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So Jeremiah 23 is not a very good chapter for the prophets, for the preachers, for the priests, for the pastors that you could see from the very beginning there, you know, God is letting them know that he's not pleased with their performance. Now, the prophet Jeremiah was used by God toward the end of Judah's time before they were taken into captivity. You know, God was so disappointed in Judah they had turned toward idols and toward lies and, you know, God would allow the Babylonians to come and take them into captivity. God would allow Nebuchadnezzar and his armies to destroy the temple, the house of the Lord. He was so disgusted and so disappointed in his people at this time, and you know the story, the people were taken then into captivity for 70 years and then God would allow them to return and they had to rebuild the temple. But one thing I want you to notice is that even, like this was a bad state for Judah, like this was a horrible state for Judah, but notice there's not a shortage of pastors. There's not a shortage of prophets. There's not a shortage of priests. They're all there. Pastors, priests, prophets, they're all there, you know, performing their religion, teaching what they claim to be the words of God, and God is saying, look, I never sent these people. They're dreaming dreams. It's not coming from his word. And so, of course, it's so important that we be in a church that teaches God's word. You know, that teaches the truth of God's word. You know, that we can say, yes, this sermon or this past is being utilized by God. He's speaking the truth of God's word. And so, one thing that I was meditating on, you know, for the sermon this afternoon was just how appreciative and how thankful I am as a pastor to not have to rely on my own wisdom. I don't have to rely on my skills, you know, like I don't have to come to church and start juggling for you or putting on some performance for you to keep you entertained, that God has done such a great work to you, have given us his word, and we can focus and give our attention on the wisdom that comes from his word. Look at Jeremiah 23 verse 28. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream. Now what this is saying is God's saying, look, if someone says, man, I had a vision, I had a dream, God has spoken to me, God is saying to them, look, just let them talk. Let them tell you all about their dream. Not because their dream is good, but he wants to show you the comparison between the preaching of the dreams and the visions of these prophets in comparison to his word. Because then he says, and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. So you got someone that's going to tell you their dreams and there's someone that's got the word of God, you know, says all right, you got God's word, speak it faithfully. Then he says these words, what is the chaff to the wheat, sayeth the Lord. What is the chaff to the wheat, sayeth the Lord. What is it saying? It says the dreams of these prophets, these visions, it's chaff in comparison to wheat. See God's word is here being likened unto wheat and not the chaff. The title for the sermon this afternoon is what the bible is likened to, what the bible is likened to. And I've got several things in the bible, I've got 12 things, 12 points that the bible is likened to. And the first thing we see here is that the bible of God's word is likened unto wheat and not to chaff. Say what is chaff? You know if you are growing wheat and you may recall the story of Jesus and his disciples when they were hungered, they passed by a field and they collected the corn and they freshed it in their hands. You know and when you do some freshing of some wheat or some corn you've got the outlier, the husk of the seed which is worthless. I mean you know with your hands you can move that and the chaff just blows away. It's worthless, it's useless, it cannot be eaten. What you want to eat is that corn or what you want to eat is that wheat. And what God is saying when you go to a church and people are prophesying their dreams and their visions and they're speaking everything else besides the word of God, that's like chaff. You're consuming chaff which is worthless, which has no nutritious value for you, it's not going to nourish you. But when you preach from God's word he says this is like wheat, something that is nutritious. You know wheat can be milled into flour and can be utilized to feed God's people in different ways. What is the chaff to the wheat? Brethren if I come here and I just give you my wisdom and my opinions on things, it's just chaff, it's useless, it's a waste of time. It's not going to give you the nutrients that you need in life, which is why it's so important that we come and we hear God's word. What is the Bible likened to? The Bible is likened to wheat. You see it gives you nutrition, it gives you food, it gives you nourishment. I want to thank each member of New Life Baptist Church, especially those that have been around from the start. It's been almost six years and thank you for being faithful, thank you for for coming to a church desiring the wheat, desiring some food, desiring to be fed. Thank you that you've never said to me, pastor can you put on a show, pastor can you know can you start to entertain us, pastor can you start acting and putting on some plays behind, pastor can you tell more jokes, can you entertain us, can you tickle our ears. I appreciate you that have come and said man I just want to know God's word. You know without compromise, just tell me what the Bible says, just teach us God's word faithfully because when that happens it's wheat, you know it's nutritious. And look I understand that there are going to be