WEBVTT 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:21.679 --> 00:00:23.519 Well, welcome. 00:00:24.960 --> 00:00:34.079 For those of you who are here for the first time, you know, if I'm a little scary, you'll know that I'm not the normal guy. 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:41.039 I want to welcome you also from Anchor Bible Church in Louisville, Kentucky, if you're ever in the area. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:48.799 We'd love to have you to come visit, you know, if you're gonna go see the Creation Museum or the Ark Encounter, you know, we're about an hour away. 00:00:48.960 --> 00:00:54.479 So we would love to see you and you know, be nice to you there. 00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:59.359 So uh welcome just from our church to your church. 00:00:59.679 --> 00:01:01.679 It has been a privilege to be here. 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:08.640 Um I I like cold weather, and uh but when I first got here on Friday, it was like real cold weather. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:10.640 Uh yeah. 00:01:10.799 --> 00:01:14.879 Uh I think it's the wind, you know, that kind of enhances the coldness. 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:20.480 I I grew I did grow up in the mountains of Idaho, but it was uh the snow fell straight down. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.200 Here it kind of seems to go sideways, though. 00:01:23.599 --> 00:01:25.120 It's a little bit different. 00:01:25.359 --> 00:01:28.480 And uh we've had a super great time with men. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:38.400 I don't know who attends here on Sunday or what up, you know, but I just went around and talked with guys and guys from all over little towns who came. 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:48.480 So you're doing a really good job at blessing not only your congregation, but um a lot of little churches that need encouragement and pastors who need encouragement. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.159 So praise God for that. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:02:05.519 Uh a few years ago, um, it was uh October was coming, and I thought I would do uh a little series of sermons on what are called the solas of the Reformation. 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:16.560 Um, I wanted my congregation to kind of understand some of the history behind, you know, who they were, what it means to be Protestant. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:18.800 Like a lot of young people go, what's that? 00:02:18.960 --> 00:02:20.400 You know, they don't even know what that means. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:22.560 And I thought, you know, I need to like talk about this. 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:42.879 I need to talk about some of the key doctrines that that brought the church, you know, out of kind of uh works-based salvation uh in Roman Catholicism and you know, just kind of the history of where we got our Bibles and things like that. 00:02:43.039 --> 00:03:08.000 And so I did a little series called The Solas of the Reformation, and uh I kind of front-loaded them with quite a bit of history uh so that people kind of got some history, and then we kind of looked at a key text related to each of the solas, and solas means only, and uh, there is like by grace alone, by faith alone, in Christ alone, by the word of God alone. 00:03:08.080 --> 00:03:31.520 And that's what we're gonna look at this morning because the theme for the men's conference was word-centered leadership, and I thought, you know, this would be encouraging, I think, to all of you just to be reminded of something I know you probably all know already, but uh just to be reminded and encouraged about it is is helpful and to have some history about it. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:38.879 But we're going to be talking about the doctrine of sola scriptura by the word of God alone. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:04:03.840 When the Reformation was happening with Martin Luther in Germany and John Calvin in Switzerland, and in Great Britain among uh the Puritans and various groups, nonconformists they were called, Henry VIII, the King of England, wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Argonne, so he could produce a male heir. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:06.000 She was, she got pregnant multiple times. 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:10.080 It's just, you know, he's not getting a male child like he wanted. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.919 So he wanted to divorce her, but the Pope would not permit it. 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:20.160 So Henry's solution was okay, then um I'm gonna make my own church. 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:27.360 I'll make myself head of the church and will seize all the Roman Catholic holdings in Great Britain. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.079 You know, it was a it was a win-win for him. 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:46.959 But Henry needed help, so he appointed a Roman Catholic priest named Thomas Cramner and appointed him to be Archbishop of Canterbury and kind of help him get his, you know, new church up and running. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:59.600 Cramner, however, at that time was just your average priest, but he started reading the writings of Luther and Calvin and came to saving faith. 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:14.240 Came to believe that salvation was not by works, it was not by keeping certain sacraments, it was by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, from the Word of God alone. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:23.199 And so he became a strong advocate of Protestantism. 00:05:23.279 --> 00:05:32.480 And for those of you who aren't familiar with the term, it just means to protest against the unbiblical doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:39.759 And Cramner then, as he began to study, wrote what is called the Common Book of Prayer. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:49.920 And that is kind of a liturgy, the Roman Catholic liturgy was very popular, so he wrote one that was more biblical and didn't have extra biblical junk in it. