The B-I-B-L-E by Jeff O’Rear
292 | Seven sermon summer surfin’ spectacular
Stand Firm on the Word of God
Surf's up for another installment of our Seven Sermon Summer Surfin' Spectacular! This week, our buddy Jeff O'Rear returns to take us back to Sunday School basics with a fresh look at a classic VBS childhood song: The B-I-B-L-E. In a digital age where the Scriptures sit on our smartphones right alongside social media, games, and house-hunting apps, Jeff asks a searching question: Do we treat the Bible as just another self-help book or convenience app, or do we revere it as the living Word of God? Moving from the delight of the blessed man in Psalm 1 to Ezra's three-step blueprint for spiritual leadership (study, do, teach), this sermon challenges us to rediscover the gritty depth of Bible stories, move past "first and second opinions," and stand firmly on the sufficient, inspired scriptures.
Takeaways
The Big Idea: The Bible is not merely a self-help manual or one app among many on our screens, but God's inspired, complete, and sufficient Word.
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Surfing Spectacular Intro
Bryan: Well, surf's up everyone. I'm Bryan Schiele.
Ryan: I'm Ryan Joy
Bryan: And thanks so much for tuning in to the Seven Sermon Summer Surfing Spectacular here. This is the second time that we've done this, and, uh, I'm looking forward to today's episode with Jeff O'Rear, an OG of the podcast. He's actually been on before, and that's been a super, uh, super exciting time to have him back on now for a sermon.
Everybody gets to hear one of his lessons. And, uh, this one is super basic, but there's a, there's some deep stuff going on in this conversation about the B-I-B-L-E, and it's just, you know, almost hard not to sing it.
Phone Apps and Priorities
Bryan: But Ryan, there's something he talks about in this lesson that just really struck me, and I have a question for you.
So he's talking about, like, stuff on your phone and how we have the Bible on our phone, but is it, like, just another one of the apps that you have available to you as if, like, you know, it's right next to your Maps app, and it's another thing like that that kinda gives you direction in your life? Like, if you're not opening up the Bible on your app, what is your, like, go-to app on your phone that you just can't seem to get enough of?
Ryan: Ooh, You know, I would say I every day am in two apps for kind of fun, kind of, uh, brain health, which is, uh, Duolingo and Crosswords, the New York Times Crosswords. So those, those are, uh, you know, I, I have to get my daily Duolingo in to working on Spanish and different things like that, and then I, I try to get at least the Wordle, if not the crossword and some of the other puzzles.
What, what about you? What's your go-to app?
Bryan: That feels very healthy. I'm, I'm never really been, like, a gamer on my phone, although I have done a few of those, like, uh, word puzzles before. Right now, dude, my whole thing is I'm on Zillow, like, 24/7. I'm-- Like, we're deep into house hunting right
Ryan: Oh, yeah.
Bryan: So I feel like I'm just constantly staring at, like, floor plans and pictures and details and new listings and open houses.
Dude, it's, it's, like, just constant end to end for me. But you know, it is, like... It's just one of those things to ima- to imagine the amazing benefit of having the Bible on our phone. But then you ask this question is like, "Is the Bible the most important thing on my phone, or is it, like, the primary thing on my phone?"
And you know, he also talks about books. Like, is it just another self-help book? How do we view the Bible? So excited about your conversation with Jeff, and then to get into his sermon here on the episode
Jeff Returns to Talk Bible
Ryan: Well, Jeff, thanks for being on again. We have done some drafts together. We've had you on, I think, a couple times, which we haven't had a ton of guests, so it's really great having you back with a sermon all about the Bible, and you even learn how to spell it in this sermon. So we're calling back to this great children's song, and I love the idea of a series built on kids songs.
Do you have a favorite kids song?
Jeff: Well, my favorite is probably the B-I-B-L-E.
Ryan: Yeah? '
Jeff: Cause I'm a preacher. But I do have a, a close runner-up is I've Got the Joy. Uh-
Ryan: Yeah ...
Jeff: version I l- heard of that one growing up was, there was, I've got the joy, I've got the peace that passes understanding, and I've got the wonderful love of my blessed Redeemer.
And- Mm ... the, the guy I remember talking about that, he would always get faster and faster with each verse. So by the time you get to the third one- ... I've got the wonderful love of my blessed Redeemer down to the depths of my heart. Whenever I do that with kids, they always just kinda stare at me like, "What are you doing?"
So I really enjoy, like, doing that stuff in VBS, uh, leading the kids songs. And, you know, I, I'll be a little bit silly every once in a while, but, you know, I think it's, it's good to get the kids involved, and they remember that stuff. So anyway, but B-I-B-L-E- It, it- ... up at the top.
Ryan: Yeah. Well, this is a good one, and, you know, that one you mentioned, you always get to yell, "Where?"
Jeff: Yeah,
Ryan: that's right. That's, that's fun. But this one's fun, too. Anything you get to spell and yeah, of course, anything that gets us to understanding, even at the youngest age, this specialness of this book that, uh, means so much to us. You know, that's the book for me. I know we both- Yeah, that's right ... feel that way in, in a big way.
So making this personal about this, this lesson itself where we- Hear you talk about what is so special about the Bible.
Learning to Love Scripture
Ryan: Where did you first learn to love the Bible? Like, not just respect it, but enjoy it, delight in it as you talk about. Or I guess to put it another way, if some young person asked you, as I've been asked many times before, "How can I learn to love the Bible more?
