PSALM 19:7-14 "THE NEED FOR FAITHFULNESS TO THE BIBLE"
* There is a book out that is about a Russian pastor entitled, "Tortured For His Faith."
* It’s a story about all that Russian believers had to go through to live for Christ in a society
that was hostile to the ideas of Christianity.
* One of the things that stuck with me from the book is how the Russian Christians would
gather together to worship and hear the Word of God taught.
A) They would worship in the evening. * On the day that they were going to worship,
* people would begin coming to the designated house very early in the morning,
* just one or two people at a time. * They would stagger their arrivals throughout the day,
* so they would not attract the attention of government officials.
B) Finally, after gathering all day, and many waiting a good portion of the day,
* they would spend most of the night pouring over the few scriptures that they had.
* When they concluded, they would begin the long process of leaving to go to their homes!
C) That story has left an impression on me! * I greatly admire their love and devotion to our
Lord and to His Word! * Like those faithful saints, we too need to be faithful to the scriptures!
* Paul warned of how in the last days, men would reject sound doctrine, they would turn away
from the truth of God’s Word and embrace error!
D) We live in a day when people look to the horoscope more than they do the scriptures!
* Many have concluded that the Bible is out of date and irrelevant, but that is not the case!
* Tonight as we continue our series, "The Need For Faithfulness," I want to challenge you,
* to be faithful to the scriptures. * In our text, we find why we should be faithful to the
scriptures. * We need to be faithful to the scriptures because of:
(1) THE BIBLE’S PURITY! * Please notice with me that the writer uses 7 words to describe
the Word of God! * In v.7, "...is perfect." * A word that means "flawless, no mistakes,
* no errors!" * In v.7, "...is sure." * That means totally and absolutely trustworthy.
A) In v.8, "...is right, pure." * This means no defilement.
* In v.9 "...clean, true, and righteous." * Secondly, we should be faithful to the scriptures
because of:
(2) THE BIBLE’S POWER! * Here the Psalmist reminds us of what the bible can accomplish
in the lives and hearts of man. * Notice that we see:
A) The Bible’s Power To Convert - v.7 * "converting the soul." * To convert means to turn.
* The Bible, when heeded, will turn men from their sins and turn them to the Savior!
* The Bible is essential to the experience of salvation!
* 1 Pt.1:23 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word ......."
* Because it converts, it must always be the focal point of our preaching, teaching, & witnessing.
B) Notice Also: The Bible’s Power To Change - v.7b "making wise the simple."
* The word "simple" refers to one who is easily seduced or enticed to do wrong.
* The word "wise" refers to knowing and acting from God’s vantage point.
* That is change! * I read a story about a woman who was won to the Lord by a missionary
in a pagan country. * Soon she began to attend Bible classes taught by the missionary.
* The teacher became discouraged however because the new convert seemed to forget every-
thing she was taught! * One day the missionary remarked impatiently;
* "Sometimes I wonder what’s the use trying to teach you anything! You forget it all anyway!
* You remind me of a strainer. * Every bit of truth I pour into you seems to run right through!"
* The student quickly responded, "I may not recall everything, but just as water passes
through a strainer and makes it clean, what you have taught me helps keep me clean,
* and that’s why I keep coming back!" * I got to remember, there’s people like that in church!
C) Then notice in v.8: The Bible’s Power To Cheer! * "rejoicing the heart."
* God’s Word can cheer us if we will allow it to!
* If I’m sad, I go the Bible and it don’t take long before I’m cheered up!
D) Also we see in v.8b: The Bible’s Power To Correct! * "enlightening the eyes."
* That means it gives light to our eyes! * It corrects our vision!
* Back in the days before electricity, a tight-fisted old farmer was giving his hired man a fit,
* for taking a lighted lantern when he went to call on his favorite girl.
* "Why!" he exclaimed, "When I went courtin’ I never carried a lantern, I always went in the
dark!" * "Yes," the hired man responded, "and look what you got!"
* God’s Word will correct our vision! * Without it, we cannot have a right vision of:
* ourselves, of God, or of what He wants to do with us!
* Let me show you one more aspect of the Bible’s power. * Notice v.11-14, here we see:
E) The Bible’s Power To Caution * By the Word of God, notice the servant of God is warned!
* The idea is, the Bible will warn us to keep us from things that will cause us pain & problems!
* And then finally tonight, I want you to see that we need to be faithful to the scriptures because:
(3) OF THE BIBLE’S PRECIOUSNESS - V.10 * The Law of the Lord, the Statutes,
* the Commands, the Judgments, are to be desired more than gold! * WHY?
* Because the Bible is precious! * The key word there is "desire!"
A) What drives you? * What motivates you? * Let me ask you something to illustrate .......
* If I had $50,000.00 stacked right here where you could see it, and I were to say,
* "All right, I’m gonna give $1000.00 to the first 50 people who will read through the book of
1 John this week." * Would you read that 5 chapters of the Bible for $1000.00?
* Some of you would jump at it! * But listen, that would be a wrong reason to do it, wouldn’t it?
B) Why not get into the Bible ’cause you love Jesus & you want to know Him & His will better?
* Why not get into the Bible because you know that you need spiritual nourishment?
* We ought to be more excited about the treasure chest of truth this Book holds,
* than a treasure chest of gold!
CLOSE:
A) Are you faithful to the Bible, the Word of God?
* The Bible is the way you hear from God! * That’s the way God speaks today!
B) There is a need for faithfulness to the Bible today among God’s people.
* It is our instruction manual! * What if we didn’t have the Bible tomorrow?
* BE FAITHFUL TO THE BIBLE!