times when I preach God's word or some preacher behind this pulpit preaches God's word and they're going to give their opinion. Okay they're going to give their thoughts and ideas and what I want to challenge you with this is this, look you can't remove the chaff completely from from preaching. The goal is to teach God's word and then to expand that to apply it to your life but I recognize there are going to be times that as preachers we just give our opinions but what you need to do as a hearer is say hold on is this opinion or is this application does it line up with God's word, does it line up with the wheat because if it does line up with the wheat then it is nutritious, it's been expounded you know the wheat's been taken and it's been milled into flour where it can be more digestible for me where I can understand it a bit better that I know how I can apply it to my life. Well that's still wheat that's still good it's still good for you but if you listen to something behind this pulpit and you say you know what that is just the pastor's opinion like there is nothing in God's word that confirms that it's not aligned you know it's a bit of a bit strange like that's that's actually just what my pastor thinks that's what the preacher thinks then brethren label it as chaff and say you know what I can set that aside and I know it's just a faithful man doing the best he can with the limited abilities he has to proclaim God's word but the last thing we want to be able to do is to find a church where it's just going to be chaff it's going to be chaff and chaff hey there might be a lot of chaff there might be a lot of wastage there might be a lot of speaking but it's not going to fulfill you it's not going to give you the nourishing value that the wheat's going to give you not only is it compared to as wheat but in verse number 29 God says is not my word like a fire sayeth the Lord like a fire the bible is likened unto fire you see sometimes well sometimes all the time fire is going to burn okay you put your hand in a fire you put your hand in some hot substance it's going to burn and sometimes brethren the preacher's going to burn sometimes you know you are not right with God you know how you come to church and you're kind of maybe hoping hope pastor kevin preaches something just light not something too confronting this morning or this afternoon because I know I'm not doing very well with the Lord but brethren look God's word is like a fire it ought to burn you know there are parts in your life that are not right with the Lord there are parts that need improving you know there are parts that you know about your life that God is not not looking down upon you favorably it's so important that we keep preaching from God's word which is like a fire what it does ah that hurts ah that was offensive oh I didn't want to have to hear that because then you know again if it's coming from God's word when you suffer that burn then you know what I need to heal that now I need to fix that in my life not only does fire burn but you know what if you put some precious metal into the fire it refines you know I use my analogy of my wedding ring you know it's a what is this 18 karat I think it is 18 karat gold but it's got some imperfections 24 carats pure gold but even then 24 carats not always perfect there are some imperfections always with something of value but if you were to pass this through the fire it's going to refine it even better is there's going to be a greater level of purity and it will start to diminish that which is impure and brethren that's what God's word is like there are impurities in your life there are sins in your life there are things that you know God does not want you doing and you need to go through the fire of God's word and be refined see the bible is likened unto wheat the bible is likened unto a fire what else is it likened to verse number 29 is not my word like a fire saifer lord and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces what else is the bible likened to the bible is likened to a hammer a hammer look if you were a nail and you've been hammered by that hammer is it going to feel nice look other times that i'm going to preach some nice sermons you know that are kind of not too confrontational but you're reminding you of some great truth of God's word yes and there are other times when you read God's word or you hear God's word it's going to be like a hammer it breaks down it's going to tear you down and so important that we get all of these parts in our in in our preaching we get all of these parts of God's word in our hearts it needs to break us brethren we are selfish prideful creatures and we need God's word to break that heart of pride because it's what lifts and elevates itself against the Lord God i mean such a strong hammer it breaketh the rock in pieces you know what i like about that passage as well is it's not my job to defend God's word it defends itself like sometimes we do defend the scriptures to some extent you know we are a king James only church and we try to defend the king James bible position or you know some people might make uh you know accusations of conflicts in the bible and sometimes we'll come alongside and clarify what's the so-called conflicts are but really God's word needs no defense you know what God's word doesn't need defense it's a fire it's a hammer it looks after itself and it's God's word to preserve his word and that makes it easy for us because all we need to do is accept and read and believe what God's word has to say let's say God's word is likened to a hammer so not only should we teach the truth which is good but sometimes we need to break things sometimes we need to break false doctrines with the hammer of God's word okay