WEBVTT
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Hey, if you have a Bible with you this morning, go ahead and open it up to 2 Timothy.
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You can also find it in the Church Center app, our kind of one app that we use as a church.
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You can find the text there.
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So you can follow along this morning.
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We're in week two of a series we've called Reformed and Always Reforming, where we're looking at the five solas, the five alones of the Protestant Reformation that kind of helps summarize what the Reformers believed about the gospel and why it mattered, and as a church that's in the Reformed tradition, why the gospel matters to us and what it says.
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And last week Chad walked us through what it means to claim Christ alone.
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Today we're going to turn our attention to sola scriptura, scripture alone.
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And we're going to get to what that means in just a moment, but today I actually want to start with kind of a more personal question for you.
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And I don't want you to answer this question out loud, please don't do that.
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I just want you to think about it and be honest with yourself.
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What do you do when you don't like what the Bible says?
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And if your first instinct is, I've never had a problem with what the Bible says, let me just remind you, you're in church this morning.
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Be honest with yourself.
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What do you do when you don't like what the Bible says?
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Because if you've spent any time reading this book, you have run into something within its pages that did not sit right with you.
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Something that didn't match your opinions or your feelings, something that offended you, something that didn't match your expectations of God and how God should act.
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Maybe something that just felt outdated or confusing or uncomfortable.
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And in that moment, you did something.
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Maybe you ignored what it said.
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Maybe you explained it away.
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Maybe you just moved on and you hoped it wouldn't come up again.
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Maybe you found someone who could tell you it doesn't really mean what it what you think it means or what it seems to say.
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Maybe you went back to the tradition you came from, what mom and dad taught you, or what you learned in confirmation or at Sunday school.
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Maybe you looked to a scientist or philosopher, I don't know.
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We've all done this though.
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We have all, when we read something in Scripture, we're not sure what to do with we've all turned to somebody else and said, what does this mean?
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And I just want you to begin to wrestle with this morning that whenever you do that, whether you realize you were doing it or not, you were actually answering a really important question.
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Who or what has authority on matters of life and faith?
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When your feelings around the Bible, when your feelings in the Bible disagree, who wins?
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When your experiences in the Bible don't line up, who wins?
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When your politics and the Bible are in tension with each other, who wins?
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That question is the most important question to come out of the Reformation.
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Peter Creft, who's a Catholic author who actually grew up in the Reformed Church in America, the church that the denomination we're a part of, writes that sola scriptura is the fundamental reason behind all the differences between Protestant and Catholic theology.
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So how you answer this question, who has authority on matters of life and faith, matters because how you answer it determines everything else.
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And it's exactly that question that Paul addresses in 2 Timothy.
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2 Timothy, if you don't know, is the last letter we have from Paul.
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He might have written more, but it's the last one we have in our Bible.
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And Paul writes it from a Roman prison.
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He's in the middle of a trial and it is not going well.
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He's pretty sure he's going to die soon.
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And he's writing to Timothy.
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Timothy is his protege.
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He calls him his son in the faith, who Paul has sent to the church in Ephesus, and the church in Ephesus has a problem.
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There are these corrupt teachers who've gotten into the church and they're spreading bad theology.
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And Paul says it's spreading like a cancer in the church, and they're drawing people away from the truth.
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And Timothy's the one who needs to deal with it.
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So picture this: Paul's in chains.
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He knows he's running out of time.
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The church he helped plant is being pulled away from the truth by people who are still using the Bible.
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They're just using it really poorly and dishonestly.
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And Paul looks at Timothy and he says, here's what you need to hold on to.
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Here's why this is so important.
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My Bible actually says, maybe you're just too over this passage, it says, a final charge to Timothy.
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What would you tell your son or your daughter if you thought your life might end soon?
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What would you want them to know?
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What would your final charge be?
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This is what Paul says to Timothy.
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Verse 14.
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But as for you, continue in what you've learned and to become convinced of, because you know those from who you learned it.
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And how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
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All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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Chapter 4, verse 1.
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In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing in his kingdom, I give you this charge.
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Preach the word.
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Be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, encourage with great patience and careful instruction.
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For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
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Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers, voices, other influences to say what their itching ears want to hear.
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They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
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But you keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
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Friends, this is the word of the Lord.
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Thanks be to God.
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Paul, in his very final charge to Timothy, does three main things.
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He honors tradition, he elevates scripture, and he warns of a temptation that we face.
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I want to look at each one of those this morning.
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First, Paul honors tradition.
