God's Word

As we begin this morning, I've been reflecting on an experience I had this spring of being the lacrosse coach, one of the lacrosse coaches for my son's lacrosse team.

It was a learning experience for all of us, me included, maybe more so. It was the first year of our school being a varsity program, and sometimes we didn't know what we knew, what we didn't know.

I certainly didn't know what I didn't know as a coach until I started, and I saw it in the players as well.

There would be times when they would go out and run around but didn't know what they were doing because they had had no instruction.

Sometimes they would run to the wrong end of the field. Sometimes they didn't know where they were supposed to be positioned because we hadn't taught them.

Sometimes they would go out there and think they were doing what we had told them, but in fact do something totally different.

And that created its own level of chaos. And sometimes they heard what we had taught them to do, and then they decided that they were just going to do their own thing anyway.

And all of these things happened. What was encouraging to me, though, was to see how many of them would come and say,

Coach, what did I do wrong? Coach, how can I do this better? They had a hunger to learn and grow, and they were seeking out more instruction and learning and knowledge

so that they could improve, so that they could be better lacrosse players.

I wonder if this dynamic is also true, even more so in our spiritual lives.

The same dynamics that I saw in these boys.

At times we are running around, not sure what to do, and mucking things up.

Sometimes we think we know what we should be doing, and we're doing those really hard, but in fact we're not doing the right thing.

Sometimes we know what we ought to be doing, and we just don't want to do it.

We think we know better, and so we do our own thing.

But I got a little taste of what I think God must be like, because God delights when we are hungry to learn from, to hear and obey His words.

When His people seek Him out, then we see His kingdom expressed.

And this is what we're going to talk about a little bit today as we continue our series in the book of 2 Chronicles.

We will be in 2 Chronicles chapter 17 and 18.

2 Chronicles 17 · chapter mention

That is page 344 in your pew Bible if you want to pull that out.

2 Chronicles 17 and 18, and the importance of God's people seeking God's Word for them.

Now, I know we have some family visiting, and some of you may not be as familiar with the context of 2 Chronicles.

So remember, this is a book written about the history of the kings of Israel after the kingdom had ended and gone into exile and then been restored.

Okay?

So there was a lot there that I just summarized, but this is the big picture of the history of Israel.

And Chronicles was written as the people of God were returning to the land that God had given them and trying to figure out where do we go from here.

I don't know if this is helpful, but Pastor Nick said this this week in staff meeting.

He said kings was written earlier, the same history, but it was written earlier during the exile to explain to the people of Israel,

how did we get here?

How did we get to exile?

Chronicles is written after the exile to try to teach God's people, how do we go forward from here?

How do we live as God's people after the exile?

What does that look like?

And the book is looking back to say, what do we have to learn from what happened before so that we can know what it means to pursue God?

Now, we're looking today at the story of Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, and we're not going to look at everything in his.

In fact, there are four chapters of Jehoshaphat.

We're not going to try to cover all of that today.

You might be glad.

It's already 5 of 11.

So, we're only going to…we're going to look at two chapters, and we're actually going to pull one theme,

because one of the things that we've seen as we're looking through the book of 2 Chronicles,

there are themes that are repeated over and over again.

Things like, seek the Lord, that God blesses His people when they seek the Lord.

The importance of right worship, of putting away false gods and worshiping other idols,

and worshiping in the temple God's one true.

The way that God is rewarding those who obey,

and when He judges and brings consequences to those who disobey His instructions and words.

So, these are some of the big themes.

Today, we're going to pull out one more theme,

and that is the importance of seeking and heeding God's words.

So, that's our introduction.

We're going to look…we're going to begin by reading the beginning of chapter 17 together.

So, I'm going to read that, and then we're going to pray, and then we'll look at it together.

So, 2 Chronicles chapter 17, verse 1.

2 Chronicles 17:1

1 Chronicles 1.

And then, there's a lot more in the chapter that we're going to just stop in there.

So, this is the beginning of Jehoshaphat's reign.

