All right, so just leave your Bibles open there in Psalm 19 and look at verse number
1.
Psalm 19 and verse number 1 reads, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
showeth his handiwork.
The title for the sermon tonight is the heavens declare.
The heavens declare.
I was very clear about this topic, right?
When we look up to the heavens, when we look up to the sky, when we look at the clouds
and the sun and the moon and the stars and we look up at all creation that God has done,
that the heavens declare the glory of God, the heavens, the creation acknowledge who
God is, that there is a God, that there is a creator and then it says there and the firmament
showeth his handiwork.
Okay, so when we look at creation, the first thought that should come into your mind is
look at this great God that I serve.
When you know how far the stars are, when you know how expansive space is and you know
even how even the smallest atom and even the subatomic particles that make up the atom
are so complex, you know, when you look at the human eye and you look at all creation,
you look at whatever it is, brethren, you just stop and meditate for a moment and look
at the handiwork of God, it makes you realise what a powerful, what a mighty God that we
serve, all right, that he can fling those stars in space with his own hands.
And the Bible says I'm just dust, you know, when you look at all of creation, you look
at us, you know, the significance of man, we're but dust and yet God can do great things
for us because of his Holy Spirit, right?
And so, when we look at his creation, you know, we are to think about who God is but
notice at the beginning it said there, the heavens declare the glory of God and the first
thing I want you to notice there is heavens is plural, right, more than one, are there
more than one heaven?
The Bible is very clear that there is definitely more than one heaven, in fact, and we'll go
through this later on, the Bible tells us that there are three heavens, three heavens.
Now it says here the heavens declare the glory of God, okay, so there's more than one heaven
that declares the glory of God.
Now, spoiler, but the third heaven that we see back, and we'll look at this later on,
is where God's throne is, all right, that's the, when we talk about heaven, we talk about
going to heaven, you know, being with God, that's what the Bible refers to as the third
heaven.
Can you see the third heaven?
Can you look at it and say, yes, the third heaven declares the glory of God?
I can see the handiwork of God, no, we can't see that third heaven, can we?
But we can see two heavens, plural, which declare the glory of God and of course the
first heaven refers to our atmosphere, it's to our sky, okay, the clouds, the birds flying
through the atmosphere, that's heaven number one.
Heaven number two is where the sun, the moon and the stars are, right, outer space as we
call them.
Those are the two heavens that we can look at which declare the glory of God, you say,
why are you bringing that up?
Well, this becomes important as we keep going, look at verse number two, verse number two,
it says, day unto day utter of speech and night unto night showeth knowledge.
You know what the Bible's telling us here is that all of creation, even if day and night
speak of who God is, right, it says, day unto day utter of speech, the day speaks about
who God is.
We look at heaven, we see, like I mentioned, the clouds, we see the birds flying in the
atmosphere, that declares who God is and then it says and night unto night showeth knowledge.
So when it's night and you see the stars and you see the moon and you can see the planets,
you know, this is to give us knowledge, it's to speak to us of who God is.
I remember one of my old pastors and I need to do this kids one day, he says, you know,
because I really recommend you one day take your kids camping and just, you know, a place
where you're away from the noise, from the lights of a city and just lay down on your
backs with your children, look up to the skies and he said, you'll be amazed, you'll be amazed
at how many stars there are, your kids will be able to acknowledge and appreciate the
greatness of God and that's what the heavens are there for, it's to point us to God, right,
the day speaks to us about God, the night gives us knowledge about God.
Verse number 3, there is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard, whose voice
is not heard?
The voice of the heavens, the voice of the day and night, right, this is what we're talking
about, the creation here and so here's what's wonderful about the creation is that, you
know, it speaks the universal language, right, I mean as an English speaker, you probably,
you know, the best you can do with preaching the gospel, telling people about God is to
another English speaker, you're going to struggle with somebody that speaks a foreign language,
alright, but the wonderful thing about creation, it speaks to everybody of every language,
no matter who it is, they can look at creation and say, wow, this is a God that I want to
worship, you know, and the question often is, you know, what about, you know, in the
deepest jungles of Africa, what if they don't hear about Jesus, hey, well they have the
creation, they have the day and night, they have the handiwork of God at their disposal
and I tell you this, brethren, if they can say, yes, I want to know that God, I want
to know the creator God, God will prepare it in the heart of a missionary, a man to
go out there even if it's for that one person to give them the gospel, you know, if I was
very clear that if we seek, we shall find and so, you know, we shouldn't have this idea,
what about the person that didn't hear, listen, they may not have heard from this but what
they have right now is to be able to hear creation, to see creation, to acknowledge
the God of the universe and if they're seeking God, if they want to worship God and not the
creation, then God will make himself known unto them, for sure, guaranteed, we see that
in the Bible.
