"Thinking" Biblically

You know, the overwhelming majority of us in this room have some knowledge of the Bible.

Think about it.

Most of us had parents, grandparents, or someone who took us to church and probably either

read us the Bible or Bible stories.

Most of us in this room have had several pastors and teachers in probably several different

churches over our lifetimes who taught us the Bible, who went to great lengths to try

to help us to understand and apply the teaching of God's Word.

Now, I know that there are some in this room, you didn't grow up in church.

No one ever took you or taught you, but God worked through your circumstances or certain

people outside your family to bring you under the influence of God's Word.

I say that because most likely you wouldn't be here right now if you didn't have some interest

in learning from the Bible.

Now, given that we've all been exposed to at least some biblical teaching, would you describe

yourself as someone who thinks biblically?

I want to make a clarification.

The last two weeks, I asked a similar question, but the emphasis was on thinking.

Do you think about what's true and right and lovely and these kind of things that we looked

at from Philippians 4.8?

I even asked, do you think?

Because everybody doesn't think.

But the focus today is on the second word.

Do you think biblically?

Do you look at life, put it this way, through the lens of Scripture?

Do you look at what's going on around you?

What's happening in your life?

What's happening in our country?

Do you think about the issues of today?

Things about what's right and wrong?

What's true and false?

What's helpful or hurtful?

Do you think about it in light of what you know the Bible teaches?

Now, if we are Christians, we should answer that question with a very strong yes.

But do we?

Let's be honest.

We don't always think, period.

But we don't always think biblically, do we?

We don't always look at the situations, the people in our lives, the circumstances,

in light of what we know the Bible teaches.

A lot of times we look at things according to how it affects me,

according to how I feel, or according to how it affects my children or my grandchildren,

or somebody we care about.

I want you to think, when you don't think biblically,

is it because you don't understand what the Bible is,

the actual Word of God?

Or, would you say that there are times you don't think biblically because you don't care?

Even if it is the Word of God, you're going to do what you want to do.

You're going to do what will most help you,

regardless if it's right or wrong, true or false,

helpful or hurtful to other people.

Well, today's message is designed to teach us

why we need to think biblically

by showing us that the Bible is the most unique, powerful,

and life-changing book that has ever been written.

And I think Paul clearly and concisely explains that

in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16,

2 Timothy 3:16

a scripture that I hope is familiar to most people in this room.

Look at it on the screen.

All scripture is breathed out by God

and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,

and for training in righteousness.

This verse is going to help us understand

why we need to think biblically,

why we need to look at the Bible

as the filter through which we look at everything

and help us make all our decisions.

Let's look first.

The Bible is God's authoritative word.

And here's why we should think that.

Paul explains clearly what the Bible is.

It's authority.

It's source.

It's origin.

Look at this.

All scripture is breathed out by God.

That's the English Standard Version.

All scripture is God-breathed, NIV.

All scripture is inspired by God.

New American Standard.

The word inspired literally means God-breathed.

Paul is telling us that all scripture originates with God.

Every book.

When we talk about the Bible,

we're talking about 66 different books.

All kinds of books.

And Paul says all scripture originated with God.

He's talking about every book, every chapter,

every verse, every word of scripture.

Now what this means is every time you open the Bible

and read whatever passage,

whether it's poetry in the Psalms,

whether it's a long story about the life of Abraham

or Joseph or David in the Old Testament,

or whether it's Paul's specific teaching about how we should think

that we looked at the last two weeks.

Every time you open the Bible,

whatever the passage,

you are reading the word of God.

The God-breathed word.

Now Paul's not alone in this very high view of the authority of scripture.

Peter fully understood that scripture was the authoritative word of God,

and he explains it like this.

He says,

Peter is actually being more precise in telling us

that the writers of scripture wrote

as they were directed by,

influenced by,

the Holy Spirit.

Jerry Bridges, I think,

does a good job of explaining

what that means,

how that came about.

Bridges says,

what Peter is telling us is that the Holy Spirit

so moved upon and influenced the minds of these men

as to render them the instruments of God

for the infallible communication of his mind and will to us.

