The Clarity of God's Word

Please turn in your bulletins to page 8 for our scripture

readings. We have a few that are scattered

around the Bible, so instead of us turning to each one, we have

them all printed for you on page 8.

This year we've been studying Isaiah and each of the minor

prophets and we've experienced that these are these are some

fairly difficult books to understand.

Not easy sledding, right? Overall, we've heard good

feedback about these sermon series, but but perhaps

throughout all this study and difficult passages, you've lost

a little confidence in your ability to open up the Bible and

understand it for yourself. If that's you.

And, and I think that's something that we all experience

at times. The Bible's doctrine of the

clarity of Scripture is exactly what you need to hear today.

These passages will will read our foundational texts for this

doctrine of the clarity of Scripture.

So I'm going to begin reading here starting in Deuteronomy 29,

Deuteronomy 29:29

verse 29. The secret things belong to the

Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us

and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of

this law. Deuteronomy 30 For this

commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you,

neither is it too, neither is it far off.

It is not in heaven that you should say, Who will ascend to

heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do

it. Neither is it beyond the sea

that you should say, Who will go over to the sea for us and bring

it to us, that we may hear it and do it.

But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your

heart so that you can do it. Deuteronomy 6 And these words

that I command you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk

of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the

way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Psalm 19 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

The testimony of the Lord is sure.

Making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are

right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is

pure. Enlightening the eyes.

Psalm 119. Open my eyes, that I may behold

wondrous things out of Your law. Your word is a lamp to my feet,

and a light to my path. The unfolding of Your word words

gives light. It imparts understanding to the

simple. Second Peter 3.

And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our

beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom

given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them.

Of these matters. There are some things in them

that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable

twist to their own destruction as they do the other Scriptures.

Second Timothy 2 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give

you understanding in everything. Matthew 11.

At that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of

heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the

wise and understanding and revealed them to little

children. Yes, Father, for such was your

gracious will. Ephesians 1.

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord

Jesus Christ and your love toward all the Saints, I do not

cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may

give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the

knowledge of Him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened,

that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you,

what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the

Saints. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your word is a lamp to us.

It lights up our way. It shines on you that we might

know you rightly. And Lord, we, we need you to

speak now. You've spoken in Your word here,

but now we need to do to speak into our hearts.

You who said let light shine, shine out of darkness.

We need you to speak now. We need you to shine the light

of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ

into our hearts. This we pray now in Jesus name,

Amen. In 37 AD, just a few years after

Jesus Christ sat down on the throne above all Thrones, a much

lesser man sat down on a throne with much less power.

Gaius Caesar, known as Caligula, became the Roman Emperor.

He was a wicked ruler by all accounts.

At one point he ordered his his a statue of his own image to be

erected in the Temple at Jerusalem, but Herod Agrippa the

first persuaded him to retract this insane command.

Caligula is also known for posting the laws of the land on

pillars, but the pillars were he posted them up so high on the

pillars and in such small letters that no one could read

them. Yes, the laws were technically

public, but they were inaccessible, and so people

didn't know what the laws were, and so they constantly lived in

fear that maybe they would be suddenly punished for breaking

laws that they didn't even know. Has God done this to us with the

Bible? Two weeks ago, Pastor Chris

preached on the authority of Scripture.

We must obey it, but is it too high, too lofty, too mysterious,

too obscure for the common person to understand and obey?

Must the layperson rely on the highly educated scholars and the

religious elite to understand the way of salvation?

The answer from the Bible to all these questions is no.

From the Bible we plainly see a very important doctrine of

Scripture, a little known doctrine.

In a lot of ways it's the doctrine of the clarity of

Scripture. The the technical scholarly name

for this is the perspicuity of Scripture.

But ironically, perspicuity isn't a clear word.

So today we'll be using the phrase the clarity of Scripture.

So what's a good definition of this doctrine?

I know no better definition than the Westminster Confession of

Faith 1.7 that we just read a little bit ago.

A doctrinal statement that grows out of the clear teachings of

not only the text we just read, but many others.

So let's let's read that definition once again.