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I just want to read this section to you from the beginning of this passage.
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Paul, or as for you, continue in what you've learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ.
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Tradition, according to a quick Google search, is the transmission of customs or beliefs from one generation to the next.
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And the way Paul talks about how Timothy comes to faith in Jesus is through tradition.
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See, earlier in chapter one, Paul writes about how Timothy's faith began with his grandmother, which was then passed down to his mother, and now it lives within him, which is why Paul can say that from infancy, Timothy has known the scriptures, which means that before Timothy could decide whether he wanted to learn about them or not, before he could evaluate them, before he could decide if he agreed or disagreed, Timothy was being handed a faith.
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He did not discover the Bible on his own, he received it.
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And Paul seems to think that this handing down of faith, tradition, authority, you could say, is valuable.
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So he says, continue in what you have learned, the tradition, what you were given, because you know those from who you learned it.
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I know that tradition can make us a little uncomfortable depending on your background, right?
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For some of us, we came to faith in churches where tradition was a four-letter word.
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It meant all these things about man-made rules and religion and things that might not be in the Bible.
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For others of us, we grew up in churches where tradition was really, really important.
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In fact, it might have been more important than the Bible.
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There's many of us in this room who are wrestling with family members who hold to that tradition and are telling us that, man, what we believe and what we do here, I they don't necessarily agree with that, and that creates tension for you.
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So I understand that tradition comes with a lot of baggage behind it for some.
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I just want you to think critically, real quick, about what Paul's saying.
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Because I actually think Paul's describing something really beautiful.
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He describes a grandmother who loved God, who then taught her daughter to love God, who then taught her son to love God, and somewhere along the way, the scriptures and faith and belief in God came alive, and Timothy encountered Jesus.
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That is tradition at its best.
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Even if you came from a church that said, Hey, we we only believe in the Bible, no creeds but the Bible, no confessions, no catechisms, I would argue that you still came from a tradition.
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That you still have a tradition.
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They just didn't call it a tradition.
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But the way they read the Bible and the way that the theology they assumed when they opened it, and the songs they sang on a Sunday, and the way they taught you to pray, someone handed that down to you.
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That's a tradition, whether anyone called it one or not.
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And I just want you to see here, very first thing is that Paul honors tradition.
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There's some value behind this other source of authority.
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Because God's word always comes to us, filtered through some sort of a tradition of one kind or another.
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It did not just drop out of heaven into our laps one day.
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But, and I'm gonna emphasize the butt on this one, in the very next line, after recognizing the value of tradition, this other source of authority, Paul elevates scripture.
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He says, this all of scripture is God breathed.
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It is useful for teaching and rebuking and correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
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All of Scripture, Paul says, is God-breathed, which might be the most important passage or phrase in this passage.
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It's certainly one of the most important phrases in the Bible about the Bible, because it's where Paul starts to draw a line.
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Paul says that first right tradition, other authorities, other ways we learn to understand God.
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They're not bad, but scripture stands alone.
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This stands alone.
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Because this is God breathed.
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Not tradition breathed, not pastor-breathed, not pope-breed, not council breathed, not experience breathed.
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This is God-breathed.
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And some of your translations might say not God-breathed, they might actually say inspired by God.
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I think that's a poor translation, actually, or at least an unhelpful one.
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Because when we think of God-breathed as inspiration, the way we think about inspiration is like how a sunset inspires us.
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Or a work of art inspires us.
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Or the Grand Canyon inspires us to take a picture of it.
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But God breathed is actually, it's the only time this word Theonustos is used in the entire New Testament.
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Paul wants to make a point.
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He reaches for a word that nobody else uses to try and explain.
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God breathed.
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Like when you breathe, what do you do?
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You speak, so scripture in some ways is spoken by God, maybe not directly, but somehow God is speaking it.
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It has its origination in him, right?
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When you breathe and you blow out your breath, it starts in you, which means it carries his voice, which means it carries his authority.
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There's something unique about this, about scripture, because it's God breathed.
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It's in a whole different category than any other authority.
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And while those other authorities can be good, they're not this.
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And this is why the Reformers claim scripture alone.
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But, caveat, the doctrine of Scripture alone gets caricatured by both those who reject it and those who claim it.
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So we need to be really clear about what we mean when we say scripture alone.
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To say we believe in sola scriptura does not mean we believe the Bible is the only authority.
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It means this.
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It means that Scripture is the only infallible authority.
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Infallible, trustworthy, always faithful, never fails you.
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It's the only infallible authority.
