Trinity Baptist Church March 26, 2006 True Values
Scripture is foundational
Matthew 7:24-27; 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Howard Hendricks used to say, “aim at nothing, and you’ll hit it every time.” That holds true of both people and organizations. When it comes to “doing life“ -- as individuals, or families or churches, we often find it more comfortable to just keep doing what we’ve been doing, instead of seeking new direction and moving intentionally in that direction. New direction means risk…discomfort…work. It might even mean admitting that our previous approach wasn’t right.
Churches certainly have a calling much grander than “aiming at nothing“. After all, we know Christ’s intent for us -- we have His direction, biblically and personally, as Head of the Church. Therefore, we have purpose, vision and values. Each of those involves aims we must intentionally pursue. I want to spend the next several weeks thinking about the what and why of what we call our Core Values.
What do we mean, as a church body, when we identify certain “core values“? For one thing, these are values we believe God has built into us as a fellowship, over time. That doesn’t mean that we’ve “arrived” when it comes to each value. Our values are in part who and what we are -- they’re also who and what we want to be.
Core values are also principles we’ve recognized as ones which we together value. They’re strong motivations to us. They have begun to define who we are and how we operate as a body. These values permeate and help guide us in ministry. So, we teach them, and we apply them when we discuss, for instance, what topics or books we’ll study on Sunday morning, or in small groups.
The first on our list of Values is in your worship folder: “Scripture is foundational”. This first value reminds us that the Bible and only the Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant Word. Because of what the Bible is, it is therefore sufficient and authoritative for us as a church. It therefore is the source of our teaching, and what we urge people to read, study and allow to transform their lives. Those are some of the issues we’ll consider today.
Scripture: the right foundation
To begin with, let’s think about the well-known comparison Jesus made in Matthew chapter 7. Look back at Matthew 7:24 with me. Jesus said, Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against the house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock.
You know the rest of the story. The wise man chose a solid rock foundation. The foolish man did things the easy way, so his foundation was very different: it was sand. In reality he had no foundation at all. Jesus emphasizes here the great need we each have to found our lives on something. And we all do. There’s not a person alive who doesn’t search here and there,
and locate some foundation for life. It might be called a “philosophy of life“, or an “idol“, a “security blanket“, or someone’s “central motivation of life“. It’s gets labeled lots of things.
But Jesus refers here to this powerful concept of a “foundation“. The foundation of course, is what the rest of a structure is built upon. He’s describing the secure, supporting structure for all of life.
With the right foundation, everything’s in order. The house -- or the life -- will stand. With the wrong one, disaster is one storm away. And then Jesus describes an inundating storm, the kind of frog-strangling rain and wind and storm that will come and will make short work of the house with sand under it. The one life stands confidently and securely, the other comes apart at the seams.
Let me make 3 Observations about foundations before we move to our other passage.
First, we choose life’s foundation.
I’ve always liked Josh McDowell’s statement about choices. He says, “you can choose your choices but you can’t choose the consequences” (of your choices). Choice is inherent in Jesus‘ words. He observes that some people will hear His Words, pay close attention, and respond accordingly -- and some will not. The foundation is a choice.
A second observation: appearances can be deceiving.
I imagine Gary Unruh (building subcontractor) will back me up on this. You examine two new identical houses -- built near each other, and you’d have a hard time determining that one had a foundation sitting on bedrock and the other rested on 20 feet of fill dirt. The way Jesus tells the story, both houses would have looked the same from the ground up -- from outward appearances. We won’t know the reality of things until later.
We often fool each other outwardly. Two people come to church or attend your small group. Both talk about Christ and Scripture. Each one can quote a verse, or explains something from the Word. Both might even teach SS or lead a Bible study. Both sound equally sound and secure.
But -- and here’s the 3rd observation.
Storms reveal the nature of the foundation we chose.
