm not criticizing and I'll sing the little songs about giving your heart to the Lord. And so.
Not a problem, but I think it's good to just differentiate these things as we go through the word of God. So the word of God lives and it abides forever. We'll talk about that under the that last part, under the next heading. We read in Hebrews chapter 4 as well, that there he speaks of it again. The word of God is living and powerful. Quick is just an old English word for living. Again, the word of God is living.
And it is powerful. And what does it do? Well, we read there that it it's sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of Thunder of soul and spirit. In other words, it differ when we read the word of God in the power of the Spirit. It differentiates between that which is natural and that which is spiritual. And I think that's important when we go through scripture because.
There's plenty of the word of God that deals with natural things. And there are natural tendencies with us, natural bents to our nature. There are natural relationships. Marriage is a natural relationship. A per the couple who gets married, their heirs together, the grace of life, that's this life here. It's not a spiritual tie. Marriage and the Lord is is what we desire and what is scriptural. But marriage is not a spiritual tie. It's for this life. It's natural.
Because marriage isn't going to exist in heaven in the same way that it does now. It's going to be nothing to detract from Christ and the bride. That's the paramount relationship. When we get home to heaven. Then there are those spiritual things and the the word of God of course takes up those things. So it's good to discern and rightly divide the word of truth in in that way. And then it says it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It's interesting that the word discern here.
Actually, in the orig. In the original comes from the word critic or to criticize. Never come to the word of God with the thought of being critical of the scripture or criticizing the word of God. So they talk about critics and there have been tons of books written over the over time where people are criticizing the word of God. You'll never get a blessing from the word of God unless you let the word of God criticize you.
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That's what the word of God does in the power of the Spirit. Don't be like a brother who once said, well, when I read the word of God, there's some shots I let go over my shoulder. Now let those shots go right to our heart and our conscience. And don't I say again, don't come to the word of God with a critical attitude. Come willing to let the word of God criticize you. And we're gonna speak of some other aspects in that connection later on as well. Well, we find we found where we read in First Peter.
That there's another aspect to the word of God and that is it's enduring. So it's inspired, it's living and it's enduring and so the grass with Withers the flower face. But the word of our God endures or stands forever. It's really a quote from the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40. When it speaks about grass and the flowers in scripture, it's often Speaking of man in his pride putting on an outward display.
You know, the grass comes up and uh, we run over it with the lawn mower and we cut it down. And so that it's an it's an apartment description of man and his pride. It's like Nebuchadnezzar in the Old Testament. It's not this great Babylon that I have built. The Lord brought him down in one hour, it says. And so in contrast to that, the word of our God, it endures forever. You know, men have tried over the centuries to get rid of the word of God, to eradicate it from this world.
And we know stories about in Europe, how they, uh, went into the homes and the villages and cities and they would try to confiscate all the Bibles they could. They'd often bring them to the town square and they would have a public burning of the word of God. They tried to root it out and get rid of it. You know, they'll never be able to do it. You know why? Because the originals in heaven and actually the the only original there is, you know, we talk about in the original it says this and that, but.
Actually the only original is in heaven, but we can go back to the best manuscripts and and so on. So the word of God endures. Now in that connection I want to read a verse in Psalm 119.
So I'm 119.
And we're gonna read several verses here, but first of all in uh verse 89. So I'm 119 verse 89.
Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. But we've just spoken of this, the originals in heaven. But I want to stress that the word of God that we have in our hands today does not change. You know, when I was growing up, we read Hardy Boy books and my sister I think read Nancy Drew and maybe some of my siblings read The Bobbsey Twins and they were series of books that were available.
Uh, when we were growing up, just kids books, mystery stories and so on. But you know what's interesting? Those books have been reprinted three or four times over the last 60 years, and every time they reprint the series, they updated. You know, when I read the Hardy Boy books, they didn't have cell phones. They talked about walkie talkies. They were the they were before cell phones and and different things that they had. And they've updated those series of books to appeal to the next generation.
But the Word of God never needs to be modernized. It never needs to be updated. The Word of God fits what is happening today. In fact, it's more up to date than the daily newspaper. Just drop down in the same Psalm and we'll notice that confirmed in verse 98.
