You know, the overwhelming majority of us in this room have some knowledge of the Bible.
Think about it.
Most of us had parents, grandparents, or someone who took us to church and probably either
read us the Bible or Bible stories.
Most of us in this room have had several pastors and teachers in probably several different
churches over our lifetimes who taught us the Bible, who went to great lengths to try
to help us to understand and apply the teaching of God's Word.
Now, I know that there are some in this room, you didn't grow up in church.
No one ever took you or taught you, but God worked through your circumstances or certain
people outside your family to bring you under the influence of God's Word.
I say that because most likely you wouldn't be here right now if you didn't have some interest
in learning from the Bible.
Now, given that we've all been exposed to at least some biblical teaching, would you describe
yourself as someone who thinks biblically?
I want to make a clarification.
The last two weeks, I asked a similar question, but the emphasis was on thinking.
Do you think about what's true and right and lovely and these kind of things that we looked
at from Philippians 4.8?
I even asked, do you think?
Because everybody doesn't think.
But the focus today is on the second word.
Do you think biblically?
Do you look at life, put it this way, through the lens of Scripture?
Do you look at what's going on around you?
What's happening in your life?
What's happening in our country?
Do you think about the issues of today?
Things about what's right and wrong?
What's true and false?
What's helpful or hurtful?
Do you think about it in light of what you know the Bible teaches?
Now, if we are Christians, we should answer that question with a very strong yes.
But do we?
Let's be honest.
We don't always think, period.
But we don't always think biblically, do we?
We don't always look at the situations, the people in our lives, the circumstances,
in light of what we know the Bible teaches.
A lot of times we look at things according to how it affects me,
according to how I feel, or according to how it affects my children or my grandchildren,
or somebody we care about.
I want you to think, when you don't think biblically,
is it because you don't understand what the Bible is,
the actual Word of God?
Or, would you say that there are times you don't think biblically because you don't care?
Even if it is the Word of God, you're going to do what you want to do.
You're going to do what will most help you,
regardless if it's right or wrong, true or false,
helpful or hurtful to other people.
Well, today's message is designed to teach us
why we need to think biblically
by showing us that the Bible is the most unique, powerful,
and life-changing book that has ever been written.
And I think Paul clearly and concisely explains that
in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16,
a scripture that I hope is familiar to most people in this room.
Look at it on the screen.
All scripture is breathed out by God
and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction,
and for training in righteousness.
This verse is going to help us understand
why we need to think biblically,
why we need to look at the Bible
as the filter through which we look at everything
and help us make all our decisions.
Let's look first.
The Bible is God's authoritative word.
And here's why we should think that.
Paul explains clearly what the Bible is.
It's authority.
It's source.
It's origin.
Look at this.
All scripture is breathed out by God.
That's the English Standard Version.
All scripture is God-breathed, NIV.
All scripture is inspired by God.
New American Standard.
The word inspired literally means God-breathed.
Paul is telling us that all scripture originates with God.
Every book.
When we talk about the Bible,
we're talking about 66 different books.
All kinds of books.
And Paul says all scripture originated with God.
He's talking about every book, every chapter,
every verse, every word of scripture.
Now what this means is every time you open the Bible
and read whatever passage,
whether it's poetry in the Psalms,
whether it's a long story about the life of Abraham
or Joseph or David in the Old Testament,
or whether it's Paul's specific teaching about how we should think
that we looked at the last two weeks.
Every time you open the Bible,
whatever the passage,
you are reading the word of God.
The God-breathed word.
Now Paul's not alone in this very high view of the authority of scripture.
Peter fully understood that scripture was the authoritative word of God,
and he explains it like this.
He says,
Peter is actually being more precise in telling us
that the writers of scripture wrote
as they were directed by,
influenced by,
the Holy Spirit.
Jerry Bridges, I think,
does a good job of explaining
what that means,
how that came about.
Bridges says,
what Peter is telling us is that the Holy Spirit
so moved upon and influenced the minds of these men
as to render them the instruments of God
for the infallible communication of his mind and will to us.
