The Centrality of the Word of God

William Tyndale is a name that every follower of Christ should recognize or know.

In fact, if you're holding an English copy of the Bible this morning or you're following along to the words, we have William Tyndale to thank for that.

This was an individual who lived during the 1500s, and he was highly educated in many languages, but primarily Greek and Hebrew.

And during this time period of his life, he had been hired to be the tutor for the children of Sir John Walsh at the Little Sodbury Manor.

And one of the things he liked to do during his free time was to look out underneath the manor at the fields below and observe the plowmen as they were diligently working.

Now, what was interesting about this group of people was they were really represented the uneducated people of England.

They were the people who no one really cared about, no one thought much about.

They didn't have access to the Bible like you and I do today.

And the problem during this time period was there really was only the Latin Bible, and so scholars were the only ones who had access to the Bible as a result of that.

And during this time period, also the Erasmus Greek New Testament had recently been completed.

But as you can tell, those would be of very little use to an uneducated person.

They weren't able to study it for themselves, to learn more about it.

So as a result, these individuals had no way to get access to the Word of God on their own to study it until William Tyndale decided to translate the Bible into English.

Now, during this time period, this was an illegal activity.

This was not allowed to take place.

And so as a result, Tyndale then had to hide out in Europe under an assumed name.

It sounds like it'd be a modern-day show.

The scriptures, as he as he finished the New Testament, the year was 1526, they began to slowly trickle into England.

And they were actually printed, they were referred to as the Pirate Edition, and they were printed smaller than conventional books so that they could smuggle them in into hay bales and bales of cotton into England.

And what was interesting, upon discovery of this work starting to come into England, they started to buy up copies of this.

And they actually publicly denounced him and accused him of printing more than 3,000 heirs of scripture, right?

We can ridicule him and we can rip on him and say that he's wrong, so that people will neglect it and reject it.

They started burning copies of the New Testament.

Tyndall actually said this upon hearing this.

He said, In burning the New Testament, they did none other thing than I looked for.

No more shall they do if they burn me also.

If it be God's will, it shall be so.

Nevertheless, in translating the New Testament, I did my duty.

So then what took place was prisons started overflowing with people who were being arrested because they had acquired one of these copies of the New Testaments.

They were actually taking these people and burning them at the stake with copies of the New Testament fastened around their necks.

Thousands of Christians were executed, but they were no longer targeting just the uneducated people.

Any man, woman, or child, educated or not, was at risk of being executed if they were caught in possession of one of these New Testaments.

Even church officials who once were attacking this work now started to profess faith in Christ as a result of reading his work.

And because of this, today, you and I have access to the Word of God.

What you and I have freedom to read every single day, to study, to gather here on Sunday morning and hear preached and taught was a result of a man who believed that the ordinary person, the uneducated person of the time, should have the ability to engage with the Word of God.

So here we are in 2022, basically 500 years after this event took place.

And this past year, Barna released their 2021 research project called The State of the Bible 2021, five key findings.

And there were two areas that I found particularly of interest when I was looking for this, looking through this.

So out of the respondents, the first that was pretty interesting was 54% of adults that were surveyed said that they believed the Bible contains everything a person needs to live a meaningful life, which was actually down from 68% the year before.

The second, though, was how then how often then the people actually read the Bible.

So 34% of US adults read the Bible once a week or more, while 50% read the Bible less than twice a year, and that also included never.

So in between, at 16%, it was found that US adults read the Bible more than twice a year, but not on a weekly basis.

So 54% of US adults believe the Bible contains everything to live a meaningful life, whatever that is defined as, they didn't give us a definition of that.

But only 34% read the Bible at least once a week.

So what we have is a disconnect here: a disconnect from belief to action.

If a person believes everything that is needed to live a meaningful life is found in the Bible, wouldn't it make sense for you to engage with it more?

Wouldn't it make sense for you to read the Bible more?

We have free access today to read the Word of God.

Every single one of us.

We can study it for ourselves.

But when we come back to Nehemiah 8 and we come to this book and we jump back in here, we find that this was not the case for Nehemiah.

So when we get to the people of Nehemiah for Israel, so when we come to this point in the book, we have learned that the wall is now complete.

The people, as Pastor Justin preached last week, are now being rebuilt, and now they gather together and they tell Ezra to bring the word of God.

So let's jump in and start by looking at the first eight verses.

