How does scripture speak

Introduction

Before I went on vacation we concluded our series on the Baptist Distinctives. This year we have been trying to lay a foundation for who we are as an Independent Fundamental Baptist Church. But the primary reason behind this series is so that we have a grounding on what can and cannot change at Harvest Hills Baptist Church. Anytime you bring in a new pastor, their are going to be some changes. Different people do things differently and the philosophy of ministry from one man to another will vary ever so slightly. I want us to know who we are as a church because those are the things that cannot change. We cannot lose our identity. Hopefully as we have gone through this series, you understand a little more clearly why we are different from other churches here in Oklahoma.

We are first of all fundamentalists. We believe that there are some doctrines worth fighting for because they are essential to our faith. We discussed those fundamental doctrines of scripture which we cannot budge from.

Next, we are Baptists holding to the historic Baptist doctrines.

Then we explained what it means to be independent. I tried to lay out a framework of theological triage for deciding when we must separate from other churches. I based that framework on Paul’s different responses to different separation issues he confronted. Some situations, we are to treat the person as a publican and a sinner. These would include unrepentant sin and deviations from the fundamentals. There can be no cooperation with liberal or progressive churches under this principle. Then we saw that there were situations where we still separate as a church, but we treat them as a brother. These are practical issues of separation that include brothers who are living unscripturally and major doctrinal differences. This would include the issue of baptism. A church cannot practice believers only baptism and infant baptism at the same time and we must practice what our conscience believes the bible teaches. That inevitably means we must separate from others who do things differently. This doesn’t mean we think they are unsaved. This doesn’t mean I couldn’t be friends with them outside of church. It also doesn’t mean there might not be some circumstance outside of church where we might be able to cooperate with them, but we cannot worship together in the same body without someone having to compromise their beliefs. The third category was things we can agree to disagree on and still worship together. These issues do not make a lot of practical difference to the life of the church.

There is one other distinctive that I would say defines Harvest Hills Baptist Church that we haven’t gone over so far: conservative Christian Music. We are going to do a mini-series on worship music in the church. Having reviewed the theological triage, we could ask where music falls. Churches have a wide variety of music. Independent Baptists have a wide variety of music. I went into a church once and they were playing Let Freedom Ring a secular country song in the church before services began.

So how do we handle this issue? I want to say that there are some aspects of this debate that are second degree issues in our theological triage. Disagreement does lead unfortunately to a practical separation. As an example: If I believe rock music is wrong and you believe it is the best musical form to be used in worship, can we both worship together without violating our own conscience? The answer is No. Someone will have to cave on their beliefs. So some aspects are cause for practical separation. I still view them as a brother and we could get coffee together, but in the end someone would have to bend to worship side by side. Churches have to have some position on this issue.

However, some parts of this issue are third degree issues. They should not be issues of separation. I’ll give you one example: I have a few friends now who would reject most music by Ron Hamilton. Their argument would be that majesty music strays to far from the normal chord patterns that traditional music employs. Now is this truly a biblical issue at this level? Not really. Within good conservative music, there is a spectrum of acceptable music over which we do not need to separate over.

So the question is how do we know when we should divide or not on this issue? The answer must come from the bible. Many in the past have grounded biblical standards of music in styles of music or music theory or quotations from musicians or even the results of certain musical styles. While these things are helpful as illustrations, they cannot be the sole basis for our standard of practice in the church. We are going to unpack a doctrinal framework for churches deciding what music they should have in their worship services. This is a slightly different question from what music you should listen to though the principles are the same, but as we decide what music the church should use; we must look for answers in God’s word.

Here is the problem: the bible doesn’t say use this music and don’t use this music in clear, certain terms. Tonight, I want us to ask the question How does the bible speak to us about what we should believe and practice? This sermon will probably not be exhaustive but hopefully it will help you understand how the bible weighs in on issues even when they aren’t specifically spelled out.

The word of God Speaks Authoritatively

When I say that the word of God speaks authoritatively I mean: it has the right to command us. It has the right to tell us what to do. Grudem defines the authority of scripture this way:

The authority of scripture means that all the words of Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.

We can see this in a couple consistent strands of thought throughout the bible:

Thus saith the Lord- This phrase is used over 417 times throughout scripture. 1 Samuel 15:2 “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.” and whenever we see it used, it is proclaiming an official message from a king to his subjects. The role of the prophet who spoke these words was as a herald or ambassador from the king to his people. When God speaks in this passage, judgment is coming to Amalek and obedience is required of Israel (vs 3). Punishment followed when Saul disobeyed (vs 11).

All scripture is given by inspiration- 2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:” The authority of scripture comes from the person who gave it. All scripture is inspired by God. If Kenny wrote me a letter and told me to sell my house, do you think I would obey? But if the president wrote me and told me I had to sell my house, would I? The authority of that letter is dependent on who wrote the letter.

We often see the scriptures speak in their most clear fashion when commands are given. When a command is given, there is no doubt what God wants us to do. I have a practice in my bible of underlining in blue any commands that I find in a passage because those commands tell me what God’s will is for me to do.

