January 5, 2025 • 26 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
When you own something valuable, how can you learn to
use it wisely and productively by following the instructions from
its creator? Today, on turning point, doctor David Jeremiah explains
that when we followed the instructions from our creator, our
lives produce fruit that demonstrates our faith. From the series
(00:26):
Bible Strong, here's David to introduce the conclusion of applying
the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You know, many of us have grown up in Christian
families where the Bible has been available to us. I
suppose if you would look through the shelves of your home,
if you're a Christian, you'll find four or five different
translations of the Scripture that you've come upon and perhaps
tried over the years. But you know what, Understanding the
Bible is important, but applying it is way more important.
(00:55):
You'd be much better off to know less of the
Bible that you apply than to know more of the
Bible that you ignore. Unfortunately, so many people today think
that knowing all the scriptures you can know will get
you through life. But experience teaches us that if you
take one verse and you apply that verse to its
(01:16):
absolute fullest application, you will be much further along in
your walk with the Lord. The Bible tells us where
to walk in the Word, and that's what we're trying
to do as we talk together about the Scripture today
on this Monday edition of Turning Point, we're going to
finish up our discussion from Friday as we talk about
(01:38):
applying the Word of God, and to help you do
that during this year, we have a beautiful resource. It's
called The Whole Story, a fifty two week devotional journey
that we have developed here at Turning Point. And we've
taken these notes and put them together so that you
will be representing every book in the Bible during the
coming year with devotional understanding, and it will help you
(02:03):
understand how the Bible fits together and how the whole
message of the Bible is central. It's about Jesus Christ,
who alone is worthy to be the center object of
our attention when we study the Bible. So ask for
your copy of the Whole Story when you send your
gift to Turning Point today, and now part two of
Applying the Word of God.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I recently read an account of the nineteen eighty six
Chernobyl nuclear disaster that illustrates the importance of this kind
of interaction.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Here's the report. There were two electrical engineers in.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
The control room that night, and the best thing they
could be said for them was that they were doing
something they shouldn't have been doing. They were playing around
with the machine. Can you believe it? They were performing
what the Soviets later described as an unauthorized experiment. They
were trying to see how long a turbine would free
weel when they took the power off of it.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Now, taking the power off of that kind.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Of a nuclear reactor is a difficult, dangerous thing to do,
because these reactors are very unstable in their lower stages.
And in order to get the reactor down to that
kind of power where they could perform the test they
were interested in performing, they had to override manually six
separate computer driven alarm systems. One by one, the computers
(03:26):
would come up and say stop dangerous, go no further,
and one by one, rather than shutting off the experiment,
they shut off the alarms and they kept going.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And you know what happened.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Nuclear fallout that was recorded all around the world from
the largest industrial accident ever to occur since time began.
The instructions and the warnings were neglected.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
That's what a lot of people do with the warnings
in the Word of God, with the reproofs in the
Word of God, they override them. They shut the alarm
systems off. And one of the things that we're fighting with,
and one of the reasons why I want to be
faithful as a pastor in preaching this book is that
the neat thing now in churches is don't ever give
any of those warnings. Always say the positive things. Always
(04:12):
tell people things that'll make them feel good. Never warn
them according to the Word of God. Make sure that
when they walk out of your church at the end
of Sunday service, they walk out with the feel goods
and the warm fuzzies. The only problem is if I
do that, I'm overriding the system which God has placed
in his book. And all I'm doing is helping you
(04:33):
head toward a disaster someplace in your life.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
By the grace of God.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I want to be as positive as any man can be,
and I'm really a positive person. I want to be
positive and not negative. But most of all, I want
to be faithful to what the book says. And I'll
tell you the truth. Friends, if I come to something
in the Bible that's hard for me to preach. I'm
going to grit my teeth and preach it because I
know I need it as much as you do the
(04:59):
warnings of the Bible. The Bible's profitable for that amen,
and then the Bible's profitable for encouraging. It says here
that the Holy scriptures are profitable for reproof and for correction.
It means that sometimes we do get off the pathway.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
How many of you know that.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
I'm not going to take an inventory this morning, but
some of you got off the pathway this last year,
didn't you just a little bit.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
You know what the Bible's good for.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The Bible's good for getting you back on the path
that you got off of. That's what the word correcting means.
You know, the Bible doesn't give up on you when
you fail. The Bible just keeps after you until you
get back where you belong. And then the Bible is
also good for instruction and righteousness, for enabling. John Greenleaf
(05:52):
Whittier put it this way. He said, we searched the
world for truth. We call the good and true, the
beautiful from graven stone and written scroll and all old
flower fields of the soul, and weary seekers of the best,
we come back laden from our quest to find that
all the sages said is in the book our mother's read.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
All the truth the sages said are in this book
our mother's read, A wonderful word of God. Reasons for
being in the Word of God. Now, let me just
take this back and put it in perspective for you.
First of all, the Bible is good in saving us, amen,
(06:39):
And it enables us to do what we ought to do.
When we get saved, we do what we ought to do.
Then the Bible's good for teaching us. And in teaching us,
the Bible helps us to know what we ought to do.