How can I get more out of my Bible? How can I enjoy my time with it more?" What would you say? I
Jeff: guess kinda taking both those parts, uh, probably sometime when I moved to Texas, just when I got plugged in with the college students here, uh, some of the church family when I was going to school in Nacogdoches.
Um, s- something about around that time just kinda hit for me more of... And like you mentioned, you know, I grew up hearing from my parents, from Bible class teachers, from preachers about respecting God's Word, knowing that this is the Word of God and, and trying to do my best to, you know, grow on my own. But I feel like it was probably around that time in my early 20s that it felt like it was getting a little bit more personal for me.
Mm-hmm. And surely a lot of those roots and those seeds, you know, credit to people who helped with that and to God's- Mm ... grace just throughout that whole time in there. But as you're thinking, uh, you know, I don't think you have to wait until your 20s or, you know, people just have different experiences when it comes to some of their- Yeah
depth with scripture. And so I think the, the best thing to do to really, um... Let's see, what was the... Go- going to love the Bible more and getting out is you have to become familiar with it. You've gotta spend some time reading it, and there's gonna be times where you're reading something, uh, I might come back to this later in some of our time, but like I read Numbers 7 for part of my just readings I do throughout the week.
That was, and Numbers 7 is just one of those chapters that's the same, you know, these were the sacrifices, these are how many- Mm-hmm ... these are how many bulls, and this is the next tribe that does it. And, and it's like 80 verses- Yeah ... of basically the same six verses repeated over and over. So I don't always feel the like, man, I'm on the high mountaintop of faith from reading- Yeah
Numbers 7,
Ryan: and that's no respect to Moses- Most exciting thing I've ever read ...
Jeff: or whoever. Yeah. But I mean, you've just got to read to get familiar. But with that, developing skills of listening well, listening in whether it's in small group studies or Bible classes, whether that's listening to preaching and picking up on people who also read scripture and love scripture.
Ryan: Mm-hmm.
Jeff: You catch some of that enthusiasm.
Ryan: Yeah. It's
Jeff: contagious. Goes with, yeah, talking and then asking questions too, finding space for, for that to happen. You know, sometimes that's in a Bible class, sometimes that's asking more on your own later on, and all that kind of circles around each other. But there, there has to be some of that, and there needs to be patience with it too, and I'll talk about that more in a second.
But like I said, you know, that's something that you start to do, and here's somebody who's in their 50s and they're a great student of God's Word, and I'm in my 20s or 30s, I feel like I'm nothing like them. Well, of course you're not. You're 20 years behind or 30 years behind, but-
Ryan: Yeah ...
Jeff: you can still start laying some ground and some seeds that you'll pick up along the way.
Ryan: I love that point about asking questions. Questions can be such a, such a powerful entry point to, to take you deeper, to make discoveries, and I think when you start making discoveries, you start feeling like you in your own study are learning, are- Yeah ... there's things that y- you, you have gone from A to B now in this journey in your own time with the Word.
Like I used to think this, but then I read this and I saw what it was saying, and then whoa, it meant... And I've tried to encourage young people Just expect that.
Jeff: Yeah.
Ryan: Bring this curious expectancy that every time, even when you're in number seven and it's 80 verses of sacrifices repeated, like there's something there that you can find if you look hard enough and you just expect it.
And, you know, you, you just start getting into this habit of finding new things. And- Right ... and, uh, I, I, I really like that.
Reading Bible Stories Deeply
Ryan: And you spend a lot of time talking about not just treasuring the whole Bible, but you, you particularly talk about Bible stories, I think, in maybe your first point. Mm-hmm. And the stories aren't all sweet and happy like we teach our, you know, like these children's- Yeah
songs and stories. You talk about Korah's rebellion in this particular one, uh, which just, you know, the, uh, that moment when the earth is swallowing up these-
Jeff: Yeah ...
Ryan: rebels against Moses. I always wished that that was in the Prince of Egypt movie. Right. Like, I wanna see that animated out. And maybe there's some things we don't wanna...
Some things in the Book of Judges and elsewhere we don't really wanna see animated. Yeah. But there's heavy stuff that happens throughout the scriptures, and I think as I came back around as, like you were saying, as a late teenager, in my 20s or onward, I rediscovered some of those famous stories that, you know- Mm-hmm
there is so much going on, and Jonah and, and the, the fish, and all of these moments that we get used to, the flood, and the, the Adam and Eve stories. And we, we realize that this isn't just, you know, a cute little story with pictures and a moral of the story at the end and, you know, just something we can flatten out.
And I, I, I always wanna help people see these aren't fables, these aren't legends, these aren't even just light, simple stories. These have great prophetic thought put into them, great weight, and, uh, they're meant to affect us as kids and as adults. But I just wonder, as you have come around and thought through how these stories have shaped you and how you want them to shape others, how do we make sure they have that effect and, and we bring that thoughtfulness that we wanna have to David and Goliath or, you know, Daniel in the lion's den, these stories we may have heard since we were five years old?
Jeff: There's always gonna be that, that reminder of as we're talking about, like you mentioned, these aren't myths, they're not fables. They're, they're not just little moral lessons. They teach us things about how to live moral lives, but always the focus is gonna be on God and on Jesus. And we may not always pick up that, that God or Jesus picture right away, but there is something of when you, when you keep...
What am I learning about God? What is, how does God feel when he's speaking through one of the prophets here? Or what is Jesus, you know, doing when it mentions, you know, he's, he's going to somewhere, he's going up or he's going down, or there's, there's language about what Jesus is, is doing along the way that you pick up on, there's a focus on him in there.