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:06:00.399 He wrote it kind of the articles that kind of became distilled down in what are called the 39 articles of the Anglican Church of the Church of England. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:05.360 And if you've never read them, I'm sure if you read them, you'd go, wow, these are good. 00:06:05.600 --> 00:06:06.399 I mean, they're good. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:07.839 They were encouraging. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:12.800 He started saying, pastors, you need to be trained in biblical preaching. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:15.279 You need to be trained in theology. 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:19.839 You need to be trained in doctrine, you need to be trained in the original languages. 00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:33.519 I'm gonna put an English Bible in every church, and we're going to set it there so anybody who wants to read the Bible in the common vernacular English can come in and read the Bible for themselves. 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:36.639 And at that time, that was like super radical. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:46.800 Because the Roman Catholic Church had been burning people at the stake for a long time for reading their Bibles. 00:06:47.279 --> 00:06:48.480 Think about that. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:55.839 The Roman Catholic Church invented many doctrines not found in the Bible. 00:06:56.000 --> 00:07:10.079 They couldn't have people reading the Bible for themselves because then their ability to control and manipulate and plunder people would be exposed, and so they killed people who read the Bible. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:22.079 After Henry VIII died, his son Edward VI became king, and Edward was mentored by Cramner, and he made sweeping religious reforms that were very good. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:41.040 And Edward died young, however, and though Edward announced Lady Jane Gray to succeed him, his half-sister Mary I, the daughter of Henry VIII's first rejected wife, Catherine of Argonne, usurped the throne. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:45.759 Lady Jane Gray was taken out. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:48.240 And Mary hated Protestants. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:08:20.879 She hated the Church of England because she knew her father had divorced her mother in order to marry another woman and exiled her mother and expelled her from the court and pronounced Mary illegitimate and took away her princess status and made her live with this really grumpy lady named Lady Shelton. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:26.879 And so she just had this hatred for Protestants. 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:35.360 And when Mary became queen, she wanted to wipe out Protestantism. 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:47.759 And so she burnt at the stake in the kind of cattle yard on the outskirts of England in Smithfield some 300 faithful Bible-preaching pastors. 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:52.799 And that earned her the infamous title of Bloody Mary. 00:08:53.440 --> 00:09:06.559 And because Cramner was at the forefront of Protestantism, he was kind of the architect of Protestantism in England, he became the primary target of Mary's wrath. 00:09:06.720 --> 00:09:19.200 Cramner was removed from office, he was tried, he was imprisoned for heresy, he was defrocked, his head was shaved, he was given present clothes to wear, and they kind of tortured him and treated him very cruelly. 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:41.039 Yet the more they abused Cramner, the more he dug in his heels and he held to the doctrine of sola scriptura that the word of God alone is sufficient for all matters of faith and practice, and that the word of God is above what the church says is true. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:47.679 The Roman Catholics realized torture wasn't working on Cramner, so they tried this completely different approach. 00:09:47.919 --> 00:10:07.440 They removed uh Cramner from prison, they got him cleaned up, they gave him really nice clothes, they put him in the house of the dean of Christ Church, they gave him every luxury, and he was in his 60s, so this was kind of nice, you know, not being tortured anymore. 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:18.080 And what didn't work, when torture didn't work, pampering of the flesh did work. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:31.200 And they just told him that you'll be restored, you'll get the queen's pardon, you'll be able to live in luxury if you just deny the faith. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:40.480 At first, he was asked to sign a very ambiguous document that you couldn't even tell what it was saying, it was so obscure. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:11:06.720 And then another document which said a little more, and another document which said a little more, and another document which said a little more until a full recantation of his Protestant beliefs were placed before him, and fearing going back into prison, fearing suffering, wanting the Queen's pardon, he signed it as well. 00:11:08.720 --> 00:11:14.240 And where persecution had failed, pampering the flesh triumphed a good lesson for all of us to learn. 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:31.840 When signing that last document, Cramner denounced the faith and affirmed Roman Catholicism, undoing everything he had worked for years to do. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.159 Because the Protestantism was growing rapidly. 00:11:39.519 --> 00:11:44.080 Bloody Mary, when she heard that Cram Render at her candidate, she rejoiced. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:48.000 She said, We're gonna kill him anyways, but don't kill him. 00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:58.159 And it was a sad day because Thomas Cramner was kind of the general of Protestantism who denied the faith to save his skin. 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.639 And you may be thinking to yourself, Well, how could Cramner do that? 00:12:03.279 --> 00:12:05.279 How can he deny the faith? 