Essentials #1: The Bible | 9/12/2021
9/12/21 | Will DuVal
Once upon a time, I would have told you that the Bible contained the literal words of God, straight from His lips to the inked paper we read today. How did this happen? Did God pen it Himself and then fax a copy down from heaven, or did He render human subjects temporarily unconscious so as to use their hands for the task? The great part about believing was that I didn’t have to explain it, because… faith was “the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1), and… I felt “convicted” to believe the Bible was perfectly faultless despite my inability to “see” how this was possible in light of all the centuries, languages, translations, and fallible copiers through whom it has passed. Faith meant I just believed it anyway. As my mom once responded, when I asked why the Bible condones slavery: “So you think you could have written the Bible better than God?!” Some things just weren’t questioned…
Today, I no longer consider myself a “biblical literalist.” In this paper… I want to show those like me from a “literalist” background that the Bible does not mandate or even advocate this approach to Scripture, and that “literalism” in fact endangers the heart of the Christian faith.”
Thus began my masters’ capstone paper at Vanderbilt Divinity School some 12 years ago now. Fortunately, I made the mistake of asking the one, token evangelical professor on faculty to serve on my review panel, or else my paper would have received “highest honors” and been published, to live on in infamy somewhere in the deep recesses of the seminary library’s basement.
But despite how DIFFICULT it is for me to go back and re-read it now, I bring up some important points in that paper that those of us who ARE evangelical, Bible-believing, “literalist” Christians today need to take seriously:
For starters, what IS our view of Scripture? IS it “literalism”? IS the Bible “the literal words of God?
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If SO, then second: how DO we answer what I label in the paper “the inescapable problems” with literalism? They’re the same kinds of issues your unbelieving neighbors and co-workers have with the Bible, that cause them to reject Christianity, on multiple grounds (and I’m quoting from my paper again now): “The evidence ranges from the scientific (e.g., evolution vs. a 6,000 year old world; the fact that the earth is round and revolves around the sun contrary to Job 38:13 and Psalm 104:5) to the historical evidence (e.g., Cyrus of Persia, not Darius the Mede as Daniel 5 claims, overthrew the Babylonian Empire; contrary to Luke 2, Quirinius was not the governor of Syria while Herod reigned as king)... to internal biblical inconsistencies (e.g., the order of creation in Genesis - was it plants, then animals, then humans, as per Genesis 1, or humans, then plants, then animals, as per ch.2? Or the timeline of Jesus’ crucifixion - did it happen at noon on the day before Passover as per the Gospel of John, or at 9:00am on the Day of Passover itself as per Matthew, Mark and Luke?)...” Perhaps MOST troubling for a majority of non-Christians in our society today are the ETHICAL implications of treating the Bible as one’s highest moral authority: doesn’t that make you homophobic, trans-phobic, misogynistic, bigoted, pro-slavery, pro-capital punishment, even for silly OT crimes like working on the Sabbath or cursing your parents, you get the death sentence? There are good ANSWERS for all these questions, and as believers, we need to be “ready with an answer” for those who are asking.
But this morning, my aim isn’t to try and work our way through all those objections to the Bible; even if we HAD the time, I don’t think that would be the most productive USE of it. Because the truth is you can ALWAYS find the answers you WANT to find. See, you and I aren’t nearly as rational and logical as we’d like to think we are. We think, “I’ll examine all the relevant information, and then I’ll make up my mind,” but in reality, even our interpretation of the evidence, our analysis of what is and isn’t relevant… it’s ALL colored by our preconceptions and desires. At the end of the day, we believe in God or we don’t, we trust in the Bible or we don’t, not so much because of our HEADS, but because of our HEARTS. So that’s what I want to go after this morning: your heart. I want to try and show you not just why you should believe in the Bible, but why you should WANT to believe in the Bible. And specifically, believe 3 things about the Bible. I want to point out 3 things we ought to believe when it comes to the Bible, and based on those 3 indicatives, we’ll conclude with 3 imperatives. 3 indicatives - “The Bible IS… - that lead us to 3 imperatives - “Therefore, we SHOULD…”
Throughout this new 11-week sermon series - “Essentials” - we’re gonna be unpacking our church’s 11-point Statement of Faith. You can find all 11 online, on our website, if you want to know where we’re headed these next 11 weeks. These are our essentials, as a church. The non-negotiables. We have members here at West Hills who speak in tongues, and others who think that’s a load of bunk. We have a-millennialists, post-millennialists, pre-millennialists, dispensationalists, preterists, and probably a lot more folks who don’t know what ANY of those terms mean and frankly, don’t really CARE that much how or when Jesus returns, just that He DOES. We’ve got Calvinists... and those who are entitled to their right to be wrong. The point is, we keep the sandbox pretty big here. Just 11 non-negotiables. And you don’t even have to believe all those, or ANY of those, to come worship with us, to serve with us, to join a life group; they’re just essentials for MEMBERSHIP. Because we believe they constitute the irreducible foundation of the Christian faith. But here’s what I ESPECIALLY wanna highlight this morning: of all 11, it’s no coincidence that our position on “The Bible” is #1.
