You. Yeah. Okay, how many of you were singing along with that song? Yeah. When I look in the mirror, No, I don't see a handsome man. I see my grandfather, but what I see is a sinner. In God's amazing grace, how could he save somebody like me? Now you all think I'm a real nice person. But I'm worse than Kyle. Believe it or not. But yeah. Amazing love that God could save sinners like us. That blows my mind. Reformation. Yeah, Reformation. We're a little confused. Is it Resurrection or Reformation? Yeah, yes. Reformation Sunday. Growing up Catholic, I had no idea what the Reformation was about. I learned about the Counter-Reformation, you know, against those evil Protestants. But then when I was in seminary, Protestant seminary, my students wondered what Reformation Sunday was. They thought it was Halloween. What's this Reformation? I said, it's the reason you're not Catholic. And they were untaught. And we're going to be taught today about the Reformation and how it's an incredible, eternal, life-changing movement. And we have the five solas. But let me warn you, with the five solas, if you ever text anybody like Addie and Bailey Kenimore, I texted them, soli deo gloria. Autocorrect makes it solid deodorant gloria. And I only noticed that after I hit send. It's like, ah. My texts need a reformation. So just a few announcements. Please mark your calendar for the 31st. What day is that? Is that a Thursday? Thursday. This Thursday at the Leighton's house. If you've been there, you know it's a wonderful time of fellowship and sharing the gospel. But if you've never been there, come and enjoy fellowship outside of church. Pastor actually does not wear a suit at home. Today we have a fellowship meal, and we have our annual business meeting directly afterwards. Everybody's welcome to attend, but we're gonna kick the pastor and his family out, including you, Henry, when we discuss his salary. And that's all the announcements I have. Thank you, Andy. As always, you're a tough act to follow. And telling all our inside stories. This morning I woke up, I was telling Andy, I said, I hope I put Reformation Sunday on the bulletin instead of Resurrection Sunday. That's where he got that from, you know. There's things that keep you up at night that shouldn't. It is Reformation Sunday, and it's a time in which we really remember what we should remember, and that is the truth about the gospel. We commemorate this time, this last Sunday in October, a chance to do so, to remember a time in history in which these important truths, essentially the gospel, was in some sense rediscovered. certainly reemphasized and something that we remember today. And I'd like to just read you really a synopsis from a historian, Stephen Nichols, who gives a good summary of what's going on and what we're reminding ourselves of. So bear with me as I read this and think through in how this is described. Nichols writes, A single event on a single day changed the world. It was October 31st, 1517. Brother Martin, a monk and a scholar, had struggled for years with his church The Church in Rome. He had been greatly disturbed by an unprecedented indulgence sale. The story has all the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster. Let's meet the cast. First, there was this young bishop, too young by church laws, Albert of Mainz, who not only was he bishop over two bishoprics, he desired an additional archbishopric over Mainz. This, too, was against church laws. So Albert appealed to the Pope in Rome, Leo X. From the de Mecci family, Leo X greedily allowed his taste to exceed his financial resources. Enter the artists, sculptors, Raphael and Michelangelo. When Albert of Mance appealed for a papal dispensation, Leo X was ready to deal, Albert, with the papal blessing would sell indulgences for past, present, and future sins. All of this sickened the monk Martin Luther. Can we buy our way into heaven? But why October 31st? Well, November 1 held a special place in the church calendar as All Souls Day. On November 1, 1517, a massive exhibit of newly acquired relics would be on display at Wittenberg Luther's home city. Pilgrims would come from all over, genuflect before the relics, and take hundreds, if not thousands, of years off time in purgatory. That's what they thought. Purgatory doesn't actually exist. Well, Luther's soul grew even more vexed. None of this seemed right. Martin Luther, a scholar, took quill in hand, dipped it in his inkwell, and penned his Ninety-Five Theses on October 31, 1517. These were intended to spark a debate, to stir some soul-searching among his fellow brothers in the church. The Ninety-Five Theses sparked far more than a debate. The Ninety-Five Theses also revealed the church was far beyond rehabilitation. It needed reformation. The church and the world would never be the same. One of Luther's Ninety-Five Theses simply declares, the church's true treasure is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That had been lost. That alone is the meaning of Reformation Day. The church had lost sight of the gospel because it had long ago papered over the pages of God's word with layer upon layer of, and here's the word, tradition. Remember the Pharisees? They rejected Christ because of their tradition. Nichols continues, tradition always brings about systems of works and earning your way back to God. I think it's well said. It was true of the Pharisees. It was true of the medieval Roman Catholicism. Didn't Christ himself say, my yoke is easy and my burden is light? Reformation Day celebrates the joyful beauty of the liberating gospel of Jesus Christ. What is Reformation Day? It's a day the light of the gospel broke forth out of darkness. It was a day that began the Protestant Reformation. It was a day that led to Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, and many of the other reformers helping the church find its way back to God's, here it is, and I'll be preaching on this, God's Word. as the only authority for faith, life, and the leading of the church back to the glorious doctrines of the justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. It kindled the fires of missionary endeavors. It led to hymn writing, which will sing, and congregational singing, which will join in. It led to the centrality of the sermon and the preaching for the people of God. It's a celebration. It's a celebration of theological, ecclesiastical, and ultimately a cultural transformation. And praise God for those shoulders on which we stand. Let's take a moment to prepare our hearts to worship Christ. I'll give you a moment privately to confess your sin, to call on Christ that he would send the spirit to illuminate your