The LORD's Day July 15, 2007

The Wonder of God’s Word

Psalm 119. 89

As we have been looking at this Psalm the past few weeks, one thing is clear. This Psalmist had a high regard for the Word of God. He was in awe of it and saw it as being central to all he did in his life. Your life comes down to one great question, “What place does the Word of God have in it?” Is it the center of your life or is something else what you are basing your life on?

At a very young age I was entrusted with the Word of God. It was one of the first books I owned. It has become the most precious possession I have.

Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

There is no way I am going to be able to convey to you this morning the full wonder of the Word of God. A whole lifetime doesn’t do it. In the end it is a foretaste of glory divine. We are learning and experiencing God’s promises until we see Jesus, until our faith becomes sight.

This morning, with the help of the Holy Spirit I hope that you be able to see a little clearer a few facets of this Wonderful Communication between the LORD God and us. With awe we look into this subject today.
1. The Heavens and the Word of God.

Psalm 19.1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
God’s creation of the heavens themselves are a wonder and they speak of His power to create, His faithfulness, His love and the way He sustains the things He has made. The heavens show us the vastness of God Himself. Heaven is His throne and earth is His footstool. The Psalms are full of the wonder of the heavens as part of God’s creation.

Since I was a child I had this awe in me of the heavens. When I was a kid growing up in Queens before we moved out onto the Island, I used to want to walk to the moon. As a child I would look up a the clouds. I remember seeing my first rainbow in Bellmore when I was under the age of 7. I can still see its colors that summer afternoon. As I got older I can recall summer nights at my parent’s home in Upstate NY, a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, vacations in New Hampshire when I took in the starry host and on a few occasions the Northern Lights. What an incredible sight. The Psalmist speaks of it. It thrilled David’s heart and many of us have been in awe as we have looked out into the Milky Way and realized the vastness of God’s Creation and the wonder that He calls each of these by name (Psalm 147.4)
God declares His Glory throughout the whole earth by the heavens He has made.

When we look into the heavens and we think of this verse we see that not only here on the earth which God made but out there is the expanse which He also made His Word stands firm. We hold His Word in a written form in our hands. It is the Bible. It goes beyond that. It is written in the heavens.

God’s throne is in heaven. Above the clouds and planets. Way out in outer space is the throne of God. The Jews referred to this as the third heaven. This is where the LORD rules from. This is where the activity of the Revelation 4 is taking place. Lets read it together. Whenever I read that I get this wonderful witness to my spirit from God that although things on earth may be in uproar, He is in control and is working out all things for His Glory and our ultimate good.

Not only here on earth but far above the earth His Word stands firm. Its position is above all the earth.

2. God’s Word is Eternal.
Eternal

It is the same.

It does not change. The Constitution of the United States may be able to be amended but God’s Word is eternal. The Ten Commandments were written on stone.

It has always been a guide for life, a spiritual and moral compass, a comfort in time of trouble and a direction giver in times of decision.


It has had a continuous existence. God’s law and His Word were written into the universe itself. Before God gave the law to Moses it was a sin for Cain to kill Abel. Cain knew it. In fact God had warned him that his jealousy could easily turn to murder.


It will continue. It is perpetual. It was given to us in such a way that it speaks to every age. It has this dynamic. It abides.

It is everlasting. Although heaven and earth pass away, God’s Word will endure


3. God’s Word Stands Firm.
Heaven and earth will pass away but Jesus said His words would never pass away. (Matthew 24.35)

God’s Word is upright. It is the moral code to right living. It is holy.
Live by this book and you will live the best life you can possible live. Go against it and you will experience the beginnings of hell on earth.

God’s Word takes a stand against evil. It points out what to avoid, to stay away from. For instance we are told to avoid a person who talks too much.

God established His Word to be the one thing mankind is to look to to learn about the Father in Heaven. The Bible has no equals. There is nothing that can compare with God’s Word. He has revealed Himself through His Word. We can test all experience by it and we better do just that.

God appointed, ordained His Word to produce fruit even when the messenger is unworthy That is part of the power of it

It is fixed by God. It cannot be altered. God has spoken. That is it. It is His Word to those He created. It is stationary.

It stands firm in the heavens and it is established here on earth. Given on Mount Sinai and throughout the Old Covenant, affirmed by Jesus and explained by Him, the Word of the LORD stands firm forever (I Peter 1.25).

All who build their lives on it share in this quality- They stand Matthew 7.24-27
When I visited New Hampshire a few weeks ago I spent a better portion of one day in the White Mountain National Forest. I have been to many mountains here in the United States, the Green Mountains of Vermont, The Colorado Rockies, The Sierra Madre Mountains of California and the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. They are all beautiful but the White Mountains hold a special place in my heart for a number of reasons.

There is one very sobering place to me in that beautiful Mountain Forest. It is called the Wiley House.

In the White Mountains in Crawford Notch State Park: The Story of the Willey Family

During the fall of 1825, Samuel Willey, Jr. of Bartlett moved into a small house in the heart of Crawford Notch with his wife, five children, and two hired men. The first year the three men enlarged and improved the house, which the family operated as an inn to accommodate travelers through the mountains on the desolate notch road. The little cluster of buildings was situated in the shadow of what is now called Mount Willey.

