Near North Baptist Church

WHY READ THE BIBLE?   Part 1

The Lord spoke to Joshua and said , ”This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”

Joshua was a man of God and the Lord wanted him to grow in godly leadership.  God’s desire today is the same for each man.  How greatly we need GODLY MEN today in the home and in the workplace!!!  However, it will not happen until Christian men consistently get into the book of the law which is the Word of God.

We desperately need men who will meditate in God’s Word day and night that they may “observe to do all that is written therein.”

Notice with great care the phrase “observe to do all that is written therein”.  The man of God is not just to do all that is written therein or to do just parts of that which is written therein but OBSERVE TO DO ALL that is written therein.

If you are a Christian, are you observing to do all that is written in the Word of God or are you just getting by with your Sunday fix of religion?  If you’re not a Christian, why not turn to God at this moment, repent of your sin and receive Jesus Christ who wants to give you the desire to “observe to do all that is written therein.”

WHY READ THE BIBLE?   So that you can be a consistent, godly leader in your personal life, in your family life and in your social life.   THAT, dear reader, is true prosperity and good success!

II John 1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

 2 For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.

 3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

 4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

 5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

 6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

Everyone talks much about true love but what it?

TRUE LOVE IS A :

1-  PERFECT LOVE  “I love IN THE TRUTH” (v. 1) True love is a perfect love.

1Jo 4:18 states,  “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”  Do you love with a perfect (true) love or a worldly, human love?

2-  PRESCRIBED LOVE  v. 5  I wrote a new commandment unto thee….that we love one another”  We, as Christians, have a responsibility to “love one another”.  This is not an option but a command from God.  Your question may be “how can I love so and so?”  Search the Scriptures and the Lord will show you how to love your friends as well as… yes, and even your enemies AND all those in between.

3-  PARTICULAR LOVE  v. 6  “And THIS is love, that we walk after his commandments.”  The world knows nothing about “this love” as they do not walk “after his commandments.”

Grievous to say, many times professing Christians do not truly know the love that John refers to here and they substitute human love and worldly love for God’s love.  Why?   Because they do err, not knowing the Scriptures.

Think about it…do you love with a perfect love which is Scriptural love?

Do you love with a prescribed love.  That is loving because the Lord commands it and you wish to please the Lord?

Do you love with a particular love ?  Do you know THIS LOVE?

Seasons of Life

Numbers 4:1-3, 22, 23, 29, 30, 47

Pastor Bill Wingard developed a message years ago entitled the Seasons of the Ministry.  His four points were “Preparation (Springtime), Propagation (Summertime), Preservation (Fall) and Graduation (Winter).  I am going to borrow a few of his thoughts to add to this devotional from Numbers.

SPRING Psalm 71:17 states “O God, thou hast taught me from my youth”  Young people, learn all you possibly can during your youth in preparation for what the Lord would have you do in the later seasons of your life.  Ecc. 12    (Dig into the Book of Proverbs every opportunity you have)

SUMMER After having been taught the fundamentals of life, we enter into the Summer where we “make hay while the sun shines”; we work “while it’s yet day for the night cometh when no man can work.” John 9:4   In the book of Numbers this age is from 30-50. These are the years that we’re the most active.  Enjoy these days for the Fall quickly approaches.

FALL At age 50 or so, the body begins to slow down a bit.  We’re not as quick as we used to be.  We are to  “cease waiting upon the service and serve no more …keep the charge”  It’s at this time that we become supervisors, directors, and counselors.  Life is definitely not over at 50.   We need so desperately godly men and women to be teaching the younger how to serve God in this life.

WINTER Pastor Wingard put it this way “Winter…..will be far more acceptable if

we can say with Paul in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, “I am now ready to be offered and the time of

my departure is at hand, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have

kept the faith..” GRADUATION!

APATHY

I-              THE CONFLICT OF APATHY

A-            Apathy defined:  A lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern, “I don’t care” attitude,  without feeling

B-  Apathy described:  Revelation 3:15,16

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

1 Thessalonians 5:7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

II- THE CAUSE OF APATHY

Selfishness

Philippians 2: 21  For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.

2 Timothy 3:2  For men shall be lovers of their own selves,

2 Timothy 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

III- THE CONSEQUENCES OF APATHY

A-     Missed benefits for the Christian

B-      Missed blessings for the Church

C-     Missed befriending the lost for Christ.

IV- THE CURE FOR APATHY

A- 1 Corinthians 15:34  Awake to righteousness, and sin not;

B- 1Thessalonians 5:6  Therefore let us not sleep,as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

C-      Matthew 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

V- THE CONCLUSION CONCERNING APATHY

A-     Recognize your sin, confess and forsake it.

B-      Resolve to seek FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness”

C-      Read God’s Word on a regular, daily basis

D-     Relinquish yourself to a good local church where you will be fed a steady diet of the Word of God

E-      Renounce apathy in all areas of your life

If you are in the North Bay area and desire a doctrinally sound, godly, Biblical church to attend, come renounce apathy and rejoice in Christ with us.

Psalms 122:1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.

