1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,240 Well, I'll tell you that ensemble we had up here at last is a mean German polka, too. 2 00:00:06,240 --> 00:00:16,960 Maybe one of these nights we'll be able to hear that. 3 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:23,520 A ferry left its port in Belgium a few days ago on a routine trip to Dover, England. 4 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:31,080 But 15 minutes later as it began to enter the English Channel, the giant ferry began 5 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,280 to roll over. 6 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:39,840 And from the accounts that we've heard, within about a minute it was on its side, resting 7 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:40,840 on the bottom. 8 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:44,040 At this point there is an unknown number of dead. 9 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,440 It appears it'll be well over 100. 10 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:48,440 Why did that happen? 11 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,800 That's the question that everyone's asking. 12 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:57,280 As I was coming to church tonight I heard one crewman quoted who says that it was his 13 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:05,000 fault that he failed to properly close the front auto doors which allowed the water to 14 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:09,100 enter the vessel in huge amounts. 15 00:01:09,100 --> 00:01:11,040 Think of that. 16 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:17,440 Because a door was improperly shut there are over 100 people dead. 17 00:01:17,440 --> 00:01:23,240 It's a tragedy, but there's a tragedy of even greater dimension that is occurring in 18 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:26,080 the Christian world today. 19 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:32,200 And by Christian world I'm speaking in a broad sense of the evangelical world. 20 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:38,560 A door is being opened which will surely result in tragedy for the souls of many. 21 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:45,400 The door that I'm talking about is the door of the doctrine of the Word of God. 22 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:52,240 The dangerous door openings that can result in the shipwreck of the soul I would include 23 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:53,960 as the following. 24 00:01:53,960 --> 00:02:02,140 First, the teaching that the Bible is authoritative but it does not communicate God's revelation 25 00:02:02,140 --> 00:02:04,880 without error. 26 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:11,840 In other words, the Bible, while it has authority to speak to us, is also a book that has errors 27 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:18,760 in it, at least errors that are geographic or historical in nature. 28 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:23,160 It seems to me that that is double talk. 29 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:29,720 For how can a book that has errors in it, and who is to judge what the errors are, pick 30 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:38,620 them out, a book that has errors in it, can that book be authoritative? 31 00:02:38,620 --> 00:02:43,840 That is a door that's left open that can swamp the soul of a person. 32 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:49,560 A second door that is being opened in some circles is the teaching that the Bible is 33 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,080 not God's final statement for us. 34 00:02:53,080 --> 00:03:00,240 Yes, these would agree, the Bible is the Word of God, but God is today supplementing the 35 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:04,080 Bible by newer revelations. 36 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:15,440 I want to quote from a brochure that was mailed to people throughout the Twin Cities area 37 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:23,040 a couple of years ago by a gentleman from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. 38 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:30,200 This is what he says, teaching the people who receive the materials, quote, God is continuously 39 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:34,200 revealing more and more to his church. 40 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:39,120 We'd better remain teachable in spite of the so-called strange manifestations of the 41 00:03:39,120 --> 00:03:41,540 Holy Spirit at times. 42 00:03:41,540 --> 00:03:49,680 We must remain teachable and open to new revelations of God's Word and manifestations of the Holy 43 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:54,320 Spirit in 1984. 44 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:59,120 Well I would certainly agree that we need to remain teachable. 45 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:05,240 God wants us to have hearts that can receive new teaching, deeper understanding of his 46 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:06,240 truth. 47 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:12,240 But I strongly disagree with this charismatic evangelist who says that God is today giving 48 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,760 revelations of his Word. 49 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:24,680 That is an open door, my friend, that will shipwreck many people spiritually. 50 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:29,060 What do we as a church believe regarding the Word of God? 51 00:04:29,060 --> 00:04:34,560 That is a question that I want us to look at together this evening. 