EBG Preken

FOR FATHERS ON FATHER'S DAY

We’re going to look at three passages this morning. Colossians 3:21, Ephesians 6:4, and Deuteronomy 6:7. The New Testament addresses fathers in two passages, written not too long after each other and sent to the same region. It is interesting to compare the two and draw out and important lesson for fatherhood. The outline is simply this morning and we’ll be looking at keywords in these verses.

DISCOURAGE Colossians 3:21
Do not discourage you son. The verse begins with a negative command to the father: don’t provoke him. One translation states: “do not exasperate your son.” The father’s actions and behavior lead to discouragement in the son.
And that’s it. The context of Colossians 3 is that of Christian attitudes and behavior in the home and at work. In verse 17 Paul declares that everything we do ought to be done in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Wives. Husbands. Children. Fathers. Being a dad ought to be done in the Name of the Lord Jesus. For His honor and His glory, pleasing Him and not ourselves. It is striking to me that each party addressed is given a positive injunction, except fathers… husbands and wives are told what they should do. Children are reminded of their responsibility to obey. Fathers are told what not to do.
Before we wrap this up and put a bow on top, I want to jump to Ephesians.

EMBITTER Ephesians 6:4
This is similar to the Colossians text. The context is roles at home and at work. In chapter 5 verses 19-21 Paul instructs the reader to walk in wisdom, to be filled with the Holy Spirit and to submit one to another. Wives. Husbands. Children. Fathers in 6:4. Again it is stated negatively in a list of positive instruction.
`Do not provoke` is a different verb here. This one carries the negative result of anger with it. The fathers actions and behavior arouse anger in his son. Do not provoke to anger. The result is that the child becomes bitter against his father’s instruction. Anger that is provoked quiclky turns to bitterness of heart.

Ephesians gives us a little more and instructs fathers to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Eph 6:4, ESV) Colossians gives us avoidance and Ephesians gives us building blocks

So comparing the two warnings and instructions, it is significant to know that in the Roman era the Father was the absolute authority in the home. He had the right to sell any of his children into slavery or mete out discipline as he saw fit - even to the point of death. Fathers were harsh with their children. When a child was born it was laid the feet of the Roman father. If he stooped down to pick it up, it signified his condescension to the child and his willingness to take care of the child. If on the other hand the father turned away from the child and walked away, the child was tossed into the river.
Into this cultural context fathers are instructed not to provoke their children in two ways: provoking to discouragement - through lack of attention - and provoking to anger - through harsh and sinful attention.
I have seen both extremes. Fathers are ignore their children and cultivate a sense that you are never good enough. Fathers that are angry and harsh with their children and call them all sorts of names and give a sense that anger is the currency of the relationship.

I get it… children can infuriate and frustrate beyond belief. Everything is a fight… I was stopped dead in my tracks once when a preacher used James 1:19-20 to talk to fathers. The wrath of man will never accomplish the righteousness of God. My angry response to my children will never result in their craving for God’s righteousness.
Discipline and instruction
The positive instruction in Ephesians follows two nouns: raise them (child-training) in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. These form two very important sides of pedagogy. Tell them what is expected...

Keeping God’s Word
Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 7

Two weeks ago we started a sermon that I didn’t finish. I spent more time in Psalm 1, to expound the richness of that very first Psalm. This morning we continue in the Psalms and consider the longest one. We will only scratch the surface of this magnificent poetic masterpiece.

The Scriptures is David’s focus and he clearly has a strong desire for God’s written Word. That is our question. How can I increase my desire for God’s Word. In Psalm 1 we considered the attention and time devoted to the Bible. We ought to meditate on God’s law day and night. Every moment of the day is an opportunity to think on Scripture. Psalm 119 opens by considering our walk and twice invokes the same blessing as Psalm 1.

Walk His paths with every decision Psalm 119:1-8
David opens by connecting the veracity of our walk with the law of the Lord. The ought to be a correlation between my decisions and the Word of God. This strengthens the point made in Psalm 1, that the blessed man is one who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. BUT… he delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night. The blessed man now also will go in the way of the law of the Lord. Moving from meditation to activation. Doing something. Acting upon.
James drives this point home in His analogy of the man looking in the mirror (James 1:22-25). Don’t just hear… do.
The verses that follow contain verbs that require you to do something: seek God (verse 2), do not commit wrong (verse 3), keep His commands (verse 4).
Then we get to desire in verse 5. David expresses a wish that His paths were fixed, so that he would always do what God desires and has commanded.
God’s law impacts the decisions we make and we ought to look for His path in every decision.