And of course, by the time the storm arrives, it’s too late to do anything about the foundation. As Jesus described them, both houses experience the same sort of storm. Torrential rain, gale-force winds, a wicked unrelenting storm that tests each house down to
its very core. One passes the test and the other doesn’t. What Jesus says is, life is going to show up, in all its brute force, and when it does, it will show up your core. Life happens.
Hard, tough, mean, things happen to every single one of us.
It might be the long-term stresses of life, or crisis and disaster. It might be that over time, stress cracks show up in a marriage. Or maybe you or someone you love dearly gets a chronic or life-threatening disease. Or, along comes financial stress, maybe a financial disaster. You lose your job. And all of a sudden, one person stands strongly and solidly, and the other person falls to pieces.
Living life with a faulty foundation is like a train traveling smoothly over a good stretch of track, and then suddenly, a switch causes it to “jump tracks” -- it travels on a parallel track for a while, but then the second track veers off course and maybe toward disaster. Jesus’ words to us here are not light-weight. It’s something we need to sit up and hear, and take to heart. So, how do we apply it? Let’s talk for the rest of our time about How to get the right foundation (2 Timothy 3:14-17) in life.
Matt also heard read Paul’s familiar words to Timothy. Let’s move over there to 2 Timothy, chapter 3. If Paul were to answer the question for us of getting the right foundation into our lives, he’d tell us, you first need to
1. Recognize that Scripture comes from God. (3:16)
Let’s not gloss over that term recognize. I don’t mean we should sign on the line of a doctrinal statement and affirm, “yes, the Bible is God’s Word.” There’s more to it than that, if it’s going to make a difference in our lives. We need to respond to the Truth that when we pick up this book, and only this book, we hold the recorded words of God.
Verse 16 describes a process by which God transmitted His thoughts, ideas and words to us in human language. It’s in the English word inspired. All of Scripture, Paul writes, is given by the process: by this act of inspiration. The Greek word says to us that God literally breathed out all of His Word. Peter described how the writers of Scripture were born along, they were carried along by God’s Spirit to record what God spoke through them.
This isn’t just another historical book. It’s not simply a piece of great literature. In the words of God’s book, God Himself speaks and God reveals Himself. We no longer need to rely on generalities or prophets, or dreams or visions. God has spoken -- and He spoke precisely, propositionally in human words. You don’t have to study the writings of a hundreds of rabbis and priests and church fathers. You don’t need special glasses to get at God’s message.
You don’t need someone else’s revelation to interpret for you what the Bible says. It’s right here for you to read and study and comprehend -- it’s here to impact your life.
There are implications if this is God’s Book and God’s words. If it is, it’s reliable. God’s inspiration of the original written words means His Word is trustworthy. Joshua 24:25 says, nothing failed in all that God spoke to Israel: it all came to pass. You can trust His Word.
If it came from God, it’s authoritative. This becomes the crux of the matter of Scripture becoming the foundation of your life. If God spoke, the issues of life and death and eternity and Truth are settled. If God spoke, this Book isn’t something to stimulate my intellect it’s something to determine the course of life. You need to settle this one. Jesus said it in Matthew 7, the one who hears my Words and does them, he’s the one like a wise man who builds on the rock. So settle it in your heart and mind and will: these written words are the very words of God. We are under its authority.
Because it’s His Word, it’s sufficient. Scripture’s sufficiency means we don’t need any more special revelation. All that we need, in order to know God through Christ, and to know His desires for us, is provided us. Peter wrote, God’s divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). He tells Timothy here in 3:17, Scripture is all you need to be equipped and readied to do God’s desire.
There’s a second step in getting the right foundation. Paul’s urge to young Timothy.
2. Continue in God’s Word. (3:14)
Paul writes in verse 14, continue in what you have learned. That means first to learn what he Bible says. Timothy would have had only the OT and maybe a few of Paul’s writings. But he had the written words of God, and Paul urges him to learn what it had to say.
