WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.339 Okay, let me pray for us and we'll start that way. Let me pray. Father in heaven, we've thought 00:00:07.339 --> 00:00:11.220 ! about some great things already this evening. We've thought about your goodness and your love. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:17.760 ! We've turned our eyes to the Lord Jesus. We have looked to you and to what you've done for us. We pray 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:22.719 now, as we think about your word to us, we pray that you might help us to think clearly and carefully 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:28.160 and that you might be at work in us by your spirit for your glory's sake. Amen. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:35.500 Amen. So we have been looking for these last few weeks about what the Bible says about the Bible, 00:00:35.579 --> 00:00:43.920 the Bible's claims for the Bible, with a bit of help from the Baptist Confession of Faith from 1689. If 00:00:43.920 --> 00:00:49.439 you have never seen one of those, you can get it on the internet. You can also buy a copy that looks 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:54.179 like that. You can't have this one because that is my copy because it says Steve's copy on it, 00:00:54.179 --> 00:01:00.979 but you can get yourself one from Amazon or something. But it's really helpful just walking 00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:06.659 through core doctrines. So you might remember, if you were with us the first week, we started thinking 00:01:06.659 --> 00:01:16.200 about how the Bible claims to be God's word to us, God speaking to us, so that we might know things 00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:22.200 about God from the world around us, but we can only know him savingly through the message of the Bible. 00:01:23.560 --> 00:01:27.400 And that's good news because it means we're not scrambling around in the dark wondering what God 00:01:27.400 --> 00:01:34.040 might be like, but he has spoken to us and revealed himself to us so that we can know him. In the second 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:40.439 week, we were thinking, well, why would we trust the Bible? Why would you trust that what this word says 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:45.280 about this word is true? And we thought that there might be any number of reasons why we might think that the Bible 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:50.519 is true. We thought about how the Roman Catholic Church has said that you believe it's true because they say it's true. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:56.659 But we realized ultimately, because of the help of the confession, that basically you believe the Bible is the word of God 00:01:56.659 --> 00:02:02.719 because it says it is. In other words, trust in the Bible is about faith. So the confession says, 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:08.759 our full persuasion and assurance of the infallible truth and divine authority of the scriptures comes 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:15.680 from the internal work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the word in our hearts. 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:21.680 The best way to get to know how you can trust the Bible is to read the Bible. 00:02:23.180 --> 00:02:27.259 Last week, then we looked at how can you understand the Bible? How do you know that the Bible means 00:02:27.259 --> 00:02:31.639 something? How do you know that you're not just twisting it to your own ends and making it say whatever you 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:36.519 want it to say? And then we decided that, well, we didn't decide. Actually, we were, the Baptist 00:02:36.519 --> 00:02:42.399 confession helped us in. We were saying that the Bible is clear, right? So the Bible claims clarity 00:02:42.399 --> 00:02:48.039 for itself. So just like you don't need to defend the Bible because the Bible is able to defend itself, 00:02:48.119 --> 00:02:54.099 you also don't need to excuse the Bible because the Bible can interpret the Bible. The Bible is clear 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:59.839 on what it means to be saved, what salvation is, so that even as we were thinking, people who have had no 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:05.439 education can hear clearly the message of salvation and believe and trust in Jesus by the Spirit. 