Look at verse number, and by the way, it says there, there is no speech nor language where
their voice is not heard, now the, you know, the word their, more often than not, is again
plural, right, we already started to see the heavens, plural, declare the glory of God
and notice, look at verse number 4, it says their line, now I'll just tell you what this
line represents, it just means sound, I'll prove that to you later on, okay, their line
or their sound, remember that uttering speech, remember they're telling us about God, all
of creation, their sound or line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the
end of the world, in them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun and so, the Bible here now refers
to the sun and of course, the sun is a mighty creation of God and it says here that in the
heavens, right, which is where their line is coming from or their words to the end of
the world, this is declaring basically a testimony of the sun and when it says that in them hath
he set a tabernacle for the sun, a tabernacle is another way of saying a dwelling place
and so, where is the place for the sun, where is the dwelling place for the sun? It is in
the heavens, okay, it is in, well, we know it as the second heaven, right, outer space,
that's where the sun is, this becomes important, look at verse number 5, which is as a bridegroom,
talking about the sun here, a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, alright, so the sun, when
it starts to rise and it starts to shine and the light starts to come forth and brightness
and the glory of the sun, it compares it to a man who's about to get married, alright,
a man who's got a big smile on his face, he's got his wife, I'm going to get married, praise
God, that's the description, you know, obviously this is poetic language, right, description
there of the sun and then it says, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race, okay, so it's
like the strong man's about to run this race, right, he's getting up, he's getting ready
for that run, all day long he's going to be running that race, look at verse number 6,
he's going forth, he's from the end of heaven and he's circuit unto the ends of it and so
the sun has a circuit, right, you know, it has a, well, from our perspective, right,
it has a trajectory that it travels, right, the sun rises from the east and it sets in
the west, you know, and so it runs that circuit as it were, right, and then it says this,
it says and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof, you can't stop the heat of the
sun, you can try to, you know, get some shade, you can get the air conditioning units on,
right, but where the sun shines there's going to be heat, you can't stop that, that's the
mighty power and creation of God, you can't stop the sun and yet the sun is such a massive
object, it's such a huge creation, it's such a powerful creation and yet it doesn't compare
to the God who created it, okay, so the heavens declare the glory of God, it's amazing when
you think about this world and the solar system and the stars and the planets and just the
tiny little microorganisms that God has put in this world, it all testifies that there
is a creator God and what I want you to do now, please keep your finger there and go
to Genesis chapter 1, go to Genesis chapter 1, because I told you how important it is
to say that the, you know, to acknowledge that the heavens declare the glory of God,
right, the heavens, plural, declare the glory of God and so let's understand these three
heavens that I already mentioned to you, let's understand this from a biblical perspective
and listen, Genesis chapter 1, you know, please make that a foundational chapter for your
spiritual life, there are so many great truths in this chapter, you know, if you just read
it you'll miss a lot of it, right, but you know, Genesis is the book of beginnings, Genesis
is the foundational book of the rest of the Bible, but Genesis chapter 1 is the foundational
book of many other truths as well, alright, I mean this makes sense that God would in
the very first chapter teach us some very important truths, it says in Genesis 1, 1,
in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, so from the very beginning God
creates the heaven and the earth, and I'm going to put it to you that this heaven that
was created here is where God dwells, okay, and the earth, let's keep going, drop down
to verse number 7, now it says here, verse number 7, and God made the firmament, what's
the firmament, well let's keep going, and divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament and it was so, so did God make something now,
yeah he makes the firmament, right, so this isn't the same heaven that he created in verse
number 1, this is something else, look at verse, let's keep going, verse number 8, and
God called the firmament heaven, see that, and the evening and the morning were the second
day, so on the second day God creates another heaven, on the first day, the very beginning
he creates a heaven and earth, but then on the second day he creates another heaven,
see what is that about, well let's keep going, verse number, let's drop down to verse number
14, verse number 14, and by the way that firmament that was created above the waters, well when
you look at the earth we have waters, we have seas and oceans, well what's that space above
the waters, it's our atmosphere, okay, so this firmament or this heaven is our local
atmosphere, right, where the clouds are, where if you're on a jet plane you're flying through
that heaven, okay, it's where the birds fly, I'll show you that later on, but look at verse
number 14 now, and you'll see another firmament that comes into view here, it says, and God
said let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night,
and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be for
lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and it was so, so God
wants to put these lights in the firmament, right, look at verse number 16, and we saw
that firmament is just another saying, heaven, right, verse number 16, and God made two great
lights, the greater light to rule the day, and that's the sun of course, and the lesser
light to rule the night, okay, so that's the moon, but notice this, this is important,
he made the stars also, so when he's creating things to be put into this firmament, what
is he putting into it, the sun, the moon, and the stars, okay, fact, this is proof in
the Bible, right, fact, look, let's keep going, verse number 17, and God set them, what's
a them, the stars, the sun, and the moon, in the firmament of the heaven to give light
upon the earth, what do we learn there, there is a firmament or there is a heaven that contains,
must contain according to God's word, the sun, the moon, and the stars, so why are you
saying that, well what I'm saying is the first heaven is where the birds fly, the second
heaven, outer space, is where the sun, moon, and stars are, and the third heaven is where
God's throne is, okay, and so when we talk about the heavens declaring the glory of God,
it's the first heaven, it's the second heaven, we can't see the third heaven, at least not
on this side of eternity, right, but you know, one day we will definitely see, set our eyes
upon that third heaven, let's keep going, look at verse number 20, Genesis chapter one
and verse number 20, sorry, yeah, verse number 20, and God said, let the waters bring forth
abundantly the moving creature that have life and fowl that may fly above the earth in the
open firmament of heaven, so what can fly in the open firmament of heaven, birds, okay,
so again, that's the atmosphere, right, so in Genesis 1, we see the three heavens, where
God is, where the birds fly, and where the sun, moon, and stars are, okay, and again,
where the birds fly, where the clouds are, that's one heaven that declares the glory
of God, but we saw that it's the heavens that declare the glory of God, that's the
sun, moon, stars, that's outer space, alright, and you say, why is that important, well I'm
just going to read to you, you don't need to turn there, and actually, what I want you
to turn to is go to Isaiah 11 for me, go to Isaiah 11, Isaiah 11, and I'll put this all
together for you shortly, okay, you go to Isaiah 11, but I'm going to read to you from
2 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse number 2, a very familiar portion of scripture to
many of you, and this is Paul writing about himself in the third person, he says, I knew
a man in Christ about 14 years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out
of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, such and one caught up to the third heaven, so
Paul says there is a third heaven, speaking of himself in the third person, because he's
speaking about the new man, not the old man, right, that's in heaven, and he says that's
the third heaven, so listen, if there's a third heaven, doesn't that make sense that
there's a second and a first heaven, which is consistent with what we just read there
in Genesis chapter 1, right, I mean that's not complicated, right, that should be straightforward,
and then it says in verse number 3, and I knew such a man whether in the body or out
of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard
unspeakable words which is not lawful for a man to utter, so this third heaven is also
called paradise, okay, this is heaven, the heaven that we think about when we teach people
about, you know, are you sure about going to heaven, when we give them the gospel, we
want their soul to go to heaven where God is, that's the third heaven.
