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To Hunger and Thirst for God - By Lyall Johnston - April 1, 2023
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To Hunger and Thirst for God - By Lyall Johnston - April 1, 2023
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David loved the Word of God and viewed it as instructive, especially in difficult times. In Psalm 119, he emphasizes the importance of God's Word and seeking it with all his heart. David hid God's Word in his heart to avoid sinning against Him. He recognized the value of studying and meditating on God's statutes and judgments. By immersing ourselves in the Word, we can understand the mind of God and let the mind of Christ dwell in us. The Word of God is more valuable than the physical creation and remains forever. David was a man who loved the Word of God. He loved the law of God. Let's have a look what David had to say about God's Word, because this is instructive. This is very instructive for us, particularly at this time, as the whole world seems to be closing in around the saints, as Satan pulls out every stop in order to attack the people of God, and he does that in so many ways, as we frequently hear about. But let's have a look at the psalm, the big psalm, the great psalm, Psalm 119. David has something very interesting there to say about the Word of God, and how he approached the Word of God. So, Psalm 119 and verse 9. David asks the question, was what shall a young man cleanse his ways? Now, personally, because of what he says there, I like to think of myself as a young man, because this applies to me, and it applies to you. It doesn't matter what age you are. But it's a lesson that we probably ought to have learned when we were young, but God is very gracious, He's very merciful, and He's giving us that precious time to learn the lessons that David learned, and hopefully we've learned a lot over the years that we've been called by God the Father, and by Jesus Christ. He says, was what shall a young man cleanse his way? Very good question for young people, middle-aged, and elderly. When we're old, we should have already learned this lesson. He answers his own question. And what does he say? By taking heed according to your word. Now, what word did David have? Well, he had all the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses, he would have had Joshua, he would have had Judges, he would have had Samuel, but that was it. And yet, even though he just had that, look at what he said. By taking heed according to your word. So there was enough of David, just in those first books of the Scripture, the Old Testament, that he was able to learn what he learned. And he submitted his life to God. Did he have any problems? Was his life a bed of roses? No way! When you read David, his life in one sense was a bit like that of Christ's and Paul's, with all that they suffered in their lifetime. Then he continues, with all my heart. Now we heard a message recently where the heart, in the Hebrew text, means everything about us, everything that we are, everything we have. And this is talking about David. With all my heart. No reservations. Do we have reservations? Well, if we do, if we're constantly in contact with God the Father in prayer, and study, and occasionally fasting, then what's going to happen is that this will become a case for a fact and point. With all my heart I have sought you. Then he makes this plea. Oh, let me not wander from your commandments. They were so important to David that David, we know, God says, David is a man after my own heart. With all my heart I have sought you. Oh, let me not wander from your commandments. Your word have I hid in my heart. Why? Your word I have hid in my heart. How do we deal with this? How do we do that? Good question. Well, let's continue. Why did he hide his word, God's word in his heart? So that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord. Teach me your statutes. Now, how is God going to teach him his statutes if David was not one who was a student of the word of God that had been given to him? But not only that, remember that the king had to write his own copy of the scriptures that were available at the time. We've got it made as far as we're concerned. We may in our households have not just one copy of the scriptures, but we may have several. Are we using them? Are we making good use of them? Are we studying them daily? Because it's interesting, you know, the more we study the word of God, the more, as the scriptures say, the more we eat it. Now, what did Jesus say? Didn't he say in talking which is referred to in the Passover, that we are to eat his body and drink his blood? How do we eat the body of Christ? You know, he was criticized and condemned because he made that, and many of his disciples didn't understand it. And because he said it, they left him. Were we? No, we understand what this means, and of course at Passover time, these things are always brought forth for our recall, for our memory. The more we study the word of God, the more we digest it, the more we eat the body of Christ. Now, isn't Jesus Christ the word of God? And are we not to be devouring the word of God? You know, one of the prophets was given the writings of scriptures, he was told to eat that book, you know, envision. Are we devouring the word of God? Because the more we devour it, the more will take place what Jesus said in Matthew 5 and verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, and all the words of God are righteousness, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. Let's just turn there and read that. Matthew 5 and verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. So, what's the reward of that? For they shall be filled. And that means filled to the brim. But, you've got to hunger, we've got to hunger for that word of God, we've got to hunger for that righteousness, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, which is declared in the word of God. Are we hungering and thirsting for it? Because the more we read it, the more we devour it, the more we eat the manner that God has provided from heaven, the more the word of God becomes a part of our very being. Through the word of God and through the spirit of God, which is not only just giving it into our hearts and into our minds, but what else? Well, as Paul said, God is inscribing it indelibly in our hearts. And that is our steadfastness. That is the anchor of our being, the anchor of our soul, the anchor of who we are, is the word of God. And the word of God is Jesus Christ. As you can read in Hebrews 4 and verse 12, where it says the word of God is more powerful than the two-edged sword. And the verse below that, it directly says that Jesus is the word. It