In the sermon titled 'The Sufficiency of Scripture' by James Lundquist, Psalm 19 is used as the foundational text to explore the notion that the Word of God is complete and adequate for all aspects of life and faith. The sermon delves into the general and specific revelations of God, with general revelation being evident in creation and specific revelation found in Scripture. Lundquist argues that the sufficiency of Scripture is a 'top button doctrine' essential for aligning other beliefs and practices. He emphasizes that Scripture is perfect for salvation, wisdom, joy, and enlightenment, and he challenges believers to rely on it as their primary source of guidance. The sermon encourages self-evaluation to identify where one turns first for help and stresses the importance of reading the Bible comprehensively. Lundquist underscores the transformative power of Scripture, supported by the Holy Spirit, to address sin, provide wisdom, and produce joy, calling it a 'sweet, great reward.'

As Gary said, our sermon text for today is Psalm 19, the entire chapter. To the chief musician, a Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. And then he has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven, and its circuit to the other end, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins.

Let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Let me pray. Let me pray.

God, I believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to give power to your words. To mature your people. To save a people. So God please let the words in my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer.

Amen. On our website, we have a couple sections. One are distinctions, distinctives of Sovereign Redeemer Community Church. We list ten of them. And there's a section on the essential doctrines.

So the essential doctrines are those things that we say, in order to be a Christian, here's what you need to believe. These are essential. We talk about things like who is God, the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, to trust, to repent and trust in Christ alone for salvation. These are essential and any Christian, no matter what denomination, no matter what church you go to, those are essential. And then we have a list of distinctives.

We list ten of them and we're going to bring in messages once in a while and go through those distinctives. What are those things that we think are distinctive about us? Some of them really are distinctive about us, whether it's family integration or things like that. But just because they're distinctive, it doesn't mean, hey, sovereign redeemer only believes these and nobody else does. No, it's just things that we want to say are worth separating on some of them, but there are things that are distinct.

One thing is we adhere greatly to the sequential exposition of Scripture. I'll talk a little bit about why that's helpful today to me and to you. But the sufficiency of Scripture is the top one. Now on our website we need to rearrange it, but we get to it first. And it doesn't mean that another church does not believe in the sufficiency of Scripture, that we only know by no means.

By no means, but we put it there to let you know what we believe as a top button issue. Top button distinctive, top button doctrine that's going to drive everything that we do. It's not that faith Baptist or some other church wouldn't agree with that, that they believe in the sufficient of scripture. I didn't look at their website. They might have it on there.

But just because they don't have it on there doesn't mean they don't believe it. But they may not, I'm not talking about them particularly, but other churches may not say it the same way that I'm going to say it this morning, and as firmly and as directly as we're going to talk about this morning. I don't think any Christian would come out outright and say, I don't believe in the sufficiency of Scripture. They may not realize what they really are thinking, and we need to challenge ourselves on how we directly and indirectly think about that. But we're going to bring in, once in a while, some messages on distinctives that we have there.

And the first one that we really want to talk about is sufficiency of Scripture. And what do we mean by that? If you were on our website, you would see some of this. The Word of God is sufficient. We'll talk about it.

The Word of God is complete, not lacking in anything. Comprehensive. It is sufficient for faith. It is sufficient for practice. It alone is the voice of God.

Given to thoroughly equip us for every good work, we will honor Scripture as sufficient for life, all of life, godliness, consulting it for all things." That all things is the challenging part for most of us, isn't it? That all things. We'll talk about that this morning. We're going to use Psalm 19 to look at this. When you think of the sufficiency of Scripture, you might think of several texts.

The ones that should come to the top of your mind, Psalm 19, Psalm 119, hopefully for obvious reasons why I'm not using that as the text I go through this morning, But Psalm 119, we'll hear some of that, and 2 Timothy 3, especially 15 through 17. Those should be texts that come to your mind. Have those written down. Know about those. And when you're battling, scripture really, for all things, can I consult it?

