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Very thankful to be with y'all this morning, and this morning we're gonna attempt to uh continue to preach on what we started last Sunday, uh, which is what is the purpose of the scriptures. What is the purpose of the scriptures? The last Sunday we talked about uh as an example, Proverbs 22, 6, the Bible says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. And before I dive into that, I want to tell you that I guess this particular message, because of its content, I'm excited and terrified all at the same time. Uh I have a smile on my face and I have fear in my heart. Because it's an important message. You know, I mentioned last Sunday that uh this message talking about the purpose of the scriptures. We have one of our articles of faith that, you know, and these things like articles of faith are things that, you know, we we read, we we sometimes learn them, we, you know, but we, well, you know, Brother Josh, they're just a simple statement that, you know, is very broad, it's very vast. And our our second article of faith says, we believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the revealed word of God and the only rule of faith and practice. Well, when you and I talk about that and we think about what that means, that is a very weighty statement. So if you and I really believe that this King James Bible, the Old and New Testament, if that really is the Word of God, then how seriously should you and I be taking this, right? That we should take it a whole lot more seriously than we do. So if we really believe that this Bible of ours is the revealed word of God, it is Almighty God communicating to us how to do things. What we should do, what we should not do, our the worldview that we should have, our perspective on life, the he gives us examples in here of marriage and of business and of money management and of raising or rearing children, rather. He gives us all of these examples in the Bible. And so if you and I really believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the revealed word of God, then have you and I been taking them as seriously as we should have? And if I really want to be honest with myself and answer that question, I'd say no. That, well, Brother Josh, you're a preacher. You you know that the Word of God is the Bible is the Word of God. Yes, I do. But let's really be honest with ourselves. I mean, are you and I diligent to the extent of like a military man trying to eradicate sin out of our lives and to be so disciplined as to consume the word of God and to put it into our lives that you and I might never depart from it, that you and I might never go astray from it? How diligent are you and I to do that? And if I'm really honest with myself, I'm not near as diligent as I should be. Our article of faith also says that not only is it the revealed word of God, but we go on to say that it is the only rule of faith and practice. You know, y'all all Baptists like to talk about those that theology stuff, those theological statements. Well, I want to tell you that this theological statement of faith is a very practical statement of faith because if you and I believe that the Bible is the revealed word of God, that means that it is God's communication to us to tell us how you and I are supposed to live our everyday life. Well, Josh, there are questions in life I don't necessarily have the answers to. I don't know of who I'm supposed to vote for. Well, you and I need to do our homework to see what the beliefs of the candidates are and how they vote their actual voting record. And when we see a candidate, like let's say there's two men, well, Brother Josh, there's never a perfect man. I always get into this problem, like, for instance, when we have presidential elections, I don't know who to vote for because neither one of those men are perfect. Uh, well, number one, you're correct. There is no human being that's perfect save the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you and I need to go to the polls and we need to exercise our right to vote, you and I are voting for imperfect people. But I think it is, I think that the Bible teaches us that it's incumbent upon us that we vote in accordance with the worldview of the Bible. Amen? And so if we see one candidate that has some very glaring things that are opposed in his worldview to the things of the Bible, I believe that the Bible teaches that you and I are biblically obligated to not vote for that human being. Because if one candidate seems to be more aligned with the things of the Bible, and one candidate seems to be less in line with the things of the Bible, I believe that, according to the Bible, that you and I should vote for, even though they're both imperfect, for the individual that is more in line with the things of the Bible. So that is an example of where the rubber meets the road of how you and I are supposed to apply the scriptures. This Bible being the revealed word of God and the only rule of faith and practice. It's literally telling you and I how to live our lives. It tells us how that husbands are supposed to love their wives. I would venture to say that, you know, there is a there are wrong ways to love your wife. What do you mean, Brother Josh? Well, if