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The Christian And The Bible

Psalms 1 • October 29, 2017 • s1188

Pastor John Miller concludes our series “Why We Need The Bible” with an expository message through Psalm 1 title, The Christian And The Bible.

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Pastor John Miller

October 29, 2017

Sermon Scripture Reference

Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man…”—or “woman”—“…that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore, the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

For five weeks we’ve been looking at the subject of why we need the Bible. Today we live in a culture that has pretty much given up the idea that the Bible is unique, or that the Bible is a divine book or that the Bible is inerrant—without error—or that it is given by inspiration of God and that the Bible is sufficient, containing all that we need for life and godliness. But we’ve discovered that the Bible is the Word of God.

In synopsis, let me give you what we’ve covered. We need the Bible because, first, God is the author of the Bible. Secondly, we need the Bible because Jesus is its chief subject. Thirdly, we need the Bible because the Holy Spirit is its agent. The Bible is God’s Word written. The Bible is focused on God’s Son; He’s the primary subject from Genesis to Revelation. It’s all about Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, the promised seed Who would “take away the sin of the world.” The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead Who gave the Scriptures by inspiration. Peter said, “Holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. So God is the author, Jesus is the subject and the Holy Spirit is the agent through Whom this book was given by inspiration.

What about the church? We discovered we need the Bible in the church, because the church is built upon it and is called to guard its treasures and make known its Gospel. I believe that we as a church need to read the Bible, study the Bible and we need to preach from the Bible. When you come to church on Sunday, you will hear the Bible read. We will open our Bibles, we will read from the Bible and we will expound the Bible. The message that is to be preached is not our own ideas or our own thoughts. It’s not the opinions of man, the philosophies of the world, but rather the Word of God; nothing more, nothing less.

Paul told Timothy, “Preach the Word.” He told him how to preach the Word. He said do it instantly, “in season and out of season,” and do it by “reproving, rebuking and exhorting” and to do it with all patience and doctrine. He told him why he should preach the Word: because the time would come when men would not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts and desires, they would find teachers who would “tickle their ears.” They would turn away their ears from the truth, and they would be given unto fables. I believe those days have come. Even many in the church are turning away from God’s Word and are given unto fables.
But today, lastly, we move to the believer. What about the Christian and the Bible? The Bible is indispensable to every Christian’s spiritual health and growth. The believer who neglects the Bible simply will not mature. You cannot grow, flourish and be blessed as a Christian without the Word of God. That’s the only way; God has no shortcuts. The Spirit of God works through the Word of God to transform the child of God into the image of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. If you neglect the Bible, you’re not going to be a Spirit-filled believer in Jesus Christ. So if you want to be blessed and you want to have a fruitful and prosperous life, you need God’s Word.

That’s why I wanted to start today with Psalm 1. Psalm 1 is called “the happy psalm.” I want to be happy. Don’t you want to be happy? We want to be happy, and we want to be blessed. That word is the very first word of the psalms; it is the gateway to all the psalms. The word “blessed” in verse 1 actually means “oh, how happy.” In the Hebrew it is in the plural. It means “oh the blessedness” or “the happiness” of the man or of the woman. Jesus used the same word when He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” “Blessed are the meek” and “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.” It’s what we call the “Beatitudes.”

What does it mean to be blessed? It means that you have God’s favor, that God smiles at you. We’re the children of God, and it’s a wonderful thing when children bring pleasure to their parents. You go, “Well, I’m praying for that.” This week I got to hold my six-month-old grandson, Hans. I got to hold him for a while, and he’s starting to develop his personality. He’s jabbering and talking and grabbing your nose and your ears and giggling and making faces. It brought so much joy to my heart. If I knew how much joy grandchildren were, I would have had them first. They’re awesome. Then he filled his diaper, and I handed him back to mom right away. That’s why they are so fun! “You get the fun part; time to change his diaper.”

But I thought what joy must come to the heart of God when we are living that blessed life. God is our Father, and we can delight His heart. The idea is that when God looks at you, He smiles. That is what the word “blessed” means. It actually conveys the idea that God is smiling at you; that you have God’s approval, that God is applauding you and you bring joy to God’s heart. That’s the kind of life I want to live: I want a marriage that delights God, I want children who delight God, I want a life that delights God. I want the thoughts of my heart and the way I live and my attitudes to bring pleasure to God.

