September 22 Sermon: A Lamp Unto My Feet
In this sermon, we explore the clarity of God's Word and how it serves as a light in a noisy, confusing world. Scripture is not distant or vague; it is accessible, illuminating, and guided by the Holy Spirit. We’re reminded that God’s Word provides direction for our lives and calls us to engage with it daily. Join us on this journey of discovery and clarity.
Think on these questions as you listen to this week’s message:
In what ways have you experienced God’s Word as a "lamp unto your feet" in your own life?
How does knowing that the Holy Spirit guides us in understanding Scripture change your approach to reading the Bible?
Why do you think it’s important to trust in the clarity of Scripture, even when there are differing interpretations among Christians?
Transcript:
Regardless of your age or the acuity of your ears, it can be hard to make out what someone is saying in a crowded room when there are a bunch of people talking or there's a a lot of noise. It can be the volume in the room that makes this difficult. Even a small group of people in a room can become a volume competition as the individual conversations in the room start to crescendo to levels that make you have to speak louder and louder so that you can be involved in the discussion that you are having with this small group of people that you're with. It It doesn't even need to be about the volume. It doesn't even need to be a large gathering of people. A room with poor acoustics can make communications a challenge as the echoes rebound off the walls and they make the clarity of what the person you are listening to dwindle. You listen closely, and for the most part, you're making out what is being said, But then you miss a word, maybe two, and then you start to lose the train of what is being said.
You either need to lean in and try to catch up making assumptions about what the person has said that you missed, or you need to admit that your hearing isn't what it used to be, and they need to repeat themselves. But just a few words in a sentence can easily cause the entire variety of what the conversation is to be misinterpreted. It becomes hard to know what is being said. Two weeks ago, when we started out this series, Words of Life, I talked about the noise of the world and how scripture was the authoritative voice that we need in order to listen in the midst of the chaos of the world. Last week, we looked at the sufficiency of scripture. Then this week, We're looking at the clarity of scripture. I wanted to bring back this idea of the noise of the world as we talk about this idea. We hold to the idea of the authority and the sufficiency of God's word. But one of the attacks on these two important ideas is the suggestion that God's word isn't clear, that we can't know for sure what he's saying, that there is so much disputed in the Bible, that there's no way to know for sure what the Bible really has to say.
Unfortunately, this idea is often well received because our sinful hearts are always looking for a reason to justify our particular sins and our failures. Well, my goal today is to give you a confidence that God's word is not only clear, but that it is knowable. And while there are certain doctrines where there are differences of interpretation, when it comes to guiding us as the people of God, we can, in fact, trust the word of God to light our paths in a dark world. In a world that is filled with noise, where words are often drowned out or distorted, the word of God stands as a firm beaker deacon of clarity for his people. Before we dive into the text, let's lay down three guideposts to help us keep track as we journey through today's message. Our first point today is that God's word is accessible. We often assume that we can't understand the Bible, but the truth of the word of God is that it is accessible to us, not only in the fact that we have it, but that it is understandable and knowable. Secondly, we see that scripture illumines our lives. God's word gives us a clarity in how we are to be a holy people.
And third, we see that we are blessed because the Holy spirit guides us. We do not come to the word of God on our own. We have the gift of the Holy spirit to help us to grow in faith and Holiness as we sojourn in this world. As we start out today, considering the clarity of God's word, we need to take in just how accessible the word of God is to us. I could easily go off on a tangent here talking about the fact that in our modern time, we have access to multiple translations of the Bible, and it doesn't even need to be in print or anything physical in front of us. We have it available to us digitally pretty much anywhere. But that's not the point that I'm trying to make about accessibility here. When I say that we are blessed to have the word of God accessible to us, I'm meaning we know that what God has spoken to us has been written down for us. We have it. We don't have to take anyone's word for what God has said. We don't have people coming to us and saying, Last night, After I had some bad food, I think God was speaking to me, and I think we need to do this.
No, we rely on the written, established, authoritative, sufficient word of God. The written word of God gives us clarity because it is written, because it is established, because it is authoritative, because it is sufficient, and because it has been protected through the years. When we ask this important question, how can I know that I am saved from the wrath of God for the sin that I have committed against his Holiness? I can go to the word of God, and I can know for sure that he has spoken on the matter. When someone asks us, how can they be saved from their sin and unbelief? We can say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. This isn't our word. This isn't our opinion. This is God speaking. The very word of God gives us confidence and clarity in these two things. As I said when I started out today, one of the greatest enemies of clarity is confusion caused by competing noises. God. God's word clearly articulates for us what we need to know about God and about ourselves. It is clear. It is shown to us where we can know it beyond a doubt.