And what we learn from the first eight verses is that reading God's word leads to worship and understanding.

So right out of the gate, our attention should be grabbed by verse one, right there, where all the people are gathering as one man.

The people are gathering for a purpose in the situation.

There is unity taking place here as the people gather to hear the book of the law of Moses being read and explained.

Now, what's interesting about this, this sounds very similar to what we do on Sunday mornings as sacred mission.

We hear the word of God read, we recite the word of God together, we hear the word of God preached, we hear the word of God taught, we respond to the word of God through singing, we respond to the word of God through confession, we respond to the word of God in communion, and we respond to the word of God through prayer.

Our focus on Sunday morning is on the Word of God.

That's why we gather.

We unite together to hear the Word of God and to proclaim it together and to learn more about it.

And we see this taking place here in Nehemiah 8 as well.

The people all gather so that Ezra, the priest, could read from the book of the law of Moses.

So we have to ask ourselves the question: who is Ezra?

The text clearly tells us in verse 3 that Ezra was a priest, and then in verse 4 that he was a scribe.

Also in verse 9, if we were to jump down a little bit further, they re-emphasizes that by telling us that Ezra was a priest and a scribe.

Now, Ezra's family line could be traced all the way back to Aaron, the original chief priest.

Now, Aaron was the brother of Moses.

So if we connect the story together, we take us all the way back to Egypt in the Exodus where Moses brings them out and he's taking them to the promised land.

Aaron is his brother, and Ezra is found in that family line.

But also Ezra was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses.

We can see that if we were to jump over to Ezra 7.10.

For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the Lord and to do it, and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.

So Ezra stands up and he begins to read the book of the law of Moses.

Now, the book of the law of Moses, if we were to understand a little bit better, that is what we know as the first five books of the Old Testament Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

And traditionally it's called the Torah, meaning to teach or to guide.

And it was written by Moses from God.

Now, more specifically, we believe when we look at Nehemiah 8 that Ezra was probably specifically focused on the book of Deuteronomy.

Now remember the first week of Nehemiah, when Pastor Justin was preaching on Nehemiah 1, he read through different sections of scripture that Nehemiah 1 was addressing.

And the chapters were all around Deuteronomy 28 through 30, Deuteronomy 28:45, Deuteronomy 28:49, Deuteronomy 28.64, Deuteronomy 29, 24 through 8, and Deuteronomy 31 through 3.

Deuteronomy 28:45 Deuteronomy 28:49

The focus here was going back to Deuteronomy.

They're reading this, they're studying this.

Look at what it says in Deuteronomy 31, verses 10 through 13.

Deuteronomy 31:10–13

Follow along the screen.

And Moses commanded them, at the end of every seven years, at the set time in the year of release, at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel, at the set time at the Feast of Booths, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place that he will choose, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law, and that their children who have not known it may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.

Now look at the people's response.

We jump back to Nehemiah.

Look at the people's response to Ezra reading God's Word.

First in verse 5, all the people stand as Ezra opened the book.

The people knew how important the Word of God was.

Something else we do every Sunday morning as we gather with the church.

Right?

As we gather as sacred mission, the word of God is being read.

We stand in awe and in reverence of God's word.

Why?

Because we believe the Bible is truly the word of God.

That is why we stand in honor to show honor to God.

That's exactly what Israel was doing here as well in Nehemiah 8.

But it's not just honor and respect that Israel is showing in Nehemiah 8 by standing, it's also Israel's response in worship.

In verse 6, Israel responds with Amen, meaning, yes, may it be so.

Amen.

Amen, they say.

They are agreeing with the word of God.

How often do we respond, maybe not verbally?

Now, I'm the type of person that I'm sitting in here.

The word is being preached.

I wholeheartedly agree.

I hear other people saying, Amen, amen.

I'm not typically one that will respond with amen.

But internally, I am.

And some of you may be the same.

Some of you it terrifies you to even say anything in a service, right?

Even if you're not standing up here.

How often, though, do you find yourself saying, Well, God, I don't know?

I don't know if I agree with that.

Maybe.

Why?

Because in those moments where we struggle to believe, what we actually are doing is we're believing that we don't really know if God is really good.

Maybe you start to question the goodness of God.

Have you ever found yourself asking the question, why would a good God and then fill in the blank?

The difference is we have the Word of God today so that we can read and understand how faithful, how patient, and how good God really is.

