Word of God

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KINGDOM CULTURE By Senior Pastor Tom Harrison October 15, 2017 “I am a Man of One Book.” Journal Intro: About 40 authors wrote the Bible in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic over a period of about 1,500 years describing experiences in Europe, Africa & the Middle East. It was finished by the end of the first century A.D. John Wesley had many books in his life, but only the Bible served as the governing authority for him. He believed in the teachings & doctrines of the Church of England. He had his own experiences, too. He also used his reasoning skills. However, he insisted that the Bible was the FOUNDATION of his life. He insisted that all of his preachers’ and the Methodist people learn to love and use the Bible as their guide, too. It takes some effort to learn it, but with some help, we can let it be the AUTHORITY for our lives, too. Knowing and following the Scriptures are an essential part of discipleship. Psalm 119 captures the affection the Psalmist had for the Bible, the “Word of God.” FOUNDATION Matt. 7:24-27 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." AUTHORITY the central issue of our lives – what will be the Foundation of my life and who will be “the Boss,” the Owner, the CEO, the umpire in our life that calls the balls and strikes? Our default setting = Me (KOS). I try to organize life so I am the one who picks and chooses how I spend my time, what I say, what I do with my body and money. But the

Bible teaches us that there is another authority, God, and God has a claim upon our lives. We know about this because of the Bible. What will be the Foundation of my life and who will be “The Boss.” The foundation is so important, but nobody looks at the foundation – ll we see is the house. Some defer to a POLITICAL system. They believe political solutions will solve the problems of our world. As President Reagan once said, “The most terrifying 9 words in the English language are: “We’re from the government and we’re here to help.” Stalin, Hitler and Mao Zedong – just these 3 – set in motion political systems which killed over 200 million people. Some defer to ECONOMICS. It is easy to let our jobs and money to be the boss. Paul told Timothy “the love of money was the root of all kinds of evil.” Some choose EDUCATION. Some defer to ENTERTAINMENT (arts, leisure, sports). Some let EROS be the boss. One of the most famous people in American history who built his life on eros just died – Hugh Hefner. While he was extreme, many people base the foundation of their lives on sleeping around. And lots of people, whether married or single, base the foundation of their lives upon sex. Another authority or foundation lives are built upon are FRIENDS. Being popular isn’t just an authority for adolescents, but FACEBOOK likes is the foundation of life for many adults. Others point to RELIGION as their authority. There are many religions to choose from: Atheism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism, to name just a few. Some are organized and others aren’t. Religious people have done some awful things in the name of religion, including those espousing the Christian faith. Martin Luther in 1517 had to contend with the corruption of the Church at his time and that’s why we are celebrating 500 years later “The Protestant Reformation.” John Wesley had to deal with the disregard of the Anglican Church for the poor – and that’s where the Methodist movement started in the 1700’s in England. SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY as places of final authority. Many have given up on all the others and look for science and technology. What the Bible teaches us is that there is only one GOD. Only God can save. The real problem with our world isn’t the “bad” things but we’ve allowed “good things” to become the best things. We end up

worshipping and serving them rather than the creator. Business and sports and family are great but if we worship them, then what happens when the Stock Market crashes and our team loses and our family/friends move or go away? If I get my ultimate identity from these things, then when they go away I might not want to even live anymore. Whatever that is, has become our idol. To be a Christian isn’t eliminating them, but it’s allowing them to be “good” in our lives but not “ultimate” or “best.” Who is the authority governing my life? What foundation am I building my life upon? Our Wesley saying of the day is, “I am a man of one book.” 1 Tim 4:11-16 Command & teach these things. 12 Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith & in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. 15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life & doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself & your hearers I spoke last week about the importance of giving our life to Christ and quoted Wesley about having an experience of trusting Christ alone for salvation. Ephesians 2:1-9 was the text. However, the final verse in that passage (10) described what follows the initial commitment to Christ. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. A commitment to Christ means we FOLLOW Jesus – and HELP OTHERS follow Him too. How do we do this? It is virtually impossible to follow Jesus w/o understanding and applying the Bible to our lives. The Bible is our guide, light and map. It is our authority. This is what John Wesley insisted upon

