Dr Greg Bahnsen - In Understanding Be Men: Whole Bible Christians (Part 1)

I'm really excited about the presentations that I have for you because I've always enjoyed theology. I've always thought that theology was very important, but sometimes people think, well, you're kind of a strange duck, Dr. Bonson. You like theology. That's really not for everybody. So my task tonight is to convince you that you should be more like me in that way. In that way. There are a lot of things about me you shouldn't emulate, I'll tell you right away. But my love for the word of God and a desire to understand the theology of Scripture is something I'd like to impart to you tonight. Theology hasn't really been very popular of late. There have been a lot of other emphases in the church besides getting to know the Bible better and to understand the system of doctrine that is taught in the Bible. Theology has been something of the kind of the ugly duckling. It's like, well, it's there. We've got to put up with it. I suppose we need it taught in our seminaries. Maybe our past should read a book of theology every once in a while. But boy, if you want life affirming stuff, if you want material that's going to help people, then you don't want theology, you need something else. If you want to see revival in your church, you want to see renewal in your church, you want to see people's lives change and transform, you don't need theology. Indeed, people will tell you it's a lot more important that you have a childlike faith and you not worry about developing all this information and, and developing the backlog of what the Bible says and putting it together in a system of thought that just seems so academic, seems so rational, seems so intellectualistic that theology has really fallen on hard times. Well, there is a place for a childlike faith, there's no doubt about it. If you've brought your Bible with you this evening, please turn with me to Matthew 18, Matthew 18 3, 4. Jesus there says, truly I say unto you, except you turn and become as little children, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And so you might respond tonight by saying, well, Dr. Bronson, Jesus says, if I would be great in the kingdom of heaven, I need to be childlike. Indeed, you can't even enter the kingdom of heaven if you don't have that kind of humility, that kind of simplicity of faith that we see in children. You must Become like a child. Jesus said to enter into the kingdom. And that's very true. But you see, when Jesus was likening entrance to the kingdom to childlike faith, to the simplicity and trust that we see in children, it was only picking out one aspect of what children are like. And we shouldn't try to generalize that and say that's all there is to it. There are some things about children we should emulate, other things we shouldn't. My guess is that when you go out to eat at the restaurant, you don't want to emulate your children in the way that they eat. I mean, what do you think people would say? If you know, when the main course comes and there you have the mashed potatoes and gravy, and you just take your hand and dig right in there, shove it into your face, People at other tables would probably look at you and say, look how childlike that person is. Isn't that tender? Isn't that wonderful? I wish we could be more like that. They don't put on airs. They are so humble. They just shove that food all over their face and in their hair. You get my point. Being childlike is good in some respects and it's not good in others. And Jesus does commend to us the simplicity of trust that we see in children. We should have that attitude when God speaks. When our Heavenly Father tells us something, we should say, well, that's got to be true. My Father told me he wouldn't lie to me. And when my Father tells me to do something, I shouldn't stand back and say, well, maybe I will, maybe I won't. I should simply trust him and do his will and know his favor. In that way, childlike faith is a very good thing. However, the Bible also speaks against childlikeness. Did you know that I want to take you through a few verses that will demonstrate that to you. First Corinthians 14:20 is one that's somewhat thematic for this first presentation in our conference. Because in 1 Corinthians 14 at the 20th verse, Paul tells us, we need to grow up in understanding, we shouldn't stay children. Paul says, brethren, don't be children in understanding, yet in malice be babes, but in understanding be men. Now that can be translated other ways. Your translation may say, be mature, be grown up. The point is, it's all right to be simple and unexperienced when it comes to malice. But God says, when it comes to understanding, you're to be men. You're to be grown ups. And the Christian church Today is suffering greatly because people have put aside theology, they've put aside understanding and using their minds. When it comes to the Christian life and their use of the Bible, they've put aside growing up in understanding and they've stayed children. 1 Corinthians 2, 6 Paul tells us something about the character of our faith as Christians. He says, we speak wisdom, however, among them that are full grown, yet a wisdom not of this world, nor of the rulers of this world who are coming to nothing. We speak wisdom, God's wisdom, but it's only perceived by to be wisdom from God. Among those who are grown up, those who are full grown, it's not appropriate to be a baby here. It's not appropriate to be a child here. Childlikeness when it comes to understanding the faith and the wisdom of God is not commended by the Lord at all. And that's why we find in the New Testament a discussion of whether you as a Christian and those to whom the writers of the New Testament are writing are able to bear the meat of God's word or whether they're such that still need milk. In 1 Corinthians 2 we just saw that the wisdom we have is for full grown men. Notice verses 9 and 10. But as it is written, things which eye saw not and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him, but unto us God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God. Now what does God intend for your diet? What does God want you to eat? He's got something