The Speaking God

Well, welcome.

I am very glad that you have joined us to worship together this morning.

This is an exciting day.

It's an exciting day because the Lord made it, right?

But it's also an exciting day because I have the wonderful privilege of revealing to you some of the work that has been going on behind the scenes here at Faith.

If you attend regularly, then you've already noticed the most primary, perhaps, or most visible aspect of that work, and that's the new bulletin that Webb so proudly displayed.

Thank you, Webb.

We have updated the design and the layout a little bit in a way that better coordinates with our website.

Helps us just have a more unified appearance in our publications and that sort of thing.

But we also wanted to have a bulletin that communicates more clearly what we are about as a local church.

Some of you may have noticed that we did not include the statement of faith on the back of the bulletin like we used to.

I want to alleviate your concerns.

That does not mean we don't want it or don't appreciate it or think it's unimportant.

Not at all.

We want you to know that we are in the process of posting a large copy of it in the foyer so that it is very visible to everyone.

We also have individual paper copies available on the information station.

But we also have it available on our church website.

Maybe you're not aware of this.

You never know what statistics to trust, but statistics say that as many as 70% of people now go online to find out what a local church believes.

That's a pretty staggering number if you think about it.

And so that shift uh emphasized to us the need to make uh online priority, online availability a priority.

But there was also a practical reason for removing the statement of faith from the bulletin, and that is we needed space.

We needed space.

Specifically, we needed the bulletin space to highlight our focus as a local church.

Who are we?

Who are we as a local church and what are we doing?

Every local church is known for something.

Some might be recognized for their robust children's programming.

Others might be known for the exciting youth group.

Another church might be known for its music.

What should we be known for?

There are other important questions.

What are we here for?

What guides the staff?

What directs the elders in their leadership?

Is there a direction?

I can answer that.

Yes, there is.

But to help answer these questions and to correctly orient our service to Christ, I've been working with the elders to establish a more focused vision statement for our fellowship.

We are guided and aided by having a vision statement that highlights front and center what we do and why we are here.

That's the significant difference in your bulletin.

Now, whenever you pick up a bulletin, the first thing you will see is this new vision statement.

Where did my there we go?

You will see there, Faith Evangelical Free Church declaring the Word of God and discipling believers into mature, devoted followers of Christ.

There we go.

This is what we want everyone who worships with us to know about us, and it will guide us in our ministry and our service to the Lord and to one another.

This statement is a guide for us as a church, but it's really only a set of words assembled in a catchy way.

By itself, it has no authority, no inherent authority to direct or define us.

It doesn't have any authority because it comes to you with the support of the elders.

It only bears authority and weight because it is based on the Word of God and the instructions given to us by God.

This morning and the next couple of weeks, I want to walk through the three parts of this statement to show you how God Himself directs us in these ways.

Because this statement has no bearing on us if Scripture cannot support it.

It's just a collection of words.

Now I want to say this up front.

You need to hear all three messages.

How's that for getting you to come back?

There are three parts to this statement, and you can't remove one without messing up the whole thing.

In the same way, as we walk through this over the next few weeks, you need to hear all three of them together to be able to get the unified whole.

So if you are not here, I encourage you to listen to them online if you have a chance.

One of the most challenging tasks set before the church in this age of media and entertainment is that of establishing a priority.

How do we determine what the focus of a local church should be?

How do we determine that?

Some would say that the focus needs to be evangelistic, that we need to have an evangelistic focus in order to make the church a place where unbelievers and seekers are comfortable and it's a safe place for them.

Some make that argument.

But in that case, non-Christians then become the determining standard of the church's priority.

I've listened to a popular leadership podcast from time to time published by a pastor of a rapidly growing church on the East Coast.

In fact, I believe it's the fastest growing church in the country right now.

They call their Sunday morning services experiences.

Seriously, it's not a worship service, it's a Sunday morning experience.

Their priority is experience, a feeling or a sensory-based service.

Now, those are just a couple of examples.

There are many, many others.

But how do we determine what our priority should be?

Well, it doesn't seem wise to establish what we do as a church off of the fickle nature of unbelieving people who are not part of the Lord's church at the present moment.

And nowhere in Scripture do we get the command to work hard to get people to fill the pews for a church service.

Now that's not a bad thing.

I encourage you to work hard at that.

That's not a bad thing, but we don't have a command to do it.

It also doesn't seem wise to take a pragmatic approach and go with whatever will draw people into the pews at this present moment in this time in history.

We're always going to be changing then.

See, here's the bottom line: God has called his people to himself.

And he has called that group of people his church.

Since that is the work of God, it makes the most sense to follow what God Himself has set in place as a priority.

We believe that the three aspects of this vision statement are what God has established as the priority for his church.

So the question again is can it be supported by Scripture?

I want to answer that question this morning, but to do so, I need you to go on a walk with me through the pages of Scripture.

