Baptist Distinctives: The Authority of Scripture

Song Turn, if you would, in your Bibles to Luke Chapter one.

Luke, Chapter one.

Appreciate the song.

I'd rather have Jesus than anything.

My mom used to sing that song.

I know every word to it.

And it's certainly better to have Jesus than all the other stuff.

Luke Chapter one.

Tonight we have a couple of weeks ago, we did the introduction

to the Baptist distinctives.

What are the Baptist distinctives?

It's Bible doctrines.

Bible teachings that when taken as a whole, in other words,

all of them put together, make Baptists distinct.

In other words, some of these doctrines, other denominations and

other groups hold.

But if you take all 12 of them, which is what we're going to

cover is 12, and you put them together, you're going to find that

only Baptists are going to hold those.

And they're not Baptist doctrine.

They're Bible doctrine.

They're Bible teachings.

And we've talked about how that.

Again, we don't There are not to say there are core beliefs or

there are essential doctrines.

We understand the fundamentals of the faith.

There are fundamentals of the faith have to do with salvation,

though.

But when it comes to doctrine, they are not essential and core,

because all doctrine is essential and core.

You don't just say, well, you know, these are not important.

As long as you believe these, then we're good.

No, no, no.

All doctrine is important.

Amen.

I mean, you don't just cut out the part of the Bible you don't want

to believe or that you don't want to hold to.

All right, so Luke, chapter one.

Look at verse one.

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration

of those things, those things which are most surely believed among

us.

So Luke is saying here there are many who have taken in hand to

write down the things that we hold, the things we believe, even

as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were

eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word.

All right, so there was those who were there who wrote down what

happened and the doctrines that were being taught, the teachings.

It seemed good, verse three to me.

Also having had what perfect understanding of all things from

the very first to write unto thee, in order, most excellent Theophilus,

that thou mightest know the certainty.

He doesn't say that you might know, probably.

He doesn't say that.

He says, I'm going to give you what is absolute, what is fact.

These are certain other people have taken in hand to write things

down.

And what he's essentially saying is these may not be certain,

but I'VE been given perfect understanding.

He is saying, I have been.

Again, he's being filled with the spirit of God.

And as God is telling him what to write, he's writing down with

certainty what happened and what doctrines were being taught.

Does that make sense?

And so that look at verse four again.

That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, those

things wherein thou hast been what instructed the certainty.

Doesn't sound like he's.

Again, he's not being shaky on this.

He's not being probably on this.

He is saying the certainty that these are facts, that they are

dogmatic, that they're absolute.

Amen.

And I'm thankful I have a Bible that is God's word, that it's

inerrant, it's infallible.

The very words of God, I hold it in my hand tonight.

Again, we must as a church see the importance of the role of being

a good steward of the truth, of being a good steward of the faith,

but being a good steward of the truth because God has commanded,

God has, he has commissioned the church is all churches to protect

this truth, to make sure that it's passed on to the next generation.

Again, we read this a couple of weeks ago, 2nd Timothy 2, 2, which

will be our theme verse for this study.

2nd Timothy 2 2.

The things that thou has heard of me.

This is Paul speaking to Timothy.

Among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall

be able to teach others also the things that thou has heard of

me.

Among many the same commit.

So what was given to Paul from the Lord, that was from Paul given

to Timothy.

And then Timothy was to take those same things, those same truths

and pass them to the next generation.

And then that generation is to pass it to the next generation.

And we are under the same guise that we ought to pass the truth

down to the next generation.

Scripture.

So the first Baptist distinct that we're going to cover.

And again, we're not saying that one of these may not another

denomination or another group may hold this one true.

In fact, I know there are other denominations who hold this

particular one true.

But number one, you ready?

Scripture as the singular.

We believe the Scripture as the singular, absolute, fully sufficient

and final rule of faith and practice.

And you'll even see this in our Articles of Faith of Heritage

Baptist Church.

Let me read that again.

We believe the Scriptures as the singular, absolute, fully sufficient

and final rule of faith and practice.

We believe the Scriptures, we believe the Bible, the 66 books,

all 66 books to be the very words of God.

40 men wrote the Bible over a period of 1600 years and yet it's

without error.

That's a miracle.

This is a miraculous book.

It's a miraculous book that you hold in your hand.

It's an amazing book, but it's a miraculous book, a supernatural

book you hold in your hand.

