Samro To Meet With Government Following Copyright Fraud Claims The Southern African Music Rights Organization, Samro, have welcomed the formation of a commission of Enquirer by Arts and Culture Minister Nathan Pethwa into the royalties and copyright at the organization. Following weekend reports that Gospel star Lenja We Might Lava was fleeced of millions of rand in royalties by her former manager and an alleged scam at the organization. A report in City Press claimed that the processes at the music organization saw massive amounts of money being paid to a mysterious composer called DP. This composer allegedly stole over 83% of Lenja We's royalties, and was said to have scammed several other artists including Bongini and Gemma, Rebecca Malo, Benjamin Doe, Miriam Maekba, and Brenda Fassie. In a statement this week, Samro said DP was not a person but a category of where all public music was put under and do not have royalties attached to it. Instead the 83.3% from each song was distributed to all songs from Samro in that year. The songs in question, arranged by Ms Might Lava, were in the public domain, which means there was no copyright accruing to the original composition which she was arranging. Therefore, according to the Arrangement Rule in force at Samro, Ms Might Lava was allocated the 16.7%. The remaining 83.3% is assigned to the category DP, indicating that this portion is in the public domain and technically, this remaining 83.3% does not have a royalty attached to it. While the minister has called on the commission to investigate the dealings at Samro, the organization said policy was being looked at since July last year and would soon lead to meetings with its members nationwide in April and the adoption of new rules at a special meeting in June. In a letter to its members it said that it took the allegations that Hlenjewi was conned out of royalties by her former manager Saifo Maccabein very seriously and would take action within their rights as a body. In the interest of protecting the privacy of Ms Might Lava and Mr Maccabein in relation to their earnings, Samro is not in a position to disclose information relating to earnings. Samro has engaged with the members in question, including Ms Might Lava's advisor Graham Gilphillan, and within this interaction a way forward was agreed upon to ensure that the Samro rules are applied objectively. On the allegations of corruption relating to Mr Maccabein, Samro takes this assertion in a serious light and will take the appropriate actions to ensure that this matter is resolved taking into account its legal obligation and the interests of both members. Saifo told Chwisa Livee that he was seeking legal advice on the matter and would comment once this was finished. The matter is currently with my legal team. I won't comment any further, he said.


Thank you everyone for coming to this linguistics webinar for SOAS University of London. Our speaker today is Bamiudile Oluwukere, who is trained as a lawyer, but he's also a Nigerian-Pigeon English writer, teacher, and translator. He's the founder of Pigeon English Akata, a virtual Pigeon English school, and the author of a pedagogical grammar of Pigeon English. So we're excited to have him here today with us to share his perspectives on Nigerian Pigeon English and its role in Nigerian society. So thank you for joining us. We look forward to your presentation. It should be about 30 or 40 minutes, then we'll have time for questions and conversation from our participants afterwards. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Hello, everyone. Just as Joe said, my name is Bamiudile Oluwukere. He actually did a great job pronouncing my name. It's a compound name, not easy to pronounce, but he did a great job. And I want to say a very big thank you to Joe, to Vasiliki and the entire team for making this possible. I take it not a light platform, but I want to say thank you. Thank you so much. I'm really grateful. Thank you. I will be talking to us today about demystifying Nigeria-Pigeon English. I'm sure a good number of firsts have been hearing about Nigeria-Pigeon English. So I'll be talking along those lines just to educate us on what Nigeria-Pigeon English is all about. And to start with the content of today's presentation, just a minute, please, I'll be talking on the concept and overview of Nigeria-Pigeon English, likewise definition of Nigeria-Pigeon English, as well as the key characteristics of Nigeria-Pigeon English, and relevance of Nigeria-Pigeon English, and the usages of Nigeria-Pigeon English. If you have any question, please just feel free to ask me the question at the end of this presentation. Nigeria is a multilingual country of over 500 languages. And it's also a heterogeneous society. We have more than 250 ethnic groups that are enshrined in the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria. But I missed all of these 250 ethnic groups. We have three major ethnic groups. They are Ausa, Ibo, and Yoruba. Ausa, Ibo, and Yoruba. The Ausa represents the northern part of Nigeria. The Ibo represents the southeast and the Yoruba represents the southwest. These are the three dominant ethnic groups in Nigeria. Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people, over 200 million people. And it's interesting to know that more than 70% of this population understands and converses with Pigeon English virtually every day. And in a particular place called Worry in Delta State, we have over 900,000 people there that speak Nigeria-Pigeon English as their first language of conversation every day. They speak Nigeria-Pigeon English there as their first language of communication. Aside from Worry, we have other cities like Asaba, Binin, Potakot, Yenogua. They also speak Pigeon English there. And each of these cities has a minimum of 500,000 people. So you can imagine how many they are all together that will be speaking Pigeon English when you merge all the cities in Nigeria together. Now, these are just few cities out of the innumerable ones we have in Nigeria. Nigeria-Pigeon English is a language that everybody that is born in Nigeria do not need to go to school to learn. We don't need to go to school to learn it. Once you were born in Nigeria, it's a language that you learn. You grow up with it. I never went to school to learn Pigeon English. I was born and I was raised with it. And that is how it is with everyone that is a Nigerian. Interestingly, when we have foreigners coming to Nigeria, they also learn this language effortlessly. They learn it easily because the moment they begin to mingle, they the moment they begin to mingle and relate with us, they find it very easy to learn this language. We have so many Chinese in Nigeria and a good number of them understand Pigeon English very well. In fact, some of them even speak it and they speak it very well because I've actually related with a good number of Chinese and Lebanese and they understand this language very, very well. Nigerian Pigeon English is a nationwide language. It's a nationwide language, even though it's not yet recognized by the government as a formal means of communication. Nevertheless, it is a nationwide language. It's a language that wherever you go to in Nigeria, you find people conversing with it. If Nigeria has 36 states, so if you go to any of the 36 states, including the federal capital territory, Abuja, you find people conversing with this language. It's something which is alarming. It's interesting when you travel around and you see how people are conversing in this language. That is not to say that we don't have people who speak the conventional English. That is British English. We have people who speak it and speak it very well. But this has become a norm for all of us in Nigeria, particularly when we are conversing. We use Pigeon English maybe for if you go to the market, for example, you want to buy something, you don't have to speak to them using conventional English.  Likewise, even in schools, we have a lot of students. When I was in school, I do speak British English. That is conventional English to my friends. But more often, I speak Pigeon English with them. This is because this is what we speak every day, every time. You know, it's part of us. It's part of what it has become our native English. I call it Nigeria native English. That is this language. And this is why it's a nationwide language. Everyone belonging to the different ethnic group, we have over 250 ethnic group in Nigeria. Everyone understands this language. Everyone. I am still here to find a Nigerian who does not understand Pigeon English. I've not seen any. Even those who are in the inter inter far north, they still understand this language. They may not be speaking it every day, but they understand it, you know, let alone those who are in Lagos. Now, Lagos is the most the commercial center of Nigeria with a population of over 20 million. I'm sure you've been hearing about Lagos, Lagos, Lagos. Now, everyone in Lagos, everyone in Lagos, over 20 million people understands this language. In fact, a good 90% of those who reside in Lagos actually speak this language very well because you can't be in Lagos and not understand Nigeria Pigeon English. You would hear people speak it on the streets, in the market places, different everywhere you go, you find people speaking it, even in their homes, in amusement parks, so many places, you know, you find people conversing in this language. And it's interesting, actually, it's really, really interesting, you know, now I'll be talking to us now about my own definition of Nigeria Pigeon English. You know, I have been able to define it, you know, and this is what I've been telling people that Nigeria Pigeon English is a version of English, just like we have other versions of English. You know, Nigeria Pigeon English also is a version of English. There are so many versions of English we have today. You know, the conventional English we all know is British English, the one which you speak all the time and American English as well, you know, and there are other versions of English, like as you can see on the slide, there is Chicano English that is Mexican American English. There is American that is Jewish American English. There is English that is Chinese type of English. There is Indian that is the Indian type of English and several others, even there's Australian English. There is Canadian English, so many versions of English. Now, Nigeria Pigeon English is also a version of English. It's a version of English. And like I said earlier, it is our native English, our own grown English for all of us who are Nigerian, you know, who are Nigerians, all of us who are Nigerian. This is our native English. It's a language that consists of homophones and homonyms. Homophones and homonyms that cut across different ethnic groups we have in Nigeria. We all know what are homophones. Homophones are those words that, you know, sound alike with a different meaning. Homonyms are those words that are spelt alike with a different meaning. And we have a good number of these homophones and homonyms in Nigeria Pigeon English. A good number of them come from Ausa ethnic group, Igbo ethnic group and Yoruba ethnic group. And an example of this is this three syllable word I have here, which is wazubia. You know, the first part of that word, wa, comes from the Yoruba ethnic group. It means come. The second part of the word, which is zoo, which comes from the Ausa ethnic group in the north, means come also. And the third part, biya, which is from the Igbo ethnic group, it also means come. And the other words that we have in Nigeria Pigeon English, that stems from the different ethnic group as well as these three dominant ethnic group. For example, we have words like a bouki that we use in Pigeon English.  