Go to those sections and God will tell you, yes, yes they are. So we're going to look at Psalm 19. We're going to focus on verses 7 through 9. But let's start off by looking at verses 1 through 6. And Just briefly, it will take me longer to read them than to comment on them.

I want to read them though, again. This is to the chief musician, this is a Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, And the firmament shows his handiwork. Day unto day utter speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them, he, God, has set a tabernacle for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race. Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end. And there is nothing hidden from its heat. This is what we call the general revelation of God.

General revelation of God. You can look and see that something has happened out there, this general revelation of God. Now, when people look at creation, there's a few things, people take it a few different ways. There's some people that look at the vastness of the universe, we're learning more and more about it. We know there's now trillions of galaxies, trillions, and in them trillions of stars and trillions upon trillions of planets.

And many people look at them and say, oh, wow, How lucky are we that of all this, the odds would be that there would be this ball that can sustain life over millions of years. There's some that look at it and say, wow, okay. There are many, there are many also that look at that and say, wow, How amazing is that? I worship you, Sun. I worship you, Moon.

I worship you, Stars. I worship you, Earth. Because there's a power in the universe that I don't... And so there's some that make idols of creation. There are some, there are many, that look at it and say, there must be a God, but I don't know what that is, and are really deists.

They're not Christians. They're headed to hell with that belief, even though they have a general knowledge that there must be a God, a creator, a higher being, an intelligence. We look, as Christians, at creation. What do we do? We glorify God.

Why? Why do we glorify God? What do we say? We glorify the God of the Bible. The Bible.

We don't just say we believe in a God. We believe in the God of the Bible. We've been given specific revelation in the Word of God that we know who God is, who the Creator is, and we worship Him and Him alone of the Bible. This general revelation, although we're going to talk about salvation, this general revelation, I'm not saying that because before Moses we didn't have written scripture, no, that they couldn't be saved. No, we know Abraham was saved.

We know others were saved, Noah. They were given some specific revelation and there were others. But this general revelation, although people look at it and you don't necessarily learn the gospel from that, it is enough to condemn them. You are condemned, John 3, continuing after 3, 16, 17, and 18, you're condemned already. And you look at creation and you see that and that condemns you.

You're condemned already. The Word of God is what gives us a specific revelation. And this is a top button doctrine. This is a top button issue. When we look at, so, verses 1-6 are general revelations, 7-14 we would call specific revelation.

Revelation of God, God revealing Himself to us. And this is a top button doctrine. Top button doctrine. If you get this one right, the other buttons will tend to line up. You can still get some things mixed up a little bit here, but if you keep going back to that top one, eventually you'll get them lined up.

You use that top one. If you get that one off, you have no hope for the rest of it. Right? It's going to all be off. But this drives everything.

This drives everything. It drives what you think and believe and where you're going to learn about and how it's going to drive your thinking on church government, on worship, on life, on death, on marriage, on parenting, on discipline, on government, what is sin, what God hates, what He loves, on money and finances. It explains evil, that there's Satan, that there's demons, that there's angels, who is God, knowledge of God, the need for salvation, gospel, heaven and hell. If you're sitting there going, well James you forgot about this one, because it's all encompassing. It is for all things.

We say consulting it for all things. Is the Word of God sufficient in all things or not? Is God, therefore, if you say no, then what you're saying is God is not sufficient for all things to care for us, to disciple us, to love us. I want to start with the end of mine. Verse 10 and 11, especially verse 11, says, in keeping them, in keeping God's Word, there is great reward.

And that's one of my goals, one of my desires, that as we go through this, that it would encourage you, encourage us, that the Word of God is great reward, that it is a wonderful treasure far and above anything else you would lean on, far and above. Everything else is secondary, helpful, it can be very helpful, but secondary by a long distance to the Word of God. As we go through 7 through 9, there are six statements and they all have a pattern of giving a title to the Word of God, the Word of the Lord, giving a characteristic of the Word of the Lord, and a benefit, a great reward of the Word of God. And You see that all of them have this of the Lord, the law of the Lord, the testimony of the Lord, the statutes of the Lord. That's just drilling in that this is the Word of God, not the Word of men.