As we think on this idea, we see that it's not only accessible because we have it, but it is a word that is near to us. This passage here in Deuteronomy is speaking to the people of God as they prepare to go into the promised land. I want to refresh your memory again about what is happening in the Exodus. The idea is that Adam and Eve, they were expelled from the garden for their sin and their rebellion against God. Now, as the people of God, here in the Book of Deuteronomy, they are being prepared to go into the promised land. It's like they have the opportunity to serve and worship God faithfully. They are going back into a place where they are going to have this communion with God through worship. God lays this stuff out for them throughout the books leading up to here. They can know, as it says here, that these commands of God have been given to them clearly. As it says, this command is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. They are not going into the promised land wondering, what do we need to do to keep God happy?
What do we need to do to be faithful to this God who has saved us from Egypt? He has made it clear what they need to do to remain in the land. They know what true and pure worship of God entails. They know this. It's clear. One of the greatest weapons used by the enemies of the people of God is to convince us that the word of God isn't clear, to create doubt in our minds about whether or not God has spoken on a matter. If we can be convinced that the word of God is not clear, then the enemy has a foot in the door. He's making his way in because it creates doubt about where to stand in an unstable world. But the word of God is, in fact, clear. We know who created all things. We know that he is holy and that we are in rebellion against him. His law is clear about what he expects of us. There's also great clarity in God's word that we are incapable of keeping his law and that God did something about this in Jesus coming in our flesh to pay the price for our sin.
There is clarity in God's word about the meaning of his death, his resurrection, and his ascension. We know how we are saved. Now, the natural response to this is, then why are there so many different varieties of interpretation? Why are there so many different denominations? Why are there so many people having arguments about different things? Because different groups of Christians disagree on the Lord's Supper. Baptism. There are multiple views on last things in the return of Christ. People have disputes over these secondary matters, and they find themselves at odds with one another. Well, this is the reality of living in a world where we are separated by distance, by time, by languages, by experiences. When we talk about the clarity of Scripture, we are speaking to questions regarding where we came from, what our problem is, how that problem is remedied, and where we're going. And so the details and extent of those things, they do have varied interpretations. But there is absolutely clarity on how we are saved and how we are to live. I think one of the best ways for us to grasp this is to go through something that we're very familiar with.
Let's do this by going to the Apostle's Creed. Christians may have variances on what they believe about origins, but we do not dispute that we believe in God, the Father Almighty maker of heaven and earth. Those in the reformed traditions, such as ourselves, have a different view on the extent of the atonement compared to most other Christians. But they are brothers and sisters, and they believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord, who is conceived by the Holy spirit, born of the Virgin Mary and suffered under Pontius Pilate. We all confess that he was crucified, died, buried, descend into hell, and rose again from the dead and has ascended to the right-hand of the Father. We are in agreement that this means, that work of Jesus, means that we have the forgiveness of sins. We also confess that he will come again to judge the living and the dead. But there are premillennial, amillennial, and postmillennial positions on what that second coming looks like. But when we confess the creeds, we are saying that those things in the creeds are the things that we understand from scripture, and we have agreement with our brothers and sisters in Christ because there is clarity on these matters.
These are the things that are primary. So these creedal doctrines are very helpful in not only helping us to understand the clarity of scripture, but It also helps us to interpret our Bibles well, because if we read the Bible with an understanding of these foundational doctrines, we will come away with clarity on these first things. We can understand that we have unity with others despite our disagreement on secondary things. It also helps us to understand and interpret our Bibles correctly, because if we see Jesus and that story that is told in the creed, that story of our redemption through his work for us, we're going to read the Bible correctly. If we understand that that's at the center of it, we will know who God is. We will understand what his will for us. We'll understand why we are here, how we are saved, and where we are going. Again, what we are to believe and how we are to live is not hard for us to know, as it says here in Deuteronomy. It isn't far off. We can't say that we don't know how that we are to live a moral life. If we were to say that we don't know how we can be saved, we would not be paying attention to the clear teaching of Scripture.