heart with great joy to sing praises to his holy name and to hear and heed his word today. Take a moment privately and I'll pray for us corporately. Let us pray. Oh father, we come to you with a great privilege of calling you father. Because you have sent your son to take on human flesh, to walk among us, to live a perfect and righteous life, to merit what it needs to stand before you in absolute holiness. and you have granted us that righteousness through faith. You've been merciful to us, given to us what we do not deserve by your grace, and not giving to us what we do deserve by your mercy. Our sin has been laid on Christ, and he is atoned for them all, past, present, and future. It is in Christ and Christ alone that we can stand before you, not only the merit in which he earned a perfect righteousness, but the full payment of all our sin. So we can stand before you and be declared just because of Christ, not guilty anymore. What a great privilege it is, then, to be brought in your presence and be continually mediated on our behalf by the Lord Jesus Christ, who constantly prays for his people. I pray, Father, that we would find great courage and comfort and conviction in this grace that you have granted to us. May we be true children of God. For any who are coming to a place of awareness of who you are and all that you have done and who we are without you and outside your presence and outside of your redemption, I pray we would all hear and heed your voice. Bring many sons and daughters to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. Build them up in your holy faith. May we be reminded of these great truths the truths of who you are. May it change really our perception of the world in which we live. We live in some days that are often very dark and difficult. Days in which the evil one seems to have the upper hand. but You are Sovereign Lord and You have explained to us both the beginning and the end in Your Holy Word. Give us faith, that absolute assurance and conviction to believe and to trust and to look forward to our blessed Savior, Jesus Christ, and his soon appearing. In this time of pilgrimage, in this life, we pray that we would be ever conforming to Jesus Christ, our Lord, showing forth the light of your glory in the dark places that we may find ourselves from time to time, And may the influence of your word as it's proclaimed, both by our lips and by our life, be that which calls many to come and see and behold your glory and be gathered in as saints of God. I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Second Samuel 22 verse 2 says, the Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. Let's stand together and take our hymn books and let's begin our singing this morning with number 656, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. For still our ancient throne, Thou seemed to earn us foe. All earth is but a tiny part. Daily in our own strength of heart, our striving could be limited. ♪ Master that made me ♪ ♪ Christ, He's the Trinity ♪ ♪ Born seven of His name ♪ ♪ From age to age the same ♪ ♪ And He was with the bad at home ♪ A grace of darkness free. ♪ No, not for air ♪ ♪ Things great we can endure ♪ ♪ For lo, His doom is sure ♪ ♪ All His homeward shall prepare me ♪ ♪ Backward upon all earthly paths ♪ ♪ The spirit and the pitch are out ♪ ♪ To him who with a smile I know ♪ ♪ That good and kindred know ♪ ♪ His mortal life also ♪ ♪ The holy day made clear ♪ Let's take our inserts out. We've got the Reformation song as well as our hymn of the month, We Marvel at Your Marvelous Word. And just remember on the Reformation song, we'll sing the first verse and go right into the second verse, and then chorus, and then third verse, chorus, fourth verse, chorus, chorus, and then the last four or so words on that. So a refresher on that, and then we'll go right into our We Marvel at Your Wondrous Word. On this stunning ground, the mighty God of grace prevailed. In every mind the truth is found, and every faith with glory fails. We will go with hope to you. We have no fear till we have done Here is our hope in Jesus' name. Gloria, gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria, gloria, gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria! Gloria! ♪ Glory to God alone ♪ ♪ Gloria, Gloria ♪ ♪ Glory to God alone ♪ ♪ By grace alone we have been saved ♪ ♪ All that we are has come from you ♪ ♪ Hearts ever once dressed in a swain ♪ ♪ Now by the power of heav'nly doom ♪ ♪ Gloria, Gloria ♪ ♪ Glory to God of gold ♪ ♪ Gloria, Gloria ♪ ♪ Glory to God of gold ♪ Gloria, Gloria, Gloria in excelsis Deo. Gloria, Gloria, Gloria in excelsis Deo. Let's go right into our next. We marvel at your wondrous work. We marvel at your wondrous work. We blindly bring this spirit's song. We build our ruins, restore our grace. We need your grace, the grace that brings Forgiveness, pardon, our mercies ease We build our homes, restore our grace O God of mercy, God of grace Believe in faith, regret, and strain, and join the men whom our glad hearts see. Renew our wounds, restore our race, O thankful Jesus, God of grace. We worship Christ until we cling to Him alone for everything. We build our buildings for our grace, the sight of Jesus, God of grace. May we be seated. Yes, we commemorate Reformation Day number 507. I think it was number 500 that that Reformation song was written. That day of the 95 theses is an iconic image, but that was really just the beginning of an inquiry of these kinds of theological questions. If you go forward several years of the Diet of Worms, Martin Luther's life was on the line, and yet his response was, here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen. And usually for us, our lives aren't on the line, but it's inevitable that we will have to make a bold stand for the truth of God's word. And they say always reforming, because in every generation, there's a temptation to let our traditions slide without being subject to God's infallible word. Well, our Catholic friends paint a picture as if we ignore church history, ignore our church elders, and are just me and my Bible alone as a mini-pope. But we don't ignore those things. We just merely put them under the one and only thing that is God-breathed and infallible and inerrant. And in addition, there's always a temptation to water down God's word by mixing it with whatever fad wisdom the world has for us. But as it turns out, we don't need to go ask the world to teach us how to deal with racism, or teach us sales marketing techniques to make evangelism slick, or sex, or gender, or marriage, or counseling, or where we came from, or any. that. This is God's Word and this is where we stand as well, Lord willing. And that's why, if you're like me, I'm looking forward to a teaching about this today and that formal cause of that reformation makes inevitable the material cause of, because this teaches that how do we have forgiveness by God? Only through faith, only in Christ. And that means salvation is only by grace, and that means we should ought to give glory only to God. Now with the scripture reading, of these five passages. I know we have some noble Bible drill warriors, but we're just going to read straight through them so we won't really have a chance to flip to each one individually. Sola Scriptura. Scripture alone as the authority for life and practice in the church. 