Trembling at God's Word, Part 4a

If you have your Bible, turn with me to Matthew Chapter 5. Matthew Chapter 5. We have been looking at the most significant message you will ever hear. We thought that it would take one week. It's taken at least four. It will take at least one more after this, and hopefully we'll be able to finish it in five weeks. If not, well, we'll finish it in six weeks. But we realize that as... we go through the text that if it is the most significant sermon you'll ever hear, then you don't need to rush through it.

You need to take your time, understanding what the word of the Lord has to say for you. And so we've spent some time understanding what the Bible says concerning Isaiah 66, verse number two, where it says, to this man, I will look, to him who is broken in and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.

God is looking for a certain kind of man. He's looking for a certain kind of woman. not just any kind of man, not just any kind of woman, but one who specifically shakes under the authority of God's holy word, those who fear God, those who reverence him, those who stand in awe of him, the broken and contrite person, that's the one that God looks for. And so if that's the case, what does the Bible say concerning those who tremble at the word of God? What is it about God's word that causes us to shake uncontrollably under its authority?

What is it about God's word that causes the man of God, the woman of God, to tremble? What is it about the word of God that causes us to have a broken and contrite spirit so that when we hear it, we are able to receive it? We've been looking at that, and we saw, first of all, is because it reveals God's identity.

It reveals his identity. The Bible is a revelation of God. It shows us the greatness. It shows us the greatness. and awesomeness of our God. And so when we read the Bible, we realize that the Bible is not about what my needs are and how God plans to meet those needs. The Bible is about God himself. It's a revelation of his character and nature. And so when I read the Bible, I read it with one purpose in mind, that is, to know my God. For if I know my God as he is portrayed in the scriptures, I better understand myself, my needs, in conjunction with who my God is.

And so we realized that that the very first reason we tremble under the authority of God's word is because it reveals his identity.

Number two, it radiates His majesty. It radiates his glory. The Bible says in 2nd Corinthians 3, verse number 18, that we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed from one level of glory to another level of glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord.

We realize that when we look into the law of God, we are looking at the glory of God. We are looking at the majesty of God. And when we look into that law and see His glory, then we are being transformed from one level of glory to the next level of glory to the next level of glory. So that we become more and more like our God because the Word of God radiates His majesty and his glory. Number three, it's because it reiterates over and over and over his authority.

The Bible speaks of the authority of God. The Bible is God's authoritative word to man. And because it is, then we tremble under its authority. We tremble under its words because he realized that it is God's word. In fact, God calls it God's word. It's not the word of man. It is the word of God. And because when God speaks, God expects us. us to listen, then those with a broken and contrite heart then begin to tremble under the authority of God's holy word. Now it's important to note that the Bible emphasizes the fact that Jesus would look at God's word as authoritative.

In fact, when he was tempted on the Mount of Temptation in Matthews chapter four, it talks about that man should not live by bread alone, but by every word out of the mouth of God, in his ability to deal with Satan, he would go and quote the Bible because the Bible was the authority. The law of God was the authority. And realizing that man lives by one thing, and that is the law of God, because it's like his bread, it's his sustenance. Over in Mark chapter 12, verse number 10, Christ after giving us, God, Jesus.

Christ, after giving us, giving a parable about how those who came to the Jewish people and talked about the Messiah, and they would throw them out and they would kill them until finally the vineyard owner would send his own son, and that they would reject him as well, says these words in Mark chapter 12, verse number 10, have you not even read this scripture?

Christ goes back and says, have you not even read the word of the Lord that says, the stone which the build was rejected, this became the chief cornerstone. This came about from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Our Lord would refer back to the Word of God because they are his very words. They are the authoritative words of God. And when you come over to Matthew 5, 6, and 7 on that sermon on the Mount, he reiterates over and over one thing. You have heard that it was said by the end. angels of old but i say to you remember that you have heard that it was said you should not commit adultery but i say to you that if you look upon a woman to lust after her in your heart or lost after her you have already committed adultery in your heart you have heard that it was said an eye for an eye a truth for a tooth but i say to you you have heard that it was said hate your enemy, but I say to you.

You see, the rabbis had changed the law of God. They have made the law of God fit their lifestyle. And what Christ did when he came was he came to not reinvent a new law, but to bring the law back up to the authority that it was meant to have. So he would say, you have heard what the rabbis have said. But I want to tell you something, this is what I say. say to you. And when you come to the end of the sermon on the mountain, Matthew chapter 7, the people after hearing Christ were marveled at his words.

They were amazed that this one would speak with authority, unlike the scribes, unlike the rabbis, this one spoke with great authority. And Christ had said these words in Matthew chapter 5, verse number 17, do not think that I came to abolish the law or the prophets. I did not come to abolish the law. I did not come to but to fulfill. For I truly say to you until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the law until all is accomplished. Christ says, I didn't come to do away with the law.