This means that within the framework of each man's vocabulary

and writing style,

the Holy Spirit guided them

that they chose exactly the words,

not just the thoughts,

that he intended them to use.

We need to understand that God didn't dictate

his word to these people.

They were not in some kind of spiritually ecstatic state,

in some kind of fog.

They didn't know what they were doing.

God providentially, throughout their lives,

prepared each Bible writer

with the life experience,

the vocabulary,

the ability to speak or write

what he wanted,

spoken and written down.

Each man that God used to write the scripture,

they were writing fully aware

that God was working in them,

but they didn't write about things

they didn't know about.

They didn't use words

that were not a part of their vocabulary.

It was not something artificial.

God worked in them

in a supernatural way

to cause them to think

what he wanted written

the way he wanted it written.

And so what we have

is actually his word,

his written word.

Now when Paul and Peter penned these words,

they were referring to the Old Testament.

The New Testament,

when Paul and Peter were writing,

it was still in the process

of being written.

Some of their letters,

some of the gospels

were already written.

Some of them were bound together

and were circulating among churches.

But the New Testament writers,

they knew what they were doing.

They knew what they were writing.

They understood that they were writing

the authoritative word of God.

I'm going to give you some examples.

Peter referred to Paul's writings

as scripture,

which would be Paul's letters.

Look at this.

And count the patience

of our Lord as salvation,

just as our beloved brother Paul

also wrote to you

according to the wisdom given him,

as he does in all his letters

when he speaks in them

of these matters.

There are some things in them

that are hard to understand,

which the ignorant and unstable

twist to their own destruction

as they do the other scriptures.

Peter considered the writings of Paul.

These letters like Philippians.

This letter to Timothy,

this second letter to Timothy.

Peter considered what Paul was writing

to be scripture.

And what he's pointing out here,

there are false teachers

that just as they twisted

the real meaning

of the Old Testament scriptures

to make it say what they wanted to say,

they did the same thing

in the New Testament,

such as Paul's scriptures.

Now, Paul quoted the words of Jesus

that are actually recorded

in Luke chapter 10 and verse 7,

Luke 10 · chapter mention

and he calls them scripture.

I want you to look at this.

Paul writes,

this is in 1 Timothy 5,

for the scripture says,

you shall not muzzle an ox

when it treads out the grain.

He's quoting from Deuteronomy 24.

And the laborer deserves his wages.

That comes from Luke chapter 10 and verse 7.

Luke 10 · chapter mention

So as Paul was writing that,

he quoted scripture

from what we would say,

the Old Testament and the New,

both the Word of God.

Paul understood that he was writing

under the influence of the Holy Spirit,

that he was writing the Word of God as well.

Look at two examples

from 1 Corinthians.

The things I am writing to you

are a command of the Lord.

And then in 1 Thessalonians 2.

And we also thank God constantly for this,

that when you receive the Word of God,

which you heard from us,

you accepted it not as the Word of men,

but as what it really is,

the Word of God.

Paul understood that God was working in him,

inspiring him to speak His Word

as he taught the various churches

where he went and preached and started churches.

And as it was written down,

it became the written Word of God.

One other thought along this line.

Jesus prepared His apostles

for the task of writing Scripture

by telling them that the Holy Spirit

would enable them to accurately remember

and record what He taught.

It's in John chapter 14 and then chapter 16.

John 14 · chapter mention

The night that Jesus was arrested,

the next day He was going to be crucified.

John 13, 14, 15, 16,

what some people refer to as His farewell discourse.

He covered a lot of subjects.

But one of the things He covered was

He told those guys later on,

the Holy Spirit is going to enable you

to remember, to recall,

and then to record

what needs to be written.

Look at it.

John 14, 26,

but the Helper, the Holy Spirit,

whom the Father will send in my name,

He will teach you all things

and bring to your remembrance

all that I have said to you.

And then John 16,

when the Spirit of truth comes,

He will guide you into all the truth.

