Can I Trust the Bible?

Introduction

Every generation faces something unique. But have you discovered that many of our biggest questions aren’t new questions?

In the early 20th century, we had world-wide wars that caused fear to spread around the globe. In the middle of the 20th century, the threat of nuclear war led to the rise of many social movements that revolutionized the way people looked at life. Towards the end of the 20th century, technology began to take off and threats of terrorism began to spread. 26 years into the 21st century, and we have a world with information available at the tap of a finger with artificial intelligence, social media, podcasts, YouTube videos, and just about anything else you can imagine! Yet, despite all the ways the world has changed in our lifetime, many people continue to ask questions that have been asked for thousands of years:

Can I Trust the Bible?

Is Jesus Really the Only Way to God?

Does God Actually Know What’s Best For My Life?

Why Does God Allow Suffering to Exist?

Now, these sound like modern questions. They sound like debates that our generation loves to discuss! But each of these 4 questions can be traced back to a single moment in time as a simple conversation took place in a Garden a long time ago. If you have your copy of God’s Word, open it up just a page or two and you find Genesis 3. We see that God created the world and said that it was good. In Genesis 3, we see a conversation. We see Satan and Eve talking and Eve is asked a question that humanity has asked in every generation since, “Did God Really Say…?”

That’s a fantastic question because it spreads a seed of doubt. He didn’t tell Eve that God didn’t exist - she knew He did! He didn’t tell Eve to worship another God - Eve knew there was no other God. He simply questioned if she could truly trust in God. Sadly, we know the result. Eve was deceived and Adam sinned. They doubted God’s goodness. They questioned His faithfulness. And right then and there, sin entered the world and as we look around the world today, we see the effects of sin. Addictions. Diseases. Broken relationships. Violence. Death. And it all goes back to a question - did God really say?

Today, Satan asks the same questions, he simply disguises them in different forms.

Over the next 4 weeks, we’re going to wrestle with some of these key questions that our culture is asking - and this morning, we’re asking the foundational one: Can I Trust the Bible? I’ll lay my cards on the table this morning - my answer is YES. This morning I’m going to argue for and defend that answer based on biblical convictions that many of you share with me, but some of you might not be there. Maybe you’re on the fence. This morning I want you to understand the significance of this claim, if this book is the Word of God, then it deserves not only our trust but it deserves our lives.

This morning we’re in 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5. Paul is writing this in Roman prison, and he knows that his end is near. Things aren’t looking good. False teachers are multiplying, Roman culture is growing more hostile to Christianity, and Timothy is struggling to shepherd his flock in the middle of this. Paul could have said a lot of things… but he gives 2 crucial commands: Continue in what you have learned and Preach the Word!

Let’s read this passage together!

2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 CSB

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed. You know those who taught you, 15 and you know that from infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of his appearing and his kingdom: 2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

In a world of confusion and chaos, God’s Word tells us to continue in what we have learned and believed in. Let’s ask Jesus to help us learn from His Word and to believe it this morning. Let’s Pray

Trust God’s Word (14-15)

Again, 2nd Timothy is Paul’s last book and the setting isn’t the most positive. Paul is about to die. Christians are starting to really experience persecution. And, to make matters even worse, false teachers are growing and Christians are being deceived. Truth is being abandoned, and Paul tells Timothy in verse 14 to not follow that trend… “But as for you..!” There is a different command for God’s people. Church, every generation faces the temptation to abandon God’s truth in order to fit its culture. Timothy faced this temptation, and so do we! But Paul’s command is incredibly simple in verse 14: Continue in what you have learned.

Now, that word continue probably doesn’t sound very exciting! We live in a world that prides itself on evolution and innovation - in becoming something new! But God’s Word repeatedly calls God’s people to remain faithful to what we have been taught. The world says “move on” because it assumes that Christians are afraid of change and stubborn because we continue believing what Christians have believed for thousands of years. Let’s be clear: I don’t trust the Bible because I’m afraid of change - I trust the Bible because I’m afraid of what happens whenever we abandon truth. CS Lewis called the chronological snobbery - the idea that the newest things are the best things. As Christians we reject this thinking. New things can be good things - I’m thankful for HVAC units that keep our sanctuary cool on how summer days. I’m thankful for live-streaming equipment that helps people who are sick still be able to follow along. But we don’t measure truth by age, we measure truth by the source. Paul doesn’t say to update the message. He says to continue in the message!