Now, that used to drive me CRAZY! Back when I was researching for my master’s paper, and I was checking different churches and denomination’s Statements of Faith, I was flabbergasted by just how MANY of them BEGAN their core beliefs with a statement on the Bible - not God, not Jesus - but the Bible. In my paper, I labeled it “bibliolatry” - the worship of the Bible. Idolatry. Putting the Bible in GOD’s rightful place - surely GOD must be the most foundational of ALL the foundations - or perhaps in CHRIST’s rightful place - after all, it is called “Christianity”, not “Biblianity”.
But 12 years later now, as the LEAD PASTOR of one of those churches, I can tell you WHY we start with the Bible - it’s because all the other 10 beliefs, indeed ALL the rest of our beliefs, as Christians, flow out of our belief that the Bible is God’s word. There is absolutely NO reason to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, or that He died on a cross for your sins, if you DON’T believe in the BIBLE. Similarly, you might come to believe in SOME kind of a “god” without the Bible - maybe the god of Deism, who simply pulled the trigger on the Big Bang and then peaced out - but you’re certainly not gonna believe in a personal, loving, Trinitarian God - God as He really IS! - without the Bible. Our view of the Bible, then, really is, in many ways, the most foundational of all the 11 foundations.
So I invite you to stand with me as you’re able, out of reverence FOR God’s sacred word, as I read, from 2 Timothy ch3, vv14-17. If you don’t OWN a Bible, we believe it’s SO important that we would love to give you one at the Info Bar. But when I’m done reading, I want to try something a little different this morning. I want to invite you to RESPOND to God’s word by declaring together with me your BELIEF in it. Typically, we do that by me reminding you that “This is the word of the Lord,” and you respond with “Thanks be to God”. But this morning, I’m gonna have the words of our church Statement of Faith up on the screen for you, and if you believe them, whether you’re a member at West Hills or not, if you believe that the Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant, authoritative word, then I invite you to confess that together with us, as a church, in response. Okay?
Hear the word of the Lord, from 2 Timothy ch3, vv14-17
Pastor: “[C]ontinue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom[a] you learned it 15 and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
And Your Response?: “We believe The Bible is the divinely-inspired and inerrant Word of God, with ultimate authority in all matters of faith and life.” Let’s pray...
We just professed together 3 important truths about the Bible. And here’s how I’ll organize them: the first is what the Bible IS, the second is why it MATTERS, and the third is what that MEANS. What the Bible IS; why it MATTERS; and what that MEANS.
#1 - What IS the Bible? The Bible is THE DIVINELY-INSPIRED WORD OF GOD. (v16a) The divinely-inspired word of God.
He didn’t “write it and fax down a copy”; he didn’t turn the human authors into robots; No, God graciously revealed Himself, in history, to human authors, God spoke to them, they listened, they wrote down God’s words, and God “superintended”, He oversaw the entire process, to ensure that the Bible we have today is the Bible exactly as He wanted it. It is God’s word. 2 Timothy calls it “the sacred writings”.
I used to teach Logic, as part of the curriculum I designed for the Theology course I taught at Culver. Theology is literally “theos - logos”; it’s thinking about God. So I started the course with a unit on logic, because you definitely can’t think about GOD, if you can’t even THINK.
