An Encouragement to Love God's Word in 2013

As I try to do each year on the Sunday closest to the New Year, I challenged my church to love God's Word more. This year, I meditated on the power of God's Word to change us. God's Word works. You can listen to the sermon here.

Amaze us!

Sola Scriptura: The Sufficiency of Scripture

The sufficiency of Scripture is an incredibly practical doctrine that is fading out of style in this generation.

Many evangelical churches and Christians affirm that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God and treat it with great importance. But, at the same time, they essentially undermine its sufficiency by looking outside of the Bible for strategies to grow their church or solutions to fix their problems. Though they believe the Bible is inerrant and infallible, they see the Bible as inadequate for guiding us in this modern era. They see the Bible as an ancient book that can’t be sufficient for the 21^st century Christian or church.

Have you ever struggled with these questions? Is the Bible really necessary for living a life pleasing to God? Is the Bible sufficient to answer the questions you have about God and His plan for your life? Is the Bible just a good guide to starting a relationship with God but an outdated guide to progressing in that same relationship? Is the Bible really sufficient for your everyday struggles with depression, marriage, parenting, and finances?

The sufficiency of Scripture means that nothing else is necessary for the life of faith. We don’t need any other source of instruction in order to know and live for God in this world. The Bible doesn’t need to be supplemented by any other source on the matters it speaks authoritatively on.

Here is how John Piper defined the sufficiency of Scripture: “The Scriptures are sufficient in the sense that they are the only inspired and (therefore) inerrant words of God that we need, in order to know the way of salvation and the way of obedience.”


In my sermon on this topic, here is the definition and outline I used to affirm and defend this important doctrine:

The Bible contains all we need (1) for knowing God through the gospel, (2) for living for the glory of God in every circumstance of life, and (3) for nourishing, sustaining, and growing the church.

After discussing each of these points, I gave 6 practical implications of the sufficiency of Scripture:

1. The Sufficiency of Scripture demands that we value the Scripture as precious beyond measure.
2. The Sufficiency of Scripture demands that we not elevate our traditions and preferences to the level of Scripture.
3. The Sufficiency of Scripture demands that we not neglect anything in Scripture.
4. The Sufficiency of Scripture demands that we test everything by the truth of Scripture.
5. The Sufficiency of Scripture demands that we be content with (thankful for) the content (the substance) of Scripture.
6. The Sufficiency of Scripture demands that we labor to bring it to every people group on the planet.

Wherever You Are, Whenever You Can..

I absolutely love this simple thought: "Wherever you are, whenever you can, open up the Bible."  Check out this video and these resources from the Good Book Company. We can all do this.

Wherever you find yourself and whenever you have have time....
Read, Study, and Meditate on the Bible.

Challenge 2012: Crave the Word of God

As I do each new year, I challenged my church to love the Word of God. This year, I preached on the command in 1 Peter 2:2: "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may group up into salvation." God commands us to intensely crave His Word.

I showed from the context of this command that Peter is referring to the inspired Scriptures and the gospel they proclaim. I showed how Peter lifts up the value and power and benefits of God's Word at the end of chapter 1. And I laid out some practical encouragements to consume a lot of Bible in 2012.

You can listen to that sermon here. Join me in praying that God would give us this passionate longing for the Bible this year.

The Power of God's Word

I am absolutely loving Jonathan Leeman's new book, Reverberation. Here is a small taste from chapter 2:

5 Reliable Statements:

1. God's Word is an Extension of God - you can measure a person's opinion of God by his or her opinion of God's Word.

2. God Acts Through His Word - it is the way He accomplishes His purposes.

3. God Acts Through His Word by His Spirit - God's words have power because they move by God's Spirit and do exactly what the Spirit wishes.

4. God's Word and Spirit Act Together Efficaciously - When God speaks, some kind of change always happens (it is effective).

5. God Speaks Through Human Preachers and Human Words - God uses the means of human communication to speak.

"There is no greater power a church has at its disposal than preaching the Father's Word of the Son working through the Spirit."

Bible Reading Checklist

If you want to read the Bible at your own pace and have some flexibility in which books you read when, here is a chart that may help. It basically just lists each book with the chapters so that you can check off what you have read. You could alternate back and forth between Old and New Testaments. Or you can read the Old Testament books in historical order.

There is no one perfect plan. The key is to have a plan. You should know before each day what you are planning to read. Don't just open the Bible each morning and randomly pick somewhere to read. Read entire books at a time.

Tips for Corporate Scripture Reading

If the Bible really is God’s Word, if it is His authoritative self-disclosure, and if it is the only source of faith and practice, then reading the Bible in our corporate worship services is one of the most important actions on any given Sunday.

Here is what Paul commanded a young church planting pastor:
“Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture” (1 Tim. 4:13).

