Imperishable word of God

Matthew 5:17-20

Matthew 5:17-20, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.

The Word of God stated as the law of God in verse 17, which law will not pass away, cannot be broken, even in its least commandment. The absolute base for truth in the world is the Word of God. It is the Scripture. It is the abiding, objective source of all truth.

This passage becomes a primary one in establishing one of the basic dogmas of the Christian faith, and that is that the Bible is the Word of God. Liberal theology for years has argued that the Bible is not inspired by God, but the Bible is man commenting on his experience with God as he sees it, but that we can’t really trust that it’s God Himself. That is the front door open for head-on attack on the Bible.

The sideways attack comes along and says, “the Bible isn’t enough; we need to add philosophy, and psychology, and human wisdom.” The constant attack at the Scripture has deafened the truth of Scripture in the ears of many people who should know better.

The number one reason why we can trust it absolutely is simply because Jesus said that it was absolute truth. Jesus said that it didn’t lie. Jesus said, “Not one jot or tittle would ever pass from it till all was fulfilled.” The Word of Christ on the Bible is good enough for me.

Early in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives His view of the Old Testament. He gives His view of the law of God. He gives His view of the Scripture.

Does this teacher believe in the sacred Scripture?

Does this teacher believe in the Old Testament?

Does He believe in the law of God? Yes! He gave a greater commitment to the Scripture than the most scrupulous, pious scribe or Pharisee ever thought of giving. He held the Old Testament higher than they ever did.

Matthew 5:3-12, are the characteristics that should be true of people in His kingdom, and He gives all the Beatitudes. This is an internal character of a true believer.

Then it becomes external as the testimony goes out, in verses 13 to 16, and He says, “We are salt and light.” So, this internal character is manifest externally in the world. Then He says in verses 17 to 20, that living in His kingdom is not only a matter of character, it’s not only a matter of testimony, but it is a matter of commitment to obedience to God’s inviolable law.

“A true kingdom son truly obeys God’s laws.”

John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

John 13:34-35, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one

another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Jesus was always affirming that true kingdom character and true kingdom testimony will be predicated on a commitment to obedience to the law of God.

We cannot survive with a Christianity that is not biblical. We cannot manifest the true virtue of kingdom sons unless we are committed to the authority of the Word of God. People in the kingdom that belongs to Christ have a high, exalted view of Scripture. They hold Scripture above everything else. They would not desire at all to deny it.

Psalms 40:8, I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”

Romans 7:22, For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.

This is true of anyone in God’s kingdom who really has kingdom character and wants to manifest kingdom testimony. There will have to be a commitment to the absolute, inviolable authority of the Word of God.

We cannot manifest righteousness unless we know the rules, the principles, and we live the life. When you live a righteous life in the world because you obey the Word of God, then and only then will you have an effective testimony in the world.

We don’t have a believable testimony, because we don’t abide by the righteous standards that God has set forth.

2 Timothy 3:16-17, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Last week in verse ¹⁷ we saw how the Word of God was preeminent. Today we will look at the permanence of the Law of God.

John 5:39-40, You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. Jesus was the fulfilment of all of it in one way or another.

The moral law was behind everything. Behind the judicial law and ceremonial law is the moral law of God. The moral law is nothing but the expression of God’s character. It is the expression of God’s nature. To help people to understand the moral law, God developed, in Israel, the ceremonial law, to help them focus on His character. God developed the judicial law to help them focus on His character.

But the judicial part of it and the ceremonial part of it were simply outgrowths of the moral law, which is unchanging. The judicial element has passed away since Israel has been set aside for the time. The ceremonial element has passed away since Christ has performed the final sacrifice.

But behind all of that was God’s moral law, and in no way has God ever changed His moral standards. The Jews had felt they were going to be all right if they just didn’t commit adultery. But Jesus put God’s law where it belonged, and He said, “No, God’s law says you should not even look on a woman to lust after her or you have committed it in your heart.”

The Jews thought it would be all right if they didn’t murder anybody, but Jesus took God’s moral law and put it up there

where it was equal to His character, and said, “No, not only should you not murder, but you should also not even think a thought of hatred toward somebody, or you have committed murder in your heart.” So, the standard isn’t lower. The ceremonies are gone. The judicial identification of Israel as a separate nation, God’s people, is gone for the time as He works through the church.