for you which is beyond any human imagination. It's greater than anything that eye has seen or ear has heard. Indeed, the very deep things of God. Now does that sound like childlike faith? Well, if you're talking about the simplicity of trusting God at His word, that's fine. But this is not childish theology that Paul is talking about. He's talking about deep, heavy matters, matters that are too great for human imagination. That's what God has intended for you. Since we're in first, we're in things. Look at chapter three, verse two. Paul says, I fed you with milk, not with meat, for you were not yet able to bear it. Nay, not even now are you able. You can't read those words of Paul and think that's a commendation. Paul here is saying something to their shame. He says, earlier when I taught you I couldn't bring you the meat of God's word, I had to give you milk because you couldn't bear anything other than that. Some of you have little children in this congregation. You know what Paul's talking about. You know, when your baby's first born, you don't break out the porterhouse steak and say, here, we're so happy to see you have something to eat. No, babies have to start with something easy to digest. They have to have milk. And so Paul says it's appropriate when you're an early born Christian, early in your Christian life, that you have milk. But he says it's not good that you stay at that level. I mean, how would you like to go into a restaurant with one of your children who's now 11 or 12 years old and have them order similac for dinner? That just wouldn't be very flattering to them or to you at all. Paul says, I don't flatter you. You still need milk rather than meat. It's important that you grow up. The author of Hebrews had the same problem. Turn with me to Hebrews the fifth chapter, Hebrews 5, and I'll begin reading it. Verse 12. For when by reason of time you ought to be teachers, you have need again that someone teach you the rudimentary principles of the oracles of God and have become such as have need of milk and not of solid food. At this point in your Christian life, you ought to be those who can teach others. But instead it's the first principles, the rudimentary principles of Christianity, that that you have to be taught again. You need milk. You can't eat meat. For everyone that partakes of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness, for he's merely a baby. So childlike faith, Amen. Absolutely. Have that kind of simple trust in God's word, childlike understanding of the faith? Absolutely not. None of you should be content to stay on as babies in the faith, just suckling the milk of the Word and not interested in the porterhouse steak that God has intended for you. And so in Hebrews 6:1, the author says, wherefore, leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on to maturity or full growth. Let us press on, no longer remaining babies, no longer remaining infantile in our faith. We need to grow up. Another passage that encourages us in that direction is found in Ephesians, the fourth chapter, Ephesians 4:13. Catching Paul in the middle of a sentence, we hear him saying, until we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a full grown man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we may be no longer children. No longer children. And what is characteristic of children in this respect? Tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and craftiness after the wiles of error, to no longer be children. To press on to full growth is to learn the doctrine of Christ so that you are not battered by every wind of doctrine that comes along. The Christian church today has no stability because the members of the Christian church, every time another wind of doctrine comes through, they're kind of pulled this way, then they're pulled that way, and they have no idea of how to evaluate things. There's no stability there because we refuse to grow up in our understanding. Paul says, when it comes to malice and evil, be children, be unexperienced. That's fine. But when it comes to understanding, grow up. So that's really the message tonight. Grow up. It's time for you to grow up in your understanding of the faith. If we refuse to do so, then what will characterize our generation will be what Paul said of the Jews in his day. In Romans 10:2, he gave this very depressing description. They have a zeal for God. He said. They have a zeal for God. Now, if I were to end right there, if you haven't opened to it so that you see what else he says after this, you might say, well, how can that be depressing, Dr. Bonson? That's great. That's what we need today. We need zeal in the church, and we do. There's no question about that. But we need a particular kind of zeal. And what Paul says of the Jews of his day is that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Ignorant zeal is no virtue before God. Ignorant zeal is not pleasing to the Almighty. Ignorant zeal will not help you in your Christian life. So of course, let's be zealous. Let's be on fire for the Lord. But that fire for the Lord will mean nothing if we don't have a thirst for the knowledge of God, that we can stop being infants and grow up in our understanding. The church today is not centered on theology. What will you hear people say today? They'll say, well, for me, there's no creed but Christ. All right. Bet you've heard that sort of thing or words to that effect. No creed. Because I don't want to study theology. I don't want to hear about doctrines. I don't want to get into the deep things of Scripture into these arguments that people have and have to think them through and make decisions. I just want to follow Jesus. And so for me, there's no creed, there's no doctrine, there's no dogma. It's just following Jesus. Of course, the immediate question that you have to ask when somebody says that is, in which Jesus are you following? Unless you've fallen asleep at the wheel, you probably realize that there's umpteen number of versions of Jesus out there in the world today. You can pick from, you know, you have all kinds of visions of what the Savior is like. Some people will tell you the Lord Jesus Christ is a good Hebrew prophet, and that's it. He's