Every logical argument basically consists of 2 parts: premises, and a conclusion. The argument might also, as mine will this morning, contain a third part called “consequences”, which are like mini-conclusions along the way that are built off of prior premises and which support a bigger conclusion. But at the most basic level, an argument wants to convince you of something, a conclusion; and it uses premises to support that conclusion. For example, I could argue that you should all have a Bible with you, here at church. The argument might go like this:
P1) When you’re at church, it’s best to have a Bible.
P2) You are currently at church.
Therefore, conclusion: You should all have a Bible right now.
Now, if the conclusion follows logically from the premises, and if all the premises are TRUE, then it’s a SOUND argument. So if you want to poke a HOLE in my argument, you’re gonna have to take issue with one of the premises. In this case, Premise 1. Maybe you believe you don’t NEED a Bible at church, because I put all the words up on the screen for you anyway. But then I would COUNTER-argue that you trust me too much, and I could be misquoting or even INVENTING verses out of thin air up here. Then you could COUNTER my counter argument by pointing out that the Bible itself CALLS you to trust your pastor, and then we’d keep debating back and forth. But in ANY case, to poke a hole in THIS argument, you’d have to go for premise 1. Why? Because premise 2 is what’s called an AXIOM. An axiom is “a premise that is so self-evident, it requires no proof”. It is universally accepted; indeed, it is definitional. This IS church. What we’re doing right here, right now, is what the Bible, and even the secular DICTIONARY, define as “church”.
What’s my point? I want you to understand and appreciate that our belief that the Bible is “the divinely inspired word of God” is AXIOMATIC; it’s the very definition of what we understand the Bible to BE, as people of faith. And that’s ultimately what this all boils down to: FAITH. By definition, you can’t PROVE something that you believe by faith; if you could prove it, then it wouldn’t require FAITH! Faith is like an axiom; it can’t be proven. I can’t prove that this is “church”; it just IS. You can’t prove that 1 + 1 = 2, it just DOES. It’s axiomatic.
Now, some of you, like me, who STRUGGLE with faith, who like evidence and air-tight reasons to believe stuff, will point out: “Wait a minute, I can TOO prove that the Bible is the divinely inspired word of God; you read the evidence FOR us just a moment ago! “All Scripture is breathed out by God”, it’s theopneustos - God-inspired, “See, He says so Himself; God said it, that settles it!” Well, sure, for you, and for me. But not for someone who doesn’t ALREADY accept the words you’re citing AS divinely inspired Scripture. You see the circular reasoning there? It’s the logical fallacy of begging the question. “The Bible MUST be God’s word, because it says so, and it’s never wrong, because... it’s God’s word…”
This sermon was very difficult for me to prepare, because I’m an expository preacher; I take a passage of Scripture, and exposit it, interpret it, explain it, and help you apply it in your everyday life. Because if the Bible really IS the word of God, then what the people of God need more than some pastor’s topical musings, or funny jokes, or relevant life tips, more than ANY of that, God’s people need to hear from HIM on Sundays! So every OTHER Sunday, it is my utmost privilege to serve as God’s spokesman for you. And simply exposit. But this morning, I really can’t. I mean, sure, I can point you to all the passages where the Bible talks about how important… THE BIBLE is:
2 Peter 1:20-21 “no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” → It is the divinely inspired word of God.
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.” / Psalm 119:89 “Forever, O LORD, your oword
is firmly fixed in the heavens.” / Matthew 24:35 - Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” → God’s word is ETERNAL.
Hebrews 4:12 “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit...” / Jeremiah 23:29 “Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” / Isaiah 55:11 “my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose” → God’s word is POWERFUL.
Jeremiah 15:16 → God’s word is our JOY.
Deuteronomy 32:47 → God’s word is our LIFE.
Psalm 130:5 → It’s our HOPE.
Psalm 119:28 → It’s our STRENGTH.
Psalm 119:50 → It’s word is our COMFORT.
Psalm 119:105 → It’s our GUIDE
Psalm 119:72 → It’s our TREASURE. [By the way, wanna guess what the LONGEST chapter in the entire Bible, Psalm 119, is ALL about? You guessed it: God’s word!]