Keep His Word for every opportunity Psalm 119:9-16
Perhaps one of the most important questions is the one David sets before us here. How? How is one supposed to keep His way pure? Again Scripture is the answer and then in verse 2 David connects seeking God with remaining close to His commands.
The verse I would like to zero in on this morning is here in verse 11: I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Here is a most significant and practical plan: hide God’s Word in your heart. The result is verse 16: I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. There is a connection between desiring God’s Word and keeping it and not forgetting it. We call this memorization.
This is echoed throughout Scripture.

Joshua 1:8
Proverbs 7:1-3
John 15:7-8
Colossians 3:16

Memorising Scripture is an essential Christian discipline because it directly impacts the metamorphosis of our thinking (Romans 12:2). How can you keep His Word if you don’t have it in your brain? How can you speak His Word, if it isn’t already in your heart. How can you meditate on it day and night, if it does not reside within you?

Now here comes the excuse… we have already stated the excuse in an earlier sermon. Most often we think we cannot memorize Scripture. That simply is not true. It may take you longer, but God created you with an incredible brain. The problem is desire… most often you don’t want to invest the time it takes to memorize Scripture. Let me quote the first sermon in this series:
Jesus loved His Bible and had great respect for the Bible. He knew it and quoted it literally and applied it to the situations of the people he encountered - whether a believing disciple or faithless Pharisee. And in His weakest moments - in the wilderness with the devil or being tortured on the cross - it was Scripture that He spoke.
Where did this Scripture come from? It wasn’t in his pocket or on His iphone. It was in His heart.
Christ kept the Word for every opportunity.

I read this in my preparations and I was to close with this:
Memorizing Scripture will…
Enrich your prayerlife
Scharpen you witness
Enlarge your confidence
Deepen your walk and
Beat your enemy.

To aid you in memorizing Scripture the Church is providing a bookmark with 20 passages that every Christian ought to know. I encourage you to start memorizing.

Pentecost. the Church begins.
“Count 50 days after the seventh Sabbath” (Leviticus 23:16) That’s where this feast came from. The firstfruits of the Wheat harvest are brought to the temple and offered to the Lord. This offering was two loaves of bread (with yeast) to thank God for His care and provision at the beginning of the Wheat harvest.
In Exodus 19:1 we read that the Israelites arrived at Sinai in the third month after leaving Egypt. Rabbi’s have calculated that God gave His people the law on the Feast of Weeks. In synagogues Exodus 19-20 (the climb of Mt. Sinai and the giving of the law) is read along with Ezekiel 1-2 and Habakkuk 3 - the appearances of God to Ezekiel and Habakkuk. Ruth is often read because it deals with the harvest.
The Feast of weeks became a memorial to God’s giving of the law. It is with this Jewish background that we want to approach Acts 2 this morning. God uses this Jewish feast to underscore the newly revealed truth and grounding it in old truth. It is the same God that gave the law and gives the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
According to Jewish oral tradition at Mt. Sinai the people saw God’s voice as sound waves of fire, which flew over the camp and then rested above every Jew personally. God was also understood in many languages - 70 to be precise.
Now it is not important to determine whether or not it really happened this way, because the Bible does not say this. What is noteworthy is that every disciple and every Jew that was present in Acts 2 would have made this connection and when Peter gets up to preach the first Christian sermon, he roots his comments in the Old Testament and brings his listeners to Christ.
According to verse 37 the people are deeply moved and they ask: “What then ought we to do?”

The Church was introduced in Matthew 16, the Holy Spirit was promised in John 16 and again in chapter 20. Jesus taught His disciples to expect a comforter and even illustrated how He would come. And then at the beginning of Acts 2 the Holy Spirit comes powerfully.

But here is the question I was to delve into this morning: What happened next? Pentecost is often called the birthday of the Church or the beginning of the Church. In my preparations this week I kept coming back to this last part of Acts 2 and the pattern of development that clearly emerges from these verses. I want to share four principles in this text that lead us to five conclusions.
I want you to notice that Peter stands up and preaches in verse 14 and in verse 40 Luke tells us “with many other words”... sometimes I think I have preached long, but then I read a verse like that and I am encouraged that I’m being biblical.