00:12:06.080 --> 00:12:08.000 Well, pretty simple, he was a sinner. 00:12:08.559 --> 00:12:09.279 That's all. 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:13.759 Now I'm gonna tell you the rest of Cramner's stories later. 00:12:15.519 --> 00:12:28.320 But this whole story here that I just told you is all focused around this huge issue called the doctrine of sola scriptura. 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:38.000 Do you ever wonder why the word of God is faithfully preached and taught in this church and consulted for everything that is done in this church? 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:47.600 The reason is the doctrine of sola scriptura, which says Christians must live by the Word of God alone. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:13:05.600 The doctrine of sola scriptura also gives rise to what is called the regulative principle, which basically says everything that happens in a Christian's life in the church is to be regulated by what the word of God says. 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:15.759 As Martin Luther famously declared, while on trial at worms, my conscience is bound and held captive by the word of God, sola scriptura. 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:20.240 So turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 8. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:24.879 Deuteronomy chapter 8 is going to be our key text here. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.519 We're going to be looking at verse 3 in a minute. 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:32.720 And as you find Deuteronomy chapter 8, let me just give you a little background and context. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:38.159 It's written by Moses right before the people entered the promised land. 00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:51.440 The word Deuteronomy means second law, but it's really not a second law, it's the same law applied in more practical ways to what they're going to encounter when they enter into the promised land. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:57.919 In Deuteronomy chapter 1 through 4, Moses gives a quick historical survey of Israel's 40-year wanderings. 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:04.159 In chapter 5, he restates the Ten Commandments, which were also given previously in Exodus 20. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:07.440 And then in chapter 6, he gives what is called the great Shema. 00:14:07.919 --> 00:14:09.600 Shema is the Hebrew word for hear. 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:13.120 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:18.720 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your might, with all your soul, with all your strength. 00:14:18.879 --> 00:14:20.480 Okay, that is the great Shema. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:22.639 So he gives that. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:33.120 And then in the rest of chapter 6 through chapter 9, Moses gives the people of Israel this kind of spiritual pep talk because they're getting ready to go into the land. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:34.960 He knows he can't go on the land. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:42.480 So he's giving them this pep pep talk to get them psyched up right before they go on this military campaign. 00:14:42.639 --> 00:14:45.519 And this is where we find our text for this morning. 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:55.919 Moses gives multiple reminders to remember to not forget to keep the commandments of the Lord, to love the Lord, to listen to the voice of God, etc. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:04.480 And Moses wants the people of Israel to love God and to demonstrate that they love God by keeping the commandments. 00:15:04.639 --> 00:15:18.159 So all the rest of the book, all the laws in the book of Deuteronomy, are not for getting saved, they're for expressing love to God, which is exactly what Jesus taught, like in John 14 and 15. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.000 If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:23.600 The Jews got this wrong. 00:15:23.759 --> 00:15:26.799 They got it, if you keep my commandments, God will love you. 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:32.320 And so when Jesus came, he tried to switch it back to the way it should have been from the beginning. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.679 Now look in your Bibles at Deuteronomy 8. 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:40.399 I'm going to read verses 1 through 6, and then we'll jump in. 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:55.039 The Word of God says, Deuteronomy 8, verse 1, all the commandments that I'm commanding you today, you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers. 00:15:55.279 --> 00:16:08.720 You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:27.440 He humbled you and let you become hungry, and fed you manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:33.919 Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 00:16:34.159 --> 00:16:49.279 Thus you are to know in your heart that the Lord your God was disciplining you, just as a man disciplines his son, therefore you shall keep the commandment of the Lord your God to walk in his ways and to fear him. 00:16:49.840 --> 00:16:51.759 Let's pray and then we'll jump in. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:55.279 Father, we are so grateful to be here this morning. 00:16:56.000 --> 00:17:06.960 Lord, we are thankful to have a warm building and cushy seats and friendly faces and good fellowship. 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:21.680 Lord, we are thankful to come in freedom to worship you, to give you glory, to consider your word, to sing songs of praise to your name. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:43.279 Father, I pray that you would help us as we look at your word, that we would understand it, that we would grasp its meaning, that your spirit would work in us to make us more like Jesus, that we might live better for your glory because we love you. 00:17:43.680 --> 00:17:44.960 We pray this in Christ's name. 