All things in Scripture are not alike playing in themselves, nor

alike clear unto all. Yet those things which are

necessary to be known, believed, and observed for salvation, are

so clearly propounded and opened in some place of Scripture or

other, that not only the learned, but the unlearned, in a

due use of the ordinary means, may attain unto a sufficient

understanding of them. So this this definition has some

some important nuance to it, a nuances that I hope and pray

that you'll see for yourself as we hear from various texts in

God's Word. Before we study this doctrine

and and see how it points us to Jesus, we'll first consider the

doctrines historical context. This doctrine became a dividing

point during the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s between

the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestants, such as

Lutheran's Reformed Anglicans and Baptists.

For hundreds of years, the Roman Catholic Church had had

forbidden that the Scriptures could be translated into the

common language, and only Jerome's 4th century Latin

Bible, the Vulgate, could be used for mass.

Thus, the Mass was entirely in Latin, and the average layperson

had little to no understanding of Latin, and literacy rates

were very, very low during those those those centuries centuries.

And so God's Word was public, but it was not accessible to the

common Christian. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic

Church taught and still teaches that Scripture could not be

interpreted rightly by someone without an authoritative

interpretation from the tradition of the Roman Catholic

Church. This teaching flows out of the

core Roman doctrine that Holy Scripture and Church tradition

are equal in authority. And while it is a good thing

that Vatican 2 in 1965 permitted the Mass to be done in English

or the common language of where wherever it was, and encourage

people to read the Bible for themselves, the Roman Church has

nevertheless not changed their stance on the denial of the

doctrine of the clarity of Scripture.

Rome claims to have an unbroken tradition of doctrine all the

way to the Apostle Peter. It claims to have an accurate

interpretation of the church fathers from the first centuries

of the Christian Church and that those church fathers had an

accurate interpretation of the Bible.

All right, so let me just lay logically lay this out for you.

According to the Roman Catholic Church, you can't interpret

Scripture accurately for yourself, and you need to rely

on Rome's interpretation, which is an interpretation of the

Church Father's interpretation of the Bible.

So then, how do you accurately interpret Rome's interpretation

of the Church Father's interpretation?

You'll need to understand and interpret Rome's teaching

somehow, right? And according to Rome, you can't

just go to the Bible to confirm or deny it.

So what are you to do? You're just as supposed to

believe Rome because they told you they're the authority.

Brothers and sisters, do not be LED astray by these false

teachings. God has communicated to us in a

much clearer way than for us to have to have to interpret the

interpretations of others who over thousands of years were

interpreting Scripture. I'm not a scholar of the of the

church fathers, but I but I I've read them enough to know that

God's word is by and large far easier to understand than they

are. And the church fathers disagree

with one another and even themselves about various things.

You read some things with Agustin, some things he started

to believe his his views kind of change after he continues to

write. And so as Reformed Protestants,

we believe that God is a clear communicator and that what is

most important in his word can be clearly understood by a

layperson. The core teachings of the Bible

are self-evident, self-evident. John Calvin said that the

Scriptures display their own truth, just as white and black

things do of their color or sweet and bitter things do of

their taste. Relying on Rome is like is like

tasting something sweet and then being told it is bitter, or

seeing a a beautiful flower and being told that it is a

different color than what you perceive.

Thus it has been said that in Scripture the plain things are

the main things, and the main things are the plain things.

Now this doctrine is not merely a critique of the Roman Church,

it is also a critique critique of other tradition based

churches like the Eastern Orthodox.

And it's a critique of some modern day movements that have

the opposite problem of Rome. It's a critique of the

individualism of American evangelicalism, where many

maverick Christians live completely disconnected from the

authority of a local church and they they hold to a a no creed,

but the Bible creed. Just think about that for a

little bit. That's a creed.

And of itself, the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture is also

a critique of spiritual mysticism that that the belief

that people can receive special personalized revelations from

God or that God speaks directly to them about the correct

interpretations of difficult passages like like end times

prophecies, for example. The doctrine of the clarity of

Scripture is also critique of liberalism that questions if the

Bible is actually God's words, echoing the serpent's phrase,

did God actually say? And this doctrine is also a

critique of some postmodern thought that the Scripture just

means whatever it means to you. The Bible has an infinite number

of interpretations and they're all valid.

So in summary, this little known doctrine has had a big impact on

church history and continues to have significant importance

today. Let's now look at scripture

itself and see for ourselves if this doctrine is clearly taught

in it or or if it's just some doctrine that's just been

fabricated by man. The main text I want to consider

is Deuteronomy 2929, the the first script reading on page 8

of your bulletins. Let me read it again here.

