The Word Advantage - Jonathan Soto

Good morning.

Do you love the Lord?

Do you love his word?

Did you know that you cannot love Jesus and not love his word?

And we're gonna see that today in these scriptures.

We will eventually begin in Colossians 3 16.

But before we get there, I want to speak to you from this subject this morning.

The word advantage.

The word advantage.

And I wanted to give you some cool bit of church history that is really interesting to me.

That I believe just communicates to us the importance of the word.

And how close it is to the heart of God.

And I think you'll find it like I do quite interesting.

Maybe you don't know this.

But for centuries, the scriptures were largely inaccessible to the common man.

Not everybody had Bibles like you and I do.

They controlled access to the biblical text.

In fact, it was to the degree that when they would go to church that the entire service was done in a language that they could not understand.

They risked their reputation.

They risked their freedom and they even sacrificed their own lives in order to put the word of God into the hands of ordinary people.

And now we can spend probably about an hour and a half unpacking all the history of that this morning.

In fact, people have made documentaries about this very thing.

But they could not go home and open their own copy and read it for themselves.

But at just the right time, God raised up men who were willing to take a stand.

And to put the word of God back into the hands of ordinary people as it was intended to be.

He says, Now love your wives.

But also this is how Christ loved you.

And so again, how did he love us?

That he sanctified us, he cleansed us with washing us by the water of his word.

You see the blood of Christ has washed you clean.

You know what that means?

That means you and I are completely in right standing before God.

The only thing is you would probably like that your church is still standing after Sunday service.

And if I were that the building is still standing.

And if I walk into that building come Sunday, it's all gonna burn down.

No, friend, the blood of Jesus makes it so that you and I can boldly approach the throne of grace.

Don't allow it to just plead the blood of Jesus over your lives.

So how is it that God calls me righteous when I know that there's still so much in my life that is is not matching up?

See, with his blood he has cleansed you in that he's made you right before the Lord.

But has a purifying factor.

That the unrighteousness that hasn't quite matched your position in Christ yet.

You say, Jonathan, you don't understand, I've tried to stop cussing, but it's just it's just it's a bad habit.

He says to Jonah, but out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and if the word of God is in your heart, then eventually your speech will begin to change.

And I want to tell you, yes, there's there's room for our own volition, our own choices.

I'm not telling you to walk out of these walls today and just continue to make bad choices.

No, that would be silly.

But I'm telling you that as the word of God gets richly within you, that over time you will see that your choices begin to change.

Because your desires have begun to change.

See, God, it's true that God gives us the desires of our heart.

That doesn't mean that if if you want a brand new truck, that He's gonna give it to you tomorrow.

I'm believing from mine right now.

No, but really more accurately what that verse is communicating.

Is that as you get filled with the scriptures, that he gives you fresh desires that align with his fresh desire and look beyond the surface here?

It doesn't mean that you wanted this truck and he's gonna change your desire to desire another truck.

No, it means that you will begin to desire to be righteous.

You will desire to be holy, you will desire to change your speech.

Delight yourself in him in the word of God and he will give you fresh desires.

Let's turn to John 15.

And I want you to see something that I alluded to earlier.

John 15 is such a beautiful chapter.

Let's read, let's just start in verse 1 and see where we go.

He says, I am the true vine, and my father is the vine dresser.

Watch, I want you to listen to I want us to listen carefully what we're reading.

He says, Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

What does that mean?

There are obviously times where the vine dresser.

When there's weeds around the vines, you can liken that to the sin that sometimes lurks in our lives.

It's obvious that they need to clean that away from the vine.

They need to pull the weeds because it doesn't belong there.

And it's also clear that's that's what this is what pruning is sometimes there's just a little too much leaves that it's not necessarily a negative thing, but it's weighing down the branch.

So it's things in our lives that they may even seem good, but they're just no longer for us in this season.

Like working 75 hours a week seemed it was good in that season of your life.

But now the Lord, friend, is calling you to greater service within the house of God, and you cannot possibly sustain 80 hours a week and serve in his house multiple times.

Is making money bad?

No, but if it gets in the way of what the Lord is calling us to do, then it becomes bad.

And so allow the Lord not only to uproot sin in your life, but also to lead you to more precise obedience.

What does he ask you to do in this season?

And if there's if there's a gap, then trust him with a gap.

If you go, Lord, but if I cut 15 hours at work, trust him.

Trust him.

I'm not saying being irresponsable.

But if he called you to it, he'll see you through.

Because the father that has not spared his one and only son.

Will he not freely give us all things?

No, he can be trusted.

And in verse three, I want you to see this.

Because this is, we remember we said the blood makes us right before the Lord.

Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in me.

He says, You're already clean.

But you have to remain in me.

So you can bear fruit.

And then in verse 5.

I am the vine, you are the branches.

He who abides in me, and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

And I want to read verse seven.

Watch this.

Abide in me, and my words abide in you, you can ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Notice here that he pairs abiding in him with his words abiding in us.

You cannot properly abide in the Lord Jesus.

Which means you cannot be in proper, we cannot be in fellowship with the Lord.

If his words are not abiding in us, and it's his word that cleanses us.

So the word it cleanses us, that's a word advantage in our lives.

That we don't have to try hard to be a better person or overcome our sin.

No, but just by filling ourselves with the word, we are giving place for the Lord Jesus to come and cleanse us himself.