That word might not sound very fun. We live in a world that prides itself on innovation and evolution - becoming something new! But God’s Word repeatedly calls on God’s people to remain faithful to what they’ve already been taught. That’s why we’re taking a month this summer for this series, “We Still Believe That?” We live in a world that is yelling for us to move on already. A world that things that we’re stubborn and afraid of change. Again, I’ll lay my cards on the table this morning: The reason I trust the Bible is not because I’m stubborn and afraid of change, the reason I trust the Bible is that I’m afraid of what will happen if I go against the truth! See the latest and greatest thing isn’t always the right thing. CS Lewis had a word for this, “Chronological snobbery.” This idea that the newest thing is inherently the best thing. We reject this as believers - new things can be good things. I’m thankful for technology that allows us to livestream our services so people who are sick or traveling can follow along. I’m thankful for HVAC units that allow our sanctuary to be comfortable on hot summer days like today. New things can be good things, but we don’t measure truth by age - we measure it by its source. Paul here doesn’t say to update the message, he says to continue. Don’t drift. Don’t add. Don’t subtract. Don’t jump shift!

See, this is where Eve went wrong in the Garden. Satan asked the question, “Did God Really Say?” And Eve responded wrong. She added to God’s Word - meaning, she didn’t entirely know what God said. She entertained the question. But this is what we’re tempted to do today too, instead of shutting it down, we’re tempted to entertain the idea that God was silent about an issue that He actually spoke about clearly. Our world asks all sorts of questions:

Did God really say that marriage is between 1 man and 1 woman?

Did God really say that Jesus is the only way?

Did God really say that we all have sinned?

Did God really say that His Word is always right?

The world asks these questions, and Paul’s call for believers is incredibly simple: Continue. Keep trusting in God’s Word. Keep believing God’s Word. Friends, it is good to have Biblical convictions because if you don’t have those, it means that you don’t have a spine and you’ll fall for just about anything. Paul tells Timothy to remember what he has learned and believed and continue in it. Question - who taught Timothy the Word?

2 Timothy 1:5 CSB

5 I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.

Who taught Timothy? His mom and grandma. Lois and Eunice. Before Paul discipled him, before he heard Apollos preach, before he learned from Luke, his mother and grandmother taught him God’s Word. Church, never underestimate the eternal impact of investing in children. Ladies, don’t believe the lie that this sacred ministry in your home doesn’t matter. Long before Timothy preached, timothy learned God’s Word because these 2 ladies taught him as a child. Influencing the next generation is one of the greatest Kingdom investments you can make!

Let’s go ahead and say it how it is. We live in a world that views children as second class and the idea of ministering to children as something that is less important than ministering to adults. As if there is a totem pole and kids are at the bottom of the pole and then students and then young adults and then adults. As if you work your way up the ladder into more important offices and departments. Let’s say it like it is, that’s not how the Bible see’s it. Children are the most important work. They are impressionable. They need guidance. They are sponges, soaking up everything they see and hear. Praise God for Lois and Eunice who prayed over Timothy and taught him God’s Word. Praise God for their faith. Praise God for the time they invested into him spiritually! That isn’t lesser work, that is the most important work! Churches wouldn’t have been planted and lives wouldn’t have been changed the same if it weren’t for these 2 ladies - so women, don’t buy any lie that says that you have no place in ministry. Influencing the next generation is heroic!