It is the Word of God, of the Lord. It is His, and it is His in 66 books alone. That is it. Nothing more, nothing less, just these 66 books of the Lord, all of which are given by the inspiration of God to be the rule of faith and life. Go look at our confession of faith, the second line of Baptist Confession.

The very first chapter is of the Holy Scriptures. That's how important this is, the sufficiency of Scripture. So let's start going through these six phrases. Let's start number one in the first half of verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. Law, When we hear law, often we say the law of Moses. And yeah, that is right to say. That is a phrase in Scripture. You can say the law of Moses, says it often.

But here in the context, it's not just the law of Moses. It's talking about all of Scripture. All of Scripture is a command of God. All of Scripture are laws of command. I command all men everywhere to repent.

That's a command. That's a law. Jesus says, if you love me, keep my commandments. That's All of scripture, and it is perfect. All of scripture is perfect.

There are no errors. It is not lacking. There is no corruption. It is complete. It is comprehensive.

Nothing needs added to it. James 1, 25, But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, continues in it, right? Verse 11, and in keeping them there is great reward, and continues in it, and is not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." That's great reward. A great reward. And here we have, the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.

Let's start with this great reward. That's an understatement, isn't it? A great reward of salvation. This is salvation. This is specifically about salvation.

I'll tie it into reviving your soul as well. There are some that are there. But salvation, all the Bible is perfect for salvation. All of it. When you hear testimonies, when people will talk about verses that God used to draw them, most of the time It's not John 3.16.

It's not Ephesians 2. It's something from 1 Kings maybe. You'll hear these other scriptures. And it's just all the Word of God is perfect for converting the soul. It tells us from beginning to end, When you read your Bible, look for this.

Look for the Gospel from beginning to end. It is perfect for converting the soul. It's going to outline the Gospel. It's going to tell you that God is holy. God is perfect.

He demands that you are holy and perfect. And then He's going to tell you you're not. It's one of the purposes of the law, isn't it? One of the chief purposes of the law to make you see I am not holy. I am not perfect.

I am a wretch by nature, a child of wrath. One of the purposes of the law. Tell you can't get there. And so Christ, who is God from eternity past, planned this and did this, came to earth, lived the perfect life in your place, died the death you deserve, right? Your sin, cosmic treason against God, what is treason?

Always deserve death. The penalty of death, the wages of your sin is death and eternal hell. And Jesus died, broke His body, died, taking on your sin. Christ became sin for us, dying the death we deserve, and then conquered sin and death by rising from the dead. And for all who repent and believe in Him alone for salvation, we'll have eternal life.

You'll die, you'll raise from the dead, you'll have eternal life with your Savior, with your God. And from beginning of Genesis through Revelation, you can see that play out. You can see the Gospel all throughout, and it's there to be seen. Here's a question for you. Does our evangelism, of family, family, our children, of others, does it reflect the belief in the sufficient scripture?

Or does it reflect the sufficiency in my smarts? My logic, my story making ability, my ability to create this emotional environment that's going to make people want to be saved. Right? That happens often. It's not to say that me helping explain Scripture, you helping explain Scripture is not a good thing.

That is a very good thing. But what are you dependent on? God doesn't say that James' thoughts are perfect for converting the soul. My ability to set up an emotional environment with songs and music and this and that is perfect for converting the soul. The scripture, the law of the Lord is perfect for converting the soul.

This is foundation for the rest. If you're not saved, the rest of this is not for you. But listen. Listen to the great reward that's there being offered for you. And see if you're getting it from the world.

You're not. You're not Christian. The rest of this, look at this reward. Look at the reward God gave you in salvation. And then let's look at the rest of this.