Or even as there are people, how are these people relating to God? There's al- you keep that grounded there and, I mean, there's probably not a much greater weight or depth than thinking about the God of the universe, the God of heaven and Earth, and wanting to focus on him. And then as you keep that question in your mind, and as you're always considering that, going from then, well, these are stories that, not just made up stories, but they're true stories like we would talk about history of anything or, or, you know, writings that have a, a setting or background, and trying to do our best to, to understand what that would mean for that audience.
You kind of mentioned that with some of the, the dig and the curiosity within that there. Yeah. And as you do that, eventually getting to that application, um, we were just talking about it the other day of, you know, you spend the time and you dig on, you know, here's this, the story of the flood and Moses', or man, Moses, I'm already getting myself mixed up here.
But Noah's being silent the whole time. Yeah. All you see is just faithfulness, and you, you know, only see a couple of words from, from Noah, but you're getting a picture of God's faith- or of Noah's faithfulness, of God's faithfulness, and you pick up on those themes, and then you don't just leave it with that, but then of, you know, here's an example of a righteous man, and I may not be told of the authority here is to go build a boat, or the example is for me to go build a, an ark, but the example is for me to be righteous and faithful, and that doesn't always mean some bold declaration.
That just means everyday faithfulness. Um-
Ryan: Mm-hmm.
Jeff: So as you, as you keep God in perspective, as you kind of dig to think about some of that context originally, and then make the application, uh, keep those open, keep your open eyes to look for the details, look for repeated things. That's one of the, um, you know, you were talking about, you know, seeing the weight, and I had- Yeah
this story in mind of, um- Trying to remember where it was now. But there'll be times that you're reading scripture and you'll notice, here's a repeated phrase. Genesis 1 is a great example of this. God does something, and it was good, and it was good-
Ryan: Sure.
Jeff: Yeah ... and it was good. Yes. Maybe you've heard that before, maybe you haven't.
But that's telling- Right ... something about the God who makes all of these things. Uh, and, and there are other things that you'll pick up on that as you keep those open eyes, and then you keep your mind open, keep your heart open, and again, be patient with, you know... I may not always see that weight today, but as I keep coming back and, you know, if God blesses me with a lifetime of learning, that by staying in His Word and ingrained in His Word, and I keep hearing those stories and read and study and obey and stand on the Word of God, then I think you'll see that growth, and you'll see those truths about God.
You'll see those truths about what this means for the audience, and then what this means for your life and connecting it there, too.
Ryan: That's great. The eyes open, mind open, heart open. It's like, um- Yeah ... yeah, reading it like it's the first time you've read it as much as you can, bringing all the things you've learned, but trying to see it fresh, and y- like you said, the re- repetition, the framing, the way it's told, the details.
I- I- as, as we learn to treat this literature, it's, it's holy literature, but it still works as, as these crafted words that are meant to give us in the rhythm of how it's told, in the flow of the story, in the details that are selected, special things that have been, uh, have been selected for us to pull out of it.
And, um, and, and that's really great. I really appreciate you taking this time and sharing this sermon with us. You just closed with a, with a phrase from the song- Yeah ... to stand alone on the Word of God, and that's what we, what we wanna do all of our lives. God has blessed us with this treasured book that we love so much, and I know that this lesson will secure listeners in that foundation of our relationship with God, to, to have faith in His Word.
And so thanks again for being with us here and sharing this sermon. And we'll listen now to the B-I-B-L-E by Jeff O'Rear.
Sermon Begins God Speaks
Jeff: It's, according to the iPad up here, 10:54 right now, and I hope you were paying attention at 10:33 this morning when it happened. That, that something that happened this morning about 10:30. I was sitting right over there with my family, and maybe you were in your spot ready to go at 10:33, and an amazing thing happened this morning.
Did you see it? Did you catch it? Did you hear it? Did you notice it? Well, I was right over there in my pew, and the amazing thing that happened this morning to all of us who were here is that God spoke to us. Did you hear that? Did you see that at 10:33? You might be thinking, "Hang on, preacher. I didn't hear some big booming voice in my head," and I wouldn't expect you to hear that.
But a little while ago, about 20 minutes ago now actually, our brother read from God's Word, and when we open up the Bible, when we open up God's Word, we hear God speak to us through the teaching of His Word. He read an encouragement to our young people, to all of us, about the conduct of our lives, the way we devote ourselves to Him, from First Timothy, chapter four.
But amazing thing that happens when we hear God's Word, we hear Him speak to us. The Bible is an amazing book. It's a collection of inspired books, because unlike any other, it is God's Word. Emphasize that this morning. We'll talk about the Bible. We'll talk about having you opening your Bibles, opening up God's Word, having the Word of God with you ready to follow along this morning to see not just what people have to say, but listen to what God has to say, and what we'll learn about Him and what relates to how we relate to each other, how we relate to Him, and how we would glorify Him in our lives.
The Bible is an amazing book. Again, it's unlike any other book because it is God's Word. So when we open to read and study our Bibles, when our Bible class teacher might say something like, "I need you to open your Bible to Matthew chapter six," or when the preacher has asked you, like I've already asked you, to open your Bibles today to Psalm 19, verse seven through verse 10.
I hope you're there. We'll be there together in just a second.