O'imbo is a word that stems from the Igbo ethnic group and there are so many others. Even from Isoko, there's a word we use in Pigeon English, Koro, K-O-R-O, Koro. It actually stems from Isoko ethnic group and there are so many, so many. This is actually one of the beauty of this language, you know, it's something that it's interesting to know that you find words from different ethnic group in Nigeria Pigeon English. And that is why it's been easy for everyone to speak this language. Once you were born in Nigeria, it's very easy because you find words which are in your own native language, either Yoruba, Ausa, Igbo, Ishikiri, Igbo Yoruba, whatever language you find words from those ethnic groups in Nigeria Pigeon English. So it's very easy for anyone to learn it, you know, now the relationship of Nigeria Pigeon English with the conventional English is actually a symbiotic relationship. I call it a symbiotic relationship. That is a mother to child relationship. As you can see in the diagram I have here, the conventional English that is British English, you know, is the mother of Nigeria Pigeon English. In fact, a lot of words, a lot of diction that we use in Nigeria Pigeon English, you know, they come from the conventional English and it's, for example, we still use the word high. That is the first person pronoun I in Pigeon English is still the same word. We also still use the word go in Pigeon English, even the word come, you know, for example, if I want to say that I'm going in Nigeria Pigeon English, I will say I go, I go. That's just to let you know that I'm using the first person pronoun I, you know, and go, you know, those are two conventional English words and there are still so many words that we use that come from the conventional English.  And that explains, you know, the history as well, you know, the history, you know, when during the slave trade era, you know, that was actually when Pigeon English came into Nigeria, you know, and it grew up from from the the Martians, you know, the British Martians, the Portuguese Martians, those period, you know, that was when Pigeon English actually came into Nigeria and till date, we still make reference to that time, you know, we still make reference to that time when we're talking about the history of Nigeria Pigeon English. I hope everyone is here with me. I hope I'm still clear. OK, all right. Now, the features of Nigeria Pigeon English, the number of features I have here, there are still so many, but I just, I liked this one because of this presentation we're having today. The first one here is Nigeria Pigeon English is a trans-ethnic language, is a trans-ethnic language spoken by all ethnic groups in Nigeria. We have over 250 ethnic groups, you know, it's a trans-ethnic language. None of these ethnic group can say that this language belongs to them only. It's everyone's language, you know, everyone. It is our national, sorry, it is our nationwide language. It belongs to everybody, you know, everybody. And the good thing about this is that this Pigeon English, like I've said earlier, is a language that we find easy to learn once you are born in Nigeria. You don't have to go to school to learn it. Once you are born in Nigeria, you grew up knowing it, you know, it's a trans-ethnic language spoken by all the different ethnic groups we have in Nigeria. You know, that is the first one. The second one is it's a pan-African language. It's a pan-African language in the sense that it's a language that actually you find other Africans, particularly West African, you know, they converse with. When you go to Ghana, for example, you hear of Ghanaian Pigeon English, you know, I'm sure a good number of us have heard about Ghanaian Pigeon English, Kamehounian Pigeon English. It will interest you to know that there are a good number of words in Ghanaian Pigeon English, Kamehounian Pigeon English, which stems from Nigeria Pigeon English. For example, the word Abeg. Abeg is a word which means please in Nigeria Pigeon English. They use it in Ghanaian Pigeon English, in Kamehounian Pigeon English, even in Creole, that they speak in Serial loan. They use Abeg. In fact, it's a word that cuts across West Africa, you know, it cuts across. There's no way you go to West Africa. Once you say Abeg, they know what you're saying. Likewise, there's the word Wahala.  Anywhere you go to Ghana, Serial loan, Kamehoun, they understand this word, even Waka, W-A-K-A, Waka, which means to walk, you know. It's a word known to all those who speak Pigeon across West Africa, you know. So it's a language that identifies with other countries in West Africa, you know. It identifies with other countries in West Africa and not just in West Africa, even in East Africa. When I was in Uganda, I got to know that there's a place they called in, there's a place in Moroto district where they call a motorcycle. They call it Okada, just like we call it in Nigeria Pigeon English. They call it motorcycle Okada, you know. You want to call a motorcycle in Pigeon, you say Okada. So in Uganda, somewhere in Moroto district in the eastern part of Uganda, they call motorcycle Okada. And also there's a district in Uganda by the name Ginger. There's a district in Uganda by the name Ginger.   So that's just to let us know that in Nigeria, Pigeon English, you find words, you find words other African countries in Nigeria, Pigeon English, you know, and the third the third feature. Hello, Joe, can you hear me? Yes, I just stopped the video to make sure the audio quality is better. Oh, OK, OK, because I wasn't saying this. I wanted to be sure. OK, so the third point is that it's a dynamic language. It's a dynamic language, just like you can see on the slide.  Kaput also means to die, you know, so we have a good so many words that actually have the same meaning in Nigeria, Pigeon English, and it's very easy to to to to to to to to find such words when you speak this language very, very easy. You just get to know them easily, you know, that these words mean the same thing, you know, it means the same thing. And thoughtfully, it's humorous. It's humorous. It's a language that is sweet to the ears. It's very, very sweet.  So it's it's it's it's humorous language. And five, it's a language that is easy to learn. Nigeria Pigeon English is amongst the few languages in the world today that are easy for one to learn. Very, very easy. It's not difficult for anyone to learn Nigeria Pigeon English. All my students, it doesn't take them longer time before they start conversing in this language. After one or two months of training with them, they begin to speak Nigeria Pigeon English fluently, you know, that's just to let us know that it's it's easy to learn, you know. Now, the relevance of Nigeria Pigeon English internationally and nationally. I'll start with national that is for us in Nigeria. The first thing I have to say is that this language answers the question of our national identity. It's the only language we have that answers the question of our national identity. We don't have any other language that can actually satisfy this purpose. Nigeria Pigeon English is the only language that answers the question of a national identity. That is because it's a language that is nationwide, you know, it's a language spoken nationwide. It's spoken by the vast majority of Nigerians, the vast majority of Nigerians. And even those who are not Nigerians that live in Nigeria, they also are able to pick words, are able to understand these words, you know, even though they are not Nigerian, but if they are if they are married to Nigerian, for example, they find it easy to learn this language, you know, and even went to Korra, for example, the easiest way people get to know we are Nigerians is when they hear us speak this Nigerian Pigeon English. For example, I was in Kenya sometime years ago and the moment people heard me speak Nigerian English, the next and the third is you are a Nigerian, how did you know it's a national identity?  And I keep telling people that the only thing we need to do now is foundational, which is to ensure that we make Nigeria Pigeon English a national language, you know, it's already a nationwide language, you know, but we need to recognize it and make it a national language because it's the only language that unites all of us, you know, when when we come together, maybe I'm Igbo, you are Yoruba, another person is also the only language that we can speak amongst ourselves and we all will understand easily is Nigeria Pigeon English.  So it's a language that solves the issue, you know, of our national unity, you know, now coming to international relevance of Nigeria Pigeon English, it promotes trans-boundary relationship. It's a language that promotes better trans-boundary relationship between Nigeria and the committee of nations in Africa and also all over the world, Europe, America, you know, it promotes better trans-boundary relationship.  It portrays the different cultures, values, norms, you know, and ideas that we have in Nigeria. You know, so for foreigners who come into Nigeria or that we get to meet abroad, you know, they're able to relate with us, you know, by virtue of getting to know some words, you know, or by learning this language, they're able to relate with us better. And secondly, it gives rise to language tourism, you know, in Nigeria Pigeon English, you'll find words, you know, in different words of other countries. For example, in East Africa, Swahili is a language peculiar to Kenya, Tanzania, and some parts of Uganda. Now, we have words in Nigeria Pigeon English that are words that are homophone, you know, which you find in Swahili language. For example, there's a word in Nigeria Pigeon English. It's called Toto, T-O- T-O, Toto, you know, it means a woman's private part. Now, in Swahili, there's a similar word that, you know, is pronounced as umtoto. Umtoto, it means a child in Swahili. And we have several others. For example, we also have the word ingozi, ingozi in Swahili, it means skin, you know, but in Nigeria Pigeon English, it's a name of a person.  Usages of Nigeria Pigeon English, usages of Nigeria Pigeon English, Nigeria Pigeon English is a language that is used mostly for business, trade, you know, business, trade, you know, we have we have a lot of horse Nigerians, you know, when we want to buy something, for example, like you want to buy something from the market or supermarket, wherever, you know, you find a lot of us speak Pigeon, you know, we say how much, how much it is, how much we did, you know, it's not, you know, and we all understand it, you know, we all understand it. It's also a language that we use for public campaigns, all kinds of campaigns, be it religious campaigns, political campaigns, all kinds of campaigns, you find a lot of people doing the campaigns, speaking Nigeria Pigeon English, you know, our election is fast approaching, the 2023 election is fast approaching, you know, and you find a lot of people, you know, politicians communicating with the people in Nigeria Pigeon English, because they know that this is the language that people understand the most, you know, they know this is the language everybody understands and even they themselves, they're able to express their thoughts better, you know, using Nigeria Pigeon English. And also it's a language that has very good advertisement value.    