We find out in the book. When we get saved,
we're enabled to do it. When we read the book,
we find out what we're supposed to do. And then
(06:59):
the Bible is good for correcting, exhorting us to refrain
from doing what we ought not to do. You're reading
the Bible, it tells you, don't do this, don't do that,
And then the Bible is good for restoring. It encourages
us to return to doing what we ought to do
that we didn't do, and that we got away from
doing amen. And then the Bible is good for training.
(07:22):
It expresses clearly to us what we should do from
now on.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
So here's the picture I have. I'm walking down the road, I.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Don't even know God, and all of a sudden, somebody
gives me a tract and I read the book and
I get saved. Now, all of a sudden, I have
a desire to do something different.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
What should I do? Well?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I start reading this book, this is what I should do,
And I start walking along doing what I'm supposed to do.
And then all of a sudden I do something I'm
not supposed to do, and I find out that I
did it by reading it in the book. I didn't
do it on purpose, maybe, but I did it anyway.
And I read in the book and I found out
I shouldn't have done it. So now what do I do?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Well?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I just keep reading, and as I keep reading, the
Bible tells me how to get back on the right path.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
And once I get back on.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
The right path, it's the word of God that then
takes all this experience that I've had in doing the
wrong thing and being confronted by the word of God.
Now it gives me instruction and righteousness, so I can
walk forward in my Christian life, hopefully not making that
mistake again, but following in the renewed path of God's
Holy Word.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So every stage of my life before I'm saved, I
need the word of God. As soon as I'm saved,
I need the word of God. When I get off
the path, I need the word of God. When I
try to get back on the path, I need the
word of God. And once I'm back on the path,
I need the Word of God even more. Man, you've
got to have this book. That's why for me to
preach anything else but the Word of God would be
wasting your time and mind.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
This is the book that can change your life. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Paul closes out this little passage by telling us that
the Bible, if we follow it like we've been talking about,
will have a certain reason rest in our lives. And
I'm going to have to cover this quickly, so you
listen carefully. It says here that when we do all
of this verse seventeen, the Man of God will be complete,
(09:10):
thoroughly equipped.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
For every good work.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
First of all, when we let the Word of God
be our goal and our guide, we become spiritually proficient.
The word perfect here means complete. It's a word that
is used in classical writings to describe how the vertebrae
or the joints exactly fit together in the body. They
perfectly join together. And the Bible says that when we
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take God's words seriously and let it be a part
of every stage of our life, the result will be
that there will be a completeness about us as God's people.
We will sense that there's nothing missing. That while we
are not perfect in the sense of sinless perfection, everything
we need we have, and everything that's important.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
God's doing that work in our life. Already.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We're becoming proficient in our walk with God. There's a
wonderful prayer in Hebrews that's often used as a benediction
that speaks to this. It's Hebrews thirteen twenty and twenty one.
Listen to this prayer. Let it be our prayer today. Now,
May the God of Peace, who brought up our Lord
Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you complete
(10:22):
in every good work, to do His will, working in
you that which is well pleasing in his sight through
Jesus Christ, to whom be.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Glory forever and ever.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
That's my prayer that God would take this book. And
Paul says that when we take the book seriously, it
makes us.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Proficient, complete in what we do.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Notice Secondly, he says that the man of God may
be complete, thoroughly equipped. We become not only spiritually proficient,
we become spiritually prepared. The Bible equips us so that
we know what to do. This is a picture of
a ship that's in the harbor, taking on all of
(11:01):
the provisions for the trip. Sometimes when we do our
ministry cruises, I get on the ship early, and I
go up on the top deck, and I stand on
the top deck and I look over and watch what's
going on down below.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Man, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Do you know how much food it takes to feed
two thousand people for a week, twice as much as
it should.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
And they load all that food on that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Ship with forklifts and trucks and conveyor belts. It takes
five or six hours to get all the old stuff
off and get all the new stuff on. What Paul
is saying when he talks about being fully equipped. He's saying,
you are the ship. You have everything in your cargo
that you need.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
You're ready for anything.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
When you let the Word of God be your goal
and your purpose and you study it, it doesn't matter
what comes along, You're equipped to deal with it. You
watch Christians go through that, and you watch unsaved people
go through it.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Christians are equal whipped.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Amen, they got all the cargo aboard, They know everything
they need to do.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Then there's one last one, and this is really neat.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It says, when you have the Bible in your heart
and you let it take over every stage of your life,
you become not only spiritually proficient and spiritually prepared, but
you become spiritually productive. Notice, equipped onto every good work.
You say, I didn't think good works were for Christians.
(12:31):
You know, I've suspected that some of you thought that
good works are not to become a Christian. But good
works ought to be the very epitome of what a
Christian is in this world. Amen, For by grace are
you saved through faith and not out of yourselves. It
(12:51):
is a gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. But right next to it, it says,
for you are God's creation created unto good works. Know
what it says. And just as first and second Timothy
is dominated.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
By the term doctrine, what you know, the.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Book of Titus is dominated by the term good works
over and over and over again. In that little tiny
letter to Titus, you find the importance of good works
and want to take you through it real quickly. As
we close, we become spiritually productive through the Word of God,
so that we can do.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Every good work. Titus three eight.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Says this, This is a faithful saying, and these things
I want you to affirm constantly that those who have
believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.