1 Biblical preaching and teaching
Peter gets up to preach and immediately takes his listeners to Scripture. Later we read that those who come to faith are reading and studying Scripture. Biblical preaching is a central characteristic of the Church. From its very conception.

2 Awe-inspiring Worship
People worship God. It’s a proper response. But today it seems that worship has become an emotional high that leaves people swaying from side to side, with their eyes closed and music that really speaks to their heart. You know, I prefer what I read right here: people were brought to a proper fear of God. They were amazed at Him and driven to a response of repentance.

3 Radical repentance and witness
The right response to the preaching of God’s Word is that people repent of their sins. Repentance - turning from one things to another - is an essential ingredient in the Church. It is my job to tell you what the Bible teaches and states, so that you can continually be turning from sin to God. More and more in every aspect of your life.
The pattern that Scripture also teaches is that baptism follows repentance. They are two distinct events and yet they went hand in hand. You came to faith (watch the commas in Acts 2:38… forgiveness of sins is tied to repentance, not baptism) and then openly testified to what took place in your heart. This is where many Churches get it wrong today… children are baptized with the hope and expectation that they will one day repent and turn from their sins. No… that doesn’t work. Baptism is an open testimony to the work that God has done on the inside.

4 Growing belonging & involvement
I hardly ever preach on this, but the text takes me here. In these verses people are added. Added to what? It is an administrative term… to count. Who’s counting? Well… some say they are added to the Universal Church. But, that happens at the moment the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the heart of an individual. So not the Universal Church. We’re talking locally. These believers were added to a local Church. They became part of that Church. They belonged. And they got involved sharing, communing, celebrating the Lord’s Table, studying Scripture together.
Do you know that you need Church? It’s where much of your growth takes place as you rub shoulders with other believers. They encourage you, you encourage them. They confront you, you confront them. It is a beautiful thing when it works. But you need to be in it. You also need pastoral leadership...
We have such a thing called Church membership… now this is not a yoke placed upon your shoulders and any member here will tell you that. Membership is a declaration of belonging. You believe God has placed you here and then you get to hear the Church agree with you and welcome you into the fold. It is a wonderful thing and it helps me to know that you want to follow the leadership of this Church.
They were added to.

Five conclusions.
Right after the birth of the Church we learn:
> Biblical preaching and teaching is essential… it’s the first thing that happens.
> Worship should be awe-inspiring of who Christ is
> Honest repentance is the proper response to what Christ has done
> Surrender through public identification with Jesus Christ through baptism
> Seek to become part of a local Church for growth, support, communion, the Lord’s Table and leadership.

His Word in my Heart
Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 6

So. Rubber-meets-the-road, real-life, practical reality. We believe the Bible is true. We trust its claims and understand it to be God’s message to believers. But does my daily practice support this belief?
I believe it to be vital to my Christian life and yet I have not read it since last Sunday. I believe it holds the answers to all the issues of life and I did not consult it when life took an unexpected turn. I believe it is a mighty weapon against evil and yet I spend most of my time trying to ward off sin in my own strength.
Do you see the disparity? Why don’t we desire God’s Word more? A big part of it, is that our enemy strives for us to keep our Bibles closed. So how do we change this lack of desire to read the Bible?

Think on His Word at all times Psalm 1:1-3
Psalm 1 opens with a great comparison: Blessed is the man who doesn’t 1…, 2…, 3 and does 1… and 2. So the blessedness of the man is found in verse 2 and the author chooses to investigate the negative first. I think this is done to get the reader to consider what normally captures his attention first: the ungodly, the sinners and the scoffers. This is life. These are the people we meet everywhere. And this is the mindset that we inherit and is at the source of our problem.
The comparison with verse 2 introduces a descriptive noun that teaches us a bit more about verse 1. The writer is drawing a comparison between two desires. Two likes. Two things that capture our attention: the ungodly, the sinner and the scoffer OR the law of the Lord. You can’t delight in both. We are enraptured by verse 1, because it fascinates us, it delights us.
Verse 1 also delineates the downward growth: walk, stand, sit. Progressively involved. This comparison works for verse 2 as well… our delight will shift from verse 1 to verse 2 by progressively becoming more involved with Scripture from walking, to standing and sitting down for it.
Let’s take some time for definitions:
the ungodly live independent from God. We may never say that we live independent from God, but does our life back up that claim? Is our life greatly influenced by people who are living independently from God?
The sinners make rebellious choices against God. Their thoughts and intentions are on all that God calls evil. Rather than submit to a law, they live their lives they way they want to - free from law and constraint. Don’t tell me what to do.
The scoffers have become verbally abusive. Nothing is holy or off-limits and everything is tainted by ungodliness and sin.