00:03:06.480 --> 00:03:11.800 Now, this week, we're kind of wrapping up this section and we're going to think about the authority 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:18.659 of the Bible. How do we not only know that the Bible has authority, but what does that mean for us 00:03:18.659 --> 00:03:24.879 individually and also for us as a church? Now, we've come across this a little bit already, but it is worth 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:29.659 thinking about some more. And firstly, it's worth noting that everybody wants to say that they believe 00:03:29.659 --> 00:03:35.439 in the authority of the Bible, right? This is a common and popular thing for evangelicals to say. So 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:43.859 the Evangelical Alliance, they say this in their statement of faith, the divine inspiration and supreme 00:03:43.859 --> 00:03:50.000 authority of the Old and New Testament scriptures, which are the written word of God, fully trustworthy 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:57.719 for faith and conduct. So anyone who wants to be part of the Evangelical Alliance has to agree with 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:05.639 that statement. The FIC statement is a bit longer. It says this, God has revealed himself in the Bible, 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:11.759 which consists of the Old and New Testaments alone. Every word was inspired by God through human 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:18.920 authors so that the Bible as originally given is in its entirety the word of God, without error and 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:27.040 fully reliable in fact and doctrine. The Bible alone speaks with final authority and is always 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:34.560 sufficient for all matters of belief and practice. So that's the FIC statement, that's the group of 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:40.680 churches to which we belong. That's our statement of faith that we have in our church documents. 00:04:41.740 --> 00:04:45.980 UCCF, the University and College's Christian Fellowship, doctrinal basis, as they call it, 00:04:45.980 --> 00:04:52.020 says this, the Bible as originally given is the inspired and infallible word of God. It is the 00:04:52.020 --> 00:05:00.120 supreme authority in all matters of belief and behavior. And you can see they all want to say, 00:05:00.200 --> 00:05:07.000 don't they, that the Bible is the supreme or final authority. I want you with the person next to you 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:15.720 to say, what does it mean by supreme authority or final authority? What do they mean? It's not a trick 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:22.640 question. So talk to the person next to you, come up with answer. Okay, what do we think? 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:29.240 What does supreme mean in this setting or final? 00:05:33.760 --> 00:05:36.400 Vi just ducked her head down behind Samuel so I can't see it. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:39.439 Jeff, what do you think? 00:05:48.919 --> 00:05:53.939 Yes, the highest of the high. Yeah. Anybody else? 00:05:55.939 --> 00:05:57.079 Cannot be superseded. 00:05:57.079 --> 00:05:57.500 Yeah. 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:04.699 You can't say the Bible says this, but because it's the final. Yeah. 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:16.180 It's word goes. Yeah. What it says is what we will do because it is the final or supreme authority. 00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:17.620 It has the last word. 00:06:17.620 --> 00:06:27.139 Now, I want to think just about what that works out like in church life. And to do that, let's time travel back to 1689 and to the Baptist confession of faith. 00:06:27.819 --> 00:06:33.300 And let's read the final clause under the scriptures, which expands further on this idea of authority. 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:38.000 So chapter one, clause 10. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:55.259 The supreme judge for deciding all religious controversies and for evaluating all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, human teachings and individual interpretation. 00:06:55.259 --> 00:07:03.839 And in whose judgment we are to rest is nothing but the holy scripture delivered by the spirit. 00:07:04.300 --> 00:07:10.659 In this scripture, our faith finds its final word. 00:07:12.779 --> 00:07:18.620 Now, you'll notice one of the things about 1689 is they want to say a little bit more than the FIC or the evangelical alliance, don't they? 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:31.680 They want to actually spell it out. And they say to us that the Bible is above all councils, that is gatherings of church leaders together who are making pronouncements on various things. 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:38.459 Ancient writers, that is anybody writing theological treaties or books. 00:07:38.459 --> 00:07:45.920 Human teachings, that is teachings of any priest or pastor or Bible teacher. 00:07:45.920 --> 00:07:55.000 And individual interpretations, that is, I think, private ideas or claims to other revelation or understanding. 00:07:55.960 --> 00:08:07.920 So you can't say the Bible says, but I think, or the Bible says, but they say, or the Bible says, but the church council says, or the Bible says, yes, but I've read in this particular book. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:17.259 Now, you might imagine that at a time that they are trying to distinguish themselves from the Roman Catholic Church and their idea that the church was supreme in its authority. 