Okay. of the Lord this morning. It's good to see each one gathered with us and we look to the Lord for his help as we gather together in the Lord's house today. For those that are joining us online, we give you a special welcome as well. Thank you for joining with us for this morning meeting. After the Preaching of God's Word, there will be refreshments at the back, and then following Sunday school and adult class, there will be lunch. So the lunch is being brought forward a week on account of the trip that I'm having to the Philippines, God willing, next month. So the lunch will follow the preaching of God's Word today. If you didn't come prepared, if you didn't bring anything, please don't go away. So please stay if you didn't bring anything for the lunch. And then next Lord's Day morning, it'll be the Lord's Table. So again, a week earlier than normal, but the Lord's Table will be next Lord's Day morning. All of the other announcements are in the church bulletin. I'm going to read some words from 1 Timothy 1. 1 Timothy 1, and in verse 17 we have a great doxology, called to praise and unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, the honour and glory forever and ever. Amen. And unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, the honour and glory forever and ever. Amen. May the Lord of all the honour and glory in this gathering today. We'll seek our Lord's face in prayer. Our gracious Father, we thank thee for the privilege that we have to come and to gather here today with thy saints. We cry to thee that the help of God will be granted to us. O Lord, come, we pray, and minister to each one of our waiting souls. Grant help from above. We're going to sing together the words of the hymn number one. The hymn number one, it's found on the page 175. The hymn number one, found on the page 175. Immortal, invisible, God only wise, in light, inaccessible, hid from our eyes. Number one, and we'll stand as we sing. in my true ancestry, a gift from on high. God's blessing flows for his in ancient earth days. All my true lands are his, and I bravely replace. God's blessing I just of of of glory it is only the ancient We'll come forward, Lord, together, please, in prayer. Let us look to the Lord in prayer together. Our gracious Father, we come to Thee today and we rejoice in the greatness of our God. And we can say with the scriptures, who is like unto our God. We thank thee, Lord, that thou art infinite, eternal, unchangeable. O Lord, we rejoice today and a God who is almighty, a God who is independent of all else over all of his creation. I thank thee for a God who is absolutely sovereign. I thank thee for a God who is in no way de-throbed. Lord, while way back in the Garden of Eden there was that awful rebellion, man against our Creator. We thank Thee that gods remain sovereign over all. Though the devil is the god of this world, of this age, we thank Thee that his days are numbered. We thank thee that his kingdom is doomed, that Christ has risen victorious from the dead, that he has crushed the serpent's head. We thank thee that the ultimate destruction of Satan is guaranteed. We thank thee that our living Saviour shall live and reign forever and ever. We thank thee, O Lord, for the day when every believer here had their eyes opened to their need, when they were brought to see that they were in the kingdom of darkness. But we thank thee by thy great grace thou hast brought them into the kingdom of thine own dear Son, into all the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. O Lord, we cry to thee today that we will know much of the help of God in this meeting. We pray as we continue to praise thee that our Lord's name today will be magnified and honoured in our midst. We pray, O Lord, for the time later that we spend around the word. Be our teacher today, we pray. Lord, we cry to thee that in a day when there has been a departure from great reformation truths, we pray, Lord, that these truths will be lifted again and heralded in our day, and that God's people will have every confidence in the word of God. O Lord, we do look to Thee for every soul gathered in today. We pray for every saint of Thine, O Lord minister to every child of Thine, we pray. Deepen us in our walk with Thee, we pray, for those that are far off, for those that are cold in heart, we pray that the fire of God will burn again within them, I encourage their souls today, we pray. O Lord, we pray for any in our midst that are unconverted. O Lord, open their hearts to thy truth, we pray. We cry to thee that you'll be pleased to bring the lost unto yourself. O Lord, we do cry to thee for those in the congregation that are going through times of particular suffering. We pray, Lord, for those that have great anxiety over the future. All before them seems uncertain. Minister to thy children today, we pray. May they know thy loving arms to be right by them. O Lord, we lift up to thee also those that are greatly discouraged in soul. O Lord, we pray that they will know that ministry of the Lord to their hearts, that there will come to them a word in season. O Lord, we cry to thee that today there will be among us here a mighty stirring, of the