This means that within the framework of each man's vocabulary
and writing style,
the Holy Spirit guided them
that they chose exactly the words,
not just the thoughts,
that he intended them to use.
We need to understand that God didn't dictate
his word to these people.
They were not in some kind of spiritually ecstatic state,
in some kind of fog.
They didn't know what they were doing.
God providentially, throughout their lives,
prepared each Bible writer
with the life experience,
the vocabulary,
the ability to speak or write
what he wanted,
spoken and written down.
Each man that God used to write the scripture,
they were writing fully aware
that God was working in them,
but they didn't write about things
they didn't know about.
They didn't use words
that were not a part of their vocabulary.
It was not something artificial.
God worked in them
in a supernatural way
to cause them to think
what he wanted written
the way he wanted it written.
And so what we have
is actually his word,
his written word.
Now when Paul and Peter penned these words,
they were referring to the Old Testament.
The New Testament,
when Paul and Peter were writing,
it was still in the process
of being written.
Some of their letters,
some of the gospels
were already written.
Some of them were bound together
and were circulating among churches.
But the New Testament writers,
they knew what they were doing.
They knew what they were writing.
They understood that they were writing
the authoritative word of God.
I'm going to give you some examples.
Peter referred to Paul's writings
as scripture,
which would be Paul's letters.
Look at this.
And count the patience
of our Lord as salvation,
just as our beloved brother Paul
also wrote to you
according to the wisdom given him,
as he does in all his letters
when he speaks in them
of these matters.
There are some things in them
that are hard to understand,
which the ignorant and unstable
twist to their own destruction
as they do the other scriptures.
Peter considered the writings of Paul.
These letters like Philippians.
This letter to Timothy,
this second letter to Timothy.
Peter considered what Paul was writing
to be scripture.
And what he's pointing out here,
there are false teachers
that just as they twisted
the real meaning
of the Old Testament scriptures
to make it say what they wanted to say,
they did the same thing
in the New Testament,
such as Paul's scriptures.
Now, Paul quoted the words of Jesus
that are actually recorded
in Luke chapter 10 and verse 7,
and he calls them scripture.
I want you to look at this.
Paul writes,
this is in 1 Timothy 5,
for the scripture says,
you shall not muzzle an ox
when it treads out the grain.
He's quoting from Deuteronomy 24.
And the laborer deserves his wages.
That comes from Luke chapter 10 and verse 7.
So as Paul was writing that,
he quoted scripture
from what we would say,
the Old Testament and the New,
both the Word of God.
Paul understood that he was writing
under the influence of the Holy Spirit,
that he was writing the Word of God as well.
Look at two examples
from 1 Corinthians.
The things I am writing to you
are a command of the Lord.
And then in 1 Thessalonians 2.
And we also thank God constantly for this,
that when you receive the Word of God,
which you heard from us,
you accepted it not as the Word of men,
but as what it really is,
the Word of God.
Paul understood that God was working in him,
inspiring him to speak His Word
as he taught the various churches
where he went and preached and started churches.
And as it was written down,
it became the written Word of God.
One other thought along this line.
Jesus prepared His apostles
for the task of writing Scripture
by telling them that the Holy Spirit
would enable them to accurately remember
and record what He taught.
It's in John chapter 14 and then chapter 16.
The night that Jesus was arrested,
the next day He was going to be crucified.
John 13, 14, 15, 16,
what some people refer to as His farewell discourse.
He covered a lot of subjects.
But one of the things He covered was
He told those guys later on,
the Holy Spirit is going to enable you
to remember, to recall,
and then to record
what needs to be written.
Look at it.
John 14, 26,
but the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
He will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance
all that I have said to you.
And then John 16,
when the Spirit of truth comes,
He will guide you into all the truth.
Now, all of these Scriptures you've seen,
all of this to this point,
we have every reason to conclude
that when the Bible speaks,
God speaks.
We in this room,
the overwhelming majority of us
are professing Christians.
