The Bible

Now one of the truisms, that is things that people say about Christians, or perhaps if we're a Christian, one of the cliches we use as a Christian is that the Bible is central to everything we do and are as Christians and as a church.

It's been a truism for years.

But I want to start off by saying this morning that I actually think it's no longer true.

The truism is still used, but it's no longer true.

In recent months, the now infamous Israel Folau tweet of two verses from 1 Corinthians chapter 6, actually verses from Scripture, exposed such a massive and vicious division among evangelical Christians,

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

mainline Christians, as to how to use the Bible and the place of the Bible in public life.

And underneath that, there's a lot of questions about how confident we are in the Bible, how embarrassed we are by the Bible,

how fearful we are of offending others by our use of the Bible.

Then this week, news has broken of Josh Harris.

Many of you will have read his book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye.

A very, very high-profile, conservative, evangelical Christian.

And it's now come out that he has decided to walk away from God and the Bible entirely.

His book sold more than a million copies.

In many ways, he was a pin-up boy of lots of evangelical churches over the last 10, 15 years.

Harris was caught in a dilemma.

He's lost confidence in the truth and relevance of God's Word for today's world.

And he says this, he says it's intellectually easier to reject God completely

than it is for him to try and justify modern views on sex, sexuality, gender, and parenting from within the Bible.

That's a massive statement, isn't it?

In an interview with a liberal, progressive Christian magazine,

which believes, which actually believes, the Bible can easily accommodate

all practices of the modern sexual revolution.

All right, hear that again.

This is an interview with a so-called progressive, liberal Christian magazine,

which believes, the Bible can accommodate all practices of the modern sexual revolution.

Harris said this,

if in one generation,

Christians can make such a radical shift with the Bible,

it starts to become silly putty

that is made to say anything.

You know what putty is?

Play-Doh type stuff?

You just shape it.

If you want a new nose in your face,

you just make yourself a new nose.

Harris is saying it's actually intellectually

easier for him to walk away from God and Christianity altogether

than it is to take the Bible

and try and make it say all the things our society want to make it say

about sex and sexuality and gender and parenting

and all those other things.

He was in a dilemma.

Didn't quite want to stand with the Bible,

but nor was he able just to make the Bible be what he wanted it to be either.

So we come up with a third solution

that some will pillory him for

and others will applaud him for.

Either way,

we have to wrestle

with the same issue

individually

and as a church.

So here's a question for this morning.

When you evaluate your church,

and if you're a local here,

as most of you are,

when you evaluate this church,

what do you,

in your mind,

think should be foundational

to us as a church?

What's the non-negotiable?

What do you think should shape us

in all the parts

that make up the whole

of our church family life?

Or again,

if a visitor coming in here this morning

were to ask you,

what is the key ingredient

that defines

us as a church family?

What would you say?

Or if they said,

what is our aim?

We talk about wanting to engage

with our local community.

Well,

what is our aim

in wanting to engage

with the local community?

Would you say

that the key ingredient

that shapes and defines us

as a church

is the Bible?

That it's central

to everything we are

and everything we do.

Would you say

the Bible

is the only really valuable thing

we have to offer

our community?

Because

it offers

the pathway

to the truly

godly life

that everybody

out there

craves

but is desperately

seeking in places

other than God.

and then

if you did say that

would you actually

be practically

committed to it?

See,

we live in an age,

a digital age we're told,

the age of digital knowledge.

Vast amounts

of information

available through

modern technology.

And as I said

last week

in our Grace Life thing,

the reality

for so many Christians

I'm not just talking

about non-Christians,

I'm talking about

Christians as well here.

The reality

for so many Christians

is that their first

point of authority,

reference and guidance,

is so often

the internet.

I think it's not

too much to say

that many Christians

doubt

that

what is taught

in the Bible

is even

worth reading,

let alone

learning

when compared

to the immediacy

and ease

of a Google search.