The reading of the Scripture is a corporate act of worship. It is not an option. Failure to read God’s Word to God’s people is disobedience to God and unloving to the church.

So, here are 5 important tips for corporate Scripture reading (in no particular order):

Read the Scripture:
1. Prayerfully
As you read, ask God to use His Word to accomplish His purpose in people’s lives. If God’s Word is as powerful as it says it is (Ps. 19:7-11; Heb. 4:12), read it with as much expectation as you would have if you were throwing a grenade into the congregation.

2. Accurately
By this, I mean two things: (1) labor to read the Bible with the correct pronunciation and (2) read from a reliable translation. If we believe that every word of the Bible is inspired by God, then we must try to read it accurately. Also, it could be distracting to people if we fumble through pronunciation. If you don’t know how to pronounce a particular person’s name or place, listen to someone read that passage from an audio Bible as you prepare.

3. Affectionately
Does the Bible bring joy to your heart? Has God spoken to you from this passage? Read the Bible with joyful passion. Communicate through your tone and facial expressions that you love this book. Often, reading the Bible with affection will challenge God’s people to listen attentively to God’s Word. However, we must guard against being overly dramatic in our reading. If we are trying to manipulate the text, thinking that we are making it interesting, we are denying its intrinsic power and authority.

4. Seriously
Corporate Scripture reading is not a time to clown around. This is God’s Word we are handling. We should read the text seriously. We are in the presence of God and He is addressing us. The people need to sense your reverence and awe as you open God’s Word.

5. Clearly
What good is it to read God’s Word if we read it in a way that no one understands us. We need to be careful to articulate the words and phrases clearly. We should not try to speed read the text so that we can move on to something else. We need to slow down and communicate as clearly as possible. Don’t mumble God’s Word.

Here are a few other random tips for corporate Scripture reading:

• Prepare to read God’s Word to God’s people. Read the text over and over throughout the week before you are to read it corporately.


• A brief introduction to the passage is often helpful in getting people ready to hear it. Set up the context of the passage or alert the people to what they should listen for.


• Introducing the reading with a declaration of the power and authority of the Bible adds weight to the reading (for example: “This is the infallible and inerrant Word of God”).


• Introducing the reading with an invitation or admonition to hear or pay attention to the Word could be useful in snapping someone out of just drifting along (for example: “Listen carefully to God as He speaks to us from His Word”).


• Having people stand while you read the Scripture is a good way to ensure that all attention is focused on God’s Word.


• Read from an actual Bible. Don’t make a habit of reading from a screen or from just a printed piece of paper. You want to make clear to everyone that you are reading from God’s Word.


• Don’t apologize for reading long portions of Scripture. It’s ok to prepare people for a lengthy passage, but never feel like you have to justify reading the Bible.

Mark Dever says, “Carving out time in our Sunday morning service to read Scripture aloud, without comment, every week, makes a statement about the value we place on God’s Word. It says we are eager to hear the Word of the Lord—we desire it. It acknowledges that the life and growth of our local churches depend on the power of God’s Word, and that we really believe that “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4). It acknowledges our own weakness in that we continually need to be reminded of what God has said. It says we’re willing to listen to God’s Word, to sit under it in order to be instructed, assessed, and evaluated by it. It says we’re willing to agree with its presentation of reality and with is estimation and judgment of us. It says we’re willing to submit to its verdict and commands without qualification. Yet if the regular public reading of Scripture says all this, what are we saying if we neglect it” (The Deliberate Church, pp 81-82)?

The Bible is About Jesus, Not You

Bookworms

From Spurgeon:

“I have many an old book in my library in which there have been bookworms, and I have sometimes amused myself with tracing a worm. I do not know how he gets to the volume originally, but being there he eats his way into it. He bores a hole in a direct line, and sometimes I find that he dies before he gets halfway through the tome. Now and then a worm has eaten his way right through from one wooden cover to another; yes, and through the cover also. This was a most successful bookworm.

Few of us can eat our way quite so far. I am one of the bookworms that have not got halfway into my Bible yet; but I am eating my way as fast as I can. This one thing I have proved to myself beyond all question; I shall never, never exhaust this precious book. Much less shall I exhaust the wondrous person of my divinely-blessed Lord. He is that bread which came down from heaven. He is utterly inexhaustible.”

HT: Lisa

A Church That Looks Like Christ

A church will look like Christ as it listens to Christ.

I’ve been pondering the statement above for some time now. I really do believe that a church will look like Christ as it listens to Christ. Also, I believe the same is true for our individual lives. A Christian will look more and more like Christ as he or she submits to Christ’s Word. Think about this with me.