Psalm 119, 41. Let your mercies come also to me, O Lord, your salvation according to your word. The understatement of the day, I already said it. Salvation is a great reward. Salvation is a great reward.

The second half of 7, number 2, the testimonies of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. This is God's testimony of Himself. Himself and everything. Everything He created, everything that we know about and don't know about, but we're talking about the Word of God. His testimony, especially what He says about Himself, is sure.

Is sure. What He says about us is sure. What He says about His creation is sure. His holiness in our sinfulness, He is faithful, this is sure, this is steadfast, this is solid, this is trustworthy, This is a sure foundation. God's testimony is word.

The words of the Lord are a sure foundation. And this will make the simple wise. Faithfully. If we just start with number one that we had here, right, if you're not a Christian, what are you described as? A fool.

You can't get much more simple than a fool. Now, you're described as a fool, and he can make the fool wise, make you wise into salvation. He knew he would get here eventually, turned to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3. You know, you've read it, you've seen it, but I want you to put your eyes on it.

So know it's there. 2 Timothy 3, 15-17. And that from childhood, this is talking to Timothy, you have known the Holy Scriptures where I are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now, how did he know this from childhood? Because his mother and grandmother were teaching him.

And Paul's calling out and commending them in this. He commends them earlier. But he commends them for this. This is what you used to teach Timothy. This is what you used to guide Timothy in especially salvation, matters of salvation, and then continues.

And you tell him, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." The word of the Lord is sure, is perfect for converting the soul. That's one simple, right? But the rest of us are simple. Anybody here that thinks you're something, thinks you're wise, you're not. You're not as wise as you think you are.

Oh, you may have wisdom from the Word of God and There are wise things that you do. I'm not saying there aren't wise things you do, but be careful. Be humble about it. You need more wisdom. I need more wisdom.

And the Word of God is sure. It is faithfully making simple wise. Anybody here want more wisdom? I do. I'm going to get it from the Word of God.

I'm going to get it from Him. Often when I pray for myself or for others, God, please give me, please give them wisdom from on high. Not my wisdom, but wisdom of you, God. Psalm 119, 130. The entrance of your words gives light.

It gives understanding to the simple. This isn't about how many smarts you have, how many degrees you have, your abilities of anything. No. This is talking about wisdom you can only get from God. You can't get from anywhere else but from the Word of God, from God, His words alone, in all things.

All things. As you're trying to gain those smarts, you need the wisdom of God to try to gain those smarts. You're trying to figure out homeschooling, you need the wisdom of God to figure out homeschooling. If you're trying to figure out how to get from here to there, where to live, what to do day to day, you need the wisdom of God to give you at a minimum the principles to think of how I go about my day and who to praise. I need his wisdom to praise him for every breath I have.

That comes from the Word of God. Making wise the simple is a great reward of scripture. The third point, verse 8, the first half of 8, the statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart.

These are God's principles. God's teaching are right. They're righteous. They give right guidance. They give right understanding.

And they produce joy. Christian, Christian, we're all in two buckets, or both of these buckets at the same time. Either you are lacking joy, or you want more joy, or you have both of them. I think I have joy, but I'll take more. I want more.

I want a lot more, Because that's a fruit of the Holy Spirit, knowing that He's working and transforming me. I want more joy. Well, go to the Word first and most. That's where we're going to find more joy. Not another book, not music, not sermons, not your pastor, not your spouse, it's not where you're going to get this true joy.

All those can be helpful. All those can be helpful. We just talked about marriage a couple weeks ago. Your spouse is very helpful to you. Other books, I love other books.

They can be very helpful. I love music. It can be very helpful. But that's not what God says here about producing joy, rejoicing the heart. It's His Word that will ultimately, And those things need to point you to the Word of God.

If they don't, don't think of them any kind of joy producers. Of helping you produce joy. The Word of God, the Word of the Lord, rejoices the heart. First John 1, 4, and these things we write, right? He was writing scripture.