40 men over 1600 year period and not one error.

It's an amazing thing.

Then it says not only is it scripture, but is the sole S O L

E the soul.

That means it's the one and only.

There are not seven Bibles.

There are not 69 books.

There's not, Amen.

There's, there's one absolute sole authority exclusively the Bible.

And I like again, is the soul absolute.

That means unconditionally and complete.

This is the complete revelation from God.

God revealing himself to us.

This is complete.

In fact, at the end of the Bible it says, if you take away or

add to this thing, you're in danger of hell, of hellfire.

And so when you do hear someone say, some of these TV evangelists

who say, I've gotten a word from the Lord and he spoke to me.

Now again, if that's a still small voice and the Holy Spirit speaking

to you, that's awesome.

And the Lord certainly has done that for all of us at some point,

touched our hearts.

But if you hear an audible voice from God and you take that

as equivalent to what the Scriptures are, the Bible says that

you're in danger of going to hell.

Hebrews says that God spoke in time past unto the fathers by the

prophets, but hath in these last days spoken to us by his son.

God is no longer speaking directly, audibly to anyone.

If you hear a voice, an audible voice that says it's God,

you had too much pizza or so much something, maybe you need some

antacids.

Tum tum tum tum tums.

Right.

I'm being silly, but it's true.

There's men out there who are shysters who will say, you know,

and they say God spoke to them and that what they say is equivalent

to what the Bible says.

And so that is an area we absolutely believe the Bible to be

complete.

I'll move on.

We believe the Bible to be fully sufficient.

In other words, plentiful enough.

The Bible's complete.

It's plentiful enough, fully sufficient for everything, every

area of life.

And it's the final rule.

In other words, it's the ultimate standard of faith.

It's the ultimate standard of faith and practice.

So the ultimate standard means that anyone who preaches or teaches

something contrary to the Scripture, they're wrong.

The Bible's right, man.

It's pretty cut and dry.

That's why I'm saying if somebody says they've heard an audible

voice from God and they like for instance, the Mormons and the

Jehovah Witnesses who believe their prophet or whomever heard extra

biblical, you know, revelations from God, they're wrong.

It's false.

They're false.

Prophets say preacher, that's kind of mean.

No, it's Bible.

It's what the Bible says.

You can't add to or take away from the Bible.

And so we ought to again see the importance of this Bible teaching

that the word of God is the sole, absolute, fully sufficient,

final rule of faith, our beliefs and practice.

In other words, how to the application.

The Bible doesn't just tell you what to do, it tells you how

to do it and then it gives you the power to do it.

And we're going to cover that scripture in a moment that you're

already familiar with.

I'm amazed.

The more that I study the Bible, the more deeper it becomes.

I'm amazed when I read the same chapter 20 years later, after

I've read it 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 times over 20 years span,

that I still get something else out of it.

It's an amazing book.

It's an amazing book.

There is Louis Francis Schaeffer once said this.

He said there are five major questions.

Well, he said there's four major questions of life.

Is there a God?

Is there a God?

Has that God spoken?

Has he spoken in a manner so as to be understood and is it relevant

and do we have a reliable record of such?

Well, can I tell you there is a God and we know this by way of

creation.

The Bible says that the creation in which we get to see is

nothing more than God revealing himself to us.

You think about Psalm 19, that the sun s u n is a circuit riding

preacher, just continually shouting there is a God, there is

a God.

Creation reveals to us there is a God.

Jesus Christ, his life, his death, his resurrection reveals to

us there's a God.

The Word reveals to us there's a God.

And then we can also look back in history and see how God has intervened

and how God has worked in history.

All these things revealed to us there's a God.

Has that God spoken?

Has he revealed himself to us?

Well, yes, through creation and thankfully through the word that

he has given us.

Is it a manner in which could be understood and is it relevant?

Absolutely.

We're going to Cover that in a moment.

And do we have a reliable record of such.

Yes, yes.

Do a study of how the Bible came about.

And we've done that here.

We'll do it again.

How the Bible came to us.

There are more ancient manuscripts of the Bible than any

other books of antiquity.

Any other books.

It's not even close.

What is the book called?

I think Homer's Odyssey.

What's that one called?

Somebody help me with that.

Am I getting that right?

That book?

There is only like 400 copies of that thing and it's not even that

many.

I'm exaggerating.