We call ourselves children of God.
I say all this to say,
we as God's children
need to have confidence,
absolute confidence
confidence
that when we open the Bible,
wherever,
this is God's authoritative,
binding word.
This is God's truth.
It is what's right and wrong,
what is true and false.
He's telling us
how we should believe,
how we should live.
Now,
do you have that kind of confidence?
You open the Bible,
this is God speaking.
This is God's guidance.
That's what we need to have
if we're going to ever be able
to truly think biblically,
look at life
through the lens of Scripture.
But let's look at the second reason
why we've got to think biblically.
The Bible is God's profitable word.
God's profitable word.
That's how Paul describes the Bible.
All Scripture is breathed out by God
and profitable.
Some translations use the word useful.
Profitable for teaching,
for reproof,
for correction,
and for training in righteousness.
Because the Bible is the word of God,
because the Bible is God breathed,
it is profitable.
It is useful.
We can use this word.
It is practical for us
as Christians.
You know,
every true child of God
loves their Heavenly Father
and wants to please Him.
That's something the Holy Spirit does
in you and in me
when He comes to live within us.
When God saves us,
I mention this frequently.
When God saves us,
He puts His Spirit in us.
It's the Holy Spirit
who gives us new desires,
a new outlook,
new loves.
And one of the things
the Holy Spirit does,
He gives us a real love
for God,
our Heavenly Father.
He makes our relationship
with the Father real.
Paul describes this
in Romans chapter 8
and in Galatians chapter 4,
He describes how the Holy Spirit
so works in us
to cause us to have
a certain kind of affection
for God
as our Heavenly Father.
And He uses this phrase,
the Holy Spirit causes us
to think or to say,
Abba, Father.
A term of affection.
Papa, Dad.
That's how we should think of God.
And what I'm saying here is,
if we are Christians,
God is not abstract to us.
He's not some supreme being
out there somewhere.
If we are Christians,
we are indwelled by the Spirit of God
and God the Father is real to us.
We love Him.
We have a relationship with Him.
We don't know everything about Him.
There's a lot of things
we do not understand for sure.
We don't always feel
as close to God every day
as we do some days.
But if we're Christians,
the Spirit of God lives within us
and we care about pleasing God.
And if what I've just said
is foreign to you,
you don't have a clue
what I'm talking about.
Take that as the Lord speaking
through His Word,
Romans 8, Galatians 4.
Take that as God saying,
you're not a Christian.
I don't know you.
If you don't love me,
if you don't have this desire
to please me,
something is terribly wrong.
And it's probably that
what you know about me
is just theory,
just thoughts.
It's not a relationship.
Paul identifies four ways
here in 2 Timothy 3
that the Bible is profitable
or useful to us.
First, the Bible is profitable
for teaching.
This refers to positive teaching.
God makes His ways,
His will known to us
through the pages of Scripture.
So if we're serious
about wanting to do God's will,
please God by doing His will,
we'll want to read the Bible.
Discover His ways,
His will.
Discover what pleases Him
and what does not please Him.
Such teaching
that Paul's talking about
is essential for us
to be involved in
if we want to please God.
If we don't know
what God's will,
we can't do it.
If you don't know what some,
if you want to please somebody
in your life,
think about it.
There's somebody
that you know,
that you love,
maybe you're sitting
with them right now,
and it brings great joy to you,
brings a smile to your face
to do something
that pleases them,
that brings a smile
to their face.
Well, when you really
want to do that
because you know them,
you know what
will please them.
What will please me
may not please
your son or husband.
What would please
my wife, Lisa,
may not please you.
But we know
what will please
the person we
want to please.
And so that's
the kind of things
that we do.
To know how to please God,
we've got to know
his word.
Paul,
next one he says,
number two,
the Bible is profitable
for reproof
or some translations
say rebuking.
This is the negative
aspect of teaching.
It describes
correcting error.
Somebody said,
the Bible is like
a basketball referee
that lets the player
know when he commits
a foul
or he steps out of bounds.