We understand this because we see this here, that this is the word of God, and it tells us just how close it is to us. It not only says that it isn't up in heaven that we need to ascend to it or in the sea below that we need to go get it. Look how close it is. It is in your mouth, it says. It's in your heart. It is a word that they have heard. It is a word that they speak, and it's a word that they believe in their hearts. They know this to be true. God has deliberately made this word accessible for his people so that we can live in such a way that pleases God and so that we can know that we have been saved, that we have freedom from the tyranny of sin, death, hell, and the devil. While it's amazing that God's word is so near and accessible to us, it doesn't just sit idly by. Scripture actively works in our lives. It illumines our steps and gives us the guidance we need for every moment. Let's now turn our attention to our second point and see how the clarity of God's word shines light into the darkest places of our lives, helping us to walk in Holiness.
And this verse here, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. This is a well-known passage. We have heard this. And as I was talking about the accessibility of God's word, I mentioned several several times that the clarity of Scripture shows us how to live. But I want that to be our focus as we dig in more deeply here for our second point. Scripture clearly shows us what God expects of us. While we have a sense of right and wrong written on our hearts, we know for certain what God expects of us because his word is deliberate to show us his law. As the people of God in Christ Jesus, we are not stumbling in the dark, hoping to find a path through this dark world. Instead, the darkness of this world is illumened by the light of God's word. Now, we've all made the decision in our lives, I'm guessing, to try to navigate something in the dark. Darkness even makes the most familiar of surroundings difficult for us to traverse. A few weeks ago, in my infinite brilliance, I decided to walk out of the kitchen without the light on early in the morning.
I'm not sure why I do these things. I must decide I do them so I can have sermon material. But anyway, I was walking towards the kitchen door and I smacked right into the counter. But that wasn't the end of my great brilliance. I reached, grabbed the door knob, and as I was walking through the door in the dark, I smacked my shoulder on the door frame. Now, my point in telling you this story is not to give you a legitimate reason to mock me after the service. I would deserve that. But my point is that darkness can make something as familiar as your own home, difficult to move through unscathed. The world is a dark place, and it is ever-changing. The obstacles of our lives pop up everywhere we turn. This isn't like a couch that we know is sitting there or a counter or a door frame that we walk by it every day. The world moves around on us all the time. Again, it is not only dark, but it is changing. But when we use the clarity of God's word to navigate our path, we have a lamp for our feet, and this path that we journey on is illuminated.
This is a great truth for us. But as we dwell on this, we know that this is not a promise that our lives will be perfect if we just keep God's law. We see this as we look at verse 109 here. We see that the Psalm has his life in his hand continually. Even though he has said that he has God's word to light his path, his life is in trouble. Even with the of God's word to light it up, there is difficulty in the obstacles that we face. God's word is clear. One of the things that it's clear about is that suffering is not absent from the Christian life. In fact, we know that persecution often comes to the people of God despite their faithfulness. As these circumstances arise, this is not a reason to step away from the light of God's but to hold more tightly to it, to hang on to these precepts. As we consider how to make our way through this world, we can understand why this is true. When we face challenges and difficulties, the temptation to step away from God's commands increases. The enemy and our flesh will put temptations in front of us when things become difficult to steal, to bear false witness, to have anger towards our neighbor and the snares set before us, they look like the easy path.
We're experiencing hardship. If I just step away from God's clear teaching here, I can get on the easy path for a while. That's how it looks. But instead, it is a pit that captures us and brings us deeper into sin. And so the call on us then is to trust the clarity of God's word and not find ways to dismiss it to justify our actions. Because we all know how easily this is put before us. Like the Psalmist, we must trust that light of God's word and use it to see the traps that lie before us in life. The traps are the sin that we are tempted to use to get off the difficult path. But even with this light, we often find ourselves stumbling, unsure of where to step next. That's when we need something beyond just our understanding, or rather someone, to guide us through life's most challenging moments. This leads us to our final point. The Holy spirit graciously takes the clarity of God's word and guides us, ensuring we don't walk this path alone. We see from this passage that we have looked at in 2 Peter, that the Holy spirit gives us this word, and we know that the Holy spirit also guides us on this path, that it is illumened for us through the word.