a good prophet. He's one of many, maybe one of the best, maybe the best, but that's it. He's a good Hebrew prophet. Now, is that the Jesus you're following, a mere man who was a prophet who taught? Of course, the question is immediately going to arise, well, how good a prophet could he be if he drew all that attention to himself and said things like, I created the world and I'll judge you one day? It doesn't sound to me like the sort of thing a good man would say, unless of course, it were driven. But if that is true, if he created the world one day he'll judge all mankind. He's not just the mere Hebrew prophet, now, is he? Is Jesus a mere man? What Jesus are we supposed to follow then, when someone says no creed but Christ? Are you supposed to follow the Jesus of name it and claim it fame? The Jesus who is kind of like the celestial provider of all the things you want? Just put in your money, pull the knob, get the candy bar in life that you like. Is that Jesus? Is it the Jesus who is another avatar or bodhisattva? Is he another one of the gurus of the east who has visited us? Is he somebody who's just a good neighbor and has shown us how to love people? Was Jesus very God, a very God, or was he just Godlike? You have people who come to your door, I would imagine, who would like to teach you that Jesus was really great, but he wasn't fully God. So which Jesus are you talking about when you say no creed but Christ? Now the problem is, if you answer the question, you've given up your slogan, no creed but Christ, because in answering the question, which Jesus are you following? Who is this Christ that you believe in? What are you offering? You're offering a creed. You're offering your theology. You're Giving us your doctrine about the Savior, your soteriology, your Christology, if you want to use the terms that you might hear in seminary. The fact is, none of us can escape having a theology. We have to have one if we're going to be obedient to the New Testament. Look with me in your Bibles at the first epistle of John, chapter four. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they are of God. Why? Because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Since there are false teachers out in the world. You can't just take anybody who's talking about Jesus at his word. You need to prove the spirits. You need to ask about what they're teaching, whether it's reliable. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God. And every spirit that confesses not Jesus is not of God. But this is the spirit of the Antichrist. Where have you heard that? It comes and now it is in the world already. Well, that's pretty important. When somebody says, I'm going to follow Jesus, wouldn't it be a shame if they ended up following the spirit of Antichrist? That which is contrary to Christ and takes the place of Christ in the world? John says, prove the spirits. Be very careful what you believe, what you think. Make sure that you're following the teaching of the apostles with respect to the Incarnation. This Jesus has come in the flesh. No creed by Christ. Well, you can't have Christ if you don't have a creed. Let me say that again because I know it's controversial. You're already told tonight that I say things that get me in trouble. But for this I'm willing to be in trouble because I think this is what God wants you to know. If you don't have a creed, you don't have Christ. You realize that if you don't think the right things about this man that we call Jesus, then you're not a Christian in the first place. Jesus said, if you would be a Christian, if you would be my disciple, if you would follow me, you must abide in my word. You must abide in my Word. Those who refuse to abide in the word of Jesus Christ are not following him. They're not his disciples at all. They can give all the lip service they want to being Christians, but they are not Christians. If they're not interested in theology, to put it very simply, if they're not interested in the teaching, the doctrines of Christ, and particularly the doctrine about Christ, well, then people will Tell you, doctrine divides. We don't want that. Because if you start following doctrines, then you're going to get into trouble with people. I have. I tell you a lot about that. You start teaching things that have some definite character to them, and there'll be people who disagree. So what's the answer? Well, I guess the answer is if you want to really be popular, you know, have a real thriving ministry, make sure that when you preach, you don't say anything. Spend some time in the pulpit. Go through the gestures. Make sure your jaw is moving, the lips are flapping. Make sure there are words out there. And of course, if you can, make them very melodious, make it easy for people to fall asleep while they're listening to you. Just really wonderful stuff. But don't say anything that would possibly divide. That's the spirit of our day. The spirit of our day has lost Christ in the process. You may have noticed Jesus didn't preach that way. Jesus didn't preach sermons that made people happy. On more than one occasion, the people who heard him preaching wanted to kill him for what he said. Talk about divisive. Jesus taught things about hell. Who wants to hear about hell? My goodness, Jesus. Don't you have something happy to say? Don't you have something more upbeat? If we would be followers of Christ, we must be willing to divide. Now, of course, wherever unity is possible, we affirm that. And of course, among the people of God, there should be unity. But it won't do any good if the unity we have as God's people is unity in the dark. If it's unity around a false faith or no faith at all, the unity we promote is unity in the truth. So, yes, doctrine will divide. But today's broad gospel has become so tolerant that acceptance with men has become far more important than acceptance with God. So that what is said in the pulpit will be evaluated by people as to whether it is popular rather than whether it is holy, whether it pleases men rather than whether it is centered on God. There are alternative emphases to be found in the Christian church in our day. There is no doubt about it. I don't have time to give you an