Firm Foundations: God's Word

Message series

2 Timothy 3:16–17 NLT

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Verse 16 brings up two things that are vital to the Bible serving as foundational to our faith. That is the doctrine of the reliability and authority of scripture.

The Reliability of Scripture

The Bible is an incredibly interesting book. Here are some Bible facts. First: This book is the best selling book in the history of the world. It is also the most shoplifted book in the history of the world.

Truthfully, it isn’t just one book. It’s actually sixty-six different books that together tell the story of God. This Bible, sixty-six books, it contains almost 800k words... 70 hours to read aloud.

What’s amazing is, the Bible’s written by all sorts of different people - politicians, kings, farmers, shepherds, peasants, musicians, poets, even tax collectors.

The Bible was written from all sorts of different places. The Bible was written by Moses in the wilderness, by Jeremiah in the dungeon. It was written by Luke while traveling, Paul while he was in prison. It was written by John while he was in exile on the Isle of Patmos. This book, it was written from thirteen different countries on three different continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe, and it was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic.

What’s amazing is, even with all this diversity, spread out over 1500 years, it has amazing accuracy and consistency when it comes to the message about the character, the nature of God and His redemptive plan for mankind.

We accept that the Bible is truly the word of God because of the testimony of truthful people. Not only is it consistent, but it consistently speaks to a wide variety of topics.

Topics included in scripture include everything from marriage, divorce, re-marriage, adultery, sex, lust, greed, guilt, materialism, generosity, healing, hope, forgiveness, parenting, prayer, friendship, pride, obedience, Heaven, Hell, lying, murder, suicide, rape, fears, doubt, miracles, love, hate, money, criticism, creation, government, submission, rebellion, peace, leadership, comparisons, joy, discontentment, sacrifice, delayed gratification, patience, faithfulness, enjoying life, self control, disasters, injustices, demons, angels, discipleship, disciplines, fasting, honor, mercy, caring for the poor, handling wealth, family, and more… but you get the point.

Internally the Bible is reliable. It’s message is consistent, it’s writers attest to it’s consistency.

The Bible is also externally reliable. What I mean is that when you consider the details of the Bible, they are consistent with external sources. Whether it’s writings other than scripture, archeology, science; the Bible is consistent with extrabiblical sources.

A third reliability is what’s called bibliographically reliable. Let me explain it. They didn’t have printing presses, so they would have to make copies by hand. It was serious work making copies of scripture. Since the bible was held in such high esteem, these official copies were called Masoretic Texts. If it were damaged in any way, if it got dirty, if it tore, they would throw it out and use a new perfect copy, so writing copies was a big deal and having copies that exactly matched the Masoretic was critical… to make sure they did it without mistakes, they would count the characters on the page, check random characters to make sure they were the same, they even figured out the middle character in the scroll and would make sure it matched.

Now what makes this all amazing was that in

Now, here’s the amazing part of the story. In the year 70 A.D., the Romans began attacking the Jewish people. They sought to destroy their culture, and religious heritage. So, the Jewish people took their scrolls and they put them in bottles, and they hid them somewhere, most likely in caves. For 1800 years, these historic writings, the Biblical scrolls, remained completely hidden.

Then in the year 1947, a shepherd stumbled upon some old bottles. Inside, he found what became known as the Dead Sea Scrolls. Archeologists then discovered eleven other sources of these ancient scrolls. And what’s amazing is, when these Dead Sea Scrolls to the Masoretic text, they are amazingly accurate.

The Bible we have is reliably the same as what was originally written.

But we believe much more than the Bible being reliable. We believe it is Authoritative.

The Authority of Scripture

Where does the Bible get it’s authority?

Well, it’s authoritative in a historical sense in that it is the official record of the Christian and Jewish faith. It explains our roots. But there’s more.

The Bible is authoritative for the church because the church has always said so. Those who disagree put themselves outside of the Christian faith.

This is a bold statement, I know, but I make it because of how the real eye-witnesses of the genesis of our faith described things.

As Paul wrote in the passage we read earlier:

2 Timothy 3:16 NIV

16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

The bible is authoritative in a spiritual sense… because I’m convinced of it. Intellectually, Christians are reasonably convinced of the reliability of Scripture, then as the Holy Spirit works in us we become spiritually convinced.

Pastor that makes no sense… you are telling me that you believe the Bible because the Bible tells you to… That’s exactly right… but I’m not the first one.

In fact this has been the doctrine of the church since the beginning and stretching back into it’s Jewish roots before its inception… that the Scriptures were God’s revealed word to his people.

It was view this way because of the idea of inspiration. That God inspired certain people to communicate according to his will. These communications were written down and God’s Spirit has confirmed this in God’s people.

So today we as a orthodox christian church, we stand on the shoulders of generations of believers who receive the 66 books of the Old and New Testament as God’s Revealed Word. That it has authority in our lives for all things related to faith and salvation.

That’s what Paul was getting at in his letter to the church in Thessalonica....

1 Thessalonians 2:13 (NLT)

13 Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe.

You see Gods word has power… but this power isn’t available to everyone. For some people, the Bible you see is just a book.

The writer of Hebrews put it this way:

Hebrews 4:2 (NLT)

2 For this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. But it did them no good because they didn’t share the faith of those who listened to God.

Maybe it’s a history book… maybe it’s a children’s book… maybe it’s a book of poetry or a book of folk tales… but for many it’s just a book… but that’s not everyone.

For others though, the Bible is a book of power… the words held here can transform families, break generational curses, restore relationships, build nations… but for any of this to happen, you have to know the key to release the power that Scripture has for you.

The key to releasing Scripture’s power into your life is: YOU

That’s right you are the key to releasing Scripture’s power into your life… you probably weren’t expecting that were you?