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:45.519 Amen. 00:17:46.319 --> 00:17:56.000 Alright, from Deuteronomy 8.3, I'm going to give you three important truths about solo scripture and encourage you to live by the word of God alone so you can be blessed. 00:17:56.160 --> 00:17:59.119 First, an example for you to remember. 00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:04.880 Look at Deuteronomy 8.3, where Moses says he humbled you and let you become hungry. 00:18:05.119 --> 00:18:07.359 Well, what's Moses talking about here? 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:15.440 Uh he's talking about how God led the Israelites out of Egypt, you know, the ten plagues, and uh they crossed the Red Sea, right? 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:24.559 And then they camped at Mount Sinai, and they were there for, I think, one year and two months, and he let them camp there until they ran out of food. 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:29.200 Now you may be thinking to yourself, well, why would God do that? 00:18:29.680 --> 00:18:38.640 You know, why why would he deliver the people only to take them out, you know, some two million people out in the middle of the desert and let them run out of food? 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.640 It's an odd thing for God to do. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:49.279 But if you look at the near context of verse 2, he tells us in the middle of the verse, why? 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:59.200 That he might humble you, there's one reason, testing you, there's another reason, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:01.119 And there's the big reason. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:06.480 Why did God wait until Israel ran out of food? 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:10.960 Because he had told them he was going to take care of them. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:26.160 And he wanted to humble them so they would learn to trust the Lord, especially in trials, especially in what appeared to be impossible situations. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:34.960 Jesus said in Matthew 18, 4, whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:19:35.279 --> 00:19:37.440 You want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? 00:19:37.680 --> 00:19:38.640 Be humble. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:46.319 Jesus said to the religious leaders in Matthew 23, verse 12, Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:48.799 And whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:56.160 James chapter 4, verse 10, humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and he will exalt you in due time. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:20:10.559 Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 5, verses 5 through 7, and all of you clothe yourself with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:16.240 Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in the proper time. 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:27.599 So it's very clear that what God wants to do is sanctify, teach the nation of Israel to humbly trust in him that they might be blessed. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:30.000 Christians have two options. 00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:34.319 You can choose to humble yourself, or God will do it for you. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:38.480 And just so you know, the latter is way more painful. 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:47.839 When God brings down the heavenly spanky spoon, and he's got a lot of spanky spoons. 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:58.960 It can be the transmission in your car, financial issues, sickness, relationship difficulties, whatever. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:01.920 God knows how to humble the proud. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:06.480 And God promised to take care of the people of Israel. 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:21.119 And the entire nation needed to learn what we all need to learn to trust in the sufficiency, the reliability, the authority of the word of God alone. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:23.440 That's what he wanted to teach them. 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:29.279 And to not trust in themselves and to not trust in others and to not trust in anything else. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:33.680 This is exactly what God wants from every one of us. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:38.640 The last plague, the death of the firstborn, taught Israel to trust the word of God alone. 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.279 Do exactly as I say, and the angel of death will pass over. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:56.480 God led them to the shore of the Red Sea into a dead end with no possible way of escape if attacked. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.759 Back in Egypt, Pharaoh's thinking to myself, man, I lost my. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:00.400 My head. 00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:00.880 What did I do? 00:22:00.960 --> 00:22:02.240 I just got rid of my workforce. 00:22:02.319 --> 00:22:03.759 You know, we can't do our own work. 00:22:03.920 --> 00:22:09.519 Let's go back and uh with the army and we'll fetch all our slaves back. 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:13.920 And so Pharaoh musters his army. 00:22:14.079 --> 00:22:18.799 He traps the people of Israel in this little dead end canyon next to the Red Sea. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:26.160 And why would God lead his people to a dead end so they could not escape? 00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:29.519 The same reason. 00:22:30.880 --> 00:22:35.680 So they could learn the doctrine of sola scriptura. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:41.039 Did all who observe the Passover escape the death of the firstborn? 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:42.000 Yeah. 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:46.480 Did all who believe the Word of God pass through the Red Sea? 00:22:46.799 --> 00:22:47.440 Yeah. 