Sermons in Rosedale Network of Churches
Continuing a multi-year theme of hearing how God is at work in our churches, the 2025 Feature Beacon articles focus on preaching within Rosedale Network of Churches. Each article features a recent sermon by a Rosedale Network pastor. May we all be encouraged by the faithful teaching of God’s Word.
“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psa. 19:7-8 ESV).
Theologians use the term “general revelation” to classify any type of communication that is available to all of humanity; we see it in the sky, sun, moon, stars, and throughout the cosmos. It is God’s way of making Himself known through creation (Rom. 1:20) and showing that creation must have a Creator—God. Alternatively, theologians use the term “special revelation” to classify any type of direct communication between God and man that isn’t always available to the rest of humanity—Scripture, dreams, angelic visitation, etc. Special revelation is a demonstration of the grace of God in the form of unique communication.
When Spirit-filled believers embrace God’s Word, we bear witness to the truth of the gospel.
It’s clear that David structures Psalm 19 bearing in mind that both of these categories have their own benefits. Verses 1-6 magnify general revelation, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (v. 1), while verses 7-19 focus on the advantage of special revelation, “The law of the Lord is perfect” (v. 7). As followers of Jesus, we’ve been given the advantage of special revelation—God’s Word—that leads us to salvation and right living. When Spirit-filled believers embrace God’s Word, we bear witness to the truth of the gospel: God is restoring a people who are set apart for good works in His kingdom.
Psalm 19 challenges underlying assumptions we may harbor toward God’s law, a form of special revelation. Is the law really good? Is it not something that Jesus saved us from, so we can be free to eat shellfish and pork? Do we now have any obligation to the law as New Covenant believers?
We are freed from the law, we are not saved through the law, and we now operate according to grace (Rom. 6:14). However, the reason God provided salvation in Christ isn’t because there is a defect in the law; it’s because there is a defect in us.
David understands that obedience to the law—the word of the Lord—leads to loving God and loving his neighbor (Lev. 19:18). In fact, if David was going to be a good king, according to the law, then David was required to “write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees” (Deut. 17:18b-19 NIV). If the law is this vital to the life of the king, it must also be no small matter for the average Israelite!
“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:14-15).
I want to reiterate: the law cannot save us. But the law can and does point us to our Savior. Paul’s use of the word “Scriptures” refers to the Old Testament. Maybe you’re like Timothy—you’ve grown up hearing Bible stories about the Exodus and Moses splitting the Red Sea and delivering God’s law to the Israelites, or Samson’s heroic stories thanks to the strength found in his hair, or maybe Jonah getting swallowed by a big fish and then preaching to Nineveh. From infancy, you’ve “known the Holy Scriptures” (v. 15).
Or maybe you’re not like Timothy—you came to faith at a later age, and the Bible seems like a foreign concept, imported from another world that you’ve just really begun to explore. That’s okay, too. In either case, the exhortation is the same: the Scriptures “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (v. 15).
How important is it to know our Bible? Eternity rests on it. Paul didn’t want Timothy to be puffed up with Bible knowledge for the sake of being a good pastor. Rather, Paul wanted Timothy to love God through the Scriptures, commune with Him daily, and then point people to Jesus from an overflow of faith: “continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of” (v. 14).
Photo credit: freepik.com/wirestock
