knows me, but if anybody doesn't, my name is Chris Segura. I'm going to be presenting today's Sunday School teaching. I was asked by the elders to present on a specific topic. It's God's Word in our personal study today. It seems like a very broad topic, and in my mind, I think it was initially difficult because I think if you think about what is God's Word's place in our personal study, We just automatically say, well, it's the highest place. It's the most important place. And it's very easy to just kind of stop at that. But I think that hopefully we can study a little bit more in depth as far as the ramifications of what that means, what that looks like in practical terms. Before we start, I would like to start us in prayer. So if you could join me in prayer. Almighty God, Father and Son, you have shown us through your word that you are deserving of all glory, omniscient, all-powerful, sovereign, always good. We love you, we adore you, and we're here to worship you. We ask for forgiveness for those times when we look at your word and do not give it its proper place in our hearts. We do not give it its proper place in our lives. When we question its authority based on the words of man, when we give in to the temptation of thinking that there must be something wrong with Your Word when really it's something wrong with our hearts. We pray that You forgive us for these acts of omission when we do not run to Your Word in times of need, times of comfort, times of our sin. We give you thanks that you've provided your word for us so that we can know you better, so that we can know your wonderful attributes, so that we can worship you in truth and in spirit, that you have not left us in the darkness without knowing why you have created us and what you require of us. We thank you that you've provided your word to this church and a pastor and elders who esteem it so highly in their hearts, who preach it, consistently. We at this time also ask that you help me to teach today with a humble heart, knowing that it is your word and that the teaching of it is a serious endeavor. I want not to be taken lightly, which I do not do. All these things we pray in the name of Christ. So, first off, I'd like to start by saying that we just came back from Florida, the national conference, the Ligonier National Conference in Orlando, Florida. I do commend that very highly to you. It's free online. You can go to Ligonier.org. They have several outstanding teachings by very strong teachers. The theme of it was the Reformation, the 500 year anniversary of the Reformation. So I think that a lot of the material that I received from that conference is going to be reflected in my series. I had already written much of the teaching before I went to that conference and found myself wanting to insert many of the ideas that I heard during that conference into the teaching because I thought it was It was just very moving to hear those men preach about what the word really means to us, not just from the Reformation, but for all of God's people's history. I'd like to start, if you could turn with me to Genesis chapter 1. I guess we'll start at the beginning, right? Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. And if somebody doesn't mind reading verses 1 through 5, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void. Darkness was over the face of the earth. The spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day." Thank you. So, what we see here in the very first chapter of the Bible is that when the Word of God is proclaimed, His light always bursts forth and destroys the darkness. Consider the difference between how we define a day now, from darkness to darkness, from midnight to midnight, to how Israel defined their day, from darkness to light, from evening to morning. This is based on the creation account. The way the Romans decided what their midnight to midnight would be would say, they would look at noon and say, okay, let's look at the opposite from that. We'll go from darkness to darkness. I think that speaks powerfully to the difference between how we view God's Word. It was God's Word proclaiming light into the darkness. That's how it started from Genesis. As we've been learning about our current series in Revelation, one day the Lord is going to return and establish God's kingdom for all of eternity in its perfection. On that day we'll see an eternal end to the darkness of all unrighteousness. Darkness cannot overcome the world because Christ has already won that victory on the cross. If you don't mind, please turn to Revelation 22, verses 3-5. Somebody doesn't mind reading that for me. Yes, sir. No longer will there be anything on earth, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. At night there will be no more. They will need their light of Lamb or Son, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. First book to the last book, we see this theme of what it means to think of how the light overcomes the darkness. And at the end, all that darkness, when all of righteousness is over and done with, we'll see that there's nothing but light. Martin Luther reminds us of this biblical certainty of Christ's victory in the hymn when he writes, and we sing, the prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure for lo, his doom is sure. one little word shall fell him. And in the next stanza he says, that word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth. So the message of God's light, his glorious light conquering the darkness, is consistently and marvelously seen from Genesis all the way through Revelation. Only the power of God can offer hope to man's despair, the despair of our dark, our blind unrighteousness. He alone provides salvation. through reconciliation. That reconciliation is only available through the one mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. The good news, this good news, the Gospel, it's only faithfully and infallibly communicated from Almighty God to His people through the inspired Word of God. If you notice those last couple lines that I read from the hymn, it says, That Word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abideth. So