The referee upholds
the rules of the game.
Well, the Spirit of God
uses the Word of God
to convict us of sin.
Sin can be thought
as breaking God's rules,
stepping out of bounds.
So the Spirit of God
uses the Word of God
to correct us.
Let us know
when we've done
what does not please God.
Now,
let's apply this.
Here's an example
of how the Bible
is profitable
or useful
for teaching
and rebuking
in terms of
what we actually believe.
One of the most
popular errors
being taught
in the world today
is that all religions
are basically the same.
The mindset
of our culture today
is
all religions
are equally valid.
including
no religion.
And to be
politically correct
today,
if you're a Christian,
good for you.
But you also
need to say
to the Jew,
good for you.
To the Muslim,
good for you.
To the Buddhist,
good for you.
The mindset
of the world,
all religions
are basically the same.
They're all
equally valid.
And so,
whatever path
you choose,
you're going to
wind up
in the same place.
Ultimately,
the paths
to heaven
through Christianity,
Judaism,
Islam,
whatever,
they all reach
the top
where God is.
Well,
the Bible
is very useful
in helping us
to understand
that's wrong.
That's
heretical teaching.
On one hand,
it's foolish teaching.
Because the Bible
teaches something
that's totally different
from what Judaism
teaches.
Judaism teaches
something that's
totally different
from what Buddhists
believe.
You can't believe
they all can't be
right logically.
Even if you're
an atheist,
you cannot accept
that they're all
equally true.
But,
let's go back
to the Bible.
The Bible teaches
there is only
one way
for any human
being to be
right with God
and that is
through faith
in Jesus Christ.
Jesus said it
this way,
I am the way
and the truth
and the life.
No one
comes to the Father
except through me.
The apostles
heard Jesus say that.
They embraced
that as the truth
and they said it
in Acts 4.12.
And there is salvation
in no one else
for there is
no other name
under heaven
given among men
by which we must
be saved.
The world says
there's many ways
to God.
The Bible teaches
there's only one way.
That's not all
the Bible does.
The Bible rebukes,
reproves,
corrects,
straightens out
anyone who teaches
otherwise.
A good example
of this is
Galatians 1
verses 8 and 9.
Paul said,
but even if we
or an angel
from heaven
should preach
to you
a gospel
contrary to the one
that we preach
to you,
let him be accursed.
Some translations
say eternally
condemned.
As we have said
before,
so now I say
again,
if anyone is
preaching to you
a gospel contrary
to the one you received,
let him be accursed.
Paul would not
accept this
universal belief
that everybody's
okay as long as
you believe something,
as long as you're
sincere,
it's okay.
Years ago,
not in this church,
I spoke with a man,
in fact,
I was not his pastor,
but I spoke with a man
who was a deacon,
long-term deacon
in a Baptist church,
and I don't know
how the subject
came up,
but he told me
very clearly
he did not think
that there's only
one way
for a person
to be right
with God.
It can't be
that you have
to believe in Jesus
to be saved.
He made this statement
that he believed
that many people
who sincerely
held to their
belief system,
whatever it was,
that they'd be
in heaven one day.
Paul would be
irate
at someone
who would say that.
Paul would say
that's a different
gospel,
and anybody
who would preach
a different gospel
like that,
anybody who would
lead somebody
astray like that,
let them be
eternally damned
is what he is
literally saying.
That's how strongly
he believed
that you got
to correct
or you got
to rebuke
error,
and Paul
made no,
mince no words,
did he?
The Bible
is profitable
or useful
in that it
teaches us
the truth
and it rebukes
us
when we are
in error.
Number three,
the Bible
is profitable
for correction.
Correction
means to confront
what's wrong
and straighten
it out.
Teach the
correct way.
The Bible
gives us
practical instruction
on how we
should live
our lives
in this world.
The Bible
gives us
practical instruction
on how we
need to
love our wives
as husbands,
how we
need to
discipline
our children
the right
kind of way
as fathers.