Who was this in your life? Who first opened God’s Word for you? Maybe it was your mom or dad. Grandma or grandpa. Maybe a teacher or friend. Maybe a pastor. Timothy’s life was changed because someone faithfully opened up God’s Word and spent time with him. Never underestimate what God can do through one person simply taking time to teach someone God’s Word! Because as we read God’s Word, we learn the most important thing. See, the purpose of this book isn’t to answer every question you have. The purpose of this book is to tell you about the most important story and the most important person, Jesus Christ. Alistair Begg famously said that this is a Jesus book:

Old Testament - Jesus is predicted

Gospels - Jesus is Revealed

Acts - Jesus is Preached

Epistles - Jesus is Explained

Revelation - Jesus is Expected

This is incredible as the Bible centers on Jesus Christ. Every page, every book, every chapter, every theme points us to Jesus! Spurgeon shared that as every road in England leads to London, so does every verse in Scripture lead us to Jesus. This book tells us about lots of problems and places, but ultimately this book is about a PERSON named Jesus. And whenever you read it, something incredible happens, the Bible starts to read you. You open up your Bible thinking that you’re going to evaluate what it says, but before you know it, the Bible is confronting you. Revealing your need for Jesus. Exposing your actions. That’s because this book is a living book

Hebrews 4:12 CSB

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.

This book is a miracle. 40 authors. 3 continents. 3 languages. 1500 years. One unified story: God’s redemption of sinners through Jesus Christ! Why do I trust the Bible? Because the Living God speaks through His Living Word, and every page points us to His Living Son!

God’s Word is Inspired (16)

Paul tells Timothy to trust the Word. To continue in it. Yes, this is a book about Jesus. Yes, many of us might have been taught to trust in the Bible. Yes, many of us know stories in the Bible well. But, why do we trust it? Paul gives us 4 key reasons to trust Scripture in the remainder of this passage, and the first one is right here in verse 16 as all Scripture is inspired by God. Now, that word for inspired is a compound Greek phrase “theo” “pnuestos” or God-breathed. All Scripture is breathed out by God! That’s pretty cool. This means that the Bible occupies unique territory when it comes to books.

People sometimes ask, who wrote the Bible? God wrote it, and men wrote it. There is a human author who freely wrote what they wrote and we see their personality in their writing… David writes differently than Paul and Isaiah writes differently than Luke. But they were all inspired by the Holy Spirit to say what they said, so we can honestly affirm 2 Timothy 3:16 that God is the ultimate author of Scripture. Think of a sailboat - the sailboat has a? Sail! But how does the sail get into position? The sailors have to raise the sails. After the sails are raised, the wind takes the boat along where it goes. This is a helpful illustration as we think about Scripture. The Biblical authors are like sailors. They aren’t robots, they are faithful workers. They raise the sails, and the Holy Spirit fills the sails with wind and leads the boat where it needs to go.

2 Peter 1:20–21 CSB

20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

This is significant because it means that we can’t pit one biblical author against another. People love to say, “That was just Paul!” No, that’s the Holy Spirit speaking through Paul. That’s why we read this morning that all Scripture is breathed out by God. Not some Scripture. Not our favorite passages. Every page has the same Divine author - even if some passages are easier to understand than others. Even if we prefer certain styles or genres over others. It’s all God’s Word.

This is significant, the authors were carried along by the Holy Spirit, which means that you can’t pit one author against another. You can’t say, “Well that’s just Paul!” No, that’s actually the Holy Spirit of the Living God who told Paul what to write - take the argument up with the Lord. 2 Timothy 3:16 doesn’t say that our favorite Bible stories are inspired by God. Or that our favorite book in the Bible is inspired by God. It says, “All Scripture is inspired by God.” Meaning Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy? Inspired by God. Psalms, Proverbs, Haggai, Habakkuk, and Zechariah? Inspired by God. Matthew, Mark, Romans, Ephesians, and 1 Timothy? Inspired by God. The names that are hard to pronounce? Inspired by God. The passages that we don’t really like? Inspired by God. The books were know nothing about? Inspired by God! This doesn’t mean that every passage is easy to understand or that every passage impacts us the same. Think about this: Which book of the Bible is your favorite? Chances are, in a room this size, we’d have dozens of different answers! That’s ok! Someone might prefer the Gospels more than the Prophets. Some might like Prophecy more than History. But Revelation isn’t more inspired than Leviticus and Colossians isn’t more inspired than 2 Timothy. They share the same Divine author.