that Word above all earthly powers, doesn't require those earthly powers in order to verify that they're true. The hymn asserts the biblical truth that the authority of the Holy Scriptures does not depend on the approval of earthly powers, not of a man, not any man, not even the Pope, nor of any council or church. The Reformers rediscovered that Scripture is self-attesting and sufficient both unto salvation and Christian living. The Reformers would argue against their accusers that the Church receives its authority from the Scriptures, from the Bible. It's not the Bible that receives its authority from the Church, as was the major argument from the Roman Catholic Church at that time against them. So we see that Sola Scriptura becomes one of the Reformers' five main mantras. The Reformation was, from its very inception, a return to the preaching of God's Word as our ultimate authority in the life of God's people. Luther points out that both the Pope and the church councils were not only capable of, but had actually made errors, and that this could be proven. How did he prove them? He looked at Scripture and said, well, you're contradicting what it says in the Bible. And so, because they did contradict Scripture, and that was our main source of truth, he could then affirm that it was the authority of God's Word that should manage, deal, guide the life of the Church. So we see that the authority of God's Word was proclaimed once more by God's people during the Reformation. False teachers had deformed the Church, and it's this deformation that we refer to when we speak of a Reformation. It was these false teachers that had strayed from the Word of God, that had changed what we what we can read and verify as the sole authority for our lives. It was that strain from that, both in doctrine and in living, that needed to be reformed. I do think that it's important to point out, given our study, that it really shouldn't escape us that God chose to use the word-centered personal study of an Augustinian monk to lift up his church. The personal study of the reformers in general, not just Martin Luther. I do think it's interesting to note that the motto of the city of Geneva was Post Tenebras Spera Lucem, after the darkness I hope for light. And after the reformation that changed, it went to Post Tenebras Lux, which is after the darkness, light. And why was it changed? I think this is a direct reflection on what Roman Catholic theology of salvation reflect that it was merit-based, it's work-based, so you can only hope. There was no way that you could know for sure you're standing before your death. So, for example, Jonah Bark is said to have very strongly claimed her assurance that she was a child of God and going to heaven. And the accusation against her was that she was committing the sin of arrogance. And so, within, it makes sense. If you are basing your theology on merits or works, you would never know for sure if you ever really made that until you were in front of your judge, who is Almighty God. But as God's Word was once again read, preached, studied, proclaimed and obeyed the light of God's truth, His light and His gospel burst forth in revulgent light in a dark and fallen world." Alright, we don't call it the Dark Ages for nothing. So, if you don't mind turning with me to 2 Peter chapter 1, whoever has that can read verses 19 through 21 for me. That's 2 Peter chapter 1. So we have a prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day when a new sun-born star rises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. Thank you. That's an ASB? Yes. So here we see that Peter comforts God's people by reminding us that all prophecy of Scripture is spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Now, notice that he calls these prophetic words a lamp. Again, the theme of God's Word is a light, right? A lamp shining in a dark place, and thus reasons that you would do well to pay attention to it. I don't know if in our daily lives we think of it as that necessary, that there's no way that I can take a step without referring to God's Word. And I think this is what Scripture actually calls us to do. So that's Peter, but I think that it's in John's writings in his gospel, his epistles, the book of Revelation, that we see the strongest themes concerning the light of God. We see a stark contrast between those who walk in the light versus those who love the darkness because their deeds are evil. We see a stark contrast between those who walk in the light of day versus those who stumble in the darkness of night. The point of this introduction is to emphasize that It is through God's Word and throughout God's Word that we see the Word of God and the light of God as overlapping, as being one and the same. By His Word of creation, light enters the world. His Word is always associated with light shining forth and obliterating the darkness. John describes Jesus Christ as the Word made flesh and explicitly depicts His holiness with light imagery. Obedience to the light of His Word is what allows us not to stumble in the darkness, to remain on the path of righteousness. So the Word alone is what makes our way secure. I think this is important to guard in our hearts. It's what makes us secure. It is what we need desperately and should, therefore, make every effort to preserve as our greatest love in our hearts and the highest priority in our personal study. Okay, so the rest of the course is going to be this Sunday and next Sunday is what I'm scheduled to teach. So the rest of the course will focus on the following topics. So one, we'll talk about the word and define it a little bit more clearly. What do we mean by the word? The word is the power of God. And then we'll go into the word as an ordinary means of grace. The word is God's law. his will, his command. And then lastly, we'll kind of get into the application section and see the importance of keeping a high view of scripture throughout our personal studies. So, we can start with the Word defined. I think that sometimes, as you've seen in the introduction, when we talk about the