52 00:04:34,560 --> 00:04:41,320 We have a doctrinal statement as a church that summarizes in capsule form what we believe 53 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:43,480 concerning the Bible. 54 00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:50,040 It says we believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in 55 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:55,820 the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and having 56 00:04:55,820 --> 00:05:01,440 supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. 57 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:05,680 There are some people when reading that statement immediately say, what does it mean here without 58 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,360 error in the original manuscripts? 59 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:14,480 That is a common way of stating what those who love God's Word have believed through 60 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,460 the centuries. 61 00:05:17,460 --> 00:05:25,440 Obviously the inspiring work of the Holy Spirit took place when Paul wrote his words or when 62 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,840 Luke wrote his words or the other authors of Scripture. 63 00:05:29,840 --> 00:05:35,720 That is why we say that they were fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts. 64 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:43,400 We do not have today in existence any of the original manuscripts. 65 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:49,360 What we do have is a Bible that can be trusted because of a science called the science of 66 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:52,700 textual criticism. 67 00:05:52,700 --> 00:06:00,200 What we have today are copies of the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. 68 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:09,640 Just regarding the New Testament alone, there are 5,000 manuscripts that record for us portions 69 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:14,000 of books or complete books of the New Testament. 70 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,720 These are copies, these are manuscripts of the original writings. 71 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:20,080 These are in the Greek language. 72 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:25,720 Now if you take the Latin translations in additional, there are 8,000 of those manuscripts 73 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:30,040 and in other languages 1,000 manuscripts. 74 00:06:30,040 --> 00:06:36,680 These are ancient documents going back hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of years. 75 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:45,200 They have been discovered by archaeologists doing their work, largely in the mid-east. 76 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,360 Godly gifted scholars compare these manuscripts. 77 00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:55,680 They study them carefully according to certain principles of textual criticism. 78 00:06:55,680 --> 00:07:02,560 Trying to determine as accurately as possible what that one original manuscript said. 79 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:08,320 The thing that is so amazing is that all of these thousands of manuscripts, copies of 80 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:13,480 the Word of God, all of these agree in all essentials. 81 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,720 There is no disagreement among them. 82 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:23,520 Now the work of inspiration did not include the work of the copyists who copied down those 83 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:26,040 manuscripts. 84 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:35,400 The work of inspiration was with that individual that wrote down that book the first time. 85 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:40,120 That's why we say that we believe the Bible to be fully inspired and without error in 86 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:41,600 the original manuscripts. 87 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:51,920 Because we have a Bible like we have today that is authenticated by thousands of copies, 88 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:57,200 we know this book as we have it in our hands to be fully trustworthy. 89 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:03,080 We need not doubt what God has said. 90 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:08,960 Now in this statement we say we believe the Bible is the Word of God. 91 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,240 That deals with revelation. 92 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:13,240 We say what is revelation? 93 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:18,240 Well I'm not talking at this moment about the book of the revelation at the end of the 94 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:22,600 New Testament, but I'm using the word revelation in a broader sense. 95 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:27,760 Word means exposure or the revealing of something. 96 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:29,800 It is a disclosure. 97 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:31,760 The Bible is a disclosure. 98 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,440 It is a revelation of God. 99 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:40,560 When we use that term revelation we are talking about the content of the 66 books of the Bible, 100 00:08:40,560 --> 00:08:43,360 the Old and New Testament. 101 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:53,000 It is an objective propositional statement of what God desires to tell us. 102 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:55,260 It is not subjective. 