Now, all of these Scriptures you've seen,

all of this to this point,

we have every reason to conclude

that when the Bible speaks,

God speaks.

We in this room,

the overwhelming majority of us

are professing Christians.

We call ourselves children of God.

I say all this to say,

we as God's children

need to have confidence,

absolute confidence

confidence

that when we open the Bible,

wherever,

this is God's authoritative,

binding word.

This is God's truth.

It is what's right and wrong,

what is true and false.

He's telling us

how we should believe,

how we should live.

Now,

do you have that kind of confidence?

You open the Bible,

this is God speaking.

This is God's guidance.

That's what we need to have

if we're going to ever be able

to truly think biblically,

look at life

through the lens of Scripture.

But let's look at the second reason

why we've got to think biblically.

The Bible is God's profitable word.

God's profitable word.

That's how Paul describes the Bible.

All Scripture is breathed out by God

and profitable.

Some translations use the word useful.

Profitable for teaching,

for reproof,

for correction,

and for training in righteousness.

Because the Bible is the word of God,

because the Bible is God breathed,

it is profitable.

It is useful.

We can use this word.

It is practical for us

as Christians.

You know,

every true child of God

loves their Heavenly Father

and wants to please Him.

That's something the Holy Spirit does

in you and in me

when He comes to live within us.

When God saves us,

I mention this frequently.

When God saves us,

He puts His Spirit in us.

It's the Holy Spirit

who gives us new desires,

a new outlook,

new loves.

And one of the things

the Holy Spirit does,

He gives us a real love

for God,

our Heavenly Father.

He makes our relationship

with the Father real.

Paul describes this

in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

and in Galatians chapter 4,

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

He describes how the Holy Spirit

so works in us

to cause us to have

a certain kind of affection

for God

as our Heavenly Father.

And He uses this phrase,

the Holy Spirit causes us

to think or to say,

Abba, Father.

A term of affection.

Papa, Dad.

That's how we should think of God.

And what I'm saying here is,

if we are Christians,

God is not abstract to us.

He's not some supreme being

out there somewhere.

If we are Christians,

we are indwelled by the Spirit of God

and God the Father is real to us.

We love Him.

We have a relationship with Him.

We don't know everything about Him.

There's a lot of things

we do not understand for sure.

We don't always feel

as close to God every day

as we do some days.

But if we're Christians,

the Spirit of God lives within us

and we care about pleasing God.

And if what I've just said

is foreign to you,

you don't have a clue

what I'm talking about.

Take that as the Lord speaking

through His Word,

Romans 8, Galatians 4.

Take that as God saying,

you're not a Christian.

I don't know you.

If you don't love me,

if you don't have this desire

to please me,

something is terribly wrong.

And it's probably that

what you know about me

is just theory,

just thoughts.

It's not a relationship.

Paul identifies four ways

here in 2 Timothy 3

that the Bible is profitable

or useful to us.

First, the Bible is profitable

for teaching.

This refers to positive teaching.

God makes His ways,

His will known to us

through the pages of Scripture.

So if we're serious

about wanting to do God's will,

please God by doing His will,

we'll want to read the Bible.

Discover His ways,

His will.

Discover what pleases Him

and what does not please Him.

Such teaching

that Paul's talking about

is essential for us

to be involved in

if we want to please God.

If we don't know

what God's will,

we can't do it.

If you don't know what some,

if you want to please somebody

in your life,

think about it.

There's somebody

that you know,

that you love,

maybe you're sitting

with them right now,

and it brings great joy to you,

brings a smile to your face

to do something

that pleases them,

that brings a smile

to their face.

Well, when you really

want to do that

because you know them,

you know what

will please them.

What will please me

may not please

your son or husband.

What would please

my wife, Lisa,

may not please you.

But we know

what will please

the person we

want to please.

And so that's

the kind of things

that we do.

To know how to please God,

we've got to know

his word.

Paul,

next one he says,

number two,

the Bible is profitable

for reproof

or some translations

say rebuking.

This is the negative

aspect of teaching.

It describes

correcting error.