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17. All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. sola gratia, salvation by grace alone, as the reason for our salvation without any human merit. Ephesians 2, verses 8 and 9. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Sola Fide, justification by faith alone as the instrument by which we receive the imputed righteousness of Christ. Galatians 3, 6 through 11. Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the gospel before him to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations be blessed. So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for the righteous shall live by faith. Solus Christus, Christ alone as the sole mediator between God and man, 1 Timothy 2, 5, and 6. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. Soli Deo Gloria. To the glory of God alone, as all things are from him, and through him, and to him. To him be the glory forever. Amen. Romans 11, 33 to 36. the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and how inscrutable his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be glory forever. Amen. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would be glorified. Give us the grace to endeavor to give glory to you alone. We pray that you would be glorified in the proclamation of your word today and we ask that your spirit would accompany the proclamation of your word. We pray that you would be glorified as we continue to praise you together as the body of Christ. We pray that you would be glorified in the instruction of our young ones and in the giving of our offerings. So we ask in Christ's name, amen. Yeah. Let's stand again and take our hymn books and turn to number 456, Our Firmer Foundation. Psalm 119-89 says, Lord, your word is forever. It is firmly fixed in heaven. 456. Amen. Our firm foundation we say. ♪ And we sing that to you we have sinned ♪ ♪ To you we pour praise, to Jesus as friend ♪ ♪ Fear not, I am with thee, I'll be not dismayed ♪ ♪ For I am thy God and will still give thee aid ♪ ♪ Pirates, battles, and war, they shall lie. ♪ ♪ By grace, laws, and principles shall be classified. ♪ of a Ladies and Church. That hymn begins describing our firm foundation that's laid for our faith in what? God's excellent word. And that's what I want to talk about this morning, is God's excellent word. And we use that descriptive sola scriptura as already has been mentioned. By that we simply mean that scripture alone is the final authority infallible authority for all life and practice within the church. As was read from 2nd Timothy 3 every scripture is breathed out by God. We talked about the doctrine of inspiration quite literally what that phrase means is expiration but that doesn't sound right in English language. But it's the very breath of God. This makes this book unique among others. And this is why we base what we believe not on creeds and confessions, but on Christ's word. These other documents are helpful in the sense that they might communicate Clearly and correctly Christ's word but his word indeed is that authority. I wanted to address this and I thought about well we could use a lot of scriptures to root this concept in today, but as I prayed about it and thought about it more, I thought it might be helpful just to go backwards a few chapters in the very same book that we're already in and emphasize Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. I'll mention the context again in which it exists but nevertheless when the preacher here who is concerned about those that might apostatize or abandon the faith he talks about that which is to measure all things and it is the Word of God. But he uniquely describes the word of God in a special way that makes it, again, distinctive among anything else that we might hold in our hands. So I invite you to look at Hebrews 4 and verse 12 to 13. And I'll go through this sermon once again from a different angle, a little bit, and try to squeeze it in in the couple hours that I have to preach this morning. Hebrews 4.12. Well, we will feed you afterwards if it's still warm. For the Word of God, notice, this breathed-out Word of God is living. It is active. And it is sharper than any two-edged sword. And here's the fourth thing, it piercing, if you will, to the division of the soul and of the spirit, of the joints and of marrow, and discerning of the thoughts and intents of the heart. No creature is hidden from his sight. but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Let us pray. Oh Father, I do pray that we would gain a greater insight into your holy word. May it be the delight and rejoicing of our heart because it is the very breath of God. I pray this in Christ's name, amen. As already is mentioned here by Paul, he mentioned this idea of formal principle that's important to note. The formal principle of the Reformation because it uses that technical descriptive of the Word of God in a sense that everything else flows from it. The material principles of the Reformation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the belief in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. All of that is revealed to us in God's holy word. It is from that that we deduce these other doctrines. We've categorized them as we've mentioned. And we added these Latin descriptions here because they're part of our historical connection. But nevertheless, the sola just means alone. There are many people who believe in grace and faith and Christ and God. But the distinctive is alone. That is the supremacy of all of it. And that's very consistent with what this preacher of Hebrews is saying. Because he was dealing with a people who had a lot of religious traditions and ideas about God and theology. But they were mistaken in many quarters. because they put much of that above that which is supreme above all, and that is Christ. And he preaches this whole message to the Hebrews and says, Look to God, the living God. Look to Christ and Him alone. There is indeed only