A Fortune at Your Fingertips - Leaders' Talks

You're listening to this tradition of the road.

You see, some people say, well, if I just go skiing, I'm gonna worship God up on the ski slope.

That's fine.

Because the heavens declare the glory of God and the creation around us reveal God, but you will never know all of the details of God, such as He is holy and just and right in all of His ways, you would never come up with that just by hanging out on a mountain.

You wouldn't know about God's salvation.

You wouldn't know the details of how to have a relationship with Him unless He had made Himself known, not just in a general way to everyone, but in a special way to you.

At The Road, our vision is to raise up wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ.

For more information on the Road, visit theroad.org.

We hope you are encouraged by today's message.

Well, um, we have a guest speaker with us this morning.

His name is uh Jeff Anderson, and uh some of you I know know him.

Uh uh and uh Jeff's been a pastor here in the Colorado Springs area for over 25 years.

Uh he is now the founder and president of International Bible Conference, which uh equips pastors uh in Africa and Asia, Latin America, uh, as they teach the Word of God to them.

Tens of thousands of pastors around the world have been through this training, and it continues on.

Jeff lives right here in the Pikes Peak uh uh area, and uh he's a great friend of Pastor Steve.

Uh he's also the senior faith faith advisor, senior faith advisor for Congressman uh Doug Lamborn.

So would you please give a warm welcome to Jeff as he joins us this morning?

Thank you, Doug.

I appreciate that.

Well, good morning, everyone.

What a beautiful autumn morning.

As I drove through Briargate, I enjoyed some of the all the red leaves and some of the yellow leaves and the orange.

I even saw a few dark maroon ones, and that was just beautiful.

Even driving into the parking lot this morning, the trees are just really nice, beautiful sunshine.

It's great to be together and be able to worship the Lord.

Uh you'd mentioned praying for the advance, and uh that's all my heart, and so I'd like to open by just praying for the folks that are there.

Lord, we're grateful for the men who've already had a chance to be in the beauty of creation and to not only see you in creation, but to see you in the Word of God.

And we trust that you're stirring in some really wonderful ways and granting tremendous victories and healing.

We thank Lord, thank you, Lord, for many of the wives that are able to join the men this morning and worship you up in a beautiful setting.

And though we miss them being here in our presence, we're grateful, Lord, that they are in your presence, that they're seeking your face.

We pray that you'll continue to minister to them, and we pray that we right here will be greatly blessed by the ministry of the word as well as the worship that we continue in this morning in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, I am no stranger to this building and to this place.

My children were uh going to the classical academy, and so there are lots and lots of concerts that they held right here in this building.

But it goes back even further than that.

I graduated from Rampart High School, so just around the corner uh in 1987 is when I graduated.

And just before my senior year, I had a job where I was helping lay the foundation and the uh footers for this building.

And so uh I can remember being here, and uh it looked like one big open field, and I wasn't sure why in the world would someone build a church this far out of town.

Uh, but now you know the town has just continued to grow right around it.

So I'm no stranger to this building, no stranger to many of you.

I'm grateful for lots and lots of visitors that are here, including a number of our friends, and so I'm glad that a number of our friends are able to become familiar with the road.

And uh so if you're a guest who's come and uh you I've known who you are, but you're a guest, would you just stand where you are so that we can kind of see who you are and people can come and welcome you and recognize who you are?

So, included with some of these folks that are here, let me introduce my family.

My family in particular.

This is Nancy, and so uh Nancy and I have five children, two of whom are here today: Jason and his wife Luba.

I'm glad to have Brandon and uh his friend, girlfriend.

I'm not exactly sure how to announce her, but we're glad to have this friend, Caroline, and uh many other friends that are with us this morning as well.

Would you turn with me, please, to Psalm 19, the 19th Psalm?

Pastor Steve and I share many things in common, primarily a love for the Word of God.

And out of that love for the Word of God, there's a tremendous love for church planting and for indigenous pastors.

And this morning I'm gonna introduce you a little bit to the ministry of International Bible Conference.

But uh before we get to that, I want you to have the biblical foundation for all of it, and so Psalm 19.

Let's stand together, please, with reverence for God and his holy word.

I'm gonna read the entirety and we'll focus our attention on verses 7 through 11.

The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows his handiwork, day unto day out of speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone throughout all of the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run his race.

Its rising is from one end of the heaven and his circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse me from secret faults, keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins, let them not have dominion over me.

Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

This is the word of the Lord.

Would you please be seated?

Ali Hafed was a tenant farmer in Ethiopia.