Somebody said,

the Bible is like

a basketball referee

that lets the player

know when he commits

a foul

or he steps out of bounds.

The referee upholds

the rules of the game.

Well, the Spirit of God

uses the Word of God

to convict us of sin.

Sin can be thought

as breaking God's rules,

stepping out of bounds.

So the Spirit of God

uses the Word of God

to correct us.

Let us know

when we've done

what does not please God.

Now,

let's apply this.

Here's an example

of how the Bible

is profitable

or useful

for teaching

and rebuking

in terms of

what we actually believe.

One of the most

popular errors

being taught

in the world today

is that all religions

are basically the same.

The mindset

of our culture today

is

all religions

are equally valid.

including

including

no religion.

And to be

politically correct

today,

if you're a Christian,

good for you.

But you also

need to say

to the Jew,

good for you.

To the Muslim,

good for you.

To the Buddhist,

good for you.

The mindset

of the world,

all religions

are basically the same.

They're all

equally valid.

And so,

whatever path

you choose,

you're going to

wind up

in the same place.

Ultimately,

the paths

to heaven

through Christianity,

Judaism,

Islam,

whatever,

they all reach

the top

where God is.

Well,

the Bible

is very useful

in helping us

to understand

that's wrong.

That's

heretical teaching.

On one hand,

it's foolish teaching.

Because the Bible

teaches something

that's totally different

from what Judaism

teaches.

Judaism teaches

something that's

totally different

from what Buddhists

believe.

You can't believe

they all can't be

right logically.

Even if you're

an atheist,

you cannot accept

that they're all

equally true.

But,

let's go back

to the Bible.

The Bible teaches

there is only

one way

for any human

being to be

right with God

and that is

through faith

in Jesus Christ.

Jesus said it

this way,

I am the way

and the truth

and the life.

No one

comes to the Father

except through me.

The apostles

heard Jesus say that.

They embraced

that as the truth

and they said it

in Acts 4.12.

And there is salvation

in no one else

for there is

no other name

under heaven

given among men

by which we must

be saved.

The world says

there's many ways

to God.

The Bible teaches

there's only one way.

That's not all

the Bible does.

The Bible rebukes,

reproves,

corrects,

straightens out

anyone who teaches

otherwise.

A good example

of this is

Galatians 1

Galatians 1:8

verses 8 and 9.

Paul said,

but even if we

or an angel

from heaven

should preach

to you

a gospel

contrary to the one

that we preach

to you,

let him be accursed.

Some translations

say eternally

condemned.

As we have said

before,

so now I say

again,

if anyone is

preaching to you

a gospel contrary

to the one you received,

let him be accursed.

Paul would not

accept this

universal belief

that everybody's

okay as long as

you believe something,

as long as you're

sincere,

it's okay.

Years ago,

not in this church,

I spoke with a man,

in fact,

I was not his pastor,

but I spoke with a man

who was a deacon,

long-term deacon

in a Baptist church,

and I don't know

how the subject

came up,

but he told me

very clearly

he did not think

that there's only

one way

for a person

to be right

with God.

It can't be

that you have

to believe in Jesus

to be saved.

He made this statement

that he believed

that many people

who sincerely

held to their

belief system,

whatever it was,

that they'd be

in heaven one day.

Paul would be

irate

at someone

who would say that.

Paul would say

that's a different

gospel,

and anybody

who would preach

a different gospel

like that,

anybody who would

lead somebody

astray like that,

let them be

eternally damned

is what he is

literally saying.

That's how strongly

he believed

that you got

to correct

or you got

to rebuke

error,

and Paul

made no,

mince no words,

did he?

The Bible

is profitable

or useful

in that it

teaches us

the truth

and it rebukes

us

when we are

in error.

Number three,

the Bible

is profitable

for correction.

Correction

means to confront

what's wrong

and straighten

it out.

Teach the

correct way.

The Bible

gives us

practical instruction

on how we

should live

our lives

in this world.

The Bible

gives us

practical instruction

on how we

need to

love our wives

as husbands,

how we

need to

discipline

our children

the right

kind of way

as fathers.