Number two is this that the word it guides you.

Two quick verses I want to read for this.

And a light to my path.

It's not that you're gonna open the Bible.

And it's gonna say, okay, okay, friend, today you have to go to Walmart, and then you have to go to Target, and then you have to go to No.

It's not gonna tell you every little place that you need to go.

But as you fill yourself with the wisdom of Scripture, you can trust that the Holy Spirit will be guiding you.

So I can take a step with confidence knowing that he makes my way perfect.

And I've seen this in my life, he's so wonderful.

That when I've taken steps off this way, I've noticed this that he redirects.

But I haven't been a perfect person my entire 25 years.

Someone check on Gilbert, because that really hit him.

No, I haven't.

But you know what the Lord has taught me to do in his mercy?

No matter which missteps I take, I'm gonna wake up in the morning.

I'm gonna thank him for his mercy.

And I'm gonna put my nose in this book.

And because even in and especially in the moments of failure, especially He's taught me to fill myself with His Word.

That that word deposit in me has redirected my steps.

We're gonna read it later, but the scripture says, As for the Lord, his way is perfect.

And a few scriptures later after that it says, He makes my way perfect.

He doesn't just tell us, look at me, all my ways are perfect.

No, he goes, I'm gonna make your way perfect.

Isn't that wonderful?

Watch Proverbs 14.

I said Proverbs 14, 27.

It's not this scripture, but I mean no the word says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

And then actually let's read 26 and 27.

In the fear of the Lord, this is Proverbs 14, 26.

In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence, and his children will have refuge.

And then 27.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life.

That one may avoid the snares of death.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of light that one may avoid the snares of death.

That means as you fill yourself with the wisdom of the scriptures.

You know the scriptures are the wisdom of God.

So as you fill yourself with the scriptures, it will be an ever-flowing fountain within you.

That is giving you wisdom, that is giving you guidance, and it literally says that it keeps you from the snares of death.

Now I will admit to you that sometimes traffic is just traffic.

Sometimes someone just decided that they were gonna speed way too fast and get in an act a minor accident, because they hopefully they didn't, you know, but they get in a minor accident and then it stops traffic for everybody on the way to work.

But sometimes you miss the exit.

And you'll never know.

You'll never know why you missed that exit.

Yeah.

But if you would have turned off, Sem I might have hit you and you would have been done.

Now you go, Jonah, what are you talking about?

Where do you get that from the scripture?

That we don't realize it, but the Lord is constantly protecting us, keeping from the snares and the traps of the enemy.

And I want you to see that this is a direct result of us being filled with the knowledge of the scripture.

And then finally, the word revives us.

The word revives us revive.

In Psalm 119, we don't have to go there.

But really over and over again.

But Ephesians 2.

Ephesians 2.

It says, uh Ephesians 2 says, We were dead in our sins.

We weren't struggling in our sins.

We weren't squirming in our sins.

We were dead in our sins.

But God who is rich in mercy had raised us up and seated us in heavenly places in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And do you know when we were given the opportunity for that to take place in our lives?

When we heard the gospel of Jesus.

And I want to encourage you because I want you to tell someone about Jesus this week.

When you preach the gospel, there is revival power in his work.

That's what happened to you, by the way.

So happened to me, by the way, is that one day everyone's story is a little different.

But one day you were under the teaching of some crazy preacher.

And he began to tell you about Jesus.

He began to tell you about the cross and of the blood.

And he told you that if you believe in the Lord Jesus, then you'll be saved.

And you didn't have the language for it yet.

But as your soul was being fed the word of God.

It brings dead things back to life.

Let me read you one more scripture about the word of God.

It says now all scripture.

Is it 2 Timothy?

Maybe 2 Timothy.

2 Timothy.

2 Timothy 3.16.

I guess I could have just turned there, but you know.

There it is.

All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction and righteousness, that the man is a seventeen, that the man of God may be complete, watch this, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

So I suppose if there was a fourth point, it would be that the word of God equips you for every good work.

It equipped him for every good work.

Blessed is the one who meditates on your word day and night.

So we turn to 1 Samuel 17.

And if you don't know the story of David and Goliath, there was a giant named Goliath.

And he fought for the armies of the Philistines.

And little old David probably around 15-16 years old.

He rolled up to the battlefield just to take his older brother's supplies.

It doesn't concern you.

Just go home, what are you doing here?

David says, No, what is going on?

Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he thinks he can defy the armies of the living God?

So David goes to Saul.

The king at the time.

And David it says he was he was handsome, but he was little.

Kind of reminds me of somebody.

And watch, we're gonna pick it up right here in verse 36.

He says, Your servant, this is 1 Samuel 17, 36, your servant has killed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.

And Saul said to David, Go and may the Lord be with you.

And then Saul offers David his armor.

And David took them off.

David says, For I have not tested them.

Now read verse 45.

Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord.

Now put up Psalm 18, 30.

As for the Lord, his way is perfect, and all God's promises prove true, another word would say, and his word is proven.

You could say like this, his word is tested.

In other words, David is saying this.

I couldn't put on Saul's armor.

Why?

It wasn't tested.

It wasn't proven.

But you know it was tested.

You know it was proven the word of the Lord in the name of our God.

That is the word advantage in our lives.

Now when every other armor, when every other defense mechanism fails us, the word of the Lord is proven, truth.