The Word of God | Part 2

The Bible is the only one of its kind.

It is alive! What other book is like the Bible? It is the indestructible Word of God. As we begin our Bible, turn to 1 Peter chapter 1, we'll begin in verse 23, as Adrian Rogers concludes this powerful message, the Word of God.

I want to ask you a question. How many of you believe with all of your heart that the Bible is the Word of God? How many of you believe everything you read in the newspaper and see on television? Now, how many of you spend more time with the newspapers than you do with the Word of God? You're reading something that you don't believe and neglecting something you say you do believe. Don't you think there's time for adjustment?

Don't you think that we better get things in priority? This is the Word of the King. And we're going to learn how to have authority when we get under the authority of the Word of God. Now, let me give you four things about the Bible that I pray will burn themselves into your heart.

Four things about the Word of the King. First of all, it is God's incontestable Word, God's incontestable Word. What I mean by that is this, that we cannot, we cannot come up against the Bible successfully. There's no contest there because the Bible is just what it says it is, the Word of God. Listen, when the Bible speaks, God speaks. And if God is speaking in the Bible, what conclusions must you therefore draw? If it is the Word of God, then it must be perfect.

Amen? All right, it's absolute perfection if it is the Word of God. For the Bible says in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God.

And a God of truth could not inspire error. It is the Word of God. The Bible was given by God.

He used human penmen. Their ideas, their expressions, their personalities are all reflected in the Bible. But holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. When the Bible speaks, God speaks.

When the Bible speaks, God speaks. It is the Word of God. It is the incontestable Word of God.

Now here's the second thing. Not only is it the incontestable Word of God, it is the incorruptible Word of God. Look now in verse 23, being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God. Now why do we say it is incorruptible? Because it has not a taint nor a blemish of any corruption upon it. And it will remain that way. There's nothing men can do to add any corruption to the Word of God.

Now plenty have tried. But it stands today ever pure. Every Word of God is pure. Atheists have railed against the Bible. Cynics and agnostics have smiled at it. Liberals have moved heaven and earth to remove its miracles. Materialists have ignored it.

Radicals and false cults have twisted it. And yet it is the incorruptible Word of God. Dr. Robert G. Lee was my predecessor once removed. A dear man, I had a lot of fellowship with Dr. Lee before he died.

And he and I were friends and I had the responsibility and the privilege to preach his funeral when he died. But Dr. Lee said this about the Bible. And I've copied it down. It is so beautiful.

I want you to listen to it. We're talking about the Bible being incorruptible. And he said, quote, All its enemies have not torn one hole in its holy vesture or stolen one flower from its wonderful garden, nor diluted one drop of honey from its abundant hive, nor broken one string on its thousand-stringed heart, nor drowned one sweet word in infidel ink.

Don't you like that? The Bible is the incontestable Word of God because it is just that. It is the Word of God.

It is the incorruptible Word of God. You say, well, pastor, we live in a day of modern science. Does it bother you when science contradicts the Bible?

No, it does not. Friend, I am not worried about modern science. Give the scientists time. Maybe one day they'll catch up with the Word of God. And don't worry about it.

Don't worry about it. When a scientist has something good to say about the Bible, that doesn't give me any more faith in the Bible, just a little more faith in the scientists. It is the incorruptible Word of God. It is the incontestable Word of God. It is the incorruptible Word of God.

Now, here's the third thing I want you to learn about the Bible. It, friend, is the indestructible Word of God, the indestructible Word of God. Look, if you will, in the last part of verse 23. It is the Word of God which liveth and abideth... What's that next word?

Forever. And then look, if you will, in the last part of this text, verse 25. But the Word of the Lord endureth forever. The Bible is not the book of the month. It is the book of the ages. Now, it took some 1,500 years to write, and the writers spanned some 30 generations of world history. And the Bible was written by men who died some 2,000 to 3,000 years ago. But today it's the most widely circulated book. Thank God for this book. It is fresh.

It is alive. What other book is like the Bible? It is the indestructible Word of God. Century after century, men have tried to bury it or burn it.

The kings of the earth have set themselves against it, and even the public schools in America seem to be dead set against it. I read somewhere where a man was told to build a wall that would not fall down. He said, all right.

He said, I'll do it. And he built a wall that was four feet high and five feet wide. And he said, now if anybody pushes this wall over, it will be a foot taller than it was before they pushed it over. And, friend, that's the way the Word of God is. It seems that the more men come against the Word of God, the more the Word of God seems to prosper and to grow.

Now, here's the final thing, and we're going to slow down here just a moment when we get to the final thing. We said the Bible is the incontestable Word of God because it is just that, the Word of God. We said that the Bible, this wonderful book, is not only incontestable, but we said that it is incorruptible. It's the Word of God, incorruptible seed. And we said it's indestructible.

But here's the thing I really want you to see. The Word of God, the Bible, is the indispensable Word of God. The indispensable Word of God. Look, if you will, in verse 25. But the Word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the Word by which the gospel is preached unto you. Now, no Bible, no church, no Bible, no Christianity. Why is the Bible so important? Well, he's talking about the Word. And he says this is the Word by which the gospel is preached unto you.