Verse two stands as the counter-balance. Delighting in God’s law and meditating on it day and night. This is a constant occurrence: there is no untimely meditation. You can and should be doing this at any time of day. And here is the rub: what if I don’t delight in God’s Word. It’s harsh to say and many of us may not admit it out loud, but what if reading the Bible is difficult and unappealing? Well, let me tell you that everyone here has felt that in their lives at some point. We believe the Bible is true, but to sit down and read it is the last thing we want to do. That is an indication you have spent much time walking, standing and maybe even sitting with worldly influences and you desperately need the influence of Scripture to change that desire.

A Mother’s day sermon

Breakfast in bed. Self-produced gifts. A cheesy poem. That’s what mom was treated to in our home this morning. According to an opinion piece mother’s day is all about this. Placing mom in the sun, as the Dutch saying goes.

But let’s not ignore the painful side of mother’s day this morning. Young wives that want nothing more than to become mom’s and experience a great emptiness today. Daughters that haven’t talked to their mom in years. And many just get sad when they think of their mom.
But for many moms today is challenging as well. You got all the cheesy things from your kids this morning and yet all you could think of is that moment when you lost your temper with them yesterday. Sometimes getting food on the table and preventing World War III at home is all you have the energy for. It’s survival… and you wish you could give your kids so much more.

Mother’s Day sometimes just stirs the pot of old emotions and memories and some of you just wish you could skip this day. Maybe you even thought about not coming to the service this morning.
Well, I’m glad you did. There are a few thoughts that I would like to share with you this morning… and I’m going to keep it short… it’s a Mother’s Day gift.

I have heard it said from the pulpit, read it on the covers of books and magazines… motherhood is a woman’s highest calling. Society reinforces this, by calling upon women to have it all and trying to inspire them to achieve more than humanly possible. Instagram and Pinterest leave you with the impression that there are women out there that really can manage it all and then Proverbs 31 tops it all off.
But is this a realistic picture of womanhood? I don’t think it is… because if motherhood is a woman’s highest calling, then why would God withhold children from some women? That would mean that a woman has peaked in her forties or fifties. Once the kids leave the home… it’s all down-hill. Mission accomplished. You’re done.
That’s not what Scripture teaches.

Let’s put things in perspective. Romans 12:1-2.
Let’s not be conformed to this worldly idea of womanhood. Let us be renewed in our thinking to consider what really is a woman’s highest calling.

I’m going to give you my conclusion and then prove it from two passages of Scripture: A woman’s highest calling is be be conformed to the image of Christ and to allow Him to renew your thinking.

Created to be a helper and to complement
(Genesis 2:18-23)
God created Eve after Adam had concluded that every created animal had a mate - a companion. God then created woman out of man and intended her to be man’s helper. Now this conjures up the idea of a lesser person, but that need not be the impression. Imagine building a house… you could do it alone, but it’s a whole lot easier when you have someone helping you - someone to stand on the other side of that beam, so you can carry it together, share the burden, and complete the work.
God created woman with this task in mind. Not to be less than, but to help in the task God has given them to do.
Yes, God assigned roles, but that doesn’t make a woman less human or less capable. Bearing children wasn’t even in purview here.

Called to fear the Lord
(Proverbs 31:10-31)
The Proverbs 31 woman is killer. The passage opens with the impossibility of finding such a woman and goes through listing a multitude of amazing skills and accomplishments. Let’s get one thing clear about this passage: This is an abecedary poem, meaning that every new thought is the next letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It functions as a summary or perhaps an ideal of the wisdom of the entire book of Proverbs. It is actually very interesting to note that Proverbs begins with “my son” statements, continues with “he that” nuggets of wisdom and end with a poem on “a virtuous woman” after going into great detail describing the woman...