sometimes we have to break wrong philosophies of the world using God's word so it can be used definitely as a hammer then it says in verse number 30 therefore behold i am against the prophets sayeth the Lord that steal my words every one from his neighbor i don't want to be this i don't want to be the kind of pastor that steals God's word away oh let's set aside God's word and let me tell you my story you know that i've you know i've preached in the past and again i don't like attacking Baptist why do you take Baptist churches pastor because i'm a Baptist i've grown up in Baptist churches i i like Baptist churches for the doctrines and and for many that i've seen a the reality of the Christian life in many people that attend like-minded churches but there's a lot of problems i remember going to Adelaide with my wife before we started this church because i was thinking about starting a church in Adelaide and i'll never forget going to a church where the youth pastor started to preach and i know i've used this analogy before but then he started to speak about how the youth group went to the movies and they watched world war z a zombie movie okay and the sermon i don't even know how but the sermon was about the movie the sermon was about zombies eating people's brains i don't know right and there's some Bible verses were thrown in and like i'm in Adelaide i'm going Lord do you want me to start a church here you know i want to be a blessing to this pastor maybe he can help me maybe give some direction and i'm sitting there in church here in the youth pastor go on about movies it was chaff it was a waste of time and i'm thinking why am i bringing my family to this house here we're not even here in God's word how is it that we're here i'm trying to get my kids away from the worldly movies i'm trying to tell them hey this isn't the stuff that we should be watching you know we try to be careful with the things that we watch and even when you're careful you know hollywood still throws strange things at you why am i saying that oh yeah because i went to youtube a couple of days ago you know just looked up our church new life baptist church and i think sebastian found it uh new life church on the gold coast new life something church what oh just new life i just just new life okay and i'm like okay look do we have more subscribers and then oh they're beating us they're beating us we've got to get that subscriber number up okay if you haven't subscribed on youtube subscribe now all right thumbs up you know smash that like button and give me a thumbs up but uh anyway i just i was just curious you know it's just like standard you know standard liberal pentecostal style church whatever with a rock band and i just i just thought i'll just listen to a random sermon so i put it on actually i think the first sermon was a woman preacher i think and then we put in the next sermon it was a man who's the actual pastor and he's like he starts he goes you know what just this past day went to the cinemas and i watched what movie was it oh no no he goes man if you've not seen this it's an older movie if you've not seen this movie let me encourage you you got to watch this movie it's about endurance it's about fire anyway and then he starts building all this this uh you know christian teaching about enduring and being strong based on this if you've not seen this movie you got to go out and watch this movie i'm like where is god's word but there are so many churches like this so many churches preach in hollywood to you hollywood i mean it's a cesspool of iniquity these these actors are like the scum of the earth and you got pastors and i know they're not they're like these prophets in jeremiah's time they're not even safe to begin with oh there was a period that they read the scriptures before the sermon and they had like a big screen they had i don't know let's say it was the niv on show but the guy reading the scriptures was reading from another version and like you can't even follow what he's saying with what's on the screen let's just confuse everybody with all these modern translations and then let's just teach from hollywood what are hollywood's lessons to your life that's why when i read jeremiah to me it's just modern day it's the same there's nothing new on the sun verse number 30 therefore behold i'm against the prophets save the lord that steal my words everyone from his neighbor can you imagine that god is saying these preachers they're not just preaching chaff and nonsense they're stealing god's words away people are thinking they come to church to hear god's word even in the independent baptist church and i'm listening to hollywood i'm listening to world war z it's like why what the bible is likened to wheat fire hammer because a lot of preachers don't like this they don't want fire they don't want a hammer what if we offend people what if we burn people it's not our job just preach god's word faithfully and all these qualities it might be a fire to some it might be running waters to another person for the same sermon but you need to leave god let god's work word do the work that it's required to do you know come with me to matthew chapter 4 matthew chapter 4 verse number 4 matthew chapter 4 and verse number 4 for our online listeners please subscribe all right matthew chapter 4 verse number 4 matthew 4 4 what else is the bible likened to you guys know this story when christ was tempted in the wilderness but he answered and said is it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god see the fourth point that i have for you is the bible is likened to to bread the bible is likened to bread yes it's likened to wheat but now it's likened to bread and and of course christ is speaking about your