So this clarity that we're considering this morning is not a clarity that comes from us having a good understanding of what some smart people wrote down thousands of years ago. This clear word of God that we have is not the words of men. It is inspired by the Holy spirit. Here in beginning of 2 Peter, we see this plainly expressed for us. Peter says, and he makes it clear that their witness is not about something that they sat around, reasoned over, came up with, and then put it out there to see if people would find this to be something they should believe. No, he tells us that scripture is the truth, the truth of the story of God bringing salvation to his people. It tells of the power the coming of Jesus. What we have is clear to us, and it tells us that this is the eyewitness testimony of what Jesus has done. Peter, telling us of this inspiration is telling us the story, and he uses it in such a way to remind us of this idea of a light for a path, as we see here in verses 19 and 20. Peter tells us that the words tell us of what they witnessed.
But now the prophetic words of Scripture are a more fully confirmed proof of God's faithfulness, even than them being eyewitness. The spirit is confirming this by the word, going out and working in the people of God. What he says here is that no prophecy of scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. The idea that's being expressed here is that scripture Scripture is making clear for us what the events of Scripture mean. Essentially, the events of the Bible happen and Scripture puts it all together. The Holy spirit inspires the stories to be told in such a way that we can know how this brings us salvation in Christ. So think of it this way. Throughout the Book of Genesis, we have the stories that tell of the failures and the successes of the people from Adam and Eve through to Joseph. A lot of people lived during that time period, but we have certain stories, and some of them, if you'll remember when I preached through Genesis, some of those stories are off. Why is this in scripture? But they aren't random stories. They're telling a bigger story inspired by the Holy spirit. The Holy spirit inspired the stories to be written down for us in such a way that we can see the unfolding of the story of redemption Christ.
And this is for our benefit. It's a clear word so that we can grow, so we can understand. And now this same Holy spirit that inspired these words so that we that have them also uses them in us because the Holy spirit indwells us and through the word, convicts us of sin and unbelief. Jesus tells us that this is the work of the spirit. This is how the spirit works in the people of God, convicting us of sin and righteousness and judgment. This is how we're made holy. You've heard me say before many times. As much as we want a magic bullet, as much as we want something easy, there is no easy path to Holiness and obedience. You will not wake up one day and poof, you're sanctified. Instead, we need to grow. We need to build ourselves up in God's word and let the spirit work. We need to trust that the word of God has authority, that it is sufficient, that it is clear, and that the Holy spirit is doing the good work of sanctification in us. And like I've said, that is hard. The work of the Holy spirit is to convince the effects of sin.
I want the Holy spirit to make me holy, but I don't like being convicted of sin, right? That's the way this works in us. We're like, I wish the spirit was at work. When you are convicted of your sin, have confidence that that is the Holy spirit working in you, doing the good work of sanctification. Like anything that is difficult, there will be days that are going to be tough, but we must continue to hide God's word in our hearts. Let it illumine our path and trust that the Holy spirit will guide us and build us up because we do not come to the Christian life on our own. We have the Holy spirit in dwelling us, but we also have one another. Scripture is clear and speaks with clarity that there is no such thing as a lone wolf Christian. We are to build up one another and encourage one another as we navigate this world. As we've seen today, God's word is not distant, it's not vague, it's not beyond at our reach, it's accessible. It is illuminating. God uses this clear scripture to guide us by the Holy spirit's work in our life.
But like I said, it's difficult. Knowing that God's word is clear, that there's clarity in it, is not something that we're passive about. It requires action. It's not simply enough to know God's word is clear. We must engage with it daily. We need to allow it to shape our hearts, our minds, our actions. The challenge for each of us this week is let scripture be your guide. Let it be your light in every decision, every trial, every step that you take. Lean into the Holy spirit's guide and trusting that he will lead you through the confusion, the doubts, and the noise that surrounds us in this world. Remember that you're not walking this path alone. The clarity of scripture reminds us that we have the Holy spirit, and we're also here together as a community of God's people to encourage one another and to walk together in the light of God's clear and precious word. So may we hide God's word in our heart, that we might not sin against him, that it might be a light on our path, that our lives might bring glory to Jesus for who he is and for what he has done to save us. Amen.
Let us pray. Gracious and merciful God, we thank you for the clarity of your word, that it is near to us, that it is accessible, and that it illumines our lives. We pray that we would use your word to light our paths in this dark world, that we would be able to see the snares that are set for us by the enemy, and that we would trust in the work of the Holy spirit, that we might know that even when it's difficult, even when it's painful, when life is a challenge, we can know for certain that the Holy spirit is doing a good work in us to conform us to the image of Christ. It is in his name that we pray. Amen.