you married a wonderful young lady and, you know, while y'all were dating, y'all communicated with each other, and you communicated how much you love her, and you you talked with her and you and y'all got to know each other, then when you got married, you just stopped talking. You don't tell her you love her anymore. You don't actually spend physical time with her anymore. You don't learn to know and understand the things that she likes. And she doesn't know and understand the things that he likes. And so over time you grow apart. And brother Josh, what does that have to do with the scripture being the word of God? Well, let's apply that to the church and Jesus Christ. If you and I are the bride and Jesus is the bridegroom, the husband, is it okay for the for the bride, that's you and I, to not spend any time with the husband? Well, I'm not gonna really talk to Jesus anymore, and I'm, you know, I'm not gonna really spend any time with him, and you know, I'm not gonna get to know him anymore and know his mind and know the things out of his written love letter to me about what he likes and what he doesn't like and what he tells me to do and not to do. And so I'm just I'm just gonna put that on the back burner. And so I would venture to say that if you and I do that as a church member, that we we don't read the word of God, we don't study it, we don't pray, we don't memorize the word of God, we don't attend church, is literally he says in his Bible that we're supposed to do, then you and I are doing marriage wrong with the Lord. Amen? Is that not right? Y'all tell me. I mean, we're just talking about logical stuff here. So when a husband and wife, even in an actual marriage setting, if they don't talk to each other, if they don't spend any time with each other, if they don't get to know each other, if they don't actively are affectionate and love each other, there's a problem there. Well, Brother Josh, everybody's different. Everybody may be different, brothers and sisters, but I want to show you something this morning that if the Scripture is the revealed word of God and our only rule of faith and practice, then you and I should be living by it. So last Sunday we attempted to apply this to uh children, and we talked about that in Proverbs 22, 6, we are taught that the scriptures, this Bible of ours, these so many thousands of words, are actually meant to instruct our children with. The Bible says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart easily from it. Now, I'm not going to re-preach that sermon that we preached last Sunday, but I do want to make a couple comments. That the Proverbs are wisdom literature. They are not promises of eternal salvation, because you might be thinking in your mind, Brother Josh, I know grown folks that were raised by godly mother and father, they were brought up in the church, and they have in their grown years left the church, they've left the Lord, they're going and acting like heathens, and so how does that reconcile with the scriptures? You know, the Bible says here in Proverbs 22, 6, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it. So, you know, I've seen examples with my own eyes of grown men and women that violate this scripture. Well, actually, you haven't. Because this is not a promise that is a guarantee in the Bible, this is wisdom literature. What he is actually telling us in this verse is this. If you and I attempt to train our children up in the way of the Lord, and you and I do that, it says, uh, and when he is old, he will not depart, or rather depart easily from it. Uh did y'all know that I may be about to be 48 years old, but I can still get down into a proper football stance that I learned when I was 15 years old. Now, I might hurt a little bit more when I do that, but I literally know exactly where to put my feet and how to square my body and how to drop my body down in that stance because that was drilled into me as muscle memory from playing football for six years in my youth. And brothers and sisters, that was over three decades ago. But I was trained and taught time and time and time and time again how to do that exact thing, how to do it precisely, and how to do it again and again and again. Oh I hadn't ridden a bike in years, and uh I can still ride one. Uh Ivy, when she was a little girl, had a skating party. And uh I got out there and I used to be pretty good at skating. Uh, by the way, after that party, I told my wife, I said, I will never put a pair of skates on my feet ever again. Not once, ever again. I used to be really good. And I could still skate. But when I hit the deck the first time as a heavier set, taller man and wrenched my knee sideways, not going to do that again. So uh y'all won't see Brother George wearing skates anymore. But my point is when you and I train up our children in the way they should go, and we do that diligently, and we do it over and over and over again, then we have laid the proper foundation and proper groundwork to help our children uh move in the right direction. Does it guarantee 100% that our children will not go the way of the world? No, it does not. It does not. But does it give them every opportunity to succeed in doing that if we do our part? Yes, it does. That means that then we are being godly parents and doing that in that way. Let me give you another example. Turn, if you will, to Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1. And so let me say this. Um, I want to show you this morning that these scriptures that we're talking about, uh, that are our only rule of faith and practice, they apply to every member of the family. They apply to the child, as we've already talked about. They apply to mom and dad, they apply to grandma and grandpa, to uncle and aunt, they apply to the single young man, to the single young woman, they apply to everyone. So in Proverbs chapter 1, we read in verse 7. Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. In other words, the Lord wants us to be knowledgeable about Him. Now, I also labored last Sunday to attempt to show you that no preacher can teach anybody to know God or know the Lord. Like, that is not within my capacity or parents' capacity to save a child to heaven or to save an individual to heaven. That is the Holy Spirit's doing, that's God's doing. What we are attempting to do as pastors or as parents is to instruct the congregation or instruct our young people or our families in the way of the Lord. We don't save anybody to heaven, however, what we are to do is we're called to share the knowledge that we have and the knowledge of the Word of God to better equip our children and to better equip the congregation to serve the Lord. So the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Look at the next verse. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. Stop. Now, you understand that this is King Solomon writing to his son. So this is the wise king according to scriptures, and he is attempting to actually indoctrinate or to give his son a worldview. He is literally writing him a treatise about Proverbs. He is giving him words of wisdom to live by. The father, I want y'all to notice this, the father is intentionally trying to shape and change the thought process and worldview of his own son, and you and I should be doing the same. It is the obligation of ministers to teach their congregations the word of God. It is the obligation of parents to teach their children the word of God. It is the obligation of husbands to instruct their wives and their families and lead in the word of God according to the scriptures. So, but I want you to see this. Solomon says, My son, hear the instruction of thy father. Well, that's him. Solomon is saying, look, son, I'm trying to teach you what I know about God's law, about God's word. And it is a charge upon my heart and life to instruct you in those things. But do y'all notice this? And forsake not the law of thy mother. Now, why don't you point this out, Brother Josh? I want y'all to see that it is not just the obligation of the minister to train in the word of the Lord. It is absolutely the obligation of Christians everywhere throughout every century forever. If this earth lasts another 3,000 years, if Christians are flying around in spaceships, I don't know what it's going to be like, or if the Lord comes back tomorrow, it doesn't matter. Even if it's 3,000 years from now and we're, you know, we have invisible phones and whatever, I don't know. I don't know. I can't imagine that. But the point is, even then, it will be incumbent upon Christian parents to instruct their children willfully and purposefully in the Word of God. My mind is going so many places. Brothers and sisters, I told y'all this morning that I was excited and I was scared. And that's true. This is a very important message. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, we see an Old Testament example of the same thing. In Deuteronomy chapter 6, verse 1, we read Now these are the commandments, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whether ye go to possess it, that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou and thy son and thy son's son, all the days of thy life, that thy days may be prolonged. Skip down to verse five, verse four. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and thou shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the post of thy house and on thy gates. Brothers and sisters, these scriptures that according to our articles of faith of the Old and New Testament are the revealed word of God. Why are you saying it like that, Brother Josh? Let that soak in. The scriptures are the revealed word of God. God's words, God's commands, God's mind, God's thoughts, God's desires, God's intent, God's example, God's instruction. So many things we've been given, right? You and I, and think about how big of a blessing that is that you and I have this. Has anybody here ever worked at a job that you did not have a clear job description? Has anybody done that? And you go in and you kind of, I don't know if I should be doing this, I don't know if I should be doing that, I don't know if I need to spend my time over here, I don't know what is the most important thing, so therefore I spent half my day working on a lesser important thing, and so that's a problem. Did y'all know that God did not do that to us? Amen. God gave us what you and I needed to know how you and I are supposed to love Him, worship Him, follow Him. He taught us all that. Aren't you glad that He did that? He did not leave