one mediator between God and man. It is the man Christ Jesus, and he goes through this text to explain what this mediation of Christ is all about. This idea of mediation is this high priestly function of Jesus Christ. He isn't another priest. He isn't just a high priest. He is the one and only. All of these symbols, all of these traditions, all of these ideas pointed to one single person, and that is Jesus Christ. And you would have merit before God only by His grace granted to you, His grace alone. And that would come about not by your actions, your work, your contributions, and things that you give. All of it is brought about instrumentally through the person of Jesus Christ by faith, that is, to believe Him. And we've been talking about that in Hebrews 11. and giving you examples of it, people that really didn't merit the faith that they had, and to be pointed out as examples, because the faith is about, Hebrews 11, six, the assurance and the conviction, this absolute assurance and divine conviction in God. You believe not only that he exists, but he also will fulfill all that he has said and promised. And for those that are in Christ, it is described as a reward, and there is no greater reward. No wonder many historically could sacrifice life and limb, everything they gave up, because Christ is of greater treasure and greater value. It is Christ, this one alone, who is then the one we seek. And all of this redounds to the glory of God. We've been teaching on that on Henry's, been teaching that Sunday morning class about, I love to look at it through the attributes of God. I would argue it's probably much more than this, but it's at least this. When we talk about the glory of God, we're talking about the beauty of his divine perfections, or you can think about his attributes. Those attributes that are uniquely his, and also that he grants to those that are made in his image. those that are communicated to us. Isn't it beautiful to see kindness, patience, love, mercy, justice, all of these beautiful aspects? Well, God displays them in perfection. We only see them in imperfection and various degrees. But how would we know, truly, about God? He is revealed in creation. The psalmist would say the heavens declare the glory of God. They speak out. This is what I mean by beauty. I was out with some friends at sunset, and one of them just couldn't help but pull out his little phone with a pocket camera, nice to have that with you at all times, and take a picture of that sunset. And this is a man of my age. I think he's seen them before. But he just couldn't get over it at that moment. It just was glorious. Yeah, that's the word. You see, it is a reflection of who God is. And anything that is glorious in your sight at the moment, it's flawed to some degree. It's obscured to some degree. God is not. And it is simply a reflection of who God is. God has revealed himself in the conscious of man. Man knows that there is something more than this right now. God has put eternity in man's heart. A knowledge of what is right and wrong may argue and quibble about it, but there is always some sort of standard. Where does that come from? It comes from God. He puts in the conscience of man a consciousness of God. But that really is insufficient in and of itself. God must disclose himself to us, and he has done so in his holy word. He has done so in the writings of this very truth breathed out. If you want to know about me, I have to tell you about myself really. I mean you can look at me and make judgments about me and maybe many of them are correct. But if you really want to know something personal, intimate, I have to tell you. And God has to tell us for us then to engage with Him and have a personal relationship with God. He has disclosed who He is through His Holy Word. And ultimately in it has disclosed who we are. After all, we're His creation. We have been made in His image. And all that is in scripture that he has revealed isn't all there is, but it is all sufficient for us to know. And particularly our sin and failure and what he has done about it to the glory of his grace, the glory of his mercy, the glory of his patience and his kindness, his love and the redemption that he has provided. As we mentioned here, this scripture then is our rule, our infallible rule for our belief and our behavior, faith and practice we might call it. We remember this period of time looking back to the 1500s and did emphasize, there are many that preceded, by the way, and certainly many that followed. But one of the key moments in history was, as we've already mentioned, Martin Luther in 1521. This is after putting the theses on the door and then all this argument that occurred about it He was called to a council and the council wanted to deal with him because they thought his stance and his writings really were heresy. The council asked him to recant, to repent of his various works. If he did, he would be welcomed back into the church, the religious community, which also controlled the society and the government. If he wouldn't, he would be branded a heretic and it would cost him his life. They would plan to burn him at the stake, as they did many others. Luther asked for a recess so that he can think about what his response would be. As you can imagine, his response would really be a major thing for his life and perhaps those he cared about as well. When he returned, we have in writing the closing paragraph of his statement, which I'll read for you. He concluded simply this, and this is life or death for him, by the way. Life or death. He says, I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the Council. Because it's clear they have fallen into error and even into inconsistency with themselves. If then I am not convinced by proof from Holy Scripture. If I'm not satisfied by the very text I have cited, and if my judgment is not in this way brought into subjection to God's word, I neither can nor will retract anything. For it cannot be either safe or honest for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand. I can do no otherwise. God help me. Amen. He took a stand on scripture alone. It would put him in great peril to that religious class who at that time had the power of the sword. If you know history, God providentially spared him of certain death. used his testimony to be strong shoulders on which we are able to stand today. But I want to ensure you that the tack on God's infallible, inspired, inerrant word is not novel. You see, this is Satan's tack from the beginning, even before it was written down. I'm talking about God's word. You remember in the temptation of Eve? The question simply was this. Really? By