103 00:08:55,260 --> 00:09:00,440 It is written down for us in black and white so that we can study it. 104 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:05,480 And all of us have a copy of the Bible, maybe different translations, but it says the same 105 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:11,960 thing so that all of us know what God has said. 106 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,620 Revelation is complete. 107 00:09:14,620 --> 00:09:21,140 It is not being given today as this one gentleman from Oklahoma claims. 108 00:09:21,140 --> 00:09:23,880 God is not giving prophecies in that sense today. 109 00:09:23,880 --> 00:09:31,960 He is not giving rama's, that is little updates, supplements to what he has written in this 110 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:33,480 book. 111 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:39,380 The book of the revelation of Jesus Christ at the end of the New Testament concludes 112 00:09:39,380 --> 00:09:41,500 with a warning. 113 00:09:41,500 --> 00:09:46,640 It is a warning to those who would take away from the book or add to the book. 114 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:51,720 And it says that those who would take away from the book will find their names taken 115 00:09:51,720 --> 00:09:53,280 away from the book of life. 116 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:58,560 And those who dare to add to it, God will add to him the plagues that are written therein. 117 00:09:58,560 --> 00:10:05,880 Because of its unique place coming at the end, the last book inspired by the Holy Spirit, 118 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:11,440 because of its unique place, we believe that that warning applies not only to the book 119 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:18,160 of the revelation of Jesus Christ, but to the entire book, the Bible, all 66 of the 120 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:19,820 books. 121 00:10:19,820 --> 00:10:22,080 God has chosen to reveal himself several ways. 122 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:27,300 Of course, there is natural revelation in nature around us, as well as in the conscience 123 00:10:27,300 --> 00:10:29,600 within. 124 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:34,400 And then there is the personal revelation of God fully given to us in his Son, the Lord 125 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:36,720 Jesus Christ. 126 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:41,060 But today we have for us his written revelation. 127 00:10:41,060 --> 00:10:47,520 The Bible is a progressive unfolding of God's person and his purposes. 128 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:54,480 It reveals his attributes, as we studied somewhat this morning, so that we can understand what 129 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:58,760 God is like and what he is doing in the world. 130 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:03,360 That is the revelation of the Word of God. 131 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:09,720 In the doctrinal statement that we have, it uses the term fully inspired, written under 132 00:11:09,720 --> 00:11:12,640 the inspiration of God's Spirit. 133 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:19,720 I would like you to open your Bible with me to a key text in Scripture that supports what 134 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:35,760 our doctrinal statement says, 2 Timothy 3, verse 16. 135 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:45,620 It says, all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, 136 00:11:45,620 --> 00:11:48,800 for training in righteousness. 137 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:54,840 The Word of God claims that it is inspired. 138 00:11:54,840 --> 00:11:58,340 What does that mean? 139 00:11:58,340 --> 00:12:00,680 There are some false theories of what it means. 140 00:12:00,680 --> 00:12:04,000 I would like just to highlight those for you. 141 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,520 There is one theory called the natural theory of inspiration that says that the Bible writers 142 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:14,880 were inspired just like a poet, a musician, an artist. 143 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:21,120 That the Bible is therefore the product of human genius because they were inspired people 144 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:23,520 like gifted artists. 145 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:29,360 But that is not what the Bible means when it says all Scripture is inspired by God. 146 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:34,880 There is a theory called the dictation theory of inspiration, which says that the writers 147 00:12:34,880 --> 00:12:44,000 were passive instruments and that in essence they heard God dictating in their mind so 148 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,560 that what they wrote were simply the words that they heard God speaking within as though 149 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:53,880 they were the scribes, they were the secretaries, and God dictated the word through them. 150 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:58,880 I believe that to be a false theory of inspiration. 151 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:05,440 There is another theory called the partial theory of inspiration, which says those doctrinal 152 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:12,720 and moral truths in the Bible are inspired by God and therefore without error. 153 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:20,200 But other details, geographical details, historical details, those are not inspired. 154 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:23,740 Therefore only a part of the Bible you see is inspired they say. 155 00:13:23,740 --> 00:13:28,280 That too, it seems to me, must be rejected as false. 