general staple diet your daily diet and i guess bread in the time of christ is i'm sure much more nutritious than it is you know the preserved bread that we buy in the stores but it's something that we need on our daily basis okay make sure the bible is something that you consume every day every day that you go by okay you say pastor i've not been reading my bible okay today sunday the first day of a new week we're hearing god's word you're reading god's word let this be a new start for you all right tomorrow open god's word again like for breakfast and consume some of it and maybe consume a little bit for lunch maybe consume a little bit for dinner this is what god's word is likened to it satisfies hunger you know i recall being a teenager going a long time not reading my bible months months and months not reading my bible and a yearning inside of me this hunger you know inside of me this this this new man that i was inside of me but just lacking you know nutritious value and i'd pull the bible off the shelf and i would just consume that bible i'll just i'll just you know page after page chapter story after story i just like to consume it as much as i can because i'm so hungry so hungry for god's word so the bible truly nourishes and the bible truly satisfies hunger and we get hungry every day well your new man your spiritual man within you gets hungry every day it needs to receive the bread of god's word i'll quickly read to you from amos 8 11 it says behold the days come save the lord god that i will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst of water but of hearing the words of the lord a famine of hearing the words of the lord you see when you go without your bible for a long time you will be malnourished you go without food for a long time you will be now malnourished in the flesh reverend in order for you to have you know like this morning in order for you to overcome temptations and live that victorious life you need to nourish the new man within you okay you've got the flesh and you got the spirit fighting within yourself you know if you give to the flesh it's going to overcome in the time of temptation but if you nourish a new man within you you give us strength you give god's word the daily bread every day it's going to be stronger and when the temptations come the new man's going to have victory it's going to be able to subdue that flesh you know under the power of that new man and so the bible is likened unto bread come with me to ephesians chapter 5 ephesians chapter 5 in verse number 26 ephesians chapter 5 in verse number 26 now this passage is about husbands and wives but it says in ephesians 5 26 that he might sanctify and cleanse it speaking about cleansing the church with the washing of water by the word you see the fifth point that i have for you is the bible is likened to water the bible is likened to water that he might sanctify and cleanse it you know we come to church and the lord is seeking to sanctify a continual work of sanctification a continual work of cleansing of your life of my life but how does he do that by the washing of water sorry with the washing of water by the word okay so this water that's been referred to here is not so much drinking water but it's water used to bathe to shower to clean verse number 27 that he might present it to himself a glorious church not having spots or wrinkle or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish my desire for new life at this church you know if we're able to sustain ourselves to the lord comes back if he comes back in my lifetime then i want to be able to present this church in the same way holy and without blemish a glorious church look we don't have to be a thousand member church to be a glorious church we don't need to have the highest subscription number on youtube to be a glorious church what we need is the water of his word to cleanse us because brethren we all have spots and wrinkles you know any such thing we have problems we have defects we're unclean in our life and you know it and i know it again if i knew i don't want to know your heart and you don't want to know my heart because it's it's not pure it's not clean and so we need the water of god's word i love sometimes just uh you know on a hot day you know maybe you sweat or you've worked and you're you know you feel a bit dirty i just i love just going to a shower and i just turn on that water and just just feeling that water fall on me and just the filth of the day washing away i like the feeling of being clean you know if i've had a big meal and and i just sometimes i just can't help but get a toothbrush and just brush my teeth i just love the the feeling of being clean on the on the outward but of course god is more concerned about cleanliness on the inside and the only thing that's going to penetrate the inside is the water of god's word so the bible is like an unto water cleansing water come with me to hebrew chapter five hebrew chapter five verse number 26 sorry 12 verse number 12 hebrew chapter five and verse number 12 hebrew chapter five and verse number 12 hebrews 512 so again i believe paul is the author of hebrews could be someone else doesn't really matter god's the author overall but it's an epistle to hebrews it's an epistle to to jews you know those that have been saved you know with a with the work of christ in their lives and you know they're struggling in in the book of hebrews to differentiate between what were the old testament practices and what are we to do under the new testament they'll kind of struggle with that with that transitional period for them but it says in verse number 12 for when for the time you ought to be teachers they ought to be teachers they've been saved long enough you know they've had