- ♪ Give me the Bible ♪

>>Today we are blessed with a wonderful gift from God, the Bible. This book is God's living word. In its pages we are told, "For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword." It is in this book of books that we find the answers to all of men's questions in need. This morning, your area churches of Christ welcome you to a program committed to that perfect law of liberty ♪ Shining, thy light shall guide me ♪ ♪ In the narrow way ♪ as we present the living word. ♪ Precept and promise, law and love combining ♪ ♪ 'Til night shall vanish in eternal day ♪ Now here is your host, Ray Sullins.

>>Good morning and welcome to the Living Word program. It is great to have you with us this morning for this time of worship to God, and we thank you for choosing to be with us. As always, it will be our privilege this day to sing songs of praise and to study from his perfect word. I hope we'll each do our part to make this time together acceptable in his sight and according to his perfect will. As we begin our worship to God this day, we approach our father's throne in prayer together. Our God and Father in heaven, we are so thankful for this, another day of life, and we thank you Father because we know that it is only through you and your love and care that we are able to exist and to live and to have our very being. We thank you for Jesus and the great sacrifice that he made and we ask, Father, that you will help us to always look to him to find guidance and strength and ultimately to do those things in this life that we need to, that we might be recipients of your grace, love and mercy through Him and have life eternal. We thank you for this time that we are able to give you our best in spirit and truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let me ask you a question this morning. Who are you living for each day? Perhaps you're living for yourself or for others, or even for the things of this world. This morning we want to begin with a song that reminds us of who we should be living for and who we should be looking to. So won't you join him with the brethren at this time as we sing together, "I'll Live for Him". ♪ My life, my love I give to Thee ♪ ♪ Thou Lamb of God Who died for me ♪ ♪ O may I ever faithful be ♪ ♪ My Savior and my God ♪ ♪ I'll live for Him who died for me ♪ ♪ How happy then my life shall be ♪ ♪ I'll live for Him who died for me ♪ ♪ My Savior and my God ♪ ♪ I now believe Thou dost receive ♪ ♪ For Thou hast died that I might live ♪ ♪ And now henceforth I'll trust in Thee ♪ ♪ My Savior and my God ♪ ♪ I'll live for Him who died for me ♪ ♪ How happy then my life shall be ♪ ♪ I'll live for Him who died for me ♪ ♪ My Savior and my God ♪ ♪ O Thou who died on Calvary ♪ ♪ To save my soul and make me free ♪ ♪ I'll consecrate my life to Thee ♪ ♪ My Savior and my God ♪ ♪ I'll live for Him who died for me ♪ ♪ How happy then my life shall be ♪ ♪ I'll live for Him who died for me ♪ ♪ My Savior and my God ♪

>>I was reading in the book of Revelation the other day and came to a verse which reminded me of the magnificence of God. In 22:13, the Bible says, "I am the alpha and the omega the beginning and the end, the first and the last." Think about all the encompassing words used here in this verse and how they reflect on a very important fact concerning our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Noticed here that Christ is mentioned as the very first and the very last and the beginning and the end. In other words, he is everything from start to finish. I think this is is exactly what David also had in mind in Psalm 41 when he said, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting, amen and amen." That's found in verse 13 of that Psalm. It seems like this great man of God realized exactly who God was, but you might wonder what does this beginning or everlasting mean? Well again, David considers this in Psalm 8 in verse 23. There we read, "From everlasting means from the beginning before there was even an Earth." The New Testament writers also deal with this topic and they try to help us as followers of God to understand what it means to be the everlasting God. In John 1:1 and two we read, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." He was in the beginning with God. Verse three he goes on to say all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made. This clearly tells us that our everlasting Jesus was in the beginning with God, the Father, and was God. In other words, it helps us to understand that Christ was eternal and the eternal concept of even before the Earth began. Notice what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1. There in verse 17 we read, "Now to the king eternal, immortal invisible to God who alone is wise be honor and glory forever and ever, amen." Again, we find that the Father and Son are equally eternal and everlasting with no beginning and with no end. Now we also need to understand and mention a third person of the Godhead because the Bible also says that the Holy Spirit is God and is everlasting God. Read with me from Hebrews 9 in verse 14. There it says, how much more shall the blood of Christ, through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God. It is clear in this verse that the spirit of God is likewise called eternal and is considered to be an important part of the Godhead and the works that God does. So when we think about our God, really it is important