Submitting To The Authority Of God’s Word

Illus: When I think about submission I think about the three fellows talking about submission in their marriage.

Two of them were bragging about how that they rule their house by having their wife under submission.

• After a while one of the first two turns to the third and says, "Well, what about you, what sort of control you have over your wife?"

• The third fellow says "I’ll tell you. Just the other night my wife came to me on her hands and knees."

• The first two guys were amazed. "What happened then?" they asked.

• "She said, ’get out from under the bed and fight like a man you coward!"

Submission is a major part of our daily life:

(1) An employer has the AUTHORITY to tell

His employees:

• What time to be there and what time they can leave.

• What time to take a brake

• What time for lunch

• How he/she wants the job done

They have that authority and the employee has to submit to it.

(2) The government has the AUTHORITY to tell you how much taxes you are to pay, and you have to submit to their authority

(3) As a car driver the government has the AUTHORITY to tell you how fast you are allowed to drive around town, and you have to submit to that authority.

Illus: If we do not SUBMIT to the AUTHOIRTY of the government they will give you FREE room and board in the local jail.

In this sermon I want to focus on the AUTHORITATIVE WORD OF GOD.

God is our CREATOR and He expects us to SUBMIT TO HIM AS OUR CREATOR.

God can communicate with mankind in two ways:

(1) Spoken Word

(2) Written Word

Illus: If God was to speak to anyone in this congregation they would obey Him immediately. But it is amazing if God speaks to mankind through the Written Word some will completely ignore the written Word of God.

He gives us the WRITTEN WORD OF GOD and He expects us to SUBMIT TO THE AUTHORITY OF HIS WORD as well as His Spoken Word.

On the judgment day every one of us will be held accountable if we have SUBMITTED TO THE WORD GOD!!!

WHAT DOES HE SAY ABOUT HIS WRITTEN WORD?

We read in Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Listen to what the Bible says about the AUTHORITATIVE WORD OF GOD.

Illus: John Calvin tells us when the AUTHORITATIVE WORD OF GOD IS PREACHED, HE SAID, "Whenever the Lord addresses us by his word, he deals seriously with us, in order that he may touch all our inmost thoughts and feelings; and so there is no part of our soul which ought not to be roused."

THE WORD OF GOD IS POWERFUL!!!

When God’s Word is preached:

• God’s AUTHORITATIVE WORD there will be Christians sitting there in the pew and thinking someone has told that preacher about the way I am living in sin.

• WHEN THE AUTHORITATIVE WORD GOD IS PREACHED there will be lost people sitting in the pew and the Holy Spirit will began to deal with them about their sinful life.

The Word of God is powerful when it is preached.

However, we continually hear times have changed in this age in which we live and the Bible is no longer adequate for the age in which we live!!!

Listen a church may change their doctrine to fit the age in which they live but the WORD OF GOD NEVER CHANGES.

Look at Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

• Jot; is the name of the smallest Hebrew letter.

• Tittle; point or corner of a letter.

The idea is, not the smallest part of His Word will pass away.

God has placed and preserved the Word of God in our life as the AUTHORITATIVE WORD OF GOD to tell us:

• Who is qualified to serve in His Church as church officers

• How we are to live the Christian life

• What is sin and what is not sin.

• How often we are to pray and search the scriptures.

WHAT IS THE WORD OF GOD?

The Bible is not the book of the month. It’s the Book of the Ages.

Did you know…?

• It took 1,500 years for the Bible to be written.

• Its authors spanned 30 generations.

• It was completed 2,000 years ago, yet it’s still fresh today.