And it's considered accurate that it's really.

It is came from its authority.

We have like 5,000 and yet we have scholars who say, well, that's

not the real thing.

I'm telling you, I have a little chart and I should have brought

it with me.

I shouldn't be doing this off the top of my head about how the

Bible has more ancient manuscripts than any other ancient

book.

It's not even close.

It's thousands more.

And yet you have these same scholars who will accept this other

book of antiquity that they have very little proof of and they

won't accept the Bible.

It's preposterous.

So historically speaking, we have a great book, a wonderful book.

I'm thankful it's not just historically speaking.

I'm thankful we've witnessed the Bible, how the Bible changes

life.

I'm thankful that I have felt the Holy Spirit.

I've had the Holy Spirit illuminate me, help me to understand

the Scriptures.

It's so amazing.

The last one, that Brother Stewart, he's the one that adds this

one.

Is it.

How reliable is it?

How reliable is the word of God?

I'm thankful the Bible promises that it will be preserved.

And there are many, many scriptures we could turn to.

But Psalm 105.

8 says Psalm 105.

And verse 8 is not.

Yes, he hath remembered his covenant forever.

The word which he commanded to a thousand generations.

And I could.

We could go on and on and on that God preserved his word.

I'm going to turn over to First Peter, chapter one.

First Peter, chapter one.

Look at there.

There's just some rain.

First Peter somewhere in the Bible.

Just got to keep on looking at it towards the back.

First Peter, chapter one.

Look with me in verse 23.

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through

the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren.

See that ye love one another with a pure heart.

Fervently 23.

First Peter, chapter 2, verse 23.

1 Peter 2:23

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible

buyeth the word of God, which liveth and abideth what forever.

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower

of grass.

The grass withereth, especially in Texas, and the flower

thereof falleth away, especially in Texas.

But the word of the Lord what endureth forever.

And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.

And I'm only touching the surface of the references that tell

us that God will preserve his word.

And I hold in my hand the preserved word of God.

We have God's word.

It's a miraculous book.

So, second Timothy, very familiar passage.

Turn there with me.

Second Timothy, chapter two.

Second Timothy, chapter two.

Probably the most familiar verse in the Bible when it comes

to talking about the Bible.

Second Timothy, chapter two.

Look with me.

Verse 16.

Let's go to second Timothy, chapter three, verse 16.

Sorry.

The Bible says all Scripture.

Notice it says all, not some.

So Old Testament and New Testament.

All scripture is given by inspiration.

And most of you know that that word inspiration means God breathed.

God breathed by inspiration of God and is profitable.

It is relevant, profitable.

For doctrine.

Doctrine simply means teaching for reproof, for correction, for

instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect.

That means complete, throughly furnished unto all good works.

There's a simple outline for this we've used so many times.

Again, the word of God is inspired and it's profitable.

It's relevant for doctrine.

That means what is right.

For reproof, it means what is not right.

For correction, that means how to get right and then for instruction

how to keep right.

That outline does not originate with me.

That outline is used everywhere.

And it's a great outline because it does describe what the

Bible does.

I'm thankful.

The Bible tells us what is right.

It gives us the do's what to do, what to do.

In other words, how am I to, you know, raise my kids?

How am I to.

How am I to govern and work within the family?

How am I, what am I to do with my finances?

And on and on and on and on.

It gives us what to do.

What is right, tells us how to have right relationships.

Amen.

Aren't you thankful for the Bible, by the way?

It gives us a complete understanding and way in which to

do those things.

I'm thankful for that.

It tells us what's right.

It is the standard, by the way.

We don't have time to go into we live today in a society that everything

is relative.

Right?

I love it.

Everything's relative until they steal your TV out of your house,

you know?

Then it's not relative anymore.

It's wrong.

That's our society today.

Absolutely.

There's a standard.

Who makes the standard?

Who sets the standard?

Are we going to allow a politician to set the standard?

Are we going to allow a man behind a bench in a black gown to

set the standard?

No.

The Bible's the standard.

And America was founded on Judeo Christian ethics.

It was founded on the standard.

Man.

The word of God is found all over the buildings in Washington,

D.C.

because that's what it was founded on.

Because our founding fathers understood the standard has to be

something other than a person.

The standard has to be God.

And what a standard it is.

It's a righteous standard.

The Bible's a just standard.

It's a fair standard.

