Monday, August 30, 2021

The Word That Forms Our Worship

 I’m sure, like me, you grew up hearing the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words may never hurt me.” While our parents may have taught us that saying to teach us to disregard mean people, it’s apparent that the saying is just patently false. Words cause more pain and suffering than anything else in this world. The wrong words said at the wrong time can cause depression, anxiety, stress, and even suicide. The wrong word said to the wrong person has led to violence of all kinds, whether it be an argument between patrons at a bar or a poor speech given by a world leader that leads to war. The opposite is also true. A good word given at the right time can build a friendship, enflame love, set a heart at ease, or walk someone back from a ledge. Words create things. They create emotions and ideas in the people who hear them. Words can clarify – they can bring understanding. Words can change someone’s mind, convincing him to totally change his course in life based on a conversation.

If it is true that our words have these effects, it is all the more true that God’s word does. In fact, the reason that our words are effective is because we are created in the image of God. The God of the universe is the God who speaks. His first act in Genesis 1 is to speak, and his last act, in Revelation 22, is to speak. God’s Word does things. As Isaiah 55:11 says, his word will not return to him void, but it will accomplish that for which he sent it to do. So, this morning we come to the last answer to the question of how we should worship. Put simply, we worship by hearing and doing the Word of God. Even though that is a simple answer, I am going to take two sermons to work out what I mean by that, and to start with, we need to understand the importance of the Word of God. So, let’s start by reading 2 Tim. 3:14-17. From this passage, I want you to see three points: God’s Word is Complete, Clarifying, and Converting.

First, the Word of God is complete. In verse 16, Paul says, “All scripture is breathed out by God.” The Greek word that we translate as “breathed out by God” is “theopneustos”, which literally means “God breath.” When we read the words of the Bible, we are reading the very words of God. Yes, God used human writers who had their own personalities and backgrounds, but the words that they wrote were the words that God wanted us to have. 2 Pet. 1:21 says that the prophets “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Theologians use two words to define the completeness of the Word of God: Inerrancy and Infallibility. Inerrancy is the idea that God’s Word contains no errors. As John Stott put it, “the Bible is true in everything that it affirms.” Modern man may scoff at the stories of the Bible, claiming that they are impossible, but as the saying goes, “The Bible says it and that settles it.” Psalm 19:7 says, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lordi s sure, making wise the simple.” The Bible is also infallible, which means the Bible does not teach anything that is false. If inerrancy deals with the facts of the Bible, infallibility deals with its teachings. If the Bible teaches that salvation is only through faith in Jesus Christ, then that is the infallible truth. Prov. 30:5 says, “the word of the Lord proves true.” In Matt. 24:35, Jesus says, “Heaven and earth may pass away, but my word will not pass away.”

The Word of God is also complete in its authority. Back in 2 Tim. 3, Paul lists all of the benefits that the Word of God has for the believer. He says that it is able to save and it teaches us everything we need to be complete and thoroughly equipped. As Baptists, swimming in the stream of the Protestant Reformation, we believe that Scripture Alone is the chief authority for our faith and practice. The Pope or the traditions of the Church cannot supersede the authority of Scripture. Oprah, Dr. Phil, or any other self-help guru cannot give us any greater wisdom than what we find in Scripture. We believe that Scripture stands above all other sources of truth as the supreme Word of God.

The second point we find in our passage is that the Word of God is clarifying. In two different ways, Paul points out that the Word of God brings clarity to our lives. In verse 14 he says that the Scriptures are “able to make one wise.” Then, in verse 16 he lists out all of these benefits of Scripture: it teaches us, reproves us, corrects us, trains us in righteousness, and equips us. All of those benefits point to the fact that God’s Word reveals who God really is, who we really are, and how we should live. John 1:1-5 speaks of Jesus as the living Word of God who came like a light to reveal the truth about God. We would not know God apart from the Word of God and the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  Heb. 4:12 says, “The word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit.” The Word of God reveals exactly who we are. Though the world tells us that we are basically good, the Bible reveals that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Though the world tells us that we can save ourselves if we only work hard and live right, the Bible tells us that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus. Without the Scriptures, we would not know the depth of our sin or our need for the Savior. The Bible also reveals how we should live. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:11 says, “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” The Word of God directs us in the right way. It reveals the right way of salvation. It reveals the right way for faithful marriage, for raising a family, for living righteously in a sinful world.

Lastly, the Word of God is converting. Back in verse 14, Paul says that the Scriptures are able to make one “wise unto salvation.” The Scriptures, and especially the Gospel message that they contain, is able to bring people to a saving knowledge of Christ. Rom. 1:16 says that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe. When we read, share, teach, or preach the Word of God, God uses his own words that we share to change the hearts of those who hear it. This is what theologians call an “ordinary means of grace.” God works through his word to give grace that we might believe in him. Rom. 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Brothers and sisters, understand that there is nothing complicated about sharing the Gospel. You just have to share the Word of God. The Lord will do the work through His Word. You are just called to be faithful in sharing it.

Friend, you may be searching for truth from some TV guru or some new age philosophy or through faith in science, but none of those ways of truth can bring you to the wisdom of God. Only God’s Word can make you wise unto salvation. Jesus said, in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” If you want to know truth and have eternal life, you must come through the way of Christ, as he has revealed himself in the Bible. Want you come and trust in him today?

Brothers and sisters, the Word of God is able to make us complete. It is all we need for faith and godliness. Yet, so often we run after other sources of truth, trusting in our own wisdom and ways, rather than resting in the Wisdom of God. This is true in our personal lives, as we often, without a thought, pursue the wisdom of this world in the way we raise our families, the way we conduct our business, the way we pursue relationships. We never question whether the way the world does these things is actually good and right according to God’s Word (and most of the time, the answer is no!). This is also the case many times in our life as a church. We unflinchingly adopt the latest fad in church growth, thinking that the next program will help us grow. Or, we think if we just make our worship more appealing to outsiders, maybe we will reach more people. Often, we adopt these changes without the first thought for what the Scriptures say about worship. May we devote our lives to understanding the Scriptures, that we might be wise in the ways of the Lord. May we seek to know God through His Word, and may we be refreshed by it as he works through His Word to give us grace and faith to live for him.

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