that we understand what it means when we say that he is truly eternal and everlasting, that he is without a beginning and without an end only God could have such a characteristic which makes him stand out above everything else in all knowledge that we have. So the next time you read verses like Matthew 28 and 19, which gives us the great commission, remember the fact that this is the God who saves us and is truly a one of a kind and awesome God. Therefore, Jesus said, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Have you obeyed the will of God and are you ready to make a full commitment to him even today? This morning we'll begin a new series of study which will focus on the title "Meditate on These Things". Our specific lesson today will focus on the statement, "If there is any virtue or anything praiseworthy." So please stay with us and in a few minutes I'll return with this study from God's word. Now it's time to join in our second song of the day, the name of the hymn, "Do All In The Name Of The Lord". ♪ What'er you do in the word or deed ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Do naught in name of man or creed ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Do all in His name ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ In word or deed, as God decreed ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Be not deceived by worldly greed ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ The Spirit says, "In word or deed" ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Do all in His name ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ In word or deed, as God decreed ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ 'Til toils and labors here are done ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Dear Christian friends, if you'd be one ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ Do all in His name ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ ♪ In word or deed, as God decreed ♪ ♪ Do all in the name of the Lord ♪ Thank you so much for continuing with us today as we now go to God's word and begin a new series of study which will hopefully challenge us all in many of the Christian characteristics and opportunities to be more like God in our daily life. To begin our study, I'd like to go back to the book of Genesis and chapter 24. You might recall with me there that Abraham has just sent his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac. Isaac also, near the end of that chapter, has just lost his mother, Sarah, whom he was very close to obviously. And as all those things transpired at the very end of chapter 24, which is a very long chapter, we actually see that it says that Isaac now is going to go off to meditate concerning the loss of his mother, concerning waiting on a new wife to arrive with the servant of Abraham. And so this is exactly what the verse says there in verse 63. "And Isaac went out to meditate in the field in the evening and lifted up his eyes and looked and there camels were coming." And when he looked at the camels verse 64 says that he saw Rebecca and as well she saw him. And so how interesting that we see that Isaac had a need for a time where he would go out alone and to meditate or really consider the struggles of his life and the trials and the loss of loved ones, but also that he would meditate on perhaps what was before him as he was about to wed and to have a new wife. We can go over to the book of Joshua, and we can see even within the great charge of God to Joshua, that one who followed Moses as leader of God's people, there in Joshua 1:8 you might remember that the Bible there says, "This book of law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night." You'll notice here that that the challenge that is given to a man who will lead God's people how he will be effective, how he will be successful, and ultimately how he will be able to accomplish the purpose that is given to him is that he will meditate on none other than the very word of God day and night. And if you'll notice there, it's exciting because it says, "And if you'll do that," he says, "If you'll observe what is written in it, then your way will be prosperous and you'll have good success." You know, we begin to learn there the idea of a need then at times to perhaps spend more time to meditate on the things of God, on the word of God, and understanding that when we do such and we take those things and begin to apply those in our lives, we're going to find that we can be successful. And this is exactly again what we find, that even the psalmist David is delivering or speaking of there. In fact, in the very first Psalm, Psalm 1 in verse one it speaks about a happy man or a blessed man, and it says "That man is one who does not walk in the council of the ungodly." But verse two says, "That happy man is one that delights in the law of the Lord," and notice what he ends by saying, "and in his law he meditates day and night." You see the one who meditates, who knows the will of God, and therefore because he knows it and has contemplated it, he again puts it into his life and he delights because God has asked him to do things that he can do and then he knows he will have blessings, he will have reward. And we actually see that being the case as we go on throughout the Old Testament. In fact, in the book of Psalms, again there Psalm 19 in verse 14 it says that when we are able to meditate on God's