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:51.920 But we are so slow to learn, aren't we? 00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:53.359 That's just how it is. 00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:57.519 I don't know if you've ever read Exodus and thought, man, what's wrong with these people? 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:00.880 Why don't they just consult the Lord? 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:02.880 Why don't they just do what God says? 00:23:03.119 --> 00:23:06.240 And then you start realizing they're kind of like me. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:09.519 They do just what I do. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:17.680 Our first response in a trial is often to trust ourselves, trust our money, rather than the word of God. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:19.839 And God knows this. 00:23:20.319 --> 00:23:31.279 And so he put the Israelites into this other impossible situation by leading them out into the middle of a desert and just waiting until they ran out of food and they got hungry. 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:34.799 So he could teach them to trust in his word alone. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:44.240 And it begins to dawn on the people as their stomachs begin to growl, as their children start saying, Mom, Dan, I'm hungry. 00:23:44.559 --> 00:24:01.599 And as they see their parents and grandparents wilting, that there's two million of them in the middle of the desert, and there's no grocery stores, there's no Costco, there's no nothing. 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:05.200 There's just some dirt, scrubs, and some scorpions. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:08.000 How in the world? 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:15.519 How in the world are you gonna feed two million people in the desert? 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:19.359 It is, it's impossible. 00:24:21.440 --> 00:24:25.839 And the people begin to realize this, and they begin to get fearful. 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:29.039 And some who are assertive grab for power. 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:32.720 Almost always happens when people get afraid. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:36.400 The people who are the most aggressive are the people who are most afraid. 00:24:36.559 --> 00:24:37.839 They grab for power. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:42.559 We need to make a plan here, we need to get a committee together here to go back to Egypt. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:44.240 We can volunteer to be slaves again. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:48.720 I don't know how we're gonna cross the Red Sea, but man, we need to get back because we're all gonna die. 00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:50.960 And that's what they're doing. 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:52.480 They're freaking out. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:56.559 And it seems it's kind of rational, you know? 00:24:56.799 --> 00:24:58.160 There's some reason behind that. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:24:59.839 Yeah, yeah, we are out here in the desert. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:00.799 What are we doing out here? 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:02.480 Why do we follow this nutcase? 00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:04.000 Why are we here? 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:05.759 Why don't we go back to Egypt? 00:25:05.839 --> 00:25:07.519 Why don't we just get safe? 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:21.039 Now imagine there you are in the desert with your wife and your little children and your grandparents with nothing to eat and no food in sight, and you're on the wrong side of the Red Sea from Egypt. 00:25:21.680 --> 00:25:26.640 Are you going to believe God's word, sola scriptura, or not? 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:29.599 That is the question. 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:46.000 Have you ever been reading, you know, the through the Exodus, and you see all these impossible situations, and the people just keep freaking out when God gives them another one and another one. 00:25:46.079 --> 00:25:48.000 He's trying to teach them the same thing. 00:25:48.079 --> 00:25:50.799 But like the old hymn says, we're prone to wander. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:52.400 Lord, we feel it. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:56.000 And we often don't trust God's word when trials come. 00:25:56.160 --> 00:26:02.240 We turn to our Visa card, our savings account, our friends, our ideas, the internet, the government, whatever. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:14.960 But what many profess to believe as Christians, they don't apply when trials come upon them. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:22.079 They don't search the scriptures and pray and trust in God's precious and magnificent promises. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:26.880 Like the Israelites, you know, we try to deliver ourselves. 00:26:27.200 --> 00:26:33.599 And when we try to deliver ourselves, we turn away from the word of God, from the doctrine of sola scriptura. 00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:37.119 Yes, God sends us trials to teach us to trust in his word. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:48.720 Not after we have tried everything possible to rescue ourselves, but to trust his word from the get-go. 00:26:49.680 --> 00:27:00.000 Even if the situation seems impossible and we can't figure out any way of escape, if God's word says we can trust him. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:02.480 I know how hard this is. 00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:09.200 You know, I I get into my office, you know, I wake up my computer, and you know, I have good intentions. 00:27:09.279 --> 00:27:17.519 I I'm gonna pray and ask God to help me, and you know, I'm I'm gonna prepare a sermon to preach to people, and I want, you know, God to be glorified. 00:27:17.680 --> 00:27:20.799 But I see that I've got a few emails, and I, oh, look at that. 00:27:20.880 --> 00:27:21.920 Oh, so-and-so did this. 00:27:22.079 --> 00:27:27.200 Now I get a text message, and pretty soon I start getting busy and I start crafting a sermon. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:30.640 I realize I haven't even talked to the Lord. 00:27:30.880 --> 00:27:34.319 Here I am, I'm writing a sermon, and I haven't even talked to the Lord. 00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:42.640 I've been distracted by these things, and I'm not even asking him for help as I'm doing this spiritual thing in the flesh. 00:27:44.480 --> 00:27:51.440 And it's not because I don't know what's right to do, it's just I'm a sinner. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:56.640 And a lot of times I live like a practical atheist, and I'm not relying on the Lord. 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:10.240 God wants all of us to trust him, to believe in his word completely, relentlessly, without hesitation, without compromise, so we can be blessed, so we can be blessed, so he can be glorified. 00:28:10.480 --> 00:28:27.759 The trials you and I have to go through and will go through or have gone through are ultimately all sent by God, who is working all things after the counsel of his will, so that we can learn to trust him. 00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:30.799 Will we trust his word or not? 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:36.559 Are you tempted to trust in yourself, your resources, your wisdom, strength, money, other people? 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:39.200 Listen to what Jeremiah says about that. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:42.480 Jeremiah 17, verses 5 and 6. 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:47.920 Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:56.480 For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in a stony waste, in a wilderness, in a land of salt without inhabitant. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:58.000 Oh, you don't want to trust the Lord? 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:03.599 Okay, then go ahead and be a little dying, scraggly bush in salt and dirt. 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:06.240 You want that's what you want? 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:09.599 Then do it your way with Frank Sinatra. 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:19.200 But if you want to give God glory, if you want to be blessed, then you trust the Lord. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:25.119 You know, blessed is the man who trusts the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:35.279 He's gonna be like this tree, you know, planted by the streams of water, and and and its roots go into the stream and it never ceases to yield fruit. 00:29:35.519 --> 00:29:37.039 That's what we need to do. 00:29:39.200 --> 00:29:41.680 We don't trust the Lord in his word. 00:29:41.920 --> 00:29:48.319 We place ourselves into a spiritual wilderness, a stony wasteland of salt without inhabitant. 00:29:48.480 --> 00:29:50.240 But look again at Deuteronomy 8:3. 00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:52.799 It says he humbled you and let you become hungry. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:54.000 And here is something interesting. 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:57.359 He fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know. 00:29:57.440 --> 00:29:58.240 This is so good. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:02.079 God leads these two million people out there, he lets them get hungry. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:12.480 There's nothing to eat but rocks and dirt that are out in the middle of nowhere, they don't have any crops, they've eaten all their little snacks they've taken with them. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:16.559 Will they trust in God's word alone or not? 00:30:16.720 --> 00:30:24.240 And then in Exodus chapter 16, verses 2 through 4, we read this. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:31.119 The whole congregation of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 00:30:31.200 --> 00:30:50.640 The sons of Israel said to them, Would that we have died by the Lord's hand in the land of Egypt when we sat by the pots of meat and we ate the bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. 00:30:53.920 --> 00:30:58.960 It's like the people who talk about the good old days, which really weren't that good. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:11.920 They kind of strain out all the negative and they remember the few good things, package them together as if they just sat around and weren't slaves and weren't being beaten and worked seven days a week. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:16.400 We just sat around eating meat and pot and stuffed our face with bread. 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:27.119 Then the Lord said to Moses, Exodus 16, 4, Behold, this is this is interesting. 00:31:27.279 --> 00:31:29.920 This is the solution to their starving in the wilderness. 00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:33.759 I will rain bread from heaven for you. 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:47.359 And the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them whether or not they will walk in my instructions, sola scriptura. 00:31:49.119 --> 00:31:53.599 Would they believe the Lord that bread would rain down from heaven or not? 00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:02.000 Amazingly, our text says he humbled you and let you become hungry and fed you manna. 00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:07.200 Notice, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know. 00:32:07.440 --> 00:32:11.039 Bread had never rained down from heaven before. 00:32:11.839 --> 00:32:14.720 This is a whole new thing, an unexpected thing. 00:32:14.880 --> 00:32:16.559 It was never conceived or imagined. 00:32:16.720 --> 00:32:25.680 I bet the day before God said this, if you would have surveyed all two million people and say, God's gonna feed you tomorrow, how do you think it's gonna happen? 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:28.960 No one would have said bread's gonna rain from heaven. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:31.200 It was inconceivable. 00:32:31.680 --> 00:32:35.680 It was impossible for man, but not for God. 00:32:37.519 --> 00:32:45.519 The all-powerful, all-wise God will always deliver his people according to his word, and he will never fail. 