That means that he had a small little farm and really lived hand to mouth.

It was a matter of subsistence living.

He just grew enough food barely to survive.

And he just became weary of that kind of life, as you can imagine, the difficulties of everyday toiling and laboring, always wondering if some sort of disaster is going to strike your crop and then you're going to be left totally insecure without anything.

And so he was getting weary of that already when a priest came by and was visiting a number of different farmers.

And that priest came by his little farm and began describing to him the tremendous wealth that people were finding all over Africa in diamonds.

Ali Hefed began daydreaming about all of those diamonds, began wishing for a better life.

Soon he became totally dissatisfied with his life on the farm, and soon he abandoned his family, left that farm, and he went on a quest, looking all over Africa for diamonds or treasure or something that would give him a more secure way of life.

So he went all through Sub-Saharan Africa looking for something, but never found gold, never found diamonds, never found wealth, never found a treasure.

A little bit discouraged, he continued the journey as he went up into the Middle East, what is modern-day Lebanon and Syria.

And as he traveled through there, again, never found anything that was satisfying or anything that would provide wealth for him.

He continued his journey all the way around the Mediterranean.

As he went up through Europe, he went through modern day Turkey, went into Greece and Italy, and finally he ended his journey by being in Spain.

And having gone all of this time looking for tremendous wealth or something that would satisfy him, in total despair, he came to the edge of Spain.

He looked off the cliffs, down to the rocks in the ocean below, and because he'd never found anything that was satisfying, he ended his own life by jumping off of those cliffs of Spain.

But what makes this story all the more tragic is that just after he had left his farm, one of his relatives began working the soil.

And when they were working all the soil and plowing things, they would of course collect all the rocks that were there, as they still do in Africa.

And you'd go all along the edges and see along the edges of the field there would be piles that were built up.

And one day a priest came by and was visiting with that relative, and they happened to look across the field, and the sun just caught one of those piles right, and they saw a little gleam, and sure enough, they discovered that one of the world's wealthiest acres of diamonds was right there in Ali Habed's backyard.

He'd gone all over the world looking for something that was in his own backyard.

He was looking for a fortune that he had already held in his fingertips.

Maybe you can already track with me, but when Psalm 19 says that this book is more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold, is sweeter also than honey and honeycomb.

This morning I want us to recognize the tremendous value of what we're holding in our fingertips today.

I want us to get to a place where we're recognizing that there is no greater treasure, there is no greater satisfaction than what God has given to us through the Word of God, through the Bible, through something that is right here, and yet the truth is many of us are tempted to forsake this fortune because we're looking for so many other things and wondering if any of those other things can truly satisfy.

Today, we're able to hear from David, the psalmist.

Yes, he's one of the most successful men in the history of Israel, one of the more successful and admired men in the Bible, but one of the things we need to most admire about him is that here's someone who did not forsake the word of God.

Here's someone who loved the Bible and he treasured it and valued it.

And when I'm introducing you to International Bible Conference and the opportunity to minister the Word of God to pastors in Africa, in Asia, and Latin America, we begin with a commitment that says what they most desperately need in that nation is not just better health care, not just a distribution or redistribution of wealth.

What they desperately need is not just education, what they desperately need is the word of God.

Why?

Well, Psalm 19, verses 7 through 11 tell us that the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

Psalms 19:7–11

The testimony of the Lord is pure, making wise the simple, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether, more to be desired are they than gold.

Yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

When we consider the value of the Word of God, not just for pastors on a different side of the world, not just for men and women that have been part of an advance this weekend, it's part of the road, but when we consider the value of the Word of God for all of us that are here today, it doesn't matter how old you are, how young you are, it doesn't matter if you're male or female, it doesn't matter where you are as far as your social status, the most valuable thing that is granted to us is right here in our laps.

It's the word of God.

When the Bible is describing its own value for us, it comes and it tells us that the Bible is valuable in these passages because of what it is and because of what it does.

If you're coming looking for a profound outline today, it's not going to be that profound.

You're just going to recognize that all of these parallel sentences, parallel because the nouns and the adjectives, the verbs, the adverbs are all laid out in a similar way.

And they're all laid out in a similar way to bring repetition, driving home a certain point, and the point that they're driving home is the value of the Bible, both because of what it is and because of what it does.

Well, because of what it is, you'd have to look at the nouns and the adjectives.

And so I'm going to give a little bit of encouragement.

Anyone that's in school and wondering why in the world do you have to learn English?

Why do you have to know grammar?

Well, here's why.