3 John 11  Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

In the beginning Adam and Eve partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Ever since, man has had to make a choice in every area of his life between what is good, which means:

That which is agreeable, pleasant, excellent, rich, valuable, appropriate, becoming, the best, kind, right, for my welfare and the welfare of others, honorable, beautiful, blessed, beneficial, moral (and the list continues indefinitely.)

and what is evil which means:

That which is wrong, wicked, mischievous, hurtful, bad, troublesome, sore, afflicting, ill, adverse, unfavourable, harmful, naughty, noisome, grievous, sad, disagreeable, malignant, unpleasant, giving pain, unhappy, displeasing, unkind, (and the list continues indefinitely.)

The question that arises when we come to any choice in life is, how do I know what is good and what is evil.

The answer is not as simple as we think. On the contrary, it is greatly complicated (as we’ve seen in the good and evil definitions above.)  Only God knows what is truly good and what is truly evil, therefore we must know the mind of God in order to know how to follow that which is good and to do that which is good.

Philippians 2:5 states “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”

Matthew 11:29  gives us the answer as to how to have the mind of Christ in us: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;”

Professing Christian, are you following that which is good (which comes from learning of God and trusting Him) or are you following that which is evil (which comes from leaning upon your own understanding?)

He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

Leviticus 1:1-3

1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering unto the LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock.

3 If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD.

THE WORD OF GOD AND THE MAN OF GOD Notice, the LORD called unto Moses. God spoke to His chosen man Moses, to instruct His people.  God is still using chosen men to instruct the saints.   Ephesians 4:11-12 states

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

THE PEOPLE OF GOD

Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,

God has much to say to the people of God.  But, He has only one message for the person who is not a child of God and that is to turn to Him and be saved.

The child of God then begins to grow as he or she hears the Word of God.  The true child of God hears the Lord’s voice (John 10:27) and wants to please Him by doing what He tells them to do.

THE WILLING HEART

….he shall offer it of his own voluntary will…

The voluntary will is a must for a blessed child of God.  This has to do with a delight, pleasure, willfulness.  The psalmist stated “I delight to do thy will”

Let’s lift up our voice, even now to our Lord and thank Him for His Word and for the man of God that He has brought into our lives.

May each one of God’s people do what we do with a voluntary will.

Exodus 5:2  And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

There’s a price to be paid in not knowing the LORD

1-  You are labeled as sons of Satan and not Sons of God

1 Samuel 2:12  Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial; they knew not the LORD.

2  You are linked with the ungodly and not linked with the godly. John 16:3  And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

3-  You are longing for the world and not longing after God. Romans 1:28  And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

4-  You are laboring for a fiery hell and not looking for a heavenly home. Revelation 20:15  And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The true believer in Christ understands that the unsaved person knows not who is the LORD neither obeys the LORD, but what completely baffles the child of God is how an individual can say that he or she is a Christian and still live as the wicked do, still link themselves with the ungodly, and still continue to long for the things of the world instead of longing for the things  of  God.

Colossians 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

It may very well be, in many cases, that the answer to this question lies in the words of Jesus as recorded in Matthew 7: 21 -23

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

The professing Christian in Matthew 7:21-23 was not doing the will of the Heavenly Father.  This lack of obedience to the will of the LORD placed them in the same condition as Pharaoh in Exodus 5:2.

Are you absolutely sure that you KNOW the LORD?  If so, you are delighted to do His will based on His Word.

Psalm 40:8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

Revelation 1:3   Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

This passage of Scripture gives Christians three simple commands to which we are given the opportunity to prove our sincerity and love for Jesus Christ  (John 14:15).

Notice the three commands:

1- READ. All throughout the Scriptures emphasis is given to the reading of the Word of God.  What a privilege it is for us to be able to read, but with the great privilege of reading comes responsibility.  Born again people are to be regularly READING the Word of God in order to implant within us the mind of God (Phil 2:5).  Have you made READING the Word of God a priority in your life?  (Matthew 6:33)

2- HEAR. Great emphasis is also placed on HEARING in the Word of God.  One may read the Word of God but never actually hear what God has to say.  Many professing Christians “hear” the message from the Word of God through Bible reading or through the preaching of the Word but they never really “HEAR” (consider what has been said or to understand what has been said) what the Spirit of God has to tell them (Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6,13,22; 13:9).  The READING of the Word or the preaching of the Word of God then becomes vain (Matthew 13:19) and Satan has his way.  Do you HEAR the Word of God in your life?

3- KEEP The word means to observe or to obey. KEEPING the Word of God is where the “rubber meets the road” and will make public our faith or our lack of faith in Jesus Christ.   After having READ, and HEARD, will we KEEP His Word or will we disregard it, trod it under foot, ignore it, turn away from it, or disobey it?   Here is where our “will” comes in. This is the moment we’re given opportunity to prove our sincerity or hypocrisy as Christians.

Are you READING the Word of God every opportunity you receive from the Lord or are you putting your priorities in the world and in its dictates to you?  Are you actually HEARING the Word of God or are you allowing Satan to snatch it away or voluntarily permitting the cares and riches of this world to choke the precious Word of God?

Your answers to these first two questions will be clearly seen by those around you in your daily life as you KEEP or fail to KEEP what and if you’ve read and heard in the Word of God.

“The time is at hand.”

Choose you this day whom ye will serve; ….but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  Joshua 24:15

Psalm 19:11

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

AMEN!!