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:52.079 If necessary, he will do so by unexpected, miraculous means. 00:32:52.400 --> 00:32:55.039 God promised to be their God to take care of them. 00:32:55.279 --> 00:32:56.799 God cannot break his word. 00:32:57.200 --> 00:32:59.440 All of his promises come true. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:02.000 His word never returns void. 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:04.480 He is the God who cannot lie. 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:12.000 So consider that to keep his word, God reigned bread out of heaven for two million people for 40 years. 00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:14.720 Think about that. 00:33:16.319 --> 00:33:20.559 Will you trust in God's word, sola scriptura, or not? 00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:21.920 Listen to me. 00:33:22.160 --> 00:33:34.480 I don't care how many impossible situations you get in, what kind of trials or circumstances look like in your life, what you think is happening in the future, you need to trust the word of God alone. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:40.160 Trusting in the word of God alone is the only way to show love to the Lord. 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:48.000 It is the only way to give him glory that he deserves and to receive the blessing he wants for you. 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:48.960 Think with me. 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:50.799 Is God all powerful? 00:33:51.359 --> 00:33:52.000 Yes. 00:33:52.880 --> 00:33:54.480 Is God all knowing? 00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:55.759 Yes. 00:33:56.720 --> 00:34:00.400 Does God know all things before they happen? 00:34:01.039 --> 00:34:01.680 Yes. 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:05.119 Has God declared the end from the beginning? 00:34:05.759 --> 00:34:06.400 Yes. 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:10.320 Does he accomplish all his good pleasure? 00:34:10.880 --> 00:34:11.519 Yes. 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:16.000 Is he working all things after the counsel of his will? 00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:17.360 Yes. 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:21.920 Now consider the implications of that, of those statements right there. 00:34:22.559 --> 00:34:25.599 Consider the implications of that, of every trial you face. 00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:29.760 All your trials are ultimately from the hand of an all-sovereign God. 00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:31.920 God knows about your trials beforehand. 00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:40.000 God has the power to stop your trials if he wanted to, and if he doesn't, he wants you to go through them and trust him and his word alone. 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:48.880 Now, secondly, what you should not live by. 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:50.639 Look at Deuteronomy 8.3. 00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:56.800 He humbled you and let you become hungry and fed you manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you understand. 00:34:56.880 --> 00:35:01.119 Here it is, that man does not live by bread alone. 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:11.039 This is a very difficult lesson for us to learn because we just naturally tend to want to learn but live by sight, by what we see. 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:16.559 In the world, cash is king, food is king, clothing is king, cars are king. 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:19.119 In the Bible, God is king. 00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:25.199 Yet the Bible tells us not to worry about food and clothing. 00:35:25.360 --> 00:35:29.920 The Bible tells us God is the one who gives us everything we need for life and godliness. 00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:33.360 The Bible tells us God gives us the power to make wealth. 00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:37.199 The Bible tells us Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:49.599 God uses difficult circumstances and trials to get us to the place where we keep learning better and better, hopefully, that we can trust Him. 00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:57.119 And you're never gonna hear this from TV, from a secular book, from Fox News. 00:35:57.519 --> 00:36:02.480 The world never encourages you to trust in the Word of God alone. 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:19.920 This is why we must be people of the Word and read the Word and study the Word and talk about the Word and meditate in the Word and go to Sunday school and go to conferences and read good Bible-saturated books and sing good Bible saturated music because we need to be constantly reminded of this truth. 00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:26.400 And pretty much all that the world throws at us is a denial of the sufficiency of the Word of God. 00:36:27.440 --> 00:36:35.679 Christians don't live by bread alone, by mere physical sustenance, money, food, clothing, things. 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:44.960 Be involved in discipleship relationships, be involved in reading your Bibles, have regular quiet times, listen to good sermons when you're going down the road. 00:36:45.519 --> 00:36:48.480 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. 00:36:48.639 --> 00:37:07.440 If you do not, the world will brainwash you, brainwash your children, brainwash your relatives, anyone, and teach you to trust in yourself and trust in the government and trust in science and trust in doctors. 00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:11.440 Remember, believer, you do not live by bread alone. 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:19.840 The constant siren voices of Satan in the world system is do not trust the word of God alone. 00:37:19.920 --> 00:37:22.400 It's antithetical to what the Bible teaches. 00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:25.840 Most Christians allow the word to speak into their lives. 00:37:26.960 --> 00:37:31.440 Very little compared to how much they let the world speak into their lives. 