shows you quite clearly that He is the word of God, and we know that from John's writings also. All right, let's head back to the book of Psalms 119, and we'll just finish that. And we were on roundabout verse 15 or 16. Because David had studied the word of God, he was able to say and declare this. With my lips I have declared all the judgments of your mouth. Do we know all the judgments of God? You know, a lot of those are buried there in those books that David had available to him, you know, from Genesis right through to what had been written up until that time by Samuel. So he said, I declared all the judgments of your mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of your testimonies as much as in all riches. You see, it was important to David, the word of God. I will meditate upon your precepts and have respect to your ways. Okay, I will delight myself in your statutes. Now where was he going to find the statutes and the judgments and the rest of God's word? I will not forget your word. He had a copy. Now I dare say that David had memorized a lot of that word. And because of what he had memorized, and because of what he understood about the word of God, look what God was able to deliver to us through his lips and his mouth. The Psalms, so many of the Psalms, the history of his life as an example for us. So again, the deeper we get into the word of God, the more we study it, the more we, as Jesus said in Matthew chapter 5, the more we hunger and thirst after that righteousness which we find in the word of God, we find that the Spirit of God begins to enlighten our minds, begins to give us understanding, begins to help us to understand the mind of God, the thinking of God. And rather than doing thinking through theological reason, we do our thinking through the word of God, exactly as David did, exactly as all the prophets and apostles did. So the word of God is so valuable. And we know what Paul said to Timothy about the word of God. Now we can read and we know well the scripture in Philippians 2.5 where it says, let this mind of Christ dwell in you. But let's turn also to Colossians 3.16 because there we have another very interesting and in fact very important statement made by the apostle Paul. Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16. Here's Paul talking to the Colossians, talking to the Colossians, Sid, about the word of God. And who is the word of God? What is the word of God? Well Jesus Christ is the word of God and the words that came out of his mouth were the words given to him by God the Father. And this is more important for you and for me. In fact, what is said here is more important than the entirety of the physical creation. Because the physical creation is going to be renewed. It's going to pass away in that respect. But the word of God remains forever. Nothing on the face of this earth, nothing in the heaven above can do away with the word of God. And you know you think about the heavens, I used this illustration recently, how that we looked through the beautiful, wonderful videos, and I download these quite frequently because they appear quite frequently, of the James Webb Telescope. And we think how wonderful, how great it is. But you know, the James Webb Telescope, as wonderful and beautiful as it is, only takes in one minute part of the universe. And recently I heard one man who was talking about the telescope and the cosmos, or the creation, and he said, you know, what we can see through the James Webb Telescope, in fact, even though the open sky here, because wherever you are, the sky that you're seeing is just such a small part of what is available out there for man to see. We just can't see it all in one go. But he gave this example I thought was beautiful. He said you can take a grain of sand, to understand how much we see through the telescope, a grain of sand between your thumb and your finger, and hold it out at arm's length. There we go. Hold it out at arm's length. He said that's all we can see. How much more is the creation? Well the countless billions of galaxies, billions upon billions, large galaxies, large clusters of galaxies, small clusters, all put together. And apparently, from where God is when he looks at it, it's like looking at a honeycomb, all beautifully designed like the bee designs. And if you put the design and the head and the mind of the bee, the ability, wasn't it God? As he does with every living creature, no matter how great, no matter how small, they function, they operate on the laws that God has created for each one of them. Quite something. Colossians 3 and verse 16. Let the word of God dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, admonishing one another. You see now, if the word of God is dwelling within us richly, we can be teaching one another. We don't just need the elders to teach us, but as we talk in love and in fellowship, we can be teaching and instructing each other of the things that we've learned. And we come along to Sabbath services or we meet at other times, we can discuss the word, and that is pleasing in God's eyes because he sees that we love each other, we're tightly knit together as the body of Christ. We're helping each other, assisting each other to come to the fullness of the maturity of Christ. Yes, God put the elders, the ministry, and the church to help bring us to the fullness of the maturity of Christ. But as we, each one of us, as we come to maturity, as we begin to understand God's word, as we begin to love God's word, that begins to expand our mind, and we just can't get enough of it. And we just simply continue to hunger and thirst, and we want to get back into the word of God. And we're happy about the fact that we just can't spend as much time in it, because we see as we imbibe it, as we drink it, as we devour it, like eating the book that the prophet did, what happens is that the Spirit of God is working within us, is growing within us, is filling us with the hope, the faith, the love of God, the joy, and we just want to be in there, we want to learn more, so that we can be there to help others, as God has declared, to be our brother's helpers, to serve them, something which Cain refused to do. He wouldn't do, he turned away. In fact, we know what he did. He slew his brother. But his brother is going to be in the first resurrection. Teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, or as David's teaching, you know, we're quoted from him, Psalm 119. And also, how I love I your law. David didn't say, oh God, you know, I kind of love your law. That was not David's approach. That wasn't David's attitude. He was wholehearted. He just, oh God, how I love I your law. It's always with me. And we sing these hymns, and continuing, Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. You