Now,

the result of this

is quite subtle

because

the result of this

sort of

view of the Bible

is not that God's

outright denied,

I don't hear

Christians doing that,

but that God

is actually

just considered

irrelevant.

He's not the

go-to person

for our knowledge,

for our guidance,

for our authority.

He's practically

irrelevant.

So,

a couple of questions

this morning

as we move through

this topic

and open it up

to look at it

then over four weeks

in the afternoons.

What is the Bible?

What should we

believe about the Bible

and what do we

actually believe

about the Bible?

That's two good

questions to ask

yourself.

Well,

of course,

the Bible's

many things.

We can say

the Bible's

a library

of books

in one book

written by

many different

people

over a period

of about

1400 years,

full of words,

each of which

is meant

to convey

a particular

meaning

and all of

which together

are designed

to convey

a particular

narrative,

a particular

story.

Then we can say,

well,

the Bible's

a really old

book.

It's a best

selling book

still.

It's been

translated into

hundreds of

languages.

Well,

that's true

about the Bible.

Yet,

again,

we have to

say unbounds

that it

remains a

very

neglected

book.

Christians,

churches,

who say

the Bible

is their

book,

often have

very little

knowledge of

what it

says.

Even

reject much

of its

contents,

if they

bother to

read it

at all.

The word

Bible

simply comes

from the

Greek word

for book.

That's what

it is.

It's

Biblos,

book,

Bible.

But our

Bible is

more than

just an

ordinary

book that

happens to

be about

God.

Bible,

the Bible

claims to

be

scripture.

Scriptura,

that word

means the

writing of

God

himself.

The

scripture,

the Bible

claims to

be the

written

record of

what God

has said

to his

world and

his people

in the

Old

Testament and

the New

Testament

periods.

Well,

if that's

what the

Bible is,

why did

God need

to speak?

If he

speaks in

the Bible,

speaks through

the Bible,

why did

he need

to speak?

The answer

is simple,

as Dave

introduced

this morning.

It goes

like this.

It's a

since then

argument.

Since

God fills

our universe,

as Rob

talked about

last week,

in his

character,

in his

presence,

in his

creative

ability,

since God

fills our

universe,

and since

he is so

different to

what we

are,

even though

we are

his creation,

his created

beings,

and even

though we're

made in

his image,

he's still

so different

from us,

so other

than.

And since

his desire

is to relate

to us

personally,

then we

actually need

God to

tell us

what he's

like.

because

unless God

takes the

initiative to

tell us

what it's

like,

to tell us

what's in

his mind,

to tell us

what his

purpose is,

we could

never,

ever know.

Now,

God didn't

need to

reveal himself

to us,

but in an

act of

mercy,

and kindness,

and grace,

he has done

so in

great detail

by speaking

into his

world,

in his

word.

Now,

as you

know,

words are

essential to

building

relationship,

good

relationship,

deep

relationship,

that is.

Now,

there's a

certain amount

you can learn

about a person

just by

observing them,

so if I

brought a

stranger in

the midst

this morning

and stood

them up

here,

there's a

certain amount

of things

you could

learn about

them,

or at least

guess about

them,

by simply

observing

them,

or we

can learn

more about

somebody by

observing what

they do

in certain

circumstances,

but to

get to know

them deeply,

to understand

their character,

to build that

sort of

relationship,

then we

need to

speak,

we need to

communicate

with a

person,

and that's

exactly what

God's word

is.

God's word

bridges the

gulf, the

great gulf

between the

otherness of

God and his

character and

our finiteness,

and it

allows us to

know him

personally.

So revelation

then, my

friends, which

is what we

call the

Bible,

revelation is

God expressing

himself.

God's

expression of

himself.

Now that

expression comes

both in the

words that

describe his

greatness and

his beauty and

his desirability,

the words we

like, but

also it's an

expression of

himself as he

describes his

holiness and his

justness and the

awesomeness of

him in

judgment, the

words we tend

not to like.