Holy Spirit of God. Lord, this is our need. We stand in need of a mighty, genuine revival. We pray that thou will come and work in our days. Lord, beyond even what we could imagine could be done, we cry to thee for the building up of God's people for a restoration to where we ought to be O Lord, we cry to Thee for the drawing of multitudes unto a salient knowledge of Thyself. So, Lord, come today and grant us help here in Thy presence. Minister to us that we do pray. We're going to turn again in our hymn book. So we're turning to the psalm, the front of the hymn book, the psalm 119. And we're coming to the second part. And the words that we're singing are on page 113. So page 113, at the top of the page on the left-hand side, Beth, the second part, by what means shall a young man learn his way to purify? And one of the great themes that permeates through this psalm is that of the Word of God. And how can the way of a young man be cleansed? And through the living Word of God, as the scribe, of course, takes that living Word of the Lord. So we're singing from the verse nine to the end of the verse 16. I'm going to stand again. I want to make sure my young man learn his way to purify. I. I. Enchantress, from thine abid'st love, Thine is faith I return, For I join Thy desert valleys plain, And riches of Thee gain. My holy precepts I will make, my meditation still, and have respect unto thy ways, most faithfully I will. ♪ And all my searchers I denied ♪ ♪ Shall come to thee beset ♪ ♪ And by thy praises I never knew ♪ ♪ I know they were for you alone ♪ We're going to turn, please, in the Scriptures to the Gospel according to Mark and the chapter 7. The Gospel according to Mark and the chapter 7. The 31st of October is often identified as Reformation Day. when the 95 Thesis of Martin Luther was nailed to the church door in Wittenberg. And so often in Reformed churches, the Lord's Day before the 31st is referred to as Reformation Sunday, but we're going to have a Reformation fortnight in this congregation this year. And so the messages today and next week, God willing, will all be on Reformation theme, looking at the five, well we're looking four out of the five solas of the Reformation. Mark chapter 7 is very relevant to what we're going to come and consider together this morning, the authority of the scripture where in Mark chapter 7 the fault of the Pharisees was over the Word of God. In fact, they used tradition to nullify the Word of God. And what the Reformers emphasised is exactly what our Lord Jesus was emphasising here in this passage, that the Word of God has the authority, that The word of God is to determine how we view tradition. Tradition is not to determine how we view the word of God. So Mark chapter seven and the verse one. Then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem. When they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say with unwashing hands, they find fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots, raising vessels and of tables. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashing hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you, hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Be it, in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For they decide the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups, and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. But Moses said, Honor thy father and thy mother. And whoso curseth father or mother, let him die to death. But Jesus said, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, that whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, he shall be free. Jesus suffered him no more to do ought for his father or his mother, making the work of God of none effect through your tradition. which ye have delivered, and many such like things do ye. And we'll end there, knowing the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his precious word. We're going to turn again, please, in our hymn books, and we're turning to the hymn 185. 185, this hymn, is dealing with the subject of the Bible. Holy Bible, book divine, precious treasure, thou art mine, mine to tell me whence I came, mine to teach me what I am. So 185, we'll remain seated at the beginning of the hymn, and as we sing these words, the offering for the work of the Lord. It will be received if you didn't come prepared for an offering. Please let the bag pass by. 185 on page 251. ♪ Holy Christ, Lord divine ♪ ♪ Precious treasure ♪ I'm I'm I do. I do. We'll sing the verse one again, verse one only, and we'll stand. I'm going to turn, please, in the Scriptures to 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy. and the chapter three, 2 Timothy chapter three and the verse 15. What's this about? From a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, pleaded, throughly furnished unto all good works. We'll seek the Lord's face together, please, in prayer. Let us look to the Lord and He will grant help as we spend this time in the Lord. Our gracious Father, we thank Thee for the Word of God that is before us. Lord, we thank Thee that Thy Word is and God breathed. Lord, we cry to Thee that today we will rejoice in the wonder