So how can I be happy? There are two ways, as laid out in Psalm 1. The first is to be separated from the world, verse 1. The second is to be saturated with the Word, verse 2. If I’m going to be blessed, if I’m going to be happy, if I’m going to be prosperous, I need to be separated from the world—this is the negative, what we don’t do. And then I need the positive—I need to be saturated with the Word of God.

Notice, first of all, separated from the world is in verse 1. “Blessed is the man that walketh not…”—here’s the negative, what we don’t do—“…in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” I want you to notice the progression: starts off “walking in the counsel of the ungodly.” I’ve always encouraged my kids—and I’ll encourage my grandkids—to choose their friends wisely; who you associate with, who you hang out with. If you’re a godly person, you don’t want to hang out with ungodly people. If you love the Lord, you don’t want to associate with people who don’t love the Lord.
That doesn’t mean that you isolate yourself, that you have no contact with them or that you pull up your self-righteous robe around you and don’t want to interact with them. We love them and reach out to them. You can have an ungodly friend if you understand that you are sharing with them and trying to win them to Christ. But you don’t want to follow their lifestyle. You don’t want to think like them or live like them or act like them.

So many times when we associate with the ungodly, we start following the direction of their lives, and when that happens, the next thing we know, we’re “standing in the way of sinners.” So we start walking with them and then we’re standing and hanging out with them. We’re hanging out with sinful people. And then we’re “sitting in the seat of the scornful.” So we walk in the counsel of the ungodly, we stand in the way of sinners and we sit in the seat of the scornful, or the “mockers,” in the Hebrew. The next thing we’re mocking God; we’re ridiculing the things of God.

Be careful on your lunch breaks. What I’ve seen and been watching by being in pastoral ministry for many years is that I’ve seen Christian couples, who start struggling in their marriage—they’re not reading the Word, they’re not praying, they’re not fellowshipping, they’re not putting God first in their lives—and then they go to work, they go out to lunch—and it’s quite dangerous with ungodly people—and they share their problems in their marriage, they’re getting bad counsel and then they’re going the wrong direction. I’ve seen a lot of women leave their husbands, because they’re going out to lunch with other women, who are giving them bad counsel.

I’ve seen a lot of men who have abandoned their wives, because they have gotten ungodly counsel. They don’t open the Bible and say, “Lord, help me to be the husband [or wife] you want me to be. Help me to do my part.” They don’t look to God’s Word in their marriage and in their life. It’s so dangerous. So this is what we’re not to do.

If I’m speaking to young people today, I would encourage them to take heed to this warning: “Walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” In 1 John 2:15, John says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world…”—and he mentions three things—“…the love of the flesh…”—which is your passions—“…and the lust of the eyes…”—which is your possessions—“…and the pride of life…”—which is your position in life. Some even see that as the sins of youth—your passion—the sins of middle age—your possessions—and the sins of older age—the pride of life. “Look what I’ve done. Look what I’ve accomplished.” We’re not to love the world. The word is “the cosmos,” the evil world’s system apart from God. We’re to “be in the world, but we are not to be of the world.” That’s the first and negative step.

But my focus is the positive step in verse 2. “But…”—this is an intended contrast—“…his…”—or “her”—“…delight is in the law of the Lord.” He means the Scriptures. He’s not just referring to the Ten Commandments. He’s referring to the whole Word of God, the Law and the prophets. And what does he do? “And in His law doth he meditate…”—not medicate. There are a lot of people getting medicated—“…day and night. So this is the positive. A blessed life comes by delighting in God’s Word called, in verse 2, “the law of the Lord.”

What does it mean to “delight” in God’s Word? Someone said, “What we delight in directs us.” The last couple of days I’ve been finding myself delighting in ice cream. I’m not a real ice-cream guy. My wife likes ice cream more than I do, so she makes sure we have ice cream in the house. The other night I had some ice cream. I thought, That’s pretty good. I’ll have a little bit more. Then I found myself going toward the ice cream; it was directing me, it was controlling me, it was filling me, it was dominating me. Whatever delights us, controls us. So if we delight in God’s Word, we’re going to pursue that. We’re going to follow after that.

