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The fundamental question about God that we have to ask first is this: Does He speak? Does He communicate?
Revelation means that God is not discovered by us, he REVEALS HIMSELF to us. REVELATION means God chooses to reveal his nature and his will to us.
The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. Psalm 98:2
1. God speaks through ____________________.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
Psalm 19:1-4
What could we learn about God just from observing creation?
2. God speaks through His ________________.
Two key theological words describe what the Bible says about itself:
Inspiration: The process through which God ____________ us the Bible. God, through the Holy Spirit, worked in the hearts of human writers to write down his words. Since they are the very words of God, they are without __________________, perfect and trustworthy.
“…the holy Scriptures… are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17
Can we trust the Bible? How do we know what books were supposed to be included? Answers to lots of common questions:
http://www.everystudent.com/sg/features/bible.html
Illumination: The process through which God helps us ____________________ the Bible. It is the Holy Spirit’s work bringing light to the words of the Bible as we read or hear them.
“Then he opened their mind so they could understand the Scriptures.”
Luke 24:45
3. God speaks through _______________.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…. The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. John 1:1-4, 14
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-4
How to tune in to what God is saying – Three attitudes:
1. ____________________________.
“Speak, Lord – your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
2. ________________________________.
“If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” John 7:17
3. ______________________.
“Blessed is the man… [whose] delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm 1:1-4
#2 – Revelation: God Speaks
WORSHIP PLAN:
OPENING: What Do YOU BELIEVE?
What do you believe…
Not your opinion…
Not what you think…
Not what you hope…
What do you BELIEVE? What are you basing your life on?
All actions in your life come from beliefs… you go to work because you believe you will get a paycheck. You flip the switch because you believe the light will come on. You go to your favorite restaurant because you believe that you will like the food again. You get married because you believe this person is the one you love. You obey the law because you believe you will be arrested if you don’t.
For the next 12 weeks, we will be looking into basic Christian doctrine. When we finish, I hope you will be able to say, “THIS I BELIEVE!”
SONGS:
This is My Father’s World (
READING:
Years ago, a pastor named Babcock in New York would often take a morning walk to the top of a hill. From the top of the hill, he had an inspiring view of Lake Ontario, and much of the surrounding countryside. When he was leaving for his walk, he would often say to whoever he was with, “I’m going out to see my Father’s world.” The view gave him a consciousness of God’s presence – a feeling that God spoke to him almost everywhere in nature.
The final verse came out of a challenging and difficult time in Dr. Babcock’s life. In that last verse, he expresses the confidence that “though the wrong seem oft’ so strong, God is the ruler yet!” He was receiving God’s message from Creation loud and clear – “I’m in charge – this is MY world, and if I can create all this, and I can take care of you!”
Standing on the Promises (#687)
READING: #688 “God’s Word”
Thanks to God Whose Word Was Spoken (#686)
INTRO TO THE CREED: Darrell
CREED:
I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth,
And in Jesus Christ
His Only Son, our Lord, who was
conceived by the Holy Spirit
born of the Virgin Mary
suffered for us and was
crucified, dead and buried
He descended into hell and
On the third day He rose again
He ascended into heaven where He is
Seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
Who by grace justifies us through faith alone
And who also sanctifies us into the likeness of Jesus Christ
I believe in the Holy Christian Church,
The means of grace,
The resurrection of the Body
And Life Everlasting
AMEN!
Prayer
Special Song: He Still Speaks / Ancient Words
SERMON
OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
The microwave story:
About 30 years ago, at the height of the UFO/little green men craze, scientists at an observatory were searching the sky, listening for transmissions, radio signals, anything that would indicate intelligent life. One day, they began receiving a signal burst that was regular. It was nothing more than a crackle of electromagnetic energy, but it happened about 12:00 noon each day, for a few minutes, and then faded away. The scientists were ecstatic. They knew that if there was a coherent pattern to this signal, then it had to be coming from an intelligent source, not a random one.