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And because of that, it's the final authority.
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That's the distinction.
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You can think of it like being in a courtroom.
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I've never been in a courtroom.
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I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand if you've been in a courtroom.
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That could be awkward.
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Unless you're a lawyer, I guess.
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But think about a courtroom.
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Tradition can testify to a case, right?
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To a question you might have.
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Your pastor can be a witness.
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Your favorite theologian or author or podcaster can testify.
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The church fathers can testify.
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Your grandmother can testify and be a witness to what something might mean or what this means.
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You want to listen to them.
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They're important.
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Witnesses are important.
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But when the testimonies conflict, who do you turn to?
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Who renders the verdict?
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Scripture.
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This.
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This is the supreme judge of all things.
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Paul actually goes on to say that because the Bible is God-breed, because God's word is God-breed, it teaches us, it has authority to teach and rebuke and correct and train.
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In other words, Scripture doesn't just give us information, it has the authority to shape us and confront us and form us.
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Scripture is breathed out by God so that the people of God can be shaped by the voice of God.
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And that means that none of the other voices get the final word.
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Scripture does.
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And if Paul were to end right there, I think most of us would nod our heads in agreement, right?
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Like, makes sense.
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Of course I believe that the Bible is the final authority.
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Of course I believe in soulless scriptura.
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But Paul continues.
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And look at what he says in chapter 4, verses 3 and 4.
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He says, The time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
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Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
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They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
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Now remember, Paul isn't making this up as like a hypothetical.
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He's already watching it happen in Ephesus.
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And notice what he says the temptation is.
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He doesn't say that people are going to reject the Bible and throw it aside and not use it or believe it at all.
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He says that they will gather around them other teachers, voices, you could say other authorities, influences, to suit their desires.
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That the people will go looking for others to confirm what they already want to believe.
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They don't abandon scripture, they just add other voices alongside it.
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You remember like 10 years ago when streaming first became a thing?
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And everybody was adding a plus to their name.
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Remember that?
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So it was like, okay, Apple TV Plus and Discovery Plus and Paramount Plus and Disney Plus.
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It was like they went to like the streaming Oprah, you get a plus, you get a plus, you get a plus.
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It was ridiculous.
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We find ourselves often subscribing to what I call the Bible plus.
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And the danger of subscribing to the Bible plus is that when you put something next to Scripture, it rarely stays next to Scripture.
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It actually starts to stand over Scripture, and it becomes a filter.
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And once it becomes a filter, Scripture starts to shrink in its importance and its authority over you.
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And only the parts of Scripture that actually pass through that filter, whatever it might be, get to keep teaching to you and rebuking you and correcting you and training you.
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And God's word gets smaller and smaller and smaller in your life.
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Just enough Bible to comfort you.
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Just enough Bible to agree with your opinions, but not enough to correct you.
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Not enough to rebuke you or confront you.
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Just enough Bible to inspire you.
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Not enough to form you into the image of Jesus.
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This is the danger of placing any other authority on equal footing with the authority of Scripture.
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It will almost always take over and become superior to the Bible.
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And it's the plus that ends up getting the final word.
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And if you don't believe me, let me give you some examples.
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See if you recognize any of these or have experienced them for yourself.
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First, Bible plus church tradition.
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This is actually at the heart of the Reformation.
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That the Roman Catholic Church at the time, this is 1500, 16th century, had held Scripture and tradition right next to each other.
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But over time, tradition had become more important than Scripture.
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And so they were teaching things and making people do things that were not in God's word.
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And so Martin Luther comes along and he says, Hey, what is with all this stuff?
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That I can't find it in this text and in the original text.
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And so when we put church tradition next to the Bible, what happens is that the way we've always done things becomes more authoritative than God's Word.
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The traditions, the practices, the interpretations that were handed down to us start to carry the same weight as Scripture itself, and then more weight.
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And over time, tradition becomes this lens, this filter.
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And whatever tradition has already decided a passage means, or what we should do, or how we should live, is what we're supposed to do.
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How about this one?
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The Bible plus logic.
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Which I love this one because I'm logical and I like to think logically.
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But this is what happens when we put theological systems next to the Bible.
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In Reformed tradition, we love to do this.
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We love our systems.
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It's great.
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Until it's not.
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We organize everything that the Bible says into this like coherent framework.
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And we make it all fit and we make it all work.
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But the problem is that when scripture doesn't quite fit the system we design, we ignore it or we explain it away.
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And we we draw this box and we try and fit God in the box, and when God doesn't fit in the box, we say, well, we're just gonna forget those parts about God.