And also, it's a language that is good for poem, you know, for poem, you know, you need to hear some poems in Nigeria Pigeon English. They are very interesting. For example, there's a poem I taught some of my students some time ago, it's let me just say some part of it is YAMFUFU or YAMFUFU code YAMFUFU in the port three days old, you know, YAMFUFU is is a powder like meal, you know, that we eat in Nigeria, you know, and if you're in Nigeria, for instance, you would have heard of FUFU, you would have heard of EBA and all those kind of things, you know, so there are poems in Pigeon English like this one and several others. Even their idiomatic expressions like in my book, the Pigeon English book, Len Nigeria Pigeon English volume one, you'll find a good number of idiomatic expressions and proverbs in that book, you know, and also it's a language that is very good for music, you know, that's why you see most of our music, a lot of them, they are in Nigeria Pigeon English. In fact, there are lots of songs, you know, most of our artists, you know, they use Pigeon English, you know, to make their songs a good number of them. You hear of Davido, Whiskey, Two-Face, most of their songs are in Pigeon English. You know, we have movies, which is also good for movies. We have a good number of movies, so many, you know, that are in Pigeon English. You know, it's also good for stand-up comedy. We have so many comedians who actually use this language, you know, to converse.  It's also good for sitcoms, you know. So these are some usages of this language. There are still many more, but I just, I liked those ones, you know. So coming to, before I, I hope we're all hearing, Joey. Yes, still here, thank you. Okay, because as if I'm just talking to myself, you know. So I just want to be sure, basically. And I hope I'm not Russian. No, you're good. Okay, all right. So simple expressions in Nigeria, Pigeon English. I want to just teach us some of words, you know, how to express yourself, you know. Like, I don't know if Pio Paolo is on this, is on this, is here. Pio Paolo, Dikalo actually was in Cameroon. He learned Pigeon, you know, Cameroonian Pigeon. And the words he learned in Cameroonian Pigeon. Sometimes you get to know that those words are also in Nigeria Pigeon English. When I'm speaking to him sometimes, and I say those words, he says it, we understand each other, you know. Because like I said, it's a pan-African language, you know, because we have words that are peculiar to, you know, to us in West Africa in Nigeria Pigeon English.  For example, you say, waiting the sup. What's up? Waiting the sup. I don't know if I should ask Joey, would you like to try to pronounce, waiting the sup? Waiting the sup. Okay, good. Let me clap for you. I'm clapping for you.  That's actually how we say what's up in Nigeria Pigeon English, you know. Another word is, if you want to say how are you?   Are you there?  I want to ask you how is your buddy or how is your health? I would say how are you buddy, how are you buddy? How are you body? Now, in response, you can say, my buddy is the kankpe, my body There are different expressions, you know different expressions we use. Another expression we have is Aya Piquin. Now Piquin means child in Pijin English and it's also, you find that word in Jamaica Patoa, it also means Piquin, in Jamaica Patoa, that is Piquini in Jamaica Patoa, you know, and there are other expressions, you know, but I just sort of just put in this one here just for us just to learn, you know, so that we can have a feel of this language. So having said all that I have to say, I think I want to hear if anybody has a question or maybe something to advise on or, you know, I think I'm good. Yeah, that's great. Thank you so much for me today. It's great to get to hear a bit of your passion for Nigerian Pijin English and your insider's perspective on the language as well. We do have a bit of time for questions. There's been a couple of people that already wrote questions in the chat, so I could read some of those out for you or then we could see if there's more questions after that. I'll start with the second question actually, Nina Watson was asking about uses of the language and you did touch on that some of that already, but could you say more about how much Nigeria Pijin English is used in writing? Are there books or newspapers or magazines or is it used on social media? Do you see it used in written form or is it primarily used in the oral form? Okay, now in terms of literatures, we don't have so much literatures in Nigeria Pijin English. In fact, that is actually part of what I'm working on, you know, to encourage people to write, to write books, you know, in Nigeria Pijin English. I have written two books, Nigeria Pijin English volume one and volume two, you know, and I know there are a couple of books, but there are not much, you know, I know there's a book on Pijin English written by Olaro Timi. There's another one I saw recently by MK Uswa, you know, but there are not much, there are not much at all. There are not much. What we have that are in Nigeria Pijin English mostly are in movies, movies. You see a good number of movies, you see they are in Pijin English, you know, likewise our songs, music, you know, there's so many of our songs, they are in Nigeria Pijin English. A good, like, like Davido, for example, we know of Davido, we know of Whiskey, we know of Two-Face, we know of a good number of our artists, they are, they sing, you know, using Nigeria Pijin English. But in terms of literature, we still have to work on that, you know, we have to work on that. And like I said, it's, though it's an informal language that we speak in Nigeria at the moment, but the reality is it is a nationwide English, you know, it's not yet recognized by the government as a formal means of communication. But even people in government, they speak this language, they speak this language when they are doing their political campaigns, because they know the only language that the people can understand and can relate them better with is Pijin English, you know. So, and I'm hoping, you know, that soon the government would actually recognize Nigeria Pijin English, because with recently we have more people pushing for this, you know, we have, I've actually had one of the emirs in Niger State telling the government that they need to recognize Nigeria Pijin English, you know, and as a formal means of communication, you know. And I've also talked about this, you know, in some platforms, like when I was at NTA, you know, NTA is the national television station here in Abuja. I was actually talking on the government, calling on the government to recognize this language, you know, to give it formal recognition, because this language is the only language that we can call our own, our own English.  We don't have any other language. If, for example, if you are from the northern part of Nigeria, I'm from the western southwest, you know, and I want to converse to you, the only language that I can speak that I know you can answer me, you know, is Pijin, you know, Pijin, you know, so in terms of literature, we don't have much literature yet, but I'm hoping we know that soon we're going to have more literature, more books, you know, more books, more poems, you know, that will be written in Nigeria Pijin English. I hope I've answered that question. Yeah, that does answer it. Can I just ask about the BBC's Nigeria Pijin website that they do? Have you seen that? And from your perspective, is it very popular in Nigeria? Because that is a written form of the language, whether it's very natural or very popular, I don't know. Yeah, BBC Pijin is doing a great job. They are doing a fantastic job because most of the news that you find on maybe like, you find social media, they also, you know, translated in Pijin, you know, and there are lots of people who, you know, have access to BBC Pijin and they read it. Actually, I followed their news a lot, you know, I followed their news a lot. Like, when they were talking about the, there's a news that was going on in Nigeria some time ago, I actually got to know of that news via BBC Pijin. And they are doing a great job. They have, there are lots of people who also listen to BBC Pijin a lot actually. I may not be able to tell you the exact number, but I know they are in the millions, they are in the millions because BBC Pijin is well known, well known all over Nigeria. And not just in Nigeria, but even Africa is well known and they're doing a fantastic job. Very, very great because they're even helping to promote this language.   And I kept on telling people, this is not bad English. It's, it's, it's a language, you know, that belongs to us in Nigeria. It reflects our norms, our values, our ideals and everything that pertains to us in Nigeria. It reflects it, you know, we even have names, you know, Pijin English Names.  And I'm happy that we have BBC Pijin, you know, because you are doing a great job, very, very great job, very, very great job. Got another question for you. This one from Gwyneth James. She was asking about clarification about what you said earlier. When you said that Nigeria Pijin English is easy to learn. Who is it easy for? Do you mean Nigerians or non-Nigerians? And in what ways is it easy to learn? And I guess I would also add for, is this only for people who already speak English? Or do you find people who don't speak English already? Is it still easy to learn Nigeria Pijin English if they haven't had English first? I meant it's easy to learn firstly to those who are born in Nigeria or foreigners who live in Nigeria. Right now, we have so many foreigners in Nigeria. We have Chinese, a lot of them. We have Indians. We have Lebanese, so many. In fact, I can't tell you the exact number, but the few ones have come in contact with it. They understand Nigeria Pijin English. They don't even have to go to school. I don't have to teach them, because they relate by virtue of their relationship with Nigerians. They are able to learn these words effortlessly. That is one. Now, to those who are in the diaspora, like my students, for example, it doesn't take them much time before they begin to speak this language. Max, two months, three months, they begin to speak it very well, because the words are not hard to pronounce. Like when I ask Joey, when I ask you to say within the sub, for example, you said it well.  So anyway, you see that word within the sub. You know what it means? It means WhatsApp. And that's how it is. It's easy to learn. It's not hard. It's not hard like some native languages that are peculiar to us in Nigeria. Those ones are very hard. We have easy ones as well, but we have some very hard ones that even me myself, I find difficult to learn. You know, but Nigeria Pigeon English is very easy to learn. For those who are born in Nigeria, it's very easy. You don't have to go to school to learn it. For those who live in Nigeria, any part of Nigeria, in any of the 36 states or the federal capital, you don't have to go to school to learn Nigeria Pigeon English. You learn it when you meet people, whether in the office, in the school, in the marketplaces, in the mall, you learn it because you have people speaking in Nigeria Pigeon English. And over a short period of time, you also find yourself conversing with this language. Likewise, for those who are in the diaspora, you know, it's just a matter of time. The moment you're able to get someone to teach you or you listen to the songs, you get to listen to a good number of Nigerian artist songs, you learn these words as well. It's easy. It's not hard. It's not hard at all. You mentioned it was easy to pronounce, but I was glad you didn't ask me to pronounce the word with the K-P with the double articulated labial velar stop because that one may have been more difficult to pronounce. There's another question here from Lilian Houdyeb. Lilian says, very rich and interesting presentation. Thank you. You mentioned the Wari people who use Nigeria Pigeon English as their first language. Did they also speak an indigenous Nigerian language? And if yes, what's the relationship between the two languages as far as this population is concerned? Do you know more about that area and other languages that are spoken there? Now, Wari, they have their native languages. When I was in Wari in 2019, I was in Okbe. I was in Wari. Wari has about eight or 10 local governments. We have Okbe, Wari South, Wari, not so many local governments, you know, and they have their native languages. They have their native languages. But the major means of communication, the major, the major form of communication in Wari, anywhere in Wari is Nigeria Pigeon English. In fact, when I was there in 2019, I was there for almost three months, you know. Every time I moved around, I heard people speaking Nigeria Pigeon English in the palace of the king. When I was doing advocacy, you know, linguistic advocacy and other work, I found people speaking Nigeria Pigeon English. They have their native languages as well. But they speak those native languages, you know, perhaps maybe when they are in their homes, or maybe in their, should I use the word, in their social fold, you know, they use those languages, but you hardly find them using their native languages. Unlike the way you find people in Wari conversing in Nigeria Pigeon English. Everywhere you go to in Wari, everywhere on the road, supermarket in fact is their first language, you know, their first language means of communication. They have other languages too, but you find them speaking Nigeria Pigeon English more. There are some languages in Wari. I can't pronounce in some of those languages. Might not be easy for me, but they have a good number of native languages. And those native languages, some of them have words, you know, in Nigeria Pigeon English. They have words, you know, in Nigeria Pigeon English and it's interesting when you hear Wari people speak Pigeon, you know, it's in fact they have a peculiar accent for Pigeon in Wari, you know, which is peculiar to Wari, is peculiar to Bini.  