00:08:18.280 --> 00:08:28.100 Now, it's worth just kind of passing this out a little bit to make sure that we're really clear about the difference between the Roman Catholic Church and this statement or the Westminster Confession or the Savoy Declaration. 00:08:28.100 --> 00:08:45.560 They are saying, so that the Roman Catholic Church and not saying that their scriptures are dependent upon the church in some sense, but rather it is the sense that you would only know that you were to believe the Bible because the church told you you were to believe the Bible, right? 00:08:45.559 --> 00:08:53.259 So, in other words, it's the church's attributing, attributing, that's the right word, isn't it? 00:08:53.819 --> 00:08:56.319 Attributing authority to the Bible that gives it the authority. 00:08:56.479 --> 00:08:57.099 Does that make sense? 00:08:57.779 --> 00:09:03.899 So, you know, the church says, we say this book is authoritative, so you must go and read it, right? 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:11.860 But obviously, the reformers are like, well, no, wait a minute, if that's what you're saying, then by definition, you have the authority and not the Bible, right? 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:18.360 And so they're saying, no, actually, the Bible itself must authenticate its own authority. 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:26.059 It must be that the scriptures themselves claim to have authority, not that the church is giving it to the Bible or to the scriptures. 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:33.419 So the claim of the confession is to say, no, the authority of the Bible comes from inside itself, not from outside. 00:09:34.539 --> 00:09:37.319 And that is then, do you notice, a theme, right? 00:09:38.239 --> 00:09:42.679 So this is why I've sort of notionally called this what the Bible says about the Bible. 00:09:43.059 --> 00:09:46.500 The Bible's authority is self-attesting, right? 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:52.819 It comes from its own claims about itself, which are then established in experience as we read and engage with it. 00:09:52.820 --> 00:09:57.580 Now, it's worth then thinking about how that works. 00:09:58.280 --> 00:10:05.760 The claim is not that the Bible is authoritative because it reads like a book of law or rules, right? 00:10:05.820 --> 00:10:09.060 That might be one way that a book could claim authority, couldn't it? 00:10:09.100 --> 00:10:17.780 You could read it and it looks like a list of rules, you know, do this, don't do that, do this, don't do that. 00:10:18.540 --> 00:10:19.800 But it's not, is it? 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:24.120 As you open God's word, it's not a command as much as it is an invitation. 00:10:25.199 --> 00:10:28.539 It's not so much a do this as it is a receive this. 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:32.299 It's not so much a law as it is grace. 00:10:32.939 --> 00:10:36.899 You know, the authority of the Bible is not like, it's not like a highway code, right? 00:10:37.359 --> 00:10:43.539 So Lucy is sitting her driving theory test in a few weeks' time, right? 00:10:43.539 --> 00:10:47.179 So you've got to know the highway code, which is the rules of the road. 00:10:47.639 --> 00:10:51.659 And the highway code, I know most of you who drive have never read it, I'm sure. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.139 But it's written like a rule book, yeah? 00:10:55.259 --> 00:10:57.599 It's written as do this and don't do that. 00:10:58.079 --> 00:11:01.719 But that's not how the word of grace from a father comes to a child. 00:11:01.720 --> 00:11:10.460 And that means that, and the reformers talked about this, that often as you encounter God's word, it comes in description, not prescription. 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:17.420 So there is a description of what God is doing more than there is a prescription about what we are to do. 00:11:17.419 --> 00:11:26.679 So you get descriptions of what God is up to at a particular time, in a particular place. 00:11:27.099 --> 00:11:33.740 Often a circumstance that's very unfamiliar to us, in a place that we don't know, with people with whom we have very little in common. 00:11:34.459 --> 00:11:38.099 But yet that word is authoritative to us. 00:11:38.219 --> 00:11:39.259 In what sense? 00:11:39.259 --> 00:11:51.759 Well, in the sense that it is a description of who God is, what he's like, how he is at work in the world, how his covenant promises work out in the lives of people, how he is being faithful through history. 00:11:52.939 --> 00:11:57.960 And their story then describes with authority who God is, what he's like, and what he's doing. 00:11:58.379 --> 00:12:04.860 And as we read it and understand it, we encounter God and submit to him and are shaped by him. 00:12:04.860 --> 00:12:09.980 And Bavinck, who we've encountered a few times over the last few weeks, describes it like this. 00:12:10.419 --> 00:12:14.100 Bible, it says, it asks for no one's assistance. 