Let me pray and ask for God's help as we look at it this morning.

Lord, thank You for Your Word and that it speaks to us.

Lord, even as we have just sung, we pray that Your Word would shape our minds and our hearts

and our hands and our wills so that we might know You and do Your will.

Lord, we thank You for Your Spirit that helps us to do this.

Lord, I pray for Your help this morning that I might speak the words that You would have me speak,

that I would faithfully proclaim Your Word,

and that we together would sit under and receive Your Word this morning.

Be with us, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen.

So, the big idea this morning is that God's people are to love the teaching and hearing of God's Word to us.

We're going to look at it in three steps.

Here's your outline.

If you're looking for it, we want to be people who are loving the teaching of God's Word,

loving the hearing of God's Word,

and loving God's final Word.

So, that's what we will look at this morning,

loving the teaching of God's Word.

Just starting in chapter 17, when Jehoshaphat started out,

he did really well, right?

He did well in lots of areas.

He did put in military fortifications.

He purified the worship of Israel.

Again, those are other themes that we'll cover more strongly at other times.

But one of the interesting things that he did is in verses 7 through 10 that I want to read now,

he created a system of teaching in Israel.

So, chapter 17, verse 7, he says,

in the third year of his reign, he sent out his officials,

and they list all the officials, and I'm going to skip through them for time,

to teach in the cities of Judah.

And with them, the Levites, and then another bunch of names.

And with these Levites, the priests, and two more names.

And they taught in Judah, having the book of the law with…

the book of the law of the Lord with them.

And they went about throughout all the cities of Judah and taught among the people.

One of the things that Jehoshaphat did explicitly was to send his officials,

the Levites, the priests.

It was everyone at all levels of government, all the different branches,

were united in this task,

playing the roles that God had given them more broadly.

If you look back into Exodus, you can see how all these people were set up.

But their roles were to teach the people about who God was,

and specifically God's Word, right?

It says specifically that they were teaching from the law of God,

the book that God had given them.

And this refers to the Scriptures,

the revelation that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai,

the law and the writings that come after that.

And so they had all of these things to teach and remind the people of who God is,

of what God has done,

and what it meant to be God's people,

and how they are to live.

And it emphasizes that this was not just for the officials,

but this was for all people.

So he sent these men out to the whole country

so that all the people, each one, individual Jews…

This is so helpful to see.

It wasn't just that the religious leaders were supposed to know God's Word,

but that every single citizen of the community

was meant to know God's Word.

And this was important because they were having to think about

how to live distinctly in this time period

when those around them were not doing so.

Did you notice when I read the beginning of chapter 17,

it said specifically in verse 4, right?

He sought the God of his Father and walked in his commandments

and not according to the practices of Israel.

Now, if you were here last week,

you remember there's a distinction.

In this verse, Israel is being used to describe the northern kingdom.

The people of God at this point in history had been divided,

and this is describing the northern kingdom

under a king named Ahab.

And it was not a great…

It was still ten tribes of the people of Israel,

but they were not following the Lord properly.

And Jehoshaphat was distinguishing himself

from the northern kingdom by teaching the law of the Lord.

And let me show you how difficult or how distinct this was.

I'm going to read from 1 Kings 16,

chapter 16, verse 30 to 33,

a little bit about what Ahab and his rule was like.

And Ahab, the son of Omri,

did evil in the sight of the Lord,

more than all who were before him.

And as if it had been a light thing

for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam,

son of Nebat,

he took for his wife Jezebel,

the daughter of Ephbaal,

the king of Sidonians,

and went and served Baal

and worshipped him.

He erected an altar for Baal

in the house of Baal,

which he built in Samaria.

And Ahab made an Asherah.

Ahab did more to provoke the Lord,

the God of Israel,

to anger than all the kings of Israel

who were before him.

So this was, up to this point,

the worst king ever.

He was doing everything wrong

with regard to how to be God's people

living in God's land.

He was worshipping other gods.