Now the reason I bring this to your attention is because there is a teaching that's becoming
very popular on the internet, and that's a teaching on the flat earth, okay, on the flat
earth, and you know what, the Bible tells us that the heavens declare his glory, alright,
so here's something that we need to understand, if, what I just explained to you about the
three heavens, okay, and two of them declare his glory, that's got to be correct, it's
consistent with the Bible, well if this is, you know, these objects, these heavens are
there to declare his glory, but what if the flat earth's understanding of the atmosphere
and outer space is inconsistent with the Bible, does it declare the glory of God?
If it's inconsistent, you say how is it inconsistent?
Well let me explain to you a couple of things here, you know, I was looking up flat earth
today, alright, and I was saying well how do I explain the atmosphere, and if you don't
know this already, you know the flat earth teaching basically teaches that the sun and
moon are in our first heaven, they're in the same heaven where the birds fly, that's the
flat earth teaching, right, and you say that's crazy, listen, there's a lot of people that
believe this, and it doesn't bother me that people believe this, what bothers me is when
people try to use the Bible to say that's what it teaches, now you say well where do
the flat earths put the stars, well they put them in another space above the sun and
moon, okay, now it was hard to get this information, I had to look up a lot of sources, but what
seems consistent is they believe the stars are in another location above the sun and
the moon, alright, where the sun and moon is basically in our atmosphere, so it's obviously
much smaller objects they teach, and then the stars are in another, maybe the second
heaven from their perspective, I don't know, okay, and yet what did we learn in Genesis
chapter one, where did God put the stars, he put it in the same heaven as the sun and
the moon, and so if you're a flat ochre and you believe Genesis chapter one, you must
also believe then that the stars are in our atmosphere as well, and yet no flat ochre
believes that, that's inconsistent with the Bible, and if it's inconsistent with the Bible
it's not declaring the glory of God, okay, we want to declare the glory of God and what
we understand in science, what we understand by observation and by experimentation must
be true of the word of God, it must be consistent, and you'll see in this psalm, psalm 19, how
important the creation is, and the word of God, these two things go together to declare
us the maker and the creator of all things, alright, now you're in Isaiah chapter 11 verse
number 11, Isaiah chapter 11 verse number 11, I hope that makes sense to you, what I
just said, right, the Bible's very clear, stars are in the same place, in the same heaven
as the sun and the moon, again flat ochres believe the sun and the moon are in our atmosphere,
here where the birds fly, just higher, that means the stars are here but they don't believe
that, okay, oh we just want the truth, Genesis one is the truth, the stars and the moon and
the sun in one place, the heaven, heaven's plural, there's got to be two places that
declare the glory of God, alright, now look at Isaiah chapter 11 verse 11, now I once
spoke to a flat earther, and listen I've got flat earther friends, I want you to understand
that, I don't hate them, you know, but I want them to get things, I want them to get this
right, especially if it's inconsistent with the Bible, you know, if we say the Bible's
our final authority, it's got to be the final authority, not just when we like it, okay,
and they said, I got told by a flat earther, you know the earth can't be a sphere, I said
why not, it's because the Bible says the four corners of the earth, okay, and if there's
corners, then it's got to be, you know, a place that you can fall off that corner or
whatever, right, four corners like a square or a rectangle, and I said to him, but you
don't even believe it's a square or a rectangle, you do believe it's circular in shape, you
just believe it's flat, so even a normal circle, you know, what makes the circle a shape is
that it has no corners, alright, so you can't say the earth is not a sphere because the
Bible says corners of the earth, well then it can't be a flat circle either because it
doesn't have corners either, the argument against the sphere is the same argument against
your belief, you know, so what is the corners of the earth, and here's the thing brethren,
you know, I don't mind if you believe the flat earth, I don't mind, it doesn't bother
me, it doesn't bother me at all, but it's to your detriment, okay, it's to your detriment,
because you're going to try to find verses in the Bible that line up with this belief
and you're not going to be able to differentiate between what is literal and what is figurative
and if you can't do that, you're going to be messed up in a lot of other doctrines,
alright, look at Isaiah 11, Isaiah 11 verse 11, let me tell you what the four corners
of the earth is, it's not complicated, and it shall come to pass in that day that the
Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which
shall be left, now where are his, the remnant of his people, notice this, from Assyria and
from Egypt and from Pathros and from Kash and from Elam and from Shinah and from Hamath
and from the islands of the sea, so that the remnant of God's people are scattered
throughout all these nations, alright, look at verse number 12, and he shall set up an
ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together
the dispersed, that's the people that are in the other nations, of Judah from the four
corners of the earth, well there it is, it's flat, so all these Jews, all these people
of God, you know where they went?