These things are good and profitable to men. What does
that say Those who are Christians ought to be careful
(13:47):
to maintain good works. Now, let me get this clear
with you. You don't need good works to become a Christian,
but if you are a Christian, you will automatically be
committed to good works. Good works don't belong in your
life necessarily before salvation, if you're trying to use that
as a way to climb up to God. But good
works come as the result of what Christ has done
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in your life and the Bible says we're to be
careful to maintain good works. Let me tell you something, friends,
Christians ought to be good people. I'm tired of folks
saying to me, I don't want to hire him, he's
a Christian. I've had too many Christians work in here.
I can't deal with now. Sometimes it's because Christians bring
condemnation to their company by their good works, but far
too often it's because they don't work as hard as
(14:30):
the other people.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
That's a shame.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
The Bible says that if we're Christians, we ought to
be committed to good works.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
We ought to maintain good works.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
And I want you to notice all of these passages
in Titus that talk about it. First of all, in
Titus one sixteen, we are told that our good works
demonstrate our walk. It says here about some people that
they profess to know God, but in their works they
deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
(14:59):
Did you know that there are some people who walk
around talking the faith but do not know walk the faith? Boy,
isn't it uncomfortably be with people like that? You already
know they're not walking the faith, but they're up there
talking the faith like you wouldn't believe. But their works
give them away. You see, our good works demonstrate our walk.
Number two, our good works defeat our enemies. Notice chapter
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two in Titus, verses seven and eight in all things,
showing yourself to be a pattern of good works. In doctrine,
showing integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility, and sound speech that cannot
be condemned. That one who is an opponent may be
ashamed having nothing evil to say about you. Why can't
he say anything evil about you? It's like Daniel in
the Old Testament. They tried to find something about Daniel
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that they could use to get him arrested, and the
Bible says the only thing they could find about Daniel
had to do with.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
His walk with God.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
And the Word of God says, if God's word is
in you, it will make you a productive Christian, zealous
for good works. And when you do your good works,
you shep the mouths of people that want to criticize you. Oh,
they may talk about your witness, they may talk about
your love, but don't let them ever talk about your
evil conduct, because your good works shut their mouths.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Notice.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Thirdly, good works display our faith. This is Titus two fourteen,
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us
from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own
special people zealous for good works. We're not just to
be committed to good works. We're to be fanatics about it.
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When somebody has a problem in our neighborhood, we should
be the first ones at the door. You don't have
to wait till somebody comes and asks you. You're always
looking for ways to demonstrate your faith. You know why,
because that's why Christ died. Christ died to create in
us people who were peculiar to him and zealous of
good works. And good works describe our citizenship. Chapter three,
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Verses one and two remind them to be subject to
rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every
good work, to speak evil of no one, to be
peaceable general, showing all humilities to all men.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
You know what Christians ought to be good citizens? Amen?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
We ought to be good citizens subject to the rulers
unless we're being asked to do something that violates our
covenant with God. And finally, our good works determine our effectiveness.
Verse fourteen says let Our people also learn to maintain
good works to meet urgent needs that they may not
be unfruitful. If you don't do good works, you're unproductive.
(17:35):
And the Bible says that when you have the word
of God in your life, it's going to make you proficient.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
You're going to be complete.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
It's going to equip you so you're prepared, and it's
going to make you productive.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
What does it mean to be productive? It means doing something?
You know what?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Sometimes I think Christians sit around on their hands thinking,
you know, if God ever tells me, I'm going to
do something, my friend, God's already told you.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Get up and do something.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
If you're not sure, do it anyway, if it's good,
and God will help you to get it perfect. How
many of you know it's easier to steer a car
after it's moving. Amen, some of you all, I'm telling you,
one of these days, I've heard people say this in
this church.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
When everything's right, I'm going to join the church. My friend?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
What has to happen? Are you waiting for a voice
from heaven? You already got it. It's in the book.
Somebody said, I know I should be baptized pastor, and
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
I'm just waiting till I feel right about it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
You aren't ever going to feel right about getting in
a pool of water in front of two thousand people.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
But if God said it, do it. Amen.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Oh, here's one I know I need to tithe.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Well, if you know it, why aren't you doing it?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
In the Book of Matthew, in his Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus put it this way. He said, let your light
so shine before men watch this, that they may see
your good works.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
And not come up and patch you on the back.
That's what we often think, that.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
They may see your good works and glorify your father.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
What is the rest of it? Who's in heaven?
Speaker 3 (19:23):
When people see what we do as Christians, because we're productive,
because we've been in the Word of God and being
nourished by the Word of God, and now we're producing
good works, they.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Ought to be saying, you know what, that's one of
those Christians. That's one of them.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
You know what they call us, don't you that's one
of them. Oh man, that's a great thought. I'm one
of them. How many of you are one of them?
