This transcript was generated automatically and may contain minor errors.

Good afternoon. Would you take out your Bible, please, and turn with me to John 13. John 13. That'll be the first passage to which we will turn this evening. John 13. We'll begin reading in verse 34 here in just a moment. John 13:34. As has already been mentioned, we have a number of visitors.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for being here again. Those of you who are here this morning, I want to thank those who are joining us online as well. I know there are a number who are streaming and many who are streaming regularly. In our services, we appreciate your interest in spiritual things as well.

I want you to think for just a moment. What is it that identifies people as genuine Christians? I mean, you're looking for the real deal. Real New Testament Christians. What is it that identifies people, hopefully us, But what identifies people as genuine Christians? Will you think on that for just a second?

Get in your mind an answer. If you were to say, this is it. This is what identifies people as genuine Christians, or at least one of the things it does, what is it that would come to mind for you?

It's really tough for me to not just jump in, but I want you to think about that. Get that in your mind. What is it that identifies us as genuine Christians? Okay, who thought, one of the things, Our love for one another. Okay, lots of hands for that. Well, yes, absolutely. John 13, beginning in verse 34, Jesus says to His apostles on the night in which He is betrayed, A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.

Well, that's not new, but this part is, that you love one another as I have loved you. that you also love one another. By this, by this new in terms of magnitude kind of love, this sacrificial kind of love for one another, by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love, this kind of love, for one another.

So absolutely, loving one another is one of the ways that we might identify who genuine Christians are. Now did anybody think anything along the lines of true worship or worshiping according to spirit and in truth? I got a few hands for that as well. Of course, that would also help identify genuine Christians.

Turn back to John 4, John 4, John 4, beginning in verse 23, as Jesus speaks to this Samaritan woman at the well. John 4:23, but the hour is coming. He says to her, and now is when true worshipers. So these are the real deal, true worshipers of God. We'll worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth. So hopefully that's true of us, and true of our worship. And you can identify, yes, these people are genuine Christians because of the way they worship. They worship according to truth, as God has laid forth, and yet they worship in a spiritual way according to spirit as well.

Amen. Did anybody think anything along the lines of doctrine? Abiding in the doctrine of Christ. Did we have anything doctrine? I don't see very many hands on that. I think that's, that's interesting. I think there are many people in the world who would say, yes, keeping the right doctrine is a part of identifying genuine Christians.

And that would be true as well. If you turn to 2 John, the second letter of John, at the end of our New Testament, 2 John,

only one chapter, Begin reading in verse 9. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. Well, the opposite is also true. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him, for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

So abiding in the doctrine of Christ, true doctrine and teaching. is one of the ways that we might identify people as genuine, true New Testament Christians. And obviously there are a lot of other things. Raise your hand if you thought of anything else. I'm not going to go around the room and call on all of you.

But I would suggest this is another way that we identify people as genuine Christians and hopefully others can identify us as genuine Christians. Think about this. We are identified when we are people of the book. God's people have always been book or scroll people, a literary people. And God's commands and instructions were not just handed down by oral tradition, but they were codified.

Doctrine and teaching written down, remembered, and observed, gone back to to read time and time again, taken from the inspiration of God Himself, who gave these things by His Spirit even as Rick prayed for us just a moment ago, gave these things by His Spirit to the inspired apostles and prophets who wrote these things down that we might have them, read them, and do them.

Old and New Testament. The people of God are people of the book. And I would suggest that this is one of the ways that we should be identified as genuine, true Christians when we are people of the book. Turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy 6. Deuteronomy 6. We'll start in the Old Testament to illustrate this.

Instead of just turning to one passage, as we did with some of those other things we're going to dive in a little bit more deeply as we consider being people of the book this evening. In Deuteronomy 6, the people of Israel, after wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, are about to enter into the land of Canaan.

And so Moses is reiterating the things of the law, Deuteronomy second law, Deutero, second law. And he's going through this law and talking about all of the things that they need to do and observe. And notice what he says in Deuteronomy 6, beginning in verse 4. This is probably familiar to many of us.

Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. In Judaism, that's called the Shema it's one of the most well known scriptures in all of the Old Testament. We need to love God with everything that we are.

In fact, Jesus says this is the first and greatest commandment, right? But it's interesting what is associated immediately following. We love God with everything that we are, certainly that could be added to the list of what identifies us as genuine Christians, when we love God and love our neighbor, right?

But what is associated with that if we keep reading verse 6? And these words, which I command you today, shall be Your heart. We wanna love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. These words have to be in our heart. That's what Moses is saying to the people of Israel, to God's people. Notice verse 7, you shall teach them diligently to your children.

You shall talk of them when you sit. When you walk by the way, when you lie down, when you rise up, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. And really this whole context is about teaching the next generation the law of the Lord.

So here we find really the next generation after the Exodus generation about to go into the promised land of Israel. And what Moses says to them is you've got to be people of the book. You've got to love the law of the Lord. And it has to be something that you teach to your children. You need to teach it, and talk of it, and bind it, and write it down, and read it every day.

So that you might do it, and live it. Why would you do all of that? Because it has to be in your heart. To contemplate, consider, and read this word daily. You know, there are a lot of things that are not revealed to us as to whether they're the providential working of God or just interesting coincidences.

Lots of things, of course, in our day in life as we go, go through the activities of our life, we say, is that God working or not? We don't know for sure unless it's revealed. But there's also things from the Bible that aren't necessarily revealed to us either. Is that coincidence or is that the providential working of God?

But I find it interesting that of all the places the people of God could have gone into slavery, there were many mighty nations in those days. Many places where traders would have been coming through the land of Canaan where Joseph could have been sold by his brothers into slavery. He could have just as easily gone east into Arabia.

He could have just as easily gone north into Nineveh and Syria. Or he could have gone all the way into Assyria or even Babylon. There are lots of places where Joseph could have gone into slavery and therefore the people of God But for whatever reason, they end up going to Egypt. And isn't it fascinating that this is a place where they have been writing and reading and using papyrus for well over 1, 500 years before Joseph arrived there?

The culture! was one where writing materials were the cheapest and most readily available anywhere in the ancient world. Wouldn't it be perfect for people of the book to become a nation? And just a place like that. And all of this writing and memorizing and meditating and reading was not just for the especially spiritual people.

Moses doesn't say in Deuteronomy 6, now you priests, you need to be writing down the law and reading the law and putting it as frontlets before your eyes and on the doorposts of your house and all you other people, you just go to the priests and they'll tell you all about it. No, this was for everyone.

Every person from the prince to the pauper. was supposed to have this kind of exposure to the law of the Lord, the Word of God. What was it that every king of Israel and Judah was commanded to do in Deuteronomy 17? If you want to turn over there, Deuteronomy 17.

God in his foreknowledge knows there's a day coming when Israel will have kings. And so in the law, Moses goes ahead and puts some principles for how kings are supposed to govern. In verse 18 of Deuteronomy 17, And it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book.

From the one before the priests, the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life. Did you hear that? The, the, the tense of that verbiage there is actually he reads it every day of his life. All the days of his life. That he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.

So be careful, write it down, read it every day. Why? That his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, that he might not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. Write your own copy of the law, the king is supposed to do.

Read it every day and then do it for every leader. For every father today, for every person who wants to impact their children, read the Word of God every day. Be people of the book. And if we turn over to Deuteronomy 31, at the end of this book, there was to be a national reading. Every seven years, the people of God were to assemble.

And the law was to be read in its entirety. Deuteronomy 31, beginning in verse 10. And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, at the appointed time in the year of release, at the Feast of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God in the place which He chooses, you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing.

Gather the people together. Men and women and little ones, the stranger who is in your gates, that they may hear and they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law. And that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn the fear of the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land which you cross the Jordan to possess.

So nationally, they were to be people of the book. This was a large part of their identity as the people of God, that they saw the law, they wrote the law, they read the law. But it wasn't just collectively that they were a people of the book, it was personal. They were individual people of the book as well.