and the greatness of thy holy word. O Lord, grant help, we pray, as we come and deal with the subject that is before us. O Lord, we pray that thou would direct us in all of our thoughts. Grant that help with the Holy Spirit of God, we ask. In our Lord's name we do pray. Amen. Amen. Today and next Lord's Day, in both the morning and the afternoon meetings, we'll be looking at four out of the five sola statements of the Reformation. These five sola statements are often presented in Latin, sola scriptura, scripture alone. Sola gratia, by grace alone. sola fide, by faith alone. Solus Christus, Christ alone. And then sola deo gloria, glory alone to God. And these five sola statements are a great way of defining the key differences that lie at the very heart between Romanism and Reformed Protestantism. Now prior to the Reformation there were certainly men that identified great moral problems that existed within Romanism, but not all of them were able to get to the very heart of the issue, the very root of the problem. So many were able to identify moral corruptions and they were right in identifying moral corruptions But what the reformers did was they sought to get to the very heart of the matter. And if we are right in these five matters, then all of the other errors of Romanism can so easily be dealt with. A few years ago, I read a remark by a Roman Catholic priest, in effect was saying that it's foolish to have five sola statements. So he was saying it would make sense if Protestants said that there's one sola but how can you have five sola statements and he was saying therefore they are not alone if you have five of them. What he was ignoring was whether deliberately or in his ignorance was that the five sola statements are actually shorthand for greater statements And not every statement is making exactly the same point. Perhaps I could illustrate this way. If there was a young man that had entered into the army and he was sent to combat, he may be given instructions like this. You will travel in military vehicles only. You will eat food provided by army personnel only. You will wear military clothing only. You serve for your country only. Now it would be a foolish thing to step back from that and say, that can't make sense. How can you say only four times? It makes absolute sense because each statement is speaking of something different. And therefore, the five solas stand as five separate statements. And as we go through this, I trust you'll see that they're not all saying exactly the same thing, though certainly the three of them have great commonalities, but even those three have a distinctive message. sola scriptura, scripture only. This doctrine emphasizes that only the Bible is the inspired word of God for us today. And the scripture then is our sufficient and final authority on the issue of salvation, on the issue of Christian living, even on the issue of how the church is to be governed. Sola Scriptura. Just as each of these five solas are combating false teaching within Romanism and false religion in general, so this statement then is combating a false teaching within Romanism. Sola Scriptura is teaching then that we reject the view of Rome that there is authority in scripture plus tradition. And so within the system of Romanism, there is a great value placed upon tradition. And much of the teaching of Romanism is now found in the Bible. In fact, the Bible clearly speaks against it, but where does it come from then? A great body of it comes from tradition. But so does Scripture is actually saying more than as Protestants we believe that our authority is in the Bible, not the Bible plus tradition. And when Martin Luther was at the Diet of Worms, remember how on the first appearing that he had at the Diet of Worms, some of his writings were placed at a table before him. He was asked if they were his. He was asked if he would recant. He acknowledged that the books were his, but he asked for time to deliberate over the issue of recantation. Not that he was planning to recant, but he recognized he needed the Lord's help on how he was going to answer. And so when he was called the next day, in his great statement, he said, unless I am convinced by scripture and plain reason, I do not accept the authority of the popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other. My conscience is captive to the word of God. So he's saying then that he cannot accept the authority of the popes and councils, his conscience is not captive to a pope or to council, but to the word God. Now, Sola Scriptura then, as Luther was making clear in that statement, does not deny there is a place for reason. Sola Scriptura does not even deny there is a place for the study of the early church fathers, or creeds, or other writings. What Sola Scriptura utterly rejects is the claim of Rome that authority lies within the papacy itself. And so the teaching of Rome is, both in medieval Rome as well as today, that the chief authority is the church itself under the headship of the Pope. And thereby, any authority that the scripture has, they say, it comes through the authority of the church itself. And again, the authority of tradition, they view