Do you know that nature determines appetite? You know why dogs eat dog food? Because they’re dogs. Cats eat cat food because they’re cats. If you’re a child of God, you will desire God’s Word. You’ll have an appetite for God’s Word and a hunger for God’s Word. And then you meditate on it day and night.

Now what does it mean to “meditate” on God’s Word? The Hebrew is the idea of filling your mind over and over and over with the Word of God. That’s what the blessed person does. The idea of a cow chewing its cud is derived from this concept. A cow takes a bite of grass and chews it and swallows it. “Man, that’s good grass,” and then brings it back up. It chews it a little bit more. “Man, that was really good grass. I gotta get that back up.” The cow brings it back up and chews it and brings it back up and chews it. That’s what we are to do with Scripture.

When I was in high school, transcendental meditation was the rage. Everyone’s practicing TM, and they’re sitting in the lotus position, emptying their minds. In eastern meditation, which is different than Biblical meditation, you empty your mind. I didn’t have much in there to empty to begin with. You talk about airhead. The Hebrew concept is just the opposite of airhead. If you empty your mind, you don’t know what’s going to rush in to fill that space. So we need to fill our minds with God’s Word. Meditate. Memorize.

Psalm 1 is a chapter that I’ve memorized. I memorized the entire psalm many years ago. I thank God that it’s hidden in my heart. If someone took away my Bibles today, I could still recall Psalm 1 and bring it back to my memory. So we meditate on God’s Word.

Psalm 119, by the way, is an entire psalm all on the Bible, and it’s the longest chapter in the Bible. Psalm 119:97 says, “O how love I Thy law! It is my meditation all the day.” So the blessings that God’s Word will bring into my life, Psalm 1:3, are that “He shall be like a tree.” If I “delight…in the law of the Lord,” and I “meditate” on it “day and night,” then here are the blessings or results, verse 3: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

So you’re like a tree planted by the river. You ever been out driving out in the country, and everything’s dry and parched here in California? Then you notice these real green spots. You can bet your bottom dollar that where it’s green there’s water. There’s life.

So when a person’s life is green, they have the fruit of the Spirit—the love, the joy, the peace, the gentleness, the self-control, the temperance. That’s because they’re planted in the water of God’s Word. Whenever the Word’s likened unto water, it’s “the washing of the water of the Word.” We feed on the Word, and we drink the water of the Spirit through the Word. Then our lives bear fruit for Jesus Christ.

And we prosper. Notice verse 3. It says that “Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Now that doesn’t mean that you’re going to be super rich and drive a nice car and have a big house and wear a fancy watch and wear nice clothes. There are some who preach the “prosperity Gospel.” It’s not Biblical. God has never promised that every Christian, because of your faith, will be healthy and wealthy. God has promised that we will be healthy spiritually and prosper spiritually—I believe emotionally, psychologically, mentally and socially and economically it can help us if we honor God and meditate on His Word and are obedient to His Word.

In Joshua 1:8, God spoke to Joshua. Joshua was beginning his career as the leader of the Lord’s army. He was going to take the nation of Israel into the Promised Land. He was going to fight many battles, he needed to conquer the enemy and establish the nation in the Promised Land. God said, “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night…”—that goes with Psalm 1—“…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.” So there is the sure-fire way to success.

That’s why when I’m talking to young people and maybe doing pre-marriage counseling, or I’m talking to youth, I say, “Meditate on God’s Word.” Think Biblically. Love God’s Word. Delight in God’s Word. Make it a part of your life. Make the decision of who you marry and what you do and how you live all based on the Bible. Your purity before you get married is encouraged in the Word of God. It brings great blessings to your life. You want a happy life? You want a fruitful life? You want a prosperous life? Separate from the world and saturate your life in the Word of God.

What are some of the other blessings that come to the believer from God’s Word? In Psalm 19 we find listed some statements about the Bible, the Word of God. This is classic Hebrew poetry, Psalm 19:7-11. This psalm is about the Word of God. Verses 1-6 is God’s general revelation and nature and we have God’s world. Verses 7-11 is God’s special revelation in Scripture. We have God’s Word written. So we go from God’s world, general revelation—all the world hears of God through creation—to God’s special revelation in Scripture, God’s Word.