This statement assumes at least two things and implies one huge reality. First, notice that this statement assumes that a church wants to look like Christ. It assumes that reflecting the character of Jesus is important and central. Another way of communicating this would be to say, “A church will mature as it listens to Christ.” As a church (and as a Christian), we must have as our goal to grow in maturity. Likeness to Jesus does not just happen. It is a pursuit. Remember: the goal of the church is not how many people are coming, but what the people are becoming (Ephesians 4:1-16).

Second, notice that this statement assumes that Christ’s voice can be heard. It is possible to listen to Christ today. We find the Word of Christ in the Bible. He has spoken finally and fully, and we have His Words written down and translated into a language we can understand.

Finally, notice the huge implication of this statement. If a church matures as it listens to Christ, the church must position herself to hear God’s Word as clearly and as much as possible. A primary means of grace is the preaching, teaching, reading, and obeying of Christ’s voice contained in the Bible. If we don’t understand this, we will never hear the force of Paul’s charge to Timothy: “Preach the Word” (2 Tim. 4:2). Why leave Timothy with this charge? Why not charge him to be a good organizer or vision-caster? Paul leaves this charge with Timothy because Paul knows that God builds (matures) His Church by His Word.

John Piper has often said, “Beholding is becoming.” We become increasingly like whatever we focus on. I could not agree more. The more we behold Christ in and through His Word, the more we will become like Him and reflect His beauty to this world.

Longing to be like Him,
Pastor Justin

Bibline

Spurgeon said of John Bunyan: “His whole being was saturated with Scripture…Prick him anywhere; and you will find that his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his soul is full of the Word of God.”

The Call to Worship

I'm not an expert on the history of worship services. I have not taken any surveys. I simply want to make a basic observation: It seems to me that one of the aspects of corporate worship that the modern church growth/seeker sensitive movement has pushed to the side is the Scriptural Call to Worship.

For centuries, worship services have started with a clear, hearty, and compelling call to worship God. Someone stood up, read God's Word, and said something like, "In light of who God is and what He has done, let us worship Him."

I don't get to attend a lot of different worship services (for obvious reasons). However, in the last 10 years, I have noticed that something very different begins most services. You almost expect something funny or loud to begin a corporate gathering. As a college student, I can remember countless gatherings where the Bible wasn't even opened until after the singing. Or, I've come to expect that whoever "starts" the service will begin with a joke to ease everyone into the atmosphere.

I'm not saying that every corporate gathering has to look the same or follow the same order of service. I am saying that there are good and Biblical reasons to normally begin with a Scriptural Call to Worship. Here are a few:

1. God is the initiator of worship. As in every aspect of life, God is the first-mover. God initiated the creation of the world. God initiated the nation of Israel. God initiated the plan of salvation. God initiated our personal salvation. God will initiate the end of this age through the coming of Christ. This is the pattern of everything: God initiates. So, we should reflect this pattern (as much as possible) in our corporate gatherings.

2. Worship is a response to God's nature and actions. God initiates; we respond. God reveals Himself; we worship Him. God speaks; we listen and obey. We need to position ourselves under God's Word as quickly as possible when we gather.

3. Worship is based on the character of God. If we try to worship God apart from His self-revelation, we will end up worshiping a false god. God is a specific God, with attributes and desires and plans. The only way to ensure that we actually worship God is to fill our minds with how He has revealed Himself.

4. We cannot worship God apart from the work of Christ. The main reason we need a Call to Worship is to be reminded that apart from Christ, our worship would be completely unacceptable to God. We must always approach God through the person and work of the Son.

Bryan Chapell's new book has a great chapter with examples and resources on the Call to Worship: Christ-Centered Worship.

For 3 years, my church read through the Psalms as a Call to Worship. You can read my post on that here.

Reading the Psalms Together

On the very first Sunday of Christ Baptist Church, we read Psalm 1 together. Last Sunday, after having read a Psalm per Sunday, we read Psalm 150 together. It was a great experience that I want to commend to you to consider for your church. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. The Psalms are designed by God to cover a wide range of the realities of life. Reading through the Psalms forces the church to think about specific attributes of God, sorrow, death, loneliness, joy, worship, and dozens of other real-life issues.

2. Worship is a response to God's Word. God speaks. We respond. We try to make sure our worship service reflects this pattern. So, before we sing any songs or pray any prayers, we listen to God's Word. We position ourselves under God's authority. What better way to do this than to begin the service by reading a Psalm?

3. Most churches don't read enough Scripture in the public gatherings. We are commanded to devote ourselves to the public reading of Scripture (1 Tim. 4:13). And, even churches that do read some Scripture don't read enough Old Testament.

4. Reading the Psalms out loud together cultivates unity.

5. Reading through a book of the Bible, like the Psalms, is a pattern for consistent, devoted, disciplined faithfulness over a long period of time. Just think, in less than 3 years, your church can read through the longest book in the Bible together if you devote yourself to reading a chapter per week.