00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.440
He needs to fit in our box, in our system.
00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:38.480
What about this one?
00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.639
Bible plus the miraculous.
00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:47.120
I see this with my friends in the charismatic tradition sometimes, to where spiritual experience becomes the ultimate authority.
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:55.519
Where a prophetic word or a tongue or a healing or a feeling in worship becomes more important than what God says.
00:16:55.919 --> 00:17:07.920
Even when the Bible contradicts what those prophetic words might mean, or puts guidelines around how to use those spiritual giftings, we believe that the Holy Spirit still uses those giftings.
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.400
But he's clear on how they're supposed to be used.
00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:11.279
What about this one?
00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:17.039
The Bible plus modernity, where we take contemporary knowledge and that becomes the authority.
00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.680
So we take science and history and modern ethics.
00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:23.519
And it's this move to say, like, we know more now than they did back then.
00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:24.079
C.S.
00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.920
Lewis calls that chronological snobbery.
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.200
Like, we know better because we're newer, I guess.
00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:40.559
And so scripture gets filtered through the current moment, and you end up with a faith that honestly almost always looks like whatever culture and science and whatever else is happening at the moment, believe.
00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:43.359
Or this one, Bible plus consensus.
00:17:44.000 --> 00:18:01.119
Where what the group thinks becomes the authority, where the most popular opinion or the loudest voice, or what most people in the room already think, the voice of the people starts to drown out the voice of God when we always say, well, what do we all think about this rather than going to trusted authorities and starting with scripture?
00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:02.160
Last one.
00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:04.000
The Bible plus nothing.
00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.000
Seems like a trick, but it's I think the most important.
00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:13.519
Because the Bible plus nothing sounds like sola scriptura, sounds like scripture alone.
00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.200
Or just me and my Bible.
00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:23.519
But when you start to strip away every single voice, every authority, the only authority left is you and me.
00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:30.319
If you don't have anything else to look at scripture with and alongside, you're the one who's filtering it.
00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:34.000
And so the Bible plus nothing becomes the Bible plus me.
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:40.880
And if you aren't sure if you've ever subscribed to the Bible plus me, here's a really helpful diagram to make you think about it.
00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:42.240
The Bible plus me.
00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:46.160
You read something in the Bible and it creates a feeling or a thought in you.
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:48.079
That's not right.
00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:49.200
It can't mean that.
00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:50.319
God wouldn't say that.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.119
That's not the God I know or the Jesus I worship.
00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.200
That's an outdated way of thinking.
00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:02.160
And you begin to filter God's words through you and your thoughts and your feelings and your experiences and your desires of what you would like to be true.
00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.440
And then what do you do?
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:09.440
Well, often you turn to other people to see if they can confirm what you feel or think or desire.
00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:20.480
And so we go to our friends or a podcast or we watch other pastors on YouTube who think differently than our pastor, or we go to a favorite author or an influencer who make us feel validated and right in our thinking.
00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:25.279
And then, somewhere along the line, we finally come to God's word.
00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:36.799
And we come to it with a predetermined conclusion on a subject and the evidence and the support that we've already gathered from others, and we ask this book to say what we've already decided it needs to say.
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.000
That's the Bible plus me in action.
00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.079
And honesty moment, for me, this is the one that's easiest to fall into.
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.400
It's the easiest trap to fall into.
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:47.920
I think for many of us it is.
00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:50.240
Most of us don't even realize we're doing it.
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:56.960
The person who is most confident that they don't have a Bible plus is usually the person whose plus is themselves.
00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.240
Here's a more faithful version of reading the Bible.
00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:05.119
You face a question about faith or the intersection of life in faith.
00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:13.759
Or you read something in the Bible that unsettles you, and your first response is actually not to go somewhere else or what do I think, it's to actually just keep reading God's word.
00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:23.119
Instead of starting with yourself, you start with scripture and you go back to it and you read it again, and you read other passages that speak about similar topics or similar themes.
00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:25.680
Before you decide what you want the answer to be.
00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:31.920
Before you consult your feelings or your preferences or your politics, you open the Word of God, you ask a super simple question.
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.960
What has God said here?
00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:41.759
Then, and this is important, then you bring in other voices, trusted voices.
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.680
Because solo scriptura does not mean read the Bible in isolation.
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:56.559
All of those other voices we've been talking about today, tradition, reason, experience, science, your pastor, your community, the wisdom of Christians who've been reading this book for 2,000 years plus more, right?