And this is important for us today, because we live in a day and age whenever people want to edit Scripture. People say things like this, “I love how accepting and loving Jesus was… but I don’t like what He said about marriage.” Or, “I love Psalm 23, but I don’t believe that Genesis is history.” We pick and we choose. We believe that some parts are important, and other parts are outdated… and whenever we do this, get this, we go right back to the problem in the Garden: “Did God Really Say?” See, Satan doesn’t have to get you to reject all of Scripture, all he has to do is get you to doubt one part. Because if he can sow a seed of doubt in one passage, with one doctrine, with one command, then he has an open door to get you to deny something else next. Our response to “Did God Really Say?” is a resounding YES! God has spoken and we cannot stay silent. We must submit to it.

JC Ryle once shared this, “When you read the Bible, you are not reading the compositions of imperfect men like yourself, but the words of the eternal God.” In your home, in your car, at the coffee shop, in your life group class, in the sanctuary during worship, when you hear God’s Word, God is speaking through His Word and this passage says that this book contains everything we need for salvation. We don’t need another “word” another “voice” another “revelation.” We have what we need - and God was gracious to give us what we do have - He didn’t have to give us His Word, but He did!

All Scripture is inspired by God - we find His Story. Who we are. Who He is. What sin does. How we can be saved. How it all ends. We find all these things inside of this divinely inspired book. We can trust this book because we know who the author is, and because God Himself inspired it, that tells us something else about this book, next

God’s Word is Inerrant (16)

This is a big word that we don’t use a lot in our world. Inerrant simply means free from error. You’re looking at verse 16 and you don’t see this word, do you? I don’t. Maybe you’re wondering why this is our 3rd point this morning! That’s fair. You find the foundation for this here. God is the author of Scripture, and His character determines the character of His Word.

Numbers 23:19 CSB

19 God is not a man, that he might lie, or a son of man, that he might change his mind. Does he speak and not act, or promise and not fulfill?

Titus 1:2 CSB

2 in the hope of eternal life that God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

Hebrews 6:18 CSB

18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us.

What do you see in these verse? One key point: God cannot lie! See, there are some things that are impossible for God and that’s a good thing. Here are 3: God cannot sin. God cannot let you down. God cannot lie. Praise God for these truths in Scripture! And if God is this way, what kind of Bible does He produce? One filled with errors? Lies? Contradictions? No. He gives us a trustworthy book. Look at one of the most incredible verses in the Bible, John 17:17

John 17:17 CSB

17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

How many of you have heard someone say that they have found a contradiction in Scripture before? I know I have! Here’s the good news, God is big enough to handle the biggest objections and the greatest questions anyone has! I’ve heard about lots of contradictions, especially through social media, YouTube, and all sorts of things like that. But almost every single example is the result of a difficult passage to understand, not a contradiction in Scripture. Sometimes it’s hard to understand the historical background or the translation. People point to the Gospels as contradictions. But different eyewitnesses naturally emphasize different details. In fact, if the Gospels were identical, it would be suspicious because they likely would have copied one another. 4 accounts. One Jesus. One Cross. One Empty Tomb. One Gospel.

A couple weeks ago I had a conversation about how the Old Testament mentions in one place that Solomon had 40,000 stalls for horses, and another place says he had 4,000 stalls for horses. Skeptics scream - contradiction. How do we respond as believers? Hear this: The Bible welcomes hard questions. As a pastor, I love these questions! There are answers. Faithful scholars have several explanations. One likely one is that one passage focuses on specific stalls in the stables and the other focused on the stables themselves. Difficult passages should force us to study the Bible more carefully and when we come across something hard, we have to assume that there’s something for us to learn, not default to the Bible has this one wrong.

People believe there are problems with different parts of the Bible. Adam and Eve, the flood, Jonah being swallowed by a fish, the list goes on. Do you know who believed in each of those historical events? Jesus Christ. Literal Adam and Eve. Worldwide flood. Jonah in the belly of the fish for 3 days. Jesus believed these events were true! Our faith rests on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried in the tomb, and rose on the 3rd day? I do. If you believe that. If you believe in a God who defeats death, aren’t you also going to believe in what Jesus says about these stories and events that are hard for us to fully understand and wrap our mind around? See, I’ll trust in Jesus’ view of Scripture over modern skepticism.