00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:17.240 It does not need the strong arm of government. 00:12:17.820 --> 00:12:23.500 It does not need the support of the church and does not conscript anyone's sword and inquisition. 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:30.879 It does not desire to rule by coercion and by violence, but seeks free and willing recognition. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:37.220 For that reason, it brings about its own recognition by the working of the Holy Spirit. 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:40.879 Scripture guards its own authority. 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:51.740 Now, like I said when we were talking about why trust the Bible and how to understand the Bible, I hope you find that wonderfully liberating, right? 00:12:52.299 --> 00:12:58.179 That actually, the claim to authority of the Bible is something that it authenticates itself. 00:12:58.179 --> 00:13:00.000 It's not something forced on us. 00:13:00.819 --> 00:13:02.759 And I want you just to think with the person next to you again. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:07.179 What does it mean for you as a Christian and for us as a church to say that the Bible is authoritative? 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:13.519 Write down just as many implications as you can think of for us to say that in our church life. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:22.079 Just, and there might be as small or as big as you like, implications of trusting the Bible's authority in our church life. 00:13:22.679 --> 00:13:23.339 Go for it. 00:13:24.299 --> 00:13:25.740 As many as you can think of. 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:32.419 Let me take some of your feedback and ideas. 00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:41.480 So who wants to start us off? 00:13:41.480 --> 00:14:02.539 We were saying that if we have feelings that are different for our sins, then we don't have to have to not be so strong in this and trust that we are going to be. 00:14:02.539 --> 00:14:03.320 Yes. 00:14:03.320 --> 00:14:03.600 Yes. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:04.600 Yes. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.460 So not relying on our feelings. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:09.180 Yes. 00:14:09.259 --> 00:14:11.659 But relying on God's word. 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:13.639 Yes. 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:18.800 I think you can practically tell, can't you, that you believe in the authority. 00:14:18.940 --> 00:14:20.840 But how can you tell that you believe in the authority of the Bible? 00:14:20.980 --> 00:14:21.720 Let me ask you this question. 00:14:21.879 --> 00:14:23.379 How can you tell you believe the authority of the Bible? 00:14:23.379 --> 00:14:26.779 I'll tell you how you can, right? 00:14:27.179 --> 00:14:28.059 Because none of you know. 00:14:28.700 --> 00:14:37.080 You can tell you believe the authority of the Bible because you believe something to be true for the sole reason that you have read and understood it from God's word. 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:40.180 And it is not something that you have intuited yourself. 00:14:41.680 --> 00:14:57.139 If everything you believe is something that you have just come to yourself and intuited and you find comfortable and easy, then I would suggest to you that your final authority is yourself and your feelings and not God's word. 00:14:57.139 --> 00:15:08.899 You would not believe in the eternal conscious punishment of those outside of Christ unless God's word taught it to you, right? 00:15:09.899 --> 00:15:13.919 And you would not want to believe it unless God's word taught it to you. 00:15:14.319 --> 00:15:21.000 And you can tell that you believe the Bible is true because you believe it because you read it there, not because you feel it here, right? 00:15:21.360 --> 00:15:21.580 Yeah. 00:15:21.939 --> 00:15:22.179 Brilliant. 00:15:22.299 --> 00:15:22.679 Thanks, Daisy. 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:25.379 Anything else? 00:15:27.139 --> 00:15:33.179 Criteria for testing all church teaching. 00:15:33.919 --> 00:15:34.360 Yes. 00:15:34.740 --> 00:15:35.019 Brilliant. 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:37.279 Criteria for testing all church teaching. 00:15:37.539 --> 00:15:37.659 Yeah. 00:15:37.740 --> 00:15:43.720 So we want people in the church to be like the Bereans that we met a few weeks ago who are testing what they hear. 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:44.080 Yeah. 00:15:50.259 --> 00:15:50.699 Yes. 00:15:51.439 --> 00:15:53.720 Understanding the way of behaving. 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:54.939 Yeah. 00:15:54.939 --> 00:15:55.000 Yeah. 00:15:57.139 --> 00:16:04.120 Yes. 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:04.740 Yeah. 00:16:04.740 --> 00:16:04.799 Yeah. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:08.139 Yes. 00:16:08.319 --> 00:16:08.639 Yes. 00:16:08.980 --> 00:16:09.240 Yeah. 