He was bringing in foreign treaties.

He was building false idols to worship.

He was doing everything wrong.

So Jehoshaphat in the southern kingdom

was saying,

we are going to be distinct from that.

We are going to be different

by actually following

and teaching God's Word to us.

This was a high value for Jehoshaphat,

and he loved the teaching of God's Word.

Now what about us?

What does it look like for us

to love the teaching of God's Word?

Well, the first thing is that

it has to come with conviction

that God's Word is good.

2 Timothy 3, verses 16 and 17,

2 Timothy 3:16

Paul reminds the church of this.

All Scripture is breathed out by God

and is profitable for teaching,

for reproof, for correction,

and for training in righteousness

that the man of God may be complete,

equipped for every good work.

We need to be convinced

that this is good for us

and that we need to believe

that it is true, right?

Just like those lacrosse boys

who are running around the field,

they had to believe

that my instruction was good

for them to want to follow it.

Now, my instruction sometimes wasn't good,

and we had to work through that,

but I'm not infallible.

But God is,

and God's Word is.

And so to follow it

is a good thing.

And we need to recognize

that this will come in a context,

and we know this already,

but in a context

where there are many voices

that are saying other things

other than God's Word.

So in 2 Timothy chapter 4,

2 Timothy 4:3

verses 3 and 4,

Paul warns Timothy this,

for the time is coming

when people will not endure sound teaching,

but 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.

So God's Word warns us

that we live,

that every Christian

has always lived

in a context

where there is a tidal pull,

a current that pulls away

from actually here

listening to the teaching

of God's Word,

that we will,

in our hearts,

want to pursue

teachers that say things

that we want them to say,

things that will suit

our own passions,

that will fulfill

our own desires.

that will conform

to the values

of the world around us

and not be distinctive

in the way

that Jehoshaphat wanted

and the way that God calls us

to be distinctive

from the world around us.

And we need to recognize

that there's a danger

and that we may easily

get caught up

in these currents.

And look,

I could sit here

and pick on a few

cultural things,

sexual morality

or end-of-life morality

or ethics

or those sorts of things

to say,

golly,

God's Word says something

really important

in how distinct

we're meant to be

from the world around us.

But let me instead

pick on some more

core values

that I think

where we love things

that the world loves

sometimes more

than God's Word,

where we would prefer

to have a God

who doesn't judge us

rather than having

a God who loves

righteousness

and goodness.

We prefer to have

a God

who serves

our needs

rather than

a sovereign God

who knows

what is best for us.

We prefer

a gospel,

a message of good news

that tells us

our life is going

to be the best life ever

with prosperity

at every turn

rather than

a gospel of the cross.

And we prefer

a gospel of works

that says

if we can just

do the right things,

check the right boxes

religiously

or in the world

that somehow

we will be okay

with God.

These are some

of the currents,

the deeper currents

that I see

where we prefer

to choose

to see God

through our own lenses

rather than letting

the God of the Bible

reveal Himself

as He is.

So friends,

how do we at Trinity

love the teaching

of God's Word?

Well,

hopefully,

our small groups

are defined

as people

who gather

around God's Word.

So,

if you're not

in a small group

and you may not

fit into one of our

formal small groups

but are you

meeting with other people

to talk about

God's Word

regularly

so that you can

look at it together

and encourage

one another?

I don't know

if you've ever

thought about this

but when we preach

on Sunday morning

we don't preach

topically

for a very

explicit reason

because we want

God's Word

to define

the agenda

for what we preach

on week to week.

So,

we choose

a chunk of Scripture

and then we preach

through it

sequentially

and we do that

intentionally

because as much

as the elders

would love to preach

to you on this topic

and this topic

and this topic

and this topic

we send that off

to Sunday school

because we want

God to define

the agenda

of what we say

from the pulpit

every Sunday.

We want God's Word

to say

this is what

needs to be said

to my people today

and as Nick

and I

and the elders

prepare to preach

we always want

to say

God

let this be

your Word

speaking

not ours.

and of course

we always want

to encourage you

to be engaged

in regular

personal

Bible intake.