156 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:34,240 Then there is the existential theory of inspiration, which says that it is an act of God on the 157 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:35,760 reader. 158 00:13:35,760 --> 00:13:42,800 This is the position of those who are neo-orthodox in their doctrinal position. 159 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:46,760 They say that inspiration is not something that occurred back there when the writer wrote 160 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,800 the words, but it occurs today. 161 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:56,800 So that when you or I read the Bible and suddenly there is a truth that leaps off the page and 162 00:13:56,800 --> 00:14:03,640 strikes us, that that then becomes inspired to us. 163 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:11,160 And so inspiration to them is when it is inspired to you today as the reader. 164 00:14:11,160 --> 00:14:15,240 The existential theory, which again must be rejected. 165 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:20,180 And finally there is the conceptual theory of inspiration. 166 00:14:20,180 --> 00:14:25,780 Those who accept this theory say that the thoughts of the Bible are certainly inspired, 167 00:14:25,780 --> 00:14:27,320 but not the words. 168 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:33,240 In other words, God gave the ideas to the writers of scripture. 169 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:40,260 But then each man clothed those ideas in his own thoughts. 170 00:14:40,260 --> 00:14:47,200 And that the words themselves are not significant, but only the thoughts, only the concepts. 171 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:50,040 And so it is called the conceptual theory of inspiration. 172 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:54,880 But we as a church do not accept any of those theories. 173 00:14:54,880 --> 00:15:03,320 Our understanding of what this word means in verse 16 can be described as the superintendent 174 00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:06,800 method of inspiration. 175 00:15:06,800 --> 00:15:08,540 Let me define that for you. 176 00:15:08,540 --> 00:15:11,440 Let me tell you where we stand on this. 177 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:20,080 We believe that the men who were the authors of scripture were directed by God in the choice 178 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:26,400 of their words without a violation of their own personalities. 179 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:32,200 So that what was written was what God wanted said. 180 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:38,720 What we believe in can be summarized as the verbal and plenary inspiration of scripture. 181 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:45,080 The idea is not just the thoughts, that's the plenary side of it, not just the concepts. 182 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:53,360 Yes, those were inspired, but beyond that, God aided the writers of scripture so that 183 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:58,320 the very words which they chose to use out of their own backgrounds, out of their own 184 00:15:58,320 --> 00:16:04,320 personality, their own vocabulary, that those words they chose to use were the very words 185 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:07,440 indeed that God wanted them to use. 186 00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:11,240 That is not the same as the dictation theory. 187 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,580 God did not dictate to them. 188 00:16:13,580 --> 00:16:20,840 Nonetheless, the words they chose were the words that God wanted them to use, the superintendent 189 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,860 method of inspiration. 190 00:16:24,860 --> 00:16:28,800 We have another insight as to what this means in 2 Peter, if you would like to turn over 191 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:31,640 there. 192 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:37,520 Chapter 1. 193 00:16:37,520 --> 00:16:42,160 In verse 20 it says, but know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter 194 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,000 of one's own interpretation. 195 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,680 For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will. 196 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:52,120 Do you understand what that says? 197 00:16:52,120 --> 00:17:00,640 In other words, the writers of scripture did not act on their own in writing these books. 198 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:07,760 It is not the product of their own will, their own effort, but it says, men moved by the 199 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:11,560 Holy Spirit spoke from God. 200 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:17,360 Basically what that word means is that they were born along by the Holy Spirit. 201 00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:20,080 That is, they were aided by the Spirit of God. 202 00:17:20,080 --> 00:17:23,360 He carried them along as they wrote. 203 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:29,740 He impelled them so that their words, while coming from within their own personality, 204 00:17:29,740 --> 00:17:34,680 their own vocabulary, did not actually originate with them, but they were the words that God 205 00:17:34,680 --> 00:17:38,120 wanted them to write. 206 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:44,360 We have some examples of inspiration within the Bible where it is clearly stated that 207 00:17:44,360 --> 00:17:47,720 is exactly what happened. 208 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:52,120 One of them is found in Acts chapter 4 and verse 25. 