It's not just so that you can have a better education and go to a better college and get a better job, but you need to go and learn English and understand English grammar because God has revealed Himself to us in a book.

And within this book, you can understand certain things, such as nouns and adjectives.

And the nouns and adjectives of this passage are repeated over and over again.

The law of the Lord is perfect, the testimony of the Lord is sure, the statutes of the Lord are right, the commandment of the Lord is pure, the fear of the Lord is clean, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous.

All of those are parallel, and you have a repetition, the law, the commandments, the judgments, which are all synonyms describing for us the Bible, the revelation of God.

And as it's describing that revelation, notice that all of those nouns have something in common of the Lord.

L-O-R-D is all in capitals, at least in most of your English translations, and it's a recognition that that is a translation of the name Jehovah.

So it's talking about the commandment of Jehovah, the statutes of Jehovah.

It's talking about the word of Jehovah, the Bible.

And as it's describing the Bible, it's intended that when he describes that this is the word of Jehovah, that it would be in contrast to what we read in verse 1.

Everyone take a look at Psalm 19, verse 1.

Psalms 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God.

That word God is Elohim, and that's the most general name for God.

That's the name that we find in Genesis 1.1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

And that name for God is describing in a general way the God who has made himself known by the things that he made.

Did you know that we can know certain things about God simply because of creation?

This morning, I was able to sit out on my deck and enjoy the beautiful blue sky and the wonderful mountain to see the sunshine and all of these changing leaves.

And I'm able to learn certain things about God just by observing creation.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

You see, the Bible tells us in Romans 1 that God has made himself known through the things that are made, even his eternal power and God has so that they are without excuse.

That means that every man, woman, child, anyone who's ever lived on this planet has had a certain revelation of God simply because he's made himself known through the things that he has made.

The heavens declare the glory of God.

What I want you to know about this general revelation of God, and that general revelation means that he speaks to everybody at all times.

He always makes himself known in a general way.

What I want you to notice about that is in verse 2, he speaks to them every moment.

Day unto day utter speech.

Night unto night reveals knowledge.

I want you to notice in verse 3 that he speaks in every language.

There's no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

You don't need a translator to be able to see the glory of God in creation, that general revelation.

What I want you to see in verse 4 is that God speaks in every place.

Their line has gone throughout all of the earth.

There are words to the end of the world.

That means everywhere God continues to speak.

And while we're rejoicing that God has made Himself known in a general way through general revelation, creation, what we need to really count as a blessing is that not only do the heavens declare the glory of God, but the law of the Lord is perfect.

Because within this book, we don't just have the general revelation by which we can see that God is great and big and glorious.

Certainly, if you go out on a mountain and climb Pike's Peak, or if you go out on a mountain and climb and enjoy wherever it may be, you recognize how small you are compared to creation.

And then you start recognizing that God measures all of the mountains in a scale.

That means that he is so much bigger than even the mountains.

He can pick up Pike's Peak like fruit in a scale and measure it like you would measure an orange at the grocery store.

That's how much bigger he is than even the big things that we see in creation.

It's true that God has made himself known in a general way.

We can know that he's great.

We can know that he's good.

We can know that he's artistic and beautiful.

Look at the things that are around us and the beauty that we can behold.

God doesn't just give us a functional planet to live on, he gives us a beautiful place because he is good and he demonstrates his goodness through the sun that shines on the just and the unjust, the rain that falls on the just or on the unjust.

God is great.

God is good.

But my friends, there are certain details about who God is that you would never know by sitting next to a stream up in the mountains.

Or by looking at the beautiful sunrise or the sunset next to the beach.

There are certain things about God that you would never guess or know or imagine unless He revealed Himself to us in detail in a book.

There was something a few years ago that I received in the mail every couple of days that was extremely valuable to me.

It was about 25 years ago because Nancy and I just celebrated our 25th anniversary this year.

And so just at that time, I was living in East Tennessee, where I was a youth pastor, and she was living in South Carolina where she was finishing up college.

And believe it or not, this was the day before there were cell phones.

That meant that there was no text message.

That meant that there was no email.

That meant that the only way that we could communicate either is by a long-distance phone call, and some of you remember those things were expensive if you spent all of your money on a long-distance phone call.

Or we'd write letters, snail mail.

And so every couple of days I received something in the mail while I was in Tennessee.

Man, that was so valuable to me.

It had nothing to do with publishers' uh clearing house, uh whatever it is that they had at that time, sweepstakes.

Some of you may remember what that was.

Uh had nothing to do with my paycheck coming in, had everything to do with a love letter that was coming from Nancy.