John Calvin, a famous theologian who lived during the 1500s, said this about the Bible.

He said, We owe to the Scripture the same reverence we owe to God since it has its only source in him.

Let me say that again.

We owe to the Scripture the same reverence we owe to God since it has its only source in him.

Israel understood this.

And this is why they could say, Amen.

Yes, may it be so.

But not only do they agree, they lift their hands, they bow their heads with their faces to the ground, and they worship God.

Now, what drove Israel to worship God here?

What drove them into this posture?

It was the word of God.

Now, if you grew up in the church, maybe you experienced this, a smaller, uh, you know, conservative church.

The music is now finished, the pastor stands up in the pulpit, he grabs the pulpit, says, Wasn't worship great this morning?

Now open your Bible.

And he begins to preach.

The problem with this idea is it begins to teach us and we begin to believe that worship only takes place through singing, through the music.

But that's not the case, though, because we worship in song.

Yes, we worship through prayer, and we worship God through the word of God being preached.

We worship when we celebrate communion together.

So, what is worship?

I found a great definition from a pastor who pastored many years in Minnesota by the name of John Piper, and he defined worship as this: the inner essence of worship is to know God truly and then respond from the heart to that knowledge by valuing God, treasuring God, prizing God, enjoying God, being satisfied with God above all earthly things, and then that deep, restful, joyful satisfaction in God overflows in demonstratable acts of praise from the lips and demonstratable acts of love and serving others for the sake of Christ.

John Piper says, right at the beginning, worship is to know God truly.

How do we learn more about God?

How do you and I learn more about God?

It's from the Word of God.

It's from His Word.

As you grow in your understanding of God from the Bible, your worship of God will increase.

Makes sense, right?

As you learn more about God, as you engage the Word of God, and you discover more and more about Him, His grandness, how great He truly is, your worship will increase.

As you read through it, your eyes should be lifted up.

And that's exactly what happened here with Israel.

In verse 8, the people understood the reading.

They understood the Word of God.

But this is how they understood the Word of God.

As Ezra read a section of the Word of God, we read that the Levites in verse 7, these group of the names that were listed, moved among the crowd, explaining so the people could understand as the people stayed in their places.

The people were not only hearing the Word of God read, but then it was being explained to them.

That's pretty interesting.

The Word of God is being read.

Pause for a moment.

They go around, they explain.

People are asking questions.

They're able to get understanding from this.

They didn't have Google or DuckDuckGo.

They needed someone to help them in this moment and they could understand it.

How many of you have ever experienced a time when you got done reading something and you were like, wait, wait, what did I just read?

It was me in high school.

I hated reading.

I'd read it as fast as possible to say I got it done, and then I'd be like, I have no idea what I just read.

But I read it.

This is not the case, though, for Israel.

As they heard the word of God read, then it was being explained to them.

They were understanding what was being read to them.

And this understanding then leads them to worship.

Think about it this way.

Have you ever read something in the Bible where you learned something about God you didn't know before?

Or maybe you read something about God from a text that you've read a hundred times and it hits you differently in that moment.

It shows you how great God is.

What happened?

It should have driven you in that moment to worship God.

Why?

Because you understood something about God that you did not know before.

It drives you to worship because you understood.

The more you understand about God, the more you worship Him.

So reading God's word not only leads to worship and understanding, but we also see hearing God's word leads to rejoicing in verses 9 through 12.

Hearing God's word leads to rejoicing.

So hearing God's word and understanding God's word leads to rejoicing.

Now, typically, when we think of rejoicing, typically when you hear about someone rejoicing about something in their life, you envision and you think and you believe that it comes on the heel of good news, right?

That's typically when people rejoice.

But what if we also rejoiced when we were convicted of sin?

What if you rejoiced when you were convicted of sin in your life?

One of the reasons our family loves sacred mission, and we love gathering here with the church, is because we walk out on Sunday morning feeling good.

Now, not because anyone that stands up here to preach is preaching feel-good sermons.

That's exactly the opposite of it.

We love sacred mission because the word of God is preached every single Sunday, faithfully and passionately, and we are convicted of sin in our lives.

So through the hearing of God's word being preached, we realize what takes place is that we have turned away from God in different areas of our lives.

We have decided to go our own way, and we are always at sacred mission pointed to repent of our sin and turn to Christ.

Look to Him.

Literally, to turn away from our sin and look to Jesus, who paid the price on the cross for our sin.