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:11.100 Yes. 00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:19.720 So in the new covenant, in the new Testament, it's how do we expect believers to behave is written for us in, in God's word. 00:16:19.919 --> 00:16:20.100 Yeah. 00:16:20.100 --> 00:16:20.540 Yeah. 00:16:22.060 --> 00:16:24.840 I mean, that's what we're talking about this morning. 00:16:26.240 --> 00:16:30.379 Our sanctification doesn't lead to our justification, right? 00:16:30.379 --> 00:16:33.779 But you can see your justification in your sanctification. 00:16:33.779 --> 00:16:39.059 So you know that you are born again Christian because you have a desire to live to please the Lord. 00:16:39.059 --> 00:16:46.719 And so if the Lord says in his word to live a certain way, I would expect you as a Christian to want to live that way. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:51.560 And I would expect if it was pointed out to you by your brothers and sisters in church that you are not living. 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:52.460 I'm not pointing at anyone. 00:16:52.620 --> 00:16:52.940 Sorry. 00:16:53.440 --> 00:16:58.500 I mean, if you are not living in that particular way, if it was pointed out by your brothers and sisters, you are not living in that way. 00:16:58.560 --> 00:17:02.740 I would expect you to want to submit to God's word in that particular area of your life. 00:17:04.019 --> 00:17:05.519 Mike, it feels like you've got more, right? 00:17:05.620 --> 00:17:06.579 So have you got more? 00:17:06.579 --> 00:17:13.579 Yes. 00:17:13.579 --> 00:17:13.980 Yes. 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:13.980 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:13.980 00:17:36.579 --> 00:17:36.899 Okay. 00:17:36.899 --> 00:17:36.980 Okay. 00:17:38.179 --> 00:17:38.539 Okay. 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:40.699 Yes. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:41.259 Yeah. 00:17:41.439 --> 00:17:41.839 Interesting. 00:17:42.199 --> 00:17:42.339 Yeah. 00:17:42.699 --> 00:17:50.619 Can I just say, so you use the Bible to resist illegitimate claims to authority. 00:17:52.099 --> 00:17:53.799 That is so important, right? 00:17:53.799 --> 00:18:07.919 So abuse of authority and power is often when individuals or churches claim for themselves authority which really only belongs to God's word. 00:18:08.919 --> 00:18:13.519 Your conscience should not be captive to me, but to God's word, right? 00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:23.180 And it would be an abuse of my authority as a teaching pastor here to ask you to submit to me rather than the scriptures. 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:24.119 Yeah. 00:18:24.299 --> 00:18:25.740 That's really important, isn't it? 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:28.079 And that works out. 00:18:28.160 --> 00:18:36.879 So you should only submit to your church leaders as far as you are able to tell that they are themselves submitting to God's word. 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:37.560 Right? 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:45.480 So in some senses, the authority that a church leader has or that a husband has or a parent has or a youth leader has or whatever, 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:50.340 is their authority is on the grounds of their submission to God's word. 00:18:50.660 --> 00:18:54.540 If they will not submit to God's word, they will not have authority. 00:18:56.080 --> 00:18:56.520 Great. 00:18:57.960 --> 00:18:58.780 Any more, Mike? 00:18:58.779 --> 00:19:09.039 Yes. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.039 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.039 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.039 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.039 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.039 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.039 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:09.039 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:11.539 Yes, yeah. 00:19:11.539 --> 00:19:11.539 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.039 Okay. 00:19:41.039 --> 00:19:43.039 Right. 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:47.039 Yeah. 00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:51.039 Yeah. 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:53.039 Yeah. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:55.039 Yes. 00:19:55.039 --> 00:19:59.039 Yeah. 00:19:59.039 --> 00:20:01.039 Yeah. 00:20:01.039 --> 00:20:03.039 Okay. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:05.039 Wow. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:09.039 Yeah. 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:11.039 Yes. 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:13.039 Yeah. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:19.039 So the authority of the Bible helps to determine and see what is a true church and what is not. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:21.039 Yeah. 