entire lesson. Probably greatly depress you. You wouldn't want to sleep tonight if I told you all of it. But you know, in some portions of the Christian church, we're told that it's relationships that count, not theology. And so we want a relational preaching, a preaching that helps us to love one another, to feel the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace. There's a place for relationships, no doubt about it. But relationships cannot take the place of the truth of God. There's an emphasis upon what I call self therapy in the church today. So much of the preaching in the church today emphasizes a kind of therapeutic approach to ourselves. You know, we're all so unhappy and we're also maladjusted and we're also lacking in self esteem. And so much of the preaching in the church today is focused on our being able to, to therapeutically deal with ourselves and become better people, more accepting of ourselves, more accepting of others. I'm all right, you're all right. My version of that is I'm all right, you're so, so. You see what a terrible thing that is in the church today. We wouldn't want to preach that anybody's so, so much less preach what? That they are depraved before God, that there is no good in them and their only hope is that of the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ and imputed to them by faith. That kind of talk was all right for the Reformation. I have a pastor, a very well known TV preacher in Southern California, where I'm from, who wrote an entire book on this, how at the time of the Reformation, you could preach about sin and salvation, but that won't fit today. That isn't what the modern man wants to hear. You got to preach about self esteem. You got to talk about things that are affirmative, not negative. And so theology in our day or the church in our day has moved away from theology toward relationships, toward self therapy, toward church growth. The idea of the church having a mission, it always distresses me when I hear people talking about how the church needs to have this mission or that mission. The church does have a mission, but have you ever noticed if you read the Bible, that the mission of the church is always tied inextricably to the message of the church? That if you do not have a message, if you do not have a theology, if you do not have a creed, there is no reason for your mission. You see, the world doesn't need more social workers. The world needs the truth about God and how to be right with God. You see, the church, to put it very simply, and I know this is not very kind, but I have to be honest with you, you have to hurt if you're going to be healed. The church has become marketplace centered. The church of all things. The church is no longer God centered. Yeah, God's in the picture somewhere. He's on the periphery. We still use the language about God. And we even talk about the word of God. But you see, it's the marketplace that dominates our thinking. That's what gives us our methods, that's what gives us our goals. It's the marketplace we want to be successful. We want to make people happy. We're interested in what men want, in satisfying their needs. And of course in the process they starve to death for lack of what they truly need. And that's the word of God. John Calvin said many years ago, at the time of the Protestant Reformation. Today all sorts of subjects are eagerly pursued. But the knowledge of God is neglected. Yet to know God is man's chief end and justifies his existence. Even if a hundred lives were ours, this one aim would be sufficient for them all. That's what you need to hear tonight. John Calvin is right. The knowledge of God is the reason for our existence. That's why we're here. In fact, the knowledge of God is the very definition of what it is to be saved. Did you realize that for all of the talk people have about, well, I'm interested in Jesus, I'm interested in salvation, I'm not interested in theology and knowledge and understanding and so forth. In John 17:3 you notice that our Lord Jesus Christ said, and this is eternal life. To know you, the one whom you have sent, that's eternal life. You want to boil it down to one thing. It's the knowledge of God. We need to know God, we need to grow up in understanding. Secondly, tonight I want to answer the question then, how do we know God? If it's so important that we grow in our theology and we no longer stay infants in our understanding, then how is it that we know God? What is the way in which we can achieve this proper end of our existence? To know him, to know him better, to achieve the end of eternal life in knowing him and the one that he has sent. Well, the answer to how you know God has a lot to do with who it is that you're knowing. And so I'm not going to give a course on theology tonight. In the next two sessions we'll be talking about the character of God as a promise keeping God, and then the character of salvation because of God's graciousness. So we'll have something more to say about God. But for our present purposes, I want to just tell you two things about God that are going to help determine how we know God. Just two things about God. First of all, now you have to be willing to listen to a big word. You're not accustomed to this word. I'm going to spell it for you and say it many times. Don't, don't anybody say, okay, it's all over now. I wanted to grow up, but not if I have to use that word. The word is transcendent. Transcendent. God is transcendent. He goes beyond us. He goes beyond our experience. He goes beyond anything in the created order. I said I'd spell it. T, R, A, N, S, C, E, N, D, E, N, T. Transcendent. To send. I don't mean send, but the word that lies behind that part of transcendent means to go. And to trans means to go across, to go beyond. And so what we're saying here is that we need to understand that God goes beyond us. God is not like us. At one point in the scripture, God says, that's the mistake you've made. You thought I was very much like you. God says, I'm not like you. Of course there are ways in which he is like us. We're made in his image, and we couldn't know him at all if we weren't like him in that way. But God says, you can't figure me out on your