When the Word of God is read, it should stir our hearts to repentance and change.

And this is what we see take place here with Israel.

After hearing the Word of God read, they begin to understand what they've heard read because the Word of God was taught and explained to them.

And as a result, this understanding opens up their eyes to see the rebellion against God in their hearts and leads them to initially mourn and weep.

Why?

Because the word of God exposes sin.

The 17th century preacher William Bridge used a biblical illustration that was popular among the Reformers and Puritans when he described the Bible as a looking glass, as a mirror.

He said this Using a mirror, we see three things the material glass, the reflection of our own image, and also that of the things around us in the room.

As we see the glass itself, we are reminded that Scripture is God's testimony to his own nature.

There is God seen especially in Christ's scene, says Bridge.

But there also you see yourself in your own dirty face.

There also you see the creatures that are in the room with you in their emptiness, the emptiness of men and of all comforts and relations.

That is what the Word of God does.

It reveals the greatness of God.

It reveals where you and I have fallen short and exposes the sin in our lives.

This is what the Word of God did for Israel here, and it leads them to mourn and to weep.

They literally have to be told to stop mourning and weeping.

They're literally instructed to quit it.

And it wasn't just a select few people, right?

We can read very clearly, it wasn't just a few people here who begin to weep.

I'm sure you've all been in a situation where you've been around an individual who receives tragic news.

They begin to weep.

They begin to cry.

Maybe you've been at a funeral and you see this take place, or you're with someone and this takes place in the life, but not here.

This was not just a few people mourning and weeping.

No, we read that all the people wept.

Can you imagine the scene here?

This large group of people are mourning and weeping.

This would have been chaotic.

Now, think about it in our own context for a moment.

Someone is standing up here preaching, a child cries out.

It's not really that big a deal, right?

Like I have four children, I can handle some crying.

Not all at once, but uh one or two until I've had enough.

But now imagine for a moment if every child in this building right now were brought into this room, we're all in here together, and every single child begins to cry out uncontrollably.

It'd be chaos.

We would literally have to pause.

I can imagine Pastor Justin just standing here, just staring at all this waiting.

That's exactly what takes place here in Nehemiah 8, except it was with all the people the men, the women, the children.

But why it's so interesting is not that the people are mad about anything.

It's not that they have been wronged about an injustice in their life, right?

And they're crying out.

No, they are mourning and weeping because they have heard the word of God and they have been convicted of the sin in their own hearts.

Now you might be thinking, how does this lead to worship?

The situation sounds terrible.

They're literally mourning and weeping.

This is not a situation where people typically rejoice.

It's because in this moment they are then reminded of where their strength comes from when they're told it comes from the joy of the Lord.

They would have been reminded in this moment of how God had taken care of them.

Look at Deuteronomy thirty, verses one through three on the screen.

And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and return to the Lord your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today with all your heart and with all your soul, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.

Their joy is not found in their circumstances.

Not at all.

Their joy is found in the Lord because he has restored them and he has had mercy on them.

And remember, mercy is God not giving us what we deserve.

They deserved punishment, but God was patient with them.

Their joy is a result of hearing and being reminded of what God had done for them.

But let's pause for a moment and consider this in our own lives.

We can base our joy that we have every single day on things of this world, or we can base our joy in God, which then flows into how we view what we have in our lives and what we go through in our lives.

For example, I can watch one of my children play, and I can be caught up in the joy of that child playing because God has blessed me with that child.

I can have joy in my job because I realize that God has blessed me with this job to provide for myself and my family.

I can have joy in watching athletes compete because these athletes are made in the image of God and they have some unique abilities and talents that I do not have.

And guess what?

You don't have either.

But imagine for the moment, I had a conversation the other day with an individual who ran for Rutgers and he ran like a 10-4.

And I asked him, compared to like Usain Bolt running a 9-6, and he goes, it's distance.

He goes, It's that, but it's like a massive amount of distance.

Now I've been guilty during the Summer Olympics, during swimming events.

Michael Phelps really engaged all of us in that.

To watch those events and turn to my wife Chelsea and say things like, I wonder how close I'd be if I was swimming against them right now.

Which her response is always the same, not even, not even close.

Which then I naturally respond, I guess we'll never know.

They don't allow it.

The truth is, I know, you know, we all know I'm not in the Olympics, and neither are you guys.

But then there's the other side of this as well.