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Amen?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And let them glorify your father in heaven because they
see the good works you do. There was no southern
gentleman who was an atheist, and they were trying to
get him to become a Christian, and they tried every
argument that they could find to teach him what.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
A Christian was.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
They had all the apologetic arguments, they had every one
of the Bible difficulties, all answered and paradigmed, and he
couldn't believe.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
But then his daughter, who was a little girl, grew
up and went.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
To a Sunday school and she got saved, and she
came home and she began to live like a little
Christian in her house. And one day that old, stiff, hardened,
crusty atheist said, all the apologetics in the world could
never bring me to believe what you've been trying to
get me to believe. But that simple girl that lives
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in my house, that's been living for God and showing
the qualities that I don't have in my life, she's
convinced me there is a God, and I need to
believe in him. It's our good works, it's the life
we live.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
My friend.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
If you're walking around spouting Jesus' stuff and your life
is all messed up, just keep quiet. Till you bring
your life into phase with your message, because a word
without reality does more damage than good. Now, that doesn't
mean you have to be perfect, none of us. If
we had to be perfect before we could talk about Christ,
we'd all be quiet.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
But you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
If you're living in a lifestyle that's dishonoring to the Lord,
don't be running around given testimonies. Let your life get
clean and write. Then your life will bring honor and
glory to the Lord. I've had the responsibility, as some
of you know, as the executor of my father's estate.
(21:41):
But one of the things I found in my dad's
stuff all of his old Bibles, and I got his
Bible that he preached from in nineteen thirty five, and
all the notes written in the margins, And my goal
is to kind of go through them myself, and then
I want to give one of those Bibles to all
four of my kids so they know that their spiritual
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heritage didn't start with me.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
It goes way back.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
But you know what, I've discovered that my dad was
writing notes in his Bible that looked like the notes
I write in my Bible. Now you say that's because
you're in the family. That's genes. No, it's the same
response to God's word. My dad was preaching messages in
nineteen thirty five, just like the messages I preached today. Oh,
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there was a different cultural response, but it was the
same book. And in nineteen thirty five, and in nineteen
forty five, and in nineteen fifty five, and in nineteen
sixty five and seventy five and eighty five and ninety five,
and all the way up until the day before he
died in August of year two thousand. He was studying
this book and teaching this book, and preaching this book
and trying the best he knew how to live this book.
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And he wasn't a perfect man by any.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Means, But it was the word of God.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
That made him what he was, That more than likely
caused all of his children to be Christians, that raised
up a college in Cedarville, that are teaching the word
of God. That's the word of God, my friend, this
is the faith of our fathers. And I just want
to start by challenging all of you if you've let
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this book get dust on it. You know the old saying,
don't you that if all the Christians would blow the
dust off of their bibles, would be the worst dust
storm in history. Well, I'm teaching you a little bit
about that. But you know, some of you take this
book to church and you walk out in your car
after church and you flip it up in the back
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window and you never look at it again till you.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Come the next Sunday. Let's make this book work. It's
God's word to us. Amen.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Amen, Hey friends, Tomorrow we're going to talk about accessing
the Word of God from a couple of passages and
Ephesians and Hebrews. You don't want to miss any of
these messages the rest of this week, as we build
this foundation for the priority and importance of God's Word
in twenty twenty five, and to help us get that
(24:07):
message across, we've created a resource for you. This is
just for this month alone, for the month of January.
It's a beautiful book called The Whole Story, a fifty
two week devotional journey through every book of the Bible
that's right during this time. In this next year, you
will get a chance to read a devotional from every
(24:29):
book in the Bible. We'll double up on some of
them because they're really short and small, but for fifty
two weeks, your grasp of the Word of God will
be increasing every day. Thank you for your gift, and
thank you for asking for this resource. It's our way
of saying thank you, and we'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and
doctor David Jeremiah, the senior pastor. Let us know how
this ministry is impacting you by writing to Turning Point
Po box thirty eight thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine
two one sixty three, visiting our website at David Jeremiah
dot org. Slash Radio. We're calling eight hundred ninety four
(25:17):
seven nineteen ninety three. Ask for your copy of David's
helpful new book, The Whole Story, a fifty two week
devotional journey through every book of the Bible. Yours for
a gift of any amount. You can also view over
twelve hundred of doctor Jeremiah sermons on any screen anytime
you like on our Turning Point Plus streaming service. For
(25:40):
a monthly gift of any amount, visit Turningpoint plus dot
org for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us
tomorrow as we continue the series Bible strong on turning
point with doctor David Jeremiah
When you own something valuable, how can you learn to
use it wisely and productively by following the instructions from
its creator? Today, on turning point, doctor David Jeremiah explains
that when we followed the instructions from our creator, our
lives produce fruit that demonstrates our faith. From the series
(00:26):
Bible Strong, here's David to introduce the conclusion of applying
the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
You know, many of us have grown up in Christian
families where the Bible has been available to us. I
suppose if you would look through the shelves of your home,
if you're a Christian, you'll find four or five different
translations of the Scripture that you've come upon and perhaps
tried over the years. But you know what, Understanding the
Bible is important, but applying it is way more important.