Here’s why this matters: Whenever anxiety strikes, you need hope. Whenever a child strays from the faith, you need a promise to hold on to. When you have one thing after another and you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom, you need to know that Jesus is the rock at the bottom who holds you in His hands! Life won’t always make sense. We might not always read what we want to in Scripture. But we can take it to the bank that God’s Word is true and that the the God of the Bible is good!

God’s Word is Sufficient (16-17)

God’s Word is breathed out by God. It is inspired. God cannot lie, so we can trust what He has given us in His Word to be truthful. This is good news! Many Christians believe that God’s Word is truthful. Many believe that God’s Word is inspired by God. But many Christians align with non-Christians when it comes to the sufficiency of Scripture. This boils down to a simple question: Is God’s Word enough? Do we need newer ideas? Interpretations? Cultural relevance? Many believe the Bible is helpful, and some might even say that it is special, but they disagree that it is sufficient. Our text couldn’t disagree more with this idea!

Look at the words Paul uses in verse 16 - first, it is profitable. Not only is Scripture true, but Scripture is good for us. It shapes us and it changes us. Scripture does this in 4 ways: teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Let’s unpack these words.

Teaching

The Bible teaches us so many things. It begins with creation and it ends with the new creation. We learn who we are, who God is, why Jesus came, and what Jesus does. It teaches us why the world is the way that it is and why sin is so serious. Scripture teaches us what we need to know about our ultimate purpose and how to be with God forever!

Rebuking

Many of us like learning things and being taught… but how many of us like being rebuked? Not many! But this is what God does. See, as humans, we have blind spots. We have weaknesses. We have places in our lives where our life is not in line with God’s original design. And the Bible exposes those things. Have you ever read through Scripture and come across something that “stepped on your toes” before? I know I have! I’ll be honest, that doesn’t always feel fun in the moment! But, God does that in His Word to help us realize that what we are doing is incorrect. Contrary to His design. God’s Word doesn’t exist to affirm us, it exists to transform us!

Correcting

I love the way this is worded. Rebuking calls out what is wrong, and correcting tells us the right action to take going forward. I remember in high school I tried out for the golf team and my coach rebuked my swing several times because there were things I was doing that were wrong… thankfully he didn’t just rebuke, or call out what was wrong, he helped correct those things. This is what God does in His Word. He doesn’t convict us of our sins and leave us to figure out what to do! He points us towards restoration. He provides us with forgiveness and grace as His Word corrects us.

Finally, training up in righteousness

Think of the World Cup going on. You don’t make it on Team USA just by showing up to practice one time in your life. You practice for years and years. You go to the gym. You play hard. You compete. And as you discipline yourself, you begin to grow. It’s the same in our walk with the Lord! God doesn’t usually transform us through one spectacular experience, He often transforms us through the ordinary means of grace as we study Scripture, gather for worship, spend time in prayer, and die to self and live for Christ. See, growing in your Christians walk isn’t automatic and it isn’t easy - those are lies we’re tempted to believe! It takes time being in God’s Word. And as we spend this time growing, look at the result in verse 17.

We are equipped for every good work. Not most good works. Not some. Every good work. The sufficiency of Scripture doesn’t mean the Bible tells us everything there is to know. If you want to study medicine, read medical textbooks. If you want to learn calculus, study mathematics. But if you want to know God, understand His will, find salvation, and fulfill your created purpose, God’s Word is sufficient!

Hear this today, friend. You don’t need a fresh word from the Lord. You need to know the Word He has already given you. God has already spoken. He has revealed who He is. Who we are. How we are saved. What truly matters. How the story ends. The issue isn’t that God hasn’t spoken - the issue is are we listening? See, if the enemy can’t steal your soul, he’ll gladly distract you into searching for something “new” so that you don’t continue in what God has already said. Church, we don’t need more revelation, we need greater submission. God has spoken. His Word is sufficient!

God’s Word is Authoritative (4:1-5)

Paul often builds arguments in his letters, and that’s what he has done this morning. This morning, we’ve seen him say to continue in Scripture because it is inspired by God, truthful, and sufficient for everything we need. That leads to a natural conclusion: God’s Word is authoritative. If God has spoken. If God’s Word is truthful. Then we can’t simply listen to it - we must submit to it. This starts with the pastors/elders/overseers who will give an account to God for how they handled the Word. Look at this charge - Preach the Word!