So there's some some variation in the way people speak it in different areas. Yes, something like that, you know, something like that is peculiar to them, very peculiar to them. I have another question here from Ben Carson. He says, thank you for the presentation. I'm neutral linguistics and recently wrote about how using indigenous language as a means of instruction in is beneficial to primary education in Africa. Do you know if you would find standard British English in classrooms or would the teacher use Nigeria Pigeon English or one of the three dominant national languages? Well, like I said earlier, the government is yet to recognize Nigeria Pigeon English as a former means of communication. Now, aside from that, everywhere you go to in Nigeria, you find people conversing in this language is a conversational language, but it is still informal. Now, in schools, the teachers, the lecturers, when they want to deliver their lecture, they use conventional English. When I was in school, for example, the lecturers would come to class to deliver lecture using conventional English. That is British English that we know or American English. No lecturer would go and deliver lecture using Nigeria Pigeon English because they know the government is yet to recognize it formally as a means of communication. So they won't do that. They won't. But when you go to a lecturer's office, for example, which is a private dealing between you and the lecturer, of course, the lecturer can speak to you in Pigeon English because he knows that is our conversational English, our informal English. So it's like that everywhere. Even in the government offices, when the government is addressing the public, you don't find them speaking Pigeon English. When they're making a public, a formal broadcast, you don't hear them speak Pigeon. They may speak Pigeon privately, but when it's a formal occasion or an official assignment, they speak conventional English. Have I answered that question? Yeah. Just a follow-up question on the use of English in schools and English in general in Nigeria. We had a presentation just over a year ago on Nigerian English and argument there is that there's a type of English spoken in Nigeria that's distinct from British or whatever different kinds of English. And that could be destigmatized and treated as a national language, which is distinct from Pigeon because it's closer to world Englishes. And if you just accept Nigerian English as the national language in the schools, that could function as a language of national identity, something that has more international use in terms of understanding and being able to understand it. So I'm just wondering what your perspective is on the importance of recognizing Nigeria Pigeon English as a nationwide language versus the another proposal that we can focus on. Nigerians could focus on Nigeria English, which is closer to these international languages as a marker of national identity, which is something that would be easier to implement in schools, for example. Yeah. Yeah. Like I said, conventional English, British English is the formal means of communication in Nigeria. It is stated like that in the 1999 Constitution that British English is our formal English. Yeah. So the proposal would be to change that and make it Nigeria English as the formal. No, no, no. That's not what some of us are advocating. We're not saying... Oh yeah, I'm saying I've heard other people advocate that position. So I'm wondering what is your response? No, no. I'm not advocating that because British English is a universal language. It's not just in Nigeria. In fact, there are billions of people who speak British English. In fact, there are lots of languages in the world, but British English still remains a universal language. So I'm not saying that the government should set aside British English. No. What I'm only advocating for is give Nigeria Pigeon English a formal recognition that it is a conversational language. That's what I'm advocating. The reason being we've had people with wrong mindsets that Nigeria Pigeon English should not be tolerated among youths or teenagers because they feel it's bad English. And I've told such people it's wrong because the relationship between Nigeria Pigeon English and British English is a symbiotic relationship. We have a lot of words in Nigeria Pigeon English that stems from British English. For example, there's a word in British English, B-E-W-L-E, bell. Am I correct? Barred from French, but yes. Is it French? Well, it's also used in English. In English, yes. I know it's French, but I said more in English because I think it's a name or something like that. It means is he a girl or something or something. It means beautiful in French. Beautiful. Thank you. Yes. Now in Pigeon English, that word means B-E-W-L-E. It means it's pronounced as B-E-W-L-E. It means stomach. Stomach. It means stomach. That is human stomach. That's what it means. You would hear some of us say, ah, my B-E-W-L-E, they pain me. That is my stomach is paining me. So I tell people what I'm advocating for is for the government to recognize Nigerian Pigeon English as a conversational language, you know, a conversational language that can be used for communication, you know, in different platforms so that people won't start having this mindset that it's bad English, it's illiterate English. In fact, there are some people who feel that those who speak Pigeon English, they are illiterate and I kept on telling them that they are wrong. You know, they are wrong. They are wrong, you know. So what I'm advocating basically, you know, it's for the government to recognize, give it a formal recognition, you know, that it's a conversational language because in reality, it is a conversational language. It's the only language that is spoken nationwide. We don't have any other language in Nigeria. I mean ethnic language that has that attention, that has 70% of our people speaking it. There's no other language. There's no other language. I'm from the Southwest, you know, the population of Yoruba in the Southwest is about 15% of the total population. I've traveled a number of states in Nigeria, you know, and I hardly, when I go to the North for example, I hardly find people who speak Yoruba in the North, you know, but I met several who understood Pigeon English because when I go to meet them, I say, are you there? Do you answer me? Are they fine? You know, it's a language that is spoken across the country, you know, it's a nationwide language, but it's not yet a national language. And that's what I'm eating, that the government should recognize it as a conversational language because in reality, that is what it is. Perhaps let's transition to what will probably be our last question as we're running out of time here, but there's a question from Ola Walea Kimbadi who says, for Nigerian Pigeon, also known as Niger, to rise to the status of national language, what areas do you think we need to work on to make it more prestigious? For instance, I think it's inclusion into the school curriculum will add value to it more. Absolutely. I share the same thinking. I share the same thinking, you know, because in our schools right now, we teach native languages like Ausa, Ibo, Yoruba, you know, particularly in the high schools. When I was in high school, I was taught Ibo. I was taught French as well. I was taught how to speak French. I learned some words in French when I was in school. I was taught Ibo. I was taught a bit of Ausa, you know, in school. It's part of the school curriculum, but I wasn't taught how to speak Pigeon. I grew up learning it, like I said, so it would be good for the government to actually include it, you know, include it, not necessarily for students to be taught how to speak Pigeon English, but like I said, as a means of communication. You know, if the lecturer feels he could express his thoughts better in Pigeon English, it should be allowed to do it, you know, because I've discovered that sometimes when I want to say some things to some people, it's better said in Nigeria Pigeon English for purpose of better comprehension, you know, it's better said in Nigeria Pigeon English. So I shared the same thought, just like Uluwoli said, it would be good for the government to actually look in that direction. It will help a lot. It will help a lot. It will help a whole lot, you know. That's great. I think that might be a good note for us to end our conversation on. So let me say thank you to everyone who came and participated. There's more questions and comments in the chat and I can forward those to you. But I mean, Delaysa, you have those as well. Thanks to everyone there, especially Josephine Alexander has a lot of good points that she added to the chat that we weren't able to get to in conversation. So thank you, especially to Bami Delay for putting this presentation together and sharing your perspective with us. We hope everyone enjoyed this time together. Thank you, Joy. Thank you, Joy. Thank you. And to all the team, thank you so much as well. Thank you. Thank you.