Both are an

expression of

God's character.

Both need to be

heard equally.

They tell us

precisely why he

does what he does

in his world so we

can understand his

character and purpose

and be in

relationship with

him.

So the Bible

bridges the

gulf, but the

Bible also links

the past to

the present.

It records

God's purposes

and intentions

as experienced

in history.

This is what

this is.

It's the record of

God's purpose and

intention as it's

been experienced

in history.

And so it

becomes for us

then in 2019

the template

by which we

also now in

our turn can

encounter God

and come into

relationship with

him in our own

right, in our

own time and

space.

Now, let me

just say this.

Revelation does

not mean that

the only knowledge

we have in our

world comes from

the Bible.

In fact, the

Bible is actually

very clear that

rebellious humans

may reject God

totally and still

know and discover

lots of amazing

things about our

world and how it

operates.

The Bible itself

teaches that.

Chemistry,

physics,

biology,

geology,

psychology,

medicine,

all those other

things, they all

have a part to play

in our world of

discovering it and

directing it.

They help us

know our world.

But the Bible is

also really clear

that knowledge of

which we have

much is not

wisdom.

wisdom.

And the Bible

distinguishes the

two because

wisdom is the

ability to take

that knowledge

and put it into

the big picture

narrative

and discover a

true understanding

of life and a

true understanding

of how we live

the good life

and how we fit in

the universe.

And the Bible

is clear,

therefore,

that not

withstanding the

knowledge we can

discover quite

apart from God,

that we can only

know our universe

in its fullest

and truest

context as we

bring that

knowledge and put

it in the context

of God who

created all.

this ultimate

wisdom,

says the Bible,

is God's

alone.

And this

wisdom,

he generously

shares with us

in his written

word so that

we might know

how to use our

vast and

increasing

knowledge

wisely

and know

how to live

well.

Now,

that's a really

big check for us,

isn't it?

Because for

generations,

we've actually

been told,

we've been

sold the line

that humans

can find

ultimate truth

and wisdom

for living

without need

for God.

But I don't

need to argue

the point that

the hard evidence

for that

proves the

Bible's point

that there's

an awful lot

of knowledge

out there

in our

world,

but very

little wisdom

as to how

to live

well.

So,

next question

then.

What is the

Bible?

Why did God

need to speak?

The question

then is,

how has God

spoken to us?

Now,

we look at

2 Timothy 3,

16.

It says

there,

all Scripture

is breathed

out.

by God.

My friends,

the Bible

is God's

words

in human

words.

All Scripture

comes directly

from God

as he breathes

out,

as he speaks.

What the Bible

says,

God says

just as

really

as if

God himself

was standing

here in front

of us

this morning

speaking.

That's what

the Bible

claims about

itself.

All Scripture

is God

breathed.

The same

idea is

in

Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Let me

just read it

to you

when I

find it.

Hebrews

Hebrews 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Long

ago,

at many

times and

in many

ways,

God spoke

to our

fathers by

the prophets.

prophets.

But in

these last

days,

he has

spoken to

us by

his son,

whom he

appointed the

heir of all

things,

through whom

he also

created the

world.

How has

God spoken?

Well,

God communicated

with ordinary

people

through

ordinary

words

in

language

which is

ordinary,

propositions.

That is,

sentences,

statements,

questions,

commands.

So,

in one

sense,

God has

spoken in a

really ordinary

way.

Yet,

the process

was also

supernatural,

too.

The word

breathed,

in Greek,

contains the

root word for

Holy Spirit,

theonistus.

God

communicates

his wisdom

to the

mind of

ordinary

people by

his Holy

Spirit,

whom he

superintends.

And he

superintends

both the

recording of

that word

initially

that God

puts in

their mind,

God's

word.

