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Advent Productions

Benjamin Ng

Living By Every Word

Father in heaven, thank you so much for this time together.

Thank you Lord for the beautiful Sabbath day.

Thank you for fellowship, thank you for friends and family, thank you Lord for the ministry of your Holy Spirit.

And we pray oh Lord that you would grace us with your presence this morning, because you are the 1 that inspired the words that we're about to read.

And may you inspire our hearts and minds, illumine it, help us to understand, Lord, what it truly means to live by every word this morning.

In Matthew chapter 4 and verse 4, this is where the sermon title is taken from this morning, a famous text, Matthew 4, 4.

But he answered and said, it is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

You know the Word of God, it accomplishes 2 things.

First, it gives us the pathway on how we should live or what we call instruction.

And Secondly, it also gives us the power to carry out the instruction.

What is this instruction and how does the Bible, when it gives us this instruction, what is it talking about?

You see, in fact, the Bible is God's love letter to every 1 of us on how to live.

It's how he's communicated his love to us even in this day.

Just as I instruct my kids on how to live a better life, sleeping early, making sure you don't touch the oven when it's hot, or making sure that you shower properly or take regular showers, God has left for us his word, his instruction on how to live.

And it says in John chapter 10 verse 10, the thief comes not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy.

I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.

And so the instruction that God has given to us is calculated in such a way to give us abundant life, the best life that we can have, not only in the future immortal life when Jesus comes for a second time, but even the life that we are to live on this earth right now in this atmosphere, in this air that we are breathing, Jesus, He is that word that gives life.

And it's Jesus that gives this instruction to us.

It is His Word as if He Himself was standing there speaking to each and every 1 of us.

But furthermore, in Proverbs chapter 30 verses 5 and 6, look at what the Bible says here.

It is pure and it is a shield to them that put their trust in Him.

Add thou not unto his words lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar." Every single word of God is pure.

It is something that is to make us better and never worse.

And so, no, religion doesn't make people worse.

It's people that are Christians that claim to be Christians that don't have the Word of God in their lives, that are purified by the Word of God.

They claim to be Christians and they are the ones that start the wars.

The Pharisees, they were in a good position and they should have been good men but they didn't have the Word of God that was pure and not only that, it's meant to be a shield to us, it protects us, It's God's watch care over us But yet it comes with a warning there.

We've got to be careful that we don't add to the Word of God.

This is what makes it impure This is where God's protection is taken away from us and even in Revelation 22 it says something even more, for I testify unto every man that heareth the words, Revelation 22 18 and 19, that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book.

If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book.

It's not that God is angry with us when we disobey, when we add to it or take away from it.

Look friends, you got to look at the Word of God like a map, a road map.

To a good life, first here on this earth, but eternal life in the future.

A map that if we want to live by, we got to follow it.

If it tells us to turn left, let's make sure we turn left.

And even in this day and age when we look at the maps on Google or Waze, yeah, they make mistakes here and there, but sometimes they will tell you to take a different way even though in Malaysia I know the roads, I still follow the map because sometimes you don't know whether there's going to be traffic jam or not you don't want to be stuck in the traffic jam and waiting there.

You don't know whether an accident took place, you see.

So as much as we rely on a map to get from A to B, we need to rely on the Word of God to take us from earth up to heaven.

Continuing in Matthew 7 and verse 13 and 14, Enter ye in at the straight gate.

For wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.

Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Here in Matthew we see 2 gates, a broad 1 and a straight 1 and there is clear instruction that if we wish to enter into eternal life we got to enter through the straight gate.

It's narrow but it leads to eternal life.

There'll be few that find it, meaning that there'll be few that heed the instruction that is given to say, walk this way and follow this path.

It's just that many will choose a different path.

They will choose what they think is better, contrary to what Jesus has instructed.

When it says you got to enter in at the straight gate, we got to come through Jesus Christ.

Look at this John chapter 10 verses 7 through 9 Therefore Jesus said again verily truly very truly I tell you I am the gate for the sheep all who have come before me are thieves and robbers but the sheep have not listened to them.

They will come in and go out and find pasture.

There will be many that will choose contrary to Jesus.

Yes, even well-meaning Christians, even those that go to church or maybe even those that are listening to this live stream here this morning.

Look, as we enter in through the straight gate that leads to eternal life, we enter in through Jesus Christ, right?

Surely, we're saying probably in our hearts, if Jesus was standing right here this morning, I wouldn't reject him.

I wouldn't be like the Pharisees that crucified Jesus and put him on the cross.

But many even today are repeating the mistakes of the Pharisees.

How do we reject Jesus Christ and reject going in through the straight and narrow gate and choose a broad gate that leads to destruction?

Apart from going in through the straight gate and following Jesus Christ, what else gives life?

Search the Scriptures, For in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.

It is none other than the Scriptures, the Bible, the Word of God.

If we are to enter in through that straight gate and choose that narrow path, we got to enter in by Jesus Christ.

But what gives us eternal life here is the Word of God.

By rejecting the counsel that has been given to us.

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Living By Every Word

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