I can still have joy in my life when my children are disobeying me in a moment because God still has blessed me with that child.

Now I struggle finding joy in those moments, as most of you probably do as well.

I can still have joy in a job that I really dislike or hate because I realize and I grasp that God has still blessed me with this job that can provide for myself, my family.

I can still have joy when my favorite team loses.

I'm a Chicago Cubs fan.

It was a long time, guys.

Let's ask a question.

How many of you had joy in the past couple months when the Bengals lost in the Super Bowl?

It's a long time coming, right?

What about going through the loss of a loved one?

Can you still have joy in that moment?

Well, you can.

Because even the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 4 4, rejoice in the Lord always.

Again I will say, rejoice.

And when we come back to Nehemiah 8, for Israel here in this moment, they can rejoice because they have understood the words that have been declared to them.

This is why hearing God's word leads to rejoicing.

Because Israel was reminded of the faithfulness of God, a God who had redeemed them, a God who had saved them.

And as Ezra stood and read from the law of God, they were reminded of how good God is.

But not only does hearing God's word lead to rejoicing, we also see that studying God's word leads to action.

And we find this in verses 13 through 18.

Studying God's word leads to action.

So on the second day, the heads of the families returned to Ezra to study the words of the law together.

What they find is that in the law of from Moses, there was a feast that took place in the seventh month.

And right before chapter 8 in Nehemiah 7, the very last verse reveals what month they're currently in.

Also in Nehemiah 8 it tells us, in the second half of Nehemiah 773, it says this, and when the seventh month had come, the people were in their towns.

So they're currently in the seventh month of the year.

And there is this feast known as the Feast of Booths that they are celebrating.

The Feast of Booths was the last of the yearly celebrations that took place that Israel would celebrate each and every year.

It was a time to thank God for all that he had provided.

But also it was a reminder of the wilderness journey out of slavery from Egypt heading to the Promised Land.

During this time of the feast, each Israelite family was required to construct a booth out of sticks and live in it for a week.

Literally, gather sticks together, make a small temporary shelter, and then live in it.

When I was reading this, it reminded me of the dad who comes into the house and says, Tonight we camp.

And he sets up the tent in the backyard.

He wakes up the next morning and everyone's inside, and he's the only one who actually slept out there.

But the difference was Israel actually did sleep in this little booth for a week.

They lived in it.

Throughout the town, these booths were constructed and they lived in it.

It was a reminder of what Moses wrote from God in Deuteronomy 8 of a warning to not forget it was God who brought them out of slavery.

That when Israel was enjoying the promised land, and you can even read, he warns them that when you're fat and happy, to not believe the lies that you had done this for yourselves.

You didn't do this.

God did.

Living in booths for a week was a reminder of what God had done for Israel by rescuing them from slavery, not based on anything they had done, but on what God had done.

It was a reminder that Israel must always trust God and God alone for everything.

Everything they had.

So what does Israel do?

Since they were commanded to go out and collect different types of branches and make booths, that's exactly what we read in verse 16.

They do.

And we read there was very great rejoicing.

Why?

Because they studied God's word and it led them to action.

As they studied God's word, they were shown where they had neglected God, where they had turned away from Him, and there's immediate change that takes place.

Imagine the scene for a moment.

They're studying God's word, they learn and are reminded of this feast that they have not celebrated for years and years and years.

And what do they do?

Do they sit there and deliberate?

Are they thinking, this is interesting, but who could this be for?

Could this be for all the other nations around us?

Do they think to themselves, could this be about us or someone else?

No, they immediately take action and start the feast.

How often, though, do you and I do the opposite of what Israel did here in Nehemiah 8?

We hear God's words preached at sacred mission as we gather.

We study it in mission groups.

Or we read the Bible and study it on our own, and we start to think to ourselves, man, it would have been nice if Jared would have heard that sermon this Sunday.

It'd change what he's how he's living his life.

Or, man, it'd be awesome if Jared would have been at mission group this week and maybe he'd change how much of a jerk he is.

Or as you read the Bible, do you think to yourself, I wish my spouse would read this?

So they would change.

All the while you do the very thing Israel did for years and years and years by neglecting this feast.

When you study God's word, it should lead to action in your life.

There should be conviction of sin.

And it's not always this big moment either.

I think sometimes we get caught up in this idea that God has to do something miraculous in my life.

No, it can be a very small moment at times, something very small in your heart that God just brings to your attention.