Word, there's several aspects of the Word that we might be considering. There's the actual power of God as He speaks things into being, the actual decrees of God, what He says. There's also the Word made flesh, the personal logos, Jesus Christ, He is the Word made flesh. I think it's important to talk about what it is that we mean when we talk about the Word as an ordinary means of grace. That wasn't particularly clear to me until I did a little bit of studying. According to Louis Burkhoff, who has a systematic theology that is used by many Reformed churches, Louis Burkhoff says that the word in context to the ordinary means of grace refers specifically to the Holy Scriptures. We're not talking about the personal logos. We're not talking about that which the prophets hear when they're receiving God's Word. So what we can define the Holy Scriptures as is obviously our Bibles. The London Baptist Confession of Faith explicitly lists all the books of both the Old Testament and the New Testament. You can refer to your own personal Bible to see what those are. We don't have to read that whole list. These are the exclusive sacred writings of the one true living God. Beyond the scope to kind of talk about how that historic selection occurs, but if we have a little bit of time or if you want to talk about it after class, I'm happy to do that. But more importantly than what the London Baptist Confession says about scripture, I think it's important to remember what does scripture say about scripture. When scripture defines itself, it attests to its own authority. It attests to its own sufficiency, its own inerrancy, and even its own application. When we talk about applying scripture, I can think of no verse more readily than what we read in Paul's second epistle to Timothy, if you don't mind turning to 2 Timothy 3, verses 15-17. John, can you hear me in the back? 2 Timothy 3 verses 15-17 And that from Chum God has known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scriptures given by inspiration of God. It is possible for doctrine and for proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished with all his good. So, again, I think that this is, when I think of how to apply Holy Scripture into my life, this is one of the main places that my mind automatically goes. When you read the commentaries by Matthew Henry, he says this about 2 Timothy. He says, Those who would learn the things of God and be assured of them must know the Holy Scriptures, for they are the divine revelation. The age of children is the age to learn, and those who would get true learning must get it out of the Scriptures. They must not lie by us, neglected, seldom or never looked into. The Bible is a sure guide to eternal life. The prophets and apostles did not speak for themselves, but delivered what they received of God." 2 Peter 1, as we've already read. It is profitable for all purposes of the Christian life. It is of use to all for all need to be taught. corrected and reproved. There is something in the scripture suitable for every case. Oh, that we may love the Bible. Oh, that we may love our Bibles more and keep closer to them. Then shall we find benefit and at last gain the happiness therein promised by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the main subject of both testaments. We best oppose error by promoting a solid knowledge of the word of truth and the greatest kindness we can do to children to make them early to know the Bible. I think that's very true. I don't think that I would honestly have focused on the time of learning and that of childhood, but I think that I don't think anyone would argue that as parents that's one of our primary responsibilities and duties to our children. The people of God and godly men in particular, we must lead our families in the home and ensure that they're making every effort to have their families hear the preaching of the word. To read the word of God, to study the word of God, this is our charge. To ensure that our children store up the word of God in their hearts. We participate in corporate worship where we hear the word exposited. We grow in the love for the body of Christ in the local church and we catechize our children both at home and at Sunday school. But there can be no greater kindness to your children than to make them early to know the Bible. I believe Ron read from NASB, right? So in NASB, it sounds like they use doctrine. New King James also uses doctrine. The ESV says teaching. I think they all kind of hint towards the same kind of thing. The NIB, instead of reproof, uses rebuking. I think sometimes there's some good value in comparing different Bible versions. I don't typically use a word like reproof in my everyday language, so rebuking I think makes it a little bit easier for me to understand what that means. So the bottom line is that as far as application for us personally and as a church, this one verse, we can find a succinct defense for catechism when it talks about teaching or doctrine. We see a defense for biblical church discipline when we talk about reproofs. We see a defense for confessions when we read about how it's good for corrections. And we see how the word is to be used as a means of sanctification when it talks about training and righteousness. It's through this verse and many verses like it that we find the following statement on Holy Scriptures in the 1689. and I'll just read chapter one, paragraph one. I think most people have read it and are familiar with it, but I think it's important to kind of go over a couple different aspects of it. The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain, and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence do far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God as to leave men inexcusable, Yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and His will, which is necessary unto salvation? Therefore, it pleads the Lord at sundry times and in diverse manners to reveal Himself and to declare that His will unto church and afterward for the better preserving and propagating of the truth and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of