00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:33.760 Strive to change that. 00:37:34.719 --> 00:37:47.760 In Matthew and Luke 4, when the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, just like he led Israel out into the wilderness to be tested. 00:37:50.159 --> 00:37:56.800 And God allowed Jesus to become hungry just like he let Israel become hungry. 00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:06.800 And Jesus, in the face of every temptation, did what? 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:13.599 Quoted the word of God and was victorious. 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:19.199 Unlike Israel, who did not and were not. 00:38:21.760 --> 00:38:26.719 Will you act like Israel or Jesus when your next temptation or trial comes? 00:38:26.880 --> 00:38:34.320 Will you trust in yourself, your resources, food, money, clothing, world, doctors, internet, whatever, or trust in the Word of God alone? 00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:38.639 God reminds us all that man does not live by bread alone. 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:41.599 Third, what you must live by. 00:38:41.840 --> 00:38:44.719 Look at the end of Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 3. 00:38:44.880 --> 00:38:47.760 But man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 00:38:47.840 --> 00:38:58.000 Notice the first word, bod, which tells us a contrast is being made between living by sight and trusting in self in things like bread and trusting in the word of God alone by faith. 00:38:58.159 --> 00:39:13.119 What proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord is his word, his inspired, living, active, sharper, piercing, able to judge word that will not return void, that is like a hammer that shatters rock and a fire that consumes, that will never pass away. 00:39:13.599 --> 00:39:30.719 As 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17 tells us, all scripture is inspired by God or God breathed, and it's profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and training in righteousness, so that the man or woman of God may be adequate, thoroughly furnished, or equipped for every good work, every good work. 00:39:32.559 --> 00:39:45.599 Peter tells us in 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 3 and 4, seeing that his divine promises have granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the true knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence. 00:39:45.679 --> 00:39:55.679 For by these he has granted to us his precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is the world by lust. 00:39:55.840 --> 00:39:56.559 Notice this. 00:39:56.800 --> 00:40:00.800 Notice the through the true knowledge of him, his precious and magnificent promises. 00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:01.760 What is that talking about? 00:40:01.920 --> 00:40:02.960 The word of God. 00:40:03.599 --> 00:40:08.320 Everything pertaining to life and godliness in this book. 00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:14.880 Peter goes on to describe the greatest experience that he ever had on the Mount of Transfiguration. 00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:26.320 And then he says in 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 19 to 20, and we have the more sure prophetic word to which you do well to pay attention as a light shining in the dark place. 00:40:28.559 --> 00:40:31.519 Pay attention to the more sure word. 00:40:33.119 --> 00:40:46.480 The Reformation happened because faithful men preached and died for the doctrine of sola scriptura, so you and I could have a Bible. 00:40:46.880 --> 00:40:50.880 They died so we could have a Bible. 00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:55.760 And we see it all the way through the scriptures, don't we? 00:40:57.599 --> 00:41:01.280 In Matthew 4 and Luke 4, when Jesus was tempted, what did he turn to? 00:41:01.519 --> 00:41:02.719 The scriptures. 00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:06.639 In Matthew 5, 17 and 18, what did Jesus say would never pass away? 00:41:06.880 --> 00:41:08.000 The scriptures. 00:41:08.320 --> 00:41:15.760 In Matthew chapter 26, verse 54 to 56, and Luke 24, 44, what did Jesus say would have every detail accomplished? 00:41:16.000 --> 00:41:17.119 The scriptures. 00:41:17.360 --> 00:41:22.559 And when Jesus debated with the religious leaders, what did he argue by? 00:41:23.039 --> 00:41:24.239 The scriptures. 00:41:24.559 --> 00:41:30.719 In Luke 24, 27 to 46, what did Jesus refer to when speaking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus? 00:41:31.039 --> 00:41:32.079 The scriptures. 00:41:32.320 --> 00:41:38.800 In John 5, verses 45 to 47, what did Jesus say would judge all men on the final day? 00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:39.840 The scriptures. 00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.079 In John 10, 35, what did Jesus say could not be broken? 00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:45.039 The scriptures. 00:41:45.199 --> 00:41:54.639 What did Paul remind the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, verses 20 through 32 that he taught them day and night for a period of three years? 00:41:54.880 --> 00:41:55.599 The scriptures. 00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:57.360 There's a subtle theme here. 00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:05.519 In Acts 17, 11, what did Paul say made the Bereans more noble than those in Thessalonica? 00:42:05.679 --> 00:42:09.039 They searched the scriptures in 1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 4. 00:42:09.119 --> 00:42:12.639 When Paul reminds the Corinthians how they were saved, he says they believed what? 00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:14.880 The gospel in the scriptures. 00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:21.519 In Ephesians 6, 10 through 18, where Paul lifts the believer armor, what is the only offensive weapon? 00:42:21.679 --> 00:42:22.480 The scriptures. 00:42:22.639 --> 00:42:25.920 In 1 Timothy chapter 4, verses 6 and 13. 00:42:26.000 --> 00:42:31.679 What does Paul tell Timothy to teach, give attention to, and be absorbed in and take pains with? 00:42:31.840 --> 00:42:32.719 The scriptures. 00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:34.400 In Colossians 3.16. 00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:36.880