If My Words Abide in You - John Piper (Scripture Memory)

you let's pray father my simple prayer is that Bethlehem these many people would taste and see that your word is more precious than gold even much fine gold and that it is sweeter than honey and drippings from the honeycomb I ask this in Jesus name Amen blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of scoffers but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night he's like a tree planted by streams of water that brings forth its fruit and season it's leaf does not wither and in everything he does he prospers the wicked are not so they are like chaff that the wind blows away therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous for the Lord knows the way of the righteous but the way of the wicked will perish so preserve me O God but you are my god you are the Lord these are the noble in whom is all my delight those who choose another God multiply their sorrows their libations of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips the Lord is my chosen portion in my cup you hold my law the lines have fallen for me in Pleasant places yes I have a beautiful inheritance I bless the Lord to give the council in the night also my heart instructs me I keep the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand I shall not be moved therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices and my body also dwell secure for you do not give up your godly one to see the pit you have shown me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy and your right hand are pleasures forever more bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your iniquities all your diseases redeems your life from the pit who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy who satisfies you with good things so that your youth is renewed like the Eagles the Lord works righteousness and justice he made known his ways to Moses and his deeds to the peoples of Israel the Lord is merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love he will not always chide nor will he keep his anger for ever he doesn't deal with us according to our iniquities as high as the heavens are above the earth so great is his steadfast love towards those who fear him as far as the east is from the west so far does he remove our transgressions from us as a father has compassion on his children the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him he knows our frame he remembers that we are dust as for man his days are like grass the wind passes over it and it is gone and its place knows it no more but the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting and his righteousness to children's children those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments you have put your throne in the heavens and your kingdom rules over although blessed the Lord you his angels you might he ones who do his word obeying the voice of his word bless the Lord all his hosts all these ministers who do his will bless the Lord all his works in all places of his Dominion bless the Lord O my soul therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have obtained a kiss into this grace in which we stand and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God and not only that we rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering works patience and patience works approving this and approving this works hope and hope does not put us to shame because the love of God is poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who's been given to us for while we were still weak at the right time Christ died for the ungodly now for a good man one might dare to die scarcely one die for a righteous man but God shows his love for us and while we were yet sinners Christ died for us so there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death for what the law could not do weak as it was through the flesh God did sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit for those who walk according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh and those who according to the spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit the mind that is set on the flesh is death and the mind that is set on the spirit is life and peace for the mind of the flesh is hostile to God it doesn't submit to God's law indeed it cannot and those who are in the flesh cannot please God but you are not in the flesh you are in the spirit if the Spirit of God really dwells in you anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him but if Christ is in you though your bodies are dead because of sin your spirit is alive because of righteousness if the one the spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you that he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through the spirit that dwells in you so brothers we are debtors but not to the flesh to live according to the flesh if you live according to flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live for all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God he has not given us a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear he has given us the spirit of sonship by which we cry Abba Father when we do that the Spirit is bearing witness with our spirit that we are the children of God and if children then heirs heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ if we suffer with him in order that we might be glorified with him for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that will reveal to us for the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing the children of God for the whole creation was subjected to futility none of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope that the whole creation will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God for we know that the whole creation has been groaning together like pains of childbirth and not the creation only but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Holy Spirit even we also groan waiting our adoption as sons the redemption of our bodies in that hope we were saved and who hopes for what he sees but if you hope for what you do not see you wait for it with patience likewise the spirit helps us in our weakness because we don't know how to pray as we ought but the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words and he who searches the heart knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God for we know all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose for those whom he foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son in order that he might be the firstborn among many brethren and those whom he predestined he called and those McCawley justified and those whom he justified he glorified what are we going to say to these things if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how shall he not freely with him give us all things who's going to bring any charge against God's elect it is God who justifies who's going to condemn it is Christ Jesus who died who was raised from the dead yes who is at the right hand of God interceding for us who we'll separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword as it is written we are being killed all day long we are accounted a sheep to be slaughtered know in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I am sure that neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord therefore I tell you don't be anxious about your life what you shall eat or what you shall drink or about your body what you shall put on consider the birds of the air they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them are you not of much more value than the birds and why you anxious about clothing consider the lilies of the field they don't toil or spin yet I tell you Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these if God so clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven will he not much more clothe you oh you of little faith so don't be anxious saying what do we eat or what should we drink or what shall we wear all the Gentiles seek these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all seek his kingdom first and his righteousness all these things will be added to you don't be anxious about tomorrow tomorrow's going to be anxious for itself every day's got enough trouble of exhaust if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal if I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge and have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love I am nothing if I give away all my possessions and deliver my body to be burned and do not have love I gain nothing love is patient and kind it does not envy or boast it is not arrogant or rude it does not insist on its own way it is not irritable or resentful it does not rejoice that wrong but rejoices together with the truth love bears all things believes all things hopes all things endures all things love never fails as for prophecy it will pass away as for tongues they will cease as for knowledge it will pass away for now we know in part and we prophesy in part but when the perfect comes the partial will pass away when I was a child I spoke like a child I thought like a child I reasoned like a child but when I became a man I put away childish things now we see in a mirror dimly then face to face now I know in part then I will know fully even as I have been fully known now about faith hope and love these three the greatest of these is love amen the reason I began this message by reciting some one Psalm 16 some one of three Romans 5:1 to 8 Romans 8 Matthew 6 1 25 to 34 first Corinthians 13 is in the hope in the desperate prayer that God would do for you what he did for me 31 years ago I was 31 years old and I walked into the gym at Bethel College for Chapel I was teaching and I sat down in our Lewis stood up the old testament professor and he recited Matthew 6:25 234 that's all just looked at us and recited it I was stunned I was 31 years old and had never seen anybody in church recite the scriptures it blew me away set me on a trajectory of bible memory and all i want to do in this simple message is to give my testimony and mingle it with Jesus testimony of the value of memorizing Scripture I'm pleading with you so here's my testimony I can give it to you in eight sentences without exposition number one memorizing scripture makes meditation possible at times when you can't be reading the Bible and meditation is the pathway to deeper understanding so if you're going to meditate on the law of the Lord day and night you need to have some of it in your head number two memorizing scripture strengthens my faith because faith comes from hearing and hearing by the Word of God and that happens when I am hearing the word in my head number three memorizing scripture shapes the way I view the world by conforming my mind to God's viewpoint on everything number four memorizing scripture makes God's Word more readily accessible in overcoming temptation to sin because God's warnings and promises are the way we conquer the lies the deceitful lies of the devil number five memorizing Scripture guards my mind making it easier for me to detect error and the world is filled with error because the god of this world is a liar number six memorizing scripture enables me to hit the devil in the face with a force he cannot resist to protect myself and my family from his assault what are you hitting it with he is millions of times stronger than you and he hates you and your family in your marriage and this church and God how anybody walks through this devil ruled world without a sword in their hand is beyond me memory memorizing scripture provides the strongest and sweetest words for ministering to others in need ever been caught off guard with somebody you need you don't need to be caught off guard and finally number eight memorizing Scripture provides the matrix for fellowship with Jesus because he talks to me here and nowhere else but Oh sweetly powerfully authentically really speaks to me here and then I speak back to him in prayer and if this is here we can talk anywhere and it's sweet it is very sweet that's enough of my testimony I don't count Jesus counts infinitely so let's go to John 15:7 I just want to take one phrase from this verse and squeeze it till it drips dry if you abide in me and my words this is John 15 verse 7 if you abide in me and my words abide in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you all I want to do is take the phrase my words abide in you and ask what do they mean why do they have this effect and what does this have to do with memorizing scripture so number one what what does this mean my words abide in you first it clearly means more than memorizing scripture how do we know that two reasons number one the devil memorizes Scripture we know that because I presume he didn't have a Bible with him in the wilderness when he was when he was trying to get my coat unhooked from my theory when he was tempting Jesus you know high tempted Jesus