209 00:17:52,120 --> 00:17:57,120 Would you look here with me and notice carefully how this is recorded. 210 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:02,720 Remember that Luke is writing this. 211 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:14,880 Acts chapter 4 and verse 25, Luke is recording for us here the prayer of the disciples. 212 00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:18,040 They are speaking about the Lord who made the heaven and earth. 213 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:27,640 In verse 25 it says this, Who by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of our father David 214 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:31,040 thy servant did say. 215 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,360 Then it quotes from Psalm 2. 216 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:38,880 Do you understand what is being said here? 217 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:47,200 Luke is affirming that as David, the servant of the Lord, wrote Psalm 2, it was not merely 218 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:55,160 coming from him, though he was the human author, but rather it was by the Holy Spirit that 219 00:18:55,160 --> 00:19:02,920 he wrote, and that as he wrote the Lord did say this through him. 220 00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:08,400 Over and over in Scripture there are similar statements like that. 221 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:16,040 Isaiah and many of the other prophets made statements like, The word of the Lord came 222 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:19,360 to me saying. 223 00:19:19,360 --> 00:19:29,760 Before they will say, The Lord says, not claiming to speak of themselves, the Lord says. 224 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:35,880 So the Bible claims to be the inspired word of the living God. 225 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:40,680 I could give you other examples of that, but I won't take time tonight. 226 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,880 Second Timothy 3, 16 we've looked at. 227 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,080 All Scripture is inspired. 228 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:49,200 That means God breathed. 229 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:55,820 You and I express our thoughts by our breath. 230 00:19:55,820 --> 00:20:04,200 We breathe into our lungs and then we exhale, but we control that exhalation of breath. 231 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:07,440 It comes through our vocal cords and into our mouths. 232 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:15,000 We use the cavity of our mouth, our tongues, our lips, our teeth to form words so that 233 00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:20,700 as that breath escapes our mouths, words are formed. 234 00:20:20,700 --> 00:20:28,440 So when the Bible says that it is God breathed, what it's saying is that it is the very expression 235 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:34,560 of the thoughts, the word of God himself. 236 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:41,200 That is why we affirm so strongly, and we do in our doctoral position, that the Bible 237 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:51,520 is the word of God written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, fully inspired and without 238 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:52,520 error. 239 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:55,720 Yes, without error. 240 00:20:55,720 --> 00:21:02,280 I believe that the infallibility or the inerrancy of Scripture is absolutely a key doctrine. 241 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:07,720 For once that door is opened to the possibility of error of any kind in the word of God, the 242 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,120 ship will sink. 243 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:14,480 Ultimately. 244 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:21,240 That door must be kept closed to the teaching that says that the Bible is inerrant when 245 00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:28,160 it speaks in doctrinal matters, but there are possible errors in other areas of truth. 246 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:30,440 Not so. 247 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,680 That is why the Bible is called the Holy Bible. 248 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,440 That means without error. 249 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:41,220 It is the revelation of a holy God. 250 00:21:41,220 --> 00:21:47,080 If it in fact is fully inspired by the Holy Spirit, how can the Holy Spirit produce an 251 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:49,640 unholy book? 252 00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:51,600 Either it is holy or it is unholy. 253 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:55,680 It can't be something in between. 254 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:59,160 We believe it to be a holy book, an inerrant book. 255 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:06,900 And it seems to me that it is that inerrancy which gives it its authority. 256 00:22:06,900 --> 00:22:13,800 We say in our statement that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. 257 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,360 And so we as a church look to the Bible to guide us. 258 00:22:17,360 --> 00:22:21,680 What does the word of God say regarding that issue? 259 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:26,440 How are we to conduct ourselves as a church, as individuals? 260 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:29,160 What are we to believe about this or that? 261 00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:34,000 The word of God is our supreme authority. 