These things we write to you that your joy may be full. Your joy may be full. You want full joy? It's the word of the Lord. That's where we center on for full joy.

Do you tend, do you tend towards times of anxiety? Do you tend towards times of fear? Of doubt? Of just like, what am I to do in my life? No direction.

God has given you His right word to lead you out of those states and into joy. Where are you looking to get out of those states? If it's not the Word of God, I don't know how you're going to get out. It's not the Word of the Lord leading you. You go through family.

We all go through family, relationships, financial and physical hardships, right, trials. And God is giving you His right word to lead you into joy in the midst of those trials. Those trials are good for us. Those trials are good for us. Those trials are good for us.

James talks about one of the main purposes of those trials is to test our faith. Test our faith. God, do I trust you or not in this trial? Am I trusting you? And how am I going to know?

Where am I going to look to test my faith? Is my faith right or true? It's the Word of the Lord. That's going to tell me. It's going to tell me how to test my faith.

That's going to tell me who am I trusting. That's going to encourage me to trust. When we looked at the riches of Christ when we were in Ephesians, where else are you going to learn of the riches of Christ? To help us in those trials. To look at eternity.

The word of the Lord directs you to Jesus who, John 1, grace for grace, never ending grace, never diminishing grace, riches in Christ, joy producing fruit of the Holy Spirit. Psalm 119, 14. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as all riches. This is David. David's a king.

He's got a lot. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as all riches. In Verse 111, Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart. You want more joy? Look at the right, sure word of God.

The fourth one, second half of verse 8. The commandment of the Lord is pure in lightning the eyes. The commandment of the Lord is pure in lightning the eyes. These commandments, God's decrees. They're not suggestions.

These are His commands, His decrees. And they are pure, enlightening eyes. This is not, I'll obey them, or I'll live by them, or I'll consider them if I feel like it. You've heard me say these next ones before. It's not if it agrees with my truth.

It's not you do you, I do me. Whatever. Doesn't matter. It's The consistent Word of God will enlighten the eyes. It's not what a majority of Christians think.

I'm not taking a poll to see what stays and what doesn't. What's applicable today in the 2022 versus 2000 year? No. The Word of God is the Word of God and it is pure. There are no impurities.

It does not need refined through my mind. It doesn't need refined by philosophers or psychologists. It doesn't need to be refined by culture. It is holy pure. First Peter 2.2, as newborn babes, as soon as you hear that phrase as newborn babes?

I know there are Christians that when they read 1 Peter, they're going, oh yeah, baby Christians. You need to listen to this. Listen to this. That's where you need to understand context. This is talking to Christians and driving you and telling us, as newborn babes, using this analogy, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word.

The command of the Lord is pure. Desire the pure milk of the Word that you may grow thereby. Pure milk. What does that do? That nourishes, that grows, that sustains, that matures?

Desire that. It doesn't say the pure milk of anything else is going to grow and mature you like the Word of God. And enlightenment. What does man's enlightenment bring him? He'll have lots of questions about sin, the problem of evil, why is there sorrow, the meaning of life, what happens after death, but ultimately they have no answers.

They have nothing to give that's any sustaining. But God's pure commandments enlighten the eyes. It gives light to the dark, clarity for all life, answers for sin, answers for sorrow, the answers for what happens after death. Heaven or hell. The answers for joy.

The answers for wisdom. God's pure commandments enlighten the eye. 1 John 1, 5, God is light and in Him is no darkness. We need the light of God to enlighten our eyes. John 1, 4, in him, in Jesus was life, and the life was the light of men.

To enlighten our eyes, we need light. Spurgeon calls the Word of God the golden ointment for the eyes. I love that phrase, the golden ointment for the eyes. We may be enlightened. Psalm 19, 18, open my eyes that I may see the wondrous things from your law.