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:23.039 Great. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:25.039 Anybody else? 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:27.039 Yes. 00:20:27.039 --> 00:20:29.039 Yes. 00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:31.039 Yes. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:33.039 Yes. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:35.039 Yes. 00:20:35.039 --> 00:20:37.039 Yeah. 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:39.039 Yeah. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:40.039 Yeah. 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:41.039 Great. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:42.039 Yeah. 00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:43.039 So we emphasize what the Bible emphasizes. 00:20:43.039 --> 00:20:44.039 Yeah. 00:20:44.039 --> 00:20:50.039 Clifford, your habit of pointing to the person next to you to say they said is that's kind 00:20:50.039 --> 00:20:51.039 of spreading. 00:20:51.039 --> 00:20:52.039 That's right. 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:53.039 Yeah. 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:54.039 Yeah. 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:55.039 Yeah. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:56.039 Yeah. 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:57.039 Yeah. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:58.039 Yeah. 00:20:58.039 --> 00:20:59.039 So the sufficiency of the scriptures. 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:00.039 Yeah. 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:01.039 Yeah. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:02.039 Great. 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:07.039 I've just got three things that I want to end with and we've got like seven minutes. 00:21:07.039 --> 00:21:11.039 So that's two minutes on each and a minute to pray at the end. 00:21:11.039 --> 00:21:12.039 Hopefully you've begun to see this theme, right? 00:21:12.039 --> 00:21:13.039 That the Bible is self-attesting, self-authenticating. 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:14.039 The Bible claims authority for itself. 00:21:14.039 --> 00:21:15.039 The Bible claims clarity for itself. 00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:16.039 The Bible claims inspiration for itself and it claims belief in itself. 00:21:16.039 --> 00:21:17.039 Okay. 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:21.039 So as we finish, let me give you three practical implications of that for our church together. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:26.039 Firstly, we want to be Bible-driven and not just Bible-based. 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:28.039 It's common to hear, isn't it, that churches want to be Bible-based. 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:45.039 It's obviously a good thing, but it's not good enough just to sort of base ourselves on the 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.039 Bible and then spring off and go and do a whole load of other things that we'd quite 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:53.039 like to do and then just coming back every now and again to check that we might not have 00:21:53.039 --> 00:21:54.039 gone too far off. 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:58.039 Actually, the Bible claims for itself more than just being a launch pad for what we want 00:21:58.039 --> 00:21:59.039 to do ourselves. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:03.039 It claims to be in the driving seat of our church life. 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:06.039 It's put like this, isn't it? 00:22:06.039 --> 00:22:10.039 That the Bible is the Word of God. 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:11.039 Sorry, let me get it right. 00:22:11.039 --> 00:22:13.039 This is how it's put. 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:17.039 The Word of God does the work of God by the Spirit of God among the people of God. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:18.039 Okay. 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:19.039 The Word... 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:21.039 I can, yes. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:29.039 ...the Word of God does the work of God by the Spirit of God among the people of God. 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.039 And so the Bible needs to be in the driving seat. 00:22:32.039 --> 00:22:35.039 We're not just learning the Bible like we're learning a quiz so that we can pass some kind 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:40.039 of test, but rather we are letting the Bible teach us who God is. 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:41.039 We're sitting at His feet. 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:43.039 We're listening to Him as our Father. 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:48.039 We're learning to love Him and submit to Him through God's Word. 00:22:48.039 --> 00:22:54.039 Secondly, expository ministry will be at the heart of the ministry of the church. 