And you have to stop what you're doing and ask God to forgive you and then maybe make amends with whoever you've sinned against.

When you study God's word, you realize how great God is and how much you need Him every single day.

That's what the Feast of Booths was all about.

Remember.

Remember.

For Israel, it was remember how God had rescued you out of slavery and provided for you throughout the wilderness journey.

But you might be sitting here today thinking to yourself, how does this impact me?

We don't have celebrations like this.

We're not required to celebrate the Feast of Booths or these different feasts that take place each and every year.

But we do.

Every single week, as we gather here, we celebrate and participate in a feast.

We celebrate and participate together in the Lord's Supper each and every Sunday.

As we come to the communion table, think about it.

We celebrate the Lord's Supper.

It's a time where we look back and remember what Jesus did through his death.

Listen to what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11, 24 through 26.

Most of you probably know this really well because we read it every single Sunday.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.

In the same way he also took the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new covenant of my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

So it's it's looking back at what God has done through the death of Jesus Christ so that people could be rescued out of slavery to sin, but also the Lord's Supper is an anticipation of being with Jesus once again, as Paul says, you proclaims proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

It's a reminder of God's faithfulness every single Sunday.

Faithfulness of where God has brought you from and where he's taking you to.

This is why the Word of God is central to everything in our lives.

Because the Word of God shows us how faithful God is.

It starts with Him.

If you go to the Word of God thinking it starts with you, then you're going to the Word of God in an inaccurate way, in an unfaithful way.

And what this brings us to our main idea today.

Our main idea is this: the centrality of God's word is the key to life.

William Tyndale so believed that God's word was central to life that in the spring of 1535, so about ten years later, after the New Testament started sprinkling into England and lives were being changed, a man by the name of Henry Phillips arrived in Antwerp, where Tyndale was living at this time.

Phillips took it upon himself that he was going to befriend Tyndale, not to grow closer to him, but to ultimately betray him.

He wanted notoriety, he wanted the financial reward.

And so by the end of May, Phillips had connected with Tyndale, had become friends with him to the point that they would have drinks together.

And what we read is at one point Phillips makes a comment about Tyndale.

He says this about him.

He was simple and inexpert in the wily subtleties of the world.

Before Tyndale knew what was taking place, Phillips had set a trap and two English spies had arrested him.

Tyndale knew his mission was coming quickly to an end, and he had a goal of finishing the Old Testament.

And it's believed that during those 18 months when he was in prison, he finished his translation into English of the Old Testament.

His final words, as Tyndale was ultimately burned at the stake, reveal the heart of Tyndale.

Refusing to conform to man above God, he said this: Lord, open the King of England's eyes.

The centrality of God's word is the key to life.

Because Tyndale didn't go looking for a battle, he was wanting God's people to have God's word.

The battle came to him.

Tyndale so believed that the word of God was so central to life that he was even willing to be burned at the stake so that others could read the Bible in English.

But do you believe this?

Do you believe that God's word is vital to your daily life?

Look at chapter 1, paragraph 1 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of the Faith that says this about the Bible.

The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all-saving knowledge, faith, and obedience.

Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God as to leave men inexcusable, yet they are not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary unto salvation.

Therefore it pleased the Lord at sundry times and in diversified manners to reveal himself and to declare that his will unto his church, and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same holy unto writing, which makes the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God, revealing his will unto his people, being now completed.

Also, if we were to turn to Hebrews 4, verses 12 through 13, for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of morrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Hebrews 4:12–13

Not only do we have confessions that show us how important the Word of God is, but God declares how important God's Word is to us.

But there are two reasons today why you and I don't believe this.

The first reason you don't believe that the centrality of God's word is the key to life is because you ignore the word of God.

You ignore the word of God.

For example, if you have conflict with another person, do you go to that person first, like it tells us to do in Matthew 18, or do you go to other people all around you and begin to gossip about that person?

Do you even know the word of God well enough to understand what the Bible says?

The problem is you don't actually believe the word of God is living and active.

You don't believe it's it's vital to your life.

Guess what?

If you don't even read the Bible, then you ignore it.

In what ways are you ignoring God's word in your own life?

It could even be in those moments where you're convicted of sin and you say, I don't care.

You're now ignoring the word of God.

Are you humble enough to take correction if someone comes to you and sees something in your life and say, hey, brother or sister, I see this taking place in your life.