Listen, as a expository preacher, if I could just use THE BIBLE to convince you that THE BIBLE is the divinely inspired, true, eternal, powerful, joyful, live-giving, guiding, comforting, strengthening, hope-filled word of God, then I’d be SET! I’d have all the proof I need! But until you actually accept, by FAITH, that the Bible IS all those things, then rattling off a bunch of Scripture for you will be unconvincing.
You can point to other evidence, both external and internal. Externally, the earliest copies we have of the NT date back to within mere decades of their authorship. We have over 24,000 NT manuscripts, and that the Greek originals are over 99.5% accurate to one another. Archaeological discoveries have time and time again validated the Bible as a reliable source of historical information. Internally, we might point out that the Bible contains over 2,000 prophecies that have already been fulfilled, from the OT prophets’ predictions that God would judge His people by sending them into Exile in Assyria and Babylon centuries before it happened, to the 351 OT prophecies specifically about the MESSIAH that were fulfilled by Jesus.
But a skeptic will question the .5% inaccuracy in manuscript consistency, the biblical accounts that archaeology or science seem to DISPUTE, and whether or not those “prophecies” were simply written AFTER the Exile had already happened, that Jesus’ followers could have just invented stories about him to FIT with the OT prophecies.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t study Apologetics, the defense of the faith. By all means, attend Marshall’s class downstairs at 10:45. I’m just saying: temper your expectations. In 2,000 years, there hasn’t been a single person who has ever been ARGUED into the faith; the best we can do is prove that there really are good reasons to believe. But at the end of the day, faith is axiomatic. You either accept it or you don’t. You either accept that the Bible is the word of God, or you don’t. It is UNPROVABLE.
But here’s what I CAN all-but prove: without it, without that faith IN the Bible AS the word of God, you will be utterly LOST. And that’s a good segue way into…
Point #2: Why does it MATTER that the Bible is “the divinely inspired word of God?” Because #2 - that makes The Bible INERRANT. (v15) Inerrant: “without error”.
If the Bible is truly God’s word, if it is “God-breathed”, and God is PERFECT, God doesn’t make mistakes, then it stands to reason - again, logical argument:
Premise 1: When the Bible speaks, God speaks. (because it’s his WORD)
Premise 2: God doesn’t lie. (that’s axiomatic. That’s definitive of God’s character, who he IS.)
Therefore, Conclusion: The Bible is always true. It never errs. It’s inerrant.
Now, just because the Bible is the literal word of God, that doesn’t mean we interpret every passage of Scripture literally. We have to understand the Bible on its own terms. The pre-sermon video referenced Song of Solomon; it would be unfair to say that the Bible errs because it describes a woman’s breasts as “clusters of fruit”, when in reality they’re sacks of fatty tissue. Song of Solomon is “poetry”. It’s not meant to be interpreted literally. But insofar as we are rightly discerning what the Bible is actually saying, when it SAYS it, it speaks truly. Inerrantly.
What does that mean, practically, for you and me? It means the Bible is 100% trustworthy. It is totally “without error”.
Now let me ask you: where else - in a world so FULL of imperfections - are you gonna find that kind of credibility? In the news? The media? The President? The election results? The CDC? The scientists? The doctors? Who CAN you trust anymore?
My wife… is about 90% trustworthy.
Ben Shapiro… about 95% trustworthy. (Sorry babe)
David Platt… 98% trustworthy.
But the BIBLE? It is 100% trustworthy!
Friends: don’t you want something you can TRUST? Don’t you NEED something you can RELY on, when all else fails you? Turn to God’s word.
Proverbs 30, v5 “Every word of God proves true”
Psalm 119:160 “The sum of your word is truth” → Friends: God’s word is TRUTH. You can DEPEND on it. You can take it to the bank.
Jesus did. Jesus affirmed Scripture’s inerrancy: John 17:17 He declared, “Your word [God], is truth”. Pastor Matt Smethurst notes that “Scripture’s truthfulness is so comprehensively assumed [by Jesus, and elsewhere in the NT], that entire arguments can hinge on appeals to a single word (Matt. 22:45), the number of a noun (Gal. 3:16), even the tense of a verb (Matt. 22:32).” (Matt Smethurst, “8 Things Your Bible Says About Itself”, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/bible-says-about-itself/)
Jesus liked to argue too - it’s biblical.