the job description open-ended. He not only saved us and wrote the laws and our hearts and minds by His sovereign grace, so they're in us, but then He actually wrote us extensively about how you and I are supposed to spend our money, and how you and I are supposed to spend our time, and the things that you and I are supposed to think about or not think about, how you and I are supposed to rear our children, how you and I are supposed to conduct business in this world, how you and I are actually supposed to speak to other people, how you and I are actually supposed to worship God. Do y'all know how? I don't think your wife or your husband, like I heard a preacher use this example. He said a husband and wife were talking to each other, and she had told him something that she liked in life, or whatever it was, and she had made this crystal clear to her husband. Let's just say she had told him, and he had done this thing 97 times out of a hundred. And she loved it every single time. He was doing something kind for her, nice for her, you know, and she always smiled, she always thanked him. Oh, she was so, she rejoiced in it. And then on the 98th time, he said, you know what? I'm gonna do something different. I'm just gonna decide to go off on my own. I think I'm gonna come up with something I want to do. And maybe even he had indication that, well, this is what I think that I should do for her. And she's actually indicating the past that she may or may not really like that, but I'm gonna do it anyway. And then you go and do that thing and she don't like it. Well, brothers and sisters, that husband had plenty of evidence through those other 97 times that he knew in that instance that's exactly what his wife wanted. Well, Brother Josh, I have the opposite problem. I never know what my wife wants. Anybody? No. Sister Chloe is a wonderful lady. And but that's a problem that some men talk about. Brothers and sisters, uh, husbands, we need to be students of our wives to know what they like and don't like. And we need to actively invest time in them. Our children. We need to actively invest time in their lives. Wives, you need to invest in your husband. What do they like and don't like? Why do you tell us all this, Brother Josh? The Lord has not left worship and Christianity up to our own devices. He hasn't just told us y'all can just go willy-nilly out there in the world and just figure out how to do this Christian thing or how to do church or how to worship me. No, no, no. The Lord didn't leave that up to our devices. Instead, the Lord, in a crystal clear manner, in his word, told us exactly what he likes and what he doesn't like, and exactly how he wants the bride of Christ to act, what to do and what not to do. And how has he done that? We believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the revealed word of God and the only rule of faith and practice. God has clearly shown us in his word what he wants us to do and what he doesn't want us to do. So God has not left the job description open for our interpretation. You know, we don't, well, brother Josh, I just don't know how we should worship in the church, read the Bible. I just don't know how preaching should be conducted or what the subject matter should be, read the Bible. I just don't know how communion is supposed to be held. Read the Bible. I don't know how the Lord wants to be praised or to be worshipped, read the Bible. I don't know how I'm supposed to rear my children or I'm a business owner. How am I supposed to treat my employees? Read the Bible. The Lord has not left all of these things up to the sinful interpretation and whimsy of man to figure out what we are supposed to do. He hasn't done that. He's done us a great service by exampling us and showing us and writing us what we're supposed to do. Amen in the word of God. And in the book of 2 Timothy, we read in 2 Timothy chapter 4, 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1, Paul, as he's trying to clearly show Timothy, the young man that will follow in his footsteps in the ministry, Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. Y'all are not up here to hear Brother Josh talk. You're not. Y'all have called me to be pastor, and the Lord has charged me to preach the word of God, to preach the scriptures. Why? Because it is our only rule of faith and practice. If I'm not up here communicating to y'all the word of God about church and marriage and life and business and finances and relationships, then what am I doing up here? And what are y'all doing here listening to a guy do some crazy psychological talking out of his uh his own counsel and advice, and he's just a sinful man just like y'all are. Y'all aren't here to hear that. Amen? Y'all are here to hear the word of God. So Paul told Timothy, I charge thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season. And as a minister, you need to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. We're there. But after their own lush shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables. We live in a world that does not want to hear the truth. Y'all Christians like to talk about homosexuality and abortion all the time. Well, you know what we don't talk about as much? Gluttony and pornography and gossip and evil talking and