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.400
Those are all helpful.
00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:05.440
And then, and only then, after you've started with God's word, you've gone to other trusted sources, then you come to yourself.
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:09.440
But here's the thing, by the time you get to you, you already know the answer.
00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:15.039
You already know what God's Word says, you already know how the church understands it and how other disciplines understand it.
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:17.279
Now the question is, what are you gonna do with it?
00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:23.039
That's what it means to affirm sola scriptura, to claim the Bible alone.
00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.319
But the Bible alone in the sense that nothing else gets the final word.
00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:30.480
It starts and ends with this text and what God's revealed in it.
00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:36.559
So I think the real question isn't whether or not you believe in sola scriptura or would affirm it, because I think most of us would.
00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:41.680
We've been kind of conditioned that, yeah, scripture first, God's word above anything else.
00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:44.799
I I think the real question is do you practice it?
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.920
Are you living it, not just affirming it?
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:56.000
And if you're not sure, can I just give you a few helpful things that you can do to make sure you resist the temptation to put anything above God's word?
00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.839
One of the ways we talk about following Jesus is this idea of disciples.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:04.559
And in our church, we've been using this really simple definition of a disciple.
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:10.960
A disciple listens for the voice of God and obeys the will of God on the mission of God.
00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.960
Discipleship starts with listening to God's voice.
00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:18.079
And the primary place that God speaks to us is through His Word.
00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:23.519
And so, to end, here are four simple practices for listening well to God's voice.
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:26.480
First is this start with scripture.
00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:30.000
Seems obvious given the content of this message.
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:31.839
But I just want to reiterate this.
00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:45.599
The next time you have a question about faith or life or ethics or relationships or politics or whatever it is, before you Google it, before you turn to a podcast, before you text a friend, before you check whatever, open your Bible.
00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:54.160
And it sounds so basic, but honestly, when was the last time you had a real question about something in your life or in your faith?
00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.400
And the first, your very first response was to go to God's Word.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:05.440
But before anything else, to actually start with Scripture before turning to any other source of authority in your life.
00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.319
Second, sit with the discomfort.
00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:11.920
The next time you hit a passage that bothers you, don't move on.
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:12.960
Sit with it.
00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:13.920
Read it again.
00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:15.119
Read it in context.
00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:17.519
Read other passages of scripture because here's what I found.
00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:26.000
Whenever the passages that make me the most uncomfortable are almost always the ones where God is using to get at something inside of me.
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:30.240
Something inside of me that needs to change or become more aligned with his will.
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.240
And my discomfort is not a sign that the Bible is wrong.
00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:40.400
It's a sign that the Holy Spirit is at work within me and trying to get to something in me.
00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.680
You can, there's really two ways you can approach the Bible.
00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:47.200
You can read the Bible or you can let the Bible read you.
00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:49.759
The invitation is to let the Bible read you.
00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:56.400
And as it reads you, it's going to teach you, and it's going to rebuke you, and it's going to correct you, and it's going to train you up in righteousness.
00:23:56.640 --> 00:24:01.759
Let it do the work it was designed to do, why God gave us this text.
00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:03.920
Third, read with others.
00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:10.960
The best defense against the Bible plus me is actually other people who will tell you honestly when your plus is showing.
00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:12.720
That's what community's for.
00:24:12.880 --> 00:24:14.319
That's what this church is for.
00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:19.039
To help you hear what God is actually saying, even when it's something that you don't want to hear.
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:20.640
So bring it to your community.
00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:21.920
Bring it to your pastors.
00:24:22.000 --> 00:24:23.039
Ask me your chat about.
00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:25.279
I seriously, I love to answer Bible questions.
00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:37.119
It's why I do what I do because for myself, when I started to understand God's word and truly understand what it was saying and what it meant for me and what I was supposed to do with it, my relationship with Christ changed and my life changed.
00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:41.440
And so I love helping others figure out what this text might be saying to them.
00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:46.960
Read with other brothers and sisters from other traditions or other periods of church history.
00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:53.359
Look to the creeds and the confessions of our faith to help you make sense of how others have understood and experienced God.
00:24:53.519 --> 00:24:54.720
Last one, four.
00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:56.319
Pray before you read.
00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:59.200
It's both the simplest and most powerful one, I think.
00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:02.079
Before you open your Bible, pray.
00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:09.759
Ask the Spirit to illuminate the scriptures, to show you what's true, to show you the areas in you that need to be corrected.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:13.039
And at its most basic, just pray one sentence.