He tells Timothy to continue standing on Scripture that he was taught as a child. He says this because Scripture is inspired by God, which means that it is trustworthy, which also means that it is sufficient - it tells us what we need to know in order to be equipped for the work God has in store for us. This builds to this final point - God’s Word is authoritative… meaning, we must submit to it. Look at what Paul says in the beginning of chapter 4 - I charge you before God and Christ Jesus. Paul charges Timothy before God Himself. He reminds Timothy that Jesus is the Just Judge and that Timothy will give an account to Jesus for the way that he handled God’s Word - which should terrify every Bible teacher and especially every Elder who oversees Christ’s sheep. Look at the charge he gives in verse 2, “Preach the Word!”

Not opinions. Not trends. Not what is popular. Not what other people are preaching. The Word. We don’t believe the truths of Scripture truths because they are popular, we believe them because God has spoken! And when God speaks, the time for arguing is over. Here’s why this matters: Timothy doesn’t have the right to preach what he wants to preach. Timothy isn’t the chef in the kitchen just making whatever he determines to make. He is a waiter and his job is to deliver what God had made. A preacher simply says what God has said! This is what you must expect every single week out of this pulpit at South Gate Baptist Church. You are to examine Scripture and make sure that what is said lines up with Scripture because a preacher doesn’t have the authority to rewrite our King’s message! He doesn’t have the authority to skip the hard parts. His responsibility is to stand firm, speak the truth in love, and let the chips fall where they may.

And this is the call for every Christian as well. We are to submit ourselves to the authority of God in every aspect of our lives. Contrast the World with the Word

World: Live Your Truth

Word: God is Truth

World: Follow Your Heart

Word: The heart is deceitful above all else

World: You Do You

Word: Do What I Say

One of the defining characteristics of our culture today is that we’ve lost the courage to have convictions. People often say, “Well that’s your interpretation…” or “How do you really know that’s true?” Or maybe you’ve heard someone say, “It would be arrogant to assume my view is right!” Let’s be clear: There are many secondary and tertiary places where faithful Christians can and do disagree and we can disagree with grace. We must be humble when Scripture isn’t crystal clear. We can be charitable with brothers and sisters have different conclusions on these secondary and tertiary matters. But it is never humility to question what God has plainly said. Mark Dever put it like this, “It is never humble to be hesitant where God has been clear.” I love that because true humility is believing that God knows best and that He knows more than we do. Every pastor, your pastor included, has felt that temptation and tension to soften God’s truth whenever faithfulness becomes costly… but faithfulness and popularity rarely travel together.

See, there have been times when I’ve known what is right, and I’ve known what to do, and I’ve been hesitant. Not because God was confusing or because His Word wasn’t clear… but because I struggled with the cost of those convictions. Have you been there? This is a real thing, even for pastors! See, a pastor whose driving force is to be well liked and respected by everyone will eventually compromise on almost anything because faithfulness and popularity rarely show up together, even in the church world.

Paul knew this… and that’s why he cautions Timothy that there will come a day whenever people won’t like sound doctrine. They will flock to places to hear pastors tell them what they want to hear… and that’s not only true in Timothy’s world, it’s true in our world today! And that’s a problem because Scripture says to Preach the Word and the Word challenges us because the Word has authority over us! Paul’s charge is to let it rip, preach the Word, trust in Jesus, and let the chips fall where they may. To lead in anything, you have to have convictions, and to lead in God’s Church, God calls on these pastors/elders/overseers, these men of conviction to stand on Scripture because when you stand on Scripture and under God’s authority, that’s the safest place to be in the universe because in a sea of confusion, God’s Word doesn’t change!

