The Bible
Rooted • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Have you ever tried pulling weeds and they just keep coming back?
In order to prevent that you have to remove the entire root. If you’ve ever tried digging the entire root of weeds you find how they are deep and/or widespread.
I remember trying to pull the roots of this one weed that ran horizontal along the ground. I kept digging and pulling, it was like the energizer bunny, it just kept going and going.
Today we’re starting a new series I named rooted. Just like those weeds, we, as Christians need to be well rooted.
How many Christians do we know or have we heard about that when things get really tough they just bail out. They have nothing deep down that holds them to their faith and they fold.
But, a Christian, well rooted in their faith, not only survives they thrive. Even if everything is stripped away, just like those weeds, we’re still anchored. We’ve got roots so deep and wide that we keep coming back stronger.
This series is about helping you become deeply rooted in your faith. From now until the Christmas Advent season, we’re going to take a deeper dive into the basic beliefs of our faith.
We’re going to discover what drives our faith. My prayer is that by the time we’re done you’re faith will be rooted in an experienced relationship with God.
Our first look at being rooted in our faith is going to focus on the Bible. We’re starting with the Bible because everything else depends upon the Bible.
Think about it for a minute. Everything we believe and know about God comes from the Bible.
What we know and believe about Jesus comes from the Bible. What we know and believe about ourselves comes from the Bible.
Without the Bible we don’t have a full understanding of the nature and character of God. There is no alternative source that provides any knowledge about God.
We’re starting with the Bible because it’s the bedrock foundation for everything else we believe.
We’re going to look at four core facts that we must understand about the Bible:
The Bible’s Authority
The Bible’s Clarity
The Bible’s Necessity
The Bible’s Sufficiency
Let’s start by taking a look at the Bible’s authority.
The Bible’s Authority
The Bible’s Authority
What do we mean when we talk about the Bible’s authority?
Various dictionaries define authority as:
1) The Moral or legal right or ability to control
2) The power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior
3) The power to give orders or make decisions
4) The power or right to direct or control someone or something.
In other words authority is the power to determine, or otherwise settle issues or disputes, it’s the right to control, command, or determine.
When we say the Bible has authority we are saying the Bible has the power to determine or otherwise settle issues or disputes.
The Bible has the right to control, command, or determine. The Bible has that authority over all things in our lives.
How can we give that kind of authority to a book?
The Bible isn’t just any book! The Bible is the Word of God!
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
All of the Bible is God’s Word. Not just the areas quoted “thus saith the Lord” but every single word written is God-breathed.
The OT is God’s word. The NT is God’s word. Every word in the Bible are God’s words.
God says the Bible is His word and there is no higher authority than God. That means God’s authority rests in the Bible.
I know this to be true, because I’ve never read a book like the Bible. It’s the only book I’ve ever read that continues to give a deeper insight and understanding every time I read it.
Especially how often I have read it over the past 20+ years. It continues to deliver everything it promises and continues to be true.
The Bible continues to give me a deeper and deeper understanding of the character of God, who I am in Jesus Christ, and how I’m supposed to apply the Bible’s truth in my life.
You see if the Bible is God’s word, then the words aren’t just true, they are truth itself. Jesus tells us that in John 17:17 as He prays for those God has given Him.
17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
If we don’t trust the Bible we don’t trust God. If we don’t trust God then we are putting ourselves as a higher authority than God.
So we must place God’s word the Bible as a higher authority than ourselves. We must give the Bible the same authority we give God.
As we read the Bible seeking to understand, trust and obey God’s words we are seeking the same of God.
And we want clarity when we read the Bible, right?
The Bible’s Clarity
The Bible’s Clarity
We want the Bible to be clear about God’s character. We want the Bible to be clear about who we are.
And most of all we want the Bible to be clear about how we are supposed to live and obey God’s word. How we are supposed to apply it in our daily lives.
If our parents aren’t clear about how their children are supposed to behave things don’t go very well.
If our boss isn’t clear about how we are supposed to do our job and behave while on the job, it’s probably not going to end very well.
What do I mean about the clarity of the Bible?
I mean the Bible is written in such a way that all things necessary to become a Christian, live as a Christian and grow as a Christian are clear.
Because we have the Bible— how we become a Christian is clear.
Because we have the Bible— how to live as a Christian is clear.
Because we have the Bible— how to grow as a Christian is clear.
God’s word doesn’t take a doctorate degree to be able to read it and/or understand it. Look at Ps 19:7
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
Even simple people like myself can understand God’s word. The Hebrew word “pě·ṯî” means “pertaining to persons that are easily deceived or persuaded, showing lack of wisdom and understanding, yet having some capacity to change this condition.”
And/or “the state or condition of being of simple ways, implying ignorance and a difficulty in understanding.”
God didn’t just throw us out here and say “good luck finding Me.” He makes it clear we are guaranteed to find Him when we seek Him with all our hearts.
Look at Jeremiah 29:13
13 You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.
And Deut 4:29
29 But from there, you will search for the Lord your God, and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart and all your soul.