In June, following a heavy rain, the Willeys were terrified when they witnessed a great mass of soil and vegetation, torn loose from the mountainside across the river, slide in a path of destruction to the valley floor. As a result, Mr. Willey built a cave-like shelter a short distance above the house to which the family could flee if a slide threatened their side of the valley.

During the night of August 28, 1826, after a long drought which had dried the mountain soil to an unusual depth, came one of the most violent and destructive rain storms ever known in the White Mountains. The Saco River rose 20 feet overnight. Livestock was carried off, farms set afloat, and great gorges were cut in the mountains.

Two days after the storm, anxious friends and relatives penetrated the debris-strewn valley to learn the fate of the Willey family. They found the house unharmed, but the surrounding fields were covered with debris. Huge boulders, trees, and masses of soil had been swept from Mt. Willey's newly bared slopes. The house had escaped damage because it was apparently situated just below a ledge that divided the major slide into two streams. The split caused the slide to pass by the house on both sides leaving it untouched. Inside, beds appeared to have been left hurriedly, a Bible lay on the table, and the dog howled mournfully.

Mr. and Mrs. Willey, two children, and both hired men were found nearby, crushed in the wreckage of the slide. The bodies were buried near the house and later moved to Conway. Three children were never found.

The true story of the tragedy will never be known. Poets and writers have conjectured many possibilities. Perhaps the family, awakened by a threatening rumble, fled from the house to their cave, and was caught in one stream of the slide. It seems more likely the Willeys started to climb the slope of the mountain to escape the rising floods and were caught in the landslide.

Had they stayed in the house they would have been safe. We experience storms in our lives. Some come up very unexpectedly while others we can see brewing some distance off. Either way The safest place on earth is with our feet planted firmly on God’s Word and His Word planted firmly in our hearts There is the place of saftey. That is the tower the LORD provides for us in time of trouble. Stay in His Word, even if the earth around you is giving way.
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The LORD’s Day
July 15, 2007
We Worship In Singing
We Worship In Prayer
We Worship In Hearing the Word of God
The Wonder of God’s Word Psalm 119.89
*Tithes and Offerings can be placed in the box at the rear of the sanctuary*
Please join us for coffee and bagels downstairs if you are visiting today.

This Week
Bible Reading Psalm 119.113-176
Monday Men’s Prayer Meeting 6:30am in the church basement
Wednesday Bible Study -7:30pm at the parsonage
Thursday Bible Study 10:30am in the church basement
Next Lord’s Day
Morning Prayer- 10am in the church basement
Morning Worship- 10:30am(Sunday School for Children)
Spanish Service- 4pm


In Your Prayers For All of God’s People
Remember the men serving in the armed forces: Bradley, Julia Bujold’s grandson with Special Forces in Afghanistan, home on leave right now, Ken Brown, Pastor’s friend’s son on his third tour of Iraq- He will be there until October. Please pray for the whole family. Billy Knapp, Jr. in Iraq with the Marines (neighbor of the church and Pastor- Billy’s sister graduated from Good Shepherd). Matthew Klaus, brother of Good Shepherd parent in Iraq as a firefighter for Haliburton. Pastor’s nephew’s and niece’s cousin in Iraq. Pray for them and the others away from their families. Praise God for keeping David Louis, Jake Morgan and Tom Hindelang safe during their times in Iraq. Christine Frankland, Katharina’s daughter showing improvement. Kathy, Ziggy and Margot’s daughter-in-law, under the doctor’s care for fibromyalgia. Pray for Eloise Brooks in Sunrise Manor undergoing rehab. She is in need of healing in her leg. She is in room 214. Remember Jean Louis as both he and Eloise are on dialysis. Pastor’s neighbor, John Mehler, beginning dialysis as well. Grace Martin, Edie Raevis’ daughter, seeing a surgeon. Edie’s daughter’s mother-in-law, Millie Espisito undergoing chemotherapy. Reginald Mooney, friend of Terri and John Garry, with a tumor in his kidney. Please remember Pastor’s friend Kim Richardson’s (who is recovering from a heart attack) daughter, Kelly, undergoing chemotherapy. Please remember this whole family in prayer. Olga Heinrich, Helen Pawson’s sister passed away yesterday morning in Flushing. Remember the family in prayer. Iola is waiting for results of blood work. Let’s pray for a good report. Margie Grant in Southside Hospital with blood problems.

If you would like to help with the Sunday Morning Bagel ministry see John or Terri Garry.


Notes on Our Time in the Word of God This Morning:
The Wonder of God’s Word

Psalm 119.89

Pastor’s messages are now available online:
http://thesundaymorningmessage.blogspot.com/
Church e-mail: bayshorenaz@rock.com
(Church Phone: 631-969-1730
*1314 Pine Acres Boulevard, Bay Shore, Long Island, NY 11706-5436

Whatever you do, in word or deed, do all for the glory of God