28 MAY 2006: The Alpha and the Omega

TOPIC: Word; Christ, Light, Mystery, Power

TEXT: John 1:1, 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
[…]
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What is the Word of God to us?
CONCISE OUTLINE:

I. TO US IT IS THE POWER OF GOD!
II. TO US IT IS THE LIGHT OF GOD!
III. TO US IT IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD!
IV. TO US IT IS THE TEACHING OF GOD!

TRUTH/CONTEXT: If you are one of those clandestine Christians who secretly don’t believe the bible is truly the word of God, you may have a problem with this message. You see, it is necessary to believe … faith … in the word of God, because the word of God is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ!

To claim a saving belief in Him while denying His authorship of the Word is irreconcilable double-speak.

The Alpha and the Omega says it all; He’s the whole alphabet! Since God is our Maker, He has authority over us. Since the Word is God, God’s Word is authori-tative in and over our lives.

On a more practical level, we must realize the Word is the source of our faith …

“faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word concerning Christ.”

Romans 10:17

And since we …

“have been saved by grace through faith”

Ephesians 2:8

… our very existence as Christians is dependent on the authoritative Word of God.

[QUOTE] Paul Benware, writing in Moody Monthly, said, “… while the universal church promises stability, the local church is only as strong as its obedience to the clear-cut directives given in Scripture.” [“Doctrine: The Church”; March 1986, p.96.]

Critics say it’s silly to trust in a book that old, that’s out of touch … they give a thousand reasons … we should just give up, no one believes in the word of God any more!

[HOLY .38] Can you imagine an armed homeowner surrendering his .38 Special to an intruder just because the crook doesn’t believe in guns? The Word of God is our .38 Special, protecting our lives, our families, and or homes.

Why, then, do we surrender it to so many pagans and heathens just because they say they don’t believe in God? How many times have we heard of the Scriptures touching the heart of a stubborn man or woman, someone who’s announced no interest in God’s or His Word? [In Other Words; n. d.]

[HOLY EUREKA!] The era of gold rushes in this country heard the cry: “GOLD! GOLD!” Search, search, search; traces, traces, traces; signs, signs, signs!

They found traces (flakes and nuggets), they discovered small veins, and they heard rumors. And, of course, there was "fool's gold," and they bought into "salted" mines (fakes), they re-mined old mines that had been mined many times before, and they followed every rumor ever spoken by the lips of man. But, search as they might they never found the Mother Lode, the source of all the gold.

Likewise, men from all over the world rush to and fro, “here and there,” to this very day ... seeking to find the mother of all errors in the bible. They find what they believe are huge errors but in 2000 years everyone has been shown to be an apparent error not an error.

Hebrews says “Jesus [is] the author and finisher of our faith.” Our faith is thus based on the words of Christ Jesus. So, to the extent we trust Him, His words become authoritative in our lives. By this we mean: whatever He spoke carries His authority with it.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What is the Word of God to us?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. TO US THE WORD OF GOD IS THE POWER OF GOD!

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.

1 Corinthians 4:20

Yes, Jesus (the Word) is the power of God and He is available to us! AMEN?

[POWER] When laser light was discovered there was a quiet celebration in the scientific community. They alone seemed to know of its existence … most of the public thought it was just science fiction. It was there all the time; but just undiscovered.

The difference between laser light and ordinary light is direction. A regular bulb diffuses light in all directions. A magnifying glass turns diffused light into concentrated light. A laser is a single, powerful, di-rected beam of parallel light.

In many ways the Word of God (the Light of the World) is like this.

There have always been those in the religious community who knew of its existence.

Those on the outside, living in the diffused and confused light of this world, think it’s a spiritual science fiction or simply mythology; sadly, even many on the inside that have yet to discover its existence, let alone its power.

Jesus said to them, "Is this not the reason you are mistaken, that you do not understand the Scriptures or the power of God?”

Mark 12:24

Don’t you see the problem is not with the Bible, it’s with you!

II. TO US THE WORD OF GOD IS THE LIGHT OF GOD!

In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:4-5

Yes, Jesus is the power and the light of God! How does one see in the dark?

[TRAIN LIGHTS] There was little girl on the train, she couldn't un-derstand why the conductor was lighting the lamps in each car. She said, "Mommy, it is day time and the sun is shining, why is he turning on the lamps"? Her mom said, "Wait and see." In a minute the train plunged into a long, dark tunnel, and then the little girl understood … they were for the dark time ahead.