Love the teaching

of God's Word

by

having an app

on your phone

listening to God's Word

if you have a hard time

sitting down

and reading

getting a good

study Bible

so you can not only

read it

but actually

study it

and get into it

and understand it

memorizing Scripture

I'm always encouraged

when I visit homes

and in the bathroom

there's like a

there's a Bible verse

you know

taped to the mirror

so that when we wake up

in the morning

there's God's Word

just in the warp

and woof

of the life

of this family.

These are some ways

that we can love

God's Word.

Jehoshaphat

didn't just prioritize

the teaching

of God's Word

though he also

sought to hear

God's Word

and so in chapter 18

we see Jehoshaphat

seeking to hear

from God

in the midst of

quite a challenging

situation.

Now prophets

are one of the ways

in the Old Testament

that God speaks

to his people

and we see a prophet

coming into this.

I'm going to try

to go through this

really quickly.

In chapter 18

Jehoshaphat

against wisdom

made an alliance

with Ahab

and we think

this was probably

a good-hearted attempt

to unify Israel

but it was unwise

because as we've seen

earlier Ahab

was not a good king

and so

and Ahab says

hey since we're

in this alliance

let's go up

and recapture

this town

that we had lost

this town of

Ramoth Gilead

and so

so in verses

one through four

of chapter 18

this is the setup

for what happens next.