So they listened each day with eagerness, to see if the signals continued… and they did. They were on the verge of going public with their announcement: Evidence of alien life confirmed! Then someone accidentally discovered that the signal bursts around noon always coincided with the staff using the newly purchased microwave downstairs at their lunch break.
What a disappointment! No alien life… no communication.
The fundamental question about God that we have to ask first is this: Does he speak? Does he communicate? Are there coherent signals coming to us as humans that would show that they are from a God?
Here’s why we start with revelation when we talk about the study of theology:
Revelation means that God is not discovered by us, he REVEALS HIMSELF to us.
The LORD has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations.
Psalm 98:2
And he built an altar there and called the place El Bethel, because there God appeared to him…
Genesis 35:7
REVELATION means God chooses to reveal his nature and his will to us.
The doctrine of revelation says, “God speaks…” He is not a silent, far-away God, He is a God who speaks.
Denial of the supernatural… came from the modern mindset, which says, “Everything is explainable by reason and science.” This mindset is quickly fading and losing ground, especially with younger people. We know (and, even long for) there to be something beyond us. This is why the increasing interest in the occult, spiritism, Harry Potter, angels… this is why Ouija boards and séances are gaining in popularity… this is why people try to contact their dead relatives… this is why the popularity of movies like “The Sixth Sense”, with its famous line “I see dead people…”
82% of my generation believes that there is life after death, like 90+% believe that there is a God. The question then is, how does he speak to us? How does he communicate to us?
On THAT, there’s lots of disagreement. Is the Bible God’s Word? Or is it a collection of stories and moralistic tales… good literature, classic, but not the Words of God?
In this sermon, I’m going to give you three ways that God speaks to us.
1. God speaks through Creation.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”
Psalm 19:1-4
Creation is limited in how much it can say to us about God, but it does teach us.
1. He exists.
2. He is powerful.
3. He loves beauty & order.
4. He loves variety.
5. He cares & loves.
6. He has given humans special status as leaders.
The most interesting thing that I find about that story about the guys who thought alien life was indicated by static transmissions at the same time each day:
They looked at static that was about the same time each day, and said, “Hmmm… This is too much to be chance – must be intelligent life!”
But most were probably scientists who look around at the detail and marvelous ecosystems of this world, and say, “Hmmm… must have happened by chance!”
Go figure.
We’ll talk more about that next week when we talk about the nature of God.
2. God speaks through His Word.
Two key theological words describe what the Bible says about itself:
Inspiration: The process through which God gave us the Bible. God, through the Holy Spirit, worked in the hearts of human writers to write down his words. Since they are the very words of God, they are without error, perfect and trustworthy.
“…the holy Scriptures… are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17
We believe The Bible is without error in the original manuscripts. Some people object that the Bible has been changed a lot through translation and copying. But this simply is not true. Let’s look a few reasons we can trust the Bible.
The External evidence: The Bible is historically accurate.
Archaeology: The Bible has never been contradicted by a single archaeological find. In fact, the more we learn about archaeology, the more we learn that the Bible was accurate all along.
Bibliographical Test:
For the NT, the evidence is overwhelming. There are 5,366 manuscripts to compare and draw information from, and some of those date from the second or 3rd century. To put that in perspective, there are only 643 copies of Homer’s Illiad, and that is the most famous book of ancient Greece! No one doubts the existence of Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars, but we only have 10 copies of it, and the earliest of those was made 1,000 years after it was written. To have such an abundance of copies of the NT from dates within 70 years after their writing is amazing. – Norm Geisler
The Internal evidence: The Bible is eyewitness testimony and is consistent with itself.
It speaks without inherent contradiction. I challenge anyone here to show me a contradiction in the Bible that cannot be explained. A common one people throw out to support their case is the “sixth hour on the cross/ninth hour before the Court” difference between the Gospels. But there’s a very simple explanation. Romans counted their hours from Midnight, the Jews from Dawn. .. so, there is no contradiction.
Every contradiction that people try to bring from the Bible is like that – there is an explanation!