They went to the corners, they went to the, right at the edge of the earth, right, where
they're about to fall off, and that's where God's bringing them from, is that what the
Bible teaches us?
No, he's bringing them from the nations that surround Israel, alright, so what is four
corners?
It's not complicated, it's north, south, east and west, we still use that phrase today,
in fact there's a television show, an Australian, what is it?
It's called Four Corners, do you know it?
It's an Australian show, right, why is it called Four Corners?
Because they teach at Flat Earth, no, they call it Four Corners because they're getting
news from all places of the globe, right, north, south, east and west is where they're
getting the news from, that's why they call themselves Four Corners, not because it's
a documentary on Flat Earth, alright, now let's keep going, look, verse number 13, now
do you see that though, do you see that the four corners of the earth are referred to
all the nations that his people were dispersed, so what, what is it, it's north, south, east
and west, it's places that surround, I'll prove this to you further, look at verse 13,
the envy also of Ephraim shall depart and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off,
Ephraim shall not envy Judah and Judah shall not vex Ephraim, look at this, verse 14, but
they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west and shall spoil them of the
east together, they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon shall
obey them, so where are they coming from?
East and west, the four corners, well that's two corners, right, the four corners, north
and south as well, and so if we keep this within context, the four corners are just
the different directions of the different nations that surround Israel, where the dispersed
people of God had gotten to, alright, so do we believe in the circle of the earth, the
Bible's very clear that the earth is shaped like a circle, right, now is it a flat circle?
You could make that argument if we lived in a two dimensional world, alright, I mean if
you just had a two dimensional circle, I guess you could make the argument that it's flat,
but is that realistic, do we live in a two dimensional world or do we live in a three
dimensional world?
We live in a three dimensional, that's realistic, that's truth, that's fact, that we live in
a three dimensional world and what is a circle?
In a three dimensional world, it's a sphere, okay, that means no matter how you cut that
sphere it's going to have the shape of a circle, the whole thing's a circle and a sphere has
no corners, but does a globe have north, south, east and west in four corners in that sense?
Absolutely it does, and so is the Bible consistent?
Absolutely it is consistent, okay, and we have the globe, we have the first heaven where
the birds fly, we have the second heaven where the stars, moon and sun are and we have the
third heaven where God's throne is, alright, this is the teaching of the Bible, it's consistent
with the Bible, it's understandable and it's consistent with the science that we know,
why do we have to fight a science that is consistent with the Bible?
To come up with some crazy idea where you start blurring the lines between what is literal
and what is figurative, when you read Genesis chapter one and you don't want to accept it
because this truth is too important for me and I have to just find some other solution
to these questions, listen, we don't need to fight stupid battles, okay, we're going
for the armour of God, aren't we, there's enough of a battle to fight in this world
and fighting for some stupid science, okay, it doesn't bother me, it doesn't bother me,
you guys can believe whatever you like, it doesn't bother me personally but I care for
your souls, alright, I'm an overseer for your souls and I find this will be a detriment
to your understanding of the word of God if you keep pursuing this science, this science
falsely so-called.
You know, how are you so sure, Pastor Kevin, that you know, it's a globe earth, well you
know what, as soon as I found out about the flat earth, I did a little bit of research,
I watched some videos, I just, you know, I didn't watch it to ridicule, I just wanted
to understand, why do people think this and then I thought okay, I get where they're coming
from, I get some of their observations, I get where they're coming from but let's plot
this out on flights, you know, I've taken a lot of flights in my life, I mean, my whole
life I've been flying, right, and I've taken that flight from Santiago, Chile to Sydney,
I don't know, at least 10 times, direct flights from Sydney to Santiago which takes like 12
and a half hours and 14 hours on the way back and I just charted that on the flat earth
and it doesn't work, brethren, it's impossible, it takes like 40 hours to take that flight
on a flat earth but on a globe earth, it's perfect, it's perfect, you know, and here's
the thing, if you look at the flat earth, if you look at how many flat earthers there
are that make videos, you know where they're from, the northern hemisphere, when you look
at the people that are debunking flat earthers on YouTube, you know where they're from, Australia,
from the southern hemisphere, you say why is that, I tell you why, because a lot of
people in the northern hemisphere have not travelled to the southern hemisphere, okay,
because most people live in the northern hemisphere, right, if you're in America and you want to
go on holidays, you're probably going to go to Europe or something which is the northern
hemisphere, right, you go to Asia, you know, people go to Asia, they go to Europe, not
many people travel to the southern hemisphere, most often people in the southern hemisphere
will travel to the northern hemisphere, okay, and when you're travelling to the northern
hemisphere, and this is something I observed when I went to the missions conference at
Faith Word Baptist Church, I love going to America because I love looking at the night
sky and I'm not this star gazer, like I'm not crazy about these things but I can look
up at the night sky and say wow, that's different, it's different, the night sky is different
to the normal night sky that you see here, you see some of the same stars, you see some
of the same constellations but you can see other constellations, you can see other stars,
you know why?