Verse 105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Is enlightening the eyes a great reward? Oh yeah, it is a great reward. Number five, first half of nine. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The fear of the Lord. Here we get the effect. Here we get an effect first. But this is about His holiness, His reverent awe, what Scripture should produce.

When studying Joshua, I gained a greater fear of the Lord, a more reverent awe, and a more trust, a builder of faith. Sending Joshua built my faith, helped me fear the Lord more, trusting that all of his promises are sure, they will happen. That built a fear of God. And it's clean, It cleanses, it sanctifies. Spurgeon says this, the doctrine of truth is here described by its spiritual effect, inward piety, or the fear of the Lord.

This is clean in itself. It cleanses out the love of sin. Who wants that? Sanctify the heart in which it reigns. Wonderful.

Sanctifying the heart in which sin reigns. We all battle indwelling sin. I want it cleansed more and more. Now you are forgiven once and for all by the work of Christ. He has clothed you in His righteousness.

He has sealed you with his Spirit. You are his bride. He will never leave you nor forsake you. You are his. Even with indwelling sin still, you are his.

Endures forever. Fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. At best, sin is just going to bring some temporary good feelings at best. But by the grace of God, repenting, cleansing hearts, obedient, fruit increasing transformation will stand forever. Will.

In eternity we're going to be perfect. It's going to stand forever. Isaiah 40 verse 8, The grass withers, the flower fades, we die. But the word of our God stands forever. In Psalm 100, the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

In the last half of 9, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together. It's just so wonderful. It's building and building and building and building. How many more benefits are there? How many more great rewards are there?

God has complete sovereign authority overall. He's the creator. He makes his judgments. He can do with his creation as he wants. He's the potter.

He can do anything he wants and he determines all for all heavens and all the earth, all the universe. His judgments are true. They are wholly right without exception. He is wholly wise, without exception. He's righteous.

The Word of God is righteous altogether. All of scripture is complete, comprehensive, No errors. Don't add to it. Doesn't need anything removed from Deuteronomy 4. You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it." Yes, it was written in Deuteronomy, but it applies to whole scripture.

Gary read. And then Revelation tells us not to add to it. So from beginning to end, not add to it, not take apart. There is judgment on those that do. Don't adhere strictly to 66 books.

Spurgeon one more time. It is a crime to add to it. It is treason to alter it and felony to take from it. Just think of it that way. This is all sufficient.

And where my mind and my heart differs from it, I'm the wrong one. I'm the wrong one. It has to be that way. God, conform me to your word. Conform me to this.

Verses 10 through 14. Read those. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, the much fine gold, sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me, and I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." Look at this. How does God compare the transforming, these benefits of his word, of believing and living a life that the word of God is sufficient for all things.

How does he compare it? As a sweet, as the sweetest of sweet and the greatest of great rewards. It's a sweet, great reward. David's a wealthy man. He says this is far above any of that.

He knows honey is far sweeter than that. You might say, well, it's easy for a king to say that. He's not going to have to go back to poverty. No, it is true. The king may be saying this, but God is saying this.

Don't just look at the author. Look who else is saying this. God is saying this. This is a sweet, great reward. This is what we've been through.

Tell me, is this a sweet, great reward? Conversion, salvation, wisdom, joy, enlightening, fear, righteousness. Is that a sweet, great reward or not? You don't think those are sweet great rewards. Let's talk.

Let's talk. Honey isn't this sweet, it's temporary. It'll leave. God's word is forever sweet. Turn to Isaiah 55.

We go here often. I want you to read. You can't buy this. You can't buy these rewards. Can't buy these benefits of Scripture.

By God's grace alone that we have the Word of God. It came through a lot of deaths that we would have this. But it's by His grace that we would have it. Isaiah 55, 1-3. Come everyone who thirst, come to the waters, And you who have no money.

It's not saying that there are some with enough money. It's all of us is what God means through Isaiah. Come, buy, and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Doesn't mean that some have enough money to pay for this.