The title of our sermon this morning is His Word Was With Authority. His Word Was With Authority. Our text, Luke chapter 4, verses 14 through 32. We won't have opportunity to work in detail fashion through this whole text, but we do want to make reference to it considering our subject that we'll be covering this morning. Our sermon today is part of a new series at our church entitled The Essentials. And if you're visiting with us, we're compiling a series of sermons and a series of classroom lessons on the essentials of Baptist theology or the essentials of church practice. And we're doing that in hopes of producing a resource that we can use with new members of our church or those who are new to our church to help them become established in the faith, give them a firm foundation of Christian doctrine. And so we come now in this series on the essentials to a segment of theology dealing with the doctrine of revelation. And we've looked at so far general revelation, we've looked at special revelation and last Lord's day, the doctrine of inspiration. And so today we come to the subject of biblical authority or the authority of the scriptures, biblical authority. If the Bible, that form of special revelation that you hold in your hands this morning, if your Bible is the inspired word of the living God, then it is undeniably true and uncompromisingly authoritative. It's undeniably true because God, who is the source of all truth, cannot lie. It is uncompromisingly authoritative because it is the word of the Lord our God, the one to whom we must give an account. And not only is the Bible undeniably true, not only is the Bible uncompromisingly authoritative, but the Bible then, being that it is in fact the inspired word of the living God is the only source of divine authority. Only that revelation which comes from him is ultimately authoritative. There is no other source of divine authority. And I'm saying in making that statement that you can't find truth in other things. We can't find that we can't find truth in nature, for example. We know that the heavens declare the handy work of God or that you can't find truth in other sources to the extent that those sources reflect the truth that is ultimately and primarily and originally found in the authoritative word of God. We may read good books, but those books are good as long as they point us to the authority and sufficiency and clarity of God's word. We may hear good sermons and hear truth from sermons, but that truth is only authoritative and only good to the fact that it points you back to the word of the living God. There is no other source of divine authority. There is only that authority that is asserted by fallen men. So what we find then is we're talking about two categories, two categories of authority so to speak, divine truth or worldly philosophy, God's wisdom or man's wisdom, that which is spiritual, that which is carnal, two categories. What we believe, the way that we think, the way that we conduct ourselves, the way that we reason, the way that we understand is ultimately rooted and ultimately grounded in this question of authority, the authority of God or the authority of man. Two categories, two camps, a clear line between them and a decision to make. What are you going to submit to? Who are you going to trust? Will you continue to rely upon man's wisdom or you can continue to trust and submit to man's so-called authority or will you submit to the authority that is found alone in the word of the living God? The unbelieving sinner, the unbelieving sinner disregards the authority of God and upholds the authority of man. The unbelieving sinner thinks to himself, I can decide for myself what is true. I can decide for myself what is false. They locate authority in their own reason, in their own understanding. They become the arbiters of divine truth or they become the arbiters of what is true and what is false and they may in that pursuit make it sound objective. You know I believe in science or I trust in that which is the natural laws all around us are inviolable, they're unbreakable. I trust in the natural laws, I trust in science, sounds very objective. But ultimately he himself, because he's abandoned the wisdom that comes from God, he himself is the ultimate authority over his own life, he's going to call the shots. He'll choose who he wants to listen to and who he doesn't want to listen to and if science doesn't agree with him then we'll change the science, won't we? We see it all the time. Used to be that homosexuality was a perversion, then it was a disorder, then it was a syndrome and now it's normal. Used to be that there was a baby in the mother's womb and then that baby became a fetus and now that fetus is a valueless blob of tissue, right? If the science doesn't agree with us, we'll change the science. Why? Because man finds himself his own ultimate authority in all things, we'll just change the science. Besides, he makes the decisions and he ultimately knows what's best for himself. The unbelieving sinner disregards the authority of God, upholds the authority or autonomy of man. The moral unbeliever, the moral unbeliever disregards the ultimate authority of God and upholds the authority of man. Generally, the moral unbeliever gives lip service to what he and others around him commonly accept as right or wrong. His motives are self-righteous, his motives are self-aggrandizing, that one who is a moral unbeliever seeks to appeal to those within his circle in order to make himself look good and right and just. His morality may even hold as long as it serves his own self-promoting, prideful purposes. The religious unbeliever, the religious unbeliever disregards the authority of God and upholds the authority of man. They find truth outside the Word of God and they put their faith in the vain imaginations of men. They rely on tradition. They rely on religious ritual. They rely on the teachings of a church that contradict the Word of God. They may in part acknowledge the Bible, but it will be Bible plus church councils. It will be Bible plus papal and cyclicals. It will be Bible plus a magisterium. It will be Bible plus some other writings or vain imaginations of wicked and fallen men. For some religious unbelievers, their authority is charismatic experience. And whatever they experience becomes instantly more authoritative than God's Word. Above God's Word, relied on more than God's Word. Whatever they feel, whatever they sense or believe they experience becomes the authoritative rule over the Bible. And that which allows them to set aside the ultimate authority of the Bible for the sake of some religious fantasy or some religious superstition, that list is long and infamous. Our authority, the Christian's authority, is the Word of the living God. Our authority is God Himself. And God has spoken in His inspired and authoritative Word, and that's what we believe. That's what Christians believe. That Word revealed at various times and in various ways and times past to the fathers by the prophets. Most preeminently in these last days, He has spoken to us in His Son. That special revelation of God has been written down. It's been inscripturated. And the means by which that revelation has been written down is through a process of verbal plenary inspiration. The words are inspired and all of them, all of it is inspired. Second Timothy chapter 3, verse 16, Paul says, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. It's breathed out by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Peter, in second Peter chapter 1, verse 20, knowing this first Peter says, no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation. It's not of any human source, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved or carried along by the Holy Spirit. In other words, the thoughts didn't originate in man, the concepts didn't originate in man, the words didn't originate in man, the source of Scripture isn't man, the source of Scripture is God. Now we believe that we have, through that Spirit-wrought process of inspiration, through the sovereign supernatural, superintending work of God, is God's revealed word in one book, the Bible, 40 different authors, 1500 different years, 39 books of the Old Testament, 27 books of the New Testament, 66 books of the Bible altogether, the Biblical canon in perfect unity, infallible, inerrant, sufficient, and clear. That's what has been given to us by God. That word is true, and because that word is true, because that word is in fact the word of God, that word is authoritative. That's what Christians believe. It's authoritative and we are accountable to it. Now no other authority is ultimately worthy of our trust. It is God alone who can bind the conscience of man, and it is God alone who has absolute authority. Now others would tell you differently. You know that, we see that we run into that witnessing to others. Roman Catholicism, among others, would have us believe that God's authority doesn't only reside in the Bible, but it also resides with the Roman Catholic Church. And God has delegated His authority to the church, first to Peter, and then through a succession of Peter's popes. Well how trustworthy has that institution, the Roman Catholic Church, how trustworthy is that institution proven over the centuries? How trustworthy is that institution seen as being today? No. There is no other ultimate authority besides God who alone has absolute authority. The issue of authority begins with how we understand the canon. It begins with how we understand the canon, canonicity, the collection of writings, or those books that make up our Bible. Now here's the argument from Rome. Because the church was given authority to make that decision about which books should be formally included in the canon of Scripture and which books shouldn't be included in the canon of Scripture. The Scripture then is subject to the authority of the church. Besides it's the church who decides. In other words, Rome would say, you don't have the Bible without the church. And so the church, along with her tradition, is given authority over the Scriptures. The question is then, did the church produce the Bible? Was it the church that produced the Bible? That question is an emphatic no. The church, in fact, you want to think about it, the word of God is a means through which God produced the church, not the other way around, right? The church did not produce the Bible. In fact, those in the church, at the time that our canon was being acknowledged and affirmed due to attacks and assaults on what was commonly understood to be the canon, those who were putting that together at the time or that were acknowledging or affirming the canon were not so arrogant to have said that they were giving birth to the Bible or were creating the Scriptures. In fact, they were formally said to be receiving it. That was the word they used. We receive the Scriptures. We receive the Bible recognizing its authority, recognizing its source and origin as being from God. We receive the canon, the canon or that collection of sacred books. We call the Bible is not a product of the church. The canon is a product of inspiration. The canon is a product of inspiration. The canon of Scripture, our Bible, came into existence because God has spoken. Without God having spoken, we have no Bible. But because God has spoken and inscripturated what He has revealed to a process of inspiration, we now have an authoritative word, our Bible. Because God breathed out the Scriptures, men were carried along by the Holy Spirit to write what God had revealed to them. God produced the canon. The canon of Scripture is made up of those books that we acknowledge, that God's people acknowledge to be inspired. In other words, books that bear His character, books that bear the marks of His work, books that bear the attributes of their divine author. Not merely books that were chosen by men, not merely books that have been approved or chosen by historic counsel, not merely books that justify some heretical doctrine that men want to hold to. If it's not the Word of God, then it is the Word of men, right? And why would we ever submit ourselves to the words of men? And so the authority of the Word of God rests upon the divine inspiration of the Word of God. And we submit to that authority that properly reflects His Word. In other words, these words are authoritative precisely because these written words are God's words. And God's people acknowledge it as so. Therefore, if you think with me now, to reject inspiration is to reject the authority of the Bible. To reject inspiration is to reject the Bible's testimony of itself. To reject inspiration is to reject the authority of God Himself. Reject inspiration and the Bible becomes a book like any other book. Parts of it out of date, parts of it irrelevant, parts of it that don't matter, parts of it wrong, parts of it unreliable, all of it unauthoritative. How is it, how is it that the Lord exercises His Lordship over His people? He does that by His Spirit through His Word? The question becomes, if we think about this subject together, the question becomes how do we know they are God's words? How do we know? If we're going to submit to this authority, how do we know that they are God's words? There are many, many, many ways in which we can answer that question from Scripture. There are many ways that we can answer