So now if you want

to turn with me

chapter 18

verse 4

they're about to go up

and this is what

God's word says

and Jehoshaphat

said to the king

of Israel

inquire first

for the word

of the Lord

and then the king

of Israel

gathered the prophets

together

four hundred men

and said to them

shall we go up

against Ramoth Gilead

or shall I refrain

and they said

go up for God

will give it

into the hands

of the king

but Jehoshaphat

said

is there not

here another prophet

of the Lord

of whom we may inquire

and the king of Israel

said to Jehoshaphat

there is yet

one man

by whom we may

inquire of the Lord

Micah

the son of

Micaiah

the son of Imlah

but I hate him

for he never prophesied

good concerning me

but always evil

and Jehoshaphat

said let not

the king say so

and then the king

of Israel

summoned an officer

and said bring

quickly Micaiah

son of Imlah

now the king

of Israel

and Jehoshaphat

the king

of Judah

were sitting

on their thrones

arrayed in their robes

and they were sitting

at the threshing floor

at the entrance

of the gate

of Samaria

and all the prophets

were prophesying

before them

and Zedekiah

the son

of Chenanah

made for himself

horns of iron

and said

thus says the Lord

with these

you shall push

the Syrians

until they are

destroyed

and all the prophets

prophesied and said

go up to Ramoth

Gilead

and triumph

the Lord will give it

into the hands

of the king

okay

did you get all that

in summary

they're going up

and Jehoshaphat

says wait

wait wait

we don't want to go

without hearing

from the Lord

don't you have any

prophets of the Lord

and Ahab says

sure

I've got 400 guys

in my pocket

and they're here

to say

go do whatever

the king wants

and so they show up

and you know what

they say

let's go do

what the king wants

and Jehoshaphat

smells a rat

and so he's like

wait

but is there anyone

who actually inquires

of the Lord

and when

again

when you see the Lord

the way it's written

with all capitals

that's Yahweh

that's the God

of Israel

the way he revealed

himself to Moses

way back when

and so

so

so he says

isn't there anyone

and Ahab says

oh yeah

there's this one guy

but he's so annoying

because he never says

anything good about me

and

and Jehoshaphat says

if he seeks the Lord

let's bring him in

and so

they send for this

prophet of the Lord

but in the meantime

the end of this section

imagine this circus

right

these two kings

are sitting on a throne

and there are 400

prophets

prophets

and it feels like

it's this

just big pomp and show

of supporting the king

and this

this one priest

Zedekiah

makes a crown

of horns

and says

with this horn

you will go

and have great victory

and

and you just think

what

in this context

how strong

Jehoshaphat is

to say

but don't we need

to hear from the Lord

where there's

all this cultural pressure

to just

go with the flow

but he doesn't do it

he doesn't do it

the story goes on

it continues

in verse 12

and the messenger

who went to summon

Micaiah

said to him

behold

the words of the prophet

with

the words of the prophet

with one accord

are favorable

to the king

let your word

be like the word

of one of them

and speak favorably

but Micaiah said

as the Lord lives

what my God says

that I will speak

and when he had come

to the king

the king said to him

Micaiah

shall we go

to Ramoth Gilead

to battle

or shall I refrain

and he answered them

go up in triumph

they will be given

into your hand

but the king said to him

how many times

shall I make you swear

that you speak to me

nothing but the truth

in the name of the Lord

and he said

this is now Micaiah

responding

and he said

I saw all Israel

scattered on the mountains

as sheep

that have no shepherd

and the Lord said

these have no master

let each return

to his home

in peace

and the king of Israel

said to Jehoshaphat

did I not tell you

that he would not

prophesy good

concerning me

but evil

and Micaiah said

therefore hear

the word of the Lord

I saw the Lord

sitting on his throne

and all the host

of heaven

standing at his right hand

and on his left

and the Lord said

who will entice Ahab

the king of Israel

that he may go up

and fall

at Ramoth Gilead

and one

and one said

one thing

and another said another

then a spirit

came forward

and said before the Lord

saying

I will entice him

and the Lord

said to him

by what means

and he said

I will go out

and will be a lying spirit

in the mouth

of all his prophets

and he said

you are to entice him

and you shall succeed

go out

and do so

now therefore

behold

the Lord

has put a lying spirit

in the mouth

of these your prophets

the Lord

has declared

disaster

concerning you

okay

did you get all that

this is great drama

this would be a great TV show

can you imagine this scene

so Micaiah

comes in

and the guy who's bringing him

says hey Micaiah

like everyone's saying

they should go up

can you just like agree

can you say the same thing too

so that everyone will be happy

and

and Micaiah's like

no

I'm a prophet of the Lord

I'm called to speak God's word

so I'm going to do

whatever God says

now then

confusingly

when he gets there

and the king asks him

the first thing he does

is seemingly

parrot

what all the other prophets

are saying

which raises a question

why is he doing this