know, the Bible is filled with all that teaching, that we can teach ourselves from the Word of God, and we can help teach others. And what happens when more brethren come along? They've got so many questions. If we are filled with the Word of God, if it's at the top of our minds, then it's just going to come out, and we're going to be able to teach with patience and with love. We're going to be able to answer the questions. What happens, you know, if God just were to open the floodgates with the way prophecy is going, the way the world is going, and with the prophecy in Matthew 24 and verse 40 in the Gospel, we're going to be preaching all the world as a witness. Now we know that. We've known that for ages. What we don't know is how God is going to do that. So what do we do? Well, in the meantime, we do what Jesus did. When his parents said, Oh, we don't know why you didn't come with us when they were going home for the Passover, two or three days before they discovered him, because they were probably traveling in quite a large group. And he said, Didn't you know that I must be about my father's business? Can we say that? Can you say that? Can I say that? We want to say that, don't we? We really do. And God is the one who makes that possible. Okay, let's just finish that off. The song is Grace in Your Hearts to the Lord. You see, all the glory goes to God. Why? Because he's the one that has done all this for us. He's the one that's working in our lives. We are the work of his hands. Yes, we're an unfinished work. But we are a work in progress. We have many difficulties. We have many problems. But we're going to overcome those. Okay, let's just in closing turn to that scripture that I mentioned earlier in Hebrews, the fourth chapter. I'd just like to end with that and leave this thought with you. And of course, Hebrews, the fourth chapter, in fact, the whole book of Hebrews is so important. The reason Paul wrote this was about or to explain the role of Jesus Christ as High Priest after the order of Melchizedek for all eternity. And as we know that Jesus as High Priest was represented by the High Priest in Israel from the time of Aaron. But also we know that the animals that were offered in sacrifice, particularly the lamb at the Passover, that represented Jesus Christ. And the one who was giving the lamb is also representing Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ is the one that offered himself as that perfect sacrifice. So that his death and resurrection, he was able to appear before God the Father, take his blood in that sense to the Father. And the Father must have been so pleased with Jesus Christ. I wonder what that was like. We may get to see a preview of that in the future. Jesus bringing his sacrifice before the Father. And what do you think the Father said to Jesus? Do you not think he said, well done, my faithful son, the son of my love, you have carried out every word that I have given you. Oh right, Hebrews 4 and verse 12. It's a marvelous book, Hebrews. And again it has so much to say about Jesus. It also has a lot to say. Read chapters 5 and 6 where it tells us that we better be making most of the word that God has given to us. Because many of the Hebrews that Paul is addressing, they were immature. They were not growing. They had the word of God, but they were still rummaging around amongst just the basic doctrines, which are the foundation. They were not building the mind of Christ, the attitude of Christ, the love of God. They were not building on that foundation of the love of God. They were not building on that foundation of the basic doctrines. They were just all the time just studying the physical things. Those things which are very necessary, but they were never advancing or progressing. Hebrews 4 and verse 12. For the word of God is living. Now you'll notice in the faithful version it says the word of God. The word is in capitals. That should tell us something. Not just the written word, the scripture, but the written word even is living. There's a reason for that. Because the written word is Jesus Christ himself, as we will see. Is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit. It gets right to the very core, the center of our being. And dividing asunder of both soul and spirit. There's not one particle of our being that the word of God cannot penetrate to. It can get right into those strongholds of the mind and reveal them to us so we can repent of them, as Paul says to the Corinthians. So it is an even dividing asunder that helps us with repentance to know what the sin is that lies within us that we have not yet recognized. Both the soul and spirit and both the joints and marrow and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart. There's not a created thing, that's everything, total, that is not manifested in his sight. But all things are naked and made bare before the eyes of him whom we must give account. Having therefore a great high priest who passed into the heavens, Jesus is the son of God and he remained there. He didn't have to come back and offer his sacrifice again. That one sacrifice was sufficient for all the sins of every man and woman that has ever lived. Jesus is the son of God, we should hold fast to the confession of our faith, which we made at baptism. When we buried the old man under the water, we were crucifying ourselves with Christ, and we both want to remain crucified, or the old man within us to be crucified. Verse 15, we do not have a high priest who cannot emphasize with our weaknesses, but one who is tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations, yet he was without sin. But he understands the sin, that's why he's the merciful high priest that can explain these things to the Father and take our needs before him. Notice this last verse, this is so encouraging. Therefore we should come with boldness to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The message I'd like to leave with you, when you come before the throne of God to confess your sins, to praise him, to love him, we can do it in boldness. Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Word. If we go back to verse 12, the Word of God is living and powerful, and if it's in us, when we die, the Word of God, which is the mind and spirit of Jesus Christ doesn't die, it goes back to rest with the Father. But notice verse 13, and there's not a created thing that is not manifested in his sight. The Word of God here is given, the personal pronoun is, and that is the Word of God, and that is Jesus Christ. And so again, because of that, we're able to come before God's throne with great boldness as his children. So I hope you find that helpful, and you enjoy the rest of God's Sabbath day.
