23-0514p Transcript

(0:46) I love how Holy Spirit works. (0:49) He asked me, what scripture could I read for you this evening? (0:53) I said, oh, you pick one.

(0:56) And he picked something that was right up the alley of what I’m going to be talking about. (1:02) The Holy Spirit keeps us on point here. (1:08) As a child, I really had a wonderful time growing up.

(1:15) I had very little parental supervision. (1:18) I was a child on the run constantly. (1:21) I spent very little time at home.

(1:24) When I look back on that early childhood I had, (1:28) I think some of the best times I had is when I was doing something that had an element of risk to it. (1:36) Whether it was going into the woods, whether it was an old abandoned spook house, (1:41) known to all the children in Columbia Station as the spook house, (1:45) and daring each other to go up to the windows and peer inside. (1:52) Or maybe it was going to an angry old farmer’s field where we could pick wild strawberries, (2:00) knowing that there were rumors that that old farmer who would normally yell at you, (2:06) kids, get out of my field.

(2:09) It’s been rumored that he had used a shotgun with rock salt to spray down on kids, too. (2:15) We never had that, but we got yelled at a couple of times. (2:20) One of my favorite memories, though, was we had some neighbors two doors down, (2:29) and they had a pile of kids.

(2:33) The youngest boy was my friend. His name was Bobby Serena. (2:39) One day at the Serena’s house, the Serena’s house was interesting.

(2:45) It was one of these kind of houses where the dad was sort of a jack of all trades. (2:51) He would make an addition, but never really quite finish it. (2:55) So the house looked kind of odd in a way, but it was their home.

(3:02) Their yard was always dug up with some kind of project going on. (3:08) Well, this one particular time, their front yard was filled with crabapple trees. (3:16) One day, Bobby’s older brother, Doug, who was a teenager, (3:24) invited Bobby and I and my next-door neighbor, Mike, to have a crabapple fight with them.

(3:31) So you could imagine six-year-olds against teenagers. (3:37) Mr. Serena was laying some kind of tiles, so their front yard literally looked like (3:43) a bunch of trenches where kids could use all of those trenches as box holes (3:51) and mounds of dirt piled up. (3:54) So we got all of our crabapples, and we set about having a real crabapple fight.

(4:01) Simple rules. You didn’t cross the middle line, kind of like the line in the sand, so to speak. (4:09) You don’t cross that line.

(4:12) And you only give up if you run out of ammo or get called home for dinner. (4:17) And so it was bedlam, but it was such a great thing, (4:24) having crabapples whistled by your ears and throwing, (4:28) and occasionally you would find your mark, and you’d hear it slap and a howl of pain. (4:36) And then likewise, you’d feel it, and it was such a thrill.

(4:41) Well, we miscalculated. (4:42) We ran out of ammo early, and it was in the heat of battle, (4:47) so I looked around, and there was plenty of dirt. (4:51) So I reached down and made a clay ball, a moist clay ball of clay, (4:58) about the size of a crabapple, maybe a little bigger.

(5:01) And I hurled it, and to my horror, hit one of those teenagers right in their forehead, (5:07) to which I heard, I’ll kill you, kid! (5:11) And so the race was on. (5:13) I only had to go the distance of one front yard to cross to make it to my place of safety. (5:22) And as I’m running as fast as a six-year-old can go, screaming like a little girl, (5:30) my dad was taking a nap in the driveway on a chase lounge, (5:35) and so I naturally just dove on him and clung on and said, (5:39) that boy’s trying to hurt me.

(5:41) He looks over and goes, what are you guys doing? (5:44) Come on, you see the kids. (5:46) Oh, you’re here to be with them, dirtball? (5:48) Are you okay? (5:49) Yeah, well, get out of here. (5:52) Dad became my hero.

(5:54) Normally I would be running from my dad, usually with a belt doubled up chasing me, (6:00) because I was a rule breaker. (6:02) I was an undisciplined kid. (6:04) I was wild.

(6:07) I was always out of the house. (6:11) But it was quite a thing. (6:15) I had a newfound love for my father and respect, (6:19) because he actually bailed me out of a terrible situation.

(6:26) So fighting safety in my father’s arms, you know, (6:30) after he peeled me off his chest, all he had to do was look at me like, (6:35) you’re a knucklehead, you know, what are you doing, (6:38) picking crabapple fights with teenagers, and I got it. (6:43) So, you know, he didn’t have to say a word. (6:48) But anyhow, you know, how do we show our love and our respect for our parents? (6:54) Well, of course we tell them we love them.

