SERVANTS OF THE WORD
Luke 1:1-4
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: PEOPLE THINK THEY KNOW THE BIBLE
1. Did you hear the story about the lady who was talking to her friend and brought up the Bible. Her friend said, “Oh don’t start trying to tell to me about the Bible; my parents had me read it every day. I’m practically an expert on it!”
2. “Oh, well then why don’t you come to church with me?
3. Her friend just shook her head. "I haven’t gone in a long time," she said. "Besides, it’s too late for me. I’ve probably already broken all seven commandments."
B. TEXT
1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the Word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Luke 1:1-4 NIV.
C. THESIS
1. It’s interesting that the “eyewitnesses” of Jesus were also called “servants of the Word.” The word ‘servant’ is the Greek word hyperetes; it’s translated as “servant” in the KJV in Mark 14:54 & John 18:36, and the NIV translators thought this is what Luke meant.
2. This is quite different than the “Enlightenment” movement that entered the seminaries 200 years ago, which promoted the idea that scholarship should doubt the Bible until proven by an outside source. They believed we’re above the Bible and should criticize it. Unbelief was the product and the old line denominations were subverted by it, even while archaeology, new manuscripts, and historical finds ended up proving the Bible was right all along.
3. That’s why you see supposedly Christian “documentaries” that don’t believe what the Bible says – Creation, Noah’s flood, Red Sea crossing, Virgin Birth, miracles of Jesus, His resurrection, etc. They follow the same hissing voice of the serpent heard in the Garden of Eden – “Did God REALLY say…?”
4. BUT INSTEAD, BELIEVERS ARE TO “SERVE” THE WORD OF GOD! Servant defined: 1. a person who performs duties for another; attendant, domestic, steward, vassal. 2. a devoted follower or supporter.
5. WHY SHOULD WE BE “SERVANTS OF THE WORD?”
I. THE WORD OF GOD IS DIVINE/ ETERNAL
A. NOT OF HUMAN ORIGIN
1. It looks like any other book, but it’s not. In Barnes & Noble, it’s thrown in with other books, but it’s not at all like them.
2. The words of this book are ALIVE! “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” Heb. 4:12. Zoe = “alive, active, moving!” They are words with spiritual power behind them. Jesus said, “The words I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life!” (John 6:63).
3. Once spoken, these words race to bring about their fulfillment. “He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly,” Ps. 147:15. “Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave” 1 Kgs. 8:56. God’s words created the universe – this demonstrates their incredible power! (Heb. 11:3)
B. OF DIVINE ORIGIN
1. These are not the words of a man, a king, or a president, but the words of God. The voice that speaks to us from the Bible is the voice of God.
2. 2 Tim. 3:16 says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” “Inspiration” = theopneustos, which means “God-breathed.”
3. In 2 Pet. 1:20-21, Peter says, “knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy NEVER CAME BY THE WILL OF MAN, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his words were on my tongue” 2 Sam. 23:2. Amos. 3:8; “The Lord God has spoken; who can but prophesy.”
4. God commands that no one add any words to Scripture, or take away any words from it, or divine judgment will fall on them (Rev.22:19; Prov. 30:6; Deut. 12:32).
5. THE BIBLE – THE ONLY WORD FROM GOD.
a. Many groups claim to have books of revelation from God – they are false! The Book of Mormon, the J.W.’s New World Translation, the none-canonical books, the apocrypha – all fail the tests of true inspiration from God. Nor are the Hindu Vedas or the Muslim Quran from the mouth of God.
b. The Bible has 1,000s of prophecies of the future which have been proven true. No other religion can make this boast. God challenges other supposed deities, “Tell us what the future holds, so we may know that you are gods!” Isa. 41:23. He says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come” Isa. 46:10.
c. Only the Bible is to be followed. Isa. 8:20, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” All other books besides the Bible originate with man, but not the Bible.
C. MISPLACING THE STANDARD
1. Darren Middleton once told how he built a picket fence around his front yard. He was very proud of it and bragged about it to his family.
2. A few days latter his father showed up. He went to Darren’s garage and got Darren’s level. He went out and checked the fence and came back to say that one section of it wasn’t level.
3. Darren said, “Now I had two options: I could take down the unlevel section and rebuild it level, or I could conveniently misplace the level, which seemed the easiest…solution.”
4. The scriptures are God’s level, by which we can test our actions, our thoughts, and our desires. God expects us to renew our minds by His Word and transform our behavior. But many people think it’s easier to just misplace the standard, but that won’t ultimately work.
II. THE WORD OF GOD IS SUPERIOR TO US
A. IT WILL JUDGE US
1. The attitude of early believers toward the Word was NOT that they were over it, but under it. They weren’t there to be critics of the Word and to judge it, but knowing that it would judge them.