I want you to know three things about this right now. The Bible, the King's Word, provides the church's message. What is the church's message? The gospel. We have no other message but the gospel. Paul said, I knew nothing among you except Jesus and him crucified. Friend, everything that we preach springs from the gospel and relates back to the gospel. That is the message of the church.

Do you know what I want to be known as? I want to be known as a gospel preacher. And what is the gospel? Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he was raised again the third day. That's the gospel. He died for our sins and he was raised from the dead. I hope you believe the death, burial, history's central event. And that gospel doesn't need to be rethought.

It needs to be retaught. We don't need a new and a modern gospel for a new and a modern age. I am content to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the Bible from cover to cover that tells about the gospel. Don't get the idea that the gospel is only found in the New Testament. The gospel is found in the first pages of Genesis all the way through the Bible. The Bible teaches us that Jesus saves. The Bible has one villain, the devil. It has one hero, Jesus, and it has one message, Jesus saves.

I hope you understand that. This is the word by which the gospel is preached unto you. I enjoy being called a gospel preacher.

I'd rather be known as a gospel preacher than be known as an intellectual. And I know that there are a lot of people who can preach the gospel better than I can, but nobody can preach a better gospel than I can because the gospel comes right out of the Word of God. This book that we love so well, it provides the church's message, and the church's message is the gospel. Now, secondly, not only does it provide the message, but, folks, it prescribes the method.

Now, the message and the method are tied together. Now, look in verse 25. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word by which the gospel is... What's that next word? Preached unto you. The method is preaching. I don't say that because I'm a preacher, but I'm telling you that God's plan for the church is for the gospel to be preached.

Now, in many churches, preaching has gone out of vogue, out of style, and we've tried with pageants and plays and suppers and concerts and many other things to somehow get some substitution for the preaching of the Word of God. But the Bible makes it very clear that the method is the preaching of the Word of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18 says, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. And 1 Corinthians 1 verse 21 says, For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It doesn't say foolish preaching, but the foolishness of preaching. You see, the church's method is the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It may be preaching from a pulpit. It may be preaching in a Bible study. It may be going door to door, but taking the message of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and proclaiming that message.

Now, here's the third thing. It produces the church's members. Look, if you will, again in verse 23.

Look at it. It's born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. You see, the Bible is seed that is alive, and you put a seed in the ground, and it brings forth life that corresponds to the life that was put in that ground.

I have preached long enough to know that there's life in the Bible. God's Word is like a sword that cuts. It's like a fire that burns. It's like a water that quenches thirst.

It is like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. It is like seed that brings forth life, and it is the Word of God that produces the church's members, and the Bible says we're born again, not by corruptible seed, but by incorruptible by the Word of God. The Bible teaches a regenerate church membership. The Bible teaches that those who are members of the church are not members of the church simply because their parents were members of the church. They must be born again.

They must have a new birth. Jesus said to Nicodemus, who was already religious, you must be born again. You see, if you only are born once, you will die twice. The first death is the physical death. The second death is eternal death in the lake of fire, and if you're only born once and die twice, you'll wish you'd never been born at all.

But if you're born twice, you can only die once, and how are you born again? Being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God. It is an astounding thing. It is an amazing thing, but I've seen it happen now for over four decades that I've been preaching the Word of God. Preach the Gospel, tell the truth, pray, be anointed by the Holy Spirit, and there's something supernatural that takes place. People's lives are radically, dramatically, eternally changed by the Word of God.

Isn't that wonderful? It's seed that gives life as you preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and people hear the Word of truth. That's the reason that Jesus said in John chapter 6, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life. That's the reason the apostle Paul described his preaching as holding forth the Word of life. You see, it is the indispensable, indispensable Word of God. It is the incontestable Word of God. It is the incorruptible Word of God. It is the indestructible Word of God, and therefore it is the indispensable Word of God. Now, when we get under that word, we have incredible authority.

I had an article that I clipped from a magazine. Billy Graham is talking. Billy Graham said that when he started his ministry as a young man, he had those questions many times that he had, and he said he had some doubts in his mind concerning the Word of God, and he said he had very little power in his ministry. And then in this article that I want to share with you, he tells what happened to him in the year 1949.

He got alone in the mountains of Los Angeles, and this is what he said. He said, I'd been having many doubts concerning the Bible. I thought I saw apparent contradictions in Scripture, some things I could not reconcile with my restricted concept of God. When I stood up to preach, the authoritative note so characteristic of all great preachers of the past was lacking. Like hundreds of other young seminary students, I was waging the intellectual battle of my life.

The outcome could certainly affect my ministry. And then he says, I remember walking down a trail tramping into the woods and almost wrestling with God. I dueled with my doubts. My soul seemed to be caught in the crossfire. Finally, in desperation, and here's the key, I surrendered my will to the living God revealed in Scripture. I knelt before the open Bible and said, Lord, many things in this book I do not understand, but thou hast said, The just shall live by faith. All I have received from thee I have taken by faith. Here and now by faith I accept the Bible as thy word. I take it all, I take it without reservations.