it as being authoritative because of this greater authority of the church itself. And so what I'm seeking to emphasize then is that when we say sola scriptura, the matter is not only Scripture plus tradition or Scripture only, but it is this issue of papal authority. And so in their view, the Bible derives its authority from the church. And that is something that we must absolutely reject. The Bible is authoritative in itself. The Church derives its authority for the preaching of the Word through the Bible. So Rome has got it entirely the wrong way round. And so on what basis do we ascertain the truth concerning doctrine and behaviour? Rome says the Church will tell you that people lie as they falsely claim from Peter onward. They will tell you but the reformers said, no, the Bible is our sole rule for faith and practice, sola scriptura. And so I want to say with you, first of all, then, scripture is the authority of the church. So not the Church gives Scripture authority, but Scripture is the authority. The Church derives its authority from the Bible. Now Scripture is authority though, because it is inspired. So we have these great words in 2 Timothy 3, 16. And I encourage you, if you haven't done so, to commit to memory these words of 2 Timothy 3, verses 15 through to 16. And the verse 16 that says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. And the word is translated as inspiration, the authorised version. It has this idea of being breathed out by God. All scripture is God-breathed, breathed out by God. And so the penmen of the scriptures, whether in the Old Testament or in the New, were not writing according to their own whims and imaginations. No, all scripture is breathed out by God. As Peter put it, these men were carried along by the Holy Ghost. And so as they wrote, God gave every word. And a great miracle took place. The Lord gave every word, and yet the personality of every writer was preserved. John sounds like John. Peter sounds like Peter. Paul sounds like Paul. But the result of this is that the scriptures are authority. It's not merely Paul said. That's what the modernist wants to emphasize. Paul said. and he was a man of his time, and therefore, while he said this, we know better." No. All Scripture is breathed out by God. It is authoritative. All Scripture has over it, as it were, those words, thus saith the Lord. Scripture is authoritative because it is inspired, and Scripture is authoritative because it is inerrant. And the implication of these words, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is probable, is clearly that as the writers were writing, they were not writing error. If all scripture is breathed out by God, then It is inspired and it is absolutely without error. Now, we'll come later, God willing, to talk about the usefulness of the Bible. This is what's been emphasized here in 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable, is useful. In fact, in verse 17, so useful that the man of God may be perfected. that he might be complete. Everything that he needs is given in the word of God, throughly furnished unto you all good works. Now if the Bible is full of errors, then how could the Bible be enough to bring us into this fullness that is being described? But the Bible is without error, inerrant. It's without error. And so the reformers saw the wonderful harmony that there is in the word of God. There are those, of course, who will say, how can you believe the Bible? It's full of contradictions. And yet you ask them where the contradictions are. They have no idea where the contradictions are. They heard it one time and they believe it to be true. They can't show the contradictions if they believe there's a contradiction. It's not a contradiction. We might find difficulty in comparing different passages, but there is this beautiful harmony in the word of God. I must emphasize that while the words here say all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, it does not say that every writer of the Holy Scriptures, that every word that he said every day in his entire life was inspired by God. So the Bible does not say that everything that the apostles or other writers of the Scripture, everything they said and did on a daily basis was inspired and without error. without error. For those men were like you and I. They were sinners saved by grace. And therefore, outside of the writing of Scripture, like you and I, they did at times err. And so in Galatians 2 verse 11, and says, when Peter was come to Antioch, I, that's Paul, withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed. Now, in that particular case, Peter was right doctrinally, but he was applying the scriptures wrong. He erred in practice. Of course, if Peter was his Roman claims, the first Pope, why was he not infallible in this man? That issue in itself is one that shows the falsehood of Romanism. It took many, many centuries for Rome to actually make it an official part of their teaching that the Pope is infallible. That wasn't actually taught until the first Vatican Council in 1869, although it had been taught by some before then, but it didn't become official teaching of Rome until that