He

superintends

that,

and also

superintends

the process

of passing

it on to

others

through

teaching,

which is

why we

have God's

word in

its original

form come

down to

us with

accuracy

and

completeness

in 2019,

2,000 years

after it's

written,

3,000 years

after someone

that's

written.

So God

superintends

the process

from start

to finish,

and yet

we got his

slide back

and forward.

It's an

ordinary

process because

God didn't

reduce the

writers to

robot status.

He didn't

put them

into a

trance.

We can

see the

different

personalities,

the different

contexts,

the different

styles of

the different

Bible writers,

writers,

and yet

we're told

that God

superintends

both the

original writing,

the original

thinking,

and then the

transmission of

it.

But equally

clear in 2

Timothy 3,

15 and 16

is the

Bible is

God's

living and

transforming

word.

My friends,

the Bible,

whatever else

you say about

it,

is the

God's

way of

bringing

life to

people,

to his

people,

and to

growing his

people,

to be the

people he

wants them

to be.

Though

written in

the past,

it is

equally

applicable to

us now.

Look at the

way the

tenses change

in verse

15.

I, from

childhood,

you have

acquainted

with the

sacred

writings,

which are

able.

So,

Timothy,

you've

learned

these

in the

past.

They've

come

down

through

the

generations,

which are

able,

that is a

present tense,

which are

able to

make you

wise for

salvation

through

faith in

Christ Jesus.

All

scripture is

breathed out

by God

and is

profitable

for teaching,

for reproof,

for correction,

and for

training and

righteous,

that the

man of God,

that the

person of

God,

that the

believer,

may be

competent,

equipped for

every good

work.

God's

word brings

life.

It is able

to make us

wise for

salvation.

It is

useful now

for growing us

into his

likeness.

God's

word is

how God

makes his

people and

grows his

people.

Put it in

Timothy's

context.

Timothy's

work was

of teaching

the gospel

and building

the church.

It was a

cultural

context like

our own.

You see

that in the

beginning of

chapter 3 and

then the

beginning of

chapter 4.

A cultural

context we

recognize.

People were

chasing the

good life.

How?

Through their

own wisdom

and apart

from God.

verse 8.

They were

making a

mess of

it.

Look at

the way

it is

described in

there.

It is

relationships

gone viral

in the

sense of

gone bad

that is.

Verse 8.

Men who

oppose the

truth, men

corrupted in

mind and

disqualified

regarding the

faith.

Sorry,

verse 7

rather.

Always

learning and

never able to

arrive at

knowledge of

the truth.

See, people

chase the

good life

under their

own wisdom.

They chase

knowledge.

They are all

the time

learning about

this so-called

good life but

they can never

quite get it.

They can never

get it onto

the ground.

They can never

make it real.

They can never

discover truth

to actually

free them

into the

life they

crave.

So what

Paul's

encouragement to

Timothy writes

this young

preacher?

What's the

tool he gives

Timothy for

changing lives

and hearts

filled with

their own

foolishness and

determined to

pursue their

own foolishness?

Chapter 4,

verse 2.

Preach the

word.

The living,

transforming word

of God.

That's your

tool,

Timothy.

That's why you

can be

encouraged in

a cultural

context where

people are

totally committed

to their own

foolishness and

don't even

realize how

foolish their

foolishness is.

preach the

word.

That's your

tool for

changing lives

and hearts.

Both the

Old Testament

scripture he had

learned as a

child and the

New Testament

scripture coming

to him through

Paul and other

apostolic writers.

Friends, our

Bible is a

unique book because

it comes directly

from the mind

of God.

It is God's

wisdom to

his world.

Now, again,

the Bible never

claims that it

says everything

there is to say

about God.

It never claims

that at all.

But it does

tell us that in

the Bible we

have God's

word which is

everything we

need to free

us from

emptiness, from

empty living,

and to make us

God's people and

to grow us into

Christ's likeness.

everything we

need.