Are you humble enough to accept that and and seek repentance and ask God to change your heart?

The second reason we don't believe, and you don't believe, that the centrality of God's word is a key to life is because you abuse the word of God.

You abuse the word of God.

For example, you enjoy taking the word of God out of context.

Maybe, and maybe some of you don't realize you're doing it at times, right?

You pluck a verse out of the Bible to fit what you need it to say, and you run with it, and it doesn't even fit that context.

One of my favorites is where two or three are gathered, I am there, not realizing that's in church discipline.

You try and make the Bible say what you want it to say so you feel better about yourself.

Quite often the Bible is very clear.

I get it.

Sometimes there are areas in the Bible that are not as clear, they're not as black and white, they're more gray, but other times we have prescriptive statements, right?

The do, the don't, you should do, you shouldn't do, you shouldn't commit adultery, you should uh be kind to people, you should love people.

But people love to take these prescriptive statements and twist them for their own gain.

I was in a conversation this week with an individual, and we got to the end of the long conversation.

He made the comment, well, we just need to love people better.

He's a person I'm working on slowly, and that's what yeah, but that love stems from our love for God and understanding who God is and how that love is reflected.

Yeah.

We like to take these prescriptive statements and twist them for our own gain.

We we've seen this quite a bit in the last decade or the last couple decades in dealing with the issue of same-sex marriage.

Right?

We have books out there like the Bible's Yes to Same-Sex Marriage or God and the Gay Christian.

And maybe you're sitting here today, you're sitting out here thinking, well, you know, I wouldn't agree with same-sex marriage, but it doesn't really impact me, so why is it such a big deal?

Why do Christians harp on this?

Why?

Because it's an attack on God's word and it's an attack on God's good design for marriage.

It goes against what God has said.

What about the ways you add to the Word of God?

You create a rule for yourself and then you put that rule on someone else.

Christians for years have loved to do this with alcohol, right?

I know it's not as big a deal here.

Where in your life have you added your own spin on the word of God and made it for your law, a law for yourself and for others?

Here's where it gets even better.

Our main idea, remember, was the centrality of God's word is the key to life, but our gospel conviction drills down even further, and it's this Jesus is the word that leads to life.

First, let's understand how Jesus is the word.

If we go to the Gospel of John in John 1 1, we read, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

And then if we jump down to verse 14, and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we've seen his glory, glories of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

So Jesus is the word.

We get that.

Scripture declares that, it's very clear.

But second, how does Jesus lead to life?

Well, hundreds of years later, after this situation takes place in Nehemiah 8, the Jews once again are gathering for the Feast of Booths.

And what we see take place is all the way over in the Gospel of John in chapter 7, verses 1 through chapter 8, 59, the Feast of Booths takes place.

And in John 7, 14 through 15A, we read this About the middle of the feast, Jesus went up into the temple and begins to teach.

And the Jews therefore marveled.

Then in John 7, 37 through 38, on the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Jesus literally, Ezra stands up to teach during the feast of booths, Jesus stands up to teach during the feast of booths.

People are marveling at what he's saying.

And he makes this statement Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

But what does Jesus mean here when he talks about rivers of living water?

When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, 13 through 14, he said this Everyone who drinks of the water will be thirsty again, of this water.

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.

The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

What did the woman how did the woman respond?

Give me this water.

To come to Jesus and drink means to believe in him.

The image of drinking here in this moment implies not just a mental belief, but a wholehearted involvement and participation.

A moment of Jesus is now Lord of your life.

You're no longer a slave to sin.

You're now a slave to Jesus.

He tells you how to live, he guides you, he shows you what is good, he defines the blessed life.

Not our culture.

So how does this play out in our own lives?

How does this affect you and me today?

Well, first, we need to trust the word.

We need to trust the word.

Do you believe that the word of God is living and active?

You gotta start there.

You have to start with the word of God.

Ask yourself these three questions or these questions.

Do I believe the Bible speaks to my circumstances and my situation in life today?

I'm not talking about like, oh, it's me and Jesus.

I'm not I'm not talking about that.

Do you believe that the Bible is actually relevant today?

Does it mean what it says today and it actually means the same thing?

It's just it's a different culture today, it's a different context, but the Bible still applies the same way.

Sin is sin.

What about do I push back against the Bible when it reveals an area of sin in my own life?

Do I reject that?

I get it.