00:22:54.039 --> 00:22:59.039 In a way, you know, it's not quite right, is it, because we don't have that power, but 00:22:59.039 --> 00:23:02.039 in a way, shutting your Bible is kind of shutting God up, isn't it? 00:23:02.039 --> 00:23:07.039 And we want God to be speaking in all of our gatherings and our meetings, and we want Him 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:10.039 to be setting the agenda as well. 00:23:10.039 --> 00:23:15.039 So we let the content of God's Word set the agenda as we just take God's Word and read 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:16.039 it and understand it. 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:20.039 Not because we lack imagination, and not because we're not concerned about the time in which 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:21.039 we live. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:23.039 We are concerned about the time in which we live. 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:27.039 Rather, it's because we recognize this is how we submit to God's authority, looking 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:32.039 at the themes and topics that He sets out, not just the ones that we're interested in. 00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:36.039 And, you know, here's the thing, it's mysterious to us, isn't it? 00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:44.039 But God in His wisdom thought it more important that you understand the tabernacle and the measurements 00:23:44.039 --> 00:23:51.039 of the temple and ancient Near Eastern history than it were that you did a study on just identity 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:52.039 or relationships. 00:23:52.039 --> 00:23:53.039 Why? 00:23:53.039 --> 00:24:00.039 Well, because God's authority is delivered in part descriptively in an engaging story, helping 00:24:00.039 --> 00:24:03.039 us to learn about who He is and what He's like. 00:24:03.039 --> 00:24:08.039 And that then might shape our understanding of our identity and our relationships with 00:24:08.039 --> 00:24:12.039 others, as we encounter the character of God in the story that He has written. 00:24:12.039 --> 00:24:15.039 And we should read it as the story He has written. 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:22.039 Finally, we don't just look for what works, but for what is written. 00:24:22.039 --> 00:24:27.039 One of the things I wrote down on my list, we didn't get time to do it, but it's really 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:32.039 it's in a sense, if the Bible is authoritative in the life of our church, our churches should 00:24:32.039 --> 00:24:34.039 be rightly historic. 00:24:34.039 --> 00:24:37.039 We are not the first people to open the Bible, are we? 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:39.039 We're not the first people to run church. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:44.039 Church has been running since the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:51.039 And so, really, we are looking to be faithful to what God says in His Word, not just to do 00:24:51.039 --> 00:24:53.039 what we think might work, right? 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:58.039 Now, that doesn't mean that we deliberately make church difficult and unpopular, right? 00:24:58.039 --> 00:24:59.039 I'm not saying that. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:05.039 But we shouldn't just do something just because we think it might make us popular, or we might 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:06.039 think it works. 00:25:06.039 --> 00:25:11.039 So we do things that make no sense other than the fact that we find them written in the 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:12.039 Scriptures. 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:15.039 Let me give you a really concrete example, which you'll all have no problem with and you'll 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:16.039 agree with, right? 00:25:16.039 --> 00:25:18.039 Someone becomes a Christian. 00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:20.039 They believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, right? 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:21.039 They've come from nowhere. 00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:23.039 They have no Christian background, no nothing. 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:27.039 They come and believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and they come and want to join 00:25:27.039 --> 00:25:28.039 our church. 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:29.039 What do we do? 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:32.039 What would you do if you were trying to just be popular? 00:25:32.039 --> 00:25:35.039 Well, you know, you'd welcome them in, you'd have them around for a meal, you'd invite 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:38.039 them over for a cup of coffee and all those kind of nice things. 