The Infallible Revelation of God
Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 5

Infallible means that it does not contain any mistakes. Now that is a big statement. In a post-modern - some would say post-post-modern - world that has refined truth to mean nothing at all and everything you want it to mean, we expect everything to contain a margin of error. For statistics that margin is between 4-8%. For the weather man if he gets it right more often than not, we’re pleased. His margin is somewhere around 30%. Textbooks need revision and what was common knowledge 50 years ago is urban myth today.

Is it any wonder then, that the same attitude is taken with Scripture. You’ve probably heard an unbeliever say the Bible is full of mistakes and contradictions. There is a website called “debijbelzegt.nl” that has devoted hundreds of articles to proving that Scripture contradicts itself. I searched this site yesterday and as I read a few of the articles and scanned the headings I could hear the hiss of the snake. “Did God really say…?” Nearly everything on that website is easily explained, but it can shake your faith if you are not careful. I urge you to steer clear.

I want to return to a quote I used last week:
"The Bible is God’s revelation to man in the form of a library of sixty-six separate books, written in three languages, collected over a period of more than 1500 years with a surprising array of literary styles, written history, personal memoirs, sermons, letters, songs, prayers, moral and theological propositions, credes, love poems, philosophical dialogue, dreams, stories, statistics, law books, rituals, inventories, genealogies and much, much more." (Ligon Duncan)

You see, here is the answer to most seeming contradictions. Many authors, three languages, different centuries and a multitude of cultural backgrounds. Isn’t Judaism the backdrop of all of Scripture? Sure, but when are we talking? The beginning? The period of the Judges? The Kings? Good kings or bad kings? United Kingdom or divided kingdom? In the Promised Land or in Exile? Each of these epochs in the nation of Israel drastically changes one’s cultural practices and understanding of life. When chronologies don’t match, we discover it is because of the calendar that is being used. Jews generally use a lunar calendar, but when they were in exile, they were forced to adopt a solar calendar. This changes things. These don’t become contradictions, but rather proof that Scripture is an incredibly coherent book that remains true to its message despite many authors, three languages and a time span of more than 1500 years.

But let’s get practical. What do you say when an unsaved person that you are witnessing to launches this attack? “The Bible is full of mistakes and contradictions!” Hand them your Bible and say: “Show me one.” 9 times out if 10 that ends the conversation and opens the opportunity for you to share the gospel.

There is however another attack on infallibility that I want to spend more time on this morning… and this one comes from within - from within the Church. It is deceitful and sows more doubt and destroys more people’s faith than the website I mentioned. Let me lay some groundwork first.

God’s revelation is infallible for faith and life
2 Peter 1:3 and Jude 3-4
Peter tells us - and God breathed this Word out, so God tells us - that He has gives us everything that pertains to life and godliness. That means that He has given us everything we need. The Bible is sufficient. We have already discussed the sufficiency of Scripture. But let’s take it one level farther and think through how infallibility strengthens this. The Bible claims to be without error and Peter’s claim is that God has given us all we need. So Scripture then is infallibly enough.
Jude takes this to its logical conclusion in his letter of warning and call to arms: contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. And beware of false teachers that have snuck in.
We need to fight to remain in what God has revealed to us. We have already seen that Paul similarly appeals to Timothy to remain in what he had learned and been taught (2 Tim. 3:14-15).
We need to contend for the infallibility of Scripture for faith and life. God has given us everything we need. So where am I going with this? I would like to add one word to our statement to clarify: written.

God’s written revelation is infallible for faith and life
1 Corinthians 12-13
In First Corinthians 12-14 Paul addresses one of the misunderstandings and abuses in the Corinthians Church. In 12:1 he introduces his topic: Now concerning spiritual gifts. Perhaps nothing in evangelical Christianity is more divisive than spiritual gifts. Paul uses the body illustration to make the point that there is diversity in the body, but one Spirit, who who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (verse 11)
Then in verse 28 we get a string of questions that beg a negative answer.
Verse 31 is important. The verb is an indicative verb, that is nearly always translated imperative. A better translation is: You strive for the higher gifts and I will show you a still more excellent way.
>Paul places revelatory gifts over and against love.
The better way is love. If I don’t have love… I am nothing (verse 2). I gain nothing (verse 3). Paul says they are striving for the bigger gifts, but a better way is to strive for love, which endures forever.
Then Paul explains something about the revelatory gifts in verses 8 through the end of the chapter.
>Paul places revelatory gifts over and against the perfect.
He lifts three gifts of revelation: prophecy, knowledge and tongues and says they will fade away or cease. When? When the perfect comes. What is the perfect? Some have suggested that it is Christ’s return, but at the end of Paul’s argument he states that faith, hope and love remain, but the greatest is love. When Christ returns faith and hope do not remain, because the object of both faith and hope is Christ and we will be with him. Faith and hope will not remain after His return. Therefore, these gifts will cease at an earlier moment - before His return, when faith and hope will cease.
What is the perfect then? It is a revelation that is full, rather than partial (verse 9). It is complete rather than partial (verse 10).
I argue that it is the completion of God’s written revelation. The Bible replaces the partial revelations that came to the Church at the beginning in the forms of prophecies, tongues and knowledge. These will fade away because a more sure revelation has replaced them.
He then uses two illustrations: that of a man putting away childish things and a mirror in which we can clearly see ourselves - a picture he borrows (or share)s with James.