Thou through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep thy precepts. The Psalmist, when he wrote this was really saying I in our language. I have more understanding about what's going on in this world and God's purposes for this earth and for man then all the wise worldly statesman and people that study these things from a natural standpoint.
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And I believe today, young people, that the Christian who reads their Bible has more understanding about what's going on today in the world.
And the course that things are on, then all the people in political office or all the people that are trying to figure out where this world is headed, You know, I spend a great deal of time in the business lounges of the air airports around this world. And when you're in those business lounges, you are rubbing shoulders with the top echelon of the political and corporate world. And I watch people because usually on one end of the business lounge is a large flat screen television with CNN.
And depending what country you're in, there's another one on the other end of the lounge with CBC if it's Canada or BBC if it's Britain or whatever. And 24 hours a day the news is being.
Being sounded out. And I watch people these these are the intelligent people of the world, These are the top people of the world. And I watch them as they look at the news and the fear in their eyes.
Men's hearts failing them for fear and I listen to them as they turn away and shake their heads and say where is it all going to end?
You know, they realize they're dealing with an interplay of economic and social and political forces.
That are beyond their control and now it's not when is the elastic gonna what is the elastic gonna snap but when is it going to snap. And yes they don't have the answers but you and I if we're reading and studying the word of God we have all the answers this is the answer book and so the psalmist here he said I've got more understanding than all the wise of the of the world because I read and.
And keep your word. Give you another little example as to how up to date the, uh, word of God is. When I was growing up there was a large bookshelf in my parents hallway going down to the bedrooms and in that on that bookshelf were lots of different kinds of books. But up at the top by the ceiling there was a row of old school books that my parents had studied when they went to school and sometimes on a snowy evening or rainy afternoon.
My siblings and I would get those books down and we would look at them as we used to say, just for a laugh, because we would say, wow, we've left those things behind, behind long ago. And you young people, if I were to bring out some of the old school books that I studied when I went to school, you'd say, well, Jim, where did you come from? Those things that those things are no longer taught. Men have changed their opinions, their ways of teaching.
Men have made new discoveries, and so the books that men write are out of date, sometimes even before they come out off the press. But this book is Northeast will never be out of date. It was written over a period of several thousand years. It all not there's no contradictions written by a number of different people who never knew one another in this in this world.
And it all fits together. And it all fits what's happening either, even in the year 2017 and it'll do the same tomorrow. Now one more subject I wanna introduce this morning and we're moving quickly because I wanna cover a number of things as we go through these talks and that is, I want to cover the subject of nourishment. So again, just to recap for those of you who are taking notes, the word of God is inspired.
It's living, it's enduring, it's up to date and now it's nourishment, It's food for our Christian life. Let's go to the book of Job first of all.
Job, Chapter 23.
Different ones speak in the book of Job, but this is Job himself speaking, as is indicated at the beginning of the 23rd chapter.
And Job says in the 12Th verse, neither have I gone back from thy commandment, from the commandment of thy lips. And then this is the part of the verse I want you to notice. I have esteemed the words of thy of his mouth more than my necessary food. And then I want to notice a verse in Jeremiah, chapter 15.
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Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 16.
So thy words were found, and I did eat them. And Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. For I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Maybe just one more verse, back in the 119th Psalm.
So I'm 119 and this time, verse 103, how sweet are thy words unto my taste? Yeah, sweeter than honey to my mouth. When we got saved, as we noted before, we got a new life. We got a life from God. It's a perfect life. It's divine life, and it's the very life of Christ. It tells us Christ.
Who is our life? So when the Word of God was applied in the power of the Spirit, you and I received divine life. But that life, while it's a perfect life, it is a dependent life. And if you and I are going to grow and be healthy, fruitful, happy Christians, we must have food for the divine life. Now, what is the food for the divine life? Well, I believe these verses help to indicate what it is.
It's the word of God. Thy words were found and I did eat them. I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. Now that doesn't literally mean we eat the word of God. We don't eat paper with with print on it, of course. So what does it mean to to feed on God's word is to open this book every day, to read it prayerfully and slowly and to let it feed the divine life that we have.
Now, wherever we read in the word of God, the subject is always Christ. We're going to speak of this. We may not have time to develop it this morning, but we're gonna speak of this in a in a little go into it in a little detail, because what we need to do is really feed on Christ from God's word. In that connection, just notice this little blue hand out that you have, because I I believe it shows that what we're we're, uh, Speaking of.