No, you don't have enough to pay for this. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Honey, you'll want more of it later. Gold will go. Money comes and goes.

Listen carefully to me and eat what is good. And let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me. Here and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you." It is, continuing in Psalm 19, It is a great reward for us to understand our errors. Is that a great reward?

It's a great reward for us to know our sin. It's a great reward to reveal secret sin. People that were at Tuesday Morning Study, you're going to hear some phrases in here that God said, thank you. Tuesday mornings are helpful. And the preacher is going to gain help from that.

One of the things that came out is, hey, they're secret. Who's going to help me with secret sin if not for God? Josh is going to help me. He doesn't know them. They're secret.

Who's going to help me with secret sin if not for God? Josh is going to help me. He doesn't know them. They're secret. Who's going to help me but God?

With secret sin. It's a great reward that God would give me His Word through the power of His Holy Spirit to enlighten my eyes to reveal this sin or the sin I already know about for me to come to terms with it and repent. To repent. And Christ is faithful and sure to forgive me of that. He has paid the price for that sin already.

It's a great reward to be warned. This is a great reward. You've been warned. I've been warned to believe the sufficiently of Scripture. You're warned at your peril to not live according to the official scripture.

That God's words are all sufficient for everything. We've been warned. And then he has a sweet prayer here of response. His words and his heart and his actions and his beliefs are matching up in this prayer. That's what he's saying to do.

This is demonstrating this humble dependence on the Lord and our Redeemer through our belief, through glorifying God in the sufficiency of Scripture. Let me give you a couple applications. Number one, we need to do the self-evaluation on where we tend to go for help in all things. Do an honest self-evaluation on this. Where do I tend to turn to first?

Just have that top of your mind as you're going through your day, going through your week, if something happens and you turn to this and just think in your mind, why didn't I think of the word of God for this? How to handle this situation. Or why didn't I go to the word of God for this when I see the beauty of creation or I take a breath? Why didn't I go to the Word and just say, God, your Heaven's declared your glory. How wonderful is this?

Where do I turn to first and most? Just look at that. Songs are good, but Am I going to it to get the joy that I'm looking for, to get the help, to get the doctrinal depth that I need to reveal my sin? I was going to look at it this week, I didn't. But I'm pretty confident.

I look at the top ten songs on CCM, all those lyrics, I probably don't find the word sin anywhere. Don't think you're going to get it from that. Where are you going? To a movie or a book? There are good movies out there.

There are good books. I love my books. I love my commentaries. I think I've told you this before, several years ago, I think it was four or five years ago, I found that I was relying more on good books, and no matter whether it was Puritans, or more modern authors, or commentaries, I was depending way more on them than the Word of God. And so in that conviction, I put it all away for a few months.

Put it all away. And all I did was have the Word of God. That was it. You know what? I found it all sufficient.

I did. God enlightened my eyes, and he brought me back around and showed me my idols, showed me where my trust was that it wasn't in him. Maybe that's you, maybe it's not, but it was me. And I had to repent and then I had to saturate myself on the Word of God, to get myself back to where I needed to be. And I'm pretty confident I was an elder at the time.

Pretty confident that that was within that time frame that I needed to do that. But these other things that you put your hope in, they can deliver like the sweet great reward of God's Word. So go through that tough self-evaluation. And if you're in a time of not feeling like reading, and we'll spiritualize and say, oh James, I'm going through a dry time. You're going through a dry time.

You just don't feel like reading the Word of God. Ultimately, that's what it is. When you're doing that and you don't want to seek God through His word or His prayer, you most likely drifted into this and you're not going to drift back. Several people, right? I'm saying several people because there are.

So you're not thinking I'm just thinking about you. But there are several people over these last couple of years that said, James, I just don't feel like it. I'm dry and all that. You know what my advice to them is? Read.

Read. You're not going to drift back into a love of the Word of God. You're not going to drift back. And it's going to take intentional reading to do that. You're going to need to taste and see and believe, pray for it and believe the effects God has promised in Psalm 19.