that question from outside of Scripture. There's both internal evidence to the inspiration of God's Word and the authority of it, and there's external evidence to the inspiration and authority of God's Word. Many different approaches that we could take, but it's good that we consider the answer. We could begin by saying that the Bible is authoritative because it claims to be the Word of God. The Bible itself claims to be the very Word of God, and that is true, and the Bible is authoritative when it claims it. But there are many books, aren't there? There are many books that claim to be divine in origin, divine in source. There are many books that claim to be inspired by God. We could say that our belief, our trust in the Word of God is a matter of faith. That we are people of faith, we're to be people of the book, and so we believe and trust the Bible because it claims to be the Word of God. It's a matter of faith, and we should make it a matter of faith. It is a matter of faith, but there are many who would say the same thing about their supposedly holy books. It's a matter of faith to them that they believe their Scriptures. How do we know that what we have is the Word of the living God? How do we know they are God's words? The issue of authority is established by the way in which God's Word manifests to God's people the glory of the One who revealed that Word to us. Now think with me for a moment. The issue of authority, the issue of inspiration, knowing that this is God's Word that we have in our hands, the issue of authority is established by the way in which God's Word manifests itself to God's people the glory of the One who revealed that Word to us. It manifests the glory of God. The Westminster Larger Catechism gives us this answer to a Catechism question. This is really helpful. Catechism says this. The Scriptures manifest themselves to be the Word of God. How? How do the Scriptures do that? How do they manifest themselves to be the Word of God? By their majesty and by their purity, by the consent of all the parts, by the scope of the whole, which is to give all glory to God. By their light, by their power to convince and convert sinners, to comfort and build up believers unto salvation, but the Spirit of God bearing witness by and with the Scriptures in the heart of man is alone able fully to persuade it that they are the very Word of God. Even that evidence of divine inspiration is a work of God's Spirit in the heart of God's people. So as we think about that statement together, there are some objective means by which we know that the Bible is the Word of God, but the confession is quick to point out that the primary means is the subjective work of the Spirit of God in the heart of man. Paul would say it this way in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6, the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, that God must shine in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We need the Lord to shine abroad in our hearts. The Lord says this in John chapter 10. Listen, he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and he leads them out. And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him. For they know his voice, yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. He later told the Pharisees in the same chapter, you do not believe my words because you are not of my sheep. Absolutely, sinks the ship of mental ascent, doesn't it? If someone comes to a knowledge of God through mental or intellectual means alone, simply doesn't work that way. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit. So we may see the words majesty, the words purity. We may marvel at the consent of all its parts. We may stand in amazement at the scope of the whole and we should. It should inform our faith. It should strengthen our confidence in the Word of God as the infallible inerrant scripture, and thereby preserving us an appreciation of its authority, develop or cultivate within us an appreciation of its power. But ultimately it will be the Word of God in the hands of the Spirit of God, shed abroad in your heart and my heart that is alone able to persuade us fully that it is the Word of God. We may be able to see its true majesty and its true purity, its true harmony, its true unity, its true scope only through the work of the Spirit of God. I'd like for us to consider this reality from our text this morning found in Luke chapter 4 beginning in verse 14. This work of inspiration or this establishing of divine authority in the Word of God. Until the arrival of Jesus Christ, turn with me there to Luke chapter 4, until the arrival of Jesus Christ, the authoritative Word of God consisted in the Old Testament scriptures. We have our Old Testament, that is the Word of God. However, God who at various times and in various ways spoken time past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days now spoken to us by his son. And so what essentially began then the New Testament canon is not the arrival of the apostles, not the arrival of apostolic preaching or teaching, but the arrival of God himself in the person of his incarnate son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one to whom all authority has been given. That's what ushers in, you could say, the New Testament canon. Now I'm presenting our case for the authority of the Bible. I want us to see from Luke chapter 4 how the Lord himself handled the scriptures. And Luke begins his record of the ministry of Jesus Christ in verse 14 with the Lord's return to Galilee. Look at verse 14 with me. And then Jesus Christ returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee and news of him went out through all the surrounding region and he taught in their synagogues being glorified by all. And note with me first in verse 14 that we see the Lord's power and in verse 15 we see the Lord's purpose. Verse 14 is power, verse 15 is purpose. He went out in the power of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is at work through the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ is laboring in ministry in the power of the Spirit of God. Do you see? Not apart from the Spirit of God. This is another example of the indispensable operations of the Trinity, of the Godhead. We see the Lord's power. Verse 15 we see the Lord's purpose. His purpose for returning to Galilee was to preach and to teach in their synagogues. Now what was the Lord preaching and teaching? He's preaching and teaching the Word of God. Lord said, Jesus said, I don't speak on my authority, on my own authority. The words that I speak are the words that I've been given to speak by God. His words are the words that I speak, right? He's not preaching or teaching on his own authority, so to speak. He's preaching the Word of God. Now that sums up the earthly ministry of the Lord. This power of the Spirit with the purpose of preaching and teaching the Word of God, the Gospel. Preaching and teaching in the power of the Spirit. Notice first now, I want you to see the central place of the Word of God in the worship of God. The central place of the Word of God in the worship of God. From Jewish history, we know that a typical synagogue service would have begun with the singing of Psalms. This was written down. They would have sang Psalms together.  Psalms 145 to 150. They would have sang Psalms together. They would have recited the Shema from Deuteronomy chapter 6. They would have said together, Here, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  That is the authoritative Word of God. They would have recited that together after singing Psalms. After the Shema, there would have been prayers, several prayers offered to God. And then 18 benedictions, called the Shemona Esrae. 18 benedictions. Now all of this was leading up to the center or focus of the service, which was the reading and exposition of God's Word. They have begun with a reading of the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. There were multiple readings in the Torah, and then they would read from the prophets, the Haft Torah. There would be an expositional sermon, an explanation of a text, by someone appointed to preach, and then they would close with a benediction. And notice in that explanation of synagogue worship, how Word centered their worship was. This was the context in which Jesus Christ would come into the synagogue to preach and to teach. Word centered, the context of their worship, service, it focused on the Word of God. If you listen to that, it sounds familiar, doesn't it? They got together, they sang together. They recited or read the Word of God together. There were several Scripture readings, which they heard together. And then there was an exposition of a text, a sermon, and then they prayed together and dismissed. Sounds like our service even today, doesn't it? Sounds like worship of the church throughout the centuries, doesn't it? The worship of the church throughout the centuries has been Word centered. Centered, focused until our day, when largely today we find so-called worship in so-called churches that is not Word centered. But even today, the real people of God love to have the Word of God preached. They love to hear the Word of God explained. They love to sit under the preaching and teaching of God's Word. They love to sing theology that comes from God's Word. They love to praise the people of God to God, echoing back God's words to him, right? The people of God love that. They love to have it so. Those who are false professing Christians do not. No other authority is recognized in the Lord's church, but the Word of the living God. This Word is authoritative then in our worship, and it has been authoritative in the worship of God's people through all the centuries. Incidentally, as we think about that from verses 14 and 15, what would have gone on in the synagogue at that time? Every time that the Word of God has given historical background or information about history, the Word of God proves itself to be entirely accurate and entirely authoritative. Every single time, there are many through the centuries, right? They'll come along, archaeologists will say, well, this city is not true in the Bible because that city has never been found. Ten years later, they find that city, right? This king has never been mentioned. Five years later, they dig up some base with that king's name on it, right? In every case where the Bible touches history, the Bible is found to be entirely accurate and authoritatively true. Now, this would have been the context in which the Lord Jesus Christ came preaching and teaching in the synagogue at Nazareth in Galilee. So verse 16, he comes then to Nazareth where it had been brought up. Jesus is coming back home, so to speak. This is where he would have grown up. He would have known the people in that small town. He would have gone and attended synagogue services with them as a child. He would have sat back and listened to the preaching of teaching. He would have sang psalms and prayed with the people, right? This is the town where he had been brought up. And as his custom was, that's nice, isn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ. It was his custom to go in and gather with the people of God to worship God. As his custom was, verse 16, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and he stood up to read. And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. When he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. And notice second with me, the central place of the Word of God in the redemptive work of God. We looked at the central place of the Word of God and the worship of God. Look now at the central place of the Word of God in the redemptive work of God. This word is effective. It is efficacious in our redemption. Paul said to the Thessalonians that they received the Word not as it is as the Word of men, but as it is in truth, the very Word of God which is effective in those who believe. This