Is Bible Just Another App
Jeff: When we think about opening our Bible, opening the Word of God, do we treat it like it's something special, something amazing when we hear it being proclaimed and read and hearing God speak to us? Or is it just like any other book? Just like any other new thriller or fantasy novel I pick up off the shelf, something I just kind of peruse for enjoyment from time to time.
Like any other self-help book that I might be recommended by my boss that's telling about how it's given him or her a new perspective of life. Here's this book that some people say has helped them, and so maybe I just kind of think of it as that way, another self-help book Maybe you're reading your Bible this morning not in a physical way, but in a digital way.
You've got the Bible on your phone or a tablet of some kind, and that is an amazing thing. First of all, just recognize that we have God's Word so easily accessible to us, and the tools that are available to have God's Word and to read God's Word. But especially if you've got the Bible app on your phone today, and that's how you're reading the Bible today, think about that idea of is it just like any other app that you might have around it?
You know, maybe it's right next to your maps app. It's just something that I use when I'm trying to go from point A to point B. I'm trying to get a little bit of direction in my life. I just kind of go to the Bible, think maybe it'll help me a bit. Maybe it's just like the social media apps we have, Facebook or TikTok or Snapchat.
I'm always worried I'm gonna sound like an old man whenever I list social media, 'cause young people aren't on Facebook anymore. They don't go to that. But whatever social media might be out there, whatever we might find to be entertained or to keep in the know, maybe that we just think about the Bible in that type of way.
Maybe you've got the Bible app on your phone, and right next to it is Candy Crush, and here in about 15 minutes, the preacher's getting kind of boring and long, and you're moving from the Bible app to Candy Crush. And especially, I don't, haven't, wasn't looking through people's phone, but if that's you today, watch out for that.
Watch out for that attitude of people who might treat this as just a simple, you know, thoughtless kind of thing. You know, it's just, uh, something I have just like any other app on my phone. It's something that's amazing we have that technology to have it available and ready for us. We can take it in our pocket and take it anywhere, and take so many translations anywhere, but it's God's Word.
Hopefully, we treat it with reverence and respect to see the amazing thing of God's revealed Word as it's talked about here in Psalm 19:7-10. Let's read God's Word once again this morning, and let's hear what it said in Psalm 19:7-10. "The law of the Lord is perfect in reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure in making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, and enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean and enduring forever. The rules of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, and sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb."
The firm foundation we sang about of our first song this morning, the song we sang before our lesson about asking that we would be given the Bible, pay attention to the teachings and the preaching and the, the laws and the precepts that come from God's Word. I appreciate Brother Jeff in helping center our thoughts on some of those things as we've already been worshiping together, thinking about the importance and value of God's Word.
BIBLE Song Series Setup
Jeff: I'll direct our songs and thoughts in another direction to another song we might know, maybe more familiar with our kids in some of our Bible classes, or maybe familiar with some of us who might have grown up in the church, of The B-I-B-L-E. Yes, that's the book for me. We'll talk more about that in our lesson today.
Last month, we introduced a series of lessons that are called Songs from Youth, Eternal Truth. We're gonna look at some songs this year, leading up to VBS in particular, that might be familiar especially to our kids as they sing them in Miss Cathy's class, or in Becca's class, or Deborah's class, or in Miss Heather's cl- are y'all still singing song in Miss Heather, Heather's and Samantha's class?
Probably not as much. But these are songs that maybe we've grown up with hearing, but they have truth in them that we can make sure we want to emphasize, and we want to especially emphasize in these lessons to our kids, and kinda getting maybe our kids' attention to think the preacher's talking about songs you sing and why they're so important that we sing them together, as families that we sing them together in our homes, and think about what we're talking about when we sing these songs.
Now, maybe you didn't grow up singing Jesus Loves Me like we talked about last month, or maybe singing songs like My God is so Big or even The B-I-B-L-E, but I hope you'll still appreciate the intent of these lessons to connect with kids and the families here at Judson Road, and of seeing the biblical truths of these songs, as well as that we would all take these truths, hold onto them, and walk securely in them.
Attitude Delight in Word
Jeff: So this morning our lesson is entitled The B-I-B-L-E, and our focus in this lesson is on the Word of God, and it's about three things today. It's about our attitude that we must have towards God's Word. Secondly, the actions the disciples of God commit themselves to, and thirdly, the answers that we find within its inspired pages.
Let's think about God's Word, think about the Bible today, this special book that we hear God speak to us through. We find and to see the attitude we need, the actions we would need to take, the answers that are contained therein. In thinking about the attitude that we have, thinking about in the song that sometimes we would sing, I love to hear the stories from the B-I-B-L-E Is there a book or a TV show or a movie that you just go back to over and over again?
Uh, maybe, I know we're past Christmas now, but maybe there's one of those movies around Christmas time that I just always go to this movie. I, I just love watching It's a Wonderful Life. I don't know why. I mean, it's a, it's a good movie, but it's just not for me. I'm more of an Elf kind of a guy when it comes to those repeated movies.
Maybe it's a TV show. This is my comfort show. This is a book that I just love this book, and I keep coming back to it and going back to this theme. I know the characters, I know the people, but it's something that's just really is attached to me, that I attach to, and I appreciate the thoughts or the stories that come from therein.
Think about that idea of not just any TV show or any story or any book or any other kind of manmade thought that's supposed to engage the mind or maybe even get us to perplex a little bit, but to hear the stories from God's Word, and the attitude we have of loving those stories, delighting in what we find in God's Word.