(00:55):
You'd be much better off to know less of the
Bible that you apply than to know more of the
Bible that you ignore. Unfortunately, so many people today think
that knowing all the scriptures you can know will get
you through life. But experience teaches us that if you
take one verse and you apply that verse to its
(01:16):
absolute fullest application, you will be much further along in
your walk with the Lord. The Bible tells us where
to walk in the Word, and that's what we're trying
to do as we talk together about the Scripture today
on this Monday edition of Turning Point, we're going to
finish up our discussion from Friday as we talk about
(01:38):
applying the Word of God, and to help you do
that during this year, we have a beautiful resource. It's
called The Whole Story, a fifty two week devotional journey
that we have developed here at Turning Point. And we've
taken these notes and put them together so that you
will be representing every book in the Bible during the
coming year with devotional understanding, and it will help you
(02:03):
understand how the Bible fits together and how the whole
message of the Bible is central. It's about Jesus Christ,
who alone is worthy to be the center object of
our attention when we study the Bible. So ask for
your copy of the Whole Story when you send your
gift to Turning Point today, and now part two of
Applying the Word of God.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I recently read an account of the nineteen eighty six
Chernobyl nuclear disaster that illustrates the importance of this kind
of interaction.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
Here's the report. There were two electrical engineers in.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
The control room that night, and the best thing they
could be said for them was that they were doing
something they shouldn't have been doing. They were playing around
with the machine. Can you believe it? They were performing
what the Soviets later described as an unauthorized experiment. They
were trying to see how long a turbine would free
weel when they took the power off of it.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Now, taking the power off of that kind.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Of a nuclear reactor is a difficult, dangerous thing to do,
because these reactors are very unstable in their lower stages.
And in order to get the reactor down to that
kind of power where they could perform the test they
were interested in performing, they had to override manually six
separate computer driven alarm systems. One by one, the computers
(03:26):
would come up and say stop dangerous, go no further,
and one by one, rather than shutting off the experiment,
they shut off the alarms and they kept going.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And you know what happened.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Nuclear fallout that was recorded all around the world from
the largest industrial accident ever to occur since time began.
The instructions and the warnings were neglected.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
You know what.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
That's what a lot of people do with the warnings
in the Word of God, with the reproofs in the
Word of God, they override them. They shut the alarm
systems off. And one of the things that we're fighting with,
and one of the reasons why I want to be
faithful as a pastor in preaching this book is that
the neat thing now in churches is don't ever give
any of those warnings. Always say the positive things. Always
(04:12):
tell people things that'll make them feel good. Never warn
them according to the Word of God. Make sure that
when they walk out of your church at the end
of Sunday service, they walk out with the feel goods
and the warm fuzzies. The only problem is if I
do that, I'm overriding the system which God has placed
in his book. And all I'm doing is helping you
(04:33):
head toward a disaster someplace in your life.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
By the grace of God.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I want to be as positive as any man can be,
and I'm really a positive person. I want to be
positive and not negative. But most of all, I want
to be faithful to what the book says. And I'll
tell you the truth. Friends, if I come to something
in the Bible that's hard for me to preach. I'm
going to grit my teeth and preach it because I
know I need it as much as you do the
(04:59):
warnings of the Bible. The Bible's profitable for that amen,
and then the Bible's profitable for encouraging. It says here
that the Holy scriptures are profitable for reproof and for correction.
It means that sometimes we do get off the pathway.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
How many of you know that.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
I'm not going to take an inventory this morning, but
some of you got off the pathway this last year,
didn't you just a little bit.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
You know what the Bible's good for.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The Bible's good for getting you back on the path
that you got off of. That's what the word correcting means.
You know, the Bible doesn't give up on you when
you fail. The Bible just keeps after you until you
get back where you belong. And then the Bible is
also good for instruction and righteousness, for enabling. John Greenleaf
(05:52):
Whittier put it this way. He said, we searched the
world for truth. We call the good and true, the
beautiful from graven stone and written scroll and all old
flower fields of the soul, and weary seekers of the best,
we come back laden from our quest to find that
all the sages said is in the book our mother's read.
Speaker 4 (06:14):
Isn't that true?
Speaker 3 (06:16):
All the truth the sages said are in this book
our mother's read, A wonderful word of God. Reasons for
being in the Word of God. Now, let me just
take this back and put it in perspective for you.
First of all, the Bible is good in saving us, amen,
(06:39):
And it enables us to do what we ought to do.
When we get saved, we do what we ought to do.
Then the Bible's good for teaching us. And in teaching us,
the Bible helps us to know what we ought to do.
We find out in the book. When we get saved,
we're enabled to do it. When we read the book,
we find out what we're supposed to do. And then
(06:59):
the Bible is good for correcting, exhorting us to refrain
from doing what we ought not to do. You're reading
the Bible, it tells you, don't do this, don't do that,
And then the Bible is good for restoring. It encourages
us to return to doing what we ought to do
that we didn't do, and that we got away from
doing amen. And then the Bible is good for training.
(07:22):
It expresses clearly to us what we should do from
now on.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
So here's the picture I have. I'm walking down the road, I.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
Don't even know God, and all of a sudden, somebody
gives me a tract and I read the book and
I get saved. Now, all of a sudden, I have
a desire to do something different.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
What should I do? Well?