We turn over to the book of Joshua, just a few pages over. In Joshua 1:8, as God is speaking to Joshua, as he's taking on this mantle of leadership, what is it that God says to him in verse 8? This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. And God goes on to say, I'm going to be with you wherever you go. Be strong and courageous. But it's contingent on this idea that you, Joshua, are a person of the book. You come back and read this and meditate on it day and night.

Of course, that's how the book of Psalms begins as well. If you want to turn to the first Psalm, please. Psalm 1

and verse 1.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, seed of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates Now that's the way the book of Psalms begins with all of these individual psalms. And it's amazing how many of these psalms are about that very thing.

Reading and meditating on the law of the Lord. Psalm 19 and Psalm 119 and others come to mind. Where God's word is held in high esteem and meditated on deeply by spiritually minded people. The people of God, were people of the book. Of course, all of that was good in theory. In practice, it was not always the case.

And these commands and admonitions to reading the law often didn't happen throughout the history of the people of Israel. And it is no coincidence that in those times when the law was lost, when there was no reading and meditating on that law, that the people got off track, that they found themselves trusting in other things.

They found themselves in sin of different kinds. And how did they get back to who they were called to be? By becoming people of the book once more. On Wednesday night, last, Wednesday before last, we talked about 2 Kings 23 and how that good king Josiah found the book of the law in the temple and, and he tore his clothes when he realized that they had not been living according to that law.

But what we didn't talk about is what happens in 2 Kings 23 beginning in verse 1. Josiah realizes they've not been doing it. He commands the priests and the scribes, Hey, this is what we ought to be doing. But notice what happens next in verse 1 of chapter 23. Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together.

And the king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant, found in the house of the Lord. This is how the reforms took place when the law was read in the presence of the people.

Go forward to Nehemiah 8. I'll give you one more example from the Old Testament. Nehemiah 8. Say, Reagan, you were so concise on those others, you gave us one scripture. You knew you couldn't get off that easy when it came to our main topic. In Nehemiah 8, as people have returned from the captivity in Babylon to the land of Canaan.

Ezra the scribe comes and he is going to read the law. Begin reading with me in verse 1. Now all the people gathered together as one man in the open square that was in front of the water gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses which the Lord commanded Israel. And we see that's exactly what he does and he reads from it in the open square.

They all stood before him, in verse 5, for the whole reading of that law. He reads, he reads for a long time, and Ezra blessed the Lord, verse 6, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen. Not, it's over, it's over, he finally quit reading. No, so let it be, this is what we want to hear. And then they break them up into groups and they read some more, verse 8.

So they read distinctly from the book and the law of God and they gave the sense and helped them to understand the reading. What was it that these people who had returned from captivity needed? They needed to be people of the book. A number of years ago I heard a sermon from Dee Bowman. Principles of Restoration, taken out of Nehemiah 8.

Maybe some of you have heard that same sermon. I'm gonna give it a couple more years before I preach it myself. And then you can say to yourself, Ah, I know where he stole that one from. But the first point in that lesson has always stuck with me. The number, the first principle of restoration, not in terms of, of what is most important necessarily, but the first step.

If we want to restore the true character of the people of God, his point, and certainly the point here in Nehemiah, we have to bring the book. Because that is how God will direct us in the way we should live. And it is clear, obviously, that just reading the book is not enough, but it is still vitally important to the people of God.

It was vitally important to the people of God then, and it's vitally important to the people of God now, to be people of the book. So let's fast forward to the New Testament. We see this same concept over and over. If you'll turn to Acts 13, I won't give you as many examples, but just a few to whet your appetite to this idea.

If you ever considered when Paul was on his journeys, why, why did he start in the synagogues with his travels? Because they had the common ground of the book. In Acts 13, for example, when he comes to Antioch of Pisidia, notice he goes to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he sits down, in verse 14.

Then in verse 15, after the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent to them, saying, Men and brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. So they had read from the law, They had read from the prophets in what we would call the Old Testament. And they say, okay, what do you have to say about these verses that we've read from?