This is exactly the point that the psalmist makes, I believe, in Psalm 1:1-2. In opening up the S- Book of Psalms, he talks about the blessed man. We wanna begin with thinking about that blessed man this morning. What is the life of the blessed man like? We're looking at it in these first two verses today. In Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."
The blessed man does the following that we see here in these two verses. First of all, he makes wise choices about his companions. We might think about as we're singing or thinking about this song this morning and using it as kind of a framework for our lesson, and building it and fulfilling, fleshing it out with the truths from God's Word today, think about young people who would sing this song, kids, or maybe as you've kinda grown up from singing those songs in your class, you still know the stories, you still know the song.
And think about that type of delight that you need to have, and thinking about even, too, the type of companions that you would make in your life. And here in Psalm 1:1 and verse 2, particularly as we're thinking about not just kids who are paying attention this morning, in my mind are the bigger kids, the young adults, the junior high, high school kids.
I want you to know and think about this is the attitude that you need to have as the blessed person who's gonna walk in the faithfulness of the Lord. You're gonna make wise choices about your companions. He's... This man here is not gonna walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of the sinners, sit in the seat of scoffers.
He sees the danger about those who might lead him away from God. We encourage our young people to think very much about, our young adults to think very much about that. But we all need that wisdom as a blessed man, to be very thoughtful, be wise about our companions in life. Secondly, to emphasize from the end of verse two, the blessed man meditates upon the teachings of God's Word continually.
Meditating here is not that thought of emptying the mind and there's nothing going on, but scripturally, in talking about that from God's Word, it's the idea of filling up, that this man is meditating upon the law of the Lord day and night, constantly thinking about God's teaching, the teaching that comes from God's Word.
When it's talking with him as he is getting up for the day, he's aware about maybe a day like this, he's going to worship, and his heart is thinking about the worship he's gonna be giving to God, and scriptures that prompt him to that worship and encourage him about the great God that he serves and praises that day.
It encourages him throughout the day in the trials that he faces, the temptations that he may endure. He has God's Word on his mind, that he would treasure those, that he would not give in to temptation in those moments. It gives him praise in times that he interacts with people, that he will be a blessing and a service to those because he's thinking about God's Word.
He's filled himself with God's Word. Again, for us to be mindful of that, whether it be at school, whether that be at our jobs, whether it be on our day-to-day, go-to-go, when we go out to lunch this afternoon, when we're at home for lunch this afternoon with our family and friends. We'd be people who were thinking about God's word and how we can use God's word in a moment like this to point people to God, to think about how we can serve others and glorify, uh, our Father, and to be, uh, gracious with others.
The second thing the blessed man does is he meditates upon the teachings of God's word, fills himself up with them, and ponders not just what they say but what they mean, taking them from his head and moving them into his heart, that he would live them in his life But thirdly, and there in the mi-, the kind of the beginning of verse 2, is that thought.
This man is someone who's wise in this, his choice of companions, he's meditating upon God's Word constantly, and he delights in the law of the Lord. He takes great joy in what he's recognizes as coming from God's Word, and what is God's Word. He loves God's Word, and has a great appreciation for the truth of God's Word.
He sees the things we saw from Psalm 19 a moment ago, the value of God's Word, why he needs God's Word. He has this delight, this thing that's not going to diminish or to fade, but it's going to be this thing that guides him and sustains him as he goes through life, as he has this delight in God's Word.
That idea is used in Psalm 119, which was one of the verses that connected with the song of Give Me the Bible we sang. If you notice on the scr- title screen for many of our songs, they have a scripture that kind of goes to think with those, and Psalm 119:105 was one of those. But the bigger context of Psalm 119, 10 times the psalmist talks about his delight in God's Word, and that his feelings and his life towards God's Word is this delight.
That while other people may despise Your Word, I delight in Your Word. While there's a lot that's going on, there's a lot of things, there's challenges I'm facing, persecution from other people, I still choose to delight in Your Word. An attitude this man shows as he loves the stories that he finds in God's Word.
So let's think about that. The attitude that we have, but what we're looking at as we open up God's Word. When we talk about loving the stories, I hope that we would never in our mind have in the thought as we open up the Bible, you know, as we open up God's Word, we're not thinking about once upon a time, the blessed man from the Psalm was, was described this way.
When sometimes we talk about the story of Abraham, the stories of Paul's adventure, the story of people, and as we're using that in the historical way. Talk about your story or my story, the story of the Revolutionary War, the story of some person who did some great thing or some really, really dumb thing and now they're remembered in history for forever.
That they're remembered and their stories are told, their story is told. Here as we talk about there, we're talking about real people and real places from real life that are recorded by God, that you and I would know what happened, that we would know Him and know how to serve Him and to worship Him and to please Him.
Stories Give Hope and Warning
Jeff: Things that we look at these stories and they give us hope. As it talked about in Romans 15 and verse 4. Romans chapter 15 and verse 4. I encourage you to turn in your Bibles there and think about some of the things that we see, the stories that are your favorites as you open up God's Word. The stories of people who overcome challenges and temptation.
When Joseph runs away from Potiphar's wife, what a great encouragement about someone who chooses to do what is right for God You have people who, whatever your story may be, that encourages you or gives you hope. We read this here in Romans chapter 15 in verse four. "For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction."
It may not be the law that we keep as he's thinking about the teachings of the old covenant here, but it instructs us in some way. He goes on and says that, "Through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope." You read the stories of David, of Joseph, of Hannah, of men and women from the Old Testament and in the New.