Matthew 22:45 is where Jesus traps the Pharisees by asking “Whose son is the Messiah?”, and they answer “the son of David”, so Jesus quotes Psalm 110 and asks them, “If David calls [the Messiah] Lord, how is he his son?”” His argument hinges on the single word “LORD”. Kurios.
Galatians 3:16 is where the apostle Paul argues from a tight reading of Genesis 12:7 that “the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.”
And Matthew 22:32 is where Jesus debates some Sadducees on the resurrection; he quotes them Exodus 3:6, where God said, “‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?” [And Jesus concludes therefore:] He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”” Because God said, “I AM”, not “I WAS”. That’s how seriously JESUS takes Scripture. A single word. The number of a noun. The tense of a verb. Jesus rebuked the Sadducees in that same passage: ““You err, because you [don’t] know the Scriptures”. Not only is Scripture IN-errant, but if you don’t KNOW the Scriptures, then you are doomed to BE errant.
A related quality of Scripture is that it is infallible. Infallible means “unfailing in effectiveness or operation”. Remember Isaiah 55:11? “My word SHALL accomplish that which I purpose, says the Lord” Do you know “that which God PURPOSES?” Do you know God’s AIM, in inspiring the Bible for us?
It’s the salvation of your soul:
James 1:21 “receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
1 Peter 1:23 “you have been born again [ETERNALLY]… through the living and abiding word of God”
And of course, our featured text for the morning 2 Timothy 3:15 “the sacred writings… are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Friends: the Bible does not ERR in its purpose. Because as Jesus himself revealed, time and time again - John 5:39, Luke 24:27; John 20:31; Matthew 5:17 - the purpose of Scripture is to point us to HIM. HE is the great aim, the fulfillment, the focus, the climax of all of Scripture. THAT’S why the Bible is so important. No Bible, no Jesus, and no Salvation. But if you KNOW the Bible, then you can know Jesus, and know the eternal life that only comes through Him.
Indicative #3: What That Means - If the Bible really is the inspired, inerrant word of God, then it is ULTIMATELY AUTHORITATIVE. (vv16b-17)
As God’s undistorted, unfailing word, His voice, His directive and guide for His people, the Bible is ultimately authoritative. It is the highest court of appeals, for the Christian. In this country, when the Supreme Court rules on a case, that settles it; it is ultimately authoritative. Because that’s the highest court of appeals in our land. But not for the Christian. The Supreme Court can decide that abortion isn’t murder, that gay “marriage” is marriage, that people have the right to determine their own gender identity… none of it is authoritative, for the Christian. Congress can pass laws, the secular majority can socially pressure. Your employer can FIRE you. The devil can TEMPT you. Your own feelings will betray you: “I’m such a screw up. God could never love someone like me. Never forgive someone like me. The world would be better off if I’d never even been BORN.” You may feel that way at times. From aberrant sexuality to ungodly self-hatred, our feelings tell us all SORTS of lies, every day, don’t they? You wanna talk about untrustworthy?! You’re better off trusting cable news or the politicians than most of your feelings!
Not your SELF, not your family, not your closest friends, not even your PASTOR - no, the only ultimately authoritative source of truth is God’s word. THAT’S where we go as believers, for answers. It’s the ultimate cheat sheet.
Now, if all of that is true.
Axiomatic Premise: The Bible is the divinely inspired word of God.
Consequence 1, following from that: therefore The Bible is INERRANT.
Consequence 2, following from THAT: therefore The Bible is ULTIMATELY AUTHORITATIVE.
Then I’ve got 3 conclusions to my argument to leave you with. 3 Imperatives, based on those 3 indicatives; If that’s what the Bible IS, then how do we RESPOND?
#1 - We must STUDY IT PERSONALLY.
Once you HAVE accepted, by faith, the axiomatic premise that the Bible is the word of God, it’s a pretty straight line to conclusion #1 here. Would God go to the trouble of inspiring a whole book for you that He didn’t intend you to READ? To STUDY? To MEMORIZE and SOAK in?
