The importance of God’s word - 3rd Sunday in September

The importance of God’s word - 3rd Sunday in September

Jesus prays in this morning’s gospel reading from John chapter 17 that as Christians we may all be one so that the world may believe in him.

In other words, he prays that we may be united, as a united Church is a great witness to a world that is full of division and conflict.

Part of this unity comes from having the same spirit - the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Truth living in us. And when the Holy Spirit comes to live in us - he then leads and guides us into the truth.

And then hopefully, as Christians, although we may have differences of opinion over some minor areas of doctrine – we should be united in our belief in the core truths of Christianity as outlined in the Creed for instance.

But how do we know what to believe and how do we know what is true and what isn’t?

Well the answer is that we find the truth in God’s word - the bible. As Jesus says in verse 17 - ‘Father Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.’

God’s word is the truth. It tells us all we need to know about God and about life and death and eternity – and it is utterly reliable – because as Paul says in our other reading from 2 Timothy –  it is inspired by God.

The bible was written down by human beings but they were under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as they wrote it – and as such the bible is exactly as God wants it to be.

One of my university lecturers told me that truth was relative – but he was wrong.

Truth is absolute. God either exists and he created the world – or he doesn’t exist and the world somehow came out of nothing by chance.

And Jesus was either God made flesh or he was a fraud and a liar.

As CS Lewis said; A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You must make your choice.

In the old days builders used to use a plumb line to check if walls they’d built were straight. If the wall lined up with the plumb line they knew it was straight. If it didn’t, it meant the wall was crooked.

Like-wise if we’re not sure if something is true or not we can line it up with the what the bible teaches – and this will tell us. If something doesn’t line up with what the bible teaches then we know it is untrue.

For instance, before I became a Christian I used to believe in reincarnation. But the bible doesn’t mention re-incarnation, and we are told in Hebrews chapter 9, that each person is destined to die once and then face judgement – so now I don’t believe in reincarnation – because it doesn’t line up with what the bible teaches.

The bible isn’t just another book. It is God’s written and living word to us. So, we should approach it with reverence and awe – because we are reading the words of our creator.

And we should approach it with humility. It is not for us to sit in judgement on God’s word and dismiss bits we don’t like or don’t agree with.

We become Christians as we submit our lives to Christ and the only way we can grow as Christians is if we then submit our minds to God’s word and allow it to teach, rebuke, correct and train us as Paul puts it.

The bible of course is split into the Old and New Testaments. And the word Testament means a will? Hence we speak of someone’s last will and testament. Well, when Jesus died on the cross for us he left us an inheritance in the pages of the bible.

As God’s children we are heirs to this inheritance and spiritual riches are waiting for us to appropriate within its pages.

Many of these spiritual riches concern our new identity as a children of God.

Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. We will be transformed as people as we take on board who we are in Christ and as we start to realise how much God loves us.

As we read and take in what God says about us and what Jesus’ death has secured for us and made us, it should transform the way we see ourselves, and it should motivate us to want to share God’s love with those around us.

You see as Christians we have a completely new identity in Christ Jesus.

As Paul says in his letter to the Romans – ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come.’

We used to be cut off from God and unforgiven but that person is now dead and we have been re-born as completely new people in God’s eyes.

The new person is a child of God. He or she has been adopted into God’s family. He or she has crossed over from death to life and from darkness to light. He or she has been set free from condemnation and judgement.

This new person has the Holy Spirit living in them. As Christians therefore, we carry God’s presence around in us wherever we go. The new person has been forgiven and redeemed. The new person is bound for heaven.

None of this was true of the old person we used to be.

As we start to see ourselves as God sees us, and as we start to understand the amazing implications of the cross in our lives, it should motivate us to love God and to want to share what we have found with others.

And the bible equips us to serve God. We find for instance that God has given us authority over evil spirits. Jesus says in Luke chapter 10; “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”

As we submit ourselves to God’s authority, so we are delegated by God to use that authority to rebuke the devil – and see him depart not just from our own lives but the lives of others.

The bible is also the main way by which God speaks to us – sometimes to rebuke or correct us – but mostly to encourage and guide us.

Sometimes we may be reading a bible passage and some of the words will really make an impression on us or speak to our situation – and we know in our spirits that God is talking to us.

For instance several years ago, I had a lump under my right arm removed. After God’s intervention – it was benign – but this event rattled me and I became worried about my health.

A few months after my operation – after I got home from Church one Sunday I felt that God wanted me to read psalm 42 – so I did.

And God spoke to me and encouraged me through the words of this Psalm. He told me that he would protect me and preserve my life – that he wouldn’t abandon me to the power of my enemies, and that when I was sick he would restore me to health.

God also gives us revelation as we read the bible. What do I mean by this? Simply that God reveals things to us that we didn’t know or understand before.

When I was in my teens I went up into the French Alps with my family and I saw this beautiful mountain lake with absolutely crystal-clear water.

And as I looked into the water closely I could see things hidden under the surface. And the bible is a bit like this lake.

As we look into it and study it and think about it – sometimes we’ll see something new that we hadn’t noticed or understood before and it will become clear to us.

I remember for instance reading John chapter 6 verse 21 which comes immediately after Jesus has been walking on the water. This verse simply says; “Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”

I’d read this several times before and thought nothing much of it– but as I read it this time, I suddenly knew for sure in my spirit that this was a miracle and that the boat with Jesus and the disciples in had instantly reached the shore where they were heading.

And of course, we read of the same thing happening with the apostle Philip in Acts chapter 8 where we are told; “the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more ... But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”

So, I know now for sure that God can miraculously transport people from one place to another if he so wishes.

The bible also tells us what is coming in the future. There is a lot of future prophecy particularly in the books of Daniel and Revelation but also scattered throughout the Old and New Testaments.

For instance, in Matthew chapter 24 and 25 Jesus teaches about the end times and his second coming. And in his letters to the Thessalonians, Paul also tells us about not just Jesus coming to collect the Church – but also the coming of the Antichrist – the lawless one – who Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth when he comes again.

And just as we see Old Testament prophecies fulfilled precisely and exactly by Jesus – so we can be sure that future prophecy too is utterly reliable – because it has been revealed to the bible’s writers by God – and God already sees and knows the future.

So, to tie up what I want to say this morning – the bible is absolutely fundamental and critical for our lives as Christians. We become Christians as we receive the Holy Spirit but then we grow and discover our identity as Christians – only as we read the bible.

God can speak to us through the bible in many ways – to encourage us and to reassure us and give us promises about things that concern us.

He can reveal spiritual truths and insights to us. He has revealed the future and everything we need to know about life and death. And he can as Paul says use the bible to teach us, rebuke us, correct us and train us for service.

Ultimately whether we choose to read the bible or not is up to us – but just as it’s a very good idea when we buy a washing machine or a car to read the instruction manual and follow the maker’s instructions – so it’s a very good idea to read our own maker’s instruction manual.

If you’re new to the bible perhaps start by reading the gospels. Alternately there are numerous daily bible reading plans and booklets available and Nicky Gumbel has produced a bible reading app for reading through the bible in one year.

In the name of the living God. Amen.