as he quoted scripture to him so clearly the abiding of the Bible in us is more than memorization here's another reason chapter 5 verse 38 of John goes like this chapter 5 verse 38 Jesus talking to the Jews were talking to them to him you do not have his word God's Word abiding in you for you do not believe the one whom he has sent well these Jews knew gobs of scripture by heart pious Jewish folks and other religious folks have always memorized Scripture so Jesus looking right at them with their minds brimming with Old Testament Scriptures and he says the Word of God doesn't abide in you because you haven't believed in me so a the abiding of the scriptures in the mind and heart clear really means more than memorizing scriptures because the devil memorize description and he doesn't have to work as hard as I do probably for what does it mean it means the abiding of the word of Jesus in our hearts the abiding of the word of Jesus in us means this it means that the words of Jesus take root and bear the fruit of faith and holiness that's what it means it means that they take root and they bear the fruit of faith and holiness faith and obedience John 5:38 we just read goes like this you do not have his word abiding in you for you do not believe the one whom he has sent so believing and abiding of the word in him are put together if the word is lighting you're believing it means secondly or as part of this that the word is at home in you I get that from John 837 goes like this John 837 I know that you are offspring of Abraham yet you seek to kill me Jesus says because my word finds no place in you that me it means the word is going in Jesus is speaking it's going in and it's looking around it's not finding the home then it's leaving it doesn't fit it doesn't belong it's not at home it there's no room for it it's not welcome it's like a foreigner going into a racist place and everybody stares at what you do here you belong here and the word then leaves like the first three soils you're trying to kill me because my word finds no place in you so I I draw the conclusion when the word is abiding got a home here we're moving stuff out of the way making changing the furniture around movement making room for the Word of God here so that it's got aho and Bill a room for it or let make it a bed in every room or however you want to work the analogy out it's going to have a home here or it's not inviting in us and our prayers will be ineffectual another observation it takes root and bears fruit because Jesus said in John 17:17 is praying he says to his father sanctify them in the truth Your Word is truth so when the truth of his word is abiding here it sanctifies meaning it it makes us holy it makes us more like Jesus it changes us where the word of God is not changing us it's not abiding so enough on what Jesus meant by the abiding in Psalm it's the abiding of Jesus words means it takes root and it bears the fruit of faith and holiness or sanctification or obedience now why does it have that effect second question why does it have that effect and there are at least three reasons given in the Gospel of John why it does first the words of Jesus are the words of God John 3:34 goes like this he whom God has sent utters the words of God that's John 3:30 for he whom God has sent it's Jesus authors the words of God nobody ever spoke the Word of God more consistently or perfectly than Jesus when the Apostles speak in their office as apostles they speak the Word of God perfectly every time Jesus open his mouth God's Punk nobody else ever was like that the words of this man are always the words of God you don't divvy up what he says and say here's the human piece that's not of God and here's the divine piece that is of God when Jesus coughs god coughs number two reasons why it has this effect the words of Jesus are life-giving from John 6:63 John 6 verse 63 it is the spirit that gives life the flesh is of no help at all the words that I have spoken to you our spirit and life you hear that the words the words that I have spoken to you Hart's life Wow do you believe that when Jesus speaks life happens is there deadness in yourself feed yourself with life-giving word what five verses later Peter says Lord to whom shall we go you have the words of eternal life when we hear you life happens forever nobody else has these words like that number three third reason why it has this sanctifying faith producing effect it conquers the devil we have a supernatural enemy I have been moved by this because in my preparations I ran across again that old verse near the end of first John which says the whole world lies under or in the power of the evil one and it hit me like it never had before that the world is absolutely defenseless against the devil they have zero defenses against the supernatural power of the devil and he hates them he hates marriage he hates people he hates God hates churches he hates you and without the Word of God we have zero defense none you believe that none he's called the god of this world for a reason he rules absolutely except where God's providence restrains him and Oh believe me God's providence is restraining him big Tom everywhere and nobody knows what mercy they are enjoying when the Sun comes up or this land of ours holds together another day first John 5:19 the whole world lies in the power of the devil but listen to this alternative glorious statement from first John chapter 2 verse 14 I write to you young men because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one now what's the connection there it's not just men that this applies to he just happens to be writing to them in works both ways because the issue is the word read it again I write to you young man I write to you Beth for him because you are strong how are you strong in yourself up against the devil the way because you are strong and the Word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one that's how we overcome when the Word of God is abiding in us it's the Word of God gives life defeats the devil it's our only hope it's our only hope last question no no I almost left this out I was asked a few little while back by one of the men in our church heartfelt question he said can a family a Christian family be cursed you can imagine the background for such a question Kent you know my answer to that is if the Word of God abides in you you overcome the evil period no curse no hex spans against the Word of God abiding in the children of God denied defeated now