And when I got that letter from Nancy, I didn't just kind of casually open it, read it, glance at it, throw it away, and discard it.

No, man.

When I got that love letter, I poured over every line.

I was reading all into it.

Are there hidden meanings in what she said?

I'd hold it up to the light and see if there were tear stains, you know, on the paper because maybe she missed me.

I definitely smelled it because I wanted to see if she maybe sprayed it with perfume.

I definitely looked to see if there were little lip prints where maybe she kind of kissed it for me.

I mean, there are all the details, and I just poured over that thing, and it was so valuable to me because that was a revelation of someone who loved me.

And she wanted me to know her.

And I wanted to know her, and I wanted to have a closer relationship with her.

And this, my friends, is a book that's so valuable because this is the love letter of Jehovah.

The God who not only created you and everything that's around you, but the God who wants an intimacy and a relationship with you so that he reveals every detail about himself in this book.

You see, some people think, well, if I just go skiing, I'm gonna worship God up on the ski slope.

That's fine, because the heavens declare the glory of God and the creation around us reveal God, but you will never know all of the details of God, such as he is holy and just and right in all of his ways.

You would never come up with that just by hanging out on a mountain or fly fishing.

Yeah, it's wonderful to go out, but you're not gonna know the love and the patience that God has toward us.

You're not gonna even know some of the wrath that he holds against sin.

You wouldn't know about God's salvation, you wouldn't know the details of how to have a relationship with him unless he had made himself known, not just in a general way to everyone, but in a special way to you.

This book is not just written to pastors, it's written to you.

This book is not just written to scholars and theologians, it's written to you.

This book is written because Jehovah God wants intimacy of relationship with you.

This book is so valuable because of what it is.

And I know that this may not be your tradition, but I'm gonna ask you, can you say amen?

Can you give me a witness of this?

This book is so valuable because of what it is, and it's not only described in what it is, the law of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord.

But it's also recognized that the law of the Lord is perfect, the testimony of the Lord is sure, the statutes of the Lord are right, the commandment of the Lord is pure, the fear of the Lord is clean, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous.

Now, it's found not only in what it is, meaning the nouns, but it's also found in what it is, the adjectives, the description.

And all of those adjectives are describing two main ideas about what the Bible is and what it is to us, and it tells us, first of all, that it's foundational, that it's solid, that it's sure, that it's a rock upon which you can build your life.

I'm gonna give a few more personal illustrations than I would normally, simply because I don't know most of you.

And I'm gonna tell some stories because I'd like to get to know you a little bit more, and so I hope that you'll bear with me with some of the personal illustrations that I give.

But this morning, I'm just reading this Bible, I'm explaining what's there, I'm trying to apply it.

That's what we call expository preaching, verse by verse preaching.

And so it doesn't have to use personal illustrations, but this time I'm gonna give some personal illustrations.

All right, so in this passage, when it's describing a foundation, as that foundation, it comes and helps me to realize that if I want to build my dream home, multi-million dollar dream home, I want to make sure I build that home on a solid foundation.

Wouldn't it someone agree?

I never understood why, at least it seems like Southern California, they uh build these big, beautiful dream homes up on a on a hillside.

And of course they want the view and they enjoy all of that, but then the rains come and the muds start flowing and they have mud slides that wash everything down.

I've never understood why anyone would build their house in a place where a mudsli could wash it down a hill.

Can anyone agree with that?

If I want to build my multi-million dollar dream house, I'm gonna promise you that I'm gonna build it on a solid foundation, a bedrock.

I want to make sure that that thing's not gonna get washed down a mountain.

And remember that it was Jesus who said the foolish man is the one who builds his house on the sand, and the storms of life will come and beat against it, and that house is gonna fall, and great will be its fall.

But he says this the wise man is the one who hears the word of God and does it, and he will be like a wise man who builds his house on a rock.

And the storms are gonna come and beat on the house, and the rain's gonna fall, and The wind's gonna blow, but it will stand firm because it's founded on a rock.

My brothers and sisters, this book is so valuable because it is the solid rock, the foundation.

It is sure, steady.

And that means that it's a solid foundation upon which you can build your life.

A solid foundation upon which you would build your home.

The only foundation upon which you would build your home and define what a family should be.

It's the only solid foundation upon which you would build business by business principles or a church or even a nation.

This is the only solid foundation upon which you can build anything.

And that's why when I go and preach in Uganda or Kenya or Liberia, what they desperately need is not just Western leadership.

What they need is the solid rock upon which they can build their churches, the solid rock upon which they would build their nations and their economy.