Satan to Eve. Has God said? Creating some sort of doubt. Questioning. Has God actually said that? Many twist what God says. Question it first. Twist it is another tactic. Trying to make it say something other than the author's intended. Peter would agree that there are some things that are hard and difficult to understand in God's breathed word. God does condescend to us to a degree, has to, because you have an infinite mind speaking to a finite man. And so, yeah, there are some things that are hard to understand. But the response isn't to question it, nor to twist it. And as Peter would reflect on this in 2 Peter 3, he said, yeah, there's things that are hard to understand, but the ignorant and unstable, they twist it to their own destruction as they do the other scriptures. Twisting it trying to make it say something that it doesn't say you may not understand it fully Grasp all of it. I expect that I mean, how could God exist as one being in three persons? That's unique. We're learning the Trinity come next week in Sunday morning. We'll teach you more on it It's it's a difficult concept But you know how we derive it? How do we understand that? By some counsel or a group of people that made the statement? No, by God's holy word. This has been revealed to us. And because of that, that is why we believe. It's perhaps more too often in our day, just simply ignoring the word seems to be the flavor of the day. When I went back to go look at this text, which I hope to get to at some point, I remembered when I, last time I preached on 412 of Hebrews, I identified a, I think, well-meaning but misguided preacher in Atlanta by the name of Andy Stanley. I mentioned him because at that time, and he's been on this terror for about 10 years, he makes this argument that he's not going to try to convince you with the Bible to unbelievers. He explains there's thousands and thousands of Christians before there was a Bible. Well, that's kind of a canard, right? I think there were Christians when Jesus addressed the churches there in Revelation. Yeah, I think there was. Yeah, it wasn't complete until Revelation was done, but all that is prior is Scripture. You see, from the very beginning, It's God's Word to the very end. And when it's completed, then we're simply not to add any more. But the in-between time, don't take away from it either. As the Apostle John would reveal in his Word, you take away from it, I'm going to take away from you. And you're going to receive judgment. It's a serious thing to stand before a living God. The standing goes on to say, well, we just need to unhitch ourselves from this Old Testament. What? The majority of the Bible that we carry around? That would make it a lighter load, wouldn't it? I wasn't sure what his motives were then, but I got two recent presentations. I try to stay away from some of this. I think Daryl sent me a clip, and then I saw a clip somewhere else. And it really kind of gives me the motivation. Why in the world would he be so afraid of what Scripture says, and then instead try to say, what you need to do is not tell people about the Scripture, just tell them about the resurrection? Which seemed illogical to me, because the only reason you really know about the resurrection is how? The Scripture. It's crazy. Well, let's just hear a story. And I think I figured it out a couple reasons why based in some more recent speeches that he made. One, he's afraid of what the atheists might say. Because the atheists would look at this Holy Scripture and have a lot of things they disagree with. Actually, I kind of expect that. I'm surprised they agree with anything that's here. They're in rebellion against God, and here you have God's Word. Wouldn't you expect it? In addition, He has great trouble with all the miracles in the Bible. And recently he said, well, I'm speaking of Stanley, you only need to believe two, and it was kind of evasive. One, of course, the resurrection, and two, that God somehow created the world, not specifically how it was done. And if I remember correct, that's kind of how the Bible opens. It says, in the beginning, God. So the scriptures say that. How do I know that? Because the scriptures declare it. It is, as Paul would say, the formal principle by which we know. We don't know, we weren't there. The scripture declares it. And how do you really know that Jesus rose from the dead? Oh, I don't know. Let's try 1 Corinthians 15. And that he died. And that he was buried. And that he rose, what? According to the scriptures. Right. 1 Corinthians 15 wasn't written when that was penned, you understand? It's all been according to the scriptures. That's how you would know. You see, I would add one other thing, and I think it's a very dangerous thing to this idea, I would just call it a synergistic idea of salvation. It's how most people believe that salvation occurs, that God just gives you a chance, and you've got to go ahead and execute that chance. In other words, you're drowning, if you will, out in a pool, and a lifesaver is thrown in, but it's up to you to grab it. You grab it, you're good. Scripture never talks about salvation like that. It talks about God's grace alone. His mercy alone. You know, when it speaks about someone that is unregenerate, it speaks to them in terms as if they're dead, you know? But God makes them alive. So we call this monergistic. That is, it is God alone. who brings about regeneration. Do you have to really personally believe? Do you really have to have faith? Absolutely you do. But how does that come about? Just like a person will breathe because they're alive, when you're made alive in Christ you will have faith. You know someone's alive because they're breathing. They're not alive because they're breathing. And go ahead. Don't do it here. In fact, don't do it at all. I'm told. I don't have this experience. Try to hold your breath. You might knock yourself out, but then you'll start breathing. Because you're alive. That's the way God made it. and you will have faith. You say, oh, I really wish I had faith, regenerate faith. You're gonna have faith because of his grace alone. Faith is a response to regeneration. And it comes about through the communication of his word. No wonder Satan would like to obscure God's word because it is, what he would use, the Holy Spirit would use to bring about new life. We'll get to this text and talk about it being living. But I just want to address that the approach the apostles took For example, Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, he says he has this ministry, and we've done away with disgraceful and underhanded ways. We've refused to practice, and I'm quoting 4.2, cunning or