History demonstrates that churches rarely give on the Gospel overnight. It’s almost always gradual. It’s a slow fade. And it never stops with one thing. It always starts with the truthfulness and authority of Scripture, though. Once you give here, you will always give on something else. Eventually it’s the supernatural. The reality of our sin. The gift of gender. The exclusivity of Christ. The sanctity of human life. The judgment that awaits after death. The resurrection. Because whenever we give on the authority of Scripture, something jumps into its place, and for most people, churches, and denominations, if we’re not careful, the thing that has the authority is us… and that’s the scariest place in the world to be! We must continue in what we have learned and firmly believe! This is why God calls His under shepherds to be on guard in Acts 20.

Acts 20:28–30 CSB

28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them.

There are wolves in the hen house hellbent on causing harm and leading people to hell as they distort the truth and create division!

You might be thinking, “Pastor, you sure like to poke bears.” I don’t like poking them. You have to understand what those bears are. Those “bears” we’ve talked about this morning and will continue looking at in the weeks to come are ideas and lies that are stealing, killing, and destroying God’s children. They are bringing in confusion and chaos. They want to muddy waters that God created to be crystal clear. See, South Gate Baptist Church is in Springfield, Missouri, and in the state of Missouri we don’t poke bears… we shoot them. As your Shepherd, part of my God-given responsibility is to protect my flock from individuals and ideologies that seek to bring us harm. Our text promises that this will happen, and friends, you’re living under a rock if you think that isn’t happening in our world today!

The world preaches a message through bad preachers who dress up good, smile pretty at the camera, and make people feel really good about themselves. And the world loves telling the church that you can’t talk about certain things because they are “ours!” They are political - and pastors can’t talk about political things. The world loves to say that: Marriage is undefinable. Gender is fluid. Life is optional. Truth is subjective. God exists to affirm you. This is the world we live in! These are the bears that we face in 2026.

Hear this as clearly as possible, and I don’t care if this gets me cancelled: These aren’t political points, they are Biblical truths. These were Biblical truths long before they were political statements. God defined marriage - Biblical truth. God designed gender - Biblical truth. God created life that starts at conception - Biblical truth. God’s Word is Truth - Biblical truth. God is our authority, not the other way around - Biblical truth. What has happened in the 21st century is that the WORLD is infringing on the WORD - and, friends, that’s backward. Because the world isn’t our ultimate authority. The Word is. We do things God’s Way, All the Way, Right Away because the Bible speaks about these things and whenever the Bible speaks, God speaks, and God doesn’t stutter - so we can’t either!

This book is a miracle. The Creator of the Universe has chosen to speak to us and to make Himself known to us through this book. And in this book, He not only tells us about Himself and about who we truly are. He tells us of our greatest need, and of all He provided in order to save us from ourselves by sending His Son to seek and save us from our sins. God has not remained silent. He has spoken! That means the ultimate question this morning isn’t, “Can I Trust the Bible?” I believe we’ve seen the answer to that question is yes. The more important question is this: Will I Submit to It? It’s possible to affirm every doctrine. You can believe the Bible is inspired, inerrant, sufficient, and authoritative, but still live like your opinions, feelings, and views are more important. Jesus didn’t say in Scripture that the person who hears His words is blessed… it’s the person who hears them and obeys them.

Thousands of years after the Garden of Eden, we’re still facing the same question Adam and Eve faced. Which voice will we listen to? One voice asks, “Did God Really Say?” And the other declares, “God Has Spoken!” One path leads to confusion, compromise, and brokenness… the other leads to life, truth, and Christ.

That’s why this series matters. We’ve living in a changing world, but God’s Word remains. And all of these questions we face come back to this fundamental question: Can I Trust God’s Word? If God has spoken (He has), then we have answers to questions about God’s salvation, God’s design, and God’s plan as well! But here’s where we have to check ourselves. We can’t just leave here this morning and think that I’ve learned something and I’m good to go. We have to submit to the God who has spoken. Today, we have to examine our life and ask if how we are living lines up with what Scripture says?

South Gate, we don’t believe these truths because they’re easy. We don’t believe them because they’re popular. We don’t believe them because we’re Baptist! We Still Believe in God’s Word… because God has spoken! We believe in God’s Word, because God has spoken. We believe in God’s Son because God has spoken. We believe in God’s design because god has spoken. We believe in God’s Plan, because God has spoken. And when God has spoken, the argument is settled. Settle it in your heart to submit to Scripture today!