The Bible is infallibly enough and sufficient for us. It is enough. If we still need smaller revelations today and prophecies, then Scripture is not perfectly infallible… then it is lacking somehow and God must reveal something further.

The Bible - God's written revelation - is enough for every aspect of life and godliness.

The Perfect Word of God
Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness.
Sermon 4

Perfect is a big word. To say that something is perfect is a big statement. Scripture makes this claim in Psalm 19:7 and immediately makes application by proving its effect on man: refreshing the soul.
The sermons thus far in the series have focused on proving Scripture to be what it claims. This morning I want to move beyond that into the application of Scripture. How does Scripture work? and How is Scripture different from other books?
It brings us to a question that is central to Christian experience: Do I really need to read my Bible every day?

Before we launch in, I would like to share a quote:
"The Bible is God’s revelation to man in the form of a library of sixty-six separate books, written in three languages, collected over a period of more than 1500 years with a surprising array of literary styles, written history, personal memoirs, sermons, letters, songs, prayers, moral and theological propositions, credes, love poems, philosophical dialogue, dreams, stories, statistics, law books, rituals, inventories, genealogies and much, much more." (Ligon Duncan)

And then I would add that Scripture evidences amazing continuity and tells one story from Adam to Jesus Christ, from the Covenants with Israel to the New Covenant in Christ, from failure to future. Like no other book… this book deserves our attention and study.

The Bible is incredibly effective (Isaiah 55:8-11)
This passage contains two declarations from the Lord. The context contains a plea to the Israelites to turn from their wickedness to God. “Seek the Lord” is the summon in verse six and appeal to His mercy and forgiveness in verse seven. Then God is quoted as saying: My thoughts are higher and my ways are higher.

>God thinks higher thoughts (8a and 9b)
God’s reasoning is at a level far higher than our’s. None of us can claim to have a complete knowledge. I once overheard the following dialogue between a Christian and an atheist:
“So you’ve concluded that there is no God?”
“Yes.”
“This surprises me, actually.”
“Why? Science has entirely disproven the existence God.”
“Do you consider yourself to be an intelligent person?”
“I’m not a scientist, but I’m pretty smart.”
“Let’s take the whole of knowledge and put it before us. I’m talking all knowledge… how many grains of sand on Mars, how much water on Neptune and how many stars in the Universe. The whole sha-bang”
“Okay.”
“Einstein proposed that of all knowledge we have only scratched the surface and perhaps know 1% of everything there is to know. Let’s endow you with a whopping 5% of all knowledge.”
“Okay. Sure. What’s your point?”
“Isn’t it reasonable to assume that in the 95% of knowledge you do not possess there is evidence for the existence of God? And isn’t your position of atheism a premature conclusion?”
Stunned silence.

Consider God’s thinking in His ability to design and create everything that we can observe. We could not have thought of such a universe, let alone make it reality. Only God can.
>God develops better strategies (8b and 9a)
The second statement encompasses how God acts in our lives. He doesn’t operate in ways that make sense to us, but this is where we trust His better plan, higher thoughts and that He will accomplish His good purposes.
>God guarantees perfect results (10-11)
No one can guarantee what God states that He can in these verses. He states that His word will always - ALWAYS - accomplish what He sets out to accomplish. The picture of water falling down and watering the earth before it returns underscores the effectiveness of His Word. It never fails. It’s never void of meaning. It’s never wasted. When God speaks - stuff happens.