These are stories that give us hope, and that's why we love to hear about them again, and again, and again. These are stories that give us warning. Maybe some of our fa- favorite stories are the ones that are kinda like, "Wow, that was really bold and something really big that happened." That time that the earth opened up and swallowed some of God's people, well, I'm gonna remember that, and I enjoy talking about that with people.
That's something that just seems crazy that happens in the Book of Numbers. But those are stories for you and I to think about, and that we would be learning from the warnings of them. We would not make the same foolish, prideful, greedy, covetous mistakes that people made as they rebelled against God.
That's Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 10:11-13. 1 Corinthians 10:11-13. As he talks about the things that we would read from God's Word, the things from the Old Testament here, and the things that are examples for His people, people that would continue to look at them, that the Corinthians would learn, that you and I would learn too.
1 Corinthians 10:11, "These things happened to them as an example. They were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the age has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall." Verse 13, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful. He will not let any of you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."
I might add with this text the beginning of this actually in verse six. If you go back to 1 Corinthians 10:6, "These things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did." Rather than making the same foolish, sinful decisions that people did, like making idols. Hey, I've never made i-- What are you talking about, preacher?
I've never built an idol. I've never made a golden calf and asked all the women here to give me their jewelry. But do we make idols today? And do we try to worship those idols in our lives today? I've never been somebody who's second in command under a man's house, and his wife is throwing himself at me.
That's a positive example here. But think about how easily that could have turned into someone who gave into that temptation. Maybe think about David and Bathsheba when somebody does give into adultery, and think, "Well, I'm not the king of a nation." Are we tempted by things like that today? Does that come up in the lives of people today?
That we would listen to these and come back to these again and again to learn from the warnings that, again, as verse six says, we might not desire evil as they did. But take care to listen to God's Word and have God's Word be that which helps us to find that way of escape from temptation rather than facing the same fate of people like this And thinking about how we love to hear God's Word because it teaches us about Jesus.
Everything pointing to Jesus. Everything before that that looks to Jesus there. Everything that comes after the Gospels when He ascends back to His Father that is showing this is what disciples of Jesus lived, this is what that looks like, this is how the church honors and glorifies Him. This is how you honor and glorify Him as a disciple of Christ.
Jesus makes this point to His disciples in Luke chapter twenty-four. Luke chapter twenty-four, verse twenty-five through verse twenty-seven. He makes it, first of all, to the people, or the two men on the road to Emmaus, but then to His disciples later on, uh, in verse forty-four and verse forty-five. Luke twenty-four and verse twenty-five, let's start there this morning at the, at, at this particular section.
And we love to hear the stories because of everything they teach us as it points to Jesus. In Luke twenty-four and verse twenty-five, "He said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?'
Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted them in, to, to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself." These two men on the road to dismay, on to Emmaus are facing despair. They're sad because they thought Jesus was gonna be the one who was gonna deliver them, and it doesn't look like that's why He died.
And the man they're talking to doesn't seem to know that, but that man is actually Jesus Himself risen from the dead, and explains to these two men how things from Moses and the prophets spoke to what He would go through and endure. Later on to His disciples in Act, or in Luke twenty-four verse forty-four and forty-five, He's speaking to, uh, those that He's dining with His disciples after His resurrection, and He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you.
Everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled." He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures I believe if you're here today, you at least have an interest in Jesus. I, I'll, I'll maybe at least make that assumption with that, and I think that might be at least a safe assumption to make, that you have an interest in Jesus.
And if you have an interest in Jesus and want to grow in your knowledge and in your love and, and s- and seeing who Jesus is and your need for Jesus, you need to open up God's Word to see that. That points to Him. The things from the Old Testament that will point to Him, the instructions that help us to see these things that, uh, help us in our lives but also ultimately point to Christ, the things that are talked about in the life and His ministry in the days of the gospel, and following His resurrection and ascension as the days of the church continue to grow, and the teachings of His inspired apostles and prophets, like in the d- letters that are written, that we would see these things that tell us how we live as disciples of Jesus Christ.
You're interested in that. You love those stories. Continue to open God's Word then, and to read these things, to be devoted to these things, to take delight in these things.
Actions Study Do Teach
Jeff: Have that attitude towards God's Word, to love to hear the stories from the B-I-B-L-E As we move into our second point, I promise not all of them are gonna be 15 minutes long this morning.
Not all of them are gonna have a whole bunch of verses with that. In fact, you can turn to Ezra chapter 7, and we're gonna stay in Ezra chapter 7 for just a few minutes here to make our second point this morning about the actions we take as people who love the Word of God, that we read and study and then obey the B-I-B-L-E.
Would it surprise you to hear that not everybody loves to hear the Word of God? We'll sing the song that we, we sometimes sing, or our kids sing in the song that they sing, "I love to hear the stories from the B-I-B-L-E." But not everybody loves to hear the Word of God when it's spoken or when it's proclaimed.
Some would rather do what they want to do, would rather they hear their own words, or rather hear their own interpretations rather than to hear the truth of God's Word. And so following some 70 years of captivity because of disobedience to the covenant that God made with them, as well as a time period where they're, uh, going back to, to the land, God uses Cyrus the King of Persia to send the people back to Judah to rebuild the temple, and those first six chapters of Ezra speak to that and talk about that.
But then you see, uh, it's not just the temple that needs to be restored. Teaching must be restored that focuses on God's law with His people. So ver- Ezra chapter 7 and verse 10 is on the screen, but would you join me in Ezra chapter 7 and verse 5? And let's lead up to the actions that we would have as people who love God's Word, take delight in God's Word, people from our young adults through all the ages that are here today, and seeing the actions we would take as disciples who follow God's Word.
