THE REDISCOVERY OF THE SCRIPTURES IS WHAT IS MOST NEEDED FOR REFORMATION (2 Kings 22:8-11)

I. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to each of us, PERSONALLY AND INDIVIDUALLY

We must first look at ourselves and the ways we need to personally reform to the Word of God, taking the log out of our own eye, and only then can we take the speck out of our brothers.

Matthew 7:3-5 “3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.”

II. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to THE CHURCH

The Church must preach, sing, pray, baptize, feast, fellowship, practice discipline, and equip all according to the Word.

(I) The Church must PREACH the Word.

Like Paul commands Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the Word.” Like Paul’s example in Acts 20:27, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”

(II) The Church must must SING the Word.

Ephesians 5:19-20 “19 [Address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”

(III) The Church must PRAY the Word.

Matthew 6:9-13 “9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

(IV) The Church must BAPTIZE according to the Word.

Acts 8:12 “When they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”

(V) The Church must FEAST according to the Word.

1 Corinthians 11:26 “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.”

(VI) The Church must FELLOWSHIP around the Word.

Acts 2:42 “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

(VII) The Church must PRACTICE CHURCH DISCIPLINE according to the Word.

Matthew 18:15-17 “15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.”

(VIII) The Church must EQUIP THE SAINTS with the Word.

Concerning the WHOLE CHURCH, Paul tells the Church at Ephesus in Ephesians 4:11-12 “11 [Christ] gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry.”

Concerning the MEN Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2 “What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”

Concerning the WOMEN specifically Paul tells Titus in Titus 2:4-5 “[The older women are to] train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

III. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to OUR FAMILIES

I) We must have our homes structured like the Scriptures say, with the husband functioning as the head, the wife as his helpmate, and their children as those being trained to be godly.

(I) HUSBANDS AND FUTURE HUSBANDS: Ephesians 5:22-24 “22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”

(II) WIVES AND FUTURE WIVES: Genesis 2:20-22 “For Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.”

(III) CHILDREN: Ephesians 6:1-4 “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother” … 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

II) We must recover family worship in our homes.

Like Joshua in Joshua 24:15, we must resolve, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
And fearing to be named among those who act like they do not know God, we should be terrified of Jeremiah 10:25 “Pour out your wrath on the nations that know you not, and on the [families] that call not on your name.”

IV. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to OUR VOCATIONS

I) There is no sacred or secular distinction; all lawful work is serving the Lord Christ.

Colossians 3:23-24 “23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”

II) The primary work for a man is outside the home, providing food, shelter, and other necessities for his wife, children, and even relatives who need it.

Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man (Adam) and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”
Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,”
1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

III) The primary work for a wife is at home, being a helpmate, loving her husband and children and relatives.

Titus 2:3-5 “3 Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, 4 and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

V. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to THE PUBLIC SQUARE

I) You and I need to be like Paul who boldly, yet with trembling, went into the public square proclaiming the Kingdom of Christ, even calling for repentance.

Acts 17:29-30 “30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

II) You and I need to proclaim the gospel in the public square, compelling people to come to Christ in faith for salvation, and to come into the covenant family of the Church for holiness.

In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Christ says in Luke 14:23,
“The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.’”

VI. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT

You and I need to make certain our understanding of the role of civil government is what God says it should be.

Romans 13:3-4 “3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.”

VII. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to COMBATTING GREAT EVILS IN OUR CULTURE

We must work to abolish evils by seeking justice and correcting oppression, not by seeking compromises or regulating oppression.

Isaiah 1:16-17 “16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause.”

VIII. If we want reformation, we must rediscover the Scriptures as they apply to HOW GOD SAVES SINNERS

We must all rediscover that God says He saves sinners by His sovereign grace alone, from beginning to end.

Romans 8:29-30 “29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”