The Bible is powerfully penetrating (Hebrews 4:12-13)
This brings us to a second point about Scripture. It penetrates. The writer of Hebrews picks up this point in His argument. He is discussing the promised rest and Scripture’s ability to discern true faith in our hearts. He then makes a wonderful observation about the Word of God.
Sharper than a two-edged sword. There is no dull side. Two-edged blades are more destructive than single-sided blades. Every movement inflicts a cut. Such is the Word of God is slices wherever it is plunged. And it goes deep. According to the writer it penetrates soulish and spiritual, though the inner hard and soft layers of humanity (bone and marrow) and into the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We are like a fish that has been filleted… we lie open before the eyes of the one who examines us. We cannot hide from Him. He knows us well. And it is His Word that gets there.
So why would this make me want to read Scripture more? Because it is how we get from where we are to where we need to be. The Bible is what God uses to change us, deepen our faith, expand our trust. The Bible is where we hear His voice and where He can do His work in our lives.

But we ought also to use Scripture in our dealings with a world that does not acknowledge Him. We tend not to use Scripture because we do not know if we can defend it… but God’s Word doesn't need your defense. It does need your usage though. When we share the gospel with the people around us, we really ought to let God’s Word do its work… it’s far more effective than my words will ever be.
And if you’re tired of sin… read your Bible… God will reveal where you need to change.

The Inspiration and Implementation of Scripture
Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 3

One of the more difficult themes for the modern atheist to wrestle with is the revelation. Not the Book of Revelation, but the concept of revelation. We have have considered what Jesus said about the Bible and we have examined one of the fanciful claims of Scripture: the Resurrection. But what does Scripture say about itself? Stated differently: Why was the Bible written? And who wrote it? The Bible answers this question.

This brings us to relevancy. Is the Bible still relevant today? In order to answer this, we are going to stay in one central passage this morning.

The Heavenly Source of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:14-16a)
Timothy is instructed to remain in what he has been taught - to remain true to the Scripture. Now when Paul writes this to Timothy, he is thinking of the Old Testament Scriptures. He had been taught them by his mother and grandmother. Remain faithful to the doctrine that you were taught.
It is surprising to me how in the past twenty years this has been lost. The “enlightened way” of modern generations has been to question everything and to “find your own way” most often devoid of truth claims. Folks, this doesn’t work and we are watching people flounder all around us. You need a set of foundational truths to be able to function. But that’s an entirely different topic.
Paul instructs Timothy and then says a very important thing about Scripture: All Scripture is God-breathed.
Now let’s just let that sink in.
There is an ancient saying in the Middle East that you cannot trust a man, who does not get so close that you can smell his breath.
God came near and breathed out this book.
This teaches us something very important. God wrote the Bible.
There is an argument from the six blind men and the elephant that people like to apply to God. If you take six blind men and place them around an elephant, they might come to various conclusions about what this is before them. This is then applied to our knowledge of God - we cannot really know Him, for we all just are touching and feeling one aspect of Him. It sounds enlightened to say and believe something like that, but as one theologian pointed out, this argument fails if the Elephant speaks to the blind men. If the elephant reveals to the blind men: “I’m an elephant” it speaks more to the stubborn misgivings of the blind man if he holds to the tail and calls it a rope.

Paul coined a new Greek word when he penned these words. Theos - God - and pneustoc - breathed. God breathed it out. How?
Peter helps us on this point when he confirms that prophecy doesn’t just come from man’s will… man was driven by the Holy Spirit to speak - or write - God’s words. When Peter write this, he is drawing from his mariner background. The term that is used here for driven is used in Acts 27 to describe a ship raising its sails and the wind driving the ship along. God moved men to write the words He wanted them to write, but without violating their personalities or style of writing. God so miraculously produced this Bible and breathed it into existence.
And it is called revelation… God revealed Himself. This may be the most staggering of all - God tells us about Himself and reveals knowledge about Him. Thus God may be big, but He also wants to be known.