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things

that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever,

that we may do all the words of this law.

Moses is preaching here right before Israel was to enter into

the Promised Land, after they had wandered in the wilderness

for 40 years until the faithless generation died out.

And here Moses has had been giving them the law a second

time. That that's the what the word

Deuteronomy means, the second law.

And he encourages the people of Israel with these words that

that God revealed things to them so that they and their children

can know him and rightly obey him.

Moses makes an important distinction here between the

secret things of the Lord and the revealed things of the Lord.

So let's first consider the the secret things and then we'll

consider the revealed things. Proverbs 25 verse 2 says it that

Proverbs 25:2

it is the glory of God to conceal things.

It is the glory of God to conceal things.

God, in His infinite wisdom has determined that it is a glorious

thing for Him to hide some things from mankind.

There are two kinds of secret things, things that will always

remain secret until perhaps Christ returns and we enter into

glory. And then there are some things

that were at one time secret, but have now been revealed

through the 1st coming of Christ.

There are some things that will never be revealed before Christ

returns a second time. And, and surely even in heaven,

we're not, we're not just going to automatically have infinite

knowledge of everything like God.

And, and so I believe that even in heaven we'll continue to

discover new things that were once hidden about God and about

ourselves and about the new creation.

First Corinthians chapter 2 verses 1011, the passage that we

1 Corinthians 2 · chapter mention

read earlier says this. For the Spirit searches

everything, even the depths of God.

For who knows a person's thought except the Spirit of that

person, which is in Him? So also no one comprehends the

thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

There are secret thoughts that belong only to the triune God.

God's ways are higher than ours. His thoughts are higher than our

thoughts. Isaiah 55.

Some questions we ask of Him and of the Bible He does not answer,

nor will He to anyone in this age.

My my children have asked me some of these tough questions.

Questions like, why did God create Satan?

Why doesn't God just kill Satan? Where is heaven?

If you know the answer to those things, let me you know.

Let's talk after this. God has many mysteries about

himself and his works that that we as finite creatures are only

beginning to understand. It is the glory of God to

conceal things. So there's some things that will

remain a secret, but then there are some secret things that God

has revealed in his time. Throughout the Old Testament we

see a continual, gradual revelation of God and of His

purposes and of His his unfolding plan of salvation.

The Old Testament was intentionally unclear about some

things, intentionally secretive. There are shadows and types and

prophecies about Christ. Then with the New Testament, in

the coming of Christ, it's as if all the lights got turned on and

all the shadows gave way to the clear reality of Jesus Christ

and His teachings, His sufferings, His death,

resurrection, ascension. The New Testament often speaks

of the mystery of Christ that was revealed.

Ephesians 3/4 through 6 is one example.

It says this and verse verse 4 right away is a great clarity of

scripture comment. When you read this you can

perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ.

When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the

mystery of Christ verse 5, which was not made known to the sons

of men and other generations, as it has now been revealed to His

holy prophets and Spirit and holy apostles and prophets by

the Spirit. This mystery is that the

Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and

partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the Gospel.

Saint Agustin once said so very well in the Old Testament.

The new is concealed in the new, the old is revealed.

I hope and pray that as you've been, that you've been

experiencing that as we've been studying Isaiah and and the

minor prophets. So there are things about Christ

that God kept secret for ages, but now He has revealed them to

us all at the coming of Christ. Those are the secret things that

belong to the Lord. Now Deuteronomy 2929 says that

there are also revealed things, and those revealed things belong

to us and to our children forever.

Look with me at Deuteronomy 30 verses 11 through 14 in your

Deuteronomy 30:11–14

bulletins. Just a few verses later, Moses

says this to all the gathered people of Israel.

For this commandment that I command you today is not too

hard for you, neither is it far off.

It's not in heaven that you should say who will ascend to

heaven for us and bring it to us, that we might hear it and do

it. Neither is it beyond the sea

that you should say, Who will go over to the sea for us and bring

it to us, that we may hear it and do it.