But what does that look like?

Seriously I usually can’t find the keys to my truck and now I’m responsible for the Bible?

But seriously, three things we do to release the power of Scripture in our lives…

First

You release Scripture’s power by choosing to read it

So this first one probably didn’t surprise you did it. This is where it starts, to know the word, you have to read the word…

Psalm 119

Psalm 119… Turn there in your Bible

Psa 119 11 “11 I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Psa 119 16 “16 I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word.”

It all starts with reading the Bible.

SO you are probably thinking… to release the power of GOd’s word in my life ...How much time do we need to spend reading it?

YES.... That’s not the answer you were hoping for maybe, but what I mean is, however much time you can… read it.

So when you decide to read Scripture… Take your time… however much time you give it.

I remember one time I had promised God that I would read the Bible in a certain period of time and I got behind, and instead of just plugging along, I started listening to the Bible… and when I wasn’t catching up fast enough, I sped up the recording… you know what I got out of it? VERY LITTLE

If you want the truth to set you free, you have to get it into you

It’s the truth… The truth that sets you free.... free from sin - addictions - jealousy - love of money - bondage to the things of this world - gluttony - pride - selfishness - worry - anxiety depression - approval of others - success - negative thoughts -

That's the first thing… you have to read it.

Then you have to choose to believe it.

You release Scripture’s power by choosing to believe it

What do I mean by, “choosing to believe it”

We will find ourselves in situations where we have to choose what we believe. Here and now, I choose to believe this floor is going to hold me up… on my way over today I chose to believe my brakes were going to work. I chose to believe the medicine I take is going to work.

We choose what we believe all the time

Psalm 119:30

Psalm 119 30 “I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.”

I have set my heart on you laws he wrote… he’s explaining that his choosing to believe the scriptures is based on a relationship he has with God.

It’s relational… our faith is all about a relationship.

I remember when my friend Mr Guinea was leading our small group when I became a Christian. He convinced me. His love for me and others, the way he accepted me, encouraged me, the way he spoke truth into my life, the way he was interested in and prayed for my family.

He was a living testimony of the truth of the Scriptures.

That’s how it always it, we choose to believe SOMETHING is true because SOMEONE is truthful.

The Apostle Paul… Back to 2 Timothy...

2 Timothy 1:12

2 Tim 1 12 “That is why I am suffering as I am. (EXPLAIN HOW HE’S SUFFERING) Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”

But what about my doubts? I mean the Bible was written so long ago… How can I be sure? Shows on National Geographic tell me the world is 6 billion years old and the Bible says it’s 6000 years old....

A lot of times Christians avoid talkign about these sorts of things because we often view Doubts as wrong… like doubt is the opposite of faith.

Popular writer Ann Lammott wrote: The opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.

Doubts aren’t the opposite of faith, but part of it.

They are why we have faith

Think of all the people in scripture who had to deal with doubts because their experience didn’t fit with what they expected of God… Noah asked to build a boat before it had rained… Joseph given a dream yet finding himself in a pit and prison… David promised to be king, but on the run for his life… Peter walking on water only to sink… Paul blinded by the one he was trying to kill

You see doubters, people who are honest about their doubts and choose to believe in God’s word in the face of their doubts are just the people that God works through

James the brother of Jesus… now let me ask you if you think he had reason to doubt… wrote the book of James… Right in the beginning he puts it out there

James 1:6 NIV

6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.

What’s worth hanging on to… faith or doubt. If every time you have a question or doubt, what will you ever commit to? No we commit to things… we have faith … even though we have doubts… so when you read scripture… choose to believe it.

Then third:

You release Scripture’s power by choosing to act on it

How do you act on scripture? What did Paul say back in the beginning?

2 Tim 3 17 “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” Choose to declare it so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

The Scriptures are intended to be a guide for living out our relationship with God… a guide for the life of faith.

So acting on Scriptre is about choosign to live like it’s true.

Again James the brother of Jesus said:

James 1:22

James 1 22 “22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

That’s pretty plain isn’t it. If we aren’t doing what the bible says we are deceiving our self… Let me say that again because as I thought about this verse, it got to me more and more… if we aren’t doing what the Bible says, we are deceiving ourselves

What the bible says about about his grace, about our sin, about the church, about our marriage, about our children, about our community, about our business, about our school,

If we aren’t doing what the bible says, we are deceiving ourselves Because we are living out a faith different from scripture.

So as we are building this foundation… I want us to build a BIBLICAL FAITH… what does the Bible say… yes I understand there are interpretations and all, but what has the Church, from the beginning always understood the faith to stand for…

Just because our world is changing and we may want the Bible to say something different, it doesn’t … God hasn’t changed.

Like Matthew explained in Matthew 7

Matt 7 24-27 “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.””

We are all building our lives… What are you building your life on?

There is a storm coming… will the foundation of your life endure?

The time you need a home the most is during the storm… will there be anything for you?

Don't wait till the storm to start building...

When you act on God’s word, God's word acts on you

Another way we act on God’s word… having read it and believe it… is to declare it

Declare God’s word, quote scripture to yourself, to others, we all talk to ourselves… Let’s talk to our self with purpose

Matt 17:20 “20 ... if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.””

Declare God’s promises to the mountains in your life

What does God have to say about your situation? DO you know? How can you find out? Read it, believe it…

Then when you stand before your mountain and say…

“God says that temptations have no power over me.” that “I can flee temptations”. God says...

I am loved… God says I have power…

God says fear not for I am with you

God says he will give me peace as I trust in him

God says he will never leave me nor forsake me

God says...In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

God says...I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.

God says...though I may stumble, I will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.

God says...Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

When you say what God says, you begin to think like God thinks.