This sermon is taken from the sermon, “In the Beginning”, held on August 13, 2005. Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants.     Psalms 119:89-91   The Old and New Testaments Bear Witness of the GospelThere are many times when we take far too lightly the question as to how the Bible - our spiritual food - came into being, and we tend to gloss over the matter without giving it much thought. We need to consider what we have said so far about the Bible, the matters we have studied, how far we have come, and the point from which we started out. Recently I have been reading the five books of Moses with great interest. There is a reason that my heart is drawn so strongly to the Old Testament, beginning with the book of Genesis. "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." There are Bible verses with which we are well-familiar - verses that we have memorized and thought about - but if we continue to consider even the simplest of these verses, we find that they draw us further and further into their depths, much as a person who has fallen into the sea may be pulled further and further down, or a forest may pull us further and further into its depths. This verse is also a very simple one. Probably some of you have listened to explanations of this verse, or spoken with someone about the Bible, and, as you did so, had the experience of a  light tremendous enough to drive out the shadow of darkness in your heart.When you came to know the One who is called Jesus, and as a result of what He did for you, the tremendous light once shone into your heart , probalby you had the experience that the shadow of darkness in your heart disappeared. There are many times that we look at the Bible through our own personal experiences.If, however, we approach the Bible from a slightly broader perspective, considering its message as a whole, we come to understand its basic principles and deeper significance. It is like going on a road trip but rather than simply riding in the car from one point to another, you know how the car was made, where your journey started and where it is going to end. "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." Jesus said this before the New Testament had been written, so when He referred to the Scriptures, He meant the Old Testament. "But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive honor from men. But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive. How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God? Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you-Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"  (Verses 40-47) Jesus addressed these words to the Jews. He was telling them that they did not believe Him because they did not believe the prophet Moses, the man who had recorded the first five books of the Bible, the man who had recorded these words that they had memorized and by which they had been striving to live. Jesus also said that this same Moses would accuse them. When it says here, "For he [Moses] wrote about Me," perhaps you are reminded of what it says in Deuteronomy chapter 18. I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.  (Deuteronomy 18:18-19) Of course, this passage is also important. We need such verses and have to know them in order to develop a sense of the logic behind the Bible and to find a definite answer in regard to the Bible. Rather than considering isolated fragments of the Bible, however, we need to take our thinking one step further and consider the Bible as a whole in order to think about what this God who speaks to us through the Bible is like. Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.  (Romans 1:1-2) In the above verses, "the Holy Scriptures" refers to the Old Testment. Jesus said referring to "the Scriptures," "These are they which testify of me." Here in his letter to the Church in Rome, the apostle Paul wrote, "the gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures." We are, of course, living in an age in which the Old and New Testaments have been completed and so we might think of "the Holy Scriptures" here as referring to the Bible as a whole, but strictly speaking the Scriptures Paul was talking about were the Old Testament Scriptures, since the New Testament was still being written at that time. Nevertheless, the gospel had already been promised and the prophets had already testified of it in the Old Testament Scriptures. When we give our testimonies, we might say something like, "I was wandering lost in sin, and then I came across a certain Bible verse and suddenly my heart became bright, and I came to love the Bible." There are many saved Christians living in this world who give such testimonies. But when the Scriptures are referred to in the New Testament, it does not mean just the verses here and there with which we are familiar. The New Testament is telling us firmly that the Old Testament in which God spoke through the Israelites before Jesus came into the world, the Old Testament that even now Judaism acknowledges and believes, this Old Testament in its entirety is the gospel. This gospel was promised in advance in the Old Testament Scriptures through the prophets.So as we read the Bible, we find passages in the Old Testament such as, "I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you" (Isaiah 44:22), and Isaiah chapter 53. There will be people who think that these are the verses that connect the Old and New Testaments, or connect the Old Testament with the gospel. As I said earlier, however, the gospel of which the New Testament is talking and the words of God that are able to give us eternal life are the Old Testament. This is what the apostle Paul proclaimed and this is also what Jesus was telling us when He said, "In them [the Scriptures] you think you have eternal life."The apostle Peter wrote, "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow" (1 Peter 1:10-11). When we examine these words we find there is one point about which we can be confident in our hearts. This is the fact that the Bible - all 66 books, including the 39 books of the Old Testament - is the living word of God which controls the lives of each of us individually, everything in those lives and our individual destinies. It is within these words of God that we have discovered the truth of the gospel and it is from this broader perspective that we should be looking at the Bible. Forever, O Lord, Your Word Is Settled in HeavenThere is another Old Testament passage with which we are very familiar; it's in Deuteronomy chapter 8. "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Your garments did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. You should know in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so the Lord your God chastens you. Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him."  (Verses 1-6) Here in verse 3, there is a reference to manna. Keep this verse in mind as we turn now to Exodus chapter 16 verse 4. Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not." God spoke these words before the manna came down. If we think about this in terms of natural phenomena, we can see that the manna came down to the ground from heaven above and the children of Israel gathered and ate it. Also, it says that this manna tasted like wafers made with honey. Now, let us think about the verse in Deuteronomy chapter 8 that says, "He fed you with manna ... that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord." Jesus quoted this verse when Satan was trying to tempt Him. When we read verses like these, we may think, "That's it! I must read the Bible carefully and diligently every day and I ask God to provide me with the words that I need. This should be my attitude when I read the Bible." We may make a resolve like this. If we read right through the book of Psalms, however, or the book of Job, we come across many verses to which we have not previously given much thought, verses which are easily overlooked, or verses that we have memorized and know very well and therefore take lightly rather than considering deeply. If we look more closely at these verses, however, at times they allow us to see on a much larger scale just exactly what the Bible is.Let's turn to Psalm 119. This is another passage that we have often read before, but let's think about it once more. Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances, For all are Your servants.  (Verses 89-91) I am sure you have read this passage at least once before, but let's take a closer look at it. It says here, "Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven." When you read this, you might simply think, "That's right! God created the heavens and the earth." In certain respects, we tend to be lazy in our thinking when it comes to God's word. It says here that God's word is settled in heaven forever. Think about this. If we could actually see this with our eyes, what kind of scene would be revealed before us? When we see the clouds floating in the sky, the sun shining, birds flying, and the sky turning red as the sun sets in the evening, we may be moved in our hearts and think, "Wow! That is magnificent! God really is amazing!" Of course, it is only natural that such feelings should arise in our hearts, but is that all this verse is revealing to us when it says that God's word is settled in heaven? What do you think it means when it says here that God's word is settled in heaven? It would be good if I could have the kind of fellowship with you that would enable me to ask each of you this question in turn. It says that God's word is settled in heaven"; not just that God's word "is" in heaven, but that it is "settled" there, or, "firmly fixed." The Bible says that God's word is settled in heaven, in other words it stands there firmly, or it is deeply rooted there. Let's bear this verse in mind as we read the next one. Your faithfulness endures to all generations. The God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the God who has been speaking to us from generation to generation is now talking here about the earth. You established the earth. Have you ever thought about the fact that God's word is settled in heaven and that God established the earth? It may seem as though I am repeating myself, but I'm doing it because this verse is so great. Let's take another look at it. Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Since we continue to live in the flesh even after we are born again, there are times when life overwhelms us and a shadow of darkness passes over our hearts, and when we come up against difficulties we may even hate other people. At such times, it is possible that we may close the Bible and not read it. When our hearts are troubled, however, and our faith is shaken by a dark shadow that passes over our hearts, the problem may be resolved little by little and our hearts restored to brightness through the words of the Bible. It is really great that this can come about through the words of the Bible. God's word shines through to us through the Bible. God has told us that His word is firmly settled in heaven - just as we might embed a support column into the ground - and God's word never changes. In the Bible it says, "He stretches out the north over empty space," (Job 26:7) and "He comes from the north as golden splendor" (Job 37:22). Also, Paul wrote that he was caught up to the third heaven and heard inexpressible words (See 2 Corinthians 12:2-4), and in Ezekiel chapter 28 it talks about Eden, the garden of God. If we carefully examine these passages and others like them, we are able to consider where God's word came from originally.Before the beginning of all things, when nothing had been created, there was God the Father and, with Him, God the Son - the Lord of creation who  later came to this earth in the flesh of a man by the name of Jesus. This word of God is not just the words that we read on this earth; God's word is settled in heaven forever. Even before the words of the Bible were written down in the scroll of the book by the hands of the prophets who foretold of the grace that was to come to us, the word of God was settled in heaven. Even now it is still settled in heaven. If we stop to think about this fact, we find that the Bible we read each day becomes even more precious to us. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.  (John 1:1-3) The question is, where did the Word come from? The word of God that has been given to us, just as the manna came down from heaven, appears before us in a similar form to the many other writings of this world and it may seem no different from the many books of doctrines that belong to the various religions of this world. If we consider, however, that these words of God are settled in heaven and are an expression of God's love, as we continue to study the way in which God created this world we come to realize that the love of God that He has bestowed upon us is really and truly great. We come to the conclusion that the love that God has bestowed upon us is a love that we as mere humans cannot even imagine. Let's turn back to this same passage. Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You established the earth, and it abides. They continue this day according to Your ordinances, for all are Your servants. Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life. I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your precepts. The wicked wait for me to destroy me, but I will consider Your testimonies. I have seen the consummation of all perfection, but Your commandment is exceedingly broad. Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. You, th

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