Where there are things I cannot understand, I will reserve judgment until I receive more light. If it pleases thee, give me authority as I proclaim thy word, and through that authority convict me of sin and turn sinners to the Savior. And then he tells how he began that great Los Angeles Crusade where thousands were swept into the kingdom of God, and Billy Graham's ministry then began to have a worldwide import, and he said as he was preaching the Word of God, he says there, The people were not coming to hear great oratory, nor were they interested merely in my ideas. I found they were desperately hungry to hear what God had to say through his Holy Word. I felt as though I had a rapier in my hand and as though the power of the Bible was slashing deeply into men's consciences, leading them to surrender to God. Does not the Bible save itself, being 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 the marrow and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart? I found that the Bible became a flame in my hands.

That flame melted away unbelief in the hearts of people and moved them to decide for Christ. The Word became a hammer breaking up stony hearts and shaping them into the likeness of God. Did not God say, I will make my words in thy mouth fire? And is not my word like as a fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? And then he sums up this article by saying, It is my conviction that the preaching of the gospel is to be authoritative if it is to produce conviction of sin, if it is to challenge men and women to walk in newness of life, if it is to be attended by the Spirit's power, then the Bible with its discerning, piercing, burning message must become the basis of our preaching. Do you know why Billy Graham has been used of the Lord? He goes on to say, I use the phrase the Bible says because the Word of God is the authoritative basis of our faith. That's what I'm trying to say to you. This is the word by which the gospel is preached.

No stutter, no stammer, no apology. I have found out that when you don't apologize for the Bible but preach the Bible, it goes through the devil's lies like a cannonball, a white-hot cannonball through a crate of eggs. There is power in the Word of God, power to proclaim it and Satan does not want you to understand the authority of the Word of God. When Satan came against Jesus and tempted Jesus and tried to get Jesus into sin, what did Jesus do? Jesus did not come against Satan with emotion. Jesus did not come against Satan with reason. Jesus did not come against Satan with threats. Jesus took the Word of God and said, it is written, it is written, it is written and three times Jesus ran him through with the Word of God and Satan retreated.

Satan does not like the authority of the Word of God and when you get under authority, when the Bible becomes your authority, when the Word of the Lord and the Lord of the Word become your authority, then when you stand on the Word of God, Satan and all of his minions will flee and you are going to have authority for your life. How do you know that you're saved? How do you know that you're going to heaven? Because of your goodness? Because of your deeds?

Because of your emotions? As a teenage boy, I professed my faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized, but for two years, I had no real assurance of my salvation. Up and down, up and down till one day I learned the gospel from the Word, really understood it. I bowed my head on the street corner, the corner of 39th Street in Calvin Avenue in West Palm Beach.

I just walked my sweetheart home, the sweet lady I'm married to right now and I was a teenage boy. I had to get it settled. I began to pray. I said, Lord, I don't know whether I'm saved and the devil's trying to make me doubt it or whether I'm lost and the Holy Spirit has me under conviction, but I have no peace and I need to get it settled. And I said, Lord, your Word says, your Word says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. I said, God, that is your Word. And I looked up into the heavens, not in disrespect, but I wanted to look into the face of God with my eyes wide open.

And I said, Lord, now, once and for all, now and forever, as much as in me is, I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I trust your Word. I don't look for a sign.

I don't ask for a feeling. I stand on your Word. Save me. If I was saved, I still am, but if I wasn't, I am now.

I drive down a peg. I trust you now as my Lord and Savior. And I stood on the Word of God and I can tell you by the authority of the Word, I knew that moment and from ever forward that I know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. That is the authority of the Word of God. It's authority when you proclaim it.

It is authority when you stand on it. The Bible is the Word of the King. And if you want kingdom authority, you're going to have to be under those authorities that God has put over you. First of all, the Lord of the Word.

Secondly, the Word of that Lord, the Word of the King. And if you prayed to receive Jesus today, we would love to celebrate with you and invite you to our Discover Jesus page on the website. You'll find answers there you may need about your newfound faith. We have a response section where you can share your testimony with us or how this message has made a difference in your life. Simply go to lwf.org slash radio and click the tab that says Discover Jesus. Welcome to God's forever family.

We can't wait to hear from you today. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of this message, you can call us at 1-877-LOVE-GOD and request the title The Word of God. This message is also part of the insightful series The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority. For that complete collection, all nine powerful messages, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD or go online to order at lwf.org slash radio.

Or you can write us at Love Worth Finding Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee 38183. Do you see the Bible as the incontestable, incorruptible, indestructible, indispensable Word of God? Adrian Rogers said, We can never have kingdom authority, speak or preach with authority, witness with authority, live with authority, until we get under the authority of the Word of God. And we hope you'll join us next time for more timeless truth right here on Love Worth Finding. A listener sent an encouraging message recently. It said this, I listen to Pastor Rogers every morning and truly cherish the daily devotionals you send me. May the revival of this land start with me in my heart and spread throughout my community. This is my prayer request.

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