Speaker 3 (07:40):
I start reading this book, this is what I should do,
And I start walking along doing what I'm supposed to do.
And then all of a sudden I do something I'm
not supposed to do, and I find out that I
did it by reading it in the book. I didn't
do it on purpose, maybe, but I did it anyway.
And I read in the book and I found out
I shouldn't have done it. So now what do I do?
Speaker 4 (08:01):
Well?
Speaker 3 (08:01):
I just keep reading, and as I keep reading, the
Bible tells me how to get back on the right path.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
And once I get back on.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
The right path, it's the word of God that then
takes all this experience that I've had in doing the
wrong thing and being confronted by the word of God.
Now it gives me instruction and righteousness, so I can
walk forward in my Christian life, hopefully not making that
mistake again, but following in the renewed path of God's
Holy Word.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
So every stage of my life before I'm saved, I
need the word of God. As soon as I'm saved,
I need the word of God. When I get off
the path, I need the word of God. When I
try to get back on the path, I need the
word of God. And once I'm back on the path,
I need the Word of God even more. Man, you've
got to have this book. That's why for me to
preach anything else but the Word of God would be
wasting your time and mind.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
This is the book that can change your life. Now.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Paul closes out this little passage by telling us that
the Bible, if we follow it like we've been talking about,
will have a certain reason rest in our lives. And
I'm going to have to cover this quickly, so you
listen carefully. It says here that when we do all
of this verse seventeen, the Man of God will be complete,
(09:10):
thoroughly equipped.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
For every good work.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
First of all, when we let the Word of God
be our goal and our guide, we become spiritually proficient.
The word perfect here means complete. It's a word that
is used in classical writings to describe how the vertebrae
or the joints exactly fit together in the body. They
perfectly join together. And the Bible says that when we
(09:37):
take God's words seriously and let it be a part
of every stage of our life, the result will be
that there will be a completeness about us as God's people.
We will sense that there's nothing missing. That while we
are not perfect in the sense of sinless perfection, everything
we need we have, and everything that's important.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
God's doing that work in our life. Already.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
We're becoming proficient in our walk with God. There's a
wonderful prayer in Hebrews that's often used as a benediction
that speaks to this. It's Hebrews thirteen twenty and twenty one.
Listen to this prayer. Let it be our prayer today. Now,
May the God of Peace, who brought up our Lord
Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting Covenant, make you complete
(10:22):
in every good work, to do His will, working in
you that which is well pleasing in his sight through
Jesus Christ, to whom be.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
Glory forever and ever.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
That's my prayer that God would take this book. And
Paul says that when we take the book seriously, it
makes us.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
Proficient, complete in what we do.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
Notice Secondly, he says that the man of God may
be complete, thoroughly equipped. We become not only spiritually proficient,
we become spiritually prepared. The Bible equips us so that
we know what to do. This is a picture of
a ship that's in the harbor, taking on all of
(11:01):
the provisions for the trip. Sometimes when we do our
ministry cruises, I get on the ship early, and I
go up on the top deck, and I stand on
the top deck and I look over and watch what's
going on down below.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Man, it's amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Do you know how much food it takes to feed
two thousand people for a week, twice as much as
it should.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
And they load all that food on that.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
Ship with forklifts and trucks and conveyor belts. It takes
five or six hours to get all the old stuff
off and get all the new stuff on. What Paul
is saying when he talks about being fully equipped. He's saying,
you are the ship. You have everything in your cargo
that you need.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
You're ready for anything.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
When you let the Word of God be your goal
and your purpose and you study it, it doesn't matter
what comes along, You're equipped to deal with it. You
watch Christians go through that, and you watch unsaved people
go through it.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
Christians are equal whipped.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
Amen, they got all the cargo aboard, They know everything
they need to do.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Then there's one last one, and this is really neat.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
It says, when you have the Bible in your heart
and you let it take over every stage of your life,
you become not only spiritually proficient and spiritually prepared, but
you become spiritually productive. Notice, equipped onto every good work.
You say, I didn't think good works were for Christians.
(12:31):
You know, I've suspected that some of you thought that
good works are not to become a Christian. But good
works ought to be the very epitome of what a
Christian is in this world. Amen, For by grace are
you saved through faith and not out of yourselves. It
(12:51):
is a gift of God, not of works, lest any
man should boast. But right next to it, it says,
for you are God's creation created unto good works. Know
what it says. And just as first and second Timothy
is dominated.
Speaker 4 (13:05):
By the term doctrine, what you know, the.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
Book of Titus is dominated by the term good works
over and over and over again. In that little tiny
letter to Titus, you find the importance of good works
and want to take you through it real quickly. As
we close, we become spiritually productive through the Word of God,
so that we can do.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
Every good work. Titus three eight.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
Says this, This is a faithful saying, and these things
I want you to affirm constantly that those who have
believed in God should be careful to maintain good works.