The Bible

talks about

how we

need to

try to

get along

with

everybody,

Romans 12,

as far as

it depends

on us.

The Bible

talks about

how we

need to

learn to

forgive

people,

let things

go,

don't hold

grudges.

The Bible

is very

practical

in talking

about how

we need

to be

honest in

our business

dealings,

not cheat

people.

Do what's

right,

do what's

fair.

Number

four,

the Bible

is profitable

for training

us in

righteousness.

God doesn't

just correct

us when we

do wrong.

God gives

us positive

instruction

on how we

can please

Him in the

kind of things

I was just

mentioning.

The Bible

trains or

disciplines us

to live in a

right relationship

with God and

other people.

You can say

it this way,

the Bible

trains us

or disciplines

us to

live a

holy

life.

Now,

let's apply

this.

Let's think

of an

example of

correction and

training and

righteousness that

we find in the

Bible.

What I'm

doing,

I didn't

intend for

this to be a

real full-blown

series,

but it is

thinking

biblically.

What I'm

trying to do

is apply the

scripture to

some practical

things that are

going on today

in our country

or just things

in this world.

I started off

by talking

about we

need to think

biblically about

governmental

authority that

first week at

the end of

June.

And what I was

talking about

how today law

enforcement officers,

they've been

demonized as a

whole profession,

but the Bible

does not do

that.

The Bible talks

about law

enforcement

officers having

the God-given

responsibility to

enforce the

laws, to

administer justice.

They have a

good and

honorable place in

this world and

they should be

respected.

The bad ones

should be weeded

out for sure,

but the law

enforcement profession

is an honorable

profession with a

God-given

responsibility.

The next week I

preached on the

thinking biblically

about racism and

it seems in this

culture today that

the real focus is

on not that both

black and white

people can be

prejudiced, but

only that white

people can be

prejudiced.

And there's a

great emphasis on

that racism is just

embedded in our

culture, it's

systemic, it's

upheld by law and

in institutions and

it is not, as I

pointed out in that

sermon, we need to

look at what's going

on in our world

today in light of

what the Bible

teaches.

One of the great

errors of today that

I've not brought up

in quite some time,

and I'm going to

bring it up today

because it needs to

be brought up,

same-sex marriage

has become legal in

this country.

The Supreme Court

basically, in effect,

legalized through law

same-sex marriage.

It is not the

Supreme Court's place

in our Constitution,

in our government,

to make laws, but to

interpret them.

But they sometimes

get that twisted.

Same-sex marriage has

become legalized by the

ruling of the Supreme

Court in this country.

today's culture

willingly accepts

homosexual behavior

as normal.

It's just another way

to live.

And today's culture

condemns anyone

like me, like you

if you do, condemns

anyone who calls it

sinful behavior.

There are many

liberal churches and

their entire

denomination that

will ordain a

gay man or a

gay woman as a

pastor in the

church.

There are many

liberal churches

that will affirm

same-sex marriages.

This is our world

today.

This is today's

culture.

Well, the Bible

corrects this

erroneous and

sinful behavior and

teaching by pointing

out how God

condemns such

relationships and

such behaviors.

I'll give you two

examples.

One from Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Look at this.

For this reason, God

gave them up to

dishonorable passions.

For their women

exchanged natural

relations for those

that are contrary to

nature.

And the men

likewise gave up

natural relations

with women and

were consumed with

passion for one

another.

Men committing

shameless acts

with men and

receiving in

themselves the due

penalty for their

error.

Now, the next

one comes from

1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6.

And I want you

to note, I

want to stress

this.

Paul mentions

people who

practice

homosexuality as

being condemned

by God, but it

is in a list of

many things that

are condemned by

God.

So let's look at

it.

He's writing to a

church, remember,

the Corinthian

church.

Or do you not

know that the

unrighteous will

not inherit the

kingdom of God?

Do not be

deceived.

Neither the

sexually immoral,

that includes people

involved in

premarital sex,

people involved in

any kind of sexual

relationship with

someone other than

your husband, if

you're a woman, or

a wife, if you're a

man.