262 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:39,800 That puts us into contrast frankly with some of the movements that are around these days. 263 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:41,960 But that is where we stand as a church. 264 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:47,400 And that is where God's people historically have stood through the ages. 265 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:54,680 That the Bible is the final and supreme authority in all matters because of its nature as the 266 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:57,040 word of God. 267 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,200 The ideas of men come and go. 268 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,160 They pass away. 269 00:23:01,160 --> 00:23:07,240 Just as the heavens and earth will pass away, but Jesus said, my word will not pass away. 270 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:15,440 It is settled forever in the heavens, says the word of God. 271 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,960 One of the key things that is facing the church today is how to interpret the Bible. 272 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,720 I want to talk about that next week. 273 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:26,120 How do we know what the Bible means? 274 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:27,840 That's pretty key. 275 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:32,800 And as I think I've stated before, and others have stated from this pulpit, that is the 276 00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:35,200 battle today. 277 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:40,320 What does the Bible mean in what it says? 278 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:42,200 Let me conclude tonight by saying this. 279 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:49,680 If we believe what we say we believe in this paragraph, if we affirm that the Bible is 280 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:54,760 without error the word of the living God, fully inspired as we have said, there are 281 00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,880 some implications to us. 282 00:23:57,880 --> 00:24:08,400 In the first place, we must see the Bible as our final authority in what we believe. 283 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,760 There are many ideas that are floating around out there these days. 284 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:17,120 Because of television and radio and the media that people have available, that everybody 285 00:24:17,120 --> 00:24:22,080 has available, and because of the freedom of expression that we have in our society, 286 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:26,800 and I'm glad for that freedom of expression, because the freedom that the cultist has is 287 00:24:26,800 --> 00:24:29,520 the same freedom that I have to say the truth. 288 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:35,920 But nonetheless, because of the plethora of ideas available today, how are we to know 289 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:36,920 what to believe? 290 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:45,280 Well, you and I can discern by comparing that teaching to the word of God. 291 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:51,080 Do not believe it just because you hear it from the pulpit in this church. 292 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:53,800 Believe it because the word of God says it. 293 00:24:53,800 --> 00:25:00,640 Let it be your source of determining what is truth and what is error. 294 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:05,320 Because we have a Bible that is dependable, that is durable, that is final, you and I 295 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:10,680 have an authority upon which to base our lives. 296 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:15,600 That is a tremendous implication for us. 297 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:21,120 In a world where there is much quicksand, where there is very little basis, when people 298 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:27,760 base their lives on ideas and philosophies and concepts that wash back and forth with 299 00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:35,240 the waves of our times, you and I have a rock in the word of God upon which to base our 300 00:25:35,240 --> 00:25:41,360 faith, and not only our faith, but our very lives, our eternal souls. 301 00:25:41,360 --> 00:25:46,520 A second implication is that if I believe this to be true, then I need to treat the 302 00:25:46,520 --> 00:25:50,720 Bible with proper respect. 303 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:55,720 We have before talked about various levels of commitment to the word of God. 304 00:25:55,720 --> 00:26:03,000 That most basic and really superficial level of commitment and listening to the Bible. 305 00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:08,120 You make that commitment in coming to church, and coming to small church or Sunday school, 306 00:26:08,120 --> 00:26:14,400 and turning on Swindoll or MacArthur or whomever you listen to in the radio or television. 307 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,400 It is a commitment that you want to hear the word of God. 308 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:21,560 I thank God for that availability in our society. 309 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:28,840 For the fact that almost every hour of the day you can put a tape in a machine or listen 310 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,280 to a radio and you can hear the word of God. 311 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:39,400 It's a great privilege that we have that is something new in the last few decades in 312 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:40,400 this world. 