particular time. What I'm seeking to emphasize here, we have no statement in the Bible that the apostles or the other writers were inspired in everything they did, or that they never erred in any manner. Rather, the scriptures as they recorded them, were inspired and therefore were inherent. And we could liken this inherency to purity. Now remember, Rome is claiming that the authority lies within the people system. And if I were the kids, surely we would expect then that every pope would agree with another, that if they are the authority, surely they would speak with one harmonious voice. In the period of the early church fathers, Athanasius stood strongly for the doctrine of the Trinity and for the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he was God manifest in flesh. Did you know that one of those that condemned Athanasius was actually the Pope? The Pope condemned Athanasius as a heretic, And so, in that particular period of time, the Pope sided with the Arians, those that denied the Trinity. Now, the majority of the Popes have believed in the Trinity, but in that case, the Pope actually condemned one that was standing for the scriptural teaching. Now, Rome will try and explain it away, saying the Pope was put under pressure, only raises more questions than answers. Luther was right, you see. Popes and councils have disagreed with one another. A few weeks ago, the present pope was speaking in Singapore, and he said, all religions are a path to God. And I think the present pope was on that occasion, as he often does, he was just playing to the crowd. have not made that statement before, that all religions are the way to God. Now, what of course is more important is that that is completely against Scripture. Christ only is the way to God, John 14, verse six, but it illustrates what I'm seeking to say before you. If the popes are the authority, then how come they contradict one another? If the popes are the authority, And how come through history, the Popes have been men of the greatest moral corruption? In contrast, we say, the Bible is authoritative. It is without error. It is without contradiction. It is absolutely pure. I want to move on then and say thirdly under this first point that Scripture is authoritative because it is sufficient. Scripture is authoritative because it is sufficient. What do you need to teach you that you're a sinner? What do you need to show you that there is a salvation? What do you need to show you that Jesus Christ is that Saviour? What do you need to show you that you may be prepared for eternity? The Bible is sufficient. And so in 2 Timothy chapter three, Paul says concerning Timothy, that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. What Timothy needed, To instruct him in the way of truth is the Scripture. Now of course we believe that the Holy Spirit must take that truth and apply it to the heart. Absolutely. But the Scripture in itself is sufficient. It's a complete revelation of God. And so it's sufficient for the sinner and is sufficient for the saint of God. I've already mentioned in verse 17 that the man of God may be perfect. What do you need in order to progress in your Christian life? It's often good to make use of other books. They are often helpful. But the Bible itself is sufficient. Scripture is the authority of the Church. We want to see then, secondly, that so is Scripture. It teaches that Scripture is the arbiter of the truth. Scripture is the arbiter of the truth. What I mean by this is that Scripture must be tested, sorry, all must be tested against the Word of God. What is the great standard by which all Teaching is to be examined. It's not to be examined against what the Vatican has said. Rather, what the Vatican has said is to be examined against what the scriptures have said. Now, there is a place for church councils. The Bible teaches there is a place for church councils. But church councils are not to be decided whether they favor a particular doctrine or not. Rather, the question for the Church Council is, what does the Scripture say? It's what we are setting forth in line with the authoritative Word of God. But this was not the view that the Medieval Church held, nor is it the view we hold today. Their question was, what does the Church say? What does the Pope say? Again, books and creeds and confessions are help. So down through history, the church has faced questions, just as the church today faces questions. And it's good for us to go back and see how it of Arianism, and how did others deal with heresies? We can certainly be helped by what others have said, but ultimately the question is this, what do the scriptures say? Now this is so important, because when it comes to what we might say is the distinctive doctrines of the Church of Rome, none of them have their basis So by distinctive I mean what sets the Roman Church apart from anything else? None of those distinctive teachings of Rome are found in the Word of God. Rome today. God's believed in the Trinity. That's found in the Bible. Rome claims to believe in the value of life, and so they oppose abortion. That, of course, is found in the Bible. But I'm talking about things like