enough time to grow where they can now teach god's word to others they ought to be teachers he says you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of god and have become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat for everyone that use of milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a babe and so point number six is that the bible is likened to milk the bible is likened to milk now there's nothing wrong with milk and there's nothing wrong with people needing milk but brethren who needs milk the newborn babe the little infant or the grown-up adults the babe needs the milk right the babe there's nothing wrong with being a baby you know if you've been saved and you're you're recently saved and you're you're learning and you're you know you're kind of wrapping your heads around all the doctrines of the bible there's nothing wrong you're a baby in christ you're you're recently saved and it's good to be able to absorb the milk of god's word it can be damaging as a newborn babe as a new christian to try to take on the meat now focus on the milk focus on as it says there the first principles of the oracles of god the first principles the foundational things the basic things of the of your faith if you're newly saved knock those things in first you see these hebrews they've gone some time saved they ought to be teachers they ought to be guiding new people and they're being rebuked here you have need of milk you need to be taught all over again you know you guys aren't growing and so brethren in order for us to grow in god's word we first need the milk and again the milk are things like the deity of christ the milk is like god created all things in six days creation okay the milk is the trinity the milk is christ is returning the milk is the blood atonement of christ the virgin birth all these things that are important to our faith and you've got to lock them in before you can start absorbing the meat it continues in that same passage in verse number 14 but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil and so point number seven the same passage is the bible is likened to strong meat strong a bit chewy you got to bite into it you gotta chew on it a bit then you gotta swallow that meat you know a baby without teeth they're gonna choke on that meat okay but the bible is likened to strong meats and look once you've taken in the milk and you've grown and you've learned the basic principles of god's word you've learned the basic principles of your faith don't be afraid now it's time to grow now it's time to dig in a little deeper now it's time for you to say lord teach me more show me more lord and to me the easiest way this has been my my my style of learning god's word and i think it's the best way just have your daily bible read just read the bible read chapter by chapter you know all the days of your life taking a bit of you know god's word and the things that you understand oh actually before you start reading say god teach me lord guide me help me to keep attention i don't want to just go through my chapter a day to keep the devil away i give me attention lord so i can just be focused on what you have to say read the chapter meditate on it how can i apply this to my life and there are going to be times that you understand it and the things that you understand because of god's guidance because of his holy spirit the things that i understand i'm going to do i'm going to lock those truths in that i understand there are other things that you're going to read that you just don't understand don't ring me up pastor i got up to verse number five in this chapter i don't understand the verse don't worry about it okay it could be strong meat okay it might not be your time to understand that right now and and in your process of time as you read god's word more you'll understand more or maybe verse number five god's going to allow you to hear it at church at some point you know where it gets expanded and explained and then god's opening the door for you to be able to absorb that part of the scriptures but there's no rush like there's no rush to understand everything to this day i still don't understand everything okay who's gonna understand i'm never gonna get to the end of understanding everything in god's word i know full well when i go to heaven i'm gonna have to go to god sometimes and say lord remember that chapter remember that verse it seemed a bit awkward can you explain that to me i never really understood it on the earth but the point is you grow and develop and as you read don't worry if you don't understand every single verse and every single cryptic part or you're reading the book of revelation you can't pierce exactly where that event takes place or how it takes don't worry about it there's plenty of bible to read and understand focus on the milk and as you grow the lord will automatically give you his meat all right but don't be afraid of meat i would say that the first baptist church that i went to as a child it was just milk like every sermon was milk and it's good milk but at some point it's like i need meat i need veggies i need potatoes i need something more to grow i mean it's good to know about god's love and it's good to know about god's grace and it's good to know about god's faithfulness but when am i going to learn about god's wrath when am i going to learn the other things that i read in the bible when are you going to explain to me why god was so seemingly judgmental in the old testament because i'm just hearing one side of god i want more i want all of god's word what did what did jesus say uh what did he say earlier it said um a man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god if i'm not getting every word i'm going to be malnourished