But the moral law stands in the background.

What’s the basis of the moral law? Ten Commandments.

What about the Sabbath?

Is the Sabbath a moral issue? How did the Sabbath get stuck in with all those moral things there? The Sabbath was part of the moral law, there is no question about that. If it’s a part of that original moral law, does it still stand?

If that’s the original moral law, and God’s character is revealed in His moral law, then doesn’t the Sabbath still stand? There are elements in all those categories that are still around – ceremonial, judicial, and moral.

There are some elements that have been fulfilled, that are no longer observed.

Example

We do not accept today the judicial laws of Israel. We don’t wear the kind of clothes they were required to wear for their unique identity. We are not all kosher. We eat ham, and we do things like that. We eat foods that would have been forbidden to them.

Acts 10:13, And a voice came to him, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.”

Peter’s response?

Acts 10:14, But Peter said, “Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.” I can’t take this, Lord. You don’t realize it. I have been a kosher all my life.

This change is too fast. Am I supposed to go to Cornelius’ house and have a meal with him? I can’t handle it.

But nonetheless, God did change some of the judicial law. He set it aside. He was no longer uniquely identifying Israel in a separate way. So, there were elements of the judicial law that were set aside when Christ came and founded the church. Israel’s ultimate act of rejection, they were set aside, the church was begun, and some of those were set aside.

However, there are parts of that judicial law that are still binding.

Example

God’s high standard for marriage in Israel hasn’t changed. God still desires honesty, purity, and wholesomeness among those that are married. God still desires monogamy and not polygamy. God still has the same feeling toward marriage, remarriage, divorce, and those things.

In other words, when some factor of Israel’s judicial law touched a timeless, divine principle, it still goes on even today. When the Old Testament talks about marriage and divorce in Israel, it touches on God’s standards. We find that it’s even repeated in the New Testament. So, parts of the judicial law have been extended to all believing people.

Take the ceremonial law. We don’t kill lambs, and goats, and rams, and turtledoves, and all that. But do you know that we do some of the ceremonies today that Israel did?

• Israel used to praise God and we do that too.
• Israel used to pray to God, and we did that too
• Israel used to sing songs and we do that too.
• Israel had a choir, and we have that too.

There are still elements of the ceremonial expression of Israel that are still around, so we shouldn’t be shocked because we see those things. That’s why you can’t go into the Bible and just whack everything up. You have got to be very careful.

There are elements of the law fulfilled and elements that are binding, and they extend beyond the identity of Israel. Just as there are elements of the judicial law that are still around, and elements of the ceremonial worship of Israel that are still around, why should we be so shocked if there was an element which was part of the moral law which isn’t around?

If God can leave part of some, He can also cancel out part of other.

What do you mean? The Sabbath has passed away.

Why? It is the one of the Ten Commandments never repeated in the New Testament. Every other one is repeated in the New Testament. We know this, that the early church met on the first day of the week. Read the book of Acts. They started out meeting every day, and then it finally got down to the meeting on the first day of the week.

Why did this happen? Because the Sabbath had been fulfilled. The Ten Commandments said, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” But people get that messed up. The idea was not to not work, the idea was to be holy.

Do you get the point? In the Sabbath law, God was not saying, “Please don’t work,” or else everyone who takes Sunday off is fulfilling God’s law. No. The idea wasn’t not working, the idea was being holy. The concentration on holiness was aided by not being involved in earthly, gainful pursuits. But the idea was to be holy. So, the point is this: God wanted people holy.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross and you put your faith in Him, instantly believing in Him, you were made holy. The Spirit of God took up a residence in you, and the imputed righteousness of Christ given instantly to you.

The Spirit of God took up residence in your life, and total righteousness was imputed to you, you became holy before God, the Sabbath concept, the picture of the Sabbath of the Old Testament is fulfilled in the righteousness and holiness that is granted to you in Christ.

Hebrews 3:7-11, Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you will hear His voice, 8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, In the day of trial in the wilderness, 9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, And saw My works forty years. 10 Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ 11 So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ” Obviously from this text that the Sabbath God saw is a figure.

The Sabbath was a representative of Canaan land. God says, “These unfaithful, unbelieving, disobedient, hard-hearted Israelites are not going to enter My Sabbath. They are not going to enter My rest.”