transubstantiation. The wafer being turned into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. It's not found in the Bible. Or the teaching of the Mass having an altruistic Having appraised the language of sacrifice in the Lord's Supper, none of that is found in the Bible. The teaching of purgatory, the teaching of penance, prayers to saints, intercession to Mary, none of them find their authority in the Bible. In fact, the Bible speaks against them all. The Bible condemns them all. And so the reformers rightly said then, that if we have this great principle, sola scriptura, and not just to take it for the sake of taking it, but believing it to be scriptural, the whole system of Rome then falls apart. Contemporary Roman Catholic theologians not only deny the doctrine of sola scriptura, But some of them, interestingly, claim that this doctrine is not found in the Bible. Now that is a very odd assertion. Because remember, Rome is saying, it doesn't matter, because the authority lies within the papal system. So they're saying we don't find sola scriptura in the Bible. Are they not already confirming the weakness of their own argument that the Bible should be? setting forth this particular doctrine. Of course, we believe that the Bible does very clearly set it forth. And so we have it in these words that we are being shown here. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. And you say, well, it doesn't say so in the scripture there. But nowhere do we find in the Bible that there is an authority greater than this. So I already showed you that that authority certainly can't be people's wrong. It can't be tradition, for traditions disagree. The only authority that cannot be held up and contradicted is this authority of the word of God. In Acts chapter 17, We read of how Paul came to a place called Berea. And the converts at Berea are highly commended. And what are the converts at Berea commended for? That they took the preaching of the apostle and they examined it against the written word of God. Acts 17, 11. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word of God with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. And so they didn't say, let us check this against our tradition, but let us check this against the Word of God. Isn't it so interesting that even our Lord himself Use Scripture as the arbiter, the judge. So Christ, of course, is Almighty God. He can speak of himself, thus saith the Lord. And yet in his ministry, he set this great pattern. The appeal is to the Word of God. word of god. And so in Matthew eleven, sorry, Matthew chapter twelve, when the disciples were charged with breaking the Sabbath because they plucked ears of grain on the Sabbath day, the lord appealed to the scriptures. He said, have ye not read Matthew twelve verse three? Have you not read what it says in the old Jesus is being asked about divorce. Matthew 19, verse four, Jesus answered and said unto them, have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female? The authority is the word of God. In Mark chapter 12, dealing with the issue of people that have been married more than once, who are they married to in heaven? Jesus said that the Sadducees erred because they didn't know the scriptures, or the power of God. And so he said in Mark 12, verse 26, where he asked them, have you not read the book of Moses? And so what is to be the arbiter in every matter? What is to be the judge? So Sola Scriptura presents us then with a framework, not just to examine Romanism, but every false religion. So how do we answer the charismatic today that says, I have had this vision from God And you must hear this vision that I have had. You must pay heed to what I am saying. I'm God's prophet to you. God has spoken to me. We say God has spoken through the scripture. The scripture is the authority. And so the confession, the Westminster Confession, Chapter 1, as it speaks about God's revealing his being in power in creation, leaving them without excuse. God has made known the way of salvation, and through the Old and New Testament, God was using various ways to reveal himself. Those former ways of God revealing his will unto his people being now sealed. You don't need a dream or a vision to know what God's will for you today is. The scripture is the authority. The scripture is the infallible guide. How do we know then that the system of the so-called Jehovah Witnesses is false? Because they say you need the organization of the watchtower To help you understand the Bible, you can't understand it yourself, you need the Watchtower to show you the meaning. They deny Stoic Scripture. Or Mormonism, how do we know that Mormonism isn't false? Because their appeal is to the Book of Mormon. Equally, why should we be wary of those type of Bible studies that open the Bible and read some verses and say, now, What does this mean to you? It doesn't matter what it means to you. It matters what it means. What do the scriptures say? What do the scriptures teach? You are not the arbiter. It's not, I would like it to mean this because that would be convenient. What does the scripture itself say? What does it mean? Scripture is the arbiter of the truth. Then