Because they're on different sides of the globe, if it's a flat earth, you'd see the
same thing no matter where you go, okay, it's on different sides of the globe and you got
the tilt so you see different, you know, differences in the night sky, now look, you don't even
have to be that knowledgeable to work it out, you know, if you've been living in the southern
hemisphere for years and years and years, you look up every now and again, you know,
that starts to imprint in your mind what the sky looks like and then you go to the northern
hemisphere, you look up and you say wow, that looks different, it is different, it is different
because it's the other side of the globe, alright and here's the other thing Brevin,
the International Space Station, it's so easy to track, you just go on their website, you
find out when they're orbiting, you know, and they're constantly orbiting over this
area, Brisbane, Caloundra, you just work out at what point they're going to orbit, you
know, you set the time, you make sure that the sky is clear, you'll be able to look up
and you better see that satellite go by, why, because it's orbiting the earth, right,
it's orbiting the earth, that's why, you know, it's a globe, Brevin, don't waste
your time on nonsense, waste your time research, not waste your time, use your time researching,
studying the Bible, you know, and reality, reality is going to help you put these two
things together, the heavens declare the glory of God but also his word declares his glory,
you know, pastor Tyler Doker, I mean that guy is a classic example of a man, now if
you don't know who he is, don't waste your time but of a man who appeared to know the
gospel, who appeared to be sound in faith, then he went down the flat earth road, now
he denies the gospel, you know, he preaches another gospel, he believes if you're saved,
you're going to go to hell anyway if you don't live righteously enough and they believe
in some workspace gospel, right, I mean this guy's just gone down the deep end, he's
a false prophet, not only he's a false prophet, he's a reprobate, you know, why?
Because he cannot read his Bible, he cannot tell the difference between what is literal
and what is figurative, he cannot read Genesis chapter 1 and work out that the stars are
in the same firmament as the sun and the moon and again, this doesn't, you know, if you
believe it, it doesn't bother me but if one day you want to be a pastor and you're
a flat earther, listen, the church is the pillar and ground of truth, hey, and that
toddler dog called his church pillar, church now, whatever it is, he's making a mockery
of God's word, do you think people will want to listen to a pastor who's a flat earther
and doesn't understand Genesis chapter 1, how are you going to teach the rest of the
Bible when you can't even get through that first chapter, listen, Genesis chapter 1 has
a lot of great truths, it will keep you from the flat earth, alright, it will keep you
from believing Genesis 6 fallen angels because everything in chapter 1 brings forth after
its own kind, alright, not angels, you know, having fornication with women and having
giants, it's going to keep you from modalism and oneness because God says, let us make
man in our image, the trinity, from Genesis chapter 1, we have a lot of great doctrines,
you just, listen, if you're struggling in these areas, just read Genesis chapter 1,
read it again, memorise it, meditate on Genesis chapter 1 until you get some of this bad doctrine
out of your life, it's going to affect your ability to read the Bible, okay.
Let's keep going, Psalm 19 and if you can look back to verse number 4, Psalm 19 and
verse number 4, let's read again, it says, their line, remember I said this is the word
sound, okay, I'll compare, I'll show you this soon, actually keep your finger there
and then go to Romans chapter 10, go to Romans chapter 10 for me, go to Romans chapter 10,
I'll read to you Psalm 19 verse 4 again, it says, their line is gone out through all
the earth and their words to the end of the world, so it's telling you how this is the
testimony of creation, alright, but then when we get to Romans chapter 10 and we know Romans
chapter 10 and we love that chapter, right, because about the soul winner going out preaching
the gospel, well actually, in Romans chapter 10, this passage, this verse number 4 is repeated
for us, in Romans chapter 10, look at Romans chapter 10 and verse number 15, Romans chapter
10 and verse number 15, it says, and how shall they preach except they be sent as it is written
how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things, but they have not all obeyed the gospel for Isaiah saith, Lord who have
believed our report, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God,
amen, we know that passage very well, look at verse number 18, but I say, have they not
heard?
Yes, verily their sound, or like Psalm 19 said, their line went into all the earth and
their, sorry, and their words unto the ends of the world, and so Romans chapter 10 is
quoting Psalm 19, and Psalm 19 is telling us how all of creation declares the glory
of God, you know what that's comparing?
It to the soul winner, so as a soul winner, just like the creation declares the glory
of God, sorry, just as creation declares the glory of God, so to you as a soul winner who
takes the Bible, who takes the word of God and preaches the gospel, you're doing the
same job, that's how people learn about God, that's how people believe on Jesus Christ,
it's because they've seen creation, they acknowledge there must be a God, it takes more work to
deny a God, in fact, nobody truly, there's no such thing as an atheist in the Bible,
God doesn't believe in atheists, all the atheist does is he knows who God is, but decides to
worship the creation rather than the creator, that's the only difference, okay, and once
creation tells us here and in here that there is a God, then the soul winner comes with
the word of God and shows you, hey, look what Jesus did for you, look at the God, the creator
of all things, he cares so much even about you that he sent his only son to die for you,
what a great message of the gospel, now these two things go together, the creation of the
world and the preaching of God's word to declare the glory of God and of course, you know,
in the book of Romans, we're looking at Romans chapter 10, go to Romans chapter 1, go to
Romans chapter 1 and of course, this is acknowledged for us because you know, obviously, when you're
reading Romans chapter 10, you should have already read Romans chapter 1 and in Romans
chapter 1 verse 19, this truth is, you know, reminded to us here in Romans chapter 1 verse
19, it says, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God have showed
it unto them, for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not
as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish
heart was darkened and so, the atheists believe in God, absolutely, absolutely and this is
why when you go thoughts or soul winning, you don't need to get into some creation
versus evolution debates, don't, just start with the belief which is biblical, that they
do believe in God, they just don't want to acknowledge him and just bypass that and get
straight into the gospel, that's the power of God unto salvation, you know, the power
of the gospel and so, what this is teaching us is that there are two great testimonies
of the glory of God, creation, the heavens, you know, yes, the atmosphere and also outer
space, yes, plural heavens, declare the glory of God, but also his word, okay and so, it's
amazing that God allows us, you know, sinful flesh to use his word for such great purpose,
you know, to declare the glory of God, we have these two great testimonies, so if you
go back to Psalm 19, Psalm 19 and this makes perfect sense now because Psalm 19, all of
a sudden, from talking about God's creation, gets into the word of God, I mean, the rest