00:25:13.440 --> 00:25:16.640
Lord, have the final word over me.
00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:17.839
That's it.
00:25:18.000 --> 00:25:20.240
It's literally solo scriptura as a prayer.
00:25:20.400 --> 00:25:24.720
It's you saying to God, I'm not coming to this text to confirm what I think.
00:25:24.960 --> 00:25:27.599
I'm coming to listen to you, to hear your voice.
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:32.480
And whatever you say, God, I want that to be the thing that shapes me most.
00:25:32.799 --> 00:25:35.759
Lord, have the final word over me.
00:25:36.000 --> 00:25:37.119
Four simple practices.
00:25:37.279 --> 00:25:38.400
None of them are complicated.
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:45.920
None of them require a seminary degree, just a Bible, a little bit of time, a willingness to let God be God because you know that you are not.
00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:49.359
And the good news is, you don't have to give it right.
00:25:50.079 --> 00:25:51.759
You just have to start somewhere.
00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:57.839
And God will meet you as you attempt to hear his voice and listen to his word and faithfully read this book.
00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:06.240
And he will form you, and over time, slowly, gently, sometimes painfully, God's word will shape us into the people he's calling us to be.
00:26:06.480 --> 00:26:07.759
Would you join me in prayer?
00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:17.280
Hey, if you have a Bible with you this morning, go ahead and open it up to 2 Timothy.
00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:21.679
You can also find it in the Church Center app, our kind of one app that we use as a church.
00:00:21.839 --> 00:00:23.519
You can find the text there.
00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:25.280
So you can follow along this morning.
00:00:25.359 --> 00:00:42.640
We're in week two of a series we've called Reformed and Always Reforming, where we're looking at the five solas, the five alones of the Protestant Reformation that kind of helps summarize what the Reformers believed about the gospel and why it mattered, and as a church that's in the Reformed tradition, why the gospel matters to us and what it says.
00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:47.280
And last week Chad walked us through what it means to claim Christ alone.
00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:52.479
Today we're going to turn our attention to sola scriptura, scripture alone.
00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:58.320
And we're going to get to what that means in just a moment, but today I actually want to start with kind of a more personal question for you.
00:00:58.799 --> 00:01:01.280
And I don't want you to answer this question out loud, please don't do that.
00:01:01.439 --> 00:01:04.159
I just want you to think about it and be honest with yourself.
00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:07.760
What do you do when you don't like what the Bible says?
00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:15.120
And if your first instinct is, I've never had a problem with what the Bible says, let me just remind you, you're in church this morning.
00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:17.359
Be honest with yourself.
00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:20.959
What do you do when you don't like what the Bible says?
00:01:21.040 --> 00:01:28.640
Because if you've spent any time reading this book, you have run into something within its pages that did not sit right with you.
00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:35.760
Something that didn't match your opinions or your feelings, something that offended you, something that didn't match your expectations of God and how God should act.
00:01:36.079 --> 00:01:39.519
Maybe something that just felt outdated or confusing or uncomfortable.
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And in that moment, you did something.
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:44.560
Maybe you ignored what it said.
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Maybe you explained it away.
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Maybe you just moved on and you hoped it wouldn't come up again.
00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.200
Maybe you found someone who could tell you it doesn't really mean what it what you think it means or what it seems to say.
00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:59.519
Maybe you went back to the tradition you came from, what mom and dad taught you, or what you learned in confirmation or at Sunday school.
00:01:59.680 --> 00:02:02.079
Maybe you looked to a scientist or philosopher, I don't know.
00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.239
We've all done this though.
00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:10.879
We have all, when we read something in Scripture, we're not sure what to do with we've all turned to somebody else and said, what does this mean?
00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:21.520
And I just want you to begin to wrestle with this morning that whenever you do that, whether you realize you were doing it or not, you were actually answering a really important question.
00:02:22.080 --> 00:02:27.280
Who or what has authority on matters of life and faith?
00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:31.280
When your feelings around the Bible, when your feelings in the Bible disagree, who wins?
00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:34.240
When your experiences in the Bible don't line up, who wins?
00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:38.159
When your politics and the Bible are in tension with each other, who wins?
00:02:38.319 --> 00:02:42.879
That question is the most important question to come out of the Reformation.
00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:58.080
Peter Creft, who's a Catholic author who actually grew up in the Reformed Church in America, the church that the denomination we're a part of, writes that sola scriptura is the fundamental reason behind all the differences between Protestant and Catholic theology.
00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:07.039
So how you answer this question, who has authority on matters of life and faith, matters because how you answer it determines everything else.
