Jesus and the Word of God

Capture

Big Idea of the Lesson

James Warren Jones better known and Jim Jones grew up with an affinity for Pentecostalism and a desire to preach God’s Word

During the 1950’s he would be ordained in the Independent Assemblies of God denomination

Throughout the 50’s, Jones would increase in popularity by sharing stages with prominent figures in the Pentecostal movement, particular in the arena of faith healing

Jones would go on to start the Peoples Temple right here in Indianapolis in 1955

As Jones grew in popularity and stature his reach would extend to politics and civil rights issues, as well as what he called Christian Socialism

In 1964 he would be ordained once again by the Disciples of Christ, a more liberal and freedom of biblical thinking denomination

In 1965, Jones would move the Temple he started in Indianapolis to San Francisco

He further became involved in political issues and causes throughout the 70’s

It was in the 60’s that reports began to surface of abuse and Jones became increasingly vocal in his rejection of traditional Christianity and instead began promoting a communistic society he called “Apostolic Socialism”

And as you would expect, those who were apart of this commune were supposed to hand over all their money, land, and belongings

And these requirements only increased throughout the 60’s and 70’s as Jones began to refer to his own divinity, or the fact that he was a god

And so with control raging and over 3,000 members of the Peoples Temple, under the weight of abuse allegations and human rights abuses, Jones constructed a “socialist paradise” in Jonestown, Guyana

As reports continued to escalate Jones convinced many of the 3,000 members to move to this commune in Guyana where the people would be free from the oppression of the U.S government

The reports of abuse did not end once they moved however and the reports had reach the point that there was reason to believe that people were being held against their will

So a delegation led by U.S Representative Leo Ryan went to the commune to investigate the reports

While boarding a return flight with some former Temple members who wished to leave, Rep Ryan and four others were murdered by gunmen from Jonestown

At this point Jones ordered a mass murder suicide at the commune and 909 members including 304 children died by “drinking the kool aid” as they say

Jesus deals with the root issue for both Jim Jones and the folks who were duped into drinking the kool aid

Connect

Bible Passage

Matthew 22:29 ESV

29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Direct them to God’s Word

This statement by Jesus serves as a sharp rebuke to the Sadducees who question Jesus based upon their understanding of God’s Word

The Sadducees were a group of people who believed in the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible) and denied the resurrection since it was not explicitly taught in the Pentateuch

Of course, Jesus not only answers their inquiry by telling them that their question is inaccurate, but he also challenges them to the reality of their question for him

They don’t know what God’s Word says

And the reality is that when we do not know what God’s Word teaches, we are setting ourselves up for disaster

Whether that be because we ignore the warnings in Scripture and pursue things such as money, power, control, independence, and other things such as Jim Jones

Or we might not know how to rightly apply is

Or whether we simply don’t know what it says

These are all great dangers today for people who are in the church

Honestly, I don’t think that the 909 people who died by drinking kool aid laced with cyanide thought when they linked up with the Peoples Temple that, that would be the way their lives would end

But there are great dangers to not knowing God’s Word or to misappropriating it to our lives

So we must consider the consequences of the statement by Jesus that the Sadducees did not know God’s Word

Consider

What does this mean today?

In the simplest form, this means that we must commit to know God’s Word

Each of us, everyday, for ourselves

I want to give you 3 consequences of not knowing God’s Word

If you don’t know God’s Word you will come to wrong interpretations of it

Matthew 22:23–28 ESV

23 The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, 24 saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. 26 So too the second and third, down to the seventh. 27 After them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

If you don’t know God’s Word you will come to wrong interpretations of it

As we have noted, Jesus rebukes the Sadducees and demonstrates that they did not know God’s Word and that they had come to wrong conclusions because of their lack of knowing

The principle here is that like the Sadducees, if we have wrong interpretations of God’s Word, we will always have wrong application of God’s Word

They wanted to know who’s wife she would be in the next life

And when Jesus tells them that there is no marriage in the next life he is pointing out the pointless nature of their question and their misuse of the Law in asking it

The whole purpose of the this law in Deuteronomy 25 was ensuring that families had heirs to take over and carry on the family name in the event of the death of a husband

But there is no marriage at the resurrection, nobody is married and nobody gets married

They didn’t know or understand what God’s Word was teaching so they wrongly applied it

Application:

This takes place very often today, people in our world know just enough of God’s word to be dangerous

Just like the Sadducees folks today say that Jesus never spoke on homosexuality for example, so we can’t know how he felt about it