But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your

heart so that you can do it. God is not like the Roman

emperor Caligula. He hasn't put His commandments

far out of reach so that they are too hard for us to know and

obey. Instead, as verse 14 says, the

word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your

heart so that you can do it. God has made His Word accessible

to us, giving it to us, putting it in our lips when we read it,

and making it understandable that we might believe it with

our hearts. The Scriptures have some things

that are difficult to understand and some mysteries for sure, but

it assumes the Scriptures assume that it is clear enough to be

accurately understood and obeyed and sufficiently believed for

our salvation. We see this also taught in Psalm

Psalms 19:7

19, verses 7 and 8. The law of the Lord is perfect.

Reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord.

Lord is sure. Making wise the simple.

The precepts of Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart, The

commandments of the Lord. The commandment of the Lord is

pure, enlightening the eyes. The law revives our souls not,

not, not someone's interpretation of someone's

interpretation of the law. The law does it does it itself

by the Spirit. The testimonies of the Lord make

the simple wise. This assumes that the simple can

understand it enough to grow in wisdom.

There is a personal, direct interplay between God's Word and

the reader, an interplay that does not require numerous

interpretations between the text and the common reader.

The Psalm, Psalm 19 was just like all the other psalms and

was was given to all the people of Israel to be sung to the

common person and to the child as much as to the priests.

One of the greatest verses on the clarity of Scripture comes

from another Psalm, Psalm 119, one O 5, a verse that many of

you have memorized for sure. Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path. God's word is a light.

God's word belongs to us. It functions to us for us as a

lamp to our feet. God's Word provides clarity for

us and how we are to walk with God.

If the Bible were not clear, it could not be to us a lamp for

our feet. The Bible is not so obscure that

so as to misdirect us down the wrong path.

God's Word is perfect, not flawed, With pervasive obscurity

about the most important matters of knowing God in the way of

salvation. We see again and again

throughout both Testaments, the God Word.

God's Word is given not just to the religious leaders, but to

all the people. Deuteronomy was preached to all

the people. The Psalms have always been sung

by all of God's people, young and old.

Many of the New Testament letters were written to entire

congregations, not just their elders, and books like

Colossians and Ephesians speak directly to the children of the

church. For the more.

First Timothy commands the public reading of Scripture that

all the church might hear and know God's Word.

Because we believe in the clarity of Scripture that it

belongs to all Christians. This is why Pastor Chris and I

encourage you to open your Bibles when we preach, to read

the text for yourselves, so so that you can see for yourself

that what what we are teaching is plainly taught in Scripture.

Do not just take our word for it.

The revealed things belong to you.

They're not too hard for you to understand.

Moses says that not only do the revealed things belong to us,

they also belong to our children.

Like the boy Samuel, hearing God's call to him at a young

age, so also our children can clearly perceive the voice of

God in the Scriptures. Teens and children, let me speak

to you. The Bible is not just for the

adults, it is also written to you as well.

God's Word belongs to you for you to hear directly from God.

There certainly are things in the Bible that are hard to

understand, but don't let frustrations stop you from

reading the Bible. The most important things are

clear enough for you to understand.

God wants you to know him in his word.

He invites children to come to him.

And kids, Sunday school starts up next week, right?

Isn't that great? And, and your teachers, they're

going to, they're going to be teaching you things right from

the Bible because the Bible is for kids too.

And kids, your teachers love it when you ask them questions

about the Bible. So, so come next Sunday, ready

to hear from from God and to ask all sorts of questions, try to

stump your teacher. All right now I, I love how how

nuanced our confession of faith's definition is of the

clarity of Scripture. It starts by keeping a balanced

perspective, saying all things in Scripture are not alike plain

in themselves, nor like clear unto all.

In other words, some things in Scripture are difficult to

understand. But this is by God's intention.

It's not due to any fault in the Scripture themselves.

The Bible itself clearly teaches that some things in it are

difficult to understand. Look on page 8 again and at

Second Peter chapter 3. Here's the Apostle Peter in his

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

second letter speaking about the Apostle Paul's writings.

And count. The patience of our Lord is

salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you

according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his

letters when he speaks in them. Of these matters, there are some

things in them that are hard to understand which the ignorant

and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other

scriptures. Peter rightly says that some

things that that that Paul writes are hard to understand.

Romans 9 through 11 is a great example.