Do not be deceived.

Neither the sexually

immoral, nor

idolaters, nor

adulterers, nor men

who practice

homosexuality, nor

thieves, nor the

greedy, nor drunkards,

nor revilers, nor

swindlers will

inherit the kingdom

of God.

It's Paul's there.

Paul is really just

saying here, no one

who lives, no one

who willingly lives

engages in such a

sinful lifestyle is a

Christian.

Therefore, no one who

lives this way openly,

unashamedly, they're not

a part of the kingdom of

God.

Let's move on.

Writing to these same

church, the very next

phrase, and such were

some of you, but you've

been washed.

You were sanctified.

You were justified in the

name of the Lord Jesus

Christ and by the

Spirit of our God.

Paul is condemning

sinful behavior of any

stripe that a person

willfully, intentionally

engages in with no

remorse.

That's just who they are.

They're not a Christian

if that's who they are.

They're not going to be in

heaven.

But, these very kinds of

people engage in these

kinds of behaviors, some

of these people were

saved.

They repented of their

sin.

They were forgiven.

God changed them and

enabled them to overcome

that sinful lifestyle.

God's word condemns sin, but

God's word is filled with

grace and the offer of

salvation and forgiveness to

all sinners who will repent

of their sin and turn to

Jesus Christ in faith and

commitment.

I want to pause here and

point out, everybody who came

out of that lifestyle, those

different lifestyle.

Let's look at a person who

was a drunkard as the

scripture says here.

There are men and women who

are alcoholics who truly are

born again.

They repent of their sin.

They trust Jesus.

They're forgiven.

They're cleansed and made

right with God.

But some of these people fall

back into alcohol for a

while.

God is such a demon that they

give in to the temptation

and they sin again.

That does not disqualify them

from the kingdom of heaven.

If they're truly saved, when

they sin like this, sooner or

later they're convicted, they're

broken, they repent of it, and

they come back to the Lord.

That would be true about

somebody who is engaging

homosexual behavior.

Such a person may be saved,

forgiven, made right with God,

but fall back into that for a

time.

But if they're truly

Christians, they'll know it's

sin, it's wrong, and they'll

come back to the Lord in

confession and repentance.

The Bible corrects wrongness

behavior.

And then look at this.

The Bible also trains us in

righteousness.

And so we're on the subject here

of homosexuality, same-sex

marriage.

The Bible trains us in

righteousness concerning the

subject of, let's just say,

marriage.

Heterosexual relationships.

Male-female relationships.

The Bible teaches us how God

created and designed men and

women to live together in a

proper marriage relationship.

The beginning, Genesis 2.

Therefore a man shall leave his

father and mother and hold fast

to his wife, and they shall

become one flesh.

That's the foundation for

marriage.

That's God's plan for most

people.

Some people will be single.

If you're not going to live

single, this is God's plan to

live, if you're a man with a

woman in a one flesh, permanent

relationship.

Jesus emphasized that God

intended marriage, Jesus

emphasized now, that God

intended marriage to be a

permanent relationship between

a man and woman.

Look at this.

And the Pharisees came up to

him and tested him by asking,

is it lawful to divorce one's

wife for any cause?

He answered, have you not read

that he who created them from

the beginning, made them male

and female, and said, therefore

a man shall leave his father

and his mother and hold fast to

his wife, and the two shall

become one flesh?

So they're no longer two, but

one flesh.

What therefore?

God is joined together.

Let not man separate.

In the context of Matthew 19

here, Jesus is talking about it

is not God's will that a marriage

end and divorce.

If you're married and you're

having problems, don't give up on

your marriage.

Don't give up on your spouse.

No matter what anybody else tells

you, pray.

Work with your spouse.

Work with a Christian counselor.

Father, fight for your marriage.

Do everything that you can to save it,

but not just to save it, to make it

what it should be.

A mutual, meeting one another's needs,

loving, intimate relationship.

But, while divorce is never God's

ideal, God does allow divorce under

certain conditions.