I didn't come to treat the law as if it didn't exist. I am the fulfillment of the law. I am the embodiment of the law of God. And then he would say these words, he would say, verse, excuse me, 19, whoever then annules one of the least of these commandments, and so teaches others shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Christ says, listen, if you want to be great in my kingdom, this is what it's about.

You must not only teach the law, you must keep the law that I king to fulfill. But if you are going to be least in the kingdom, if you're going to be the one that's not blessed, then you annul the law of God. You don't teach the law of God. You don't keep the standard of the law of God. You don't live in accordance with the law of God, and you will be called least in the kingdom of God. God says, listen, I am the authority.

And if you want your life to be blessed, then you must live. in light of that authority. You must obey it. And you must teach others to obey it. That is so crucial, especially for us in the church. Why? Because you see in the church, we need to be able to uphold the standard. The Bible says that the church is the pillar and foundation of truth.

So we are to stand on the truth. We are to live the truth. We are to defend the truth. We're to disseminate the truth. It's all about the truth of God. And if the church doesn't do that, who will do that? And if we lead people away from God's law, then the Bible says, then we are the least in the kingdom.

Why? Because we have devalued that one thing that God holds up as extreme authority. Thy word, O Lord, is magnified even as thy very name, Psalm 138, verse number two.

Remember on the Demas Road in Luke 24, when Christ would talk about to those two disciples, about how we take them back all the way to the Old Testament, all the way to the law and the prophets, to show them how everything was about Christ and His coming and how they missed it, because God's word speaks with supreme authority. You know, unfortunately, we live in a time where the Word of God is extremely devalued. It's not that important anymore. Something else has taken its place. There's a cry for tolerance, but there's not a cry for truth.

We want to be tolerant with everybody and everybody's views. But you know, you just can't do that. Remember, our guided Israel said over and over and over again, different views for different Jews, different styles for different Gentiles. Well, you know, that's just not the way it is. And, you know, he'd say that over and over and over again. And finally, one night, I sat down with him at dinner and said, I want to help you understand where we're coming from.

We don't have different styles. We don't have different views. We only got one view and we only got one opinion. And that's God's opinion. That's it. It's not my opinion. We don't invent the truth. We don't redefine the truth. We just proclaim the truth. But, you know, we live in a society where, where truth doesn't want to be proclaimed because if you stand for truth, you're very intolerant. Well, that's true. Christ was the most intolerant person ever to walk the earth. He never tolerated sin. He never tolerated those who had a different view of the Bible.

In fact, the religious establishment, he rebuked over and over again in Israel. And they hated him because of it. But he would never back down from the truth because he was true. truth. And so we need to understand that as the church of Jesus Christ, we need to stand strong on the truth. Thus saith the Lord. And those are the people who God is looking for. God's not looking for people to compromise the truth, is he? He's looking for people to stand strong on the truth. And that's the way we need to be.

So no matter what it says, we can. We can. We can't compromise it because that tells people what that we're the standard God's word is not the standard but we are and our opinion is a standard but that makes it just like the world see and so we need to understand that our responsibility is to look in what the Bible says about whatever situation we are in and say well what does the Lord say on this for whatever the Lord says that's then what I need to be doing and following that example even if a cause me because God's word is the authority.

You see, we shake under the authority of God's holy word. We tremble under the authority of God's holy word. Why? Because we realize the cost of disobedience. We realize that God blesses the obedient. And we realize that God has spoken. And if God speaks, we need to follow. If I was to ask you, what was the first question in the Bible?

Would you know what it was? The very first question in the Bible. Yes, Mary Ellen, you're right. It was asked by Satan. Hath God said, Genesis chapter 3 did God really say that that's not what he meant that's not the way it really is and you know what we have been asking that question ever since Genesis chapter 3 did God really say that that's not what God meant he must have meant something else because if I do that that's going to bring me all kinds of discomfort So he must have meant something else.

And we can begin to rationalize God's word away at the drop of a hat. And yet, and yet, what does Satan's ploy to get you to doubt the authority of God? And what God said, get you to doubt the veracity of God. God, what God says is not true?

Oh, he just doesn't want you to be like him, that's all. he he he he doesn't want to have any competition and so he buy into the lie hook line and sinker all because we begin to doubt what god has truly said listen always believe what god says never doubt him always believe him and you won't go wrong you make the right choice the fool has said in his heart no God Psalm 141 no God I'm not going to do that God that's the fool who says God I don't want to follow your authority but the righteous man obeys the law is your heart broken and tender when confronted with the truth or does it rise up in rebellion against the truth that's the way it needs to be right sure it is and that's why God says that's who I look to I look to that man to that woman who realizes that what I say is so right so pure so true so holy that they will obey it no matter what that's the kind of person I look to that's the kind of person I can use point number four the reason we tremble at the word of God is because number one it reveals his identity It radiates His Majesty and Glory.