The earthly Usefulness of the Bible (2 Timothy 3:16b-17)
Paul continues his instruction to Timothy and explains the purpose of Scripture in four nouns: teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. As one teacher commented: Scripture teaches us what is right, teaches us what isn’t right, teaches us how to get right, and finally teaches us how to stay right.
Paul paints a picture here of how Scripture should fill our thinking and inform our decisions.
Which is exactly right, because that is the goal that Paul states in verse 17: so that the man of God may be perfect and perfectly equipped.
Scripture teaches us how to be the person that God wants us to be - perfect. Complete is perhaps a better translation. This sounds like a tall order - unattainable. And without God’s help and instruction it would indeed be impossible. The statement that follows is perhaps even more significant: fully equipped for every good work. The Scriptures completely equip us for what God wants us to do.

Scripture tells me everything I need to know about God… and that is enough.

The historical and theological significance of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Sermon series on biblical trustworthiness. Sermon 2

Death doesn’t belong. It wasn’t part of the original design. Death is the ugly consequence resulting from man’s rebellion against a holy God.

My kids were playing outside yesterday evening. Anna’s sister joined us for dinner last night and they brought along their 13 year old son. They had assembled their arsenal of NERF guns and had divided into two teams. Obviously it was the oldest two against the younger two - that’s fair. At one point I walked outside to survey the situation and do some parenting… “guys… don’t run through the neighbor’s yard.” I walked around the corner and there were Luke and Joel sprawled out on the ground. I started instructing my boys, to which Joel, without changing position said: “Okay dad, but I’m dead.” He would remain dead until Luke tagged him.
Luke had more important things to do… he was looking for one of his NERF darts in the bushes… and Joel was getting a bit impatient. “Lu-uke, you need to tag me and make me alive again!”

Death doesn’t belong. And it doesn’t feel like the proper ending to Jesus’ story. The disciples watched in horror as their good Shepherd laid down his life three days prior. He instructed them not to fight. They had seen Him walk on water and still storms… but He didn’t stop the angry storm three nights ago. His life was snuffed out. Evil prevailed. And the disciples were crushed.

Until Sunday morning when a group of women found the tomb empty.

One of the central questions of Faith is whether the Bible can be trusted on a make-it-or-break-it belief. The Resurrection. Life after death. Christ crucified, buried and then risen again. Is this fact or fiction?

So the question I would like to look at this morning is: What is the historical and theological support for the Resurrection?

Infallible proofs (Acts 1:3)
The resurrection was foretold by Christ. Jesus spoke of His death and resurrection many times. He told the Pharisees it would be the only sign left to them (the sign of Jonah), He spoke about His temple being rebuilt in three days, and He spoke very plainly to His disciples. The had trouble understanding and reconciling what Christ was telling them, but Jesus was clear about what was going to happen: He would be killed in Jerusalem and He would rise again.

Paul references 500 eye witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians 15. Many of these witnesses were still alive at the time that Paul wrote his letter. He Himself had seen Jesus in His resurrected body.

There was the undisputed fact of the empty grave. The religious leaders had to think of an explanation for the problematic tomb.

Finally there is the rapid expansion of this message proclaimed by radical followers that were convinced of the truth of Christ’s resurrection.

Fact is, that modern sceptics agree on three well-established truths:
- There was an empty grave.
- The followers of Jesus had real experiences with someone they believed was the risen Christ.
- These followers proclaimed this message of resurrection and the Christian faith was established.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is well-attested and passes the journalistic requirements for a true story.

Necessary confirmation (1 Timothy 3:16)
The resurrection is central to the gospel - the good new of Christ’s salvation work.
It is God’s stamp of approval. 1 Corinthians 15:16-18
If Christ had remained dead, the sufficiency of His death would still be in question. Was His obedience perfect? Was His life sinless? Did God accept His substitutionary death as my atonement with Him?
The resurrection answers: “Yes!”
The resurrection is God’s necessary approval of Christ’s finished work on the cross.

It is central to faith. 1 Corinthians 15:19-26
The cross was the act of saving grace and the payment for man’s sin. The resurrection was the proclamation that death was undone. If there is no resurrection, Paul argues, we are still in our sin. If we are still in our sin - what’s the point of faith? Faith in what? Our faith will not conquer death. Our story still ends with an inscription on a tombstone.
But death doesn’t end our story. Because death didn’t end Christ’s story. Jesus Christ conquered death, putting it on open display and He appeared to His disciples and declared: “I’m made alive again!”
Death doesn’t belong. And Christ made the change. He won. And we conquer death through Him.

Colossians puts it beautifully: We were together crucified with Him, we were together raised with Him and we live our new life together with Him!
Colossians 2:13-15