It's the solid rock because this book is so valuable because it is like a foundation, that solid foundation.

But it also describes it this way: it is sure, it is right, it is clean, it is pure.

Within that, he's talking about something that is perfect, it's something that's established.

And again, I'm going to come to something that's valuable to me.

Here it is.

I got this phone.

Have you ever noticed that when you get a cell phone, it's only a matter of a couple of months until there's something that's new and improved and better?

You always need something new.

I never understood why they can't why can't they invent just one perfect iPhone?

It'll have all of the pixels that you need for your camera.

It'll have all of the details that you need, all the memory that you would ever need.

You never have to have it new and improved.

But iPhone, as we all know, well, there'll be i1, i2, i3, i7, and then not only are they satisfied with i7, but you have to have i7s, or as you can tell, I'm not that familiar with iPhones, and so there's all those letters that are in there.

Aren't you glad that when it comes to the Word of God, you never will have Bible 1, 2, 3, or 7?

You're never gonna have Bible 7S.

It's the same way with operating systems.

Why can't Microsoft just come up with one perfect operating system?

But instead you have to have Windows, and then Windows 3.5, and then Vista, and then all these other things.

Why don't they come up with one perfect system?

Well, here we have a Bible, and you never have Bible 3.5 or Bible 7 or Bible 2010.

You got one solid Bible that is perfect, sure, and is never changing.

Does it change as far as translation?

Yeah, but that's not because the Bible changes, that's because language changes.

The Bible remains the same, but in order to communicate the truths about the Bible, we translate or we have a different version, not because the Bible's changed, but because language has changed and this unchanging word of God is there.

That means that when you memorize this book, it's never gonna flip-flop on you.

That means when you study this book, it's never gonna be new and improved and come out with a new idea.

This book is so valuable because of what it is.

But it's not only valuable in what it is, it's also valuable in what it does.

Take a look at some of the verbal compounds that are here.

Converting the soul, making wise the simple, rejoicing the heart, enlightening the eyes.

Let's start with just that first one converting the soul.

This book is so valuable because this is the only thing that God has given to us that brings conversion to the soul.

And here is an example.

To convert the soul means that somebody's going a certain direction.

They realize I am not in the right place.

I'm lost.

And when they're lost, they recognize here's where I am, and that's where I need to be, and I need something to show me how to get there.

Uh Nancy, I told you, it's from South Carolina, and I was uh I was born and raised in Colorado Springs, and so when we got married, we moved out here.

Thank you, Jesus, for that one.

And after we moved out here, we started having children.

Soon we had five children, and so we needed to make that trip to go see grandma and grandpa.

And we didn't fly.

You say, why didn't you fly?

I just explained it to you.

We have five children, and when you have five children, whoo, man, that gets a little expensive.

And we made that drive all the time.

And when we made that drive, we always drove straight through the night.

You say, Jeff, why did you drive straight through the night?

I told you.

We had five children.

And when you have five children, if you start at night, you get halfway there before they even know what hit them.

All right?

That's kind of the whole goal.

And so one time we were driving all the way to South Carolina, and every time you drive to South Carolina from Colorado, you have to go through St.

Louis, the most confusing city that anyone has ever invented, as far as all the roads that come in and out and all the circles.

And I it's so easy to get lost in that place.

And so every single time that we drove through St.

Louis, it felt like I was getting lost.

Even with GPS, it was just confusing.

Well, one year it was Christmas, and at the end of all the Christmas services and Christmas candlelight service and a busy day, we decided we're going to leave at night and try to get there so the family can celebrate Christmas.

And so we took off.

And the only way I made it through the night is I drank so much mountain dew that my eyes were turning yellow.

I mean, that was a key to everything.

Uh definitely ate sunflower seeds, and I'm not sure if it was all the salt from the sunflower seeds or if it was all the mountain dew that was there.

But by the time I got near St.

Louis, I was starting to imagine that there were things falling out of the back of trucks.

I'm swerving to miss things.

And I said, baby, it's time for you to take over.

And so Nancy took over.

She asked me, uh, what highway am I looking for?

I said, I can't remember the number, just you know, whichever one we always take, 57, 64, something.

And of course, I told her the wrong number.

Because I told her the wrong number, it was a little while later.

And remember, man, I have Mountain Dew in my system, salt, I've been tired and up all night.

And so when she woke me and she said, Jeff, are we supposed to be going toward Indianapolis?

That's when I realized we're on the wrong road.

Uh, because Nashville's down here and Indianapolis is up here, and so I realized, man, we're on totally on the wrong place.