God is no respecter of persons.

Isn't that a great, great truth?

That's a great truth that God has set in order everything that

God hath determined the times before appointed the bounds of our

habitation.

That God hath made of one blood, all nations of man to earth

to dwell upon the earth.

In other words, there are no races.

There's only the human race.

There are ethnicities, but there are not races.

And Christians absolutely need to understand that God loves all,

loves all, and we should as well.

Amen.

Amen.

No matter what they look like, no matter their social standing,

even if they got big noses, we ought to love them.

I'm referring to my big nose, Miss Linda.

It's okay.

All right.

All Scripture inspired what is right.

Reproof what is not right.

Again, the Bible gives us some don'ts.

Right?

Because most individuals love to bring it up.

Well, all you do is no, no, no, and don't, don't.

Don't do this.

And don't.

Don't do that.

Now, I'm thankful.

The Bible brings up a lot of things we should do too.

It is absolutely a positive book.

And yes, it does give us some don'ts.

But the Bible makes it very clear that those are for our own

good, that God has our best interests in mind.

Reproof.

What is not right gave us the Ten Commandments.

He gave us the sermon.

Jesus gave us a sermon on the mount.

You know, he gave us the don'ts.

Don't drink, don't chew, don't go with girls that do or boys that

do.

And then for correction, how to get right.

I'm thankful.

First John 1:9 is in the Bible, if we confess our sins, he

1 John 1:9

that is God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to

cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

That's how we get right with God, ask him for forgiveness and

then I'm thankful for Matthew, chapter 18, verses 15 through 18.

Matthew 18:15–18

How we get right with our fellow man.

Well, we go to them and go and get right.

If we can't get right by just going to them and we try to get right

with them and it's still a problem, then we take somebody with

us and we try to get right again.

Then the Bible says if you can't get right by taking another

person with you, then you'd have bring it to the church.

It gives us a way to get right not only with God, but with our fellow

man.

It's an amazing book.

And then lastly is instruction.

How to keep right.

How to keep right.

In other words, we ought to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ

again.

We can have the do's and we can have the don'ts and we have all

that in the Old Testament.

And then Jesus summarizes them in the New Testament and says, whatsoever

you would that men should do to you, do you even also to them,

for this is all the law and the prophets.

We used to call it, we used to call it, you know what I'm talking

about.

We used to call it the Golden Rule.

I told this story many, many times.

But my eighth grade science class, so for us that was junior

high, so sixth, seventh and eighth grade was junior high.

I don't even know what middle school means until the modern era.

They started messing with the numbers or something, I don't know.

And in my 8th grade science class, my 8th grade science teacher

was a Christian, Mr.

Parker was his name.

And he actually lived close to us out where we lived, about three

and a half miles outside of Bowie.

And so I knew him really well, knew his daughter.

And on the back of his classroom was a huge banner and it

said the Golden Rule.

Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

Couldn't put Bible scripture up on the wall even back then, but

he put the Golden Rule up there.

And that really is the summation of the Old Testament law.

Jesus summarized it to treat others as you would want to be treated.

I was witnessing, got to witness, had breakfast with one of

our church members Sunday morning and, and he brought his grandson

with him.

I enjoyed visiting with his grandson.

His grandson had recently made a profession of faith and I was going

through his.

He wanted Me to talk to his grandson and kind of walk him through

again the plan of salvation.

And as I was describing sin for him, I said, listen, you're not

going to hell because you took a piece of candy from the grocery

store.

It's not why.

That's not the penalty of stealing from the grocery store.

The reason why that you're going to hell because of your sin

is because of what it is that caused you to take the candy from

the candy store.

You didn't take consideration that you are taking from someone

else.

You're not treating that store owner like you would want to be treated.

In other words, I told him, it's selfishness.

We are selfish by nature.

That ultimately is why we are under the penalty of sin.

The wages of sin is death.

How to get right, how to keep right.

Walk in the steps of Jesus.

I was going.

I know where I was going with that.

All those Old Testament laws can be summed up into doing others,

doing for others as you do unto others, as you do unto you.

But even greater than that is if you'll just follow in the steps

of Jesus.

If you would.

I know it was a popular saying when I was a kid, but what would

Jesus do then?

You will treat others as you would want to be treated, because

that's what Jesus did.

To love others as you would love yourself.

Also.

That will cure every marital problem.