flesh and the malice of Satan and of the world to commit the same wholly unto writing, which maketh the Holy Scriptures to be most necessary, those former ways of God's revealing His will unto His people being now ceased." So the confession makes the biblical distinction here between, I mean, it makes lots of statements, but it makes the biblical distinction between both general and special revelation. And by revelation, of course, we mean that which God has revealed to man, right? So each type of revelation can be described as a distinct proclamation. And they're distinct in two ways. They're distinct in not only their content, but also in their intended audience. So, what I mean by two distinct proclamations, we can start with general revelation. General revelation, that proclamation would be something like, God is there, there is a God, everybody knows that, and that's just from observing creation and nature. You can turn to Romans chapter 1, we can read verses 19 through 21. Romans chapter 1. For it is visible that these things of His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world, and the things that have been made, that they are without excuse. For all that a new God, that is not honored as God, will give thanks to Him, but taking a few thousand good things in their foolish hearts for a burden. Thank you. So now we're seeing how the word of God is not just the light of God, it's also the power of God. That we see through creation that his eternal power and divine nature are clearly perceived. All of creation screams the existence of God. I don't think that's anything new to anybody here, but we call this general revelation. It is to be received by a general audience. It's for all man to understand. Man himself is no different than the rest of God's creation. His law is written in our hearts. That's what we read and that's what we know our conscience to be. That's God's law written in your heart. But just like the stars tell us about there being a Creator, our conscience also tells us that there is a Creator. Why? Because all of creation proclaims the existence and glory of God, His power. This is why Scripture teaches us that only a fool can deny that there is a God, and that wisdom begins with the fear of God. So, we can contrast general revelation and the power revealed there, God is there, to the different proclamation of special revelation, which is God is done. This is what He's like. what his character is like. In scripture we find a fuller revelation of God's character in the law and his plan for salvation for his elect in the gospel. This is for his glory alone. You cannot know about the Son of God from just pondering upon creation and looking into the stars. Only his word has that content. If this weren't so, then why would John have written his gospel? He says in the final sentence, he tells you why he intended to write that gospel. It's so that you would believe. He's very clear about the intention of why he would do that. If we didn't need Holy Scripture in order to come to saving faith, then that book wouldn't make any sense. It would have no purpose. Likewise, you cannot rightly study, trust, interpret, or preach the Word of God just by sheer effort of flesh, intellect, or will. You can't study your your way into a saving faith. So the Word of God is the power of God, but it is the Holy Spirit who ensures through this ordinary means of grace that the special content is delivered to its special audience. That's the second part of having a special revelation. Not only is the content special, but the audience is special. And this is through the Holy Spirit. And He never fails. So if you contrast that to, for example, the Roman Catholic view of means of grace, they wouldn't necessarily call the word as one of our means of grace. They would say that the sacraments are a means of grace. And even higher above the sacraments would be the church. And when we talk about means of grace, there's some embedded power to the actual means of grace. So the sacraments in and of themselves have the power. Well, the Reformers took a different view of that. They said, yes, the Word of God is the power of God, but it works with the Holy Spirit. There's no magical power in and of itself that means grace. I did like something that I read from Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion. His first book in chapter 7, he says the following about the importance of the Holy Spirit's interaction with the Word of God. He says, Still, however, it is preposterous to attempt by discussion to rear up a full faith in Scripture. True, were I called to contend with the craftiest despisers of God, I trust, though I am not possessed of the highest eloquence, I should not find it difficult to stop their obstreperous mouths. I could, without much ado, put down the boastings which they mutter in corners, or anything to be gained by refuting their cavils. But although we may maintain the sacred word of God against gainsayers, it does not follow that we shall forthwith implant the certainty which faith requires in their hearts. And this is the part that I think speaks very clearly today. Well, all of it, obviously, but this part in particular. Profane men think that religion rests only on opinion, and therefore that they may not believe foolishly or on slight grounds. They desire and insist to have it proved by reason that Moses and the prophets were divinely inspired. But I answer that the testimony of the Spirit is superior to reason, for as God alone can properly bear witness to his own words, So these words will not obtain full credit in the hearts of men until they are sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit." Now, based on that, you might think that he was completely devoid of any attempts to use reason to prove the validity of Scripture. That's not the case, so I hope you don't come away with that. His entire chapter talks about how you can use rational reason to show many proofs for Holy Scriptures. their infallibility. But here, his point is, even if you go through all that, really, it's only the Holy Spirit that can attest to the truth of that in darkened, dead hearts. So, we see that God's revelation in both cases, both when we talk about general revelation or special revelation or in the acts of creation or the acts of salvation, it's the Word of God that demonstrates His omnipotent power and His sovereignty as God. In a very real sense, then, the Word of God is the power of God. So we talked about how it's the light of God, but here we're trying to focus on the power of God as well. And we see His Word being instrumental both in the creation, as we saw in Genesis 1, and in salvation, as we can read in Romans 1. So if you don't mind turning to Romans 1, you can read verses 16 through 17. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, from the Jews first and also to the Greeks. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, that the righteous man shall live by faith. Alright, so here we see the gospel is the power of God. So when we think of the Reformers, and we'll go more into this next week, when we think of the Reformers and what they refer to as the word, they actually see it as two different aspects, right? We have the law and the gospel, and here we're referring to the power of the gospel. So, I think, lastly, we can see the power of God in His word, when we think about His word and consider how it's eternal, how it's immutable. So, if we read Isaiah chapter 40, somebody could read verses 6 through 8 to me, and somebody else can look up Matthew 5 verse 18. Chapter 40 verses 6 through 8. Yes sir. Thank you. So I always hear The ESV version says, the grass withers a flower face, but the word of our God will stand forever. I always hear that last section, right, when we talk about scripture and its eternality. But I think what I've missed until fairly recently in preparing for this talk is how, if you look up above that, it refers two times to what it's comparing it to. Who is the grass? Can you remind us who the grass is? Man, right? The flesh, exactly, and the ESVA calls it the flesh. So what are we contrasting? We're contrasting the word of God and the word of man, right? Or the teachings of God and the teachings of man, the commands of God, the will of God versus the commands and will of man, right? I think that's a very reassuring thing to be able to know that God's word is eternal. And then Matthew 5 verse 18 if somebody has that. Yes please. So, again, same kind of idea, but the context of this was he was talking about the Second Coming of Christ, right? So, I directly connect that to what we read before in Revelation 22, right? About His Second Coming, when all unrighteousness will be done, and what we see is that, again, when the Word of God goes forth into His creation, what we do is we see an obliteration of that darkness, that unrighteousness. And here we see why. When we see that God's Word, when every part of God's Word is accomplished, that's when we'll be able to see that God's Kingdom is finally culminating on the New Earth and the New Heaven. So there's no other Word that has that power of God. You can't find it anywhere else. So I think it's useful for me. I know last week we covered meditating. Well, I've been meditating a lot. as far as things that I need to be asked myself. Do I really live my daily life seeking what the Word has to say about my choices? About how I'm leading my family in particular, but also how I place my priorities on different aspects of my daily life. Do I only need sanctifying grace on Sundays? We talk about how we love this church because we hear the Word preached. Our pastor is so faithful in preaching God's Word. But how often do I go back and review that preaching of God's Word? How often do I actually study and try to figure out, okay, what are the things that I didn't pick up on? Maybe I can go through and review what the recording is. Quite honestly, I don't think that I do that very well and I can improve in meeting my family in that way. Or am I so knowledgeable about his word, that when I study the word, I find myself already knowing everything, understanding everything, and living in his light. No, of course not. The whole point of God's word is truth. As a means of grace, what we mean by that is that it sanctifies us. It's what he has provided in order to give us his sanctifying grace. I'm a little short on time. I don't know if anybody has any questions. I have some stuff that I can talk about what we're going to go over next week, but I don't know if anybody might have any questions or comments so far. No? Okay, good. So, I think next week, like I mentioned before, we'll be focusing on the Word of God as an ordinary means of grace and how God's will is revealed to His people. through the Holy Scriptures. If there's no questions, then I'll be closing the conference. The great life, Father, that you have provided to us in a very hard world. We thank you, Father, for the leniency of words that people carry with us within our heart. And we hope this, O Father, that we might more and more desire to enchant and glorify the Lord upon our heart, and our heart, and our mind. We thank you, Father, that it is with great power that the Word has been presented and preserved and now provided to us. And we pray, Father, that through the Holy Spirit, that we might, Father, be conditioned in such a way as to allow Him to work a mighty work, that we preserve the Gospel by speaking of that Gospel, even though it's lost in the United World. We thank you, Father, now for Chris, and for his will with his father, like many other men, to in fact come and teach the Word. We thank you, Father, for his preparation, and we thank you for his faithfulness to the Word. We thank you now, Father, that we can go into worship, a most holy time, Father, in your corporate body as we come together. And we pray that as the Word is spoken, as it is prayed, as it is sung, as it is preached, that your Holy Spirit will do a great work within our midst. Save, Father, in the way that is harder to believe, and give to us, Father, eyes that see, and hearts and minds that are open to words like penetrate and heal, grant us, and make us alive in You. Amen.