And what Paul does is he preaches Jesus. Out of those verses, he talks about who Jesus is, and he uses the book as confirmation for the things that he's saying. Verse 27, For those who dwell in Jerusalem, Paul says, and their rulers, because they did not know. In Acts 17:10, Paul and Silas are sent away by night from Thessalonica to Berea.

And when they arrive, they go into the synagogue of the Jews. Now notice verse 11. These, these Jews were more fair minded, noble minded, maybe your translation says. But they're fair, more fair than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness and searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Therefore many of them believed, and not a few of the Greeks, prominent women also, as well as men. So this was, this was the tradition in the first century among the Jews, to read the Law and the Prophets, at the very least, to read it aloud every week in the synagogue. And Jesus himself participated in this tradition as well.

Turn to Luke 4 if you would, Luke 4.

Luke 4:16. So he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.

He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him, and he began to say to them, Today, this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Jesus himself used the book to confirm who it was that he was. And, and this tradition of, of constant reading, of reading of the scriptures, was continued with early Christians as well.

Turn to Colossians 4:16. Colossians 4:16.

We talked this morning about the book of Revelation, how it was written to the seven churches of Asia, and, And we surmise that many of the letters in the New Testament actually went to multiple churches. And when they would receive a letter, what would they do? They would read the entire thing out loud for everyone to hear.

And so whether you read you were literate or not, you would hear the word of the Lord. Verse 16, Now when this epistle is read among you, see that it is read also in the church of the Laodiceans. And you likewise read the epistle from Laodicea. We read this morning from Revelation 1:3.

Revelation 1:3.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy. And keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. And again, I don't know with great certainty. because God has not revealed it. But I do find it interesting that just as the people of God went into slavery in Egypt, a place where they could become people of the book, the New Testament was written in the first century when the Roman Empire had the Greek language being spoken all over that empire.

It was spoken and it was read by almost all the citizens where that this word of the Lord could spread and be read and get into the hearts and minds of men and women. Okay, with all that in mind, I think we see that the people of God have long been people of the book. But what about us? Do we have this same kind of desire?

Do we have this same kind of attention to the Word of God? Turn to 1 Timothy 4, 1 Timothy 4.

Two passages from Timothy, and then we'll make application. 1 Timothy 4, beginning in verse 12. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in words. in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. I don't know about you, but that sounds like a genuine Christian, right? An example to other people in our words, in the things that we say.

An example in our conduct, an example in our love, example in our spirit, example in our faith, example in our purity. This is the way we're living our lives. And how is it that Timothy was going to be able to live a life like that? Because he was called to be a person of the book. Verse 13, Till I come, give attention to reading.

Maybe your translation says the public reading of Scripture, and that's probably the sense in which this reading, this word for reading is being given. Give attention to this reading where others hear the word of God, to exhortation and to doctrine. So give attention to reading the Scriptures and things related to the Scripture every day.

Give attention to exhortation, these acts of kindness and consideration and building up. And give attention to doctrine, to teaching and learning. Two of the three have their foundation in the Word of God. Reading and doctrine come from the book. And so, if I'm going to make application of the things that we're talking about tonight, I don't think it is, I'm always careful about hyperbole.

You know, as preachers, we don't want to overstate things. So I don't say it lightly when I say, there is nothing more important, now maybe a lot of things equally important, but nothing more important to your continued spiritual health and growth, the continued health and growth of your family, and the spiritual health and growth of this congregation of the Lord's people than regularly reading the Word of God.

We must be people of the book if we are to be people of God. And today, we have unprecedented access. You can have a Bible for free if you don't have one. We've got a bunch wrapped up that are pretty nice that we'll send you home with. But all of us can access Bibles digitally. What a blessing it is to have this.