The Jesus Seminar: a group of 74 scholars who meet 2X a year to decide which sayings of Jesus are really authentic and which are not. They vote with colored beads on which sayings they think are real sayings of Jesus, which are later, and which are similar, but have been changed…
I want to ask these people “Were you there?” Then, when they say no, tell them, “I have a book written primarily by people who were there. Internal and manuscript evidence tells us that the Gospels were written within the eyewitness generation.”
I think we should form a “Washington Seminar” where we contradict the writings of eyewitnesses from the Revolution Era, and vote by dropping colored beads on whether or not George Washington ever said the things that those eyewitness writings said they did.
Ignore whatever comes out of this group. If someone cites them, then you know to doubt that person or author. They ignore the most reliable documents of the ancient world because of their pre-suppositions. They come to the Bible with the idea that there are lots of errors, and later additions, and ignore the evidence to the contrary.
I don’t have time to answer every common question about the Scriptures and the reliability of the Bible, so let me point you to a good basic survey that answers many questions:
http://www.everystudent.com/sg/features/bible.html
Illumination: The process through which God helps us understand the Bible. It is the Holy Spirit’s work bringing light to the words of the Bible as we read them.
“Then he opened their mind so they could understand the Scriptures.”
Luke 24:45
POWERPOINT: Martin Luther
"The Bible is alive, it speaks to me, it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me." - Martin Luther
Luther had discovered the power of the Scripture to reveal who God was and what his Will was.
Martin Luther recovered for us the doctrine that the ancient church believed: The Scriptures, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, were the only reliable guide for our faith.
While the Roman Catholic church had locked away the Bible in Latin, and denied copies of it to the public. The only Bibles that existed were either in the dusty library of a priests or scholar, or chained to the pulpit in a Catholic cathedral, Luther’s belief that the Scriptures belonged to all of us as God’s people – it should be the only guide for our faith. The Catholic church taught that the traditions of the church were as reliable as Scripture. This led to incredible amounts of error and corruption as men imposed their traditions and customs that would enrich the church on an ignorant and unsuspecting public.
Luther was brought before the Council at Worms, Germany. He was told that he would be excommunicated from the church (which was the only church in those days), and would be subject to death if he didn’t recant his teachings and writings. His reply:
"Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reason-- I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other-- my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. God help me." - - Martin Luther
"Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me...the passages which trouble me most are those I do understand." - Mark Twain
3. God speaks through Jesus.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…. The Word became flesh and dwelled among us. John 1:1-4, 14
The Word became one of us and moved into the neighborhood. (John 1:14, The Message Paraphrase)
“In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-4
If you ever want to know, “What would God do? What does he want me to do?’
Look at Jesus – what did He do?
“What would it look like if God’s values were 100% lived out?”
The answer – look at JESUS!
“Does God love me?”
Look at Jesus!
“What does God think about sin?”
Well, he sent his Only Son to die for it! Again, Jesus is the answer!
“Would God really send people to hell?”
A very real Jesus came here and said, “Fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
ILLUSTRATION:
How to tune in to what God is saying:
"What you bring away from the Bible depends to some extent on what you carry to it." - Oliver Wendell Holmes
This is true. Attitudes can prevent hearing. Let’s do an attitude check on three attitudes that will make you able to receive what God is saying to you:
1. Openness.
“Speak, Lord – your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:10
2. Obedience.
“If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” John 7:17
"You may as well quit reading and hearing the Word of God, and give it to the devil, if you do not desire to live according to it." - Martin Luther
3. Time.
Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Idea for service Closing:
MUSIC PLAYS IN THE BACKGROUND:
READER #1: We believe…
READER #2: Do we really believe?
#1: We believe that God has spoken…
#2: Do I believe that He has spoken to me?
#1: He has spoken to us though creation…
#2: He reveals himself everywhere.
#1: He has spoken to us through the Living Word, Jesus.
#2: He has showed us what God’s values look like in real life.
#1: He has spoken to us to the Written Word, the Bible.