word and we obey those things, it is pleasing to God. So with all those things in mind, I now ask you to go with me to our main text of study that we'll be focused on over the next several weeks and even months. There in Philippians 4, a very familiar text, "Finally brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are lovely whatever things are of a good report, if there's any virtue and if there's anything praiseworthy meditate on these things." Within this context what we begin to understand is that there are things that that one should meditate on. And by meditating on those things there's going to be an obvious or a specific outcome to focusing or meditating on such things. And if you'll back out and you'll look at the overall context of Philippians 4, what we actually see is he has just talked about eternal life and salvation, there the book of life itself earlier there in verse three. He's also talked about the ability not to worry or be anxious 'cause God is always with us and he is the God of peace and he offers a peace that surpasses understanding. And as we think about all of those things he then drops down to verse 10 immediately afterward and he says that he has learned to be content in life because he knows God is with him and that God is going to make him successful in everything that he does if he will be content in life. But now, if you'll notice there in verse eight he says, "Finally brethren, knowing that God is a God of love and peace and God is gonna be there for us and God is gonna give us the reward and salvation and knowing that we have the ability to understand that we can be content because God is always gonna provide," meditate. There are things that we, you see, this is the foundation. If there's anything that is going to accomplish these things that that are being suggested, whatever things are, then he says, "These are things that must be meditated on. These are things that that we must focus on." And you and I will know that it is from the very treasure of the heart as Jesus said that really we find what is really true of a man. It is from the treasures of his heart that he is who He is, that he says what he says, that he does what he does. The New Testament deals with that quite often. And again here we see that idea by putting a foundation, by meditating on that which is really according to God, there's great benefit. But then there are two other words that he mentions here that we would like to look at just briefly when he mentions those things that are of a higher or a righteous nature, and those are the things that we'll be looking at each week. He also says these two words, "If there is any virtue, if there's anything praiseworthy." So as we consider what we are challenged here to do by the Holy Spirit, to meditate on certain things, he says within that context if we're going to desire to be virtuous and if we're going to desire to be praiseworthy or offer praise. So now let's look briefly at those two ideas and see what is being presented here. When we think about the idea of virtue, virtue is what is defined in the original award here as excellence. In fact, we know that it is really a moral excellence, a moral excellence based on that which is good or goodness itself. And you and I will know the Bible speaks of God as being a good God or the God of goodness, so certainly he is that standard. Another idea we can find here is it is a gracious act, a gracious act of accomplishing good that therefore again shows a higher achieving of morality. So striving for excellence, it's like that one who goes to school and they wanna make straight A's. That that was usually not my problem, but wanna make straight so they're striving for full excellence. The one who goes to work and they wanna be noticed and they wanna do the job to the best of their, they're striving for what? Full excellence. But then it goes even further because it's really about life and morality overall. And within life and morality overall, what are we striving for? Full excellence, a good report. With that in mind then we know that certainly we have a standard and as being set here, I think that is the concept that we also can really clearly understand. Go over, if you will, if you have your Bibles, and I know that you do there in 2 Peter 1, and when we look there in 2 Peter 1 in verse three notice what he states here again in relationship to this same word. He says, "As his divine power," that is of God, "Has given us all things pertaining to life and godliness, notice, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue." There it is again, the virtue, the excellence of God. You see, God called us by that which He is. No wonder Paul said, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. No wonder there in Ephesians we read that Paul says that we are to be be imitators of God as his dear children because we are called unto virtue moral excellence because that's the standard that God meets, the standard that God sets, and therefore we strive for excellence. What does that mean then in life, in application? What about in modesty? What do we strive for? Excellence. Not just what everybody else is doing, but a standard that is higher that shows that we're different, that shows that we're followers of God. What about in purer lives, in purer thoughts, in purer actions, what do we strive for? Not what the world is doing, not what everyone else is doing, but what