last question what's that got to do with memorizing the Bible nothing in the Bible says you have to memorize the Bible there's not a verse in the Bible that says you have to memorize the Bible first a broad biblical answer and then I'll close with a personal answer from from our marriage the broad biblical answer is this what does this have to do with Bible memory this abiding of the word of Jesus in us the way we've been talking goes like it's a sequence of thoughts the Holy Spirit awakens life and faith and personal transformation that's his work got that now the Holy Spirit God the spirit awakens life quickens life and begets faith and through life and faith he transforms people love joy peace patience goodness kindness meekness faithfulness self-control are his fruit his work we don't do that God does that that's step one in the sequence of thought step two he does it through the word the holy spirit awakens through the word transforms through the word first Peter 1:23 born again by the spirit through the living and abiding word John 17:17 sanctify them in the truth Your Word is truth so new birth and sanctification are the work of God not any other way than by the word the word is so you need to ask well how then does it work this is the word so I'm going to make a little harness so like a pistol the FBI going to wear this all day on my heart and I'm going to walk around will God sanctify this to me and transform me because I have carrying it here what's the answer the answer is no the answer is no sorry about that talk afterwards you probably have a really good idea in your head what you meant the answer's no because God created you with a brain you didn't have to he created you with a consciousness he created you with a will and emotions and thought and the way he ordains for Christ to be magnified through his word is for there to be a connection created with these words and this brain and then this will in this heart that's if you just try to do this and ever read it you never read it so there's no connection between the meaning of these words and your brain it has zero effect in your life meditate on the law of the Lord day and night is because a connection is established and by the connection of the meaning of God in His Holy Word and my construction of that meaning in my brain and its effect on my will and my heart I'm changed by the Holy Spirit's using all that seemingly natural process for our change so my answer to what's all this got to do with memorizing the scripture is this when we memorize the scripture we make that connection between this and this and this more constant more deep and more transforming I'll Venter this realistically nothing can replace it nothing can replace it Bible memory in doing what it was designed to do in forging a connection between this and this and this closing closing testimony from Noel and me on December 21st we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary that was a couple weeks ago we went away for two days and among other things we read this is funny Psalm 40 and Isaiah 40 we talked we talked about the year and the years but anniversaries are for right past and future taking stock regretting repenting resolving and we thought back how many times we had sat at a lunch say it Eddington's or Famous Dave's or LeeAnn chin or Jimmy John's our style how many times we did our date lunch on Monday and we sat across from each other and rehearsed for a half an hour the pain of the years and the reasons for discouragement now and never once quoted any scripture at all and then we read in Psalm 40 verse 5 and we paused and we said we've never done this before we are going to make a verse our year marriage verse we've never had a year if we have I forgotten it a year a year marriage verse and it goes like this and I'll explain why we'll be we'll be done some 40 verse 5 we're working on memorizing it for some reason I'm finding it a tough verse to memorize you have multiplied O'Lord my god your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us none can compare with you I will proclaim and tell of them when yet when I tell thank you no say it again yet they are more than can be told now here's the relevance the number of the wondrous deeds our God of God is uncountable the number of his thoughts toward our marriage his thoughts as our father toward us our children our grandchildren our marriage the number of those thoughts is beyond counting and as I as a as a husband know this is a little tiny exhortation here to the men I believe those lunchtime of gods silence is my fault the number one responsibility of a husband is to lead with the Word of God and when a thousand reasons are being accumulated and mocked over for why we are sad it's my job to rise and call down some of the wondrous deeds of God some of the thoughts of God and proclaim them and tell of them that's what we decided we would do so you can ask us in June or July how some forty verse five going because I went to my little Apple Computer and I entered it as a daily reminder for every Monday at 11 a.m. in the air you will sink folks you'll sink in your marriage you'll sink in your parenting you'll sink in your singleness you'll sink in your studies if you're a student you will sink if you only listen to the voices of the circumstances that are giving you problems because they speak so loud and they have nothing good to say and God has this is a very thick book he has so many wondrous deeds and so many thoughts towards his children hundreds and hundreds of thoughts towards his children I will proclaim and tell of them yet they are more than can be told well that's my my testimony and our marriage testimony may the Lord make his word dwell richly this year at Bethlehem you really should come Wednesday night you really should it's all about Bible memory let's pray Father in heaven I cannot begin to recount your kindness to me in my wife in my children in this church in preaching and above all in Christ who comes to me only by his Spirit through the word oh Jesus thank you for not being silent but speaking page after page after page of sweet powerful deep things to me take hold of this people and may we stand in the word through Christ I pray you you

Channel: I'll Be Honest

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Keywords: john, piper, bible, memorize, scripture, desiringod, amazing, christ

Id: FOkLP6VHtWk

Length: 47min 12sec (2832 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 05 2009