Biblical Authority

As Christians we have an authority that guides our beliefs and our lives. It’s the Bible.

Joke: Children sometimes have a funny understanding of things and I found this about how they understand the Bible.

Noah’s wife was named Joan of Arc.

The fifth commandment is humor your father and mother.

Lot’s wife was a pillar of salt by day and a ball of fire by night.

When Mary heard she was going to be the mother of Jesus, she sang the Magna Carter.

Iran is the Bible of the Muslims...

A Republican is a sinner mentioned in the Bible… wonder what a Democrat is.

The natives of Macedonia did not believe so Paul got stoned.

The first commandment was when Eve told Adam to eat the apple.

2 Timothy 3:16 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.

This verse will tell us several things about the Bible.

FOUR CLAIMS BY THE BIBLE ABOUT THE BIBLE

1. All of it is God’s Word.

The bible is not half inspired or partly inspired - all of it is inspired by the Lord.

There are passages that we don’t like, but we can take them out. We can’t use the ones we like and through out the rest...

James - rejoice in trials

Paul - Flee sexual morality

Forgive those who offend you...

2. It’s instruction is alive and profitable.

Jesus says many times that if we obey his words, we will live long and profitable lives. (John 8:31-32; Pro 3:1-30)

Paul says it is all useful to teach us … The WOG teaches us. It teaches us what is right and what is wrong and helps straighten us out.

Life goes better when we live according to GW. People living a sinful lifestyle they know is wrong will be miserable. TRans person in CA was suicidal until Christian counselors helped him find freedom in Christ.

3. It is comprehensive.

GW has everything in it we need along with the illumination the HS gives us. The HS will teach us what it means and bring it to remembrance when we need it.

4. It can completely equip us for both life and ministry.

GW is our guide. The HS will never contradict it.

If you have the Spirit without the Word, you blow up - crazy

If you have the Word without the Spirit, you dry up.

Word and the Spirit, you grow up.

Too often, we have no idea what we hold in our hands.

Jos in Africa giving out Bibles - one man cried and said the whole Bible was too much repsonsibility and almost refused the Bible. He had been preaching from 11 verses from John for 17 years.

HISTORY OF PEOPLE’S TREATMENT OF THE WORD OF GOD

600 BC - Jehoiakim

Jehoiakim was literally tearing up the Jewish writings page by page and burning them.

AD 90 - John banished to Patmos

John was banished to Patmos because of GW and his testimony.

AD 300 John Wycliffe

John Wycliffe translates the Bible into English and everyone in England who owns a copy is killed. As these martyrs are burned tied to a stake, they hold the scriptures close to their chest.

40 years later the church was still so angry with Wycliffe that they dug up his remains and threw them into the river.

In doing this, they declared that the WOG would never again be translated into the common mans language.

AD 1536 William Tyndale

William Tyndale who once again translated the Bible to English was burned at the stake. Many, probably thousands have been murdered for translating GW.

Bible written over 1500 year span

It was written over 40 generations, by over 40 authors from every walk of life… fishermen, educated Jews, poets, philosophers, Kings. It was written in many different places: palaces, wilderness, dungeons, and on a remote island.

It was written in times of peace and war. It was written in different moods… some writing from the heights of joy while others wrote from the depths of sorrow.

It was written on three continents. Asia, Europe, & Africa. It was written in three languages: Hebrew, Arabic, & Greek.

It covered subject matters including hundreds of controversial subjects, but with harmony and continuity from Genesis to Revelation. It is the story of God’s love of men and women and His plan to redeem them through Jesus Christ.

AD 1778 - Voltaire

This French infidel traveled Enlightened Europe speaking against the WOG. He predicted that 100 yearsa after his death the Bible would no longer be in the earth. Voltaire died and 50 years later the Geneva Bible Society bought his house and used his presses that used to print his Atheistic writings to print the Bible.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will never die.

Matthew 24:35 NLT

35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

It didn’t work then in Europe and it will not work here in America today.

Luke 5:1–11 NLT

1 One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. 2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” 5 “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” 6 And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! 7 A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking. 8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man.” 9 For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. 10 His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed. Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” 11 And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.

Observations from Luke 5:1-11

In this text, Jesus makes some requests of Peter, and just like he did Peter, He does the same to us through the WOG.