Not just for us collectively, but for each of us as individual people of the book. One final passage, maybe you know where I'm going. 2 Timothy 3,

beginning in verse 14. 2 Timothy 3, beginning in verse 14. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture, Old and New Testament, the Scriptures are coming together at this point, the New Testament Scriptures. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

You want to be complete? You want to be equipped for every good work? Become a person of the book. Not just equipped, but thoroughly equipped. Not just equipped for some good work, but every good work. Anything that God might ask us to do. And not just the man of God referring to men, but the anthropos, the, the person of God, the human devoted to God.

But man or woman will be thoroughly equipped for every good work when they become.

Alright, so, let me get to meddling. I think one of the big issues with many modern Christian churches is that they are no longer people of the book. Maybe a verse or two is read at a service without great heed to the context that it's in. And that's a jumping off point for a message on whatever topic might be in sight.

Personal Bible reading and study is not encouraged or expected as it once was. And this cannot be the case among those who are devoted to Jesus Christ. This is not the way Christians are supposed to behave. We are supposed to be people of the book who love the book personally. And we'll not stand for anything less than the book, the Word of God being proclaimed from our pulpits.

And so, let's make a specific application. My dad said this years and years ago, and it's just stuck with me through the years. He said, Reagan, you need to come in contact with the Word of God every single day. And that is true for every single one of us who call ourselves Christians. We must come in contact with the Word of God every single day.

Even if it's just for a few minutes, a few moments. We need to be in the book and our daily Bible reading is just one way that we might do this. And since we are beginning again at the book of Genesis, this is a wonderful time for you to start fresh and begin again with daily Bible reading. There are these bookmarks that are on the racks in the foyer.

We've picked these up. We've seen these. They go out by email. We have them on Sundays and Wednesdays in both a a hard copy and also in an emailed copy. We'd love to May I encourage you strongly to be involved in this daily Bible reading that we do as a congregation. This is a wonderful time for us to begin again.

And so I'm going to ask you to do something for me, if you would please. We've completed one cycle over the course of three years where we've read through the Bible in this way, with very manageable readings five days a week. But we're trying to get better, we're trying to do better as we go through those things, and so here's what I'm gonna ask you to do.

Something that I've, I've only asked a few times before in my life. If you have your phone, will you get it out, please? There's a QR code behind me. Andy is sending out a link on the, the the streaming online. If you would like to follow that link in the comments. Miss Brenda will be sending out an email.

With a link to this short survey about our daily Bible readings and so questions are asked about your participation, about what we might do to improve what would make it more likely for you to do these readings as a congregation. And this survey is to help us make these readings easier and more convenient.

And I know sometimes when we say that, easier and more convenient, I know sometimes people Sometimes that's a little off putting. I remember, I remember somebody coming up to me about some changes we had made at Timberland Drive in regard to our worship and so forth, to, to try and make things a little more convenient for the members.

And this person came to me and, and very well intended. This was not with a bad heart at all, but they said, Well, it just seems like you're just trying to make it easy for people. And I said, Yeah, that's exactly what we're trying to do. The devil's trying to make it hard enough. Christianity is sometimes very difficult, and so we need to make it as easy on ourselves as we possibly can.

And for us all to be involved in this, we want to make it something that is helpful for everyone. While we still put in the work to personally grow this is something that we all can do. Let's be people of the book, and as we bring this lesson to a close, I guess the question that remains is, what does this book say?

About how you are supposed to be saved. About how all of us are supposed to be saved. And usually at this point I'd go down the steps right here and I'd walk around for a few minutes and I'd tell you all about it. Tell you what I believe this book says in order for you to be saved. But I'm not going to do that tonight.

Instead, I'm going to invite you to become a person of the book. Look it up for yourself. What does this book say you must do in order to be saved? This is the book from God. With His Word, with His direction, with His promises. And then compare that. Is that what you really did in order to be saved? Have you done what the book says?

And if not, what is it that you know you need to do in order to make your life right with Christ? And if you've looked to the book and confirmed from the Holy Spirit as Christ revealed it from God Himself, what it is you must do. And there is something that we can do to help you in that. There is nothing that would make us happier.

If you'll come now, why together we stand, and while we sing.