The Bible contains thousands of verses that seem very ordinary and unnecessary. You can't understand why God has lit those lamps at the moment, but there are dark moments ahead and then we’ll understand … if you’ve hidden them in your heart.

The Bible is like train lights, both were made to overcome the dark.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

John 8:12

… if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fel-lowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:7

III. THE WORD OF GOD IS THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD!

Yes, Jesus is the both the Power of God and the Light of God, but He is also the Knowledge of God!

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wis-dom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot un-derstand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:12-16

You all know what “palm oil” is, don’t you? Let me tell you about palm oil.

[PALM OIL] Fred W. Cropp, president of American Bible Society, received a letter asking: "What do you recommend to keep my leather Bible from getting stiff and cracking?
He wrote back, "There is one oil that is especially good for treatment of leather on Bibles; in fact it will insure your Bible will stay in good condition for years. It is not sold, but may be found in the palm of your hand."

And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.”

Luke 8:10

[TIP OF TONGUE] A skeptic physician went to hear Moody. To his amazement, he was saved. When asked the reason, he said, "I went to hear Moody with no other idea than to have something to laugh at. I knew he was no scholar, and I was sure I could find many flaws in his argument. But I found I could not get at the man. He stood there hiding behind the Bible and just fired one Bible text after another at me till they went home to my heart straight as bullets from a rifle. I tell you, Moody's power is in the way he has his Bible at the tip of his tongue."

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

Hebrews 4:12-13

IV. THE WORD OF GOD IS THE TEACHING OF GOD!

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

[CORRECTION] The Word of God is like the auto-pilot in modern aircraft. All during the trip, the plane is flown on automatic pilot, which continually yet imperceptibly corrects the course of the plane to keep it on track.

That's what God's Word does for us. It nudges us to keep us on course. It keeps affecting the way we think, the way we draw conclusions, and the way we make our daily life decisions.

But Satan doesn’t want your Auto-pilot on …

“Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”

Psalms 119:105

“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Romans 15:4

For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. For solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

Hebrews 5:13-14

Many wonder why they can’t take hardship and trials very well. I saw a young bullrider a few weeks ago; he was hurt so bad he needed help getting on a bull. He never complained or hesitated. Why? Because he knew what was expected of him. He was in the race to win and he ran with endurance the race set before him.

We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ.

Colossians 1:28

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: There is a 5th element of the Word of God that has meaning to us: IT IS THE REVELATION OF GOD!

Take all the street and highway signs down and remove all the traffic lights and see where it gets us? How would we know how to get to our destination?

[POCKET WATCH] A man seated on a park bench had a Boy Scout sit down next to him and began winding what appeared to be a pocket watch. "My, that’s a nice watch." the man said.

“Thank you, sir. It’s my bible watch!” The scout said, flipping it open.

"Oh, really, does it tell you the time?"

"No sir, it can’t do that!" said the boy. "That’s why I call it my Bible watch; I have to open it to see what it says."

How in the world would we know anything of God if it were not for the Word of God?

[TRIAL] There is no city in the world where art treasures are more appreciated than Florence, Italy. An American visited the Pitti Palace, after viewing a few of the paintings there, said to his guide: "Are these the great masterpieces everyone talks about? I don't see much to arouse such excitement."

The guide answered, "These paintings are not on trial here sir; you, sir, are the one who is on trial."

So it is with the Word of God. Sometimes we run across scoffers, men who sneer at divine revelation, who say that they cannot feel much enthusiasm about the Bible. But the Bible is not on trial. Whether men believe it or not …

"you [are] born again not of seed which is perishable but imperish-able, that is, through the living and enduring word of God."

1 Peter 1:23

Peter is directly pointing to Christ Jesus, the Word of God … don’t you see that when you reject the WORD OF GOD you reject not only the POWER, the LIGHT, the KNOWLEDGE, and the TEACHING of God, but you also reject the very SON OF GOD!

It seems people are more concerned about whom, from this world, they will see in heaven than if they’ll see God or how they’ll fair in the coming Judgment.

As a church let’s make every effort to give the word of God the respect it deserves for the Word is living and is none other than Jesus. Deny it, and you deny Him; deny Him and you will not see the Kingdom of God.

Think about that!

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TAGS: Homoletics, Gospel of John,
Preaching, Scripture, Sermons