You, for yourself, need to seriously learn what Scripture has to say. You can’t inherit this one. You can’t fake it. Rock solid foundations don’t appear in our lives because we hang around people who are solidly founded. You will need to imbibe Scripture for yourself.
Continue also means make it a steady diet. That of course, requires repeated exposure. Repeated reading. Study. Hearing it explained and taught. I trust you’re not laboring under the delusion that hearing a weekly sermon or going to a Bible study taught by someone else will get you to the place where Scripture is your life’s foundation.
And, please don’t think that a little devotional booklet with a verse or a paragraph for the day suffices to get your foundation solid. I take 8-10 different vitamins and supplements every morning. But it’s a rare morning that I get out the door thinking those little pills will keep me going until lunch time.
You can’t get what the Bible has for you by reading it once or occasionally. To continue means to go on. It means regular, repeated intake of Scripture being the long-term objective of life. I said earlier we all have a foundation in life. The problem is we’ve got the wrong one. Our worldview, our thinking, the way we approach relating, marriage, communicating, dealing with material things, all of life -- is impacted by the foundation we’ve got.
The way to get a new foundation is to replace all of those ideas and thoughts and emotions and approaches with Scripture. That will take a serous commitment to get it into my life.
The third step is to
3. Allow it to have full impact. (3:16)
Jesus said it in His illustration in Matthew 7. The one who hears my Word and acts on it. The great mistake in our approach is to read, or to hear God’s Word, and not follow through. Paul describes for Timothy the great benefits Scripture -- all which will result in its full impact on life.
First,
It teaches me Truth
Verse 16 says, it’s profitable for teaching. Paul reminds Timothy that, unlike the folks earlier in chapter 3 who abandon sound teaching, Timothy’s faith in Christ is rooted in conviction about the Truth of God’s Word. He primarily has in mind the OT Scriptures. But he says, the truth was one on which His faith could be solidly built.
The term teaching sounds like a process in English. But in Greek it describes content -- Paul’s repeatedly described a body of truth. The teachings of Scripture were a deposit of Truth. Scriptural understanding gives us a body of truth which changes thinking and behavior.
The more you read and study the Bible, the more you hear it taught, day after day, you’re building that body of Truth. The more it expands, the more God’s Truth affects all of life.
It’s not automatic, but you must begin with content. You can’t believe what you don’t know. You can’t obey what you don’t know. Scripture impacts me when I begin getting the body of Truth.
Secondly,
It exposes my sin
That’s reproof in verse 16. The word means to convict. As I read over and over in the Bible, I am show issues in my life which I may never have considered bad or wrong previously. It might be some area of blatant disobedience. Some of us think that because we’re under grace, we can do whatever we feel like doing. Scripture corrects that concept. It might be issues of my secret motives and twisted thinking. Hebrews 4:12 says God’s Word is like a super sharp sword which penetrates down where no one else sees, right into my thoughts and motives and intentions. No one can read you like Scripture can and will. No one can nail your sin like Scripture can. That may be why you avoid it, but that’s precisely why you need it’s impact in you day by day.
Third,
It corrects me.
It’s profitable for correction. That means it doesn’t just show me how I’ve gotten off-track, Scripture actually gets me back on God’s track. It tells me “go this way.“ The Bible has the power, when I’m in it seriously, to lead me to freedom and life as God laid it out. God’s Word doesn’t just point to how I’m blowing it, it powerfully shows me how to live.
It builds and strengthens me. Paul said in Acts 20:32 that Scripture is able to build up you.
It matures us like no other input ever will.
Fourth,
It trains me how to live.
That’s the reference there to training in righteousness. It’s the Greek word used to describe child-rearing. God’s Word bring us up, it nurtures us,
it causes us to grow us like we will never grown on our own.