of the Psalm is about the word of God now, why, because these are the two great testimonies
of who God is, right, Psalm 19 verse 7 says, the law of the Lord is perfect, converting
the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, making wise the simple
and so, the law is perfect, converting the soul, okay and of course, you know, Galatians
3, 24 says, wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified
by faith and so, the law of God does convert the soul, you know, when we're confronted
with God's commandments and his laws and we realise we've broken God's laws, I'm a
sinner, who can save me, that should bring us to Christ, it shouldn't bring us to ourselves,
so I've got to try harder now, I've got to repent of my sins, I've got to clean up my
life, no, right, no, the law is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, so Lord, man, I've
messed up and I guess I'm going to continue messing up because I'm a sinner and that's
why I need a saviour, that's why I need God's grace to save me which is free, the free gift
of salvation, praise God for that but it also said it makes wise the simple, you know, simply
someone that's very base, someone that doesn't have a lot of knowledge, someone that I guess
is stupid, right, if you consider yourself as someone who's not very intelligent, you
know what's going to give you a lot of wisdom, just spend time in God's word, you've got
it at your disposal, it's not going to cost you any, you know what, you go to university,
you spend all this big money, you go to school, you spend all these textbooks, you spend all
this stuff, right, to get trained and yet the thing that's going to give you the greatest
wisdom is free, it's probably in your hands right now, probably got a bunch of them in
your hands right now, right, and yet it's free, it's going to give you wisdom, the Bible
says in Proverbs 4.7, wisdom is the principle thing, principle, the first thing, therefore
get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding, with all thy getting, hey, use your time not
researching the flat earth, not researching science, falsely so called, spend your time
with all your getting, his word and I promise you this, with the spirit of God, as a saved
believer, he's going to give you much wisdom, much wisdom, okay, and I've grown in wisdom
over the years, I'm sure if you've been saved for a while, you can say yes, I've grown in
wisdom, you probably look back to the days when I was like in my 20s and I thought I
knew it all, right, I'm a self-made man, I'm so smart, I look back now and say what a foolish
child I was back then, right, because you gain wisdom, you know, as you spend more and
more time in his word, look at verse number 8, the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoice
in the heart, boy, you know, if you're someone that's depressed, you're cast down, you're
struggling in life, you know what's going to give you a lot of joy, the statutes of
the Lord, you know, going to the Bible, learning from God, allowing God to speak to you through
his word will give you great joy, it says the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening
the eyes, pure, it's pure, okay, Psalm 12 says the words of the Lord are pure words,
as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times, it's pure, and it says enlightening
the eyes, you know, we have a perspective of life, you know, based on your experiences,
based on your education, you know, you look at the world through a lens of everything
that's been added up to, you know, the point of years that you are at now, okay, and many
times our eyes are not looking clearly though, you know, because we've been, you know, we've
been brainwashed by the world, you know, we think, you know, we don't think the way God
wants us to think, and so his word, which is pure, it's like pouring pure water into
your eyes, and getting rid of the dirt, right, and what God's word does with the purity of
it, it helps us to refocus, to stop looking at things through the lens of your old eyes,
and start seeing things through the lens of God, you know, starting to see his righteousness,
starting to see his judgments much clearer, understanding how this world works much clearer
than when your eyes were dim.
Look at verse number nine, it says, the fear of the Lord is clean and during forever the
judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
The fear of the Lord, it's important to have, been saved a long time, and there were times
in my life when I just did not have the fear of God, I got far from God, I got distant
from God, not reading my Bible, just living how I want, and not thinking about the consequences,
there's no fear there, and there are other times in my life, you know, as you grow and
you go through that, you know, Christianity sometimes is this wave, you know, you have
your high moments, you have your low moments sometimes, in those high moments, I find myself
fearing God the most, and I was telling the Sydney church on Sunday, you know, the point
that I have the most fear of God is just before I get up to preach, I don't know if you
observe me just before I get up to preach, I'm telling you I'm shaking in my boots,
to get up, open up the word of God to his people, to his children, God's using me
to declare his glory, and I'm a fallen man, and I know I have sins, and I know I'm
not right with God all the time, and I know I make mistakes, and I'm doing the best
I can, you know, and I'm just like, God, please help me to preach the truth, you want
the church to be the pillar and ground of the truth, you know, please show me your word,
please give me your spirit, and I think that's good, because it said there, right, it said
there the fear of, what did it say, the fear of the Lord is clean, so when you fear God,
he cleans you up, you know, and although maybe the pride that I might have and say,
well, I'm such a good preacher, I have such great knowledge, oh, man, this church is doing
so well because of me as a pastor, all of that is cleaned out, all right, and I have
a fear of God, and that's replaced by the power of God, the strength of God, which doesn't
come from man, okay, and you're not preachers, you get up behind this pulpit to preach, you
better have a fear of God, remember who you're preaching to, it's not about edifying yourself,
you're feeding people the word of God, you're feeding his children, could you imagine if
I take my kids to a restaurant, and instead of, you know, the food being clean and well
prepared, you know, it's full on the ground, they spat on it, right, and then they bring
it and they feed my kids, do you think I'll be happy with that, I'd be so angry about
that, right, how do you think God will feel if you come up behind the pulpit and you don't
care about it, you know, you just, you put no effort into it, you just do it and you're
just highlighting yourself, the pride of man, you know, no, you better have a fear
of God who clean you out of all that nonsense, okay, clean you through, enduring forever,
the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous all together, look at verse number 10, more
to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and
the honeycomb, if you can please keep your finger there and go to Revelation chapter
10, go to Revelation chapter 10, the Psalmist says the Bible, the words of God are to be
desired more than gold, sweeter than honey, wow, you know, there is a desire in man to
work and provide of course, you know, to build up a savings and have some gold on the side,
a bit of, you know, something for a rainy day and that's good, there's nothing wrong
with having that, you know, needing that but you know what should be your greater desire
than that, is the word of God, now before you get up to go to work in the morning, please
let me encourage you to just open the word of God, at least one chapter, get one chapter