Ezra chapter 7 and verse 6, let's start there. Ezra chapter 7 and verse 6, "This Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked for, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him. And went up also to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king, and some of the people of Israel and some of the priests and Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the temple servants."
Verse 8, "And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king, for on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia. On the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him." Even before we get to our key verse for our point right now, think about how often you see in these verses, in verse six and verse nine, an important phrase in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, the idea of God's hand being on something, that God is helping these things to come around, and God's helping these things to be accomplished.
So Ezra goes back to Jer- to, to Judah, to Jerusalem, not to think about the rebuilding of the temple, but to think about rebuilding of the teaching that's needed as the people of God. And Ezra chapter seven and verse 10 says this, "For Ezra set his heart to study the law of the Lord, to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel."
A few things just to notice about Ezra here. He's a scribe, it said earlier in verse six, and someone who would obviously know the law if he is copying down God's law and being preserved, someone who's gonna be also maybe helping in the temple in some way. But he is someone who is very familiar with God's Word.
But as Ezra's going back to teach people about God's Word, the first thing Ezra does is he determines to commit himself to understanding God's Word Have you done something like that? I don't mean it necessarily has to be some big public declaration, but maybe just thinking about your commitment to the word of God.
Can you say what Ezra says and what it says about Ezra here? Ezra set his heart to study the law of the Lord. Have you set your heart to understand, to know what God's word says? That we talk about, that when we open up God's word, we open up the Bible, He speaks to us. Do we want to know what He has to say?
We set our heart to understand that focus, that we would look to not just hear that, but to study it then as well. He first of all makes the determination to commit himself to understanding God's word, but secondly, Ezra studied the law of the Lord. Again, he already would be familiar, but he studies the law of the Lord to not just know the right thing, but also to do the right thing.
As it says in Ezra chapter 7 verse 10, he set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it. Again, all these commitments here, I can think about how important they are for each and every one of us to be people. We sing a song like the B-I-B-L-E, and we read and study and then obey the B-I-B-L-E, and our kids sing that in their classes.
They sing that at vacation Bible school. Mom and Dad, when you sing that song with your kids, Grandma and Grandpa, when you sing that song with your kids, do you have that same mentality? The mentality of Ezra here, to set your heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it. Do you share that mentality? Do you share that, young people who have sung that song, but maybe again, you don't sing it anymore, but now you're in school, and you're studying things like biology and algebra.
You're studying how to take care of animals. You're studying about phys- the human body. You're studying things about an instrument. You're learning all these things. Are you learning then, too, about God's word and how to know God's word, to, uh, study deeper into God's word, and to keep God's word? These are the type of commitments that we think, the actions we take.
We read, study, we obey. We commit ourselves to knowing God's word. We study the law of the Lord. We want to know the right thing, but also to do the right thing. And then look what Ezra does. Before Ezra goes around telling people, "Here's what you need to do, and here's all your problems, and you need to get this right," Ezra commits himself His desires and commits into his heart to set his heart to study the law of the Lord to do it.
Then he teaches his s- the statutes to the people of Israel. He teaches the statutes of God, the rules of God to the people in Israel. But as people who are going to love the law of the Lord, who are going to love God's Word, to have that delight within it, to think about as we would sing with our kids, and we think about as we might do this as a church, to read and study and obey.
These are the actions we devote ourselves to. Set your heart to study God's Word, not just knowing the right thing, but to do the right thing, and help other people to do that too. To help someone then who can be equipped to know God's Word that they would study and do what God's Word says to. Can I add with this?
I know I said I would stay in Ezra 7, but can we add a little bit of 2 Timothy chapter two here with that? 2 Timothy chapter two and verse two. If only we have the attitude of Ezra, we would also fulfill the words of Paul, what he says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2, that we study the law, set our heart to study the law of the Lord, to do and then teach the statutes and rules.
We're not in Israel, but we would still teach other people about God's Word. And as it says in 2 Timothy 2 and verse 2, "What you have heard in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also." Read, study, and obey in your own life that other people would read and study and obey God's Word and would come to know Him and glorify Him and hear Him through the teaching of His Word as well.
Answers and Sufficiency
Jeff: Well, that takes us to our third verse of the song, The B-I-B-L-E. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-I-B-L-E I was probably in fourth grade that the first time I heard this phrase that actually kinda I picked up on it. I'm sure maybe preachers before had said this, but my unattentive pre-fourth grade mind just never mentioned it, or maybe picked up on it.
Something along the phrase like, "The Bible is the book with all the answers to all of life's questions." And fourth grade snarky Jeff was like, "Well, I've got math homework, and I'm trying to figure out fractions right now, so if the Bible had that, I could really use some help in my math homework." That's not really what that phrase mean.
In fact, probably more in the intent is something like, and this is probably more actually what was actually said, and little fourth grade Jeffrey just didn't pick up on it, that the Bible is the book with all the answers to all of life's biggest and most important questions. If you've been waiting for Second Timothy chapter three, you're thinking, "We're talking about the Bible today.
We haven't got to Second Timothy three at all yet." This is our text we'll close with this morning, Second Timothy three, verse 16 and verse 17. That we would look to God's Word to stand upon the truth of God's Word and see the sufficiency of God's Word. To find the answers that we need for all of life's most important and biggest questions are found within this book.