In verses 7-11 it says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them…”—that is, “the Word of God”—“…is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them…”—“God’s commandments” or “God’s Word”—“…there is great reward.”

As I mentioned, this is Hebrew poetry, and this portion of Psalm 19 is classic Hebrew poetry. In poetry we have rhyme and meter and so forth, but in Hebrew poetry they have what is called “parallelism.” The same thing is said repeatedly in different ways. So you make a statement and then you make the same statement, but you rephrase it. Then you also use contrast.
Let me give you an example of this. First, the writer gives you descriptions of the Bible. In verse 7, it’s “the of the Lord” and “the testimony of the Lord.” He says it a different way in verse 8; it’s “the statutes of the Lord” and “the commandments of the Lord.” In verse 9, it’s “the fear of the Lord.” That’s an interesting statement: “the fear of the Lord.” He refers to it again in verse 9 as “the judgments of the Lord.”

Then the writer mentions what the Scriptures are: they are “perfect” and “sure” in verse 7; in verse 8, they are “right” and “pure”; in verse 9, they are “clean” and “true.” Awesome statements.

Then we have the statements of what God’s Word will do: they will “convert the soul” and “making wise the simple,” verse 7; in verse 8, it will “rejoice the heart” and “enlighten the eyes”; and in verse 11, it will “warn” you and bring you “great reward.”

So we have “the law of the Lord…the statutes of the Lord…the commandments of the Lord…the fear of the Lord…the judgments of the Lord.” The Lord’s Word is “perfect…sure…right…pure…clean…true.” Those are all different ways of saying that God’s Word is inerrant; it does not error and it doesn’t lie. A God Who is true cannot lie. The Bible is God’s Word, and God is a God of truth, so there is no error in God’s Word. God doesn’t stutter either. I believe God is clear in what He has said. You don’t need some mystical interpretation of the Bible. God said what He meant and meant what He said. God is very clear. You can read the Scriptures and you will benefit from them.

Notice the blessings and benefits. The first one is that the Bible will convert the soul. Why do we need the Bible? Because it “converts the soul.” The word “soul” in the Hebrew stands for the total person. The paperback called Living Letters, The Paraphrased Epistles was published in 1960. I acquired it in 1971. I got it from my little sister. She was praying for her big brother. She knew I needed help. She knew that I was “walking in the counsel of the ungodly.” She knew that I was “standing in the way of sinners.” She knew that I was “sitting in the seat of the scornful.” So my little sister, Barbara, came into my bedroom and laid the book on my bed. I opened it up and noticed that my Grandmother had given it to Barbara for Christmas in 1970.

I started to read it, and God began to speak to me. I began to cry tears of sorrow for my sin, and God brought me to repentance. God brought me to a commitment and a rededication and a surrender of my life to Jesus Christ. My life has never been the same. This little paperback book. Kenneth Taylor’s The Living Bible, even before it was put into print, was just living letters. But, man, how the Spirit of God jumped off the pages, and years later, my sister knew the Living Letters would mean a lot to me, so she gave it to me to keep.

How God uses the Bible to transform lives, to totally and completely transform lives. That’s what it means where it says it “converts the soul.” In 1 Peter 1:23, Peter says you have to be “born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”

Notice, secondly, in Psalm 19:7 that the Bible makes wise the simple. I love this; perhaps it’s my favorite. The word “simple” here means a simple person mentally. The Hebrew root idea is that of an open door. Everything goes in and everything comes out; nothing stays. A simple person, in this Hebrew concept, is one who has an open mind. I thought that was interesting, because the world is always telling us, “You Christians are so closed minded. You need to open your mind. You need to be progressive. You need to have a more open mind.” But God is saying that once you get the truth, it’s a good thing to close your mind, to shut the door. Because if it goes in and it just goes out and it doesn’t stay, it doesn’t do you any good.

This is kind of a Hebrew way of saying, “You’re an airhead.” A simple person is an airhead; everything that goes in goes right out. Nothing stays. Do yourself a favor and shut the door. People say, “You just need to be more open.” Why? I’ve found the truth, and after I’ve found the truth, I shut the door. I don’t need any more revelations; I’ve got God’s Word. And God’s Word is lodged in my mind and lodged in my heart. And we know the truth, and the Bible says, “And the truth shall set you free.”