is this really what he's saying

and

and it

it makes

lots of commentators

think he's being ironic here

he's saying

yeah okay here

this is what it sounds like

if I'm going to say

what everyone else says

it's also possible

given what we see later

that

the Lord is

wanting to use his prophets

to give

a lying spirit

so that

it will entice Micaiah

to go

or

entice Ahab

to go up

so

so it's a little unclear

exactly what Micaiah

is doing there

but fascinatingly

even Ahab

the evil king

who isn't seeking the Lord

this isn't Jehoshaphat

this is Ahab saying

oh come on Micaiah

I know that's not

what you have to say to me

it's got to be

something worse than that

you're just telling me

to go up and do what I want

that can't be really

what God is saying

it's fascinating right

Ahab is the one

who calls him out

and Micaiah says

yeah you're right

that's not actually

all that I have to say

in fact

what I see

is Israel

without

a shepherd

and in fact

you should not

go up

but you should

go home

in peace

go back

to your towns

and be at rest

this is actually

what God is saying

to you

if you were to listen

and Ahab says

see

I told you

and Micaiah continues

and he tells

the story

of what's going on

in this heavenly throne room

where there's this discussion

between God

and his angels

the spirits

saying

how can I get

to my plan

because my plan

is for Ahab

to go up

and to do this thing

and he's going

to be killed

and so they have

this back and forth

and then I will put

a lying spirit

in the prophets

and they will speak

these words

and then Ahab

will go up

and do this thing

and then he will

be destroyed

and so Micaiah

lays bare

the inner workings

of what God

is doing

how God

sovereignly

is using

lying prophets

to carry out

his sovereign will

now

it's fascinating

to see what happens

then

right

because Ahab

who got

the first one

and said

no that can't be it

now here's these things

and if you read

the rest of the chapter

what he does

is he says

well

that doesn't matter

everyone else is saying

we should go up

so let's go up together

but I've got a great idea

I'm going to disguise myself

so I don't look like the king

and I'm going to let you

Jehoshaphat

look like the king

so that when we go together

you'll be leading us

and no one will know

that I'm the king

so who's ever going to

want to kill me

and so that's the idea

he tries to hide

by disguising himself

they go up

the enemies recognize

that Jehoshaphat

isn't Ahab

God delivers Jehoshaphat

miraculously

when he's the target

of their initial attack

they then break off

their attack

and in a fascinating

turn of events

it says a man

in his innocence

that's the better

translation of the word

in his ignorance

innocence

just shoots an arrow

and in God's sovereignty

it flies through

and it pierces through

Ahab's armor

and he dies

by the end of that day

and so God's word

is fulfilled

and the plant

and the armies

are defeated

they don't win the battle

they don't win the day

but they do go home

in peace

now what are we to make

of this story

this is true

of lots of chronicles

where we're like

okay what is the point

of all this

because one of the big

questions that I have

is Jehoshaphat

was he obeying

or disobeying

the word that he heard

from God

about this

because God's plan

was for them

to go up

so that Ahab

would be killed

and Jehoshaphat

knew that

I think that's

giving him way

too much credit

to be honest

I think Jehoshaphat

was the

little brother

was the weaker

of the two kings

and Ahab said

we're gonna do this

let's go do this

and Jehoshaphat said

well I guess

maybe we can try

and do that

because I don't know

what else to do

because I want

to unify Israel

that's my read on it

you know

here's the question

for you

for coffee hour

was he wise enough

to see God's hand

and to follow along

or was he foolish enough

to really believe

that by being

Ahab's ally

this would be a good thing

it doesn't say

what his motivations were

we do know

at the beginning

of chapter 19

another prophet comes

and he rebukes

Jehoshaphat

for his alliance

with Ahab

he says

you should not

ally with this

wicked man

who does not

follow the Lord

what we do see

in all this story

is that Jehoshaphat

longed to hear

God's word

and there's a little

question at the end

about whether he

actually obeyed it

so

but he did long

to hear God's word

and friends

this is what God

would want for us

as well

now we might ask

ourselves

but does God

still speak

are there still

prophets

that we should be

seeking out

who can come

and say

thus saith the Lord

well

Jesus has given us

a better

a better fulfillment

than that

if you remember

in John 16

in the Garden of Gethsemane

or not in the Garden of Gethsemane

in the Last Supper

as Jesus is teaching

he says this

in John chapter 16

John 16:12–14

verses 12

through 14

he says

I still have

many things

to say to you

but you cannot

bear them now

when the spirit

of truth comes

he will guide you

into all truth

for he will not

speak on his own

authority

but whatever he hears

he will speak

and he will declare

to you

the things

that are to come

he will glorify me

for he will take

what is mine

and declare it to you

and friends

what God did

is he filled

his initial

followers