(6:57) Today is a special day in which we tell our mothers, you know, (7:01) that we’re blessed that they’re still alive, that we love them, (7:06) and so we honor them that way. (7:08) But the best way is to what? (7:12) Do what they say. (7:14) Isn’t that, as a parent, those few times our kids actually do what we say, (7:20) isn’t that a wonderful feeling? (7:23) Or when you see them doing something they’re supposed to be doing without being told, (7:29) you know, you get a good feeling.

(7:31) Well, that’s, you know, that’s how it is with our God, too. (7:39) You know, fathers teach right from wrong and provide peace and safety, (7:44) and that’s what our Heavenly Father does. (7:47) And God loves us, you know, from the time he put man in the garden, (7:54) he’s always left us with instructions, with peace and safety and shelter and food.

(8:05) So, you know, from the beginning, God gave Adam one rule to follow. (8:12) And could Adam follow that rule? (8:15) You know, I’m surprised God didn’t take off his belt and double it up (8:20) and snap it a couple of times when they actually ate of the fruit from the tree (8:27) of the knowledge of good and evil. (8:30) And God had to discipline his children.

(8:35) So Jesus tells us in John 14, 21, (8:39) Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. (8:46) He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and show myself to him. (8:52) So Jesus comes right out and tells us that obedience to God’s commands (8:58) is how we are to show our love to him.

(9:02) So actions speak louder than words. (9:06) Kind of like faith without works is dead. (9:10) So if we’re going to be pleasing to God, we have to know what God’s will is for us.

(9:17) We’ve got to know his rules. (9:19) We’ve got to know what pleases him and what doesn’t please him. (9:24) And we have to discipline ourselves.

(9:27) You know, if you were a wild child running about, you’ve got to settle down. (9:35) Gain self-restraint, self-discipline, and learn the rules. (9:40) So our Bible is the revealed will of God from front to back.

(9:47) And all of it is reliable and relevant to us. (9:52) And all of it is inspired by God himself. (9:57) In Acts 20, verses 24 to 27, Paul says to the Ephesians as he was parting there, (10:05) he says, (10:06) However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, (10:10) if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me, (10:16) the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

(10:21) Now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom, (10:26) will ever see me again. (10:28) Therefore I declare to you today that I am innocent of all men’s blood, (10:33) for I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. (10:40) So in these parting words that Paul is telling the Ephesians and the Ephesian elders, (10:48) he uses three different synonyms for the same thing.

(10:55) Paul mentions that what was most important to him in this life (11:01) was testifying to the gospel of God’s grace, (11:05) preaching the kingdom, (11:07) and proclaiming the whole will of God. (11:09) And guess what? (11:10) Those are all synonymous terms for the gospel. (11:13) So for Paul, preaching the gospel was the most important thing of his life.

(11:21) He was focused, as you can see there. (11:25) He was dedicated to presenting Jesus' teachings in that form. (11:33) And so we’re going to focus on a lot of things that Paul had to tell the church (11:39) as far as teaching and focus and what’s truly important in our knowing God’s will, (11:50) how to be pleasing to Him, how to show our love to Him.

(11:55) So in the study of logic, there’s a law called the law of the excluded middle, (12:01) and I believe Tom brought that up in his class on Wednesday night. (12:07) And simply put, the law of the excluded middle is either something is that it claims to be or it is not. (12:15) If you’re holding an orange in your hand, and that orange, it’s either an orange or it is not.

(12:22) Your eyes can see that it’s an orange. (12:24) Your mouth can taste that it’s an orange. (12:27) You can smell that it’s an orange.

It’s an orange. (12:30) It can’t be anything else. (12:31) There is no middle.

(12:34) Think about what’s happening today. (12:37) A man is trying to claim to be a woman. (12:42) You can see that he’s a man.

(12:44) He’s got big, broad shoulders. (12:46) Women don’t have big, broad shoulders and bigger hands. (12:53) And just by putting on a wig and some makeup doesn’t make him a woman.

(13:00) That defies logic. (13:02) That goes against the law of the excluded middle. (13:05) It’s illogical.

(13:10) Notice I made two comparisons of proof there. (13:14) Just a joke, sorry if I offended anyone. (13:18) Anyhow, the Bible itself claims to be God’s Word, not man’s.

(13:25) Sure, many different men wrote it over centuries, but they are God’s Word. (13:33) Not a mix of God’s Word and man’s Word. (13:36) Just God’s.