again is the highest standard. Do you see there? If we want to again accomplish as he says within this verse the ability to have all those things that God has promised we must meditate on those things that ultimately have a outcome of moral excellence. But then the second word that he says is that which is praiseworthy. This word is probably a little less common, but it is a word that means approval or commendation. And by the way, there are several words for praise that are used in the Greek language. But this word is again, that focus of approval or commendation, and it is the acknowledgement that praise is due something or worthy unto praise. And again, we would be able to find the same concepts within the New Testament where this word is used in such a way even toward God. For instance, in 1 Corinthians 4 in verse five, it actually states there, "Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the councils of the heart." But now notice the last phrase, "Then each one's praise will come from God." Now you generally think of praise as something that we offer to God, but what this is saying is that God offers praise to men who are what? To men who have controlled their heart and the councils of their heart and those who know that the judge, the Lord, is coming to receive them. Therefore, what should they do? Live faithfully. No wonder we can go to the book of Ephesians, and in fact, there within the first chapter of Ephesians we find this same concept in verse 16 and even verse 12 and verse 14, there are several verses there, but if you'll notice with me in verse 16 what he says there in chapter one. It says that he was not rather ceasing in anything to remember, but there that which is the praise, according to the praise of what God has given. And even back in verse six to the praise of the glory of his grace. You see again, God is worthy of praise, but God also tells us that there's that which we can do, therefore that he will approve or acknowledge our righteousness or our willingness to meet a standard. So what is it that we've learned today? We've learned the challenge that as Christians as we strive to be what God wants us to be we're going to begin this series to look at the ideas that really help me to meditate on what I need to, and we know that's based in the word of God. And then he specifically is going to give us things that we should focus on if, if we are to achieve the standard of excellence and if we are to achieve the standard of praise. If we desire those things, it's not for our own sake or glory, but it's for the purpose of reward or blessing from God and the great promise of eternal life. So let me challenge you to continue with us for the next several weeks as we look at these ideas that will help us to not only know who God is, how he acted, but how we should act. That we ultimately might meditate on what God desires so that we might be found morally in excellence and praise worthy. ♪ Blue skies and rainbows and sunbeams from heaven ♪ ♪ Are what I can see when my Lord's living in me ♪ ♪ I know that Jesus is well and alive today ♪ ♪ He makes His home in my heart ♪ ♪ Never more will I be all alone since He ♪ ♪ Promised me that we never would part ♪ ♪ Green grass and flowers all blooming in springtime ♪ ♪ Are works of the Master I live for each day ♪ ♪ I know that Jesus is well and live today ♪ ♪ He makes His home in my heart ♪ ♪ Never more will I be all alone since He ♪ ♪ Promised me that we never would part ♪ ♪ Tall mountains, green valleys ♪ ♪ The beauty that surrounds me ♪ ♪ All make me aware of the One who made it all ♪ ♪ I know that Jesus is well and alive today ♪ ♪ He makes His home in my heart ♪ ♪ Never more will I be all alone since He ♪ ♪ Promised me that we never would part ♪ Let me thank you again for choosing to be with us this day for the Living Word program. I hope and trust that together we have all benefited from our service together before the throne of God, and let me invite you back every Lord's Day morning as we give this time to our creator at 7:30 each Sunday morning. But for now, let me ask you if you have many questions or comments about today's lesson. Maybe you'd like a free transcript or a free CD or DVD of the program, or possibly we could assist you with free Bible materials or free Bible correspondents courses. No matter what your need is, please feel free to contact us at the following address, The Living Word, 2540 North Kansas Expressway, Springfield, Missouri 65803. Many of these items are also available on our website, that address TheLivingWordProgram.com. Or if you prefer, you may call us at 869-2284. How blessed we are to have been given the things from God that we should put into our minds and meditate on. Furthermore, how wonderful it is to know that when we do this that we are able to strive to be exactly what God requires and to accomplish his ultimate purpose. The question is, are you meditating on the things of God today?

>>Our prayer is to help the world know more about God through this television program. The Living Word has been brought to you under the oversight of the Elders of Kansas Expressway Church of Christ in Springfield, Missouri, with the assistance of the following area Churches of Christ. ♪ Seek and save the lost ♪ ♪ Give me the Bible, holy message shining ♪ ♪ Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way ♪ ♪ Precept and promise, law and love combining ♪ ♪ 'Til night shall ♪