How? Here is Paul’s admonition to Timothy. It was his/our application (4 things): 1.) Devote…be diligent yourself to the public reading of Scripture. They didn’t have their own (multiple) copies of the Bible. They didn’t have their own copies they studies at home. They had the OT. Everything Jesus spoke about came from the OT. 2 Peter 1:20-21 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. To be devoted/diligent = make a commitment. It’s got to be a priority! Having a priority makes us rearrange life. A member told me the other day that his job now has him commuting to Skiatook. It’s a 45 minute drive. But he was very excited because he’s found some Christian podcasts. He’s been learning about the Bible. Sermon Journals. Small Groups. Everyone needs a group! 2.) Progress - grow. Go forward. To REgress (reverse) is the opposite of PROgress. I’ll be a life-long learner. I’ll also tell you that I don’t always make progress. I can slip. I can regress. I can forget. Underneath, however, is grace. Grow both in grace (God’s unmerited favor – Eph 2:5-9) + truth. A primary way we grow in grace + truth is to memorize scripture and let it become our self-talk. We internalize it. We are always learning and growing. We want you to know scripture. Ps 119 has been our reading this week. It shows the development of our hearts – to love God. To hide his word in our hearts. 3.) Watch your life –examine your attitudes/behavior. Behave biblically. and doctrine closely Many claim they don’t like doctrine. Not liking doctrine IS a doctrine. A doctrine is a belief system. We all have them. We have to. Paul ties “watch your life” (how we are living) with “watch your doctrine closely” together. They cannot be divorced. He says we were created in Christ Jesus for good works. James said, “Faith w/o works is dead.” Doctrine is like having a map. Suppose I was going to London to

visit Aldersgate Street where John Wesley had his heart-warming experience in 1738. (Aldersgate Street exists but you can hardly find it even with a map). You have the address (and you can’t take a cab) but the chance of finding it w/o a map is virtually impossible! You must have a map. Yet, the map is only a little piece of colored paper (or a screen). The map is an objective reality. Actually getting to the destination is the subjective experience. We can’t find Aldersgate Street by rubbing our face into a map. There is a bond between “watch your life” and “watch your doctrine closely.” We can have objective truth – knowing the doctrine - without the subjective experience. That described Wesley (and Luther, and Saul). Doctrine is very important. We want to know about the Bible. We want to know our beliefs. Truth and beliefs are core, but as critical and necessary doctrine is, it’s still a piece of colored paper until we use the map to get to our destination. Looking at a map is not the same thing as going to the destination. Knowledge alone isn’t enough. It’s one thing to know ABOUT God’s love – it’s another thing to know that love personally. This is what happened to John Wesley when his heart was strangely warmed. We want to BEHAVE Biblically – we want to THINK Biblically, too. 4.) Persevere – take the long view. We are running a race. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We have to stay committed and connected for the long haul. Don’t grow weary in well-doing. Don’t give up. The Bible will help you with this. APPLICATION: Everyone sees the house but not the foundation. To build a good house you’ve got to have a good foundation. Everyone builds their lives upon a foundation (Politics, Economics, Education, Eros, Here’s my foundation: God created the heavens & the earth. God loves me. I’ve sinned. God became a human being in Jesus and died for me. God rose Him from the dead. I have given myself to him. He is my Savior. He is also my Lord – governing my life. My ULTIMATE IDENTITY is not my wife, children or grand-children. It’s not my job or my income. It’s not The UMC. It’s not your evaluation of me or what someone posts on FACEBOOK about me. My ultimate identity is not whether the Cardinals win the World Series. All of these

are good – even wonderful things. But if I build my life upon them as the foundation and final authority of my life, I’ve built my life upon sand. As it says in Savior: “The Kings of the earth and the Kingdoms built by man rise upon in their glory then go back to dust again.” Unless someone comes to raise us from the dust – or the sand – it’s all quicksand for us. in Christ. It’s not whether I’m married, a father or a grandfather or a grandfather, a pastor of a great church – none of these wonderful things or wonderful people can help me. I’m dust and so are you. I need someone greater than all of these. Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins and rose from the dead. He went to heaven and gave us the power to follow Him. But we must choose to follow Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the letter “A” and the letter “Z.” He is the resurrection and the life.