So I I listed at the beginning where it says the scriptures. I listed a couple of scriptures that bring before us the fact that wherever we read in the word of God, the subject is always Christ. And I I've indicated that now in the Old Testament. Well, just let me read the under the Old Testament. Let me read the verse I verses I put there because.
Even in the Old Testament, the subject is always Christ. This is the Lord Jesus talking to the two on the way to Emmaus.
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the in the law of Moses, and in the That's the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible in the prophets and in the Psalms. Now notice this concerning me and you, That then opened either understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Now I've listed under that Moses.
And I've started. I've listed some things that start with the same letter. I thought it might help us to remember it a little better. So in the books of Moses, that's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. We have the foreshadows of Christ. Everything in the book of Moses was foreshadowing or looking forward to the coming of Christ. For instance, the sacrifices given later on in in in Leviticus, Exodus, and Leviticus, the Tabernacle.
All those things, they pointed forward. And Hebrews tells us that they were really just pale reflections and feeble foreshadows of what was really in the heart of God. You know, when God looked down in those early days in those five books of Moses, what he had established and what he saw was really looking forward to his son. Another example is Abraham and Isaac going up the mountain together.
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And Isaac in type at least, being offered as a sacrifice that to the heart of God, looked forward to the time when his son would go to the altar to the cross and be offered up as that great sacrifice that's the foreshadow in the profits. We have the foretelling of Christ. The prophets gave prophecies concerning the coming of Christ. For instance in the book of Isaiah he we have some of the names of the Lord Jesus that he would would have an incarnation.
Emanuel and wonderful counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and so on. So that's the foretelling.
Then in the Psalms we have the feelings of Christ. You know, in many of the Psalms we find that they are prophetically bringing out feelings of the Lord Jesus in the circumstances of life that we don't get in the gospel. And that's why often on Lord's Day morning you'll find at the breaking of bread, a brother will read from some of those psalms the 22nd Psalm, the the 42nd Psalm, the 69th Psalm, the 102nd Psalm where you have those feelings of the Lord Jesus brought out in a very real way. And I don't think there's anything we'll tug at our heartstrings.
Like reading those songs in that in that light. So that's the feelings of Christ. Now I've just added here the historical books. We don't have that, uh, differentiation in the verse where he expounded to them on the way to Emmaus and back in the in the upper room and so on. But in the historical books we have what we might say are the figures of Christ. And you can go back and read books like Uh, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, uh, Doctor John, even Joshua judges Ruth. And those things bring before us the figures of Christ like in Ruth Boaz.
Is a figure of uh of Christ and different of those individuals and and we see with the the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra's uh Zerubbabel in Ezra's day and the rebuilding of the wall in Nehemiah's day. They all figure in some way Christ. The New Testament uh the gospels. You have the facts concerning Christ the life of Christ in the in the psalms you have his feelings and expressions but you want the facts concerning his life. You've got to go to the gospel.
In as you have the foretelling of Christ, not the 4th telling, not so much prophecy telling the future, but foretelling. That is they went out with the gospel and they told about the Lord Jesus. They they it's it's forth telling. It's it's telling it out. And so we have the spread of the gospel and Christianity. In the epistles you have the foundation of Christianity. We'll never understand what Christianity really is and what.
The position we've been brought into and our responsibilities and actions and interactions with the world and so on. Unless you go to the epistles where you have the foundation of Christianity and that's what it says in the end of Ephesians 2. He's the foundation has been laid. The being the apostles and prophets that's the New Testament writers laid the foundation truth of Christianity. Then you have in the Revelation the fruition of everything Revelation looks on to the day when the Lord Jesus.
Is going to have his rightful place here in this world and everything is going to be brought into order and fruition for the glory of God and for the glory and full exaltation of the Lord Jesus. So that's just a little bit of a of an outline. And so it's the word of God that feeds us with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When I was growing up, we used to sing a little hymn, Feed on God's Word in the morning, Feed on God's Word at the at noon, Feed on God's Word in the evening.
To keep your heart in tune. Now when we take this subject up again, we'll continue on with that and go on to some other things, but I think that's probably a good stopping place.