And read and pray. Read and pray, and then come tell me about it. Tell me how it's working out. Tell me how it's going, and let's talk about it. You might say, well, James, I'm reading.

I'm praying. I'm reading and praying. What's competing with this? What's competing with this? What's going on?

I want you to get so much joy, so much enlightenment, so much wisdom out of the Word of God. So do that on a self-evaluation. Number two. Number two then, go for the sweet great reward. Go for it.

It's right there for the taking. As someone said earlier, we've got, I don't know how many, I did a count several months ago, I forget what it was, a physical Bible's in my home, like 30 or 40. I've got a large family, but still there's 30 or 40 physical Bibles in my own. Not to mention several phones and on my computer and whatever. So it's not for a lack.

I'm not talking to people who have a lack of access by no means. So go for the sweetness. Go for the great reward. Read the Word of the Lord from cover to cover. Read it from cover to cover.

What didn't I say there? I didn't say, read it from cover to cover within three months, within six months, within a year. I didn't say that, did I? That your mind, I've got a mind that looks for the exceptions and looks for this, right? I said, read it from cover to cover.

Even if you're not a Christian, read it. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit, it will be good for converting. It will be perfect to convert your soul. As a Christian, look, as you read through it, I'll read scripture for specific purposes as I'm studying for a message. But I'll also read it with, God, I want to read it looking for this.

I would encourage you to help you read it looking for the gospel and point yourself to the gospel. It might be as you're reading through Joshua, where you're seeing, Wow, look at the pile of sin that was heaped upon him and God's patience and mercy with him all his years. And then finally, God's judgment did come upon him after all those years. But that points us to the gospel. Genealogies do point us to the gospel of God's faithfulness.

All the makings of the temple point us to God's perfection and His holiness. Read it. And I do encourage you to read a paper version. I love my app. I read it.

I use it for searching. I do encourage you to read a paper version. I don't think this is just an older man saying this, but there's so much helpful in reading a paper version. Context, you learn context. Reading my Bible app, I'm not going to really think about Psalm 20.

I might be in Psalm 19. I'm going, you know what, Psalm 20? Only nine verses. I can keep going. Or I don't get the context of what's happening from place to place.

For me, It's a great memorandum. I will challenge you. My memory is failing and failing. I'll challenge even the most great memories here. Hey, tell me where in your Bible app, without looking for it, is Psalms.

Is that in about the middle of the Bible or not? Do you know? But I'm going to know that through knowing the Word of God. That's about halfway. Through having this, I'm going to know that the Old Testament's about that much, the New Testament's about that much.

In my mind, not just because I read it, but if I'm thinking 2 Timothy 3, 15 through 17, I might not remember that, but I'm remembering because I have marked, I'm not telling you you have to mark your Bibles, but because I'm used to reading it, oh yeah, it's somewhere in Timothy and it's on the left side of the page. I remember that there. I know Psalm 23 is on the right side of the page. I know the Sermon on the Mount starts on the left side of the page. I know my Genesis 1, 1 in my Bible starts on the right side of the page.

I know the end of Revelation ends on the right side of my Bible. That's all because of reading it. I can think of it and mentally see it there. But read it from cover to cover, all of it to commit to, commit to the perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, true Word of the Lord and go for the sweet, great rewards, wisdom, rejoicing, enlightening, fear, enduring righteousness. This will glorify God.

This will. You want to know how to glorify God? This will glorify God. Our God, how gracious of you to give us your word, how kind, how merciful, that we would know you, that You would then use your spirit. I can read this.

There are thousands of people that have read this that don't know you. But that you would give a spirit to enlighten us, that we would see what a sweet great reward this is. Thank you God. Thank you. You didn't just leave us with your word of God in that sip, but you gave it power.

Believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform us, to give power to your words. Thank you God. In Jesus' name, Amen.