No! It’s “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.” You only GET all those benefits - the learning, the reproof, the training, the sanctification… if you STUDY it. If you INGEST it, and DIGEST it. Internalize it.
Joshua 1:8 “you shall meditate on [this Book of the Law] day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. ” Now that was God commanding Joshua back when the Israelites only had the 5 books of MOSES, the Law, to meditate on. And God said: “Do it!” Leviticus… Numbers… memorize them! Soak in them! That’ll be GOOD for you. How much MORE so Romans, and Ephesians, and the Gospel of John!
Psalm 119:11 we’ve got to “store up [God’s] word in [our] hearts, that [we] might not sin against [him].”
2 Timothy 2:15 “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[c] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”
Ephesians 6:17 “take up... the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
Look, imagine with me for a minute that your phone was ringing. And you look down at the caller ID, and it says, “GOD”. Now, let’s pretend for the sake of the illustration, that SOMEHOW, you knew that this wasn’t Spam… it’s not a crank call, where your spouse re-named their number in your phone as “GOD” just to mess with you on April Fool’s; it’s not a joke. Just play along, somehow you KNEW that God - Yahweh, the Big Guy - He was actually on the other line. Now, I want you to imagine screening His call, thinking to yourself, “Eh, I’ll listen to the voicemail later,” and putting the phone back in your pocket, so you can continue streaming Netflix instead. Go back to folding laundry instead. Go back to filing those expense reports at work instead. What’s my point? That we shouldn’t ever do work? Or do chores? Or watch TV? We should sit around and study the Bible all day long instead? I don’t think so. Maybe it’s not a perfect analogy. Because really what we DO have is more like one giant voicemail - a 1,974 page long, a 70-hour, 40-minute long voicemail, if you were to read the Bible aloud - we’ve got it just sitting in our “inbox”, WAITING on us to press play, whenever we want. The majority of people throughout history haven’t had ANY access to a Bible; we walk around with it in our pockets constantly, on our phones. And most of us, MYSELF INCLUDED, totally take it for granted. “Eh, I’ll listen to it later.” When it’s the voice of GOD!
Psalm 119 declares “How sweet are your words… sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (103)
“The word of your mouth is better to me
than thousands of gold and silver pieces.” (72)
And Joshua 1:8 promised that internalizing God’s word will make us prosperous and successful. That means the quality of your LIFE will be indirectly proportional to the quality of your BIBLE. The quality of your life is indirectly proportional to the quality of your Bible. You want a great life? Your Bible better be in TATTERS. Does your Bible look good as new? I tremble to see the state of your soul.
Imperative #2 - If the Bible is the word of God, We must PROCLAIM IT PUBLICLY.
I touched on this a bit earlier. That’s what we do every Sunday here at West Hills. Expository preaching:
1 Timothy 4:13 “Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”
2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word... reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
Acts 20:27 “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. ”
But that’s not just the job of the PREACHER. I might get PAID to proclaim it publicly, but you get to do it for FREE! Scripture commands you to:
Mark 16:15 “And Jesus said, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
Romans 10: “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?[c] And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”” Is that passage just for MISSIONARIES? What about at Boeing? How about at Green Trails Middle School? The Maryland Heights YMCA? Who’s the missionary at YOUR workplace, YOUR school, YOUR neighborhood, YOUR frisbee club? It’s YOU! YOU’RE the one God’s sending to preach to them! They’ve got to HEAR before they even have the CHANCE to believe; will we tell them?
Finally, #3 - If the Bible is God’s word, We can TRUST IT IMPLICITLY.
In a world full of shifting tides and sinking sand, God’s word is the one unchanging, unfailing constant. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever… You can trust it.
Can I get real personal, and real pragmatic with you, as we close… why trust in the Bible? Because it WORKS! I spent so many years of my life putting my trust in other things, mainly my SELF, and I ran my life into the ground. The word of God is a sure and steady foundation. It’s been tested and proven time and time again, life after life. And it has the power to transform - to SAVE - your life today as well. Will you trust it, trust God’s word?