word is effective for bringing about the purposes that God intends. Now at the right time in the service, the attendant in the synagogue called the Hassan, the one in charge of the scrolls, right? This attendant comes up to Jesus who had been given an opportunity to speak. This was obviously set up ahead of time. And this attendant hands him the scroll of Isaiah, the appointed reading for that particular day. It's interesting, 154 readings in the Torah, in the prophets, 154 readings, it would have taken three years to get through all of those readings. And it just so happens today as the Lord Jesus Christ just so happens, right? As the Lord Jesus Christ is entering the synagogue, that the reading for that day is from the scroll of Isaiah, the gospel, so to speak, of the Old Testament. The Lord will read from the scroll of Isaiah. And so the Lord turns to Isaiah chapter 61. Turn there with me. Isaiah chapter 61. And he begins reading in verse one. Now all there in the synagogue would have recognized this text as a reference to God's promised Messiah. They would have seen this text as a messianic text. The anointed one is the one, the Christ who would come in the power of the Spirit. As we look at Isaiah chapter 61, this messianic prophecy or this messianic development had taken place throughout the book of Isaiah. It's written all over the scroll of Isaiah. Flip back with me. Keep your finger there in Isaiah 61. And flip back with me to Isaiah chapter 9. Begins all the way back in Isaiah chapter 9. Where in verse 6, Prophet says, For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder. His name will be called wonderful, counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. This is the promise of the coming Messiah. Now what this should harken us back to even as we consider the text of the Old Testament is all the way back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 where God promises in the course of the curse of the serpent that he will send the seed of the woman and that serpent will bruise his heel but the seed of the woman will crush the serpent's head. And this is a fulfillment of that promise seen in Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6. It's a messianic prophecy. Flip the page and look at Isaiah chapter 11. Isaiah chapter 11 and look there beginning at verse 1. There shall come forth a rod from the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of its roots. The spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. He will be, he will come in the power of the spirit of God. Flip the page and look at Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah chapter 42 and look there beginning at verse 1. Behold, Isaiah says, behold, the Lord says, my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him. He is the anointed one, right? He is the anointed one. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will not cry out nor raise his voice nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed, he will not break. Smoking flax, he will not quench. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth and the coastlands shall wait for his law. This is a prophecy of the coming messianic servant of God. Flip the page and look at Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53. An absolute amazing text in the Old Testament speaking of the Lord's Messiah. Isaiah chapter 53 verse 1. Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He has no former comeliness. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised, rejected by men. A man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. We hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs. He's carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before it shears is silent so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment. And who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living. For the transgressions of my people he was stricken. They made his grave with the wicked but with the rich at his death because he had done no violence nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the labor of his soul and be satisfied. By his knowledge my righteous servant shall justify many. For he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the great. He shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out his soul unto death. He was numbered with the transgressors. He bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. There's so much theology in that one chapter that the Jews at that time had no earthly idea what it was talking about. Right? They had no idea what it meant. They didn't understand these things about the Messiah. What you have in Isaiah chapter 53 is substitutionary atonement. Penal substitutionary atonement. You have a sacrifice, a perfect sacrifice. The Lord bearing the sins of his people. Absolutely amazing. Men didn't write this. Do you see? They didn't even believe it. When the Lord Jesus Christ came they didn't believe it. They didn't understand it. And these truths, these truths are all over the New Testament. Complex truths, difficult truths, all over the New Testament clearly expounded and perfectly in harmony with the Old Testament. So many other references in the book of Isaiah the Prophet. So many. Those in the synagogue that day in Luke chapter 4 would have recognized the reference in Isaiah 61 as the one, as one of the coming Messiah. And so the Lord finds his place then in the scroll. Isaiah chapter 61 beginning in verse one. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives in the opening of the prison to those who are bound to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Notice here the ministry of the Messiah. To proclaim the gospel. To proclaim the good news to the poor. Who are those that needed the gospel? The spiritually poor. The spiritually poor needed the gospel to heal the brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to those who are held captive. Recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed. All summarized in Luke chapter 4 verse 19 by verse 19 to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Or what is the year of the Lord? Here, what is the year of the Lord? It's the year that the Lord arrives and executes his ministry in the power of the Spirit. It's the year that God's long-awaited promised Messiah would come and execute the ministry that God had given him anointed by the Spirit of God. In other words, the day of salvation has come. It's a day of deliverance, a day of God's salvation. This is the time when the long-awaited promised Messiah has come. Today, the Lord would say, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. For he says, in an acceptable time I have heard you. In the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. And then he stops short in verse 19. He doesn't read, if you notice, the second half of Isaiah 61 verse 2. He doesn't read the second half of that verse, the day of the vengeance of our God. The Lord Jesus Christ stops halfway through the verse. Now why did the Lord stop short in his reading? Because the time to proclaim that day hasn't come yet. The time to announce the fulfillment of that prophecy hasn't come yet. Now is the time of salvation. During this time of salvation, as the Messiah performs the work in the power of the Spirit that God sent him to do, now executing that ministry through his people to church, now is the time of salvation. There will come a time when the vengeance of God will be announced and proclaimed. Now is not that time. Now is the time of mercy. Now is an age of grace. When the Lord Jesus Christ, back in Luke chapter 4, when he got to the end of that passage, verse 20, he closed the book, he gave it back to the attendant, and he sat down. He took the position of a teacher. He sat down. He's prepared now to give an exposition. It says in verse 20, the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. What was he going to say? They were sitting there in anticipation. In verse 21, he began to say to them, today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. Today, as distinct from yesterday or tomorrow, today it's fulfilled. At this point in time, the Lord Jesus Christ saying, this Old Testament passage, this authoritative Word of God is fulfilled in your hearing. The perfect tense of the verb there, ple-ra-oh, showing that it is complete. It is entirely complete. It is fulfilled in their hearing. Now think with me for a moment. What Isaiah wrote, he wrote 700 years before the Lord Jesus Christ came. And there's no one, no one of any reason, can miss that who Isaiah is writing of is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is crystal, undeniably clear. The Lord understands the text that he read in Isaiah as sacred Scripture. The Lord understands that text as God's Word. He understands it as an exacting and definitive prophecy of the future. Understands that its exact fulfillment is at the beginning of his own ministry as the promised Messiah. And that ministry will be accomplished in the power of the Spirit as the Word of God has proclaimed, among those who are poor, brokenhearted, blind, captive, and oppressed. In other words, written 700 years before the time of Christ, Jesus Christ now sitting in that synagogue in Galilee, fulfilling that text in their hearing in perfect fashion. This is not the Word of mere men. This is not the Word of mere men. This is in fact the Word of the living God. God alone tells the future. God alone decrees the ends before the beginning. The Word of God and only the Word of God does this. No other book, no other book. Incidentally, the Word of God and only the Word of God answers the question, how can I be set free from bondage to my sin? Those in the synagogue that day were to see themselves as poor, brokenhearted, blind, captive, and oppressed. Spiritual condition of their soul. They were to see themselves as poor in spirit. They were to see themselves as they should have been brokenhearted over their sin against God. They should have seen themselves as oppressed by the flesh, oppressed by the world, oppressed by the devil. They should have seen themselves as captives to their sin. They should have seen themselves in that condition. They would have received well the Word of God, but they didn't. Only the Word of God has what we need, has the answer to that question. How can I be set free from bondage to my sin? How can I be right with a holy God? How can I be forgiven of my sin? How can I go to heaven when I die? Only the Word of God has that answer. And it is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ came proclaiming good news, His own person and work proclaiming liberty to the captives, the acceptable day or the acceptable year of the Lord. Trust in Him, amen. Notice third though, the central place of the Word of God in fulfilled prophecy. The central place of the Word of God in fulfilled prophecy. One of the most compelling evidences of external support for the authority, for the truthfulness, the veracity of God's Word is fulfilled prophecy. It is stunningly amazing. God's Word tells us what is going to happen and it happens in explicit detail every time. Only God determines and foretells the future. In fact, God distinguishes His Word from any false prophet's Word on this basis. Right? If they come preaching a Word and that Word doesn't come to pass, you're not to listen to that false prophet, right? Deuteronomy chapter 13, Deuteronomy chapter 18. Only God's Word authoritatively tells the future and what it says comes to pass. We can see in Scripture clearly how all that fulfilled prophecy has taken place. All those things that God has promised have come true. Trusting, then, that all that yet remains to be fulfilled will be fulfilled in the same manner in exacting detail. Chief example of that is Isaiah 53. Absolutely amazing. In particular, all the Scriptures speak of or point to and are fulfilled in Jesus Christ himself. Luke chapter 24, as the