2. John 12:48; “He that rejects Me, and receives not My words, has one that judges him: the Word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
B. WE WILL CONFORM TO IT
1. Paul called the O.T. “the embodiment of knowledge and truth” Rom. 2:20. It is the depository of knowledge revealed from God and His standard of truth, against which we are to compare our lives.
2. God’s Word guides the future to its ultimate fulfillment. “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished [fulfilled]” Matt. 5:18.
3. God said through Isaiah, “…so is My word that goes out from My mouth: it will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).
C. A SKEPTIC DECIDED TO READ THE BIBLE
1. A man, somewhat skeptical, sat down to read the Bible one hour each evening. After a while he said to his wife, "If this Book is right, we are wrong."
2. A few evenings later he said, "If this Book is right, we are lost."
3. Later he said, "If this Book is right, we may be saved." And they were.
III. THE WORD OF GOD IS FINAL
A. JESUS SPOKE OF ITS FINALITY
1. In Luke 16:29,31 the Lord Jesus said that the Scriptures are so sufficient in their warning to all people that no additional warning is necessary; “The Scriptures have warned them again and again….If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even though someone rises from the dead.” (Living Bible).
2. Jesus said the material universe will pass away, but even then, His words will be alive and active; “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” Mt. 24:35.
B. ATTITUDE OF JESUS TO THE WORD
1. Our Lord Jesus had a DEEP RESPECT for the Word. He trusted it implicitly. IT WAS HIS AUTHORITY: He consistently appealed to it, “It is written!”
2. The Lord BELIEVED THE O.T. TO BE OF DIVINE ORIGIN and even cause the future the come to pass. Mt. 26:54, “But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” Mark 14:49, “But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.
3. Jesus SAW the body of the O.T. AS A COHESIVE WHOLE which had an inherent unity. In John 10 He joined two O.T. scriptures together with the words, “And the Scripture cannot be broken.” (10:35)
4. Jesus also implied the voice of Scripture, even if not directly attributed to God, IS GOD SPEAKING. “He who made them from the beginning…said” Mt. 19:4f quoting Gen. 2:24.
5. In the Sermon of the Mount Jesus at times seemed to disagree with scripture “You’ve heard it said, ‘An eye for an eye’…but I say to you…” But in each instance HE DIDN’T CONTRADICT IT, but took it even further than it was before.
6. JESUS’ WORLDVIEW WAS BASED ON THE O.T. R.T. France found 64 allusions or quotes by Jesus of the O.T. This shows the degree to which Jesus based his thinking & worldview on the O.T. scriptures. [Leon Morris, “I Believe in Revelation,” p. 59.]
C. THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD ARE ON IT
1. The friend of an atheist left a Bible in his home, in the hope that he would read it. The atheist’s wife placed it on his study desk.
2. The sight of the Bible made the atheist furious. He tore off its cover, ripped out the pages, and flung them into his fireplace. He got some matches and set them all on fire.
3. As he watched, a puff of wind came down the chimney and carried one of the burning pages out of the fireplace and set it at his feet. He stamped the fire out, then picked it up, intending to throw it back in.
4. But he couldn’t help read the words on it, which were like a dagger in his heart; “Heaven and earth may pass away, but My words will never pass away.”
5. He read the rest of the page and was so touched by the words and the divine hand that conveyed it to him, that he prayed to God and became a Christian! [Knights New Illus., p. 42].
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. An old historical record tells how, during the 1800’s in one of the northern U.S. states, a man was forced, by dire circumstances, to cross a wide, frozen river in the early morning.
2. People around there had told him that the ice would not break under his feet, but he was terrified that he would plunge through and die by hypothermia. He ended up crawling on all-fours across the ice, thinking it would spread his weight out.
3. He was near the middle of the river when he was startled by a loud sound in the distance. He turned to see a man driving a heavy wagon carrying a load of pig iron, pulled by four horses, galloping across the river. Not even one crack developed in the ice as it passed by him!
4. Are you like that man? Have you been afraid to put your full confidence in the Word of God, because it might fail you? Let me assure you, like that ice, the Word of God will not fail. You can trust in it implicitly! It will hold whatever weight is put on it. [Knight’s New Illus., p. 27]
B. THE CALL
1. Have you been struggling with something and you need the comfort of the Scriptures? Maybe you need an answer to prayer and want to claim God’s promises.
2. Some of you may be like Darren who decided to “misplace the standard.” Maybe you’ve been ignoring some of God’s commands about your life, and you’d like to repent and begin to obey God. Raise your hands.
3. Maybe some of you have been neglecting to read God’s Word. There’s very little difference between unbelief of God’s Word and neglecting it. Let’s repent and begin being “doers and not just hearers” of the Word.
4. Prayer.