We're going to start in Genesis and end in Timothy, and I'm going to preach through all of the books in between.

No, that's a lie.

Forgive me.

Hope you understand that's facetious.

That'd be kind of fun, though, don't you think?

First, I'd like you to consider the law, the law of Moses, the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament.

Did you realize that Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, does not begin with an argument for the existence of God?

Genesis 1:1

There's no argument to prove to us that God exists.

It simply makes the assumption that He does exist.

In the beginning, God.

Right?

God exists and God created everything that is.

And if you were to read through these five books of the Bible, noting what it says about God, you would see that a defining characteristic of God from the very beginning is that He is a God who speaks.

Genesis chapter one.

Verse three.

God said.

And God said.

Eleven times in just Genesis chapter one, it says, God spoke.

God spoke in a commanding, creative way.

He spoke, and it was.

If you continue on throughout the first five books of the Old Testament, you will see that statements about God speaking occur over 200 times in just the first five books of the Old Testament.

God revealed Himself as a communicating God, as a speaking God, as a commanding God, as a directing God, all throughout the medium of language.

But there was a new wrinkle thrown into that in Deuteronomy chapter 9.

Deuteronomy 9 · chapter mention

Deuteronomy chapter 9.

Deuteronomy 9 · chapter mention

So the last book of the law, this is when Moses was recounting to the people of Israel what God had said and done at the Mount of Sinai when he gave them the Ten Commandments.

In Deuteronomy chapter 9 and verse 10, we read, The Lord gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God.

Deuteronomy 9 · chapter mention

And on them were all the words that the Lord had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly.

Spoken words of God become written words of God.

By the finger of God Himself.

Now, whenever you see the finger of God in Scripture, you need to sit up and take notice.

Mentioned God's fingers.

God doesn't have actual physical fingers, the Lord Jesus does, but it's metaphorical to give us an image of what we're thinking about.

When God uses his fingers, it's important.

Two primary ways that we see the fingers of God in Scripture are in his act of creating.

He used his fingertips, Psalm says.

And here, he inscribed stone with his fingers to record his word.

Now we don't know if other human beings wrote down anything that God said, but in Scripture, the first event of God, of God's words being recorded, is by God Himself.

You don't have to go very far into the pages of Scripture to see the immense importance of God's speaking and of the content of what God said being recorded in writing for his people to read.

This image of God speaking and writing, of communicating in order to command and direct and encourage his people continues all throughout the Old Testament, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times.

First, God spoke and recorded.

And then he began to speak and record his words through prophets, priests, and kings.

That's what David refers to in 2 Samuel chapter 22, verse 31.

2 Samuel 22:31

He says, This God, his way is perfect.

The word of the Lord proves true.

How did David know the word of the Lord proved true?

He had to have the word of God in the first place, didn't he?

You can't know that the word of God proves true unless you first know what God has said.

Then you can see that it has proven true.

By the way, that's repeated in Psalm 18, verse 30.

Psalms 18:30

Psalm 18, David says, The word of the Lord has proven true.

What God has said has proven true.

Then in the very next Psalm, Psalm 19, he goes into this extended statement about how precious and beautiful and trustworthy God's word is.

Psalm 19, along with Isaiah chapter 40, contain some of the most dramatic and important statements about God speaking in all of the Old Testament.

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

You're familiar, I'm sure, with the one in Isaiah chapter 40, verse 8.

Isaiah 40:8

The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Do you see how solid that is?

There's no question.

It will stand forever.

By the way, that's a that's a difficult statement for those who claim to hear new revelation or claim to hear God speaking today.

Because if God is speaking, it is required by definition to stand forever.

The writer to the book of Hebrews had a unique connection with the Old Testament.

Probably a Hebrew himself, a Jewish person, probably very familiar with his Old Testament, not probably he was, because we see quotes from the Old Testament all the way through.

In that book of Hebrews, one of the key themes of that book is how Jesus fulfills the Old Testament.

Over and over again.

It's as though it's a question and answer time with a congregation.

The author of the book of Hebrews throws something out and he says, What's the answer?

Jesus.

Then he starts again, makes a statement, what's the answer?

Jesus, over and over and over again in the book of Hebrews, it's Jesus who is the answer.

Now the first two verses of the book of Hebrews give us a summary of everything that we see in the Old Testament about God speaking.

He says, long ago, and many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers through the prophets.

But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son.

Do you see the shift?

That's crucial for the New Testament.

All throughout the Old Testament, God spoke and recorded his word, sometimes directly and sometimes through ambassadors.

Following 400 years of silence after the conclusion of the Old Testament revelation, there was a sudden change.

The focus of God's speaking is now through his Son.

It is not by accident, then, that John calls Jesus the Word of God.

John 1, 1, in the beginning was the Word.

What's the word?