These things are good and profitable to men. What does
that say Those who are Christians ought to be careful
(13:47):
to maintain good works. Now, let me get this clear
with you. You don't need good works to become a Christian,
but if you are a Christian, you will automatically be
committed to good works. Good works don't belong in your
life necessarily before salvation, if you're trying to use that
as a way to climb up to God. But good
works come as the result of what Christ has done
(14:08):
in your life and the Bible says we're to be
careful to maintain good works. Let me tell you something, friends,
Christians ought to be good people. I'm tired of folks
saying to me, I don't want to hire him, he's
a Christian. I've had too many Christians work in here.
I can't deal with now. Sometimes it's because Christians bring
condemnation to their company by their good works, but far
too often it's because they don't work as hard as
(14:30):
the other people.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
That's a shame.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
The Bible says that if we're Christians, we ought to
be committed to good works.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
We ought to maintain good works.
Speaker 3 (14:39):
And I want you to notice all of these passages
in Titus that talk about it. First of all, in
Titus one sixteen, we are told that our good works
demonstrate our walk. It says here about some people that
they profess to know God, but in their works they
deny him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.
(14:59):
Did you know that there are some people who walk
around talking the faith but do not know walk the faith? Boy,
isn't it uncomfortably be with people like that? You already
know they're not walking the faith, but they're up there
talking the faith like you wouldn't believe. But their works
give them away. You see, our good works demonstrate our walk.
Number two, our good works defeat our enemies. Notice chapter
(15:20):
two in Titus, verses seven and eight in all things,
showing yourself to be a pattern of good works. In doctrine,
showing integrity, reverence, and incorruptibility, and sound speech that cannot
be condemned. That one who is an opponent may be
ashamed having nothing evil to say about you. Why can't
he say anything evil about you? It's like Daniel in
the Old Testament. They tried to find something about Daniel
(15:42):
that they could use to get him arrested, and the
Bible says the only thing they could find about Daniel
had to do with.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
His walk with God.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
And the Word of God says, if God's word is
in you, it will make you a productive Christian, zealous
for good works. And when you do your good works,
you shep the mouths of people that want to criticize you. Oh,
they may talk about your witness, they may talk about
your love, but don't let them ever talk about your
evil conduct, because your good works shut their mouths.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
Notice.
Speaker 3 (16:11):
Thirdly, good works display our faith. This is Titus two fourteen,
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us
from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own
special people zealous for good works. We're not just to
be committed to good works. We're to be fanatics about it.
(16:33):
When somebody has a problem in our neighborhood, we should
be the first ones at the door. You don't have
to wait till somebody comes and asks you. You're always
looking for ways to demonstrate your faith. You know why,
because that's why Christ died. Christ died to create in
us people who were peculiar to him and zealous of
good works. And good works describe our citizenship. Chapter three,
(16:58):
Verses one and two remind them to be subject to
rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every
good work, to speak evil of no one, to be
peaceable general, showing all humilities to all men.
Speaker 4 (17:08):
You know what Christians ought to be good citizens? Amen?
Speaker 3 (17:12):
We ought to be good citizens subject to the rulers
unless we're being asked to do something that violates our
covenant with God. And finally, our good works determine our effectiveness.
Verse fourteen says let Our people also learn to maintain
good works to meet urgent needs that they may not
be unfruitful. If you don't do good works, you're unproductive.
(17:35):
And the Bible says that when you have the word
of God in your life, it's going to make you proficient.
Speaker 4 (17:41):
You're going to be complete.
Speaker 3 (17:44):
It's going to equip you so you're prepared, and it's
going to make you productive.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
What does it mean to be productive? It means doing something?
You know what?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Sometimes I think Christians sit around on their hands thinking,
you know, if God ever tells me, I'm going to
do something, my friend, God's already told you.
Speaker 4 (18:03):
Get up and do something.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
If you're not sure, do it anyway, if it's good,
and God will help you to get it perfect. How
many of you know it's easier to steer a car
after it's moving. Amen, some of you all, I'm telling you,
one of these days, I've heard people say this in
this church.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
When everything's right, I'm going to join the church. My friend?
Speaker 3 (18:24):
What has to happen? Are you waiting for a voice
from heaven? You already got it. It's in the book.
Somebody said, I know I should be baptized pastor, and
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (18:35):
I'm just waiting till I feel right about it.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
You aren't ever going to feel right about getting in
a pool of water in front of two thousand people.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
But if God said it, do it. Amen.
Speaker 3 (18:48):
Oh, here's one I know I need to tithe.
Speaker 4 (18:57):
Well, if you know it, why aren't you doing it?
Speaker 3 (19:00):
In the Book of Matthew, in his Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus put it this way. He said, let your light
so shine before men watch this, that they may see
your good works.
Speaker 4 (19:11):
And not come up and patch you on the back.
That's what we often think, that.
Speaker 3 (19:16):
They may see your good works and glorify your father.
Speaker 4 (19:20):
What is the rest of it? Who's in heaven?
Speaker 3 (19:23):
When people see what we do as Christians, because we're productive,
because we've been in the Word of God and being
nourished by the Word of God, and now we're producing
good works, they.
