The Word of God | Part 1

Is the Bible truly the Word of the King?

Welcome to Love Worth Finding featuring the dynamic teaching of pastor, teacher, and author Adrian Rogers. There is an ongoing war over the Bible. There are those who want the kingdom authority that God has promised his children. We must be under the authority of the Word of God. If you have your Bible, turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. We'll begin in verse 23 as Adrian Rogers discusses the Word of God. Take God's Word and turn to 1 Peter chapter 1 and in a moment we're going to begin reading in verse 23.

We've been talking about kingdom authority. God put you into his kingdom. He has given you back the dominion that Adam lost and he wants you to have authority in your life. You're not to be a slave of the world, the flesh, and the devil. You're not to be a victim. You are to be a victor. You are to be living in this life, reigning in this life in authority. But we have taught you that in order to have authority, you must submit yourself to authority. You can never be over those things that God wants you to be over until you're under those things that God has set over you. Does that make sense to you?

You must be under in order to be over. Now God does not give his authority to rebels. If you have a rebellious spirit, if you rebel against the authority that God has set over you, then God is not going to give kingdom authority to you.

To live without kingdom authority, what a tragic loss. Today we're going to talk to you about the authority of the Word of the Lord because when the King is supreme, then his Word is supreme. So we're talking to you today about the Word of the King and the Word of the King is the Word of God. Now let's read what the Scripture says about the Word of God and we're going to break in in verse 23. It tells us how we are saved.

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away, but the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word by which the Gospel is preached unto you.

Now it's very obvious that the theme there is the Word, the Word of the Lord, the Word of the King. What can you do with the Bible? Well, there are some who despise the Bible. They hate Christ, they hate the Bible, they hate churches, they hate you, they hate me, and they despise the Word of God. But not only are there those who despise the Bible, there are those who deny the Bible. They just simply say, I don't believe it. I don't accept it as the Word of God, and that settles it. They don't despise it or deny it, but they distort it. They claim to believe it, but they twist it and get fanciful interpretations and lead ministry claiming to believe the Bible, but they actually distort the Bible. Then there are others who don't distort it, but they dissect it.

Rather than reading it as a love story, they read it as a math book. And these are the people who can split a theological hair into 16 equal sections, but somehow they hear the words, but they never get the music. They don't know the language of the Bible, though they call themselves theologians. But these are not the greatest danger.

Today, the great danger in this crowd are those who disregard it. They claim to believe it, but very frankly, they know very little about it. Many who've been Christians for many years have not read all of the Bible. You're not conversant with the Bible. You don't know the themes of the Bible. You don't understand the great chapters of the Bible. Now, obviously, no one has mastered the Bible, but many of us have done so little of God's Word. Is it not true that many people spend a great deal of time with the newspapers and the television?

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, reading something that you don't believe and neglecting something you say you do believe?

Don't you think there's time for adjustment? 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. Look again in verse 23. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God. Now, the Bible calls itself by many terms, but God's favorite expression for the Bible is simply this, the Word of God.

Now, you find it here. Let me give you some other scriptures. For example, Acts 4, verse 31, they spake the Word of God with boldness. Romans 10, verse 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 17, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Hebrews 4, 12, and the Word of God is called the Word of God.

It's quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. Then I love this one, 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13, for this cause also, thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the Word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the Word of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God. Now, you say, Pastor, why is that important? Why do you call it the Word of God? Because, you see, if it is the Word of God, and it is, over 500 times in the first five books of the Bible, it is called the Word of God or something similar. Over 1,000 times in the books of the prophets, it says this is the Word of God. Over 4,000 times in the Old Testament, it uses this equivalent, the Word of God. Forty-four times in the New Testament, the Word of God. If that is true, that this book is the Word of God, then you can say this, when the Bible says this, when the Bible speaks, God speaks.

Now, 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, it is the entire error. It is the Word of God. And the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 6, every word of God is pure. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 4 verse 4, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth 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 given by the Holy Ghost.

Let me show you something beautiful. Did you know that God gave the same title as the Word of God or not? What I mean by that is that Jesus and the Bible are not identical, but they are inseparable. And you cannot separate the Word of the Lord from the Lord of that Word. And the Lord of the Word is called the Word of God, just as the Word itself is called the Word of God. Think of the similarities between Jesus and the Bible. Both have come from God. The Scriptures have come from God.