00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:12.000
And it's exactly that question that Paul addresses in 2 Timothy.
00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.360
2 Timothy, if you don't know, is the last letter we have from Paul.
00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:18.080
He might have written more, but it's the last one we have in our Bible.
00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.400
And Paul writes it from a Roman prison.
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He's in the middle of a trial and it is not going well.
00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:25.199
He's pretty sure he's going to die soon.
00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:26.479
And he's writing to Timothy.
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Timothy is his protege.
00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.840
He calls him his son in the faith, who Paul has sent to the church in Ephesus, and the church in Ephesus has a problem.
00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:38.800
There are these corrupt teachers who've gotten into the church and they're spreading bad theology.
00:03:38.879 --> 00:03:44.319
And Paul says it's spreading like a cancer in the church, and they're drawing people away from the truth.
00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:46.800
And Timothy's the one who needs to deal with it.
00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:49.439
So picture this: Paul's in chains.
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He knows he's running out of time.
00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:57.280
The church he helped plant is being pulled away from the truth by people who are still using the Bible.
00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:00.800
They're just using it really poorly and dishonestly.
00:04:00.960 --> 00:04:05.120
And Paul looks at Timothy and he says, here's what you need to hold on to.
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:07.360
Here's why this is so important.
00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:13.120
My Bible actually says, maybe you're just too over this passage, it says, a final charge to Timothy.
00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:18.480
What would you tell your son or your daughter if you thought your life might end soon?
00:04:18.720 --> 00:04:19.759
What would you want them to know?
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What would your final charge be?
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This is what Paul says to Timothy.
00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:24.800
Verse 14.
00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:33.439
But as for you, continue in what you've learned and to become convinced of, because you know those from who you learned it.
00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:40.800
And how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:49.839
All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
00:04:50.160 --> 00:04:51.199
Chapter 4, verse 1.
00:04:51.279 --> 00:04:59.439
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing in his kingdom, I give you this charge.
00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:00.800
Preach the word.
00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:07.920
Be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, encourage with great patience and careful instruction.
00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:11.360
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
00:05:11.600 --> 00:05:20.800
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers, voices, other influences to say what their itching ears want to hear.
00:05:21.040 --> 00:05:24.639
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:33.680
But you keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:35.279
Friends, this is the word of the Lord.
00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:36.879
Thanks be to God.
00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:40.800
Paul, in his very final charge to Timothy, does three main things.
00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:46.879
He honors tradition, he elevates scripture, and he warns of a temptation that we face.
00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:48.800
I want to look at each one of those this morning.
00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.639
First, Paul honors tradition.
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.920
I just want to read this section to you from the beginning of this passage.
00:05:54.079 --> 00:06:07.360
Paul, or as for you, continue in what you've learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ.
00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:14.800
Tradition, according to a quick Google search, is the transmission of customs or beliefs from one generation to the next.
00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:19.680
And the way Paul talks about how Timothy comes to faith in Jesus is through tradition.
00:06:20.079 --> 00:06:42.879
See, earlier in chapter one, Paul writes about how Timothy's faith began with his grandmother, which was then passed down to his mother, and now it lives within him, which is why Paul can say that from infancy, Timothy has known the scriptures, which means that before Timothy could decide whether he wanted to learn about them or not, before he could evaluate them, before he could decide if he agreed or disagreed, Timothy was being handed a faith.
00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:47.279
He did not discover the Bible on his own, he received it.
00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:55.279
And Paul seems to think that this handing down of faith, tradition, authority, you could say, is valuable.
00:06:55.519 --> 00:07:04.240
So he says, continue in what you have learned, the tradition, what you were given, because you know those from who you learned it.
00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:09.120
I know that tradition can make us a little uncomfortable depending on your background, right?
00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.639
For some of us, we came to faith in churches where tradition was a four-letter word.
00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:17.759
It meant all these things about man-made rules and religion and things that might not be in the Bible.
00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:21.519
For others of us, we grew up in churches where tradition was really, really important.
00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.560
In fact, it might have been more important than the Bible.
00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:35.600
There's many of us in this room who are wrestling with family members who hold to that tradition and are telling us that, man, what we believe and what we do here, I they don't necessarily agree with that, and that creates tension for you.
00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:39.120
So I understand that tradition comes with a lot of baggage behind it for some.
00:07:39.600 --> 00:07:42.800
I just want you to think critically, real quick, about what Paul's saying.