And so I didn't even know where we were.

I asked Nancy, get off the highway, let's go figure out where we are.

We got off the highway, and I can tell you, I've never known that southern Indiana could be that redneck or that country.

Those people speak a language I've never even heard before.

And so I get out thinking that they're kind of rednecked.

I go into the gas station and I ask them, excuse me, can you tell me where we are?

And they look at me like I'm the worst redneck that ever lived.

Because I had no idea where I was.

I said, Oh, how about this?

You have a map, and they got a map out, and they said, All right, here's where you are, and here's where you need to be.

And there's a road that connected the two, and I recognized because of that map, I knew here's where I am, there's where I need to be.

That's how let me tell you something.

If you're lost, there's nothing more valuable to you than a map.

And when you think about the road map of the Word of God that converts the soul, it tells you where you are.

That means that if you want to have a relationship with Jehovah, according to what the Bible says, that you need to be holy because the Lord your God is holy.

And he gets even stronger than that.

He says you need to be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect.

That means that God's standard is perfection and that there is none righteous and that no one falls it.

It tells me right where I am, because all of us, like sheep, have gone astray.

We have turned everyone to his own way.

I'm lost.

I'm here.

Where do I need to be?

Well, I need to be perfect, as God is perfect.

I need to be holy and righteous in all my ways.

Where am I?

I've sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

How can I get from here to there?

Thank goodness.

And we have a Bible that tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by Him.

And this salvation that the Bible describes, that's by God's grace alone, is received through faith alone.

That faith is placed in Jesus alone.

That salvation that converts the soul is not something that we made up because we came up with a better religion than someone else.

It's not the invention of human thinking at all.

It's something that's been revealed to us and given us to a book that is so valuable because this book converts the soul.

Here's what I rejoice in.

Here's something I know that we share in common is that you, as a congregation, have far more confidence in this book than you have confidence in any kind of evangelistic plan or apologetic scheme.

You see, there is no argument that's able to open people's eyes because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

It's this book that is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.

This book is so valuable because of what it is.

And it tells us of a salvation that is different than any other religion in the world.

Some of you are sitting in here today, maybe in this day of pluralism and all the ideas that are around you are like, why should I believe the Bible?

Why do I know that I'm in the right place?

Why is our religion right?

Well, let me give you a consideration.

Whether it's Hinduism or Islam or Buddhism or different forms of Christianity, they all have something in common.

It's all a system of works by which they're trying to somehow appease their God.

Hinduism is filled with all kinds of self-help, religious, righteousness, acts of righteousness by which they're trying to appease their gods.

Islam is filled with all of the five tenets by which they have their daily prayers.

And the further you go to make your daily prayers, the more points you get.

And then you have your tithing and your giving, and so how somehow by giving you're appeasing Allah, and now you're gonna have a relationship with Him.

And then you come and recognize that you can go on a pilgrimage.

It's all a matter of works.

Unless you think I'm just criticizing them, let's think about some forms of Christianity that you grew up in, where it's gonna be this sacrament or that activity, and if you just follow this ritual, or if you just do this act, or if you just come to this confession or whatever works system it is.

But the Bible teaches us that it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy that he saves us.

The Bible tells us that it's by grace, God's gift, grace that we're saved through faith, and that not of ourselves.

It's a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Friends, salvation by God's grace, through Jesus Christ alone, is not something that we've invented, it's not something that's clever, it's something that's been revealed to us, and it's revealed to us in a book that is perfect and a book that converts the soul.

This book is so valuable because of what it is, it's so valuable because of what it does, and not only does it convert the soul, notice what he says, it makes wise those that are simple.

Does anyone around here notice how much foolishness there is in the world that's around us?

The foolishness of emptying your weapons into a crowd of people in Las Vegas.

That's beyond any of us in things.

That's someone who really that's just foolish.

Or the foolishness of saying that there is no God and teaching our children in the schools that they're the product of random chance.

Or how about the foolishness of thinking that somehow, as long as there's two consult consenting adults, they can they can perform whatever sexual act they want.

That's foolish.

And the Bible says that anyone who gets involved in adultery or premarital sex is like a fool who takes fire into his bosom thinking that he's not going to get burned.

Man, you're taking fire into your bosom, and here's the truth it's the scripture that comes and tells you that because you have been created in the image of God, with the ability to think and feel and choose, ability to relate, because you're created in the image of God, you are not just a more highly evolved animal, but you are a special, dignified being.

And that dignity not only gives dignity and sanctity and meaning to human life, it also gives dignity and sanctity to human sexuality.