The word “simple” also has the idea of naïve or indiscriminate. There are people who are just simpletons. They don’t seem to know right from wrong. They don’t know how to interact with people. They don’t know how to get along. They don’t know how to live their lives, because they don’t have God’s Word. The Bible will make you wise about life. It’ll make you wise about marriage. It’ll make you wise about parenting. When you come to the marriage seminar, we’re going to teach the Bible, because we need the Bible. Our marriages need the Word of God. Our parenting needs the Word of God. Our church needs the Word of God. Our nation needs the Word of God. All these people who are simple need to be made wise by God’s Word.

Thirdly, verse 8, the Bible will rejoice the heart. “The statutes of the Lord are right” therefore they will “rejoice the heart.” Psalm 1:1 says blessed are the happy. Psalm 119:111 says, “Thy testimonies were found, and I did eat them, and there’s a joy and the rejoicing of my heart.”

Do you find joy as you read the Bible? Do you rejoice at God’s Word? It’s an indication that you’re His child; when you read something and you say, “Wow! That’s so awesome! Lord, that’s amazing! Lord, thank you for speaking to me.” You find a promise to claim. You find a comfort and an assurance. A time of trial and difficulties should drive us to God’s Word for health and strength and the joy of our heart. I believe that if you lack joy in your Christian life today, the Bible can bring joy back into your life. Do you know that you can be a Christian and be miserable? Miserable Christianity, or you can have the joy of the Lord in your life. If you get into God’s Word, and God’s Word gets into you, it will bring joy into your heart.

Then, fourthly, in verse 8, the Bible enlightens your eyes. What does the Word of God do? “The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” In Psalm 119:130, it says, “The entrance of Thy words giveth light.” My favorite is Psalm 119:105: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” You’re walking in the world in darkness without the light of God’s Word to direct you. It means that it gives you understanding. R. A. Torrey said, “The man who studies the Bible and neglects all other books will be wiser than the man who studies all other books and neglects the Bible.”

Isn’t it funny how much time we have for other things? Some of you are going to watch the baseball game tonight. Can you imagine if you turned the game off and spent three hours studying God’s Word how your life could be improved? How your life could be changed?

“Oh, I don’t have time for God’s Word. The baseball game’s on right now.”

If you really hunger for God’s Word, you’re going to get up early or you’ll stay up late and find a quiet place. Someone said,

“Everybody needs The Book.
Everybody needs a nook [a quiet place to get alone with God].
Everybody needs a look [to study God’s Word].”

I like that. I remember when the kids were little, I would have to go in the bathroom and lock the door, and I would read God’s Word. Sometimes I would schedule whole days, and I would go on a date with the Lord. I would go away for the whole day. Just me alone with my Bible. My wife would encourage that. She said, “You need all the help you can get. Please, go away with Jesus. Take your Bible. Come back a better man.” When was the last time you checked a day off your calendar? Saying, “I’m going to spend the whole day praying, reading God’s Word and waiting on God and looking to God.” You’ll be a better person if you do that. You need to invest in your life by feeding on God’s Word. It will “enlighten your eyes.”

Psalm 119:99 says, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Thy testimonies are my meditation.” When you read the Bible, you learn where you came from. Did we come from a big bang? Does that bless your heart? You’re just a big explosion. You’re the result; billions of years after a big explosion, you’re just an accident. It went from the goo to the zoo to you. The next time you’re at the zoo, go visit the gorilla cage and say, “That’s my ancestry.” I don’t think so.

I’m created by God. The Bible says that I was created in the image and likeness of God. We are created to know God. I know why I am here. The Bible tells me that my purpose is to know God and enjoy God and glorify God forever. The Bible gives me the purpose of life. Philosophers have been searching for years to find the meaning of life. Just open the Bible. Kids in Sunday school know what life’s about; they hear the Word of God.