own. I'm not like you. I don't exist as you exist. I don't live under the conditions that you live under. I'm not like you, and you're not like me. God is transcendent. And the second thing we need to remember about God, and it's virtually been lost in our understanding today in the church, and that is that he's holy. God is holy. Holiness is not a popular teaching. You don't hear people say much about holiness in our day. And to speak of holiness is to talk about something that is no longer relativized by our experience, is no longer kind of dumbed down and grayed out because there are no longer black and whites. There's no longer absolutes. If you talk about holiness, all of a sudden, everything becomes clear and sharp and distinct. And there is an absolute right and an absolute wrong. There is that unbending, unqualified truth of who God is and what he requires, requires of us. God is holy and he goes beyond us. Now, if this is true, how can we know God? How can we, who are anything but holy, know God? Does it seem at all reasonable to you that God, who is unbending in his righteousness, fully pure, truthful, faithful, he is light in whom there is no darkness at all, return to us who live in the dark, who act so unrighteously so selfishly, so sinfully, and say, why don't you figure out what I'm like? You got a lot going for you, right? Living in sin and degradation as you do, selfishness as you do. Why don't you try to tell me what I would be like? Of course not. And how can we who are finite, those of us who are limited creatures, who can't even understand how to program a vcr, for crying out loud, talk about the creator of heaven and earth? No, you don't do theology by standing back and saying, now what do you think about God? Have you ever been to a Bible study like that? I hate those things. I just hate it when you go someplace and you open the Bible and somebody says, well, what does that mean to you? It makes no difference what it means to you. I want to know what it means. Or sometimes I run into this a lot because many of you know I'm interested in the defense of the faith. And when you're evangelizing people and they have problems with problems accepting what you have to say as a Christian, they'll sometimes say, well, I wouldn't want to think of God as being like that. I usually tell people when they say, well, then I've got bad news for you. God doesn't care what you think. And why should he? Think about it. God is transcendent. He is eternal. He is majestic and almighty. He is holy and pure in all his ways. How do we know God by? Think about it. The only way in which we could possibly know God is if God revealed himself to us. The knowledge of God must be dependent upon his self revelation. He must disclose himself to us. If God does not disclose himself to us, we're in the dark, we're in our sin, we're in our finitude and we're never going to figure this out. And that's why the way in which you know God cannot be based upon personal opinion. Because as I've just said, and I don't mean to be smart about this, but your personal opinion is irrelevant because God's not going to be what you want him to be. As I say in some of my other lectures, God's not going to be a Mr. Potato Head for you. You all know what a potato head is, right? Do you children? They still have potato heads. Okay, you know, you buy the potato and then you have this package and it gives you the eyes and the nose and the earth ears and the pipe and the hat and other sorts of things. And you know, you can put them in all the different places. And you can kind of make your own Mr. Potato Head. God is not a Mr. Potato Head. God is not at your disposal. God is not interested in your opinion. He is the sovereign, almighty Creator. He is the one who made you. Why then would he turn around and say, why don't you make me? No, your personal opinion is irrelevant. And so is the Gallup Poll. Don't you hate it when they do these things? And it'll be published in the paper. You know, 73% of Americans believe the following in some religious subject. Yeah. I want to know what God says about it. See, if your individual opinion is worth exactly zero when it comes to who God is, then when you multiply that by 10, what do you get? Zero. How about when you multiply it by 100, you got zero. How about when you multiply it by a thousand? No, no, wait a minute now we're getting up to big numbers now. A thousand people believe this about God. It's still worth zero. What if all men gathered together in all the world and all time had a particular opinion about God? You know what Paul says about that in Romans 3, verse 4? He says, Let God be true, though all men are liars. When all is said and done, you could have 100% of the human race say something about God and it wouldn't have anything to do with who he is. Because if we differ with what God teaches and what he reveals to us, our opinion is zip. A thousand times, a million times over. Zip is zip is zip. And so personal opinion and the Gallup poll mean nothing. This may be stepping on some toes tonight, but I have to tell you all that religious experience is not the way in which you know God. Religious experience is not the way in which you know God. The Christian church today is being tripped up by such an emphasis on having a charismatic experience or some kind of super, you know, experience that just cannot be accounted for in human terms and yet can't be described in human words either. In 1st Corinthians 14:6,9, I want you to see what Paul has to say about charismatic experience. I'm not at all addressing the question now whether those experiences continue in this day. Christians have different opinions on that subject, but whether they do or not, listen to what Paul says in First Corinthians 14:6. But now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or of prophesying or of teaching? An uninterpreted experience doesn't do you a bit of good. You can have all the warm fuzzes you want, all the thrill you want, but it will mean nothing if I cannot give it to you. Rational human communication, verse nine. So also you. Unless you utter by the tongue. Speech easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken for? You'll be