I took an entire class in seminary just on those 3

chapters and it was like exploring the Grand Canyon and

the Rocky Mountains of Scripture, wrestling with

different difficult doctrines like God's sovereignty,

election, predestination, the the future of ethnic ethnic

Israel. It's tough stuff.

But Peter didn't say that everything Paul said was

difficult to understand. He only said some of it was,

which means that some things are easy to understand.

There are plenty of other parts of Scripture that that have the

greatest theologians baffled. Zechariah.

Chapters one through 6 are tough.

Revelation 11 and the two Witnesses.

Who are they for the last half of Daniel?

Even Daniel when he received the visions, he didn't always

understand them. Here's one of Daniel's response

responses to one of his visions, Daniel chapter 8 and I Daniel

Daniel 8 · chapter mention

was overcome and lay sick for some days.

Then I rose and went about the King's business.

But I was appalled by the vision and did not understand it.

It's OK to have the same response as Daniel when you read

tough passages of Scripture. It's OK to be baffled, but don't

confuse the difficult things with the clear things Charles

Spurgeon once said so well. The Bible is a place where a

child may wade and yet an elephant may swim.

It is simple enough for the beginner, yet profound enough

for the scholar. That's the beauty of Scripture.

You can study your whole life and continually learn new things

and find fresh encouragement. It becomes more and more clear

the more you read it, because Scripture interprets itself.

And so the more you read the Bible, the more you read the

Bible's own interpretation of itself.

For example, the New Testament interprets the Old Testament.

You can see it for yourself. And at the same time, the more

you study God's Word, the more in awe you'll be of its

undiscovered depths. And there are times when we need

to quiet our minds and our hearts about the difficult

passages of Scripture and just rest like little children in our

Heavenly Father's arms. Psalm 131 is a prayer to help us

do this. Oh Lord, my heart is not lifted

up, my eyes are not raised too high.

I do not occupy myself with things too great and too

marvellous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my

soul like a wean child with his mother, like a wean child is my

soul within me. Some things are too great, too

secretive, too mysterious for us to understand.

We can get really anxious about those things, but there's a time

to recognize that one, recognize that hey, we're, we're just

weighing over our heads. We need to rest and calm our

souls before God, like a child with its mother.

Some things in Scripture are intentionally difficult to

understand, but not all things. Take John 316 for example.

Why is it so famous? Because it is so important and

so clear. I bet a large majority of those

in this room who are old enough to read and have that verse

memorized and the verse it's so clearly teaches that God loves

the world that Jesus is, is his only son and he and he gave him

to the world to die for their sins so that anyone who believes

him anyone might not not perish in hell for their sins, but have

everlasting life with God. That's the gospel.

It's it's the main thing. It's what the whole Bible is

about. It's about reconciling sinful

man with God through Jesus Christ.

That's the main thing. And in John 316 and in many

other places, we see how plain and clear it is.

Our God has loved us and loved the the children of this world.

So he made the gospel so clear and so plain and understandable.

Yes, of course there's questions we can ask about the gospel that

are difficult to understand, difficult to answer.

But the good news to us and to our children is plain and clear,

and God wants us all to respond to this good news with faith and

repentance. This is the simple message that

Jesus preached. He said the time is fulfilled

and the Kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel.

Have you repented ever since? Have you turned away from your

sins and and have have you put your trust instead in the Lord

Jesus? This is how your sins are

forgiven and how you you will receive everlasting life with

God. It's that simple.

Children, teens, adults, everyone, give Jesus the heavy

load of your sins today. If you haven't done so, receive

his forgiveness. Ask him to save you.

And as Romans 10 plainly promises, everyone who calls on

the name of the Lord will be saved.

So if the way of salvation is so clearly communicated in

Scripture, then why don't more people believe?

There are a few reasons for this.

One obvious reason is that many people still do not have a Bible

in their own language. That's a real barrier and as a

church, as Christians, we need to support the Bible translation

work. Another reason why some people

don't believe is because they simply do not read the Bible

well or at all. They read a little bit, get

bored or confused, and stop. Jesus said again and again, Have

you never read? Have you never read?

And I, I think he, maybe he'd ask the same question of many

today, Have you never read? We, we, we have the Bible in our

own language, in many good translations that we can

understand. We have no excuse for not

reading the book that God gave us, the most important book in

all the world. These might be some reasons why

some don't believe, but fundamentally, there's a far

more common heart problem that stands as a barrier to faith.