It's speaking, it's communication.

This is God's speaking now in human form.

In fact, that's what John goes on to say a few verses later in verse 14, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

We've seen his glory, full of grace and truth.

The speaking God has now become the word incarnate.

God still spoke through apostles.

But the primary means of speaking is now through his son, who is the embodiment of his word.

The word became flesh.

To hear Jesus is to hear the word of God.

And you must know Jesus to truly know the word of God.

Why is this important?

It is important because Jesus is the one who established the church.

That means the church is built by the Word of God.

It is commanded by the Word of God.

It is directed by the Word of God.

It is nourished by the Word of God.

It is sustained by the Word of God.

And it is protected by the Word of God.

God has spoken through the pages of Revelation given through prophets, priests, and kings, and God still speaks today.

Not through whispers and voices and feelings, but through the perfect prophet, the perfect priest and the great King, Jesus Christ.

And we have his word in our Bibles.

Jesus said in John chapter 17 and 18 that he would send his spirit, who would take what is his and give it to his apostles so that they could record it.

John 17 · chapter mention

This is the word of Jesus.

The church has the word of God complete and full of all that is necessary for life and godliness.

To ignore the word of God is to ignore Christ.

To ignore Christ is to reject the speaking God.

Therefore, to claim to be a Christian church, the church must embrace wholly and worshipfully the words of the speaking God.

Now, by God's wonderful grace, this local church has a long-standing tradition of holding to the scriptures.

But like all imperfect human groups, the implementation of that can vary.

So this vision statement reinforces and reiterates what we've held to for decades.

But it also reminds us that our primary focus when we are gathered together is to hear from the speaking God.

That's seen unmistakably in the letters written to Timothy.

If you have your Bible, I encourage you to turn to 1 Timothy.

At some point after the establishment of the church in ancient Ephesus, Paul decided that it was time to move on to establish a church in another location.

So 1 Timothy 1, verse 3 tells us that he left Timothy behind to lead that new church plant in Ephesus.

1 Timothy 1:3

He says, As I urged you to Timothy, when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus, so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, not to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith.

As pastor of that church, Timothy was to ensure that everything that was taught fell in line with what Paul taught.

What did Paul teach?

The Old Testament, along with the good news of Jesus Christ.

Look at verse 11.

In accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

But if you look at verses 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, you'll see that it begins with a discussion about the law, the Old Testament in general.

He's teaching the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ.

Keep in mind that the New Testament was still in the process of being written when the Apostle Paul wrote this to Timothy.

This is very early on in the life of the church.

Their scriptures were primarily the Old Testament.

If there was some wealthy people within the church, or if that church had some sort of benefactor, they might have an entire scroll of the Old Testament.

Maybe they'll have some loose sheets of letters from the Apostles.

They might have a copy of the gospel.

Or one of the gospel records.

Maybe.

Those things are being circulated.

So their primary instruction is in the Old Testament, hearing that God speaks.

And now the Apostle Paul comes and says, God speaks.

Yes, we see that speaking now in his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not soon after Paul's soon after Paul's departure, new teachers arose, twisting the scriptures.

Look at what he says.

Verse six certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

As a pastor of the local church, Timothy was to guard what was taught.

There is to be a focus on the content of what is taught in a local church.

The goal, Paul told Timothy, is verse 5: the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere, that's a non-hypocritical faith.

How do we accomplish, how does Timothy accomplish generating that kind of love?

How do you generate love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith?

The answer?

Through proper teaching.

A pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith are the result of guarded biblical instruction through the reading and the explanation of what God has said.

Now you might argue, well, Pastor, that's Timothy.

That's not us, that's not faith evangelical free church.

Well, we know that the emphasis is the local church because of what is said a little bit later on in chapter 3, beginning in verse 14.

He says, I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things for a specific purpose, so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Pillars and buttresses hold up a building.

I guarantee you that the folks up in the balcony really appreciate those pillars.

Right?

They're solid, there's a support there.

The church is God's household.

Those who have come to faith in Christ are God's family.

You bring those people whom God has brought to Himself and you put them together, you gather them together, and they are God's household.

And he says, the church upholds the truth.

The church is a pillar and buttress of the truth.

Now I think here he's talking about both the universal church and the local church wherever they are.

Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota, must uphold the truth because we are a pillar and a buttress of the truth.

That emphasizes Timothy's responsibility to ensure that proper truth is taught, doesn't it?

The local church, as part of Christ's universal church, is to be an unashamed bastion of the truth.

That's why Timothy was given the command in chapter 4, verse 13, until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.

Down in verse 16, keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching.

Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

That's strong language.

That's strong language.

Devote.

Keep a close watch.

Persist.

Why?

Because it's a life or death situation.

That's astounding.

Never does the Apostle Paul assume that Christians have had enough teaching or heard enough preaching of God's word.