313 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,480 The kind of availability that we have to listen to the Bible. 314 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:46,560 But we can't stop there. 315 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:51,480 We have to go to the next level which says I will read the word of God. 316 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:57,360 Not just listen to it, which can be passive, but I will take an active step to read the 317 00:26:57,360 --> 00:26:58,360 word of God. 318 00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:06,320 But then a third step that goes beyond merely reading it, I will study the word of God. 319 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:13,040 I will take time to determine what that is saying. 320 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:17,280 It's a commitment sometimes of finances. 321 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:22,480 That's one reason that we have established a bookstore in our church. 322 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:30,000 Because we want to make available to people the basic tools of Bible study. 323 00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:34,340 Sometimes it's an investment of $20 or even $50 if you get some of the tools that are 324 00:27:34,340 --> 00:27:36,520 available today to help you understand the Bible. 325 00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:38,520 But I'll tell you it's a wise investment. 326 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:39,520 It's a good investment. 327 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:45,640 I want to encourage you to get the basic Bible tools so that you can study the word of God. 328 00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:51,580 I think every Christian ought to have a good basic study Bible. 329 00:27:51,580 --> 00:27:57,040 That is one that has notes and cross references right here within it. 330 00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:05,080 So that wherever you are you have some basic helps in determining the meaning of texts. 331 00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:08,160 But then the next level of commitment to the word of God goes beyond that. 332 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,480 It's the level to memorize the word of God. 333 00:28:11,480 --> 00:28:17,400 Really as you study the Bible the memorization is almost natural because going over and over 334 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:23,720 and over those words it begins to make an imprint upon your mind. 335 00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:28,760 I suppose that there are people here today who would say, well I haven't memorized a 336 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:29,760 lot of the Bible. 337 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:35,760 But if you have studied the Bible very much you might be surprised how many verses would 338 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:39,160 come to you. 339 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:43,720 I heard just a couple of weeks ago that we have one of the young men in our church who 340 00:28:43,720 --> 00:28:47,480 has memorized almost the entire New Testament. 341 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,720 Wasn't me. 342 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,640 I'm sorry to say I haven't memorized that much. 343 00:28:53,640 --> 00:28:55,760 But what a gift that is. 344 00:28:55,760 --> 00:29:02,080 There are some people by the way who have a greater gift at memorization than others. 345 00:29:02,080 --> 00:29:07,820 But to memorize the word of God is an opportunity and a responsibility for all of us. 346 00:29:07,820 --> 00:29:13,520 Whether it be individual verses for particular purposes or whole paragraphs that we wish 347 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:14,840 to hide in our hearts. 348 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,000 That is a commitment to the word of God. 349 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:22,960 If we say folks that the Bible is the word of God then we better be committed to it or 350 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:26,360 it does us no good. 351 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:32,200 Then that final level is the level of meditation where we're tearing the scripture apart in 352 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:38,760 our minds allowing it to soak down deep into our spirits. 353 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:44,560 We take that phrase, we take that word, that thought and we run it through our minds, we 354 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:49,800 lay it aside and we pick it up again and run it through as we seek to determine what God 355 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:51,800 is saying there. 356 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:57,760 If we believe the Bible to be the word of God then we must make a commitment to the 357 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:06,040 deepest level to it or really we're hypocrites. 358 00:30:06,040 --> 00:30:13,400 Earlier I said that there are dangers of opening the door to weaker ideas regarding what the 359 00:30:13,400 --> 00:30:14,400 Bible is. 360 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:19,480 And that those open doors can result in tragedy. 361 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,480 But I think that there is a third danger. 362 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:30,120 There's a third danger that can lead to shipwreck and that is the danger of believing everything 363 00:30:30,120 --> 00:30:37,000 that I have said tonight and to have said amen in your soul but to leave the Bible 364 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:44,200 closed or to neglect it. 365 00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:53,300 That can make you a shipwreck as fast as accepting some false idea about the Bible. 