tamper with God's word. That's how it was done in the apostolic era. If our gospel is veiled, which it will be to the unbeliever who has written all kinds of books about it, it is understandable. He says it's veiled to those that are perishing, so expect them to not receive anything. In their case, Paul would say the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. So here he's using two explanations. One here, they're just blind and then double blind by Satan. So how are you going to get through? Well, I don't know, let me tell them about a story. A good story. All kinds of things. And various ways of trying to manipulate people into guilt or grief or whatever it might be. I'd argue no, not at all. Do what Apostle Paul said, for what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord. and with yourselves servants for his sake, for it is God who said, let the light shine out of darkness. You see Genesis 1, why it's there? Oh, the light that you see, it comes from God, and God brings about that light. It is that God who creates the world, who then, he says, he has shown in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. preach the word. He would tell his protege Timothy. In season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering. And doctrine, that's teaching. What doctrine are you teaching? The Word. You're heralding it, you're proclaiming it, and it may not be received. You should expect it not to be received. In the logical mind of man which is which is fallible and often illogical. They'll think, oh, if we just not share the hard parts, you know, there's a lot of things that are hard in there. And oh yeah, that's right, unbelievers would just, and ignorant people would just twist it to their own destruction. No, no, go ahead and tell them the hard parts. In fact, if you just tell them about an anecdote, which again, it's fine to share anecdotes, but understand there's something unique in proclaiming the hard truth of the word of God. Here's a passage, and you can note this if you're in, I have several texts here, but 2 Peter 1. Peter is somebody that witnessed as a disciple Jesus Christ in what we would call his, when he demonstrated his glory on earth, okay? And he heard the very voice of God. Now I can tell you this, I've never heard the verse voice of God. But just imagine for a moment, I did, and saw what we call the transfiguration of Christ, saw some of his glory. You know this Apostle Peter was actually there, And you might want to listen to him. Here's what he has to say about it in verse 17 of 2 Peter 1. We received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory. Here's God speaking from heaven. You know what he heard? This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. We ourselves, he says, heard this very voice born from heaven for we were with him on the holy mountain. He's speaking the transfiguration. And, verse 19, we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed. Confirmed. What he's saying. It isn't just hearsay, it's actually written down. Because I might forget what I heard, or you may not believe what I heard, but I can show you one thing. Here's what God wrote down. That is more assurance, he says, it is fully confirmed in which you will do well to pay attention to as a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts Knowing this, first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. They just didn't make this stuff up. This comes from the very voice of God, and it's written down. No prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. This is why we're talking about Scripture alone. It is this prophecy, and it is written down. It doesn't come from the will of man, but men instead spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. some work in their pen. We call this inspiration, the Holy Spirit guiding the very words. Well, what is that word? Back to Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. And you can preach this to yourself. You may have to because I don't think I'll finish. But in any case, Hebrews 4.12. What's that word? What's that word that you would be better paying attention to particularly as you see the day approaching it is 412 living. active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and it is a discerner of the very soul and joints of your heart. Let us pray. Father, grant us wisdom from your word. I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. In context here in Hebrews 4.12, If you notice, prior to this, in the first few verses in chapter four, if you're there, he talks about rest, and particularly to these Hebrews who are really persuaded by the traditional teaching in their culture, their religious aspects. But he uses this idea of faith, and in verse two, Looking back to God's people who didn't walk by faith, believe God, they were not united by faith. And that's the problem. And why they didn't enter into that rest. God's rest is in Christ alone. And he makes that argument to these very people in verses 4 through 6, talking about a future rest. Symbolically, they didn't enter in rest because they didn't believe God. But it points to that rest that remains. It is in Christ a spiritual rest. And so he quotes then Psalm 95 in verses 7 to 13 and cries out this, and here's the message. Today, today, don't harden your hearts. Notice this, he's one, he's rested from his works. God did from his so then let us strive to enter that rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. He's dealing with his people in potential apostasy and he said don't leave Christ look for the rest And resting God, trust in Him. But notice there he also says to strive. So you have both rest, verse 10, and striving in verse 11. The rest is ceasing from your works. Trusting God for His work, merit in Him. The striving then that is mentioned here is that for those that are resting in God, trusting in Him, by faith alone, that faith doesn't remain alone, but it creates a desire to strive, if you will, active obedience is what he is talking about, and this obedience then for the regenerate is brought about through the power of the Holy Spirit. He works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. So do you want that rest? Believe. Believe His Word. And that's how you will hear and know about it. Paul would say to the church at Rome that this faith, you want the faith? It comes through the hearing of the word of Christ, Romans 10, 17. And for those that have then heard the word proclaimed, then they have this new disposition of a desire to actively be obedient through the power of the Spirit. And how is that mediated? It is mediated through His Word. Jesus would say in 1717 