Except Jesus absolutely endorsed and embraced a sexual ethic as defined in the OT and even referenced the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah as a real historical event

Not knowing what God’s Word teaches, has devastating consequences that are not limited to wrongly interpreting it

There is also the issue of temptation

If you don’t know God’s Word, you will be overcome with temptation

Matthew 4:4 ESV

4 But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Matthew 4:7 ESV

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

Matthew 4:10 ESV

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

If you don’t know God’s Word, you will be overcome with temptation

These references are of course from Matthew’s account of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness

At every turn of the temptation, Jesus appeals to his knowledge of Scripture to overcome the temptation

I want to point out specifically the second temptation of Jesus, where the devil uses Scripture in his attempt to lure Christ into sin

Jesus responded with Scripture of his own, correcting the devil as he seeks to use God’s Word

This is simply because the devil is using it out of context. If you are the Son of God surely he won’t let anything happen to you so just throw yourself down and his angels will lift you up

Jesus doesn’t take the bait and responds by reminding the devil that believers are not to put God to the test and the point of Psalm 91 is that the believer can rest and comfort in God and HIs promises and that ultimately nothing and no person can take away the comfort of God

Jesus knew the Word of God; he recognized when it was being used improperly and corrected it

Application:

The misuse of Scripture is still a major issue today, sometimes it leads to us giving into temptations

God wants us to be happy so it’s ok

God has a good plan for my life and this is what my heart says so I need to do this

Temptation is more then just sexual. We are tempted to lie and steal and manipulate all the time

I can’t tell the truth because it might hurt someones feelings

Or it’s just a candy bar, who does it really affect if I take it

It’s only the government and they are crooked anyways so it doesn’t matter if I don’t report my taxes with integrity or honesty

God’s Word is what prevents us from falling into temptation, we must know it

If you don’t know God’s Word you won’t know Jesus

In Matthew 5:17

Matthew 5:17 ESV

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

If you don’t know God’s Word you won’t know Jesus

The interesting thing about this portion of the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus absolutely obliterates the notion that the OT is irrelevant to believers

The Law and the Prophets is the whole of the OT as we know it, the Law of course is the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Bible and the Prophets would comprise the rest of the books

And what is amazing about them is that they all point to Christ

From the Messianic passages that point to Jesus and the OT sacrificial system point to Jesus as the perfect sacrifice, as well as Jesus perfectly embodying the Wisdom literature in his exemplary life

They all point to Jesus and when He came and lived a perfect life, he fulfilled all that the OT pointed towards

He didn’t do away with the OT, the NLT says that He came to accomplish it’s purpose

As far as the NT is concerned, we have the life of Jesus lived out and then how the church functions in light of that life lived

Every bit of Scripture is to be explored, examined, and understood

And the only hope we have of knowing Christ is knowing his Word

Application:

How well do you know God’s Word

Do you know a little, do you know more than some other people you know? Do you know any at all?

When we consider knowing God’s Word, it is pivotal that we realize that knowing the Word of God is foundational to the Christian life because the Word of God is how we know God

So it doesn’t matter if we know more than others, the goal is not being the most knowledgable

The goal is knowing the God of the universe because in His grace and mercy He revealed himself to mankind through His Word

And if we don’t know the Word, then we can’t know God

Collide

Where God’s Word meets our everyday life

So what do we do? Do we just begin a quest of knowing more facts about the Bible

Do we simply memorize God’s Word so we can know lots of verses

I would encourage us this morning to consider changing how we see God’s Word

By knowing God’s Word we can rightly apply it to our lives, warding off temptation, and most importantly know God

As our approach to God’s Word changes, then we have to start forming habits of taking in His Word regularly

Study it, know it, and know Him

Call

Respond to the Holy Spirit

We have a tremendous opportunity this morning to consider these things as we prepare for partaking of the Lord’s Supper together

God’s Word invites us into fellowship with Him and one of the great privileges of that relationship is the fact that we get to observe what Jesus commanded

So as we prepare to do that today, I want to encourage us to take a moment and reflect upon our own lives

We partake proclaiming that we know and are in fellowship with God, but do you really know Him?

Is your relationship with Him growing because you are learning more and more of Him

But also, is there sin in your life that needs to be dealt with prior to partaking

Sin is a serious issue, so much so that Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets and absorbed the wrath of God

Jesus took sin seriously and we should too

Let’s reflect quietly for just a moment in preparation for partaking