I want to say finally, scripture is the attraction of the saints. Scripture is the attraction of the saints. It's very hard for us today to really imagine what it was like for people in medieval Europe, religious people in medieval Europe, For those of us that have grown up in Christian homes, we've grown up always knowing about the Bible, always having a Bible. Even those of you that didn't grow up in Christian homes, many of you saw a Bible. You heard people talking something about the Bible. Martin Luther never saw a Bible. until his late teens. He didn't hear the Bible being read or talked about. The Bible was not the attraction for people in medieval Europe. They were observers of ritual. And the reformers then came with an absolutely radical approach, where they said, we want the Bible to be translated into the language of the people. We want you to read it for yourselves. We want you to hear it being read. And we want you to be focused on the Bible. Scripture is the attraction of the saints. The child of God loves life. for the Bible. Job said in Job 23, 12, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. And most of you love your food, and there's nothing wrong with that. But here is something that we love more. I esteem the word of God infinitely more precious Now, if you were to have copies of the writings of the early church fathers, you might enjoy reading them. Perhaps you would struggle reading them, but you might enjoy reading them. But you would not say, I must have this. You would not say, I must keep this book with me all the time. But if you're a child of God, you will say, there's no book like the Bible. Yes, I enjoy this Christian writer, or I enjoy listening to this creature, and all that is good and right. But we say with the psalmist, oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. And I wonder, is that your testimony? Do you love the Bible? You put it before everything else. Out of all the material that you look at and study. Is the thing that delights you most? The word of God, child of God, that's not the case. Surely this message today is a reminder to you. but confess before the Lord your neglect. Cry out to the Lord, Lord, give me that appetite for the Word of God. Perhaps there's one in the meeting today and you have a little appetite for the Word of God because you're not converted yet. Perhaps even say I don't understand it. I try to read it, but I just can't understand it. And in a sense, I can believe that it's so. Because the scriptures are a spiritual book. They're given by the operation of the Holy Spirit. And they are to be understood by the operation of the Holy Spirit working on us. And you can't then come, what we call a natural man, a natural woman, a natural young person, and take the Bible and understand it in your own strength. You absolutely need the Holy Spirit of God to teach you. You've never cried this before. May this be the cry of your heart today. Holy Spirit, open my eyes. Show me what the scriptures are saying. Show me that what the scriptures are saying about my sin, that that is true. Impress upon my heart this great authority. Show me that what the Scriptures say of Christ's work, that it is true. If you've not yet believed, throw away every excuse and earnestly plead with the Lord that he might show you, that he might open your eyes. Remember how in John chapter three the Lord taught there, Oh, you must be born again. The Lord preached that to Nicodemus. You must be born again. You must be born above. Now, could Nicodemus bring about such a thing in his own heart? Of course not. The Lord must do that work. What did the Lord say to Nicodemus? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in him, rest upon him. That is your duty before God today. May you dear sinner, recognizing your need, may you come. We'll sing just one verse of a hymn as we come to a close. 261. 261. And we're going to sing the verse 2. Hopefully some of you know this hymn, we don't sing it very often. The verse 1 says, in times like these you need a saviour. Then verse 2, in times like these you need the Bible. So 261 and we're just singing the verse 2 and we'll stand as we sing. In times like these, we make a vial. In times like these, we make a vial. We perish, sure. We perish, sure. Our anger waltzes and brings us nowhere high. This love is Jesus. If you're not sure today, Be very sure that your anchor holds and grips the solid rock. Our gracious Father, we thank thee for help given here this morning. O Lord, take what is of thyself, we pray, and seal it to each one of our hearts. We pray, Lord, in these days that we will stand firmly upon the written word of God. We give thee thanks for the refreshments, bless those to us and bless the times that follow in Sunday school and the adult class and be with us throughout this day. We pray for the meeting this afternoon as we come to deal with the matter of grace, O Lord grant a help in that meeting as well and we pray even that to some needy soul today that they will rest upon the great grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we pray the blessing of the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.