speaking into the air. The way in which we know God today is not through ecstatic experience. Even if you believe God gives ecstatic experiences today, those experiences mean nothing if you they are not translated into that which is knowable in human communication. And of course, if it's knowable in human communication, then it can be assessed by the objective checkpoint of God's word. If you don't have that objective checkpoint, it doesn't do any good for somebody to say, well, I think the Lord is leading me. This is so popular, and can I be honest with you? So lazy. Today, Christians, people who profess to know the Lord Jesus Christ, they love to say, I think the Lord's leading me to do the following. I'll ask them, why do you think that? I just feel like the Lord's leading me to do that. I said, well, now, what would it feel like if you wanted to do that? Can you just stop hypothetically and think, what would it feel like if you were leading you to do this? Okay, y' all on the same wavelength with me here. Stop and ask what would it feel like if you were leading you to do this? Now I want to know how is what you're telling me about the Lord leading you to do it any different than that? See, the sad thing we have to swallow, and it may be a hard thing to swallow for many of us is often what we call the Lord's leading is nothing more than our desires or our own intuitions, in some cases our own rationality. I don't mean by this that what we think the Lord's leading us to do or to believe is always convenient or easy. There are people who say, I think the Lord's leading me to crawl on tax to the grocery store. So that's not the sort of thing you would naturally be inclined to do. No doubt about it. But still, where do we get the idea that God is pleased by you crawling on tax? Where do we get the idea God is pleased with you rolling in the aisles in laughter? Where did the worship of God ever be defined in terms like that? Hurting ourselves or laughing out loud and so forth? Whenever we say God is leading me, we better have an objective check for that. And the only objective. The only public standard we have for deciding whether God is the one that's behind this or your own desires or maybe even Satan. The only objective check we have is the word of God where God has shown us who he is and what he is like and what he requires of us. How do we know God if God is transcendent, if God is holy? We don't know him through personal opinion. We don't know him through the Gallup polls. We don't know him through religious experience. We don't know him through human intuition. We, we don't know him according to our human rationality. We don't know him by some kind of inner leading. We know him by what he has said to us. Isaiah 55:8. God says, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways. And so let's get done with this theology that's man centered and experience centered. Done with all theology that's based on human opinion and the intuitions we have or the Gallup poll results. God says, my thoughts are not your thoughts. And so you'd better listen to Me. In Romans 12:2 the apostle Paul exhorts us as Christians as to the kind of thinking we should engage in. He says, and be not fashioned according to this world, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. If you would know God's will, if you would know him, then away with all conformity to the world. Away with all conformity to your own intuitions and your own leading. You need to be transformed in your thinking. Paul says you need to be changed because God's not like you. And that's why the only way in which we can know God is to depend upon his holy word. Thirdly, tonight I want you to see then the centrality and the authority and character of the Bible is that standard by which and that source through which we come to know God. I told you that it's important that you grow up in understanding. Being childish when it comes to doctrine is not a Christian virtue. Secondly, that if you would know God, it has to be based upon his self revelation because of who he is. And thirdly, that means the Bible's got to take a much more central place in our lives and it must have the authority and we must be seen to have the character that God says. According to the Bible itself, what we read in Scripture is not simply the word of men. Look at 1 Thessalonians 2, 13. First Thessalonians 2:13. And for this cause we also thank God without ceasing, that when you receive from us the word of the message, even the word of God, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God which also works in you that believe. Paul says, I give thanks that though this comes from a human being and it came through human agents, you did not receive it as merely the word of men. You received it as it is in truth the very word of God. Scripture is not subject to the liabilities and relativities and limitations of human communication. People will tell you, well, all human communication is relative. All human communication is flawed. But you see, if God is the transcendent, sovereign holy One that I've described briefly for you tonight, then God's not limited as we are when it comes to the use of language. You remember how Moses once complained that he couldn't speak for God, of stumbling and bubbling speech. Lord, I can't do it. God said, who made the mouth? You remember that every time somebody suggests that there's something about human communication that keeps God from speaking absolute truth about his transcendent character, remember, God says, but I made the mouth. God is the one who controls human language. And since he is sovereign and controlling human language, he can say exactly what he wants in terms that we can understand, hold us accountable to them. The words of Scripture are not simply the words of men. They're the very words of God. Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:16 that all Scripture. All scripture is inspired of God, is breathed out by God, and therefore profitable for teaching and correction and reproof and instruction in righteousness. Every bit of what we find in the Bible is profitable so that the man of God may be perfectly furnished to every good work. To the degree that you do not study all of God's word, to that degree, you are not equipped to live the Christian life. I don't mean that you can't do it at all. But to the degree you will not study Scripture to that degree, you deprive yourself of the resources of doctrine and reproof and instruction and righteousness that you need to live the Christian life. How much of the Bible is inspired in this way? Jesus said in Matthew 5:18 that not a jot or tittle shall pass away from the law. Not a jot or a tittle, the smallest letter in the Greek Alphabet or the Hebrew Alphabet, depending on how you look at the yod or iota, and even the portion of a letter called the koria the horn, the tittle. Not even a part of a letter will pass away. So how much of God's word must you account to be the very word of God himself? Every single letter of every single word of every single verse that is found there. This is not simply the word of men. It's the very word of God. And the Bible tells us that this word is more sure than human experience, more sure than even miracles itself. In second Peter 1:19, Peter says, having spoken of his experience of the transfigured glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, having seen the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ there upon the mount, he says, but we have the word of prophecy more sure. The word of God is even more sure than Peter's experience of the transfigured glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And in Luke the 16th chapter, where Jesus tells the story about a rich man who has died and gone to hell. This rich man, Jesus says, wants to go back to earth and to warn his brothers about this terrible place of suffering. And the answer given from Abraham, speaking for Jesus, of course, but the answer given there is, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. And the rich man complains. He goes, no, no, no. But if someone rises from the dead, then they'll believe. Wrong. Abraham says, if they don't believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if someone rises from the dead. Keep that in mind. Because Jesus rose from the dead. And the Jews, who would not believe Moses and the prophets didn't become believers just because. Because he rose from the dead. The word of God, Moses and the prophets, is far more important, far more stable, far more foundational than our human experience, even our experience of miracles. And this word that God has given us is beyond Correction. In Psalm 19, David says, who has been his counselor and who. Who can correct his ways? No one can speak to God and correct him. His word is beyond correction, and it's beyond challenge. In Galatians, the first chapter, Paul says that if even an angel from heaven were to present a different gospel, a different theology of salvation than what the apostles themselves have taught, let that man be cursed forever. God's word is beyond correction. God's word is beyond challenge, every bit of it. And in God's word we find a pattern of sound words. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 1:13, 2 Timothy 1:13, Paul says, hold the pattern of sound words which thou hast heard from me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. The pattern of sound words, healthy words, health giving words. God has not simply given us. If you will a number of vitamins all packed into a little bottle you can pour out on the table, then go every which way. Just isolated bits of health giving substance. He's given us that which is patterned. There's a form, there's a connection between these things. And Paul says it's important that you hold to this pattern of sound words. There is a body of teaching that's to be found in the Scripture. It's not loose and disjointed, but it's connected. It's a system of thought. Look at Titus chapter 1 and verse 9, Titus 1:9. Paul speaks of holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching that he may be able both to exhort and sound doctrine, healthy doctrine, and to convict the gainsayers, holding to the faithful word, which is according to the teaching. See that? There is a page pattern. There is the teaching, the doctrine which is found in the Scriptures. And that doctrine, that pattern of sound words, that teaching that is the standard for us is internally coherent. In 2 Corinthians 1:18, Paul tells us that their word, the word of the apostles, is not both yes and no. God doesn't say one thing here and then the opposite there. God does not contradict himself. And so we know from this short survey that the word of God, which is beyond correction, which is beyond challenge, which is not simply the word of men, but the very inspired word of God, gives a pattern of teaching, a pattern of sound words which is coherent in which we can understand, and God expects us to use it as the standard for what we believe. So in our closing minutes here, let's ask finally, how then should we interpret the Bible? If theology is so important that we need to grow up in our understanding, and if we need to know God as he has revealed himself, and that's found in this Scripture that is inspired and gives us the pattern of sound words, how are we to interpret the Bible? That's an important question because in 2 Timothy 2:15 you notice how Paul says, give diligence to present yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, handling aright the word of truth. If you would grow up in your Christian life and understanding, if you would really center on the pattern of sound words in the Scripture, then you need to treat the Scripture properly. See, the Scripture is not a Ouija board. You realize that you haven't interpreted the Scripture right. When you want to study it, what you do is every day you kind of go, okay, what shall I read today? Just kind of open it, close it well, this looks interesting. Well, no, actually, that's kind of boring. Oh, that's better. I'll read this. Scripture is not a Ouija board. We just kind of go dip in here and dip in there and pick up this and pick up that. The scripture must be understood for what it is. It must be handled as the very word of God and properly interpreted. And that means you cannot approach the Bible with preconceptions as to what it