#2: Do I believe that?
#1: God spoke Scripture through men through the Holy Spirit, so that the Bible is the very WORDS OF GOD.
#2: Do I live like I believe that? Do I come to the Scripture as often as I would if I believed it was God’s Words to me? To guide me?
#1: Scripture tells us, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
#2: Do I live like I believe that? Am I basing my life on things that will never pass away?
#1: Scripture is without error, and the ultimate guide to Truth.
#2: Countless gallons of blood have splattered because of those words. Do I mean it when I say, “I believe…?” Is it just a belief in my head, or do I believe it with my heart -- my life -- my everything?
#1: The Written Word cannot be stamped out, explained away, watered down or destroyed.
#2: In communist China, thousands have been imprisoned because of the Written Word, just because they owned a copy. What about my family? If someone took me to court, would they be able to convict me of being a Bible-guided Christian? Or could I get a “not guilty” verdict by explaining that I don’t really read it or make much of an effort to live by it?
#1: Through more than 2,000 years of history, the Written Word has been translated thousands of times, copies thousands more, yet remains as reliable and trustworthy as ever. When we hold the Bible in our hands we can say with confidence, “I HOLD IN MY HANDS, THE VERY WORDS OF GOD, the LOVE LETTER TO ME AND MY FAMILY.”
#2: So, my choice is: Believe and commit to the Word – in life or death.
#1: The Word is a support when encouragement is needed.
#2: I will stop doubting and trust the Word.
#1: The Word is a guide when I need direction.
#2: I will stop whining and asking for something new, something more. The answer is already in the Word. I will believe it, seek it, read it, study it… and find God in its pages.
MUSIC FADES, ACCOMPANIMENT TO “HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION” BEGINS:
#1: No one knows who wrote the song we are about to sing… (Turn to #____ in your hymnal) but though it was first written soon after the American War for Independence, its truth is still true today. The hymn describes the foundation that our lives must be built upon…
#2: The unchanging Word of God…
#1: It stands strong in every trial and fire…
#2: Its foundation stands firm in every earthquake that life sends…
#1: The first verse reminds us that ALL WE NEED is in the Word of God…
#2: It says, “What more can he say, than to you He has said?”
#1: Then the words of this song give us many promises from Scripture, strung together like precious pearls…
#2: These are the words of God!
#1: They are INSPIRED!
#2: They are from GOD!
#1: They are INERRANT!
#2: They are ACCURATE!
#1: They are AUTHORITATIVE!
#2: They are ENOUGH FOR WHAT I FACE TODAY!
#1: Let’s sing this song together:
1 & 2 TOGETHER: HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION!
RESPONSE SONG: HOW FIRM A FOUNDATION
DURING THIS SONG, gather the kids in the back of the church… so they can join their parents for the next closing act of Worship:
INVITATION IDEA:
Invite families to come forward together: Dads/Moms receive a Bible, and gather their family around. They open the Bible to a page that is prepared inside, with these words…they address their family: “Family/Kids, this is God’s Word. God loved you and me so much that He wrote us a love letter and told us how much he loves us. This Bible is the very words of God. I promise you that I will learn and study it, and teach you what it says. I promise that I will live like the Jesus we learn about in its pages.”
Other Resources:
THE BOOK OF GOD. Tune of “A Charge to Keep”
Thy thoughts are here, my God,
Expressed in words divine,
The utterance of heavenly lips
In every sacred line.
Across the ages they
Have reached us from afar,
Than the bright gold more golden they,
Purer than purest star.
More durable they stand
Than the eternal hills;
Far sweeter and more musical
Than music of earth's rills.
Thine, thine, this book, though given
In man's poor human speech,
Telling of things unseen, unheard,
Beyond all human reach.
A thousand hammers keen,
With fiery force and strain,
Brought down on it in rage and hate,
Have struck this gem in vain.
It standeth and will stand,
Without or change or age,
The Word of majesty and light,
The church's heritage.
HORATIUS BONAR.