Sometimes it's hard, right?

Sometimes we read, we're convicted of sin.

It's difficult in that moment.

We might struggle a little bit.

I'm not talking about that.

I'm talking about this, just I'm just turning from this.

I do not care.

I'm gonna live how I want to live.

Do I submit to the word of God?

Do I submit to what it says?

When I'm convicted of sin, when I see an area in my life that needs to change, do I engage with that?

Do I seek help in that area?

Do I ask the Spirit to help me?

He will help you.

The same Spirit who dwells within you, once you profess faith in the gospel and God has drawn you and He's chosen you and you've believed and you've been converted.

Guess what?

That same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you.

You can change.

Second, you need to grow in the word.

You need to grow in the word.

Thankfully, the elders here at Sacred Mission believe the word of God is so important that every single Sunday, God's word is proclaimed and taught.

They take this serious.

As I'm telling you.

Yesterday I'm going through the assessment at one point, Pastor Jordan says, What don't you agree with here?

Like, let's just be real.

Like, you kind of come across, it kind of sounds like a unicorn to you.

And I just stopped and I said, Because we've been in a lot of churches.

And the church I was trying to plant a few years ago, this is what I wanted.

This is what I was trying to accomplish.

And you guys have done that.

So, yeah, but guess what, guys?

That's not the case in a lot of churches.

They don't take the word of God seriously.

Just listen to some messages.

It's feel good.

It's how do we grow and become better people and all that?

And yes, we do become better people, but it's not based on us becoming better people.

It's because God changes us to be better people.

What about your involvement in a mission group?

Are you even in a mission group?

As every week, when you have the opportunity to gather with your mission group, you are engaging to seek and understand the word of God better as a group.

The leadership desires that every single time you gather during the week for that main mission group gathering, that you are studying God's word.

Why?

Because you grow.

And guess what?

As each mission group grows in their understanding of the Word of God and becomes stronger followers of Christ and becomes more and more like Christ, guess what?

Sacred mission becomes a stronger church that loves God and loves people, right?

We're not just out here to love people.

We're out here to love God and through that, we then love people and treat people the way that God tells us to treat them as.

Which sometimes means we object to their lifestyles and we show them what it looks to be different.

It doesn't mean you're a jerk.

You can still be kind, you can still be friends.

Even my daughter on a fifth-grade cheer team is dealing with some issues that I never imagined that a young fifth-grade girl would be declaring about her own life at that point.

Okay, well then how do we address that?

How do we deal with that?

Does that mean you neglect her and are rude to her?

No, no, no.

You still be kind to her.

You can still be her friend, but you can also show her what it looks like to follow Christ.

If you aren't in a mission group, though, I would encourage you before you leave today to grab one of the leaders.

Jump in a mission group.

Find out how you can get involved.

And finally, you need to share the word.

You need to share the word.

Are you looking for ways to engage the culture around you with the word of God?

One of the things the sacred mission encourages all of us is you don't have to change what you're already doing.

No, you change your mindset with what you're already doing.

You're already involved in the culture, especially if you have kids and they're involved in sports.

You're already engaged in the culture, but then what is your mindset there?

Are you looking for opportunities to share the word with people?

Are you looking for opportunities to engage them with the gospel?

Are you looking for ways to engage your spouse with the word of God?

Men, stand up.

Start leading your wives.

I can tell you, if you're not, your wife is desiring that.

She might not tell you.

So, wives, tell your husband.

Man, if you're offended by that, then grow up.

Right?

Like, that's your role.

That's your responsibility.

What about your children?

Are you engaging your children with the word of God?

I get it, it's a lot harder.

It's a life.

You know, you're watching something with them, and something is controversial, age appropriate, right?

That you're like, oh, that's, you know, we need to discuss that.

Stop and discuss that with them.

Point them to Christ, point them to the word of God.

Show them how, hey, that we don't believe that.

That's wrong, and here's why.

And take them to the word.

If you don't understand how to do that, grab any of the elders here, grab any leaders here.

They will help show you, they'll help shape you, they'll get the right uh like books in your hand to educate you and teach you.

Like, that's the goal here.

Everyone here wants them to grow in the word of God.

Maybe it's your parents or your relatives, your neighbors or your coworkers.

Are you looking for ways to engage them?

At the end of the day, when we grasp the centrality of the word of God, not only will our lives be changed, but also the lives of those around us.

Let's pray.