Remember the spies went into the land, they came back, and they said, “it is not an easy thing, but it’s a wonderful land, and God can give us the victory.” Nobody believed them.

Hebrews 3:19, So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.

They couldn’t enter the fulfilment of rest.

Hebrews 4:1, Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.

This is the term “Sabbath.”

• First, Sabbath starts out in the Ten Commandments as a day.
• In the wandering in the wilderness, Sabbath becomes a land.
• In the book of Hebrews, Sabbath becomes a relationship.

In chapter 4, entering into Sabbath is entering into Christ.

Hebrews 4:2-3, For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit

them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: “So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ” although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

The Sabbath was a picture. It became a land. Finally, it becomes a relationship. When you enter into Jesus Christ you enter into Sabbath. From then on, twenty-four hours a day, all your life, you are fulfilling the law of the Sabbath; you are made holy.

That’s why the New Testament never repeats the original picture from Exodus 20, because the reality is fulfilled in Christ.

Hebrews 4:9-10, There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. In other words, there is the spiritual application. For the people of God who have entered into rest, we have ceased.

We have fulfilled the Sabbath and its spiritual significance, as God did when He rested. Hebrews chapters 3 and 4 indicates that we did enter rest through faith, and Sabbath is fulfilled.

You ought to worship on Saturday?

• I worship every day.
• I don’t need one day to remember to keep holy.
• I don’t need just one day to be holy in a week,
• I can be holy every day because of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
• I have entered into my rest.

There is no longer any need for the symbol, I have the reality.

Why do we meet on Sunday? Because we celebrate the resurrection. The Lord rose from the dead on the first day, and that’s the way the early church did it, and we are doing it the same. Frankly it would not have made any difference if we met on Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or anything else.

You have entered into your rest. Every day is holy unto the Lord! Jesus has accomplished our Sabbath. So factors in the judicial law, ceremonial law, moral law have changed because of Christ. He fulfilled some, but some are yet to be fulfilled.

Some of the prophecies haven’t been fulfilled yet. Some are still future. V 18, For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

The Jews were looking for a more relax system. They couldn’t keep up with the scribes, and Pharisees. They were hoping somebody would come and drop the standards a little bit so they could make it. Lord Jesus Christ lifts the standard even higher, and then He just wipes out the Pharisees and the scribes for their hypocritical approach to God’s law.

They had substituted human tradition for the law of God, and Jesus came in and just wiped the human tradition away. The judicial law was fulfilled, for the most part. The ceremonial law was fulfilled, for the most part. Even some of the moral laws.

The Sabbath was fulfilled. But God’s righteous standards never changed. Jesus says, “Nothing is going to pass, nothing, until it’s all fulfilled.”

V 18, “For amen” is really the term here. “For amen I say to you.” John usually adds the double amen. But amen means a solemn, sober, authoritative kind of an introduction. It generally refers to the idea of something that’s true and faithful.

It is frequently translated “verily,” which means “truly,” “absolutely.” and I like to use the word “absolutely,” because I like the word absolutes in a day of relatives. This is a very tough-minded statement. This is a serious claim on the part of Christ, a solemn truth.

“Till heaven and earth pass away.” Now that’s another absolute. That is to make something absolute. Jesus says, “The Word of God will be here until the universe passes out of its present existence.” Someday the universe will pass out of its present existence.

The Bible is clear about that. At that time, we will enter the new heavens and the new earth, and won’t need a Bible anymore, because we will be living righteousness.

Because we’ll be like Jesus Christ. But until that time, nothing changes.

Psalm 102:25-27, Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26 They will perish, but You will endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You will change them, And they will be changed. 27 But You are the same, And Your years will have no end.

The psalmist is comparing the eternal God with the passing universe, and he is saying that the universe will come to an end. We begin to see it happen in Revelation as we read about the tribulation, and we see the stars fall out of heaven like untimely shaking of a fig tree, and the figs all fall.

Then we see the heavens roll up like a scroll, just like a shade or something rolling back. Suddenly, blackness covers the universe, and God begins to act in judgment. Finally, God’s coming in the day of the Lord is going to be the establishing of a new heaven and a new earth, the passing away of the whole universe as we understand it today.