Lord is walking along the road to Emmaus with two disciples, says that the Lord then began with Moses and all the prophets, and He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. In other words, the Old Testament, God's authoritative Word, was about Him pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scriptures are fulfilled in Christ. Matthew chapter 5 verse 17, the Lord says, Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For assuredly I say to you till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law until all is fulfilled. All the Scripture according to the Word of the Lord Jesus Christ is authoritative. Notice forth with me the continuity then and the unity of the Word of God across the Testaments. Christianity, what we have Christianity is a fulfillment and a progress of revelation, a continuation of all that's been given in the Old Testament. It's not something entirely new, not something entirely different. That would have been very encouraging to Christian Jews in the first century, should be very encouraging to Christians today. What we have is a progress of revelation, a grand scope, a grand narrative of God's redemptive plans and purposes in Jesus Christ that began in Genesis, ends in revelation, and will conclude with our glorification and eternity in the eternal state with Him. The continuity and the unity and the harmony, the symphony of God's Word across the Testaments, it is a beautiful testimony of the fact that this is not a Word, not words written by men. Notice fifth now, how the Lord applied the text of Scripture authoritatively to them. The Lord peels back their hardened condition, bringing conviction on them, calling them to change. The way that He brings conviction, the way that He calls them to change here is by applying the Word of God authoritatively to them. Look at Luke chapter 4 verse 18. Now here in verse 18 the Lord is essentially saying from Isaiah that unless you see yourself as spiritually poor, broken-hearted, captive to sin, blind to spiritual things, and oppressed, you cannot be saved. That's the ministry of the gospel. It's to those people that the Lord comes bringing good news, and only to those people. Those people who are poor, those people who are broken-hearted, captive, blind, and oppressed. So in verse 22 then, so all bore witness to him as he spoke now in the synagogue, and they marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and they said, is this not Joseph's son? That little piece of amazement should also impress us as well, right? Would you, would this world, looking at the Bible as the mere words of men not say, isn't this written by mere men? And the answer to that is absolutely not. It's impossible. This is God's Word, right? They're amazed that the carpenter's son is speaking with such authority, such clarity. They're amazed he's speaking. Why? Because he's preaching the Word of God. He is God, the Son. All bore witness to him, marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, and he said, is this not Joseph's son? In other words, this is uncommon speech. This is God's Word. He said to them, you will surely say this proverb to me. Physician, heal yourself. Whatever we have done, heard done in Capernaum, do also hear in your country. But then he said to them, verse 24, assuredly I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land. But to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath in the region of Sidon to a woman who was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. They said to him essentially, listen, we've heard of what you did in Capernaum. We want you to do that here. Perform for us. Make a sign for us, right? We want to see a sign. Lord knew their heart. Lord knew their heart was hard. And so he tells them a story, a couple of stories, gives a couple of examples about widows, Naaman the Syrian. Naaman the Syrian was cleansed because he knew that he was a leper without hope and knew that he needed cleansing and he put himself entrusted himself to God for that cleansing when the other lepers in that day did not. Naaman was cleansed. There are many spiritual widows, many spiritual lepers who do not acknowledge that they are poor, brokenhearted, captive, and oppressed. There were many in the synagogue that day who would have said to Jesus Christ, show us a sign. If you are the Son of God, if you are the Messiah, show us a sign who would not acknowledge that they were poor, brokenhearted, captive, or oppressed. And so the Lord said to them, truly there were many widows in Israel in the day of Elisha when the heaven was shut up, three years, six months, there was a great famine. To none of them was Elisha sent except to Zarephath in the region of Sidon, a Gentile woman who was a widow. There were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet. None of them was cleansed except Naaman, that Gentile Syrian. As you can imagine, the word of God because it is authoritative brings great conviction. They didn't see themselves as poor, blind, oppressed, captive, wretched, miserable, and naked. They didn't see themselves that way. But notice fifth with me the worldly, irrational, human response to the authority of God's revealed Word. Because it is authoritative, and because the Spirit of God convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, look at how they respond beginning in verse 28. So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things and they understood exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ was saying to them and about them, verse 28, they were filled with wrath. And they rose up and they thrust him out of the city. And they led him to the brow of a hill on which their city was built that they might throw him down over the cliff. This was the world's response to the Lord Jesus Christ's first sermon in Galilee. They wanted to kill him. And passing through the midst of them, he went his way. Incidentally, I witnessed testimony of miracles in the Bible is evidence of its authority. This is a testimony of God's grace, testimony of God's mercy, his love, his compassion, and yet it receives this kind of irrational hostility that points to its divine authority. Do you see? It has the efficacious power in the hands of the Spirit to proclaim liberty to the captives, and it has, you could say, power in the hands of the Spirit to bring such conviction upon hostile, worldly, godless, unbelieving sinners that they rejected out of hand with hostility. Jesus said, this world hates me because I testify of it that its deeds are evil.  It rejects me, they will reject you as well. Why? Because the Word of God is authoritative. In conclusion, verse 31, he went down into Capernaum, the city of Galilee, and was teaching them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at his teaching, for his Word was with authority. It is the Word of God. Christ spoke with nothing less than the authority of God. What the Lord said was what God had given him to say. He teaches as one having authority, not as their scribes. The scribes were used to teaching in quotation marks. Everything came in quotation marks. The Lord Jesus Christ didn't do that. The Lord Jesus Christ came saying, you heard it said, but I say with authority equal to and greater than even the Old Testament scriptures. John chapter 12, verse 49, the Lord says, for I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me gave me a command what I should say and what I should speak. So Jesus Christ himself claimed to speak with the very authority of God. If he is the head of the church, which is his body as the scriptures say that he is, then he speaks with divine authority. And the church in submitting to his Lordship, submitting to his headship over the body, then submits to his authority. And then the Lord delegates his authority to his apostles. The word of God is authoritative. Because it's authoritative, because it's the inspired word of the living God, we all therefore have to face an ultimate question. Do we accept the Bible as the word of God as our sole authority in all matters of faith in practice? Or do we not? Do you not? Martin Lloyd Jones, is the whole of my thinking governed by scripture? Or do I come with my reason and pick and choose out of scripture and sit in judgment upon it, putting myself in modern knowledge forward as the ultimate standard and authority? Do you sit in judgment of the word of God? Do you act as judge picking and choosing that which you'll submit to and that which you won't? That which you'll believe and that which you won't? The issue, Jones says, is crystal clear. Do I accept scripture as a revelation from God? Or do I trust to speculation? That's what human wisdom is. It's speculation. Do I trust human knowledge, which is absurdly limited? Do I trust human learning, human understanding, human reason, or putting it still more simply? Do I pin my faith to and subject all my thinking to what I read in the Bible? Or do I defer to modern knowledge, modern learning to what people think today? It is inevitable for you and for I that we occupy one or the other of those two positions. There are only two categories, the wisdom that is from God or that wisdom which is worldly, sensual, demonic, that wisdom that comes only from man. So what do you think this morning? What do you think? In all this we need the Spirit's help, don't we? Ultimately, there's no one who examines the Bible merely or purely intellectually and comes back from it thinking, well, you know, I can't argue with it.   I guess it's true. And if it's true, I guess I'm a Christian then. It's not how it works. We need the Spirit of God to open blind eyes, to unstop deaf ears, to change our heart. We need the Spirit of God to testify with our Spirit that it is the Word of God, right? By which we cry out, Abba, Father. We need the Spirit's help. Cry out to the Lord. You're here this morning and you've never turned from your sin to put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God the Son, who has spoken authoritatively to us and who has preached good tidings to those who are poor, good tidings, good news to those who are broken, hearted over their sin. Cry out to God. Plead with the Lord to show you your wretched, miserable, blind, captive, oppressed condition and have Him work a work in you by His Spirit. Cry out for forgiveness of sins. Cry out to be made a new creation. Cry out for eyes to see and trust in Christ. He is our righteousness, amen, because He's the one who came and fulfilled God's Word for His people. Let's take a few moments now and pray. And as you're praying, ask for the Lord's help. Consider how you respond to His authoritative word. Do we need to humble ourselves before it? You might need to turn to the Lord this morning from your sin. Trust in the Word of God. This is the very Word of the living God to us. When you're done praying, we'll pray together and then we're dismissed. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, please work in our hearts by your Spirit. We know, Lord, and are grateful for the promise that your Spirit applies your Word to our hearts to cultivate within us faith and dependence on you, to bolster our assurance, to inform and fuel our worship and our obedience. Please, Lord, I pray, work in us to do and to will according to your good pleasure. Conform us by your Word. Transform us by your Word. Renew our minds by your Word. Help us, Lord, to obey your Word, to live according to it. Help us to value it as it is, to receive it as it is the very Word of God. Help us to desire it as the pure milk that we need to nourish our souls. Help us, Lord, we pray. We love you. We thank you for this blessed privilege of having your Word in our hands. Lord, I pray we would not receive the grace of God in vain. I pray we wouldn't take it for granted. We would seek your face in it. Shine abroad in our hearts, Lord, for your glory, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.