And even more

directly, going

back to the

Hebrews 1

quotation, we

have all of

that personified

in the person

of Jesus.

John 1, 1-4,

the word became

flesh.

God's living,

breathing word

came to us

for what

purpose?

To bring

life, to

move us from

darkness and

death to

relationship with

him and

life.

God's written

word makes us

wise to salvation

by pointing us

to Christ, who

himself come into

the world to

complete God's

purpose and

actually deliver us

into the good

life he wants

for us, the

good life we

crave.

And God's

spirit grows

us in our

new life in

Christ.

God's spirit

renews our

mind and our

hearts from the

inside out so

that we not

only recognize

this new life

in Christ, but

we desire it.

And we see

ourselves being

equipped by

God's spirit as

we understand

more and more

how God wants

us to live and

what it is to be

true image

bearers.

To

Timothy 3.16,

to become

competent,

well equipped,

highly functioning

servants of God

who look like

him, who

sound like him,

and who act

like him, and

ultimately who

have hearts like

him.

Now, let me

finish up

reasonably

quickly.

I'm running

out of time

here, so I'll

rush over these

things.

We can talk

about them more

this afternoon.

Given that the

Bible is such a

gift, given it

is so powerful

for bringing

life, especially

to us as

Christians, what

stops us from

making it central

in our lives and

in our church?

I've got three

things here I'm

just going to run

over real quick.

The first is, I

think, that the

God of our

Bible is too

small.

Rob spoke last

week about the

character of God.

He's so profound.

He's so other

than us.

When we forget

that the Bible is

God's unique

communication,

to us, or

when we have a

small view of

God, then

what happens is

that we easily

get into the

position where we

stand over God's

word, the Bible,

just like arrogant

teenagers who

will roll their

eyes when mom and

dad give them

wisdom and

treat it as the

most idiotic thing

has ever been

pronounced in God's

world.

words, and I

speak there as

remembering my own

teenage years.

What happens?

Well, we take that

attitude with God.

We get too small a

view of God.

The problem is not

the clarity of God's

word.

It's my arrogance,

thinking that I know

better, or I don't

like that, so it's

got to be over here,

or I don't understand

that, so therefore I

won't believe that.

It can't be true.

The Bible's always

saying to us, believe,

and understanding

will come.

Believe.

Why?

Believe, because it's

God's word.

And how dare we

reject God's word

and throw it back

on us then, well

actually God, I'm

pretty sure you made

a mistake here.

Had you been

thinking clearly, you

wouldn't have said

this.

God must always

evaluate me.

And my culture

must never be the

other way around.

And yet I fear

that's what it's

become for us as

Christians.

Secondly, we think

the Bible is not

relevant or not

sufficient for the

problems we face.

And the argument

goes like this.

Well look, the fact

of the matter is

that we face

problems on a daily

basis that people

50 years ago

couldn't imagine,

let alone people

2,000 years ago.

So therefore, how

could the Bible

possibly be

sufficient for

every aspect of

life and practice?

We tend to think

therefore the Bible

has nothing to say

on these modern

issues.

And so then, if the

Bible's got nothing

to say, the Bible's

not our authority,

then where will we

turn?

We need help with

these issues.

And so we turn to

Google.

We turn to our

peers.

Or if we're older,

we perhaps just fall

back on comfortable

tradition.

But the problem

here, you see, is

that we've

sacrificed wisdom

for knowledge.

Paul didn't need

to, well, sorry,

Paul didn't have to

negotiate the

internet or social

media.

He didn't have to

decide what sort of

car to buy.

But he was a

student of human

nature.

And he knew only

too well how we

naturally tend to

take the good

things that God

gives us in his

world and fill our

lives with those

things and

exclude God, the

giver of them.

He knows how

these, that sort of

thinking then,

becomes an idol,

how these things

become equally or

more important to

us than God.

And he knows the

consequences of

this idol worship

when we are

created to be

worshippers of

God.