We don't live like other animals.

We don't just run around acting however we want, living according to our own desires, our own attractions, our own lusts.

Instead, we come back and we recognize that this book is so valuable because it makes wise the simple.

And we're living in a day when there's so much foolishness.

What people desperately need is the wisdom of Scripture.

Can anyone agree and say amen to this?

It makes wise the simple.

It also rejoices the heart.

You know that there's a lot of people who are looking for joy, happiness, satisfaction, thinking this is going to come in a different relationship and a bigger house, a newer car, a better job.

No.

The only rejoicing that ultimately is found is in this book that rejoices the heart.

But there's one last story that I want to share, and there's one phrase.

Take a look at verse 8.

The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.

Did you know that if you're out in darkness, there's nothing more valuable to you than light?

Um, when I was 18, just graduated from Rampart High School, I had a brother, Dan.

And Dan and I, to be honest with you, were kind of sibling rivals.

We never really got along, and it was all my fault.

He was 18 months or 15 months younger than me, so he's younger than me, but he was always bigger than me.

I know that's hard for you to imagine right now.

And now I'm definitely bigger than him, but I was a late bloomer.

And when I was a late bloomer, he was bigger than me, which means that I treated him.

Man, I was such a jerk as far as the way that I treated him.

We didn't get along.

But this one time we went camping.

And so it was me and Dan, and we uh went up camping on the backside of Pike's Peak somewhere.

We set up a tent and got our campsite all set up, and it was on a cliff, kind of overlooking a valley where the river was running through.

And we decided that we wanted to go down and fish and play.

So we went down and were playing in the water and goofing around, having a great time down below.

Something happened to where I decided I wanted to come back to camp early.

And uh, well, it's not that I've forgotten it, it's just that I hate to admit it.

I saw a snake.

And when I saw that snake, man, I'm terrified of snakes, and I said, all right, that snake is uh that's enough for me.

I'm going back.

So I hiked back up.

I got into camp, and there in camp I started having the best meal that's ever served around a campfire: ramen noodles.

Man, they have never tasted so good as around a campfire.

And then I had the best dessert that God has ever created, s'mores around the campfire, man.

It was delicious.

And as I'm eating my s'mores and my ramen and I'm having a great time, I'm recognizing, wow, it really got dark.

I don't know if it was because there was no moon that night or because the sun went down behind the mountains, but when it went down, bam, it went pitch black.

You couldn't even see your hand in front of your face.

Later, my brother told me that he was out in the middle of all that darkness, and uh, and he's bumping into trees, getting scraped up with limbs, he's tripping over rocks and roots that are there.

He finally sat down, hoping his eyes would adjust, but recognizing he'll never be able to find his way back to camp because he got that dark that fast.

I started becoming concerned for him and realized that he's out there and he doesn't have a flashlight, he doesn't have matches, he doesn't have anything.

So I took our kindling that we had collected, I took a big pile of kindling and fuel and I put it in a rock that jutted out over this edge.

When I got all that fuel there, I went back to the fire, brought out some of the fire, and I lit that, and when I lit it, it just lit into this huge bonfire.

That bonfire lit up the night sky, and within five minutes, Dan was able to come stumbling into camp.

Yeah, he had bumps and bruises and scrapes all over him, and so sure enough, he comes and he hugged me and he thanked me for saving his life.

Now remember, we didn't get along all that much at that time.

But I still remind him to this day, hey, I saved your life.

Don't forget, I had saved your life.

And I may have been a big jerk of a brother in many moments, but I saved your life.

When you're out in darkness, there's nothing that's more valuable to you than light.

And the whole world is lost in darkness and sin, but the light of the world is Jesus.

And my friend, the only light that we can bring to them is the light of the Word of God.

What they desperately need in Africa is not just our view of democracy or our view of capitalism or our view of whatever it may be.

What they desperately need is not just better health care redistribution of wealth.

What they desperately need is they need a book that is more to be desired than gold.

Yea, then much fine gold is sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

In just a moment, I'm going to show a video, and that video is going to declare to you some of what International Bible Conference does to come and minister to pastors, especially in the third world.

But I want you to remember something today that it's not just pastors in the third world that need this book.

It's us in this room.

And the truth is some of us have been forsaking this fortune that's in our fingertips.

Because it's true that right now in our Christian bookstores, we got so many books that are about the Bible.

You could spend all day, every day reading about the Bible and not even spend time in this book.

But why would we neglect that which is more to be desired than gold?

Yea, than much fine gold.

We'd be like Ali Hafed.