Speaker 4 (19:31):
Ought to be saying, you know what, that's one of
those Christians. That's one of them.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
You know what they call us, don't you that's one
of them. Oh man, that's a great thought. I'm one
of them. How many of you are one of them?
Speaker 4 (19:43):
Amen?
Speaker 3 (19:45):
And let them glorify your father in heaven because they
see the good works you do. There was no southern
gentleman who was an atheist, and they were trying to
get him to become a Christian, and they tried every
argument that they could find to teach him what.
Speaker 4 (20:03):
A Christian was.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
They had all the apologetic arguments, they had every one
of the Bible difficulties, all answered and paradigmed, and he
couldn't believe.
Speaker 4 (20:13):
But then his daughter, who was a little girl, grew
up and went.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
To a Sunday school and she got saved, and she
came home and she began to live like a little
Christian in her house. And one day that old, stiff, hardened,
crusty atheist said, all the apologetics in the world could
never bring me to believe what you've been trying to
get me to believe. But that simple girl that lives
(20:39):
in my house, that's been living for God and showing
the qualities that I don't have in my life, she's
convinced me there is a God, and I need to
believe in him. It's our good works, it's the life
we live.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
My friend.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
If you're walking around spouting Jesus' stuff and your life
is all messed up, just keep quiet. Till you bring
your life into phase with your message, because a word
without reality does more damage than good. Now, that doesn't
mean you have to be perfect, none of us. If
we had to be perfect before we could talk about Christ,
we'd all be quiet.
Speaker 4 (21:17):
But you know what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
If you're living in a lifestyle that's dishonoring to the Lord,
don't be running around given testimonies. Let your life get
clean and write. Then your life will bring honor and
glory to the Lord. I've had the responsibility, as some
of you know, as the executor of my father's estate.
(21:41):
But one of the things I found in my dad's
stuff all of his old Bibles, and I got his
Bible that he preached from in nineteen thirty five, and
all the notes written in the margins, And my goal
is to kind of go through them myself, and then
I want to give one of those Bibles to all
four of my kids so they know that their spiritual
(22:01):
heritage didn't start with me.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
It goes way back.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
But you know what, I've discovered that my dad was
writing notes in his Bible that looked like the notes
I write in my Bible. Now you say that's because
you're in the family. That's genes. No, it's the same
response to God's word. My dad was preaching messages in
nineteen thirty five, just like the messages I preached today. Oh,
(22:27):
there was a different cultural response, but it was the
same book. And in nineteen thirty five, and in nineteen
forty five, and in nineteen fifty five, and in nineteen
sixty five and seventy five and eighty five and ninety five,
and all the way up until the day before he
died in August of year two thousand. He was studying
this book and teaching this book, and preaching this book
and trying the best he knew how to live this book.
(22:49):
And he wasn't a perfect man by any.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Means, But it was the word of God.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
That made him what he was, That more than likely
caused all of his children to be Christians, that raised
up a college in Cedarville, that are teaching the word
of God. That's the word of God, my friend, this
is the faith of our fathers. And I just want
to start by challenging all of you if you've let
(23:16):
this book get dust on it. You know the old saying,
don't you that if all the Christians would blow the
dust off of their bibles, would be the worst dust
storm in history. Well, I'm teaching you a little bit
about that. But you know, some of you take this
book to church and you walk out in your car
after church and you flip it up in the back
(23:36):
window and you never look at it again till you.
Speaker 4 (23:38):
Come the next Sunday. Let's make this book work. It's
God's word to us. Amen.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Amen, Hey friends, Tomorrow we're going to talk about accessing
the Word of God from a couple of passages and
Ephesians and Hebrews. You don't want to miss any of
these messages the rest of this week, as we build
this foundation for the priority and importance of God's Word
in twenty twenty five, and to help us get that
(24:07):
message across, we've created a resource for you. This is
just for this month alone, for the month of January.
It's a beautiful book called The Whole Story, a fifty
two week devotional journey through every book of the Bible
that's right during this time. In this next year, you
will get a chance to read a devotional from every
(24:29):
book in the Bible. We'll double up on some of
them because they're really short and small, but for fifty
two weeks, your grasp of the Word of God will
be increasing every day. Thank you for your gift, and
thank you for asking for this resource. It's our way
of saying thank you, and we'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Our message today originated from Shadow Mountain Community Church and
doctor David Jeremiah, the senior pastor. Let us know how
this ministry is impacting you by writing to Turning Point
Po box thirty eight thirty eight, San Diego, California, nine
two one sixty three, visiting our website at David Jeremiah
dot org. Slash Radio. We're calling eight hundred ninety four
(25:17):
seven nineteen ninety three. Ask for your copy of David's
helpful new book, The Whole Story, a fifty two week
devotional journey through every book of the Bible. Yours for
a gift of any amount. You can also view over
twelve hundred of doctor Jeremiah sermons on any screen anytime
you like on our Turning Point Plus streaming service. For
(25:40):
a monthly gift of any amount, visit Turningpoint plus dot
org for details. This is David Michael Jeremiah. Join us
tomorrow as we continue the series Bible strong on turning
point with doctor David Jeremiah
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