of John, sanctify them through your truth. What's the truth? Your Word is truth. See, there's a lot of things that are said and done and written about, but you can be assured of this. This right here is absolute truth. That's why we stand right here. I may have a wrong understanding of something, but it's written down, and we can look at it. We can measure and argue from the very canon of Scripture. But for salvation to come about, it comes about through the proclamation of the Word. For sanctification to occur in your life, it comes about through the communion with His Word. Be like the psalmist, the blessed man in Psalm 1 who meditates on his word day and night. And he'll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bears fruit in his season. Apple trees bear apples because they're apple trees. Christians will bear the fruit of the Spirit because they're Christians. They have been made alive. And not just made alive, but planted by, carefully cultivated by the water of life. It will come through the nourishment of His Word. In 412, it describes this word. The first one is living, in Hebrews 412. This word, zo'o, it means to be alive, or to have life. When we think about life, we often think about change. You know, kids grow up, live, and then we all die. Maybe you have seasons of plants that are here and then they're gone. They're always changing. This idea here of life is not something that is changing. It is something that is constant. And, in fact, it's often used of God. You can just look at the previous chapter in 3.12 where The preacher is so concerned about the folks leaving Christ, he says, you're going to have an unbelieving heart and leave the what? Living God. It is a common expression of who God is. God is said to be alive or a living, if you will. It's considered this way because God is the source of all life. It is God who breathed out life to begin with and continues life today. Hebrews will say that Christ upholds all things by the very word of his power. He is the source and the sustenance of all life. John says it this way, speaking of Christ, all things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made and then what's the next? In him was life. And the life was the light of men. Christ is the source of life. Christ is the sustainer of life. And it is through Christ that we will live. You'll find out about that through the Holy Scriptures. Paul looks to his protege Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 and is reminded about the gospel that has been sowed like seeds in the hearts of the child and that it grew up. And he says to Timothy, young man, continue in what you have learned, knowing who you have been assured of and knowing that from childhood you have known what? the faith of your mother, the faith of your grandmother. All those are good examples. But no, what did he know? He knew the holy scriptures. That's ultimately what is most significantly important. They taught him the holy scriptures like seeds that went deep into the soil that would find a foundation and flourish into life. It is through the Holy Scriptures, he would say, that it is able to make you wise unto salvation as opposed to a fool. A fool is one who says in his heart there's no God. The fool is the atheist. How will you convert the atheist? Give them the Word of God. Give them life because it's alive. It is living. It is described in many aspects in this way, bread, milk, honey, the psalmist would say. All of these point to the idea that the very living word of God gives life and sustains life. That's the whole point. The bread of life. The second aspect about God's Word, not only is it in and of itself uniquely alive and is a source and sustenance of life, but it's also active. In Hebrews 4.12 it says it is living and active. The active aspect here is an image of something that has power. It is a practical expression of power. And I'll save you some turning. I'll just read a text for you. Here's how Jeremiah the prophet talks about God's word. in this idea of activeness. Jeremiah 23, 29, Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? That's the activeness. He's using that as an illustration, as fire might be active, or in this case, a hammer as well might be active, something that can actually powerfully interact and accomplish what it will. The fire is the imagery used a lot in the Old Testament about the Word of God being a refiner's fire, not a fire that is out of control, but something that is purposeful. And even in the agricultural sense, if you want to use it that way, there are people that would burn certain sections of their field to produce what? life and more life. That's the imagery of God's Word. And it burns away that which is not effective and not living. And another aspect here is to use the illustration of a hammer. Think of it breaking apart those things that are in opposition to God. or like a sculptor would take a piece of rock and then begin to chisel out that which does not look like the image to which he desires to see. And likewise, God will use his word like a hammer on your heart to break away those things that are hard and those things that don't look like Christ. It is effective. It's effective weapon. for yourself and for others. No wonder, again, as the Apostle Paul was about to finish his ministry and to die as a martyr, his last words to Timothy were simply this, preach this word, preach the fire. It's constructive. It has a purpose in it. Preach the hammer and hit them hard because it will have a benefit to those that would receive the rebuke of the Word. That's the idea, the instrumentality here of the Word in 4.12 as well. It's going to pierce like a sword. It's going to dig deep to the joints and marrow. And beloved, I hope there's points in your life when you look at God's Word and it just breaks you down and breaks away the hardness of sin. Third aspect, the Word of God is not only living source and sustenance of life, it's not only powerful, it will accomplish what God purposes in it, but it's also very sharp. 