(13:38) Listen to these verses. We all know them. (13:40) 1 Timothy 3.16 and 17.

(13:43) Or just 3.16. (13:45) All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. (13:54) So, all Scripture, God-breathed. (13:59) Not some Scripture, but all Scripture.

(14:04) In 2 Peter 1.20-21, Peter says, (14:08) Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by man’s interpretation. (14:20) For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, (14:24) but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (14:31) So, the words that the prophets wrote down, though they were penned by that prophet, (14:39) they didn’t come out of his mind.

(14:42) They weren’t words that came out of his mouth. (14:46) Holy Spirit, God, guided that man as to what to write. (14:53) And if you’ve ever studied the book of Acts, you see that’s true, (14:58) because Peter makes statements being an inspired apostle.

(15:04) And he said things that he didn’t even understand, (15:09) especially when it came to the Gentiles. (15:13) But anyhow, I digress. (15:17) Peter wanted us to know that absolutely no prophecy of Scripture was the prophet’s own ideas.

(15:26) It was God’s ideas. (15:29) It was as if they were just taking dictation from God himself. (15:35) Like God or the Spirit saying, Peter, take a note.

(15:38) And Peter would write it down, right from the mouth of God. (15:41) So these people were led and controlled by Holy Spirit as to what to write. (15:51) It’s God’s Word.

(15:52) And we can use that, knowing that it’s God’s Word, as a standard, (16:00) something to aspire to, something to attain to, (16:06) something to measure ourselves against. (16:08) So by having a code given to us by a higher, morally superior being, (16:16) we can have a moral compass. (16:19) We can whip out that moral compass and know what God’s will is (16:24) and how to be pleasing to him.

(16:27) And that moral compass is God’s Word. (16:31) If we follow our own reasoning and understanding, (16:36) doing what’s right in our own eyes, (16:39) we end up with men who think they can be women. (16:49) People will do all kinds of crazy things when they have no moral compass.

(17:00) And we can see this going on in our world. (17:03) The world is self-destructing because they’re doing their own thing. (17:10) So the Bible is plenary-inspired, meaning total.

(17:16) Everything in there is from the mind of God, (17:20) and you can take that to the bank. (17:22) And don’t let any worldly philosophy teachers tell you differently. (17:31) God wants us to know and rely on this fact, (17:34) that we can believe with confidence in what he says.

(17:38) God didn’t want any of the text to be credited to man, (17:43) and that’s why it states emphatically that it’s God’s Word. (17:47) All Scripture, God’s. (17:50) No prophecy of man’s.

(17:53) And that way, it can’t be discredited or discarded. (18:01) As soon as man gets credit for writing from his own self words of the Bible, (18:10) it becomes fallible, and it’s garbage. (18:17) It comes down to man following his own way.

(18:21) But when we know and believe that this is reliably God’s Word, (18:26) it can be trusted. (18:31) So we have to have faith and knowledge in the reliability of God’s Word. (18:36) God’s Word is his revealed will for us.

(18:40) We’ve got to know it, and he expects us to know it (18:43) in order for us to be pleasing to him. (18:47) So how do we know what to study? (18:49) Well, Paul tells us a good place to start. (18:56) Romans 15, 4. (18:58) For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, (19:03) so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, (19:06) we might have hope.

(19:08) So Paul’s encouraging us to know things that were written in the past, (19:14) the Old Testament. (19:16) And guess what? (19:17) The Old Testament is relevant to us today. (19:21) Study it.

(19:22) Know it. (19:23) So Paul wrote to Timothy, a young man who was going to become a minister of God’s Word. (19:31) He gives him this advice in 2 Timothy 2.15. (19:34) Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, (19:38) a workman who does not need to be ashamed, (19:41) and who correctly handles the Word of Truth.

(19:45) Another synonym for God’s Word, the Word of Truth. (19:49) But notice, the Word of Truth can be handled correctly, (19:54) which means also it can be handled incorrectly. (20:00) And Paul gives Timothy more advice.

(20:02) 1 Timothy 4.16. (20:05) Watch your life and doctrine closely. (20:09) Persevere in them, because if you do, you’ll save both yourself and your neighbors. (20:15) So to persevere in something is to work at it and master it, to overcome it.

(20:24) So it’s okay to read God’s Word. (20:29) Yeah, we’ve got to become familiar with it. (20:31) But study it.

(20:33) Chew on it. (20:34) Understand it. (20:36) Pray about it.