1. Jesus makes requests of us to see how we will respond.

Jesus asked Peter to throw his nets back out to see if Peter would obey him. He asked Peter to let him into his boat. Then he asked them to take the boat out to deeper water. Finally, he asked the to throw their nets back out. He gradually revealed His will to them and that’s what he does with us.

Jesus will ask us to do things to see what our response will be.

2. Jesus expects us to Trust Him and Obey Him.

Jesus will challenge us to trust him and obey him in the important areas of our lives.

He challenged the disciples to trust him with something they understood how to do… fishing. These guys were great fishermen. He made requests of them to do something in the area of their expertise. The big question was would they trust him and obey him in an area they were pretty successful in.

He asks the same type of things of us. It’s easy to trust him in areas where we are stumbling around trying to figure things out, but can we trust him in the areas we are good at.

3. We struggle in the areas where we have experience and control.

The moment Jesus comes into our lives, he begins to challenge us in the areas where we are secure… where we have control… where we are experts and we have a tendency to struggle against Him.

That’s what happened here with Peter. Jesus walked into his life and challenged him to do something he was good at, but to listen to him and obey him. He told peter to cast his nets into the water, but Peter said we have already done that… we can all relate to that. Every one of us knows what it's like for God to walk into our life and tell us to do something that we thought we were already doing. We kind of say, "But, Lord, I don't think I really need a lesson in this area."

4. Jesus expects us to give God’s Word the Final Authority in every area of our Lives.

Even if it doesn’t make sense. Peter said, "I want you to know, Lord, we've been doing this all night, and we've already tried there, tried this, been there, done that," he said, "But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down."

In other words, he said, "It doesn't make much sense. I don't want to agree with it; I don't think it will work, but God, I will let you be the final authority in my life.

Question: When begin to read GW, to understand it, to look at it, to meditate on it, does it change us? Do we obey it and it is the final authority in our lives? forgive others, no unwholesome words… only words that build up...

Chuck Colson - 81% of the people claimed to be Evangelical, but only 42% knew Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount. Only 48% of them could name the first four books of the NT. Less than 1% said their lives were directed by the WOG. IOW, a lot of us read it but we don’t allow it to change us.

ILL - Schools don’t want you to bring the WOG into the school. Prisons do. Kind of backwards don’t you think?

It’s pretty obvious that we don’t really understand that the WOG was given to us for life change.

THREE CONVICTIONS WE NEED TO HAVE ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD.

Psalm 119:11 NKJV

11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.

When you begin to read, study and meditate on the WOG, you begin to understand it, to love it, to develop Biblically based convictions and it changes you.

1. Even when I don’t understand it, I’ll trust God’s Word.

Even when it doesn’t make sense, I will do what God is asking even if I don’t feel like it or understand it.

Naaman - Naaman, the captain of the Syrian army, had leprosy, and his little servant girl suggested that he go to her country and see a prophet who could heal him. So off Naaman went to Elijah's house. He arrives in front of the house in his chariot, and Elijah doesn't even come out -- he just sends a servant out. And the servant tells Naaman that the prophet says for him to go down to the Jordan River and dip seven times in it. This ticks Naaman off. In fact, he says, "If I just needed to dip in the water seven times, I could go back to my own swimming pool in Syria. At least, the water's cleaner there." And off he goes. But then his colleagues talks him into going down to the Jordan and dipping seven times, and when he comes out, his flesh is like a newborn baby's.

Now, what's interesting about this is how Naaman responded. He said, "I had thought the prophet would come out and wave his hand, and I would be healed (he had preconceived how God would answer his prayer)." But now, after his healing, he said, "Now I know that there's a God of Israel."

We all have done this… told God how we wanted him to fix our problem....

2. Although it’s illogical, I’ll obey what God says.

Jesus at the Wedding - Mary told the servants to do whatever he told them to do. He told them to fill up the jugs with water… that didn’t make sense...

3. While our culture may say something else, God’s Word is always right on every subject.

Bonus conviction. You need the WOG as much as you need food.

Bonus - I need the Word of God as Much as I need food.

We Develop Convictions when ...

… we have learned what God’s Word says on a subject.

… we choose to apply and obey the Word of God in that area.

… we have exposed ourselves to a need in that area.

… we have decided what is worth living for and dying for.

… we have settled the issue before we are forced to.

2 Timothy 3:16 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.

God’s Word has the power to chang your life. Read it, study it, meditate on it, allow it to change you.