412. this sharper, and then he goes on to describe it, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit of the joints and the marrow. I think it's purposeful that he, Paul, there's a couple of main words for sword here in Greek. A really long one, a ramphaia, and a very small one, like a dagger. This is the dagger, machaira. Think of it like a surgeon's scalpel. It's very precise. There's an aspect in which the Word of God is like a hammer, but it's also very precise. And that's the imagery here of sharpness. It's like this little sword that's very sharp. It can cut both ways, double-edged, if you will. In that period of time, that little sword would have also been an imagery for someone who would make decisions in their day, like a judge. They would carry that, and that became emblematic of those who would be able to cut through the arguments, if you will, pro and con, and make a deciding factor. The magistrate. who wields the sword. The imagery here is like God's Word, then, is that way. It'll cut to the very quick, to the very heart of the matter. And if you're still in Hebrews 4, 12, look at verse 13. And that's where he's going to push this forward to. No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account. Measure yourself up by the word it is that instrument that will cut deep For some it will cut deep in judgment to them They'll be judged according to their deeds And those which are of the flesh will be discarded those which of the spirit will be rewarded There'll be no excuse before God God provides this righteous standard by which we'll live. And notice here it pierces says to the division of soul and spirit of joints and marrow. It's describing here that what that which is both material and immaterial about man. Marrow and joints would be material soul and spirit immaterial. Those who have been spiritually pierced asunder by God's sword of his word they will respond in repentance and faith and that tool then becomes an instrument of healing and help. It's like discipline which we'll get into in chapter 12 in Hebrews but you probably remember the moment of all discipline seems painful. It's like the cutting. It's not pleasant. But later on it is purposeful and yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Fourth aspect of this word, it's not only alive, powerful, and sharp, but it's also, I would add, this discerning. And take that from that section of 412, it says then, in the end, it discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart. I've always wrestled with this because we naturally think we know motives of what people do or why they did something and it can bring out a lot of conflict. You said that because this or you did this because and you know, you don't always know their motives. You're assuming it. And I don't do this perfectly, I'm not suggesting it, but I try not to impugn people's motives. You can judge them by their actions, what they actually do, precisely what motivated them to do that. And in fact, sometimes we don't even know our own motives, do we? Remember Paul in Romans 7? I do the sin that I don't want to do. Wretched man that I am why am I doing this? We don't always know why we're motivated by things and I suppose in the fact that we still wrestle with that Unredeemed humanity, which will not be gone until we're in the presence of God And we might wrestle with it. We don't really always know But God knows It is his word then that can uncover that. There'll be many who are deceived. Jesus warns in Matthew 7, there are going to be many who say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all of this for the right reasons? And he says, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. They're self-deceived. They haven't looked at the source and measured themselves by that which can measure them, and that is God's Word. Sin is a deceiving villain. God's Word is a discerning truth. And so look to God's Word. The psalmist would put it this way, Psalm 139, 23, Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there's any grievous way in me and lead me into the way everlasting. You wanna know how that's going to come about? By taking heed to the word of God. This is why I encourage you, by the way, let me give you a practical thing. I don't tell people a lot of do's and don'ts. You're subject to God, not me. But I would challenge you, even before you get to New Year's Resolution, pick this up and read it. Pray that kind of prayer before you do. You don't have to read an entire book. You don't have to read through cover to cover. In fact, we put scriptures all the time, just one passage of scripture for you to think about and meditate on. I'm not trying to lower the bar, and I'm not trying to raise the bar. All I'm doing is asking you to go to the source of life. Allow it to be that which awakens you in the morning, that keeps you through the day, and puts you to peaceful rest at night. And to do that, you'll have to pick it up and read it. And as you do, maybe you will sense the life that is there. The power that it has. The sharpness of that which needs to be discarded in your own life. and the discerning to make good judgments in days ahead. Hide it in your heart. Treasure it there. And you're going to be like a tree of life that will bear fruit in your season. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful for your divine revelation of your word. I pray that indeed we would find it as our sweet to our taste, and to the degree that it might not be, I pray that you would change our tastes to have a desire for you. I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Take a moment to think on these things. Respond to Christ in any way He has spoken to you today. you Father, I do pray that indeed you would equip us from every good work through your divine word. I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Let's all stand and turn to 509 in our hymnals. My faith looks up to thee, 509. In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence, Ephesians 3.12. On his way to the country, proud and proud he went. Now hear me, while I pray, take all my guilt away. O let me come to stay before the way of the Lamb. ♪ Raise my tranquil dream ♪ ♪ Let death's long-suffering stream ♪ ♪ Shall for me go, let death's long-suffering stream ♪ Amen. Let's go ahead and pray and we'll be dismissed. Gracious Father, we're thankful indeed for this opportunity we have now to hear from your word, Lord, and to realize the importance of it in each and every one of our lives. Father, we pray that you would deal bountifully with each and every one of us and open our eyes to see wonderful things from your word, that your word would be a lamp to our feet and a light into our path. that we may treasure your word in our heart so that we will not sin against you, that we may observe the testimonies of the Lord and delight in his way more than in riches, and that you may give understanding to us to keep your commandments and to observe them with our whole heart may lord you give us life according to your steadfast love and hope in your salvation forever and ever amen and father we pray that you would bless the food that we're about to partake of now and those who prepared it and bless it to our bodies and strengthen us with it now in jesus name amen Yeah. Nice.