And the Bible says in Galatians 4 verse 4 that God sent forth His Son. The Word of the Lord will last forever. 1 Peter 1 verse 25, the Word of the Lord endureth forever. And Jesus endures forever. Revelation 1 18, He says, I am alive forevermore.

Amen. Both are unchanging. Jesus said in Matthew 5 verse 18, not a jot nor a tittle will fall from the law. The law be fulfilled. And Jesus is described in Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8 as the one who changes not Jesus Christ the same yesterday.

Today and forever. Both Jesus and the Bible are lights in a dark world. Jesus said in John 8 verse 12, I am the light of the world. And the Bible says of itself in Psalm 119 verse 105, thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. John 17 verse 17 says that the Bible is truth. Jesus said, thy word is truth. But in John 14 verse 6, Jesus said, I am the truth. You see, if you believe in Jesus, you have to believe in the Bible. If you believe in the Bible, you have to believe in Jesus.

You cannot separate the two. You think that the Bible as the incontestable Word of God has incredible power. That's the reason the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12, for the Word of God is quick and powerful. Now what does that mean quick and powerful? Well, the word quick is a translation of the word zoan. It's the word we get zoology from or zoo from. It means alive. It has life. And the word powerful is the Greek word energes.

It means it pulsates, it throbs with power. It's not like any other book. You read other books, this book reads you. It has power. It has life. And it has power. And I've learned that about preaching the Bible.

I've preached the Bible long enough to know this is not an ordinary book. It cuts. It burns.

It crushes. It has power. One man was translating the scriptures, and the more he got into the scriptures, translating the scriptures, he said, I became so impressed with the power of the Word of God, I felt like I was trying to rewire a house without cutting off the main switch. That's the power of the Word of God. So put this down in your heart and in your mind.

It is the word zoan. It is the Word of God. It is not like any other book. Believe this.

Believe this. 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. One man said, one way I know the Bible is the Word of God. It has stood up under so much shoddy preaching.

Amen. You know, you think about any other book that's had so many wackos and weirdos and fruit loops claiming to believe it. It would have gone the way. It would have been corrupted. But it stands today ever pure. Every Word of God is pure. Atheists have railed against the Bible. 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. Dear man, I had a lot of fellowship with Dr. Lee before he died. And he and I were friends.

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, 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. 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 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. And 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. Many centuries ago, there was a Roman emperor whose name was Diocletian. He hated the Bible. In the year 303 AD, he declared a war against the Bible. And Bibles were confiscated and destroyed. Men who named the name of Jesus were put to death, many of them with excruciating pain. He so hated the Bible that he took a Bible and burned it. And then on top of that burned Bible, he erected a monument and had chiseled on that monument these words. Extincto, nomini, Christianorum.

What does that mean? The name of Christian is extinct. That's what Diocletian said.

But Diocletian died and went to hell. And in 325 AD, Constantine enthroned the Bible as the infallible judge of truth in the first general church council. And the Bible came forth like that dove out of Noah's Ark.

What are we saying? We're saying that the Bible is the incorruptible Word of God. And in spite of all of the rantings and ravings of the naysayers, the Bible cannot fade nor decay. And the foul breath of time and the gnawing tooth of decay cannot destroy the Word of God.

Thank God for that. 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. And 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've 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. 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. Friends, 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, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

That's history's central event. And that's the Gospel. 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. And it goes 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 that Gospel comes right out of the Word of God. I'm not a prophet. I'm not an apostle.

But I'll tell you what. I can preach with the authority of a prophet and an apostle if I preach what the prophets and the apostles preached. Isn't that wonderful? You see, the Bible says we're built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. So I can stand up and say to you without stutter or stammer, this is the Word of the Lord. This book that we love so well, it provides the church's message.

And the church's message is the Gospel. And coming up tomorrow, we'll hear part two of this important lesson. But maybe today you have questions about who Jesus is, about how to have a relationship with God through Christ. Go to our Discover Jesus page at lwf.org slash radio, and you'll find resources and materials that will answer questions you may have about your faith. Again, go to lwf.org slash radio and click Discover Jesus at the top of the page. Now, if you'd like to order a copy of today's lesson in its entirety, you can call us at 1-877-LOVE-GOD to order the Word of God. This message is also part of the insightful series, The Incredible Power of Kingdom Authority. With that complete collection, all nine powerful messages, call 1-877-LOVE-GOD, or you can order online at lwf.org slash radio, or write us at Love Worth Finding.

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