6. Psalm 119 was the most fun. Yes, we read the entire Psalm on that Sunday. In fact, we designed the entire service around that Psalm.

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

Last Sunday, our church sang a great song of encouragement to one another:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

This is a fantastic song to sing to one another right before the sermon. Here is why: For many years I have sung this song with the idea that I need to think real hard about Jesus. I need to take my eyes off of all the stuff here and look heavenward and picture Jesus.

However, I was reminded that the only way to obey this encouragement is to look downward and open my Bible. The way to turn your eyes upon Jesus is to turn your eyes to the pages of Scripture. The living Word is revealed in the written Word. The way to look into the wonderful face of Jesus is to see Him as He is revealed in the Bible.

The Scriptures speak of Jesus. The pages are blood-stained.

My New Year's Present to Myself

I got myself a new everyday Bible for the New Year. The thinline I had been using was coming apart. After much evaluation, I went with the Classic Reference TruTone Chesnut, Eternity Design.

-Although a little bigger than the thinline, it is still small and can easily fit in my computer bag.
-The print is bigger than the thinline (I'm getting old) and much bigger than the attractive Personal Reference Edition.
-It has the center column references.
-The biggest surprise has been how it sticks to our pulpit at Christ Baptist. My old Bible would slide down to the bottom. This one sits right were I want it.
-I love reading in a Bible that has not been marked up and which I'm unfamiliar with where certain passages are on the page. It brings a freshness to my reading. I'm able to underline and circle those things that stand out to me just like I'm reading it for the first time. If you have been using the same Bible for a long time, I recommend getting a new one every couple of years.

Challenge 2010

What will you do in 2010 that will make the most significant spiritual impact in your life? What will you do this year that will contribute most to your personal growth in godliness?

This I know: if you don’t plan to grow in godliness this year, you won’t. Godliness doesn’t just happen. Cultivating Christ-likeness requires discipline and time.

Don’t waste this year. By the grace of God, go hard after holiness this year. Of all the things you are going to pursue this year, make the pursuit of maturity in Christ your primary goal.

So, how are you going to position yourself to increase your enjoyment of God this year?

There are lots of ways to lay ourselves in the path of godliness. However, I want to challenge you in one particular way. I want to challenge you to do something this year that will make the most impact in the most areas of your Christian life.

Based on Colossians 3:16, I want to challenge you to let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in 2010.

Among the many ways to grow in godliness in the Christian life, none are more helpful than saturating ourselves in the Bible. In Donald Whitney’s excellent book on the Spiritual Disciplines, he writes, “No spiritual discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word.”

George Muller said, “The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.”

Grow in godliness this year (this decade) by devoting yourself to letting the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Colossians 3:16: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly."

Here are 5 observations on these 9 words from the sermon Sunday:
1. This is a command.
2. This is a command directed at those who desire to center their lives on Christ (context).
3. This is a command to do something with the Word of Christ.
4. This is a command to let the Word of Christ dwell in us.
5. This is a command to let the Word of Christ dwell in us RICHLY.

Treasuring Christ in 2009

Here are some of the ways, by God's grace, I'm seeking to position myself to increase my enjoyment of Christ in 2009. Some of these are simply re-commitments and others are new commitments.

1. With God's help, I'm going to preach the gospel to myself every day.
2. With God's help, I'm going to memorize John 15:9-17, Isaiah 53, and James 1 this year (along with my church family).
3. With God's help, I'm going to use the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan to read through the Bible this year.
4. With God's help, I'm going to take more regular notes as I read through the Scripture each day.
5. With God's help, I'm giving up Dr. Pepper as a regular part of my diet.
6. With God's help, I'm going to exercise regularly (got an exercise bike for Christmas!).
7. With God's help, I'm going to lead regular family devotions.
8. With God's help, I'm going to read some good books this year.

How are you going to increase your enjoyment of Christ this year, by God's grace?

Memorizing God's Word Together in 2009

Christ Baptist Church will continue to memorize God's Word together in 2009. Our plan is simple: one verse a week.

We will be memorizing John 15:9-17, Isaiah 53, and James 1 this year.
Anybody want to join us?

Here is a Word document with the plan laid out week by week.

Psalm 119 Sunday

This Sunday, we devoted the entire service to the longest chapter in the Bible: Psalm 119. It was a joy to reflect on the value of God's Word and thank God for His revelation of Himself in the Bible.

I reflected on Psalm 119:97:
"Oh how I love your law, it is my meditation all the day!"

Then, I brought out 5 reasons the Psalmist loved God's Word enough to constantly meditate on it (5 benefits of the Word):

1. God’s Word makes him wise (98-100; 104; 130).
2. God’s Word keeps him from evil (101).
3. God’s Word delights his soul (103).
4. God’s Word directs his path (105).
5. God’s Word points him to what really matters: Christ! (123).