if all i'm getting is the same passages again and again and again the same sermons again and again again the same milk again and again again i'm going to be malnourished could you imagine living your life as an adult and all you ever drank was milk you'd have major deficiencies in your body and there's a lot of believers with major deficiencies in their spiritual life because they're not desiring to consume the strong meat the bible is likened to strong meat come with me to james chapter 1 james chapter 1 verse number 23 james chapter 1 verse number 23 i always find it funny when someone says to me pastor was that sermon for me you know did you preach about my situation oh i get that i get that a lot i find it not fun not like haha i'm laughing at you funny but just it's not really funny to be honest okay because i'm i don't it's not my it's not my way of preaching really you know but the reason you feel that way when it happens is because of this james chapter 1 verse number 23 for if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass or as we would say beholding his natural face in a mirror the eighth point that i have for you brethren is the bible is likened to a mirror this is a mirror you look at this and you find yourself you look at god's word and go yep that's me yep that's my problem sometimes you're like ah those israelites of ode the stiff oh actually i did that that was me i'm stiff necked it's a mirror okay and mirrors will highlight your deficiencies mirrors will show you when you wake up your hair's out of place all right it's going to show you the defects it's not always nice to look in the mirror but the bible is likened to a mirror and so when i preach god's word and you say to me pastor was that about me i guess so it's a mirror yeah it was about you it was about me too it was about all of us okay god knows what you look like and he's going to tell you what you look like it's not so much me trying to make it apply to you it's all going to it's always going to apply to you if god's word is being preached faithfully it's always going to hit you in some regard you'll be able to see yourself verse number 24 james 1 24 says for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was so if you hear god's word but you don't do god's word you're going to be a guy that looks in the mirror and forgets what he looks like there have been times that i've come to church rushing in the morning big family right i've got my jacket got my tie and we're getting you know it's a bit crazy my family on a sunday morning trying to get ready for church and then um i walk to the van and you know it's got the the glass the the window and i see a reflection on myself and my hair's all over the place i'm like i didn't fix myself and i've got to run into the house for some gel on because i i forgotten what i look like from all the bad rush that's what it's like life can be a rush you know you get up in the morning you look at yourself oh yeah and then you get caught up in the world you get caught up in life and you forget what you look like well if you don't do god's word if you just hear god's word you're going to notice the imperfections on you but then you're so busy with life and you don't do what god asks of you you're going to forget all about it look you're going to forget this sermon you're going to forget this sermon tomorrow or next week if you don't do something about it you'll forget it how many times pastor that look i've had people say to me pastor it was a good sermon last week and because i preach like three or four times a week i forget sometimes like you know cut me a break because i you know it's a lot of sermons and i'm like oh what they're preaching again and i'm like oh i can't remember but it's a good sermon the reason you don't remember is because you didn't do it you might have liked what you heard but now you forgot all about it okay it happens so much it happens so often verse number 25 but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein he be not a forgetful hero but a doer of the work this man shall be blessed in his deed reverend you're already doing half of the job you've come to church you're hearing now i want you to be blessed by god i want you to be blessed in your deeds what you do so all you need to do now is put it into practice take some you're not going to take the whole sermon take something you know let's say i spoke to you about your need for the bible every day okay you say pastor i can't do everything that it's covered up some things i don't even remember some things i don't even know what you mean by that okay but what you can do say all right pastor said i need to read my bible every day it's my daily bread so that's something you can do now you can say lord tomorrow i'm going to read my bible and lord tuesday i'm going to read my bible and lord wednesday i'm going to read my bible look you do that you put something as simple as that into practice god says he's going to bless you don't we want to be blessed by god well don't be just a hearer do something about it okay the bible is likened unto amira can we meet to psalm 119 psalm 119 psalm 119 and verse 105 psalm 119 119 and verse number 105 we're up to point number nine psalm 119 verse number 105 the bible says thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path the bible is likened to a lamp and a light the bible is likened to a lamp and a light reverend you know there are certain decisions that i need to make in life and i don't always have the answer i don't know wait wa i don't know i don't really know the right answer right now okay and you guys have decisions to make in life okay there are so many options so many ways that you can do things you know in order for you to