God Has Spoken
2003019
Topic # 279 (grace)
Introduction:
A.
Series on grace
continues…
1.
Series at the
very core & heart of redemption because salvation a gift from God. Rom. 5:8
2.
By sending
Jesus,…He gave us the means on eternal redemption.
B.
RF Turner said it
is impossible to discuss idea of God w/o dealing w/authority.
1.
“God” expresses:
a)
sovereignty;
absoluteness
b)
the climax of all
that is good; right
C.
When one thinks
of the true nature & will of God – he realizes there no way to know
it unless He first reveals it to us.
1.
Think about God
for a moment. Our very being
depends upon Him.
2.
How can we know
what He wants of us? He must tell
us.
I. God has expressed His will.
A.
Rom. 9:19-21
– note Paul’s reasoning about the sovereign power & authority of God.
1.
9:19 – some
always want to argue w/God. Talk
back…
2.
9:20-21 –
We have no right to argue w/God!
B.
Hab. 2:20 –
God does the talking! He is in
charge & in control!
C.
There is no way
we can know His will unless He reveals Himself to us.
1.
1 Cor. 2:11a
– you know your most inner thoughts – no one else does.
2.
1 Cor. 2:11b
– application made to God – The HS has revealed things we need to
know about God. This how we know
about Him. We are the listeners.
D.
Jesus is the
ultimate revelation of God to man.
1.
John 14:8-9a
– what do you mean,…show us the
Father?
2.
14:9b –
answer
3.
Jesus means: perceiving Him; understanding Him
4.
14:9 – we
can see God in the teaching of Jesus; His self sacrifice; His compassion.
E.
Can we not see
the love of God demonstrated through Jesus? You see, we see God through Jesus!
1.
Thoughts/attitudes/conduct
of life/kind of people we ought to be
2.
1 Tim. 3:16
– Jesus manifested it to us!
3.
We cannot know
the things of God except as we know Jesus!
F.
The Bible is
God’s revealed will for man. God
manifests His will here!
1.
Yes…it’s easy to
say “I believe the Bible is the word of God.”
2.
Takes a great
deal to apply this!
II. If God has spoken, what responsibility
is upon me?
A.
Much we don’t
understand. Whatever we
understand, it places a tremendous responsibility upon us!
1.
Bible: God says, “This is what I want of you.”
B.
God has made His
will understandable.
1.
Scripture CAN be
understood.
a)
Peter thought
so. 2 Pet. 1:13-15; 3:1-2. Here he wrote some things down he
wanted Christians to remember.
b)
Peter thought the
written word could be understood!
3.
Paul believed we
could understand what he wrote! Eph. 3:1-2 God gave it to Paul; Paul gave it to us. See 3:3-4
4.
John believed we
could understand what he wrote! Jhn. 20:30-31
a)
Remember,…great
care has been taken to preserve what God wants us to know!
C.
I have the resp.
to approach God’s word objectively!
1.
Many: subjectively….they go by their
feelings. Feels right? Seems right? Must be right. Prejudiced from the beginning.
2.
Objective
approach? “What does the Bible
say?”
a)
We are recipients
of the message & must listen to Him.
3.
e.g., Jesus told
apostles countless times about His coming death. They didn’t want to hear it.
a)
Lk. 9:44-45
– why could they not understand it?
b)
Mk. 9:31-32
– parallel account.
4.
9:45 – says
it was concealed from them. Why? Why concealed when he
told them to understand it in 9:44?
5.
Another occasion
when people failed to understand – Jesus said it was “hidden from them.”
a)
But He explains
why it was hidden. It was hidden
because they didn’t want it! Mt.
13:15
b)
Sometimes when we
“don’t get it,” could it be because we have already made up our minds as to
what we want to hear?
III. How do we treat God?
A.
The way we treat God’s
word shows how we treat God.
1.
God has delivered
His truth through the apostles & prophets.
2.
God told us what
has been said is understandable!
3.
So the way I
treat His message is the way I treat God.
B.
Js. 2:1-9 –
it is wrong to show partiality.
1.
2:10 – what
is the point here?
2.
2:11-12 –
God gave us some laws. No
adultery. No murder.
3.
God gave these
laws! God has spoken!
4.
We have no right
to pick/choose what should be a law & not be a law!
C.
Not only were
people of James’ day showing disrespect for law itself – but they
displayed disrespect for the one who gave the law!
1.
2:11-12
2.
We are judged BY
the law! We are not a judge OF the
law to select the portion we desire.
3.
By becoming a
judge of the law – we become the judge of Him who gave the law in the
first place.
D.
Whatever God has
said…we are to be judged by it. See 4:10-11
1.
4:12 – we
have no business making laws or executing laws.
2.
4:12 – one
law giver – this is legislative authority. God has it all.
3.
4:12 – who able to save/destroy… this is
administrative authority. God has
all of it.
4.
4:12 – who are you to judge one another? This is judicial authority. God has all of it.
E.
God is the one to
whom we must look.
1.
We are subject to
Him because we will be judged by Him.
2.
How we treat His
words shows how we treat Him.
3.
Remember…we’ll be
judged by His word. John 12:48; 1
Thess. 2:13
IV. God’s message to man is the most important thing on earth.
A.
What God has said
is most important! Nothing more
vital to man!
1.
We must pay
attention!
2.
Nothing more
important in life than God’s truth!
3.
Message of God
has been given to affect your life & eternal well being.
B.
But yet…. We
treat it as no big deal.
1.
Poor BS; Poor
attendance at bible class; sporadic worship
2.
allow mind to
wander during preaching/teaching/sleep
C.
Heb. 2:1-3
Conclusion:
A.
Today we talked
about the message of God.
1.
His message been
conveyed in understandable fashion.
2.
We can put it to
use! How we put it to use effects
eternal well being.
3.
We judged by response
to His word. This most important
thing in life!
B.
Have you
responded?
C.
I N V I T A T I O
N