People are blinded by sin, and so the gospel is veiled to them.

Second Corinthians 4-3 and four says this.

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those

who are perishing. In their case, the God of this

world has blinded the minds of unbelievers to keep them from

seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.

Sin blinds people from seeing what is obvious in Scripture and

especially what is obviously good and beautiful.

Many people know the simple offer of the gospel.

Maybe they've heard it 1000 times, but they don't believe,

not because it isn't clear, but because in their heart they

don't want to believe. They're spiritually blind and

they cannot see the glory of Jesus Christ.

And So what hope for is there for those who have been blinded

by the God of this world, by Satan?

The mercy of God has made a way. 2nd Corinthians 4 goes on to say

this. For God who said let light shine

out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of

the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

That is profound. This is a different kind of

revelation, A revelation we all desperately need.

God has revealed the gospel plainly to all in His Word, but

in order to believe and be saved, we need revelation inside

of us. We need the same God who spoke

and brought light out of darkness in Genesis 1 to speak

into our hearts and shine the light of the knowledge of the

glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

This is what I pray for all who hear the gospel today.

And what we all need to pray for our children and for our friends

and family members that we're sharing the gospel with.

If the Holy Spirit does not enlighten minds and hearts, then

the gospel that is so clear in Scripture remains veiled,

hidden. Jesus prayed to his Father about

this in Matthew 11, saying, I thank you, Father, Lord of

heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the

wise and understanding and revealed them to little

children. Yes, Father, for such was your

gracious will. May God reveal the glory of

Jesus Christ and the Gospel to us and to our children and to

our neighbors and friends and family members, that they may

see the clear way of salvation and believe.

So how are we to live in light of this doctrine of the clarity

of Scripture? First, read humbly and

prayerfully. We don't just read Scripture to

no facts. We read Scripture to worship God

rightly. And so we need God's spirits,

God's Spirit's help as we read. Pride in our knowledge will only

puff us up and cause divisions between US and others.

So read humbly. Read prayerfully.

Second, read confidently and consistently.

You can know what the Bible teaches.

It belongs to you by faith, and so you can have confidence that

you will grow in your knowledge and in your relationship with

God as you read His Word. With that confidence, read with

a plan. Read consistently, regularly

push through difficult texts. You'll be glad that you did. 3rd

Teach the Bible diligently to your children.

So parents, God has given you the responsibility of giving His

word to your children. And Deuteronomy 6 God gives this

command to parents. And these words that I command

you today shall be on your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk

of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the

way, and when you lie down and when you rise.

Teach the Bible diligently to them.

They can understand it. Start simple.

Start with short verses with things that are easier to

understand. Maybe like the Sermon on the

Mount, maybe the gospel of Mark that's got a lot of short

Nuggets that are that are really concise and easy to understand.

Or maybe some stories from the Old Testament for a study with

sound teachers past and present. You can study the Bible alone,

but also make sure to study it with others.

Psalm 100 and 19130 says the unfolding of your words gives

light. It imparts understanding to the

simple. God has given us teachers from

the past and in the present to help unfold the Word of God for

us that we might see it rightly and grow in understanding.

CS Lewis advocated for reading old books, calling them the

clean sea breeze that blows through our minds, keeping us

from thinking that our generation has figured

everything out. 5th And finally, meditate on scripture for this

purpose that Christ might be clearly displayed in your life.

God has made the Scriptures clear, and He has shown the

light of the glory of Christ into your heart so that Christ

might shine clearly in you to others.

Let us shine as lamps in this Dark World that others may

clearly see Christ. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word, that You've given

it to us, that it belongs to us and to our children.

We thank You that the Word is not too far away.

It's not up in heaven, it's not across the sea, But you have

given it to us. You have put it in our hearts

that we might know it, that we might know You and believe and

be saved. We ask, Heavenly Father, that

your Holy Spirit would guide us as we read Your Word.

May we see the glory of Jesus Christ.

May we read Your Word humbly and reliantly upon You.

Lord, I pray that as we go from here that that there would be an

increased confidence in people, an increased curiosity to read

God's Word, to not stumble over the difficult passages, but to

be OK with being baffled a little bit.

Help us now. We thank you that You have made

the gospel so clear to us that we can know you and live with

you forever. Amen.