Why is this important? Many Christians treat issues of music as if all that matters is what they like. It is just a matter of taste and even if someone showed them from the bible how God’s will is revealed to us in his word about this issue, they would ignore it. So if God speaks to this issue and I believe he does, our hearts ought to be submitted to his will even if I don’t personally like it. The whole issue has to begin with dealing with the heart.

The word of God Speaks Exemplary.

The second way that God’s word speaks to us is by example. Romans 15:4 “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” 1 Corinthians 10:6 “Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.”

Why is it that the NT Christian should not unhook from the OT like Andy Stanley says. If we aren’t under the law, why bother reading the OT. These two verses clearly teach that all those stories and passages in the OT where given for a purpose.

They were written as an example. An example is someone you ought to pattern your life after. If I want to become a pro baller I might want to study and imitate the life of Michael Jordan atleast as it applies to basketball. So there are stories in the bible that we can look at to pattern our lives after.

They were written for our learning. Those examples are intended to teach us something. They can inspire us as Paul points out in Romans, but they can also warn us to not follow a certain path as he points out in 1 Corinthians.

So as we look back at the OT we can glean lessons from the lives of those men. So when we look at the lives of men in the scripture we can look for things God said to them, how did God show his character in this story, what is God’s heart and priorities, what kind of thinking did God expect from those men etc. The stories of the OT are not just story book stories that you learn by heart but they are accounts that reveal the mind and heart of God.

We can look back at stories of men who worshiped God in a wrong way and were punished. From those stories we can then ask why? What did they do wrong? How might I fall into the same trap in my life today? What practices and warnings should I take from this story about my worship?

The word of God Speaks Principally

Probably, the most difficult aspect of the way God speaks for people to see are the principles of scripture. Many are alright as long as something is spelled out in black and white. but understanding the principles of scripture takes wisdom and discernment. We recently preached on the role of the Mosaic law in the life of a NT believer. I mentioned that the believer is not under any of the law of Moses; rather, he is under the law of Christ. So does that again mean we throw out the OT law. No Paul affirms that the OT law is perfect and good because it reflects the heart and mind of God. So what do we do with it then? Do we refuse to shape our beards because the Mosaic law says not to? The believer is not under the law, but even that law reveals something about the values of God. We look at the principles behind what scripture says to understand the mind and heart of God. Let me give you one example where Paul does just this:

In 1 Corinthians 9:9 “For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?” Paul quotes an OT passage. Now before we look into what Paul is doing with this quotation, let’s ask what the original context was. Go back to Deuteronomy 25:4 “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn.” Vs 1 tells us that this is about civil disputes between men and justice in the land. If the law is broken, the judge has the right to punish the wicked. Moses establishes a law that if you use oxen to harvest or mill the grain that you have grown, you cannot muzzle the ox. You must let him eat from what he is working.

Now most of us probably don’t use oxen, let alone grow crops today; so this law might seem to have no application to us today. But is that the case? I have mentioned that passages of scripture have only one meaning, but they might have more than one application. Turn back to 1 Corinthians 9. Paul here is arguing for his right to receive support from those they minister to just like the other apostles have this right. But he quotes Deut 25, why? Paul sees here a principle that can be applied.

ChatGPT defined a biblical principle as:

A biblical principle is a general truth or moral guideline derived from Scripture that can be applied across different situations, beyond the specific historical or cultural context in which it was originally written.

If you think about why God made this law, you can see why Paul uses it. God thought that it was important that those who worked be provided for from their work. This principle applied to oxen in the OT, but it also applies to men here in the NT. Paul isn’t telling them to feed their cows, but he applies the principle of the passage to the NT believer today. Some might call this in theological terms the general equity of the law.

What I want you to notice is that Paul was not limited to the black and white of scripture. Paul also sought principles behind what was written and applied them to our lives. Here Paul is using the principle to challenge their behavior and correct an injustice. So when we talk about music standards in the church, we are not limited to merely black and white, but we must look at the principles of scripture as well.

Now some may twist scripture in doing so, but this does not invalidate the practice. There are different levels of application and the further we get from the original intent of the passage, the more likely it is that we will deviate from truth. So our job is to make sure our principles are grounded in the text of scripture thoroughly. As this series continues, we are going to look at four biblical principles that govern our music standards at HHBC. You will be given a statement of our music policy here at the church that centers around these biblical principles, but hopefully after the series you will understand why we have made the decisions we have made.

Conclusion

I had three other points, but we are out of time tonight; so I will preach on those later in the month. I believe that this topic is foundational for understanding what God desires of our lives. It will also be foundational for understanding the church’s music standards; so if you have any questions at this point, I would encourage discussion. Let’s talk about it. For now, here is my question for you, How is God speaking to you through his word this week? Maybe you need to look a little deeper than the surface level words of the text or the bare bones facts of the story. Ask yourself two questions:

What does this reveal about the character and heart of God?

How does this apply to my life?