in, desire the word of God before you desire to get out there and work a job, you know
what, God's word will help you be a better employee in the first place anyway, okay,
more than gold but also sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, do you ever get like sweet
craving sometimes and you're like, man, I just need that piece of chocolate or whatever
it is, right, well, you know what, it should be designed like that or more than that, you
know, is the word of God, it's precious, it's sweet, you know, before we read Revelation,
I'm just going to read to you from Ezekiel chapter 3 and verse number 1, it says, moreover
he said unto me, so this is God speaking to Ezekiel, he says, son of man, eat that thou
findest, eat this roll and go speak unto the house of Israel, so he says, eat this roll,
it's not a bread roll, okay, it's a roll like a manuscript, all right, it's the words
of God, it's the scriptures is what it is and it says here in verse number 2, so I opened
my mouth and he caused me to eat that roll and he said unto me, son of man, cause thy
belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee, then did I eat it and
it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness, so he's consumed the word of God because this
is so sweet, awesome, he's getting ready to be a preacher for Israel, right and listen,
when you prepare to preach God's word, I'm sure for many of you, it's sweet as you do
it, come on man, awesome, getting this together, it's going to be a good sermon, it's going
to help people in church, you know, it's sweet, right, that's what you think as a preacher,
nothing wrong with thinking that but then it says this, verse number 5, for thou art
not sent to a people of a strange speech or even hard language but to the house of Israel,
not too many people of a strange speech or even hard language whose words thou canst
not understand, then it says this, surely had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened
unto thee, so it says look, if I sent you to the Gentiles of other people of other nations,
they would definitely listen to you, but he says I'm sending you to Israel, he says, right,
then it says this, verse number 7, but the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee,
they would have hearkened, sorry, they would have hearkened unto thee, sorry, I'll read
that again, verse number 7, but the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee for they
will not hearken unto me, for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard hearted.
And so Ezekiel here, you know, he takes, he eats that roll, he eats the word of God and
he wants to preach it, he says this is sweet, this is delicious, this is awesome, he thinks
Israel is going to love hearing this and God says no, they're not going to listen to you.
Okay so here's the truth about God's word, it can be sweet to you but don't be surprised
when it's not sweet to other people, alright, it's just a reality that will dawn on you
eventually, you guys are in Revelation right, go to Revelation chapter 10, it's a reality
that will dawn on you, if it hasn't dawned on you already it's going to dawn on you at
some point, when you're like, you're so excited, you found something great in the Bible, you
go to somebody else and you show them and they're like, come on man, you're obsessed,
you're part of a cult, what, so you believe I'm not good enough to go to heaven and you're
missing a point, it's a free gift, it's sweet, it's beautiful, you know, they won't harken
unto you many times because what is sweet to you is not necessarily sweet to others.
Revelation chapter 10 verse number 9, we have another story here where John the apostle
eats a book as well, a roll if you will, verse number 9, and I went unto the angel and said
unto him, give me the little book and he said unto me, take it and eat it up and it shall
make thy belly bitter and it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey, so again this is
another reference to the word of God, right, being sweet as honey, and I took the little
book out of the angel's hand and ate it up and it was in my mouth sweet as honey and
as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter and he said unto me, thou must prophesy again
before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings and so here John has said, yeah,
you're going to prophesy again, you know, to people everywhere, but what was the lesson
that he had to learn there? That boy, he had that book, the little book, he ate it
because this is sweet like honey, this is awesome, but then when he hit his belly, when
he was able to digest it, when he was able to process it, he found it bitter and that's
the truth of the Bible, right? You come to church, you want a bit of that honey sometimes,
you want to keep some good preaching, so I want the sweetness of God's word in my life,
but then sometimes as you think about it, as you meditate on what you're hearing, as
you receive what you're hearing, it becomes bitter in your belly and you know what, what
I just said about flat earth, I'm sure some flat earthers might have found some of that
sweet, but eventually it's going to be bitter, right? It's going to be bitter because it's
going to be like, well, this challenges my belief and brethren, that's good preaching
though, that's the Bible, you know, it shouldn't always be just sweet and beautiful, at some
point it's got a hit on your sins and at some point I hope you've been sitting in your chairs
and go, this is bitter preaching, I don't like it, it was sweet originally, but now
that I think about it, that means in my life I've got to make changes, that means in my
life you're telling me I've got these sins, that means in my life you're telling me that
I need to make these changes, that means in my life you're telling me that I've got to
be more loving to my brethren, well that becomes bitter to me because I need to make changes,
that's hard to do and yet it's sweet, people love hard preaching when it's preaching against
somebody else, but they don't like hard preaching when it's about them, because it's bitter,
it's sweet and bitter and that's just the reality of God's Word, so just a reminder, you know,
don't forget the reason you come to this church is you want to come here in the whole council of God,
all the council of God, parts of it to you are going to be sweet and parts of it are going to
be bitter as you sit there and digest what you have to hear, alright, back to Psalm 19,
Psalm 19 verse number 11, Psalm 19 verse number 11, it says moreover by them, by the words of
God that is, is thy servant warned and in keeping of them there is great reward. So knowing God's
Word will cause you to be warned from dangers, from sins, from things that can hurt you, but
also if you keep them there's great reward. Now I'll just read to you from Matthew 5 19,
words of Jesus Christ, he says whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and
shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven, but whosoever shall do
teach them the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. And so if we keep God's words,
we do his commandments, then we're going to have a greater position in heaven. There's greater
rewards, the more you serve the Lord, the more you try to live a godly life, a biblical life,
there's a greater reward for you in heaven, alright, and not only is the benefit in heaven,
but the benefits here on the earth, alright, you're warned by the dangers that can come into
your life should you allow yourself to live a sinful, wicked life. Verse number 12,
who can understand his errors, cleanse thou me from secret faults, and I love that because
the psalmist is basically saying, you know, he's saying who can fully understand his errors,
alright, only God can know the mistakes, fully understand the mistakes that you make.