walk rightly in order for you to do what god look god knows what is best for you if you want to make the best decisions in life you need the lamp you need the lights of your feet you need god to shine the lamp the pathway for you so you need his word you see when you have a big decision to make go to the lord and say lord i've got a big decision i don't know what to do right now do i take this option do i take that option but lord what i'm going to do i'm going to spend time in your word and please show me something the lord's going to show you the lord answers prayers the lord wants to be a light to you he wants you to make the best decisions he loves you and the answers are found in his word but if you don't pick up his word how are you going to know which way to go i'll ring my pastor my pathway is different to yours because we have different lives we have different experiences we're running our own race which is to run the race that is set before us we each have a race to run for the lord i don't have all the answers i might say to you well i don't know here's a passage meditate on that passage think about it this is what i think i would do in your situation but i'm not in your situation i'm not in your shoes but this is what i think i would do but really it's you it's your call and it's scary sometimes to make big decisions in life it's scary to go lord i don't know am i going to do this i'm going to do that but when you have a confirmation from his word it takes all that burden and that fear away says lord wow i found an answer you know what yeah this decision this option makes the best sense aligned with your word that i cut i read this morning or with a sermon that i heard on sunday or on wednesday and so lord i'm going to pursue that path thank you lord for shining a light to my feet one thing that i've heard taught as well you know is that the lord doesn't necessarily shine the destination to you it says there that he shines a light onto your path and so usually he'll shine a light or you need to step next you don't know exactly where it's going to end up but you just got okay that light's there i'll step into that light and then the lord will shine again the next step and you step into that light and you take steps all the way this is a faith-based way of living your life you don't always know what the destination the end result's going to be but you just say lord i'm just going to take whatever step you shine before me whatever doors you open before me because your your word your bible is likened unto a lamp and a light of my to my path come with me to psalm 19 come with me to psalm 19 psalm 19 i'll quickly read to you from ephesians 6 17 i'll be quick on this point ephesians 6 17 says and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of god point number 10 is the bible is likened to a sword you want to go to battle we're called soldiers of jesus christ you can't go to battle without the sword you know when we go soul winning like it sounds nice we're winning souls but brethren you got to take that sword you know every time we go out and we preach god's word to the lost you're cutting you know this sword is blood stained as you take away uh you know the beliefs of uh of uh of good works to save you you know you start cutting through the beliefs that my religion or my church is going to save me you start cutting through those lies and you show them the truth like a sword directly you take it to battle and you can win some of these captives to jesus christ the sword we saw that it can burn it can cut you know but it can cut and cut quite deeply you know hebrews 4 12 says for the word of god is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirits and to the joints and marrow and is a and is a discerner of the thoughts and intense of the heart once again when you say me no no the word knew the intense of your heart it cut through and showed you where you're not right with the lord it showed you what you need to fix see like sin is like this it's like this cancer you know and if it's not treated it continues to grow and the only way to remove that cancer all those impurities is surgery and that surgery is the sword sharper than any two-edged sword that cuts even you know uh the soul and the spirit the concern of the heart shows you what needs to be taken out and brethren we need we need a lot of surgery in our life you know led by the gentle hand of the surgeon the great physician jesus christ but it's by reading and understanding his word so the bible is likened to a sword all right this is the last passage psalm 19 verse number seven the law of the lord is perfect so where's the law of the lord found in the bible all these verses about the bible the lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the lord is sure making wise is simple the statutes of the lord are right rejoice in the heart reverend does god's word rejoice give you rejoice in your heart it should do the commandments of the lord is pure and lightening the eyes the fear of the lord is clean and during forever the judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether more to be desired are they than gold yay than much fine gold the bible is likened to gold the bible is likened to gold and most of this world is seeking treasures most of this world is seeking prosperity and value boy we have something more precious than gold we have something more precious than any treasure you could possibly have on this earth like if god asked you you know if he gave you you know a desire of your heart what do you want most than anything on this earth and whatever whatever could be in your heart and your mind you've already been given something more precious than that his word i mean what a blessing guys