Series: Romans
Title: The Most Valuable Word
Text: Romans 15: 4
Date: Feb 16 ,2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
Romans 15: 4: For
whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we
through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
We have students in
this congregation. Can you imagine
taking an important class but never reading your text book? The things of God are the most important
things we can ever learn and the Bible is our text book. It is impossible to pass the tests God gives,
if we never read the scriptures.
Proposition: The Bible is the most valuable word in this world.
The scriptures are
the very word of God. The living word of
God. The word that abideth forever. No
other word can do for us what this word can do.
1 Peter 1: 23: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 24: For all flesh is
as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away: 25: But the word of the Lord endureth for
ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. 2: 1: Wherefore
[seeing this word is the most valuable in the world] laying aside all malice,
and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 2: As
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 3:
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
2 Peter 1: 16: For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when
we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17: For he received from God the Father honour and
glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18: And this voice which came from
heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
Surely nothing could be
more valuable than seeing the Lord Jesus Christ transfigured in all his glory!
2 Peter 1: 19: We have also a more sure word of prophecy;
[this word is more sure, more valuable than beholding Christ transfigured] whereunto
ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the Day Star [Christ the Sun of Righteousness] arise in
your hearts: 20: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of
any private interpretation. 21: For the prophecy came not in old time by the
will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.
In other words, this
word is the very word of God. That is
why this book is the priceless book.
Yet this word is
esteemed worthless by most. Eternity
bound sinners spend countless hours reading fiction and telling others about it. Those are idle words for which God says sinners
shall give account in the day of judgment.
Imagine the horror in the end when God makes sinners know how priceless
the scriptures are while they esteemed them worthless.
Subject: The Most Valuable
Word
Divisions: The scriptures are 1)
For our learning, 2) To give patience and comfort 3) To give hope
LEARNING
God has given the
scriptures for his people for our learning.
What does Paul mean
by “whatsoever things were written aforetime?” In his day, he meant the old testament
scriptures. He did not have the new
testament at that time—he and others were being used of God to write the new testament
as the Holy Spirit gave them the words. But
in our day, it refers to the whole word of God.
“Whatsoever things”
means all things written in God’s word are for God’s people and all are profitable. This word is written to God’s people for God’s
people and every word is profitable
2 Timothy 3: 15:…from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which
are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. 16: 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 perfect, throughly furnished unto
all good works.
What does God make
his people learn from this word? Christ Jesus our Salvation.
Ephesians 4: 20: But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye
have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.
We learn Christ by hearing
him being taught by him and Christ himself is the truth we learn. The Lord Jesus Christ is the incarnate Word
of Truth!
John 1: 14: And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.
Joh 14:6 Jesus saith…I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
We learn Christ through
the preaching of the gospel of Christ contained in this word by the Lord Jesus himself
effectually commanding us to:
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.
What do we learn of
Christ? Through the preaching of the
scriptures we learn that Christ himself is the LORD our Righteousness.
Jeremiah 51:10: The LORD hath brought forth our righteousness: come, and
let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.
The LORD brought
forth our righteousness by sending his Son into the world.
Romans 3: 25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of
sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26: To declare, I say,
at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus.
The great truth God
makes us learn is “how should a man be just with God?” (Job 9:2) “Who can bring a clean thing out of an
unclean? not one.” (Job 14:4) “How then
can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?”
(Job 25:4) How can holy God pour out
justice upon his people unto eternal death yet have mercy upon us unto eternal
life?
Romans 5: 21: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even
so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ
our Lord.
In Christ crucified grace
reigned through righteousness. Grace and
Righteousness reigned in Christ. Grace
and Justice reigned in Christ crucified. Mercy and Truth both reigned. All God’s elect were crucified in
righteousness while at the same time all were reconciled to God in grace.
What else do we learn
from this word? Beholding the necessity
of God’s own Son laying down his life for his people, we learn that we are vile
and ruined sinners incapable of saving ourselves or of even knowing these
things.
Psalm 39: 5: …verily every man at his best state is altogether
vanity. Selah.
Isaiah 64: 6: we are all as an unclean thing, and all our
righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Not only must Christ
make us righteous, we must be born of the Spirit of God before we know these
things
1 Corinthians 2: 12: Now we have received, not the spirit of the world,
but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. 13: Which things also we speak, not in the words which
man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual
things with spiritual. [scripture with scripture] 14: But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
May God be pleased
today to make his people learn our total ruin and make us learn Christ is the
only Righteousness given us through faith in him!
