Sermon Detail

East Cooper Core Values Leading the Drifter to Wholeness and Making the Wise Simple

November 10, 2024 | Buster Brown

“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; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer." Psalm 19:7-14

Core Value: Biblical Authority

We submit to the Bible - The Bible reveals to us the incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. It is the very word of God, timeless in its expression, and anchoring us to reality in the midst of an ever-changing culture.

"God has graciously disclosed his existence and power in the created order, and has supremely revealed himself to fallen human beings in the person of his Son, the incarnate Word. Moreover, this God is a speaking God who by his Spirit has graciously disclosed himself in human words: we believe that God has inspired the words preserved in the Scriptures, the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments, which are both record and means of his saving work in the world. These writings alone constitute the verbally inspired Word of God, which is utterly authoritative and without error in the original writings, complete in its revelation of his will for salvation, sufficient for all that God requires us to believe and do, and final in its authority over every domain of knowledge to which it speaks. We confess that both our finitude and our sinfulness preclude the possibility of knowing God’s truth exhaustively, but we affirm that, enlightened by the Spirit of God, we can know God’s revealed truth truly. The Bible is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it teaches; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; and trusted, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises. As God’s people hear, believe, and do the Word, they are equipped as disciples of Christ and witnesses to the gospel." The Gospel Coalition Confessional Statement, Article 2


1. Glory revealed daily (vv. 1-6).


2. Glory "plus" (vv. 7-11).

- The law of the Lord is perfect reviving the soul (v. 7a).

"Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!" Psalm 80:3

"Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit." Psalm 51:12

"He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." Psalm 23:3

- The testimony of the Lord is sure (unshaken, sustaining) making wise the simple (the one who is easily persuaded) (v. 7b).

"Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts." Psalm 119:97-100

- The promise (v. 11).


3. The heartfelt plea (vv. 12-14).

“Martin Luther: 'The nature of the Word is to be heard’... He listened to the Word because it was his job to do so and because he had come to believe his soul's salvation depended upon it. Luther did not become a reformer because he attacked indulgences. He attacked indulgences because the Word had already taken deep root in his heart." Timothy George, The Theology of the Reformers

“If you want to become a Christian, you must take the word of Christ, realizing that you will never be finished learning, and then with me, you will recognize that you still do not even know the A, B, Cs. If one was to boast, day and night I was busy studying the Bible, and yet I have remained a student. Every day I began like someone in primary school.” Martin Luther

“At a time when the choicer sort were glorying in the accomplishments of man, strode this Luther, entranced by the song of angels, stunned by the wrath of God, speechless before the wonder of creation, lyrical over the divine mercy, a man aflame with God. . . The ultimate problem was always God and man’s relationship to God.” Roland Bainton, Here I Stand