Jesus went on in this chapter,

chapter 19, to point out one,

sexual immorality.

Paul points out another one in 1

1 Corinthians 7 · chapter mention

Corinthians chapter 7, desertion by an

unbelieving spouse.

There are grounds for divorce.

And when that happens, it was not

God's ideal, but God forgives.

God wipes the slate clean.

God can give you a fresh start.

And I want you to hear that word of

hope and grace as well.

But my point here is the Bible is

very useful.

It's very practical.

Very practical.

The Spirit of God uses the Word of God

to correct us.

We make sinful choices.

And it doesn't matter what the world

says.

And the Word of God, the Spirit of God

uses the Word of God to train us to

make the right choices that please God

and make our lives better.

I want to throw this out real quickly

here.

One of the great disappointments to me

and many Christians over the years,

there have been Bible-believing,

evangelical seminary professors,

pastors, other church leaders

who have taught the truth about

same-sex marriage, homosexuality,

that it was sinful behavior.

Until their son or their daughter

or someone close to them came out as gay.

And then they changed their beliefs.

What that means is such a person

made what their son or daughter or friend

did as the standard for their behavior

or their standard for what's right and wrong.

They abandoned the truth of God's Word

in favor of how it affected someone

that they loved.

We don't have that option as a Christian.

Love your children.

Love people.

Bend over backwards to meet their needs,

to be a friend, to help them.

But never let someone else

and their beliefs or their lifestyle

be the standard

for your beliefs

and your lifestyle.

You know, the only way we can think biblically

is know what the Bible teaches.

Number three,

the Bible must be read and studied.

And that's going to be something

we're going to probably just,

I'm going to conclude in the newsletter.

I didn't realize it till

the first service this morning,

but I didn't talk fast enough

to get through point three.

So I'm going to go straight

to the conclusion here.

Can you honestly describe yourself

as someone who thinks biblically

and therefore you live biblically?

You've developed your beliefs

and your lifestyle

based on what you know

the Bible teaches.

Is that true?

Let me ask it another way.

Is that how you want to live?

Do you want it to be true?

Do you want it to be true?

Hear me real carefully here.

If you've listened to this sermon

and you're just basically indifferent

or you don't care

or you reject it,

you need to do some very serious soul searching

because the Apostle John says

that living according to the truth of God's word

is one of the indications

of whether or not you are a Christian.

Look at this.

John writes in 1 John chapter 2,

1 John 2 · chapter mention

and by this we know

that we've come to know Him

if we keep His commandments.

Whoever says I know Him

but does not keep His commandments

is a liar

and the truth is not in him.

But whoever keeps His word in Him truly,

the love of God is perfected.

By this we may know

that we are in Him.

John's real clear.

If we're Christians,

we'll not just believe the Bible

to be God's word.

We'll seek to live according to it.

If you're a child of God,

living in fellowship with God,

there's no doubt you desire

to think and live

according to the truth of God's word.

And if that is how you would respond this morning,

then you need to thank God

for the work He's done

in bringing you to this point.

You're a trophy of God's grace

if that's how you think.

And ask God to help you

to continue

to believe and behave

according to the truth of His word.

But if you really and truly

don't care,

get this over with,

I'm going to do what I want to do,

live the way I want to live,

don't call yourself a Christian.

And if that bothers you,

if what John says,

who does not keep His commandments

is a liar,

if that bothers you,

good.

Let it drive you to your knees

in humility and brokenness,

repent of your sin

and trust Jesus now

and truly commit your life to Him.

The final thought here,

if you have fully

known what it means

to think and live biblically

and deep down,

that's what you want right now.

The truth is you are not,

maybe because you just drifted away

from the Lord.

You just let your life get too busy.

You just drifted away unintentionally.

Or maybe you've rebelled

for whatever reason.

I want to encourage you

to confess your sin,

your drift,

your rebellion,

whatever it is,

and come back to the Lord now

in a new,

wholehearted commitment

to Jesus as the Lord of your life

and to the Word of God

as your ultimate authority

for what you're going to believe

and how you're going to live.