what a blessing to have something more precious than gold and we know how many hours we spend work in a job to make money to get a paycheck to to be able to pay nothing wrong with that you know to pay for x how much time and effort do we do we work how many hours do we work every week to make ends meet and then you don't pick up your bible which is worth more than that we don't even give any percentage the amount of work to read and meditate and receive this precious gold more precious than gold brethren this this bible is is amazing it's it's it's the it's the hand of the lord on this earth the closest you're going to get to god is through here the more you're ever going to know him is through his word you know i often think about moses and the amazing 10 command 10 commandments on the tablets where god himself wrote on those tablets because that would have been amazing to see you got more than the 10 commandments 10 commandments are just a little like half a page you got everything else that god wrote how valuable how valuable the bible is likened to gold verse number 10 he continues sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb the bible is likened to honey the bible is likened to to honey and so it's it's sweet in the mouth okay it's not always sweet in the belly it can be bitter in the belly okay but it's sweet in the mouth and again your dual nature the flesh doesn't think of god's word as honey but the new man in you loves it can't get enough of it give me more honey you know let me consume more it's sweet it's delicious you know there's been a few times when i've tried to go on the keto diet ketogenic diet where you got to get off the sugars and i remember the first time i've shared this to a few people the first time i tried the keto diet my brain disconnected from my body because my brain is saying no sugar no chocolates no chocolates and then i find myself i don't know how it's like i transported i opened the pantry and i pulled out chocolate but my brain's telling me don't but my body is just there because it desires the sweetness it desires the sugar now honey's a better sweeter than then then you know that refined sugar but the point is that like the new man wants it it's nice it's a nice dessert we've seen the bible can be like like a like a wheat and like bread and all these other things but it can also be something so sweet you know a nice dessert you know it just satisfies the the sugar craving that you've got within you it's a sweet book we have a sweet lord you know he serves us a delicious spiritual meal just we neglect god's word we think of it as another book it's not another book it's amazing you need it i need it it's going to teach everything you need to know about life there is one other passage i'll just read to you very quickly because you can have too much of a good thing do you know that like again i don't want to zap anyone's zeal if you're excited for the lord run hard serve him but be careful because the bible even says in proverbs 25 16 i'll just read it to you proverbs 25 16 hast thou found honey eat so much as it is sufficient for thee lest thou be filled there with and vomit it have you found honey god's word is honey okay just eat enough that it satisfies you okay don't go overboard it's kind of the same idea of a babe in christ choking on strong meat you just got saved i want to understand revelation i want to the most symbolic book of the bible the end times just take it easy everything has a right balance and god's word is good for you read it every day you know take it in okay but don't absorb so much honey that you get so full on it and then you throw up we've got to be careful as christians sometimes you know you learn great things from god's word and you have unsafe family and then you just go and start what they call bible bashing them you know your fornication is wrong your drunkenness is wrong and your whatever bang bang they're not even saved they're not even a babe they can't consume anything and you're just telling them again what god's word bang like to them it's vomit you've over consumed no one wants to eat vomit they don't mind honey but people don't want to consume and you you can throw up god's word because you're just over consumed again like a babe choking on strong meat or like someone that's zealous running the race of god they get so exhausted they burn out they sizzle out everything's balanced okay so hear god's word good read god's word good you go pastor straight off tonight this afternoon sermon i'm going to listen to another free sermons from preachers stop how about you just take on board the things that you've learned now and apply those things now do that now you don't want to over consume and start vomiting okay it's not pleasant and i look i feel kind of i don't know i kind of feel bad saying this but you can have too much of a good thing be careful be careful how much you consume and what you consume you then do let it be sufficient for you oh that was good i've grown today i've learned something today good that's enough for me okay tomorrow i have my new breakfast i'll open god's word once again i'll listen to another sermon potentially if that's what you want to do but take it easy take it easy okay growth is slow from babe to an adult takes time takes 20 years okay take it easy don't over consume all right brevin title for the sermon was what the bible is likened to and i just hope maybe i've given you some other things to think about appreciate god's word don't let it be just another book on your bookshelf okay it is so much value in god's word it's such a blessing that we have the holy spirit that can guide and to teach us the truth of his word and please put what you hear into action okay let's pray