The Bible also tells me where I’m going. You talk about “enlightening your eyes.” No one but God can tell you what lies beyond the bars of death. I have the absolute assurance that when I die, I’m going to go to heaven. Not because I think I’m a good person, but because God has given me the righteousness of Jesus Christ as a free gift. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” The moment a Christian dies, he will be in the presence of God in heaven. Isn’t that good?! That’s awesome! I discovered that in the Bible. The book told me that. God told me in His Word.

When my parents die and I lay them in the grave and my loved ones die and my friends die and family dies—and oh, I’ve watched the pain of parents who bury their children. I’ll never forget one father who was sobbing and said, “This isn’t right. Parents aren’t supposed to bury their children.” I could feel his pain. I actually opened the Bible, and I gave him comfort and I gave him hope. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Those who have died in Christ, God will bring with them. There is no other book that gives me that. No other book tells me that.

You say you don’t need the Bible? I need the Bible. Because sooner or later I’m going to die, and I want to know where I’m going to go when I die. I want to know where my loved ones are going to go when they die. The Bible gives us hope beyond the grave. What an awesome thing that is; it “enlightens our eyes.”

Then notice, fifthly, in verse 11, the Bible warns us. God’s Word warns us. Watch out for certain things, certain sins, certain people. Nothing better for a young man or a young woman to do but read Proverbs and to learn the wisdom of the fear of the Lord. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” The Bible is the fear of the Lord. God’s Word can keep us from sin. All we need for life and godliness is in the Bible.

Lastly and sixthly, the Bible rewards us. So we find in verse 11 that it warns us and “rewards” us. “There is great reward.” It is better than gold, verse 10. It is “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.” It warns me and it rewards me. “…in keeping of them there is great reward.” So if we keep God’s Word and obey God’s Word, we will be blessed and we will prosper.

Now I want to take all five of these sermons and wrap them up by way of conclusion and application.

Why do we need the Bible? Number one, because God reveals His person in the Bible. We learn about God; a God Who loves us, a God Who is gracious, a God Who is merciful, a God Who is kind, a God Who is patient, a God Who cares about us. And our response is to love God back. So as I read the Bible, I learn about God. And as you learn about God, here is your response: to worship God and to love God.

The second thing we learn that we need the Bible for is that God reveals His salvation in the Bible. It’s found in the person of Jesus Christ. There is “no other name given among men whereby we must be saved” but by the name of Jesus. The question is asked in the Bible, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer is right there in the Bible: “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.” It’s that simple.

So now what I’m supposed to do is trust Him. I love Him, I worship Him and I trust Him. You say, “John, but you’ve never seen Him!”

“I know, but I love Him anyway.”

“You’ve never seen God!”

“I know, but I trust Him anyway.” Because I’ve discovered God and I’ve met God in His Word. So we have hope.

Thirdly, God reveals His will in the Bible. He wants our obedience. So we love and worship God. We trust God and put our faith in God and we obey Him. The book of James says that we should “be doers of the Word and not hearers only.” Say you just come on Sunday morning and that’s the only time you hear the Bible. You should be reading it every day, but when you do hear the Bible on Sunday, my question is: Do you obey it?

So step number one, are you loving God? Are you worshipping God? Step number two, have you trusted Jesus for your salvation? And step number three, are you obeying God’s Word? It doesn’t do any good to just hear it and know it if we don’t obey God’s Word. We need to put it into practice. James says that you’re like a person who looks in a mirror, sees their condition, turns away and forgets what they saw. But whoever looks down deep, continues in God’s Word, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer, James says that person is “blessed in all their deeds.”

I can guarantee you a blessed life. I can guarantee you a happy life simply by saying that if you take the Bible, read the Bible, apply the Bible and live by the Bible, you’ll be blessed.

Let’s pray.

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About Pastor John Miller

Pastor John Miller is the Senior Pastor of Revival Christian Fellowship in Menifee, California. He began his pastoral ministry in 1973 by leading a Bible study of six people. God eventually grew that study into Calvary Chapel of San Bernardino, and after pastoring there for 39 years, Pastor John became the Senior Pastor of Revival in June of 2012. Learn more about Pastor John

Sermon Summary

Pastor John Miller concludes our series “Why We Need The Bible” with an expository message through Psalm 1 title, The Christian And The Bible.

Pastor Photo

Pastor John Miller

October 29, 2017