The Bible
talks about
how we
need to
try to
get along
with
everybody,
Romans 12,
as far as
it depends
on us.
The Bible
talks about
how we
need to
learn to
forgive
people,
let things
go,
don't hold
grudges.
The Bible
is very
practical
in talking
about how
we need
to be
honest in
our business
dealings,
not cheat
people.
Do what's
right,
do what's
fair.
Number
four,
the Bible
is profitable
for training
us in
righteousness.
God doesn't
just correct
us when we
do wrong.
God gives
us positive
instruction
on how we
can please
Him in the
kind of things
I was just
mentioning.
The Bible
trains or
disciplines us
to live in a
right relationship
with God and
other people.
You can say
it this way,
the Bible
trains us
or disciplines
us to
live a
holy
life.
Now,
let's apply
this.
Let's think
of an
example of
correction and
training and
righteousness that
we find in the
Bible.
What I'm
doing,
I didn't
intend for
this to be a
real full-blown
series,
but it is
thinking
biblically.
What I'm
trying to do
is apply the
scripture to
some practical
things that are
going on today
in our country
or just things
in this world.
I started off
by talking
about we
need to think
biblically about
governmental
authority that
first week at
the end of
June.
And what I was
talking about
how today law
enforcement officers,
they've been
demonized as a
whole profession,
but the Bible
does not do
that.
The Bible talks
about law
enforcement
officers having
the God-given
responsibility to
enforce the
laws, to
administer justice.
They have a
good and
honorable place in
this world and
they should be
respected.
The bad ones
should be weeded
out for sure,
but the law
enforcement profession
is an honorable
profession with a
God-given
responsibility.
The next week I
preached on the
thinking biblically
about racism and
it seems in this
culture today that
the real focus is
on not that both
black and white
people can be
prejudiced, but
only that white
people can be
prejudiced.
And there's a
great emphasis on
that racism is just
embedded in our
culture, it's
systemic, it's
upheld by law and
in institutions and
it is not, as I
pointed out in that
sermon, we need to
look at what's going
on in our world
today in light of
what the Bible
teaches.
One of the great
errors of today that
I've not brought up
in quite some time,
and I'm going to
bring it up today
because it needs to
be brought up,
same-sex marriage
has become legal in
this country.
The Supreme Court
basically, in effect,
legalized through law
same-sex marriage.
It is not the
Supreme Court's place
in our Constitution,
in our government,
to make laws, but to
interpret them.
But they sometimes
get that twisted.
Same-sex marriage has
become legalized by the
ruling of the Supreme
Court in this country.
today's culture
willingly accepts
homosexual behavior
as normal.
It's just another way
to live.
And today's culture
condemns anyone
like me, like you
if you do, condemns
anyone who calls it
sinful behavior.
There are many
liberal churches and
their entire
denomination that
will ordain a
gay man or a
gay woman as a
pastor in the
church.
There are many
liberal churches
that will affirm
same-sex marriages.
This is our world
today.
This is today's
culture.
Well, the Bible
corrects this
erroneous and
sinful behavior and
teaching by pointing
out how God
condemns such
relationships and
such behaviors.
I'll give you two
examples.
One from Romans
chapter 1.
Look at this.
For this reason, God
gave them up to
dishonorable passions.
For their women
exchanged natural
relations for those
that are contrary to
nature.
And the men
likewise gave up
natural relations
with women and
were consumed with
passion for one
another.
Men committing
shameless acts
with men and
receiving in
themselves the due
penalty for their
error.
Now, the next
one comes from
1 Corinthians
chapter 6.
And I want you
to note, I
want to stress
this.
Paul mentions
people who
practice
homosexuality as
being condemned
by God, but it
is in a list of
many things that
are condemned by
God.
So let's look at
it.
He's writing to a
church, remember,
the Corinthian
church.
Or do you not
know that the
unrighteous will
not inherit the
kingdom of God?
Do not be
deceived.