You treat your spouse like you would want to be treated.

Solve your marital problems.

There you go.

Marriage advice for tonight.

The Bible's relevant.

It's relevant again.

It's our food.

It's our spiritual food.

Many Christians are starving because they're not eating.

They're not eating of the spiritual food that they need.

You need the Bible and you need to read it in order to grow.

There's so much more here and I'm running out of time.

I'm thankful for the Bible.

The Bible is an amazing book.

The Bible is alive.

The Bible says.

It says of itself, it's alive.

It has power, his power.

John 6:68 says, it has the power to give life.

John 6:68

Imagine that the Bible is a supernatural book.

Not only is it a lie, but it's animated.

Don't you just love the Old Testament stories?

Don't you just love the history that's found in the Old Testament?

One of the proofs the Bible is accurate, by the way, is that all

those history events in the Old Testament are still there because

the Jews are the caretakers of the Old Testament.

I mean, if I was a Jew, I might would have changed some of

those stories.

That's what other historians do.

Amen.

Okay, nobody wants to talk about it.

Truths again.

Lastly, it's absolute.

The Bible is dogmatic in that it is of no private interpretation.

If you have a scripture or you have a group of scriptures, there

is going to be an interpretation and that interpretation

is going to be the same no matter who's interpreting it.

It's a no private interpretation.

It may have several applications, but its interpretation

will be the same.

And we need to remember that.

Oh, I think it means.

Or I think it means again, the applications can be different.

No, but it has one.

It's absolute.

The Bible's dogmatic.

J.

Frank Norris, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Fort

Worth in the 20s, 30s, 40s and early 50s, largest church in America

at the time.

He also passed pastored the Temple Baptist Church in Detroit,

Michigan at the same time, which was the second largest church

in America.

Pastored both churches at the same time.

That's why our seminary is called Norris Seminary.

He used to say this all the time.

If someone says there's a contradiction in the Bible, they're

the contradiction.

I like it.

Don't you Just pretty simple, the contradicting the Bible, they're

the contradiction.

Psalm 119 says the Bible will keep us from sin.

Psalm 119, 105 says the Bible is our guide for life.

It's our map.

It's our gps.

And unlike your GPS in your car or on your phone, it will not

lead you astray, leave you out in the middle of a field or try to

drive you into a pond.

Also won't talk to you funny or be mean to you.

Is your GPS mean to you?

Like just never nice like please turn.

No, no, no.

Please turn here.

You know, okay.

The Bible's our guide for life.

It's our map, it's our roadmap.

It's our instruction book for marriage and kids and finances and

job and trials and death.

It's an amazing book.

In second Peter, if you're still there, maybe you're starring

Peter or close to it.

If you're in Timothy, you're close.

Look at two Peter with me, chapter one.

And let's look at verse 21.

We'll go backwards just a little bit.

Go to verse 19.

Second Peter 1:19.

2 Peter 1:19

We have also a more sure word of prophecy.

Whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light that shineth

in a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your

hearts, knowing this first that no Prophecy of the scripture

is of any private interpretation.

I just quoted that a while ago.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but

holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

It's amazing that Peter would say that you.

That we, because of the word of God, we have a more sure word

of prophecy than they had.

They got to see the Lord, they got to hear him talk.

And yet he is saying we have a more sure word.

And that's because we have the complete word.

It's an amazing book.

It's an amazing book.

An amazing book.

Dr.

Barber used to say all the time.

God wrote the book, man.

What a profound statement.

Profound statement.

I love when he used to say, I love to quote Jesus.

Pray for Dr.

Barber.

The Bible's preserved.

We already went over that.

There are many scriptures you can look up on that.

The Bible is again, by the Holy Spirit, we are given illumination.

In other words, it's the Holy Spirit of God.

When we're saved and the Holy Spirit comes and indwells us, it

is the Holy Spirit of God that helps us to understand the scripture.

Jesus said, I must go away, that I might send you a comforter.

That I might send you one who will lead you into all truth.

The Holy Spirit is there to illuminate.

To illuminate.

To help us understand.

You understand?

And I know we say this again a lot from the pulpit.

The preacher doesn't have some kind of special, you know, ninja

skills when it comes to interpreting scripture.

Right?

No, we all can do it.

Anybody can do it.

Because you have the same Holy Spirit that I have.

You have the same Holy Spirit that your Sunday school teacher has.