00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:40.039 Do all of that. 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:43.039 So, dunk them in water, right? 00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:45.039 Why would you do that? 00:25:45.039 --> 00:25:47.039 No one's going to want to do that, are they? 00:25:47.039 --> 00:25:49.039 Well, you do it because we're told to in the Bible, aren't we? 00:25:49.039 --> 00:25:52.039 We're told to baptize those who come to faith in Christ. 00:25:52.039 --> 00:25:55.039 And all churches do that. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:25:59.039 Why would you, you know, why would we not just say to people, hey, just, you know, think 00:25:59.039 --> 00:26:01.039 about Jesus' death on the cross for a moment, right? 00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:03.039 I just want you to all think about that for a moment. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:05.039 Well, that might be a good thing to do. 00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:06.039 We could sing some songs about it. 00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:08.039 That would also be a good thing to do. 00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:11.039 But would you give them a little piece of bread and a little bit of wine and tell them 00:26:11.039 --> 00:26:12.039 to do it? 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:14.039 Well, no, you wouldn't, would you? 00:26:14.039 --> 00:26:15.039 Because why would you do that? 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:16.039 It's such a faff, right? 00:26:16.039 --> 00:26:20.039 Well, you do it because it's written in the Bible and we're told to do that. 00:26:20.039 --> 00:26:25.039 And so we submit to God's word and we do what's written, not what we just think will be popular. 00:26:25.039 --> 00:26:27.039 And that works out in other ways as well, doesn't it? 00:26:27.039 --> 00:26:29.039 Why would we have elders and deacons? 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:32.039 Because the Bible tells us that what we should. 00:26:32.039 --> 00:26:35.039 And why do we choose the people that we choose to be elders and deacons? 00:26:35.039 --> 00:26:37.039 Because the Bible sets out the criteria, not us. 00:26:37.039 --> 00:26:42.039 We're not picking a board of directors who are all really influential business people. 00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:50.039 We're picking a board of men who will be godly in character and who will model that to us and serve us as pastors and shepherds. 00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:56.039 And so that's what we do. We don't just do what works, but we do what is written. 00:26:56.039 --> 00:26:57.039 There you go. 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:00.039 I've left a minute to pray. 00:27:00.039 --> 00:27:01.039 So let me pray. 00:27:01.039 --> 00:27:05.039 And then I can take some questions afterwards if you like. Let's pray. 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:17.039 Heavenly Father, we want to pray that you would give us just a sense of the joy that it is to know 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:23.039 that we're not making it up on our own, but that you've spoken to us through your word. 00:27:23.039 --> 00:27:29.039 I want to thank you so much, Lord, that I don't have to stand here and give these people my good ideas, 00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:34.039 but that we together get to listen to your ideas and your agenda, your word. 00:27:34.039 --> 00:27:40.039 We thank you that your word does your work by your spirit amongst your people. 00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:44.039 And we thank you for the way that we experience that week in and week out. 00:27:44.039 --> 00:27:49.039 Continue to bring glory to your name in our lives and our church, we pray in Jesus name. 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:50.039 Amen. 00:27:50.039 --> 00:27:51.039 Amen. 00:27:51.039 --> 00:27:52.039 Thank you. 00:27:52.039 --> 00:27:53.039 Amen. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:27:54.039 Amen. 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:55.039 Amen. 00:27:55.039 --> 00:27:56.039 Amen. 00:27:56.039 --> 00:27:57.039 Amen. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:27:58.039 Amen. 00:27:58.039 --> 00:27:59.039 Amen. 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:00.039 Amen. 00:28:00.039 --> 00:28:01.039 Amen. 00:28:01.039 --> 00:28:02.039 Amen. 00:28:02.039 --> 00:28:03.039 Amen. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:04.039 Amen. 00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:05.039 Amen. 00:28:05.039 --> 00:28:06.039 Amen. 00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:06.039 00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:07.039 Amen. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:08.039 Amen. 00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:08.039 00:28:08.039 --> 00:28:09.039 Amen. 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:09.039