Avizandum. In Scots law, this term describes the careful consideration given by the judge before an important decision. Join me each week as we explore various topics from a spiritual perspective and take matters avizandum. The human heart searches for meaning, purpose, and truth. In this podcast, I want to say a few words about the truth.
Meaning and purpose flow from truth. Get truth wrong, and your life will go off track. Every time I stand behind the pulpit at Calvary Church, Charlotte, where I serve as senior pastor, I ask people to open their Bibles. Regrettably, fewer and fewer people are bringing their Bibles to church. They'll bring bottles of water.
They'll bring their iPhones, but a Bible. I know that there are apps on iPhones of the Bible, but the experiencing of opening your Bible, reading, and feeling the pages is, at least for me, a transcendent experience. Why is that? I firmly believe that the Bible is the Word of God. And as it is the word of God, it's absolutely true.
God cannot lie; His word is true, utterly faithful, reliable, and trustworthy. Why then should I give an inspirational message, or five techniques to spice up your life, or give my commentary on the politics of the day or social justice? My calling is to glorify God through the exposition of His Word, the Word of God, going systematically through the Holy Scriptures. All of the truths that we need to know regarding God, ourselves, salvation, sanctification, our origins, our destiny, our meaning in life, and so on—all of them are addressed in the Holy Scriptures.
So the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Now, that was the English Standard Version translation. Other translations say that all Scripture. Is inspired by God. That is, Scripture is the very breath of God. It comes from God.
It's living, powerful, true, eternal. God used a human instrument to write His words. Peter the Apostle explains that no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man. But men spoke from God, as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. That's the second epistle by Peter, chapter one, verse twenty-one.
The very words of Scripture come from God. Therefore, when the Bible speaks, God is speaking. Jesus, the Son of God, believed that the Scriptures are truth. In his high priestly prayer to his Father, he said, "Your word is truth." The Holy Scriptures not only contain the truth or point to the truth; they are the truth. Jesus also said, "Scripture cannot be broken," as John chapter ten, verse thirty-five.
And when our Lord was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, he answers, "It is written." Again, it is written. For it is written, and one of the scriptures our Lord Jesus quotes is in Deuteronomy chapter eight: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." It is the word that comes or proceeds from the mouth of God. The emphasis here that it is living. It is eternal and comes present tense from the mouth of God.
So the apostle Paul has this high view of Scripture. In Romans three verse two, he refers to the Jews being entrusted with the oracles of God. The two tablets of the testimony were written by the finger of God. Exodus thirty one verse eighteen. And what we find in the New Testament is also true of the Old Testament.
When our Lord Jesus is quoting Psalm 110 in Mark 12:36, he writes, "David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared." Jesus clearly believes that the Old Testament scriptures were the oracles of God, the very Word of God. And Psalms 19 and 119 emphasize that the Word of God is true.
So, for example, in Psalm 119, verse 160, we read, "The sum of your Word is truth." So, Scripture is revealed from a true God, and the Holy Scriptures are the only infallible writings. Everything else must be subordinate to God's truth, to the Holy Scriptures. They come from God; they're God's living Word. Church confessions, the writings of the church fathers, the pronouncements of the Pope, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Articles of Faith of Calvary Church, and so on, must all be subordinate to the Word of God. Psalm 119, verse 89: Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
So, this is why I preach the word of God. I have absolute confidence in its truth. This does not mean I understand everything. It does certainly not mean that my interpretation of Scripture is always right. But I am committed to declaring the word of God.
From a child, Timothy knew the holy scriptures, which were able to make him wise unto salvation. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Paul writes to the Romans, and there is no salvation without the word of God. This means that the word of God must be handled with reverence. Paul exhorts Timothy to rightly handle.
The word of truth, in your personal Bible study, in your small group Bible studies, the question is not what jumps out at you, but rather the question is what is the text of Scripture saying. Truth is not located in you, your feelings, your desires, your prejudices, your dreams. The word of God is truth, so read it prayerfully. Read it reverently. Read it, asking God, the Holy Spirit, to teach you, and pray that the Holy Spirit will take this living word and apply it to your heart, to your steps, to your life, your work, your family, and to every area of life.
It's God's word, and if you're a pastor, a preacher, a teacher, preach and teach the word of God. For the grass withers. And the flower fades, but the word of our God abides forever. That's Isaiah forty verse eight.
So, if you're searching for truth, read the Holy Scriptures and obey the living Word of God. Afizandum. You're listening to the weekly Afizandum podcast from The Verdict, featuring Pastor John Monroe. John is senior pastor at Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Listen to John's daily program, The Verdict, on broadcast radio or major podcast platforms.
For more information about The Verdict Ministry, visit us online at calvarychurch.com/slash-the-verdict.