There are many mistakes that you've made already and you don't even know they're mistakes,
you know, but God knows, right, and that's why he says he cleansed me, says to God cleanse me,
thou me from secret faults. Jeremiah 17, 9 says the heart is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked, who can know it, you know, only God can know your heart, and so we're seeing in
this psalmist, you know, he wants to glorify God, he wants to live righteously, but at the same time
he realizes, well, there's errors in my life, you know, there's errors and I don't even know what
they are, oh God, can you please highlight them to me, can you please show me, and of course,
he gets shown that by the word of God, but then he says cleanse thou me from secret faults,
again, that's the asking for forgiveness, that should be a part of your life,
your daily life, when you make faults, when you make mistakes, when you sin against the Lord,
ask Lord, can you cleanse me, Lord, can you forgive me, Lord, I've messed up again,
that should be part of your life, you see this as part of the psalmist's life, right.
Verse number 13, he says keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins,
so he goes, not only forgive me for the sins that I've done, but keep me from making these mistakes,
Lord, lest them not have dominion, sorry, let them not have dominion over me,
then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great
transgression, and so the psalmist wants to walk spiritually with the Lord, you know,
he wants to have good fellowship with the Lord, right, he wants the Lord to help him overcome
his sins, and brethren, you need the Lord's help to overcome your sins, you need the Lord's help
to turn from those sins in your life that you have today, you can't do it in your own strength,
you know, you can't do it in your own strength, you can only do it through the new man,
the new creation that God puts in you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, if you're walking
in the new man, if you're walking in the Spirit, you're going to be able to find yourself having
greater victory over the sins in your life, that should be part of our Christian life,
trying to clean ourselves up, not for salvation, we're saved already because of Christ,
but because we want to please the Lord, because we want to be able to fellowship with the Lord,
right, have a good life that the Lord can be pleased of, you know, in the Lord's prayer,
Jesus says in his prayer, he says, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,
deliver us from evil, and so, you know, that should be part of your prayer, Lord, help me,
you know, I struggle with this sin, please help me avoid the temptation so I don't have to do that
sin in my life, and Lord, if I find myself in that temptation, please find a way for me to get out of
that, okay, deliver me from evil, you know, we ought to be striving to live clean lives,
look at verse number 14, let the words of my, and this is the finale of this all, right,
and this is so important, it says, and let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer, beautiful words from the Psalmist,
right, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight,
I think this is probably the hardest, potentially the hardest challenge in Christian life,
to clean the inside, right, I mean, the outward stuff is sometimes easier, like going to church,
picking up your Bible and reading it, right, you know, fellowshiping with the brethren,
the outward stuff is a little bit easier, but the sins of the heart, the sins of the mind,
the things that come out of your mouth, they're harder to control, right, and so the Psalmist is
not only thinking about the outward sins, the things that he's done in his body physically,
but he's also thinking about the things that he meditates on, you know, his thought life,
the things that are in his heart, and he says, Lord, I want those things in my heart to be
acceptable in thy sight, can you tell me that brethren today, that everything you thought about,
everything that you spent time meditating on in your mind internally has been acceptable to God,
you probably say no, it hasn't all been acceptable, we need to clean that part up as well,
okay, it's not just the outward sins that we do in our body, but the inward thoughts of the inner
man, you know, that you think is hidden from the rest of the world, God knows them, you know,
and God wants to help you overcome those foolish thoughts, those wicked thoughts, you know,
and get those sins out of your life as well. All right, let's take this opportunity to sing Psalm
19, huh, we normally sing Psalm 19 every now and again, so let's sing Psalm 19, and then we'll
close the service. Psalm 19, if you remember how it goes, we start with verse number seven,
start with verse number seven, and we use verse number 10 as our chorus, remember that? All right,
let's see how we go, verse number seven. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul,
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple, more to be desired are they than goat,
yea, than much fine goat, sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb. Verse number eight,
the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoice in the heart, the commandments of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes, more to be desired are they than goat, yea, than much fine goat,
sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb. Verse nine, the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever, the judgments of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether,
more to be desired are they than goat, yea, than much fine goat, sweeter also than honey,
and the honeycomb. Verse 11, moreover by them is thy servant warned, and in keeping of them
there is great reward, more to be desired are they than goat, yea, than much fine goat,
sweeter also than honey, and the honeycomb. Verse 14, let the words of my mouth,
and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer,
more to be desired are they than goat, yea, than much fine goat, sweeter also than honey,
and the honeycomb. Okay, let's pray.