Isaiah 34:4, All the host of heaven shall be dissolved, And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll; All their host shall fall down As the leaf falls from the vine, And as fruit falling from a fig tree.

Isaiah 51:6, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, the earth shall grow old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; but My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be abolished.”

Matthew 24:35, Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

2 Peter 3:7, But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

2 Peter 3:10-13, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

Bible is a timeless Book. It’s authored by the eternal, living God. It is His eternal, living Word.

Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Till heaven and earth pass, this Word shall abide. Every type will be fulfilled. Every prophecy will be realized. Every law will be verified. V 18, For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. “Jot” is really a representation of a Hebrew letter. In the Hebrew, there is a letter called “yodh” Yodh is like an apostrophe, that’s all. In the Greek language, the little, tiny “iota,” where you take an “i” out of a word, and for certain reasons in the Greek language, they drop it under another letter, and it appears as another little, tiny apostrophe.

What Jesus is saying that “Not the tiniest Hebrew letter, not the tiniest Greek letter shall pass from this law, till all fulfilled.” When God gave His Word in the original manuscripts, every jot was inspired by Him.

Is this still God’s authoritative Word?

Is it still God’s Holy Word for us? You better believe it. Jesus fulfilled part of it, but God’s moral law has never been set aside. It will all be there until it is fulfilled, and it will all be there till heaven and earth pass away.

heaven and earth aren’t going to pass away till every single element in this Book is fulfilled. How anyone who’s a Bible-believing Christian who understands the authority of Jesus Christ could take any other position. As He was speaking right there, some parts of the Old Testament had already been fulfilled, such as His incarnation and His birth. Other parts were being fulfilled, such as His prophetic ministry. Some parts were yet to be fulfilled, such as His death, resurrection, and final return in glory. But nothing was going to change from this Book and its binding character

on the heart of man until every single jot and tittle was fulfilled. By the way, “fulfilled”’ here is a different word than it is in verse 17. Here it means “come to pass.” Christ’s view of Scripture. What Jesus believed; I will believe because He is the single authority of the universe. All authority was committed unto Him. Whatever He speaks is absolute truth.

Jesus gives His view right here. He says, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. 64 times Jesus referred to the Old Testament always as authoritative.

John 10:35, If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),

The Scripture cannot be broken. Let us see how much of a commitment He had to Scripture.

Matthew 22:23-28, Sadducees came and asked him a question about a woman whose husband dies, and he had ⁷ brothers and all of them died and whose wife she will be on resurrection.

Jesus’ response.

Matthew 22:29-32, Jesus answered and said to them, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”

The whole argument is based upon one tense: “I am.” What Jesus is saying is this that you must believe in resurrection.

Why? Because God said, ‘I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dead. He was still their God. It was an “I am” relationship, not an “I was.” Jesus bases His entire argument on just that one tense to show that they are still alive. “I am their God, and they are still alive.” That is reason enough to believe in resurrection.

He was divine, He was God, and He placed His words, and the Old Testament as equals.

Matthew 24:35, Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Jesus equated His words with the Word of God as being absolutely authoritative and divine.

Do you know that Jesus confirmed the Old Testament truths again, and again? Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed the Old Testament events.

• He confirmed the identity of Adam and Eve.
• Jesus Himself confirmed the creation account.
• He confirmed the standard of marriage as God designed it in the garden in Matthew chapter 19.
• He confirmed the murder of Abel in Luke 11.
• He confirmed Noah and the flood in Matthew 24.
• He confirmed Abraham and his faith in John 8.
• He confirmed Sodom and Lot in Luke 17.
• He confirmed the call and the law of Moses in Mark 12.
• He confirmed the manna from heaven in John 6.
• He confirmed the brazen serpent in John 3.

Many more… We believe in the Old Testament because, in its very words, Jesus depended on it. For one whole statement in answer to the Sadducees, He depended on a tense in the Hebrew language. He placed His own words, divine words, as

equivalent of Scripture, thereby guaranteeing their divinity as well. He confirmed the events of the Old Testament. Jesus established that the Scripture was sufficient to save. Luke 16. Jesus was talking about beggar Lazarus and the rich man.

Luke 16:27-31, “Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ 29 Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’

The Old Testament is sufficient to save somebody from entering into that place of torment. He believed in the sufficiency of the Old Testament. Jesus also believed that Scripture would free men from error.

