Public Reading of the Scripture (2)

In this part of the sermon: The sermon begins with a prayer for God's blessing and then connects the American Declaration of Independence to the pervasive influence of the Bible, made possible by the…

The signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, is used to introduce the historical influence of biblical perspectives on the founding of the United States, linking it to the sermon's theme of the Bible's impact.

Hear our cry, we plead, for the good of our souls, and for the honor of Your name, we plead through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Now, I would be very surprised if, most of you, from the youngest to the oldest, are not very much aware of the fact that this weekend is a remembrance in our national life of that July 4th in 1776 when a document was signed which has come to be known as the Declaration of Independence. And this document declared in a decisive way the determination, if you will, of the North American colonies to sever themselves from the rule and governmental authority of the British...

1:47 - 3:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The sermon begins with a prayer for God's blessing and then connects the American Declaration of Independence to the pervasive influence of the Bible, made possible by the…

The Protestant Reformation is described as 'loosing the Bible from its meaty, evil prison within a dead language called Latin,' illustrating how the Bible became accessible to the masses and influenced nations.

I did not say that, because that's, that simply is not true. But what I did say is that the tap roots of our national life that came to expression in the Declaration of Independence, the War of Independence, and the nation subsequently established, had the entirety of its national life profoundly and powerfully influenced by the teaching of the Word of God. The great movements of the Spirit of God under the likes of Whitefield and Edwards and a host of lesser lights had conditioned the soil out of which the plant of our nationhood eventually grew. Now, these things would never have occurred ha...

4:36 - 5:59 Read in full sermon

The point: When encountering obscure or hidden passages in God-breathed Scripture, humble yourself and confess that any lack of joy or understanding is due to remaining sin and corruption, not the passage itself.

The analogy of a bullfrog not appreciating a Renoir painting is used to illustrate that if we don't dance for joy at obscure or difficult Scripture, it's due to our sinful humanity, not a flaw in God's Word.

If you place a bullfrog down in front of a Renoir and he doesn't croak with excitement, you don't dance for joy. You don't throw eggs at the Renoir picture. You say, poor bullfrog, he has no capacity to appreciate.

28:51 - 29:10 Read in full sermon

The point: The next time you're tempted to neglect your Bible, look at it and say, 'that Bible has the ashes of martyrs on it.'

The statement that 'that Bible has the ashes of martyrs on it' vividly conveys the immense sacrifice made by those who translated and preserved the Bible for common people.

And the next time you're tempted to neglect your Bible, look at it and say, that Bible has the ashes of martyrs on it.

32:17 - 32:26 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The seventh benefit is that public reading instructs the people in the proper way to interpret and apply God's Word, and how to turn Scripture into prayer. Martin shares a…

Martin shares a personal story about his weariness of 'shop-worn prayers' in evangelical churches, which led him to start the practice of hooking opening prayers to the next psalm to ensure freshness and impact from the Word of God.

can be turned into fuel for prayer did you notice this morning how when Pastor Jeff led us in prayer Lord we are sobered as we read this account sobered and unprincipled pilot and your heart goes out into yes Lord I was sobered oh God don't let me be like pilot God make me a man able and willing to stand for my convictions no no in the practical Christian light there are perhaps few things more important than those two disciplines how do I write He handle the Word of God so is to extract its proper me %um and apply yes that's why you can predict exactly what the prayer unpredictable prayers an...

54:26 - 55:55 Read in full sermon