with the Holy Spirit

and he's continued

to fill his church

with the Holy Spirit

through the apostles

writing

we have this book

that is the writings

of those

inspired by

the Holy Spirit

to write scripture

and we

as believers

in Christ

have the Holy Spirit

in us

allowing us

to understand

God's word

the Bible says

that without

God's help

we are unable

we are blind

to seeing

the truth of God

but that when

God's spirit

is at work in us

we are able

to see

the truth

of God's word

and this is

a glorious

thing

and we will

have to have

this discernment

because as we've

talked about before

there will be

false teachers

there will be

those who will

come and say

I'm not going

to read it

but 2 Peter 2

talks about

false prophets

coming along

who will teach

destructive heresies

and will live

destructive lives

to hurt those

who come

how do we

discern false

teaching from

true

well here are

a couple of

thoughts

this probably

isn't comprehensive

one

whatever we teach

should be consistent

with all of

what the Bible

says

it's easy

to pick and

choose

this is my

favorite verse

I like this one

God so loved

the world

great

yes God

loved the world

but God's

love is shaped

in all sorts

of nuances

by the rest

of the Bible

so let's make

sure we understand

that what we're

teaching is in

is in with

the whole Bible

the second thing

I would say

is that all

teaching needs

to be consistent

with the gospel

of the cross

and resurrection

of Jesus

it must be infused

with humility

and triumph

it must so

patterns of both

death and life

of suffering

and sanctification

so much false

teaching goes to

one or the other

sides of those

equations

and it's either

all triumph

with no suffering

or it's all

suffering

and no triumph

finally

whatever the

teaching is

it should exalt

Jesus Christ

it should point

to him

because John

14 tells us

that the spirit

will come

to teach us

about Christ

and it's so

easy for our

teaching to fall

into

exaltation

of human reason

or human wisdom

God forbid

that you would

come and want

my wisdom

when you come

on Sunday morning

what you need

is God's wisdom

and my role

by God's grace

is to teach

that to you

and when I'm wrong

because I'm not

infallible

you can rebuke me

you can challenge

me and we can

talk about it

but recognize

that it's not

about exalting

a human wisdom

or a human reason

and it's not

exalting

of an alternative

way for us

to find salvation

and be acceptable

to God

right

there is only

one gospel

and it is the

gospel of grace

by grace

you have been

saved through faith

and this

not of yourselves

is the gift

of God

so that no one

may boast

not of works

so those are

a couple of

litmus tests

as you think

about false

teaching

look for these

things

when these

things are true

these will be

helpful

when they are

missing

then we need

to be aware

and be wise

I've gone

way long

I'm going to

close this

quickly

but

God's people

are to love

the teaching

and the hearing

of God's word

but finally

we need to

recognize

that we need

to love

God's final word

more than

anything else

Hebrews 1

says this

long ago

at many times

in many ways

God spoke

to our fathers

by the prophets

but in these

last days

he has spoken

to us

by his son

whom he

appointed

the heir

of all things

and through

whom also

he created

the world

he is the

radiance

of the glory

of God

and the exact

imprint

of his nature

and he upholds

the universe

by the word

of his power

after making

purification

for sin

he sat down

at the right

hand of the

majesty

on high

friends

this

is God's

word

to us

so that

we might

know

him

the word

of God

made flesh

that dwelt

among us

and we have

beheld

his glory

it is about

Jesus

at the end

of the day

this is how

God has revealed

himself to us

and when we

want to know

how to be

God's people

we look

to Jesus

when we want

to know

how we become

a part of

God's people

we trust

and believe

in Jesus

that his life

and death

and resurrection

for us

is our salvation

and by faith

in him

we have life

with him

Jesus himself

rebuked

the teachers

of the law

in his day

saying you

search the scriptures

because you think

in them you have

eternal life

and it is they

that bear witness

about me

yet you refuse

to come to me

that you may

have life

so if you're ever

worried that we

worship the Bible

more than Jesus

recognize that

Jesus himself

said no

the Bible

is given to us

so that we

know him better

so that we

know him

in his fullness

and so that we

can understand him

and this is how

we know him

and this is what

2nd Chronicles

in the story

of Jehoshaphat

at least one

slice of it

is teaching us

that God's

people are

to love

the teaching

and the hearing

of God's

word

and to worship

his final word

to us

let's pray

together

Lord thank you

for your word

and thank you

for the teaching

that you give us

in it

Lord thank you

that you are

not a God

that we have

to guess

or have

some spiritual

experience

in order to

know

but Lord

thank you

that you

have made

yourself known

through your

word

and finally

through Jesus

oh Lord

we pray

that we would

be those

who love

you

and love

your word

we pray

this in

Jesus name

amen

amen

to

amen

to

amen

to