(20:38) Persevere with it. (20:41) And that way, you’ll save not only yourself, but those whom you might teach or preach to. (20:56) Personal study, along with group study, like when we come together as the church, is beneficial.

(21:02) We learn from our Bible class teachers who put in lots of time studying, (21:13) and we benefit from their hard work and wisdom. (21:19) And it takes perseverance, prayerful meditation, careful attention to the Word, (21:26) and then to practice what we’ve learned to really be pleasing to God. (21:33) And truth and accuracy in what we teach and study is important, (21:38) and we’ve got to guard against error.

(21:40) We don’t know it all, even though sometimes we think we may know it all, (21:46) or we might not understand it as well as we should, and there can be a chance of teaching error. (21:55) You know, listen to Paul concerning this. (21:58) Paul, again, in Galatians 1 verses 6 through 9, he said, (22:06) I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ (22:14) and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all.

(22:28) Even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preach to you, (22:35) let him be eternally condemned. (22:38) And as I’ve already said before, I say it again, (22:41) if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, (22:47) let him be eternally condemned. (22:50) You know, if that doesn’t make you sit up and take notice, I don’t know what will.

(22:57) If someone is teaching you all you need to do to be saved is to say the sinner’s prayer, (23:02) well, they’re preaching another gospel, and they’re in danger of being cursed by God. (23:11) An incomplete gospel is no gospel at all. (23:16) We also have to be careful that we’re teaching accurately, (23:20) so it is important to study and know God’s Word to be pleasing to them and to be a blessing to others.

(23:27) True love for others demands it. (23:31) Do you want to be responsible for someone’s condemnation to hell (23:36) because you taught someone another gospel? (23:40) Love for yourself and love for others should motivate you to know God’s Word. (23:48) So being citizens in Christ’s kingdom, Jesus expects his commands to be carried out by all of his royal subjects, us.

(23:58) We’re a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and we’re to be motivated by love. (24:05) The command, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength, is the greatest command that we have. (24:13) And the second is like the first, love your neighbor as yourself.

(24:17) Jesus stressed this point to his disciples in the upper room. (24:22) In John 13, 34 and 35, he says, (24:25) A new command I give you, love one another as I have loved you, so that you will love one another. (24:34) By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

(24:42) So we’re commanded to love, and what kind of love is that? (24:47) It’s the agape love, the love that is patient, the love that is kind, the love that is not envious, rude, or proud. (24:57) The very description that Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 13 about love. (25:04) You know, it’s not the huggy-huggy, kissy-kissy love.

That’s eros. (25:09) And it’s not the, hey, buddy, I love you kind of love. That’s philadelphia.

(25:13) This is godly love. (25:17) God has great patience for us because he’s the God of love. (25:22) That’s why as part of the definition of agape love, patience is in there.

(25:31) So that’s the kind of love that God commands us to have for one another. (25:37) And the apostle Paul sums up God’s commands for us, all of his commands for us in the New Testament, this way. (25:48) In Romans 13, 8 through 10, he says, (25:52) Oh, no one, anything, except to love one another.

(25:56) For he who loves another has fulfilled the law. (26:00) For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. (26:16) And if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

(26:27) Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfillment of the law. (26:34) That’s all that’s bound on us is to love one another.

(26:38) When we do that, we fulfill the law of Christ. (26:44) And Jesus said to a crowd of Jews who believed this word, in John 8, 31 and 32, (26:53) He said, To the Jews who believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. (27:02) Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

(27:06) So God’s word can make us free. (27:09) Free from sin, free from the old law, free from the law of sin and death. (27:17) So the crux of God’s law for New Testament Christians is to love God, love the family of God, and love our neighbors.

(27:27) When combined with proper study of his word, and with the proper teaching of that word, (27:33) we can feel confident that we are teaching the same gospel Paul taught, and not some other gospel. (27:42) So God loves mankind, and like any good father, he has always let his children know his rules. (27:50) And those rules are designed to make us good and decent people.

(27:55) We start to transform into the image of Christ, and Christ was loving. (28:03) So the fruits of the Spirit, which love is one of them, the Holy Spirit will pour into our hearts, it says in the Roman letter, (28:14) and will guide us into becoming like Christ. (28:23) So we show our love for God by doing what he says.

(28:27) At this time, we offer the invitation. (28:30) If anybody needs prayers, excuse me, the prayers of the church, or any need that you need to make known, (28:38) come forward as we sing the invitation song. (28:42)