Neither the
sexually immoral,
that includes people
involved in
premarital sex,
people involved in
any kind of sexual
relationship with
someone other than
your husband, if
you're a woman, or
a wife, if you're a
man.
Do not be deceived.
Neither the sexually
immoral, nor
idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor men
who practice
homosexuality, nor
thieves, nor the
greedy, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor
swindlers will
inherit the kingdom
of God.
It's Paul's there.
Paul is really just
saying here, no one
who lives, no one
who willingly lives
engages in such a
sinful lifestyle is a
Christian.
Therefore, no one who
lives this way openly,
unashamedly, they're not
a part of the kingdom of
God.
Let's move on.
Writing to these same
church, the very next
phrase, and such were
some of you, but you've
been washed.
You were sanctified.
You were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus
Christ and by the
Spirit of our God.
Paul is condemning
sinful behavior of any
stripe that a person
willfully, intentionally
engages in with no
remorse.
That's just who they are.
They're not a Christian
if that's who they are.
They're not going to be in
heaven.
But, these very kinds of
people engage in these
kinds of behaviors, some
of these people were
saved.
They repented of their
sin.
They were forgiven.
God changed them and
enabled them to overcome
that sinful lifestyle.
God's word condemns sin, but
God's word is filled with
grace and the offer of
salvation and forgiveness to
all sinners who will repent
of their sin and turn to
Jesus Christ in faith and
commitment.
I want to pause here and
point out, everybody who came
out of that lifestyle, those
different lifestyle.
Let's look at a person who
was a drunkard as the
scripture says here.
There are men and women who
are alcoholics who truly are
born again.
They repent of their sin.
They trust Jesus.
They're forgiven.
They're cleansed and made
right with God.
But some of these people fall
back into alcohol for a
while.
God is such a demon that they
give in to the temptation
and they sin again.
That does not disqualify them
from the kingdom of heaven.
If they're truly saved, when
they sin like this, sooner or
later they're convicted, they're
broken, they repent of it, and
they come back to the Lord.
That would be true about
somebody who is engaging
homosexual behavior.
Such a person may be saved,
forgiven, made right with God,
but fall back into that for a
time.
But if they're truly
Christians, they'll know it's
sin, it's wrong, and they'll
come back to the Lord in
confession and repentance.
The Bible corrects wrongness
behavior.
And then look at this.
The Bible also trains us in
righteousness.
And so we're on the subject here
of homosexuality, same-sex
marriage.
The Bible trains us in
righteousness concerning the
subject of, let's just say,
marriage.
Heterosexual relationships.
Male-female relationships.
The Bible teaches us how God
created and designed men and
women to live together in a
proper marriage relationship.
The beginning, Genesis 2.
Therefore a man shall leave his
father and mother and hold fast
to his wife, and they shall
become one flesh.
That's the foundation for
marriage.
That's God's plan for most
people.
Some people will be single.
If you're not going to live
single, this is God's plan to
live, if you're a man with a
woman in a one flesh, permanent
relationship.
Jesus emphasized that God
intended marriage, Jesus
emphasized now, that God
intended marriage to be a
permanent relationship between
a man and woman.
Look at this.
And the Pharisees came up to
him and tested him by asking,
is it lawful to divorce one's
wife for any cause?
He answered, have you not read
that he who created them from
the beginning, made them male
and female, and said, therefore
a man shall leave his father
and his mother and hold fast to
his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh?
So they're no longer two, but
one flesh.
What therefore?
God is joined together.
Let not man separate.
In the context of Matthew 19
here, Jesus is talking about it
is not God's will that a marriage
end and divorce.
If you're married and you're
having problems, don't give up on
your marriage.
Don't give up on your spouse.
No matter what anybody else tells
you, pray.
Work with your spouse.
Work with a Christian counselor.
Father, fight for your marriage.
Do everything that you can to save it,
but not just to save it, to make it
what it should be.
A mutual, meeting one another's needs,
loving, intimate relationship.
But, while divorce is never God's
ideal, God does allow divorce under
certain conditions.