It brings

disaster.

He didn't need

to know the

workings of

the internet to

be able to

speak wisely

into our lives

as to the

dangers of the

internet and a

million other

things beside the

internet.

We think that

because the

Bible doesn't

mention the

internet by

name, therefore

the Bible has

nothing to say

in respect of

how we approach

these things.

We've got a

wrong idea of

the Bible.

And Paul not

only knew how

to analyze his

society and his

culture and his

own heart, he

knew where to

look for truth.

He knew the

heart was looking

for freedom,

freedom from the

emptiness of ways

handed down by

the forefathers,

and he knew

where to go to

look for that

truth.

My friends, the

Bible still speaks

the same to us

today because the

names change, the

faces change, the

issues apparently

change, but in a

sense there's no

change.

And finally, we've

got a mechanical

view of the

Bible.

Now this is

probably the one

that will get

most people upset

if anything gets

you upset, but I

don't mind getting

you upset, at

least you're

thinking then.

Just don't take

it out of me,

that's all.

We have a

mechanical view of

the Bible.

Now what I mean

by that is that

sometimes Christians

get into the

mode of thinking

that simply reading

the Bible or

learning sections

of the Bible by

rote is the

important thing.

My friends, we're

only using the

Bible properly when

we're reading for

understanding, when

we're reading for

transformation.

That's why I've

always, over my

years, had a real

problem with the

old quiet time

mentality where you

just read a portion

of Scripture every

day.

And I know

Christians who did

that religiously.

They wouldn't go to

bed every night

before they read

their portion of

Scripture.

But it might only

be three minutes

like Marty was

doing, half

falling asleep or

checking their

phone at the

same time.

But, you know,

we've ticked the

box, we've read

the Bible.

Or parents get

children to

memorize lots of

Scripture.

And again, that

can be so

dangerous.

If we think that

by somehow

memorizing Scripture,

our children have

used Scripture

well and we've

taught our

children to use

Scripture well.

Memorizing is a

great thing.

but only if our

memorizing comes in

the context also

with their children

of teaching them

to life and

transformation in

that which they

learn.

And again, you

see, again, it

applies to the

internet.

It is so easy

today to find a

verse, to find a

quotation, to find a

commentary by a

famous preacher at

the press of a

button on Google.

And so again, we

quickly go to that

and we think, ah,

yes, I've got that.

Isn't that a really

good sentence there?

And so again, we

fill our minds with

knowledge.

But are we using

those things for

transformation?

Are we

understanding how

God brings life

through His word

and grows us

through His word?

Are we struggling

for wisdom that

changes the heart?

or are we just

gathering knowledge?

Somebody once

said, I think it

was Spurgeon, I'm

not quite sure,

said this, make no

mistake, Satan is

clever.

If he cannot keep

you out of the

Bible altogether,

then he will keep

you in it, but

focused on minor

details of doctrine,

so as you're

distracted and

making a big fuss

about very little,

or he will keep

you in it, but

with a dull mind

which is happy

just to read the

Bible in a year

or something like

that, more than

desire to be

changed by it.

Friends, I

finish my first

sentence again.

Is the statement

that the Bible is

central to

everything we are

and do, as

individuals here,

as Christians here,

and as a church,

is that a

practical truth

for you?

or is it just a

cliche?

Let me pray.

Lord, forgive us

for sitting loose

to your word.

Forgive us, Lord,

for zeal

towards you,

as Paul says in

Romans chapter 10,

Romans 10 · chapter mention

zeal that's not

directed by knowledge

of your word.

forgive us, Lord,

for those things

that we've offered

you in worship

which would be

offensive to you

when you call us

first and foremost

to give our hearts,

to give our whole

minds, to give our

whole bodies in

response to you.

Help us to

know your word,

help us to know you

through your word,

and help us to value

and treasure that word.

In Jesus' name,

Amen.

Amen.