Absolutely.

Holy Spirit will illuminate you, help you to understand, just

as he helps me to understand.

And then translation.

And I'll end with this one.

There are two ways in which to translate the Bible.

And these are fancy words.

One's called dynamic equivalency.

These are versions of the Bible that were translated thought

for thought.

If you have an niv, the NIV was translated thought for thought,

not word for word, which in and of itself makes it a bad translation.

In fact, a very bad.

I think the NIV is one of the worst translations.

That there is, my personal opinion.

But that would also be the opinion of many others.

Then there is the formal equivalency, and that is translations

that are word for word translations.

And that's what you want.

I want what God said, not what somebody thinks.

I want what God said, not what somebody thinks.

That God said.

And so the King James Bible.

The King James Version is a word for word translation.

You'll notice sometimes in your King James Bible there'll be

some words in italics.

You see those words in italics.

Those are not in the original print.

Those are there by the translators to help it flow.

So that is one of the areas you might want to be aware of.

And it will tell you that in the front of your King James Bible

somewhere, it'll give you a little, little blurb there that kind

of help you to understand.

But it's a word for word translation.

I believe the King James Bible to be the inerrant, inspired, inerrant,

infallible word of God in the English language.

I believe the King James Version to be the most honest translation.

I believe the King James to be the best translation.

And we use it at Heritage Baptist Church exclusively.

Not just because I believe it to be the best translation.

There are many others who still believe that, but also because

it keeps us all on the same page.

You don't have multiple translations in different Sunday

school classes and in different things.

So that when you are following along, which you should follow along,

whether it's in your Bible or on your phone, follow along and that

way you don't get confused.

It's amazing to me.

Many of the new translations will use entirely different words

or they'll leave whole verses out and you're going, that verse

is not even in my Bible.

Well, that's because you got a bad Bible.

Alright?

And I'm being kind of sarcastic.

But the King James Bible, the King James version of the Bible is,

I believe, the inspired, infallible, inerrant word of God

in the English language.

Okay?

There's some other preachers who take this way too far who say,

well, it's the inspired, inerrant word of God in every language.

Oh, come on.

You know that's not the case.

And there's some others who take it too far and say that the

King James translators were inspired by God.

It's called secondary inspiration.

And that is just.

I'm being.

I'm going to be nice.

That's just wrong.

The King James translators were not inspired.

God used preservation.

He preserved his word by using good men, good godly men to preserve

his word, to write down, to translate and do so in a manner that

preserved exactly how God intended for it to be.

Does that make sense?

So we have the inspired, inerrant word of God in the English

language because of preservation.

Preservation because God said he would preserve his word.

There's so Much more to it.

Most of you we've had one on one conversations about text tongues

and translators.

That's my the three point outline I use with everybody.

And I'm thankful for a Bible that is accurate, reliable, trustworthy,

absolute, relevant, amazing, miraculous, stupendous.

An amazing book.

I'm amazed over 30 years in the ministry of how many lives I've

seen transformed by the word of God.

And I'm not talking about just alcoholics and druggies, I'm talking

about every life that it transforms.

It's an amazing book.

As I said, Sunday morning music can inspire, there's some good

movies out there that can inspire you.

But the Bible does much more than that.

It inspires you and then gives you the ability and the power to

follow through.

It tells you what to do but it also gives you the power to do it.

It's an amazing book.

It's an amazing book.

Alright, let's all stand, we'll have a verse invitation.

God has given us this word understandable and reliable.

God has given us a roadmap for life.

You say, well you know I read this self help book or you know,

this guy on the television program said this and it's not what

the Bible says.

Well I'm going to choose the Bible every time.

And we are to live our lives according to the word of God.

Because when we do that, when we follow the word of God, when we

live our lives according to the word of God, then that puts us

under the promises of the Bible.

That puts us under the blessings of the Bible.

And that's where I want to be, don't you?

I want to be there under the spigot.

I want to be under the faucet where the blessings are if we follow

the Bible.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the time we've had and studying

your Word.

Tonight I pray God that you would again work within each of our

hearts.

Lord, help us to see the importance as a church to continue

to keep safe and to guard the truth, to pass that truth on.

But Lord, we thank you for the Bible.

We thank you for its miracle working power in our own lives.

Lord, may we follow it and we thank you in Jesus name.

Amen.

Let's.