can teach. Preconceptions will distort God's message. Preconceptions will resist God's message. For instance, if you come to the Bible with this idea that, well, of course I know that the dead never rise, then of course, when you read stories about Jesus rising from the dead, how are you going to interpret that? Well, it couldn't have happened literally. That can't actually have happened. So that must be some kind of spiritual teaching about how the teaching of Jesus was revived in the hearts of the apostles. Now, when you approach the Bible, you must let the Bible speak on its own terms or else you'll be resisting God's message. And when you come to the Bible, you mustn't treat it like a Procrustean bed. How many of you remember the story of Procrustus? Any of you? Procrustus was an innkeeper in Greek mythology, and when people came to his inn, everyone fit on the bed of Procrustus. You know why? Because if you were too short, he put you on the rack and stretched you. And if you were too long, you just cut off your feet so you'd fit. And so everybody fits the bed of Procrustus. That'd be great. Sometimes people treat the Bible that way. They come with a preconceived idea of what the Bible is going to teach, and they treat it like a Procrustean bed. So anything they find there that doesn't quite match their preconceptions gets stretched to fit it. And anything that goes contrary to it gets cut off. How do you interpret the Bible? You must come to the Bible and let it interpret itself. You must read it according to its own character. And so simplistic rules of biblical interpretation are not going to be adequate. Here's a rule of biblical interpretation you often run into. People say, well, it's literal where possible. If it's possible for a passage to be interpreted literally, then it should be interpreted literally. Well, okay. In Revelation, the 13th chapter, we read of a monster called the beast that comes up out of the Mediterranean ocean and has seven heads and Ten horns. I want to know, is that possible? Is it possible for God to create a creature that has seven heads and ten horns? Of course it is. There's nothing that would keep that from being possibly. What happens? Well, the literal, where possible approach must then say, then the beast is not really a political figure, past, present or future, whoever you think think he is. The beast is actually a monster that comes up out of the ocean. It's literal. No, we have to interpret the Bible according to the intention of the author of the Bible. God first of all, and the authors of the Bible. There's nothing in a faithful approach to biblical interpretation that rules out figures of speech. Moreover, when we come to the Bible, we must be willing to hear what all the Bible has to say. In John 10:35, Jesus said, Scripture cannot be broken. But in our day, there are many that push a school of theology that specializes in breaking up the Bible into all the proper dispensations, failing to see that there's a unity, a continuity in God's redemptive work. So that we who are Christians in the New Testament must listen to what the Old Testament teaches us as well. In John, excuse me, in Matthew the fourth chapter, verse four, Jesus said, man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. He didn't say man should live by the New Testament. Let's resist saying we are New Testament Christians. Of course we affirm the New Testament, praise God for the progress in his redemptive work that we find in the New Testament. But we are Whole Bible Christians, for all Scripture is inspired of God. Paul said. And when Paul said that, he was referring to Scripture as the Old Testament. Every bit of it, he said, is good for doctrine. Every bit of it gives you instruction in righteousness. Man shall live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And therefore we are whole Bible Christians. How do you interpret the Bible? Don't apply false preconceptions about literalism to it. Don't break it up into dispensations and discontinuities so that you don't think you have to go to the Old Testament. Let the entire word of God speak to you, and it will bring its own qualifications, its own applications to us. There is continuity there because Jesus said that we shouldn't think that he came to destroy the law and the prophets. Jesus came rather to fulfill them. And yet there's progress in the Bible as well. Hebrews, the tenth chapter, verse one, tells us that it's a great blessing that we no longer are under the shadows of the Old Covenant. We now enjoy the reality that those were shadows about. And so there is continuity in the Bible and there's discontinuity or there's progress in the Bible. Both must be taken into account. And the Bible must be allowed to be the final authority in teaching us what is continuous and what shows progress. 1 Timothy 4, 16. Paul says, Take heed to thyself and to thy teaching. Be careful, be attentive about your doctrine, about your teaching. It's very important that you do so. In verse six preceding, he said, if thou put the brethren in mind of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine which thou hast followed until now. And I'd leave you with that challenge as well and that ideal to follow. Take heed to yourself and to your doctrine, and if you do this, then you will be nourished in the words of the faith and the good doctrine which you should have been following even to now. It's important that you grow up as a Christian in understanding be men. And if you would understand God, it's important that you know you must depend on, depend upon his transcendent word. He is holy and he is different from you. And that means Scripture must become central in your thinking. It must become authoritative where you don't think you can correct it, you can challenge it, but you must rather plumb the very pattern of healthy, sound words that are to be found there and treat the word of God aright. Not bringing artificial literalism to it or an artificial figurative approach, approach to it, not approaching it, saying, I'm just a New Testament Christian, but rather letting the entire Scripture, the whole Bible speak to you, that God might share with you the riches of his grace.