Mark 12:24, Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they

neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Our Lord depended on a tense in the Hebrew language for an interpretation. Our Lord said that everything that He saw in the Old Testament was true as it was recorded.

Our Lord established the sufficiency of Scripture to save. Our Lord said the Scripture would free men from error. In Matthew chapter 4, our Lord even used Scripture in His own defence. Satan came to Him three times, and three times tempted Him in three different areas, and each time, Jesus answered with “It is written.”

Jesus quoted from,

Deuteronomy 8:3,

Deuteronomy 6:16, and

Deuteronomy 6:3. He didn’t have to quote the Bible. He could have made up new verses.

What was Jesus doing? Jesus was letting you in on a pattern of how to deal with temptation. Deal with it with Scripture, the authoritative, powerful Word of God.

God’s Word is powerful. When Jesus dealt with Satan, He didn’t even put it in His own words He quoted Scripture. After His temptation, our dear Lord went to Nazareth and when He got to Nazareth, He began His formal ministry, and He went into the synagogue, and the first thing He did when He got in the synagogue was open a Bible, an Old Testament text.

He read from Isaiah 61:1-2, in Luke 4:18-19. He closed the Book, and gave it to the minister, and sat down. The Word of God was powerful. Sometime later in His ministry, John the Baptist’s disciples came to Him.

Matthew 11:3-6, and said to Him, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” 4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” Jesus spoke from Isaiah, and He depended on the Scripture.

Mark 11:17, Then He taught, saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ”

When He went to approach to die on the cross, He did it on the basis that the Old Testament Scripture said He had to die. If you are going to accept Jesus Christ, and you are going to believe that He is God, then you’d better listen to what He says about the Bible.

What Jesus says about the Bible is that it is binding on us, and we better live according to its principles. If you want to be a kingdom citizen, and kingdom character and you must obey the manifesto of the King. God hasn’t set aside His standards. Our dear Lord is the theme of all the Scripture. His authority is absolute.

John 6:68, But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

Do you believe that? I believe that. He is the absolute authority. People say that there are errors in the Bible!

A three-fold possibility.

• a. Ignorance.

If there are errors, but Jesus didn’t know it. That means He’s ignorant. If He is ignorant then He is not God.

• b. Dishonest.

There are errors, and He did know it then it makes Jesus dishonest.

• c. Hypocrisy

There are no errors. If He knew it and hid it, He was a hypocrite. If He didn’t know it, He wasn’t God. Do you really believe the Bible is literally true? Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, believed it was literally true.

That’s good enough for me.

Isaiah 1:20, But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword”; For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. If the mouth of the Lord has spoken it, that is good enough for us.

Conclusion

i. Receive this as word of God.

James 1:21, Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

• Better receive it because of the infinite majesty of the author. Better receive it because of the price God paid to get it to you. Better receive it because it’s the only standard of truth, joy, blessing, and salvation.
• Better receive it because it’s the only necessary, essential voice to listen to.
• Better receive it, because not to receive it will bring judgment. ii. Honour the Word of God.

Psalm 138:2, I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.

Psalm 119:103, How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

Do you have an attitude of love and honour to this Bible? Do you lovingly submit to the sweetness of its words? Martin Luther, who never feared the face of a man, yet declared that when he stood up to preach, he often felt his knees knock together under a sense of great responsibility.

“It was better to break stones on a road than to be a preacher, unless God had given the Holy Spirit to sustain him. The heart and soul of a man who speaks for God will know no ease; for he hears in his ears that warning admonition, ‘If the watchman warn them not, they perish. But their blood will I require at the watchman’s hands.’” Spurgeon

iii. Study

2 Timothy 2:15, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Jeremiah 15:16, Your words were found, and I ate them, And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart; For I am called by Your name, O Lord God of hosts.

Colossians 3:16, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. iv. Defend it.

Jude 1:3, Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. Fighting for the integrity of the Word of God, and its purity, authority against the onslaughts. v. Preach it.

2 Timothy 4:2, Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. Whisper it in the ear of the sick, shout it in the corner of the streets, write it on your tablet, send it forth from the press.

But everywhere, let this be your great motive and warrant you preach the gospel, because the mouth of the Lord has spoken it.