It reiterates His authority. And number four, it reflects His purity. It reflects His purity. His holiness. His righteousness. Listen to what the Psalmist said. In Psalm 99, verse number three, Let them praise thy great and awesome name, for it is holy.

Psalm 11 verse number 9, holy and awesome is his name. Isaiah 8.13, it is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy, and he shall be your fear, and he shall be your dread. The Word of God reflects the purity and the holiness of God, and that's why we tremble under its authority. Now listen, holiness. Hagias in the Greek, Kadesh in the Hebrew, it's a word that means distinct. It's a word that means separate. Listen carefully to what I'm going to say, because this is important. God is completely separate and distinct from us.

He's nothing like us. God is just not a better version of us. He is nothing like us. Because he is distinct from us. He is separate from us. That's what Hagias means. That's what Kadesh means. It means to be distinct. Different. And that's the way God is from us. and yet throughout our time we have we have diminished the holiness of God and whenever you minimize the holiness of God you minimize the sinfulness of man and when you minimize the sinfulness of man you minimize the greatness of the cross but that's what we have done we say things like holy cow or she or he is a holy terror when we see some kid running around in the in the parking lot or the foyer, the church.

That kid's a holy terror. Or we use words like holy smoke or holy mackerel, whatever that is. Or holy Toledo. Listen, I've been to Toledo, Ohio. It's anything but holy. Believe me. And so we need to understand that what we have done is we have minimized the holiness of God by bringing it down to our level. And yet God is so pure, his eyes won't even look upon. evil. So we need to understand that the holiness of God is defined two ways. Number one, he is distinct and separate from his creation, and he is distinct and separate from corruption.

That defines for us the purity and holiness of God. He is unlike creation. Over in Exodus 15, verse number 11, it reads this way. Who is like? Who is like? thee among the gods, O Lord, who is like thee, majestic in holiness, awesome and praises, working wonders. Isaiah 57, verse number 15, for thus says the high and exalted one, who lives forever, whose name is holy, I dwell on a high and holy place, and also with the contrite and lowly of spirit, in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.

Over in Isaiah chapter 40, Isaiah 40, verse number 25, To whom then will you liken me that I should be his equal, says the holy one. Our God is pure. Our God is holy. That makes him distinct and separate from his creation, completely different. It also makes him distinct by the fact that he is separate from any kind of of corruption. 1. John 1 5 says that God is light in him is no darkness at all. Habakkuk 1.13 says that he's a pure eyes than to behold any kind of evil. The Bible says in Job 34 verse number 10, therefore listen to me, you men of understanding, far be it from God to do wickedness and from the Almighty to do wrong.

Our God is so completely different than us. And yet we have set in motion a whole lifestyle of recreating God in our image, trying to make God like us, but he's not. And let me explain to you just a few ways the Bible reflects the purity of God that causes us to shake uncontrollably under his incredible authority.

The Bible says in Psalm 60, verse number 6. six that God has spoken in his holiness. God has spoken in his holiness. The words of God are supremely holy, supremely pure. And therefore, when God speaks, he speaks differently than we speak. And we see the holiness of God, we see the purity of God, reflected in the word of God, we go all way back and look at creation.

For what did God say after he created everything on each day? It was good. But in Genesis 131, when it was all done, he saw the sum total of his creation. What did he say? It is very good. You see, God doesn't make anything bad. God doesn't make anything evil. God made everything perfect. And what did he say? It's all very good. In fact, the writer of Ecclesiasties, He said these words in Ecclesiase chapter 7, verse number 29, God made man upright. That's how God made man. Adam was created sinless.

He was created a perfect being. Everything God created was just exactly as he wanted it to be. And he said, it's all very good. So we see the purity of God in his creation. We see the purity of God in the law of God, the moral law of God. For the Bible says that the word of the Lord is pure and true and righteous and holy.

Romans chapter 7 verse number 12 says that the law is holy, the commandment is holy, and just and good. James 125 calls it the perfect law of liberty. The law of God is the transcript of the mind of God. The law is holy because God is holy. And because God is holy, he dispels to us or describes to us as character by giving us his law. So when we look at the law of God, we see the perfection of God, the purity of God, the holiness of God.

And when we look at the law of God, we realize that we don't meet the standard. We can't meet the standard because it's utter perfection. And we are not perfection. But you know what? You see the purity of God, not only in the creation, in the law of God, but in the judgment of God on sin. And that's why God says to this man, to this one, I will look.

Why? Because they tremble at my word. Thank you