He definitely shows us who He is. He definitely shows us who we are. And He definitely shows us how we can know Him.
The Bible is clear in its message. Seek God with all your heart and all your soul and you will find Him. His word, the Bible, will be made clear.
You might be thinking or asking, “Okay, so what about all that stuff people disagree about in the Bible?”
“What about the stuff I can’t understand?”
The problem IS NOT the Bible; the problem is in us! The problem is our brokenness. The problem is our finite minds trying to understand an infinite mind.
The problem is in our flesh (that is our soul) that is in direct opposition to God. However, when we are truly seeking God with all our heart and all our soul we find God’s word becoming more and more clear.
The Bible is always clear, but sometimes our hearts, souls, and minds aren’t prepared for the clear understanding.
Which brings us to the necessity of the Bible.
The Bible’s Necessity
The Bible’s Necessity
Think about the relationships you have with all the people in your lives. The longer you have a relationship the deeper you get to know that person.
In-fact no matter how long you have that relationship, you will never know or understand everything about that person.
It’s the same with God’s word. Without the Bible we wouldn’t be able to have a deep intimate relationship with God.
Some people, including far too many Christians, will try to say we don’t need the Bible. They’ll say things like, “nature is my church. All I need to do is go spend time in nature to find God.”
And it’s true that we can have a limited knowledge about God without the Bible. Look at what Psalm 19:1 says,
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
And Paul says in Romans 1:19-20
19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, that is, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
These two passages are describing what we call General Revelation. We can look around and see God’s fingerprints. We can come to the conclusion that there is a Creator.
Just understanding there is a higher being that created the universe doesn’t get us anywhere near an intimate relationship with the Creator.
Look at 2 Tim 3:16-17 again.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
There’s an implication here. It’s implied that we either read Scripture or have Scripture read to us every day. Look at Deut 17:18-20.
18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests.
19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees
20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
When Israel demanded a king like the other nations God instructed the king not just to write a copy of the Law and keep it next to him. But to also read it every day he lived.
And look at what Jesus says in Matthew 4:4
4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Without the Bible we wouldn’t have the word of God to live on. And Ps 119:11,
11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
The Bible informs us of our sins and guards our hearts against our sin. And Hebrews 4:12 tells us reading the Bible is like having a conversation with the living God.
12 For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The Bible is the living word of God. Reading the living word of God and meditating on it (that means spending time in prayer) is the only way we have to communicate with God.
It’s how God transforms our character. It’s how we begin to understand the character of God. How we begin to understand our own character.
It’s how we begin to hear God speak to us and guide us in our lives. The Bible is necessary for us to have an intimate, soul transforming relationship with God.
The Bible is necessary for us to have the relationship with God that He desires. The Bible is necessary for us to live the Christian lives God calls us to live.
The Bible’s Sufficiency
The Bible’s Sufficiency
But how can we be sure the Bible is sufficient?
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us the Bible contains all the words of God a person needs to become a Christian, live as a Christian and grow as a Christian.
Hebrews 4:12 tells us the Bible is the LIVING word of God. The incredibly deep truth of this statement never ceases to amaze me.
When we have truly placed our faith in Jesus the Holy Spirit begins to reside in us. Not around us. Not somewhere in the vicinity. But inside our spirit.
As we continue to seek God in Scripture the holy Spirit gives us an ever deepening understanding of the nature and character of God, ourselves, and the world around us.
I’ve been deeply studying the Bible for over 35 years. Most of you much longer than I. And the Bible continues to provide me with new information every time I read it.
I have a lot of books on my shelves that I have read maybe three times and after reading them the third time I realize I didn’t get anything new. I didn’t get something I missed the first 2 times.
I’m not really certain how many times I have read the Bible. Way more than three I can tell you that much. And every time I find something new and wonderful.
I find a living God having an intimate and loving conversation with me. Although it sometimes doesn’t feel very loving.
Conviction over my sins hurts. A lot!!!
But, in God’s loving mercy and grace, that painful conviction transforms my character to be more like Christ.
I can’t think of anything more sufficient than the endless depth of God’s word that comes from an eternal mind.
So what does the authority, clarity, necessity and sufficiency of the Bible mean for us?
It means we can grow deep roots of faith.
Our faith is rooted in the authority of God’s word. We can have peace and comfort in knowing God is in control.
Our faith grows deeper roots through the clarity of God’s word. The Bible clearly informs us about God, ourselves, and the rest of God’s creation around us.
The necessity of the Bible is the rich nourishing soil for the roots of our faith. Only by reading and meditating on Scripture every day can we lovingly water and fertilize the roots of our faith.
The roots of our faith spread wider and deeper as we begin to recognize the sufficiency of the Bible.
From the moment we come to have faith through the rest of our eternal lives, in His presence, God’s word is sufficient.
How well rooted are you in your faith?
How deep and wide are you rooted in God’s word?
Are you like the Psalmist and can honestly say,
11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.