The proper, accurate preaching and teaching of God's word is vital.

It is essential to the spiritual life of those within a local church.

And 2,000 years hasn't changed that.

We are still commanded to devote ourselves to the reading and the teaching of Scripture, to the words of the speaking God, and to exhort one another from them.

We are commanded to persist in it.

If we move over to 2 Timothy, we see even more of this, the same theme.

If the local church is devoted to reading and teaching Scripture and exhorting from it, and if they continue to persist in it, and if there is danger of it being taught improperly, then care must be exercised in that teaching.

That's why Paul told Timothy, do your best in chapter 2, verse 15, do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Implying, because of what he said in 1 Timothy chapter 1, there are people who will improperly handle the word of truth.

1 Timothy 1 · chapter mention

This was written to Timothy, but it applies to each one of us.

We are more privileged than we know.

You have an entire copy of the Word of God in your hands.

Most of you have a copy in your hands and a copy on your phone.

It's so easily accessible to us.

We are so privileged to have this copy of God's speech to us.

With that comes responsibility.

There's the responsibility to ensure it is taught, and there is the responsibility to ensure that it is taught rightly, that it is rightly handled, and each one of us must learn to handle it rightly.

Now, some might say, but Pastor, we know all this.

We're getting bored.

Why do we need to be reminded of this?

We need to be reminded because of what's stated in chapter 3.

But understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving, good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

That's why we need the reminder.

The apostles thought they were in the last days, and if they thought they were in the last days, then we're really in the last days.

As sin is given time to increase, and at this point, we're several thousands of years into sin's increase, and as it increases, our hearts, minds, and souls become clouded.

They're misdirected and self-centered.

And opposition to the reading, teaching, and preaching and exhortation of God's word increases continually.

That's why we need the reminder.

So what were Timothy and the local church to do?

Paul answers that question in chapter 4.

He says, I charge you.

That's a courtroom picture.

It's a judge giving a charge in the presence of witnesses.

I charge you in the presence of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word.

Be ready.

In season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

Do you see why our vision as a local church must be to declare the word of God?

If we believe that God has spoken, and if we believe that God has recorded his word, and if we believe that his word, that is Christ, has established the church, then we have no option but to be obedient, to be word-centered, word-focused, and word-driven.

Why?

Look at verse 3 of chapter 4.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine, sound teaching.

But having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

He's talking about the church.

The time will come when people in the church will not endure sound teaching.

The time will come when people in the church will have itching ears and want to accumulate teachers who sound good to them.

As right handling of scripture is disregarded, improper teaching accumulates.

As sound teaching is dismissed, speakers that appeal to the passions prevail.

If people complain about too much Bible, they have already begun to turn away from listening to the truth and will begin to wander off into the useless things.

Seeking out teachers that move from proper teaching and begin to apply things to passions and inclinations leads away from listening to the truth.

Paul said the time will come.

I would dare say the time is.

And we could go on and on and on.

Hebrews says that the word of God is living and active.

But so often we would rather have something dead.

Romans says to be transformed by the renewing of our minds through Scripture.

It's a sad day for the local church and for the universal church when it chooses to focus and promote that which fades away rather than the word that endures forever.

Several months ago we looked at 1 Corinthians together.

It's recorded in 1 Corinthians 2, chapter 1, or chapter 2, verses 1 and 2.

He says, When I came to you, brothers, I did not come to you proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or great wisdom.

He said, I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

He said, We preach Christ crucified.

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

What was the focus of Paul's ministry?

You know, that great missionary.

Some might say his focus was evangelism.

Some might be able to put out an argument that his focus was church planting, both of which he did, but neither answer would be correct.

Those are the results of his priority in ministry.

Paul focused on declaring the word of God made flesh.

His focus was on declaring the word of God, and the result of that was evangelism, church planting, maturity in the church, and changed hearts and lives.

And it must be our priority.

Love and a sincere desire for God's word must infect us.

We must be driven to proclaim it, to teach it, to hear it, to learn it, to digest it, and allow it to change us.

It must reach its fingers into every part of our ministry, our lives, and every life with whom we come in contact.

It must be our priority.

God has spoken because He is a speaking God.

Will we listen to Him or someone else?

Could you pray with me?

Our Lord Jesus, we desire to recommit our reliance on you and your word.

We believe it and we believe you.

Now we ask for the power of your spirit to enable us to follow through on this, to be committed to it, even though it's hard, even though our culture does not want to hear it.

Make us into that bastion for the truth, so that the word of God, Christ Himself, might be lifted up and glorified.

And Lord Jesus, I pray that you would send your Spirit and that your Spirit would work in the hearts and lives of every one of your children.

So that your word might be implanted within us, that we would desire it and hunger for it, so that we might be called a people of the Word of God.

In your name we pray these things.

Amen.