PATIENCE AND COMFORT
God gives his
children patience by the comfort of the scriptures.
What is godly patience? It is more than mere calm disposition in
difficulties. Godly patience is willingly
submitting to God’s will in providence as we wait on God to save us. It is the whole course of a believer’s
life. Our sinful flesh may first react as
if we do not even know God. But by the
scriptures, the Spirit of God settles us, making us patiently endure the trial though
all appears dark and hopeless to natural eyes.
Therefore, patience gives us experience and maturity. As we patiently endure this trial, beholding
God bring glory to himself and good to his people, next time we will have the experience
to patiently wait on God.
Romans 5: 3:..we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation
worketh patience; 4: And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5: And
hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
There are different
types of races: sprints, the 100-yard dash and marathons. In a marathon the runner must run with
patience. He must pace himself. The race of faith is not a sprint, it is
marathon. Therefore, the scriptures
teach us to…
Hebrews 12: 1:…run with patience the race that is set before us, 2:
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down
at the right hand of the throne of God.
God gives us patience
by comfort of the scriptures. Our
sinful, fleshly reaction is the impatience of fear and unbelief. But when we have comfort that all is well, we
can patiently wait on God. Through the
scriptures, God reminds his child that Christ has put away our sins and shall not
let us go, so God gives us patience and comfort of the scriptures.
Isaiah 40: 1: Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. 2: Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is
accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the LORD’S
hand double for all her sins. (Isa 40:1-2)
Fleshly feelings make
us reel to and fro in trials. But the scriptures remind us that God’s mind is
always on us, his hand always keeps us, even when our feelings are otherwise. Martin
Luther wrote,
God's Word shall
stand forever,
The Bible shall prevail;
God's Word shall stand forever,
His truth can never, never fail.
For feelings come and
feelings go,
And feelings are deceiving;
My warrant is the Word of God,
Naught else is worth believing.
Tho' all my heart
should feel condemned
For want of some sweet token,
There is One greater than my heart
Whose Word cannot be broken.
I'll trust in God's
unchanging Word
'Til soul and body sever:
For tho' all things shall pass away,
His Word shall stand forever.
he comfort of the
scriptures is God’s unchanging love and mercy toward us who are his elect.
Psalm 103:17: But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to
everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s
children;
Isaiah 45:17: But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting
salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.
Romans 11:29: For the gifts and calling of God are without
repentance.
The comfort of the
scriptures are God’s precious promises in Christ.
Hebrews 6:18: That by two immutable things, in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation [strong
comfort] who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
The comfort of the
scriptures is “Thy God reigneth!”—in creation, providence and salvation!
God has left no part in our hands! He reigns in all!
HOPE
Through the
scriptures God gives and increases hope in a believer. It is from “the God of hope” (Rom 15: 30) through
“the hope of the gospel” (Col 1: 23) whereby God makes “your
faith and hope [to be] be in God” (1 Pet 1:21).
Hope is the confident expectation that God shall give us his purposed
end which he has promised to all who believe on his Son.
Jeremiah 29: 11: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith
the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jer
29:11)
Since our hope is in and by the precious blood of Christ therefore, God
himself is our hope.
Psalm 75: 5: Thou art my hope, O Lord God; thou art my
trust from my youth!
Jeremiah 17: 7: Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord,
and whose hope the Lord is!
Psalm 130: 7: Let Israel hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
Hebrews 6: 19: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20: Whither
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for
ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Since it is by the
scriptures that God gives this hope, we say, Psalm 130: 5: In his word do I
hope
Believer, God has given us much right now. Right now we have eternal life. We are more than conquerors through Christ
that loved us right now. Right now Christ
reigns within us keeping our sin-nature from dominating us.
But the best is yet
to come! We hope for Christ Jesus our
Lord to return for us and perfectly conform us in his image so that we shall
know him as he is. We hope to be glorified
together with him and vindicated before all our enemies in that day. We hope to enter the new heavens and the new
earth wherein dwelleth righteousness where we shall live with God our Father
and the Lamb for all eternity! Therefore,
God exhorts his people to “hope to the end, for the grace that is to be
brought unto them, at the revelation of Jesus Christ”, (1 Peter 1:13;
Titus 2:13).
May God cause us to value the scriptures above all other books. May God cause us to search the scriptures daily
that we might learn Christ, that we might patiently wait for Christ by the comfort
of the scriptures, that we might hope to the end
Amen!