When Paul writes to Timothy and tells him the things he needs to be devoting himself to because, as we said, not everybody loves to hear God's Word, and there's a lot of different versions that are out there. And I don't mean Bible translations, I mean people who twist the gospel and change the gospel to try to say something it doesn't actually mean.
And if people do that, we need to make sure we're going back to the standard, the source, the truth of the sufficient Word of God. In Second Timothy chapter three in verse 16, Paul says, "All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete and equipped for every good work."
God's Word is first of all God's Word. It's inspired by God. It's, as we talked about early in the lesson today, don't mean to be redundant with that, I mean to emphasize and to kind of really lay in a foundational point we need to understand as we think about the Bible and what the Bible is. It is not like any other book.
It is not like any other novel that is out there, or any, like any other self-help book that is out there. It is the Word of God. It comes and finds its source in Him. All scripture is inspired by God, or some versions say all scripture is breathed out by God. And God's Word is complete and sufficient to tell us what we need to know and what we need to do, and equips us to mature in knowledge and wisdom in these things as we would look to work in His kingdom.
As it says again in verse 16, "It is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness." Illustration I've heard one time with that or kind of the, the thought with that is that teaches us to, what is right, what is not right, and how to get right, and recognize what to do when what we're doing is not right.
Those thoughts in there too, for the reproof, the correction, the training and righteousness, the teaching, all of that, that that's where we find those answers in God's Word. Those questions of where we come from and why that matters, that we would know what God wants us to do with the life He's given us, and the world that He's created, and how we would live in that way that would give glory to Him.
So as we do that, we need to make sure we stay true to His Word, to not add to it, to not find some other source, to not twist it in some way. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy before these verses, verse 14 and 15, "As for you, continue in what you learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
You wanna know how you're saved, how you come to right relationship with God, how you worship God, how you live for God in your life? These are the writings that you go to. This is the place you go to for those answers. You go to the inspired Word of God, and you stick with that.
Stand Alone on Word
Jeff: The danger then is that people would walk away from it.
As you see in verse four, in chapter four, verse one through verse five, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead by His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with complete patience and teaching."
Pay attention to verse three. This is why it's so important that you and I stand alone on the Word of God. "For the times are coming when people will not endure sound teaching. Having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry." Couple things with these passages from s- the earlier verses of Second Timothy three and Second Timothy four here. Again, first of all, as I'm trying to make sure I'm hitting all of our audience this morning, for our kids who are here today, I see a lot of our kids that are looking at me right now.
Our kids who are in their Bible classes early this morning. For our kids, our young adults who are in junior high, high school, in your Bible class this morning or you're here today, listen and respect your Bible class teachers. And the things they're teaching and doing for you now is they're sowing the seeds for the truths of the Kingdom of God, teaching you things about Jesus, things, and teaching you things about God's Word.
I see a lot of smiling back there from Cade, really wanting his high school students to know, yeah, respect your Bible class teachers. But respect them because what they're teaching you is God's Word. It's important we do that. It's what Paul is reminding Timothy to do. Those who have taught him the truth.
But along with that, too, is not just Bible class teachers and preachers. Can I speak to the parents of our kids who are here today? Parents, take charge of your responsibility to teach your children about God, about Jesus, about living as a Christian. And if you need help in that, if you think, "I'm insufficient in that.
I don't know how to help my kids with that," let us know what we can do to help you with that, as that's a charge you've been given by the Lord to help your children, your grandchildren, to know Jesus, to know God, to know how to live as a Christian. And as we're gonna do that, then, as we're gonna respect those who teach us God's Word and w- and make sure we're walking most importantly to God's Word, make sure then that we're not going to be adding to God's Word.
Not everyone wants to stand on the, alone on the Word of God. Sometimes we want to, we want to say we're simplifying things by adding creeds or elevated traditions, or probably my favorite, or what we unw- kind of begrudgingly, if we would admit it is our favorite, are additions to scriptures like first and second opinions.
Now, when I say about that, I have no desire to really add anything to God's Word, but do you know what first and second opinions is? It's not after Revelation. It's that thing that, it's what I think about what God's Word has to say, and that's a dangerous thing when we go to that rather than to God's Word and stand on that alone.
When asked about why we worship the way that we do, what we teach about what someone must do in order to be saved, what our worldview is, the Bible is our foundation that gives the answers to these questions. It is God's inspired word to us to know Him, our needs for salvation through His Son, and how to begin and grow in that relationship with Him as our Heavenly Father God speaks to us through his word, and that's an amazing fact.
God did that, and he spoke to us through his word almost an hour ago now, at 10:33, when we read from 1 Timothy Chapter 4. We've heard God's words being preached today as we've read and opened it together. It's the book for me, the B-I-B-L-E is. I hope the B-I-B-L-E is the book for you, too, that you love it, that you read it and study it, and yes, even obey it.
And I hope it's the foundation that you'll build your life upon and stand alone on the word of God.
Podcast Wrap Up
Bryan: All right, well that was a fun conversation with Jeff, and a fun sermon to hear, uh, from him on the B-I-B-L-E. Thanks so much everyone for tuning in to the Seven Sermon Summer Surfin' Spectacular here on the Bible Geeks podcast. You can find us on our website at biblegeeks.fm.
Lots of show notes there. If you wanna find Jeff and any of his lessons online, we've got a link in the show notes as well. Thanks everyone for tuning in, and until next episode, may the Lord bless you and keep you
Ryan: Shalom