366 00:30:53,300 --> 00:30:57,280 Because believing all of the right things about the Bible and having it shut on our 367 00:30:57,280 --> 00:31:03,720 dresser or on the coffee table or on a shelf in our home leaves the soul open to peril 368 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,340 and danger. 369 00:31:06,340 --> 00:31:11,960 If tonight you are a part of our church or even if you're not but you agree with us 370 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:18,120 regarding what we have said, what we have stated as a church regarding the word of God, 371 00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:24,280 as we say here we stand and you say in response so do I, that's where I stand, then let's 372 00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:29,800 let the implications of that statement really impact our lives. 373 00:31:29,800 --> 00:31:35,400 We don't become bibliologists, we don't become worshippers of the Bible, we are worshippers 374 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:44,280 of the living God but we cannot worship the living God and ignore his written revelation 375 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,840 to us. 376 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:53,720 God help us to be not only believers of a doctrinal statement but livers out of that 377 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:59,520 statement in our commitment to this book. 378 00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:00,880 Would you open your hymnal with me? 379 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:06,120 I'd like for us to sing number 126. 380 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:13,580 It's not too common but I think you'll recognize the tune and be able to pick up the words 381 00:32:13,580 --> 00:32:15,480 quickly. 382 00:32:15,480 --> 00:32:26,680 126, how wonderful that book divine by inspiration given. 383 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:49,640 Let's stand together as we sing 126. 384 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:58,960 How wonderful that book divine by inspiration given. 385 00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:10,280 Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine to guide our souls to heaven. 386 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:23,320 Its light descending from above our sin-sick world to cheer displays a Savior's boundless 387 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:30,840 love and brings His glories near. 388 00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:43,920 It shows to men His wandering ways and where His feet have drawn and brings to view the 389 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:52,600 matchless grace of our forgiving God. 390 00:33:52,600 --> 00:34:03,080 It lights our paths, it lifts our hearts along the upward way. 391 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:15,600 It life and joy and peace imparts till dawn's eternal day. 392 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,240 Let's bow together. 393 00:34:18,240 --> 00:34:23,800 All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching. 394 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:28,200 Are you letting the Word of God teach you? 395 00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:35,880 Profitable for reproof, are you letting it bring conviction to your soul? 396 00:34:35,880 --> 00:34:42,440 For correction, are you letting it tell you what to do to get out of the mess you're 397 00:34:42,440 --> 00:34:43,440 in? 398 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,640 Are you letting it tell you how to straighten out your path? 399 00:34:46,640 --> 00:34:52,600 It's profitable for training in righteousness. 400 00:34:52,600 --> 00:34:56,080 Are you letting it instruct you and equip you? 401 00:34:56,080 --> 00:34:59,960 That's why God has given it, my friend. 402 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:05,840 Will you right now in the quietness of this closing moment commit yourself afresh to the 403 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:13,240 Book and to the God who inspired it? 404 00:35:13,240 --> 00:35:22,960 Our Lord, as we depart from here, we give thanks to you for this sure revelation given 405 00:35:22,960 --> 00:35:28,320 by inspiration of the Holy Spirit to men of old. 406 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:34,120 We thank you that you also guarded it so that down through the years, as it was copied and 407 00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:41,280 as it has been printed and distributed to us, we have a Bible we can rely upon, a Bible 408 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:50,640 that is trustworthy, that we can open its pages and believe what it says and be brought to 409 00:35:50,640 --> 00:35:51,640 you. 410 00:35:51,640 --> 00:36:00,940 Lord, draw us to yourself this week as we draw ourselves to the Book and let it do its 411 00:36:00,940 --> 00:36:08,680 work in our lives that we may become mature people of God. 412 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:14,880 I pray that not only for the adults but for the teenagers here, for the boys and girls, 413 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:19,160 that there will be in our church family and in all who are present and some who perhaps 414 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:25,360 represent other churches, that there may be in all of us a deep love for this Bible by 415 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:28,620 inspiration given. 416 00:36:28,620 --> 00:36:33,040 We pray this in the name of Him who is the living word, Jesus Christ. 417 00:36:33,040 --> 00:36:40,040 Amen.