The time you spend in obedience-oriented reading and study will mature you. It will get you out of spiritual childhood and into spiritual adulthood and leadership. Paul wrote the Corinthians and described their immaturity like this in chapter 3 of 1 Corinthians. Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. He said, I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. (3:1, 2)
He says these Christians are still running around the church with a milk bottle or jar of baby food in hand, instead of moving on, and enjoying the five-course meals that Scripture can provide us. The major difference between mature and immature believers is the commitment, effort and follow-through of getting Scripture into life. It’s time and effort in regular hearing, reading, studying, memorizing, meditating that causes a different foundation to be formed in the mature person.
Therefore, in verse 17, it makes me available to God. It makes us useful. That’s the upshot of the concept of Scripture making the man or woman of God adequate and equipped.
Paul writes to a younger minister -- that’s why he talks about a man of God. But this is for everyone who’s a follower -- for everyone who wants life to be an effective investment in the kingdom. If you want to be a kingdom person, God’s Word will prepare you and make you adequate. If you allow it’s impact as we’ve seen described, it will make you fit, complete, competent, and capable. Scripture gets you completely to where God wants you to be.
There’s not a task or assignment or responsibility God has laid out for you which His Word
will not equip you to accomplish.
Steps I need to take
There’s an illustration on the screen (PPT) you’ve seen before: the Hand Illustration (The Navigators) It presents to us 5 ways we can get the written Word into our lives. It also demonstrates that if we’re habitual and intentional about those methods we’ll get a good grasp on the Bible.
First, comes hearing. Hearing is listening to God’s Word taught and explained. We retain about 5% of what we hear for just the next 24 hours, so even though it’s a great idea to hear Scripture taught, it’s the weakest of the efforts.
Then comes Reading -- I think of Bible reading as getting an overview. There are great Bible reading guides you can get to systematically read through the Bible in a year, or in two years. Like the second of my five fingers, that gives me a little better grasp on the whole Bible. Again, much of what I read doesn’t become an active part of your memory, and yet, like a meal my wife cooked two or three weeks ago, even though I can‘t remember the menu, I still profited from it by getting nourished.
Next is study. In Acts, Luke describes the Christians in Berea, who just didn’t listen to Paul and others teach -- they went home and searched the Scriptures to see if what they had heard aligned with God’s Word. Studying means going deep into a topic or a single passage.
We’re going to put more emphasis on the small groups and adult SS groups studying passages and books of the Bible. I encourage you and challenge you to be in a group where serious Bible study is taking place.
You realize with each kind of exposure, your grip on the Bible gets stronger. Then we come to a tough word.
Memorize -- 24 hours after hearing you retain 5%, 24 hours after reading most people have 15%, after studying, it’s 35%. With memorizing you keep close to 100%. People with poor memories can memorize Scripture. Scripture memory pays more dividends in your life that any other method because it gets God’s Word to bear on life in the moment you need it most. It might be for temptation, it might come to mind during storms in life. God’s Word addresses all the issues we face and if we’ve got some of it memorized, we’ve got ammunition.
Last is Meditation -- David wrote in the Psalms, I meditate on your Word day and night. The fruit of knowing Scripture is the ability to meditate on what you know well. Meditation is prayerful thought, over and over, about a verse, a phrase, a word from Scripture -- it’s thinking about what it means, but then most importantly -- how it applies in life.
As much as we might like the sand on a warm sunny beach, it doesn’t make a good foundation for life. I believe most of you want the foundation Jesus described. You need to know, it’s not too late. Tomorrow is the best day to start, however. Would you take two or three areas on this hand illustration and make them your objective for the next 3 or 4 months.
Set out a plan. Pick up a Bible reading guide on the back table. Get into a Bible study or small group and participate. Do the homework, attend the discussions, apply what you learn.
Begin with your spouse to memorize a verse a week. Shut your TV off for 3 hours a week and study a chapter every week. It doesn’t have to be everything at once, but I need to ask you: what will you do? What is your plan, to master the Bible -- and to progressively establish God’s Word as the foundation of your life?