backbiting and bitterness and brothers and sisters, the laundry list of sin is long. But God hasn't left all these things up to our own interpretation, our own devices. He has told us, he's written his law in our heart, and then he's given us an instruction, a detailed instruction manual of how to live our lives. The scriptures are a guide to the believer to show us how to properly love and follow God. Let me say that one more time. The scriptures are a guide to the believer to show us how to properly love and follow God. That's what the purpose of the Bible is. So if you and I believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are the revealed word of God in all bold letters, then let's take that seriously. And then let's translate that into they are our personal only rule of faith and practice. Therefore, then I know how to do marriage, then I know how to do finances, then I know how to vote, then I know how to do church, then I know how to run my business if I just follow the Lord's teachings and his example. Amen. That's what we're supposed to do, right? I am literally called of the Lord standing in this pulpit to tell you that very thing, right? I'm supposed to preach to you the word of God and not my own opinion. That's what the Lord's called me to do. Now, so this word that we've been talking about is not only for children, it's not only for parents, it's not only for ministers, that Paul just told, uh, we can flip back in Timothy, if you go to uh uh, let's see here, let's just flip back in Timothy to the previous chapter, uh, 2 Timothy chapter 3, uh 13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. In other words, Paul is telling Timothy that the world is getting worse, that the evil in the world is increasing. In other words, Paul is telling Timothy, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. They themselves believe their own lies and they're lying to other people, and that is just going to increase in the world. Oh, Brother Josh, what do I do about that? I'm a Christian man and I'm a Christian woman, and we're trying to rear our Christian uh children in a godly way. I'm worried about my grandkids. What do I do? Verse 14. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. And Paul talked about the fact that Timothy had learned them from his mother and from his grandmother. So, grandmothers and aunts and moms, you should teach your children the scriptures proactively. You should indoctrinate it into their lives, you should shape and mold their worldview. Husbands, you should teach your wives the word of God. Grandparents, you should teach them that. Ministers, you better be teaching your congregations the word of God and shutting up about your own opinion. You better be reading the word of God and explaining the word of God to your congregation. Otherwise, you should be fired and you shouldn't be in that position. Verse 16, 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 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. So the scriptures are not just for children and for parents and for ministers. Very quickly, turn with me to Psalm 1. Psalm 1. In Psalm 1 we read, and this can be, it says, Blessed is the man, but this is blessed is the Christian, the man or woman. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Well, okay, well, the man or woman is blessed if they don't do these things. If they walk not in the counsel of the ungodly. Who told you how to run your finances? The broke folks on YouTube that don't know anything and are trying to sell you something? Don't listen to them. The ones that are trying to sell you something and take your money. Nor standeth in the way of sinners. Well, you know, I know y'all have been having problems in your marriage. You should just leave that old terrible guy or that old terrible woman. No. You don't need to listen to lost folks at work and lost folks on the internet. That's ungodly counsel. That's wicked counsel. Well, you just need to be the best friends of your children in the whole world, and they'll turn out just fine. The Bible says if you spare the rods, you spoil the child. Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Yeah, I really don't like my boss. I really don't like where I live. I really don't like who my elected officials are. I'm just really not happy with my church and my pastor, and I really don't like the car I drive, and man. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Brothers and sisters, blessed is the man that walketh not in the council of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight, this man or woman's delight, is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Turn off Fox News, turn off Facebook, turn off Instagram, turn off the complainers and the ungodly counselors, and read the Bible. Study the Bible. Consume the Bible. Saturate your mind and your heart and your soul with the Bible, and then you can still get down to the football stance after 30 years. Even if you miss a few days playing football. Make it muscle memory. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not easily depart from it. You and I are sinners and we fail all the time. And shouldn't you and I put all of the safeguards and protections in our way? Brother Josh, you know, I'm just so tempted to sin and I'm just so tempted to run off the road. Well, brother, you need to put up some tall hedges on both sides of your road. Amen. Like Job did. Satan told God that God had built a hedge around Job, or that Satan couldn't do anything to him. Well, brother and sisters, you and I better build the walls of Scripture high in my house and your house to keep us from running our lives off in a ditch, to reckon our marriage and our finances and our businesses and so and our families and so on and so forth, then you and I better build the walls of Scripture and live Scripture and obey it and study it and read it and consume it and love it. That's the only way to keep our cart on the ditch. Amen. Please, somebody give me an Amen. I told you I was scared to death and excited about this message, and I am. Because this message right here, brothers and sisters, it comes stomping on my toes in my house. What kind of job have I done in my home and as a husband and a father? And as a minister? Brothers and sisters, do you and I really believe that the scriptures of the Old and New Testament are bold letters, the revealed word of God? And if so, they are our only rule of faith and practice. This is the book, the guide, the instruction manual by which you and I are supposed to live our everyday lives, everything. Well, Brother Josh, how does that tell me what college I should go to? You know, I'm considering going to such and such a college because my boyfriend is moving there and we want to go live with him. Well, I don't know if that's the college you're supposed to go to, but I know one thing, you're not supposed to go there and live with your boyfriend. Because that's ungodly and that's a sin, and you don't have any business doing that. So actually, let's follow the example of Joseph and let's flee immorality, and let's go the opposite direction. So let's let's not you go to that college and don't go and follow that boyfriend and don't go live with him because that is absolutely dishonoring to God. Don't do that. And you know what? Parents should be telling their children things like that. Amen. Well, Brother Josh, that's hard. That's kind of uncomfortable. I think Christ was pretty uncomfortable on the cross. May he give me boldness to speak the truth in love to all those whom I love. Let's close this out. So the scriptures are for children, they're for parents, they're for ministers. Psalm 1, therefore the man or woman who wants to be blessed. Blessed is a man that walketh not in the council of ungodly, nor standeth in the sea of the scornful, nor sitteth in the sea in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the sea of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Brother Joshua, are you saying that folks are blessed when they attempt to observe the Word of God? Yes, absolutely they are. If you're having a tough go in your life right now, how do you get out of that? Get real, real serious and purposeful about following the word of God. You know what? I'm not saying that your immediate situation is going to turn around tomorrow, but I will tell you that it will get better. And it will get a whole lot better. You and I need to get real serious about following the word of God today. Psalm 119. We're almost done. Psalm 119 has more verses than any chapter in the entire Bible. There are a 176 verses in Psalm 119. It is a psalm of the Word. It is a Psalm talking about the Word of God. It's uh it's absolutely beautiful. And notice that notice that God took a hundred and seventy-six verses in his inspired scripture to intentionally talk about the scriptures. He made sure to preach a very thorough sermon on the Word of God right there in the middle of the scriptures. Psalm 119 says, verse 9, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? Let me translate to modern English. How can a young man keep his way pure in a fallen world living like we're living in Babylon? How can a young man do that in the midst of this terrible fallen world? By taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart, not half of it, have I sought thee. O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord, teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of my mouth, of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. Verse 1718 says, Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. The scriptures are a guide to the believer to show us how to properly love and worship and follow God. He did not leave that up to man's devices to figure out. He told us exactly how to do that. When you and I attempt to diligently follow him in our home and in the way we worship at church, the way we spend our money, if we do that, then we are greatly blessed here and now. We bless those around us. We even bless ourselves. It's a timely blessing when we do that. What is the purpose of the scriptures? To be our guide. Brothers and sisters, I love y'all. And I tell you these things today because I love you. Because if I was up here telling you anything else, I wouldn't love you. I am supposed to tell you the truth. I hope this has been an encouragement to you. I'm gonna ask Brother Don if he would come help us closing a word of song. The church doors are always open if you desire to unite with a membership of our church.