Jesus went on in this chapter,
chapter 19, to point out one,
sexual immorality.
Paul points out another one in 1
Corinthians chapter 7, desertion by an
unbelieving spouse.
There are grounds for divorce.
And when that happens, it was not
God's ideal, but God forgives.
God wipes the slate clean.
God can give you a fresh start.
And I want you to hear that word of
hope and grace as well.
But my point here is the Bible is
very useful.
It's very practical.
Very practical.
The Spirit of God uses the Word of God
to correct us.
We make sinful choices.
And it doesn't matter what the world
says.
And the Word of God, the Spirit of God
uses the Word of God to train us to
make the right choices that please God
and make our lives better.
I want to throw this out real quickly
here.
One of the great disappointments to me
and many Christians over the years,
there have been Bible-believing,
evangelical seminary professors,
pastors, other church leaders
who have taught the truth about
same-sex marriage, homosexuality,
that it was sinful behavior.
Until their son or their daughter
or someone close to them came out as gay.
And then they changed their beliefs.
What that means is such a person
made what their son or daughter or friend
did as the standard for their behavior
or their standard for what's right and wrong.
They abandoned the truth of God's Word
in favor of how it affected someone
that they loved.
We don't have that option as a Christian.
Love your children.
Love people.
Bend over backwards to meet their needs,
to be a friend, to help them.
But never let someone else
and their beliefs or their lifestyle
be the standard
for your beliefs
and your lifestyle.
You know, the only way we can think biblically
is know what the Bible teaches.
Number three,
the Bible must be read and studied.
And that's going to be something
we're going to probably just,
I'm going to conclude in the newsletter.
I didn't realize it till
the first service this morning,
but I didn't talk fast enough
to get through point three.
So I'm going to go straight
to the conclusion here.
Can you honestly describe yourself
as someone who thinks biblically
and therefore you live biblically?
You've developed your beliefs
and your lifestyle
based on what you know
the Bible teaches.
Is that true?
Let me ask it another way.
Is that how you want to live?
Do you want it to be true?
Hear me real carefully here.
If you've listened to this sermon
and you're just basically indifferent
or you don't care
or you reject it,
you need to do some very serious soul searching
because the Apostle John says
that living according to the truth of God's word
is one of the indications
of whether or not you are a Christian.
Look at this.
John writes in 1 John chapter 2,
and by this we know
that we've come to know Him
if we keep His commandments.
Whoever says I know Him
but does not keep His commandments
is a liar
and the truth is not in him.
But whoever keeps His word in Him truly,
the love of God is perfected.
By this we may know
that we are in Him.
John's real clear.
If we're Christians,
we'll not just believe the Bible
to be God's word.
We'll seek to live according to it.
If you're a child of God,
living in fellowship with God,
there's no doubt you desire
to think and live
according to the truth of God's word.
And if that is how you would respond this morning,
then you need to thank God
for the work He's done
in bringing you to this point.
You're a trophy of God's grace
if that's how you think.
And ask God to help you
to continue
to believe and behave
according to the truth of His word.
But if you really and truly
don't care,
get this over with,
I'm going to do what I want to do,
live the way I want to live,
don't call yourself a Christian.
And if that bothers you,
if what John says,
who does not keep His commandments
is a liar,
if that bothers you,
good.
Let it drive you to your knees
in humility and brokenness,
repent of your sin
and trust Jesus now
and truly commit your life to Him.
The final thought here,
if you have fully
known what it means
to think and live biblically
and deep down,
that's what you want right now.
The truth is you are not,
maybe because you just drifted away
from the Lord.
You just let your life get too busy.
You just drifted away unintentionally.
Or maybe you've rebelled
for whatever reason.
I want to encourage you
to confess your sin,
your drift,
your rebellion,
whatever it is,
and come back to the Lord now
in a new,
wholehearted commitment
to Jesus as the Lord of your life
and to the Word of God
as your ultimate authority
for what you're going to believe
and how you're going to live.