Going on a journey all over Africa and the Middle East and Europe and never finding what satisfies.

Let me encourage you, do not neglect this book.

Even those of you who've read through it several times, continue to read it because it continues to speak.

Every day it speaks, it ministers, every day it enlightens your eyes.

Every day it rejoices your heart.

Every day it continually converts your soul.

It's this book that is so valuable.

Let us not neglect it.

A few years ago, I'd realized that there were some pastors in Uganda who didn't even have Bibles.

So we just started distributing Bibles to them.

And one year we had several thousand pastors at a conference, and a young man came to me and he said, Pastor Jeff, I come every year to the conference, but I've never received one of the Bibles.

Could you give me a Bible?

I said, Man, we've given away everything that we have.

I don't have anything left.

Let me check with my team.

Come back the next day.

So the second day he came back and he said, I'm really wanting a Bible.

I said, What's going on?

What do you need?

And he said, I want to know the Bible myself and I want to teach it to my young people.

I said, I haven't found anything yet, but come back the third day.

The third day, he was the first one to meet me when I got out of the car.

And I was able to pull him aside and I said, Now listen, please don't tell everyone about this because there'll be a riot.

I don't have enough for everybody.

But one of our team members has given up his personal Bible.

I want to give you this.

And here's a young man who held that Bible in his hand like this.

And the tears began streaming down his face, and he pulled on his shirt and he looked up at me and he said, I don't have anything to give you in return for this Bible.

But if you like my shirt, you can have that.

Here's someone who's willing to give the shirt off of his back for a Bible.

Why?

Because it's more to be desired than gold.

It's sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

And I started thinking about all of the copies of the Bible that I have.

NIV, ESV, King James, New King James.

I have uh New Living Translation, the message, I got all these versions, and most of them are sitting on a shelf collecting dust.

I started recognizing I have access to it on the internet, I have access to it on uh cassette tape or DVD, I have access to the Bible.

Make sure, Jeff, that you don't neglect this book looking for all those other things that never satisfy.

And if you're a young couple, let me encourage you.

The best thing that you could possibly do to invest in your marriage, in your relationship, is not yet read another book about marriage.

Pour yourself into this book because it's more to be desired than gold, yea, than much fine gold.

Study it together, read it together, love it together.

Personal message for us at the road, let us not neglect this fortune that's in our fingertips.

But at the same time, would you consider the opportunity to help, to partner with us in taking this valuable treasure to some of the people in the world that most desperately need it?

Just take a look at what's going on here.

Tens of thousands of indigenous churches are being established by local pastors who are passionate in the Lord and sacrificial in their service, but often untrained in scriptures.

They have very little education about theology and the word of God.

Millions of young believers are being led astray by false doctrines and a false gospel blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.

What they do need for us to do is to help train them so that they can carry on the gospel message.

Every international Bible conference, whether Africa, Asia, or India, is modeling expository preaching of the Word of God.

It's the Bible that transcends cultures.

And most of these pastors are hearing verse-by-verse preaching for the first time.

Pastors go home properly equipped to preach the word of God.

It was very easy for them because it's like a Bible school by itself.

For three days, we have just had 10,000 people seated a long hour because people are thirsty and they want to hear the word of God.

These are not American conferences.

Partnership with the indigenous church is what keeps the conference costs so low.

IBC also provides resources for the pastors.

Everybody is learning to be in the conference and study, and at the same time, come back with a study Bible.

The IBC three-day intensive training and provision of the study Bible and other teaching materials build long-term follow-up and life-changing results.

It really assisted us in a new manager.

IBC conferences are indeed a relatively inexpensive way to reach the multitudes with the verse-by-verse exposition of God's Word.

Local denominations in Africa, India, and Asia have now asked IBC to conduct more Bible conferences to reach 50,000 pastors per year.

These pastors will return home to congregations averaging 100 people.

More than five million souls will be directly impacted every year.

My friends, this is very doable in our generation to strengthen the body of Christ and to see the gospel go forth around the world.

A gift of just$20 per month will sponsor IBC training for 12 pastors and potentially disciple an average of 1,200 believers per year.

How many pastors would you like to sponsor?

Please support this ministry so the pastors may be trained with the sound doctrine so they may go back and equip their leadership in the church to equip their people.

Thank you.

You've been listening to the road.

We hope you have been blessed by today's message.

To connect with us further, visit theroad.org.

If you are walking through a difficult time, we want to pray for you.

Go to theroad.org, click on the ministries tab, and go to our prayer page to send us your prayer request.

Thank you for tuning in today and be sure to listen to the next edition of The Road.