00:07:42.879 --> 00:07:45.439
Because I actually think Paul's describing something really beautiful.
00:07:45.600 --> 00:08:03.360
He describes a grandmother who loved God, who then taught her daughter to love God, who then taught her son to love God, and somewhere along the way, the scriptures and faith and belief in God came alive, and Timothy encountered Jesus.
00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:06.160
That is tradition at its best.
00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:14.959
Even if you came from a church that said, Hey, we we only believe in the Bible, no creeds but the Bible, no confessions, no catechisms, I would argue that you still came from a tradition.
00:08:15.199 --> 00:08:16.399
That you still have a tradition.
00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:18.079
They just didn't call it a tradition.
00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:28.240
But the way they read the Bible and the way that the theology they assumed when they opened it, and the songs they sang on a Sunday, and the way they taught you to pray, someone handed that down to you.
00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:31.680
That's a tradition, whether anyone called it one or not.
00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.519
And I just want you to see here, very first thing is that Paul honors tradition.
00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.720
There's some value behind this other source of authority.
00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:44.639
Because God's word always comes to us, filtered through some sort of a tradition of one kind or another.
00:08:44.799 --> 00:08:48.320
It did not just drop out of heaven into our laps one day.
00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:58.480
But, and I'm gonna emphasize the butt on this one, in the very next line, after recognizing the value of tradition, this other source of authority, Paul elevates scripture.
00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.399
He says, this all of scripture is God breathed.
00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:11.440
It is useful for teaching and rebuking and correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:18.799
All of Scripture, Paul says, is God-breathed, which might be the most important passage or phrase in this passage.
00:09:18.960 --> 00:09:25.440
It's certainly one of the most important phrases in the Bible about the Bible, because it's where Paul starts to draw a line.
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Paul says that first right tradition, other authorities, other ways we learn to understand God.
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They're not bad, but scripture stands alone.
00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.039
This stands alone.
00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:37.360
Because this is God breathed.
00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:42.559
Not tradition breathed, not pastor-breathed, not pope-breed, not council breathed, not experience breathed.
00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:44.240
This is God-breathed.
00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:48.879
And some of your translations might say not God-breathed, they might actually say inspired by God.
00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.320
I think that's a poor translation, actually, or at least an unhelpful one.
00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:59.600
Because when we think of God-breathed as inspiration, the way we think about inspiration is like how a sunset inspires us.
00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:01.919
Or a work of art inspires us.
00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.879
Or the Grand Canyon inspires us to take a picture of it.
00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:10.879
But God breathed is actually, it's the only time this word Theonustos is used in the entire New Testament.
00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:12.559
Paul wants to make a point.
00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:16.240
He reaches for a word that nobody else uses to try and explain.
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God breathed.
00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:19.360
Like when you breathe, what do you do?
00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:24.399
You speak, so scripture in some ways is spoken by God, maybe not directly, but somehow God is speaking it.
00:10:24.720 --> 00:10:26.799
It has its origination in him, right?
00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:33.200
When you breathe and you blow out your breath, it starts in you, which means it carries his voice, which means it carries his authority.
00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:38.320
There's something unique about this, about scripture, because it's God breathed.
00:10:38.399 --> 00:10:41.840
It's in a whole different category than any other authority.
00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:45.360
And while those other authorities can be good, they're not this.
00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.759
And this is why the Reformers claim scripture alone.
00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:57.679
But, caveat, the doctrine of Scripture alone gets caricatured by both those who reject it and those who claim it.
00:10:57.759 --> 00:11:01.519
So we need to be really clear about what we mean when we say scripture alone.
00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:06.960
To say we believe in sola scriptura does not mean we believe the Bible is the only authority.
00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:07.840
It means this.
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:11.600
It means that Scripture is the only infallible authority.
00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:15.840
Infallible, trustworthy, always faithful, never fails you.
00:11:16.080 --> 00:11:17.919
It's the only infallible authority.
00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:21.279
And because of that, it's the final authority.
00:11:21.519 --> 00:11:23.200
That's the distinction.
00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:25.759
You can think of it like being in a courtroom.
00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:27.360
I've never been in a courtroom.
00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:29.519
I'm not gonna ask you to raise your hand if you've been in a courtroom.
00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:30.559
That could be awkward.
00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:32.000
Unless you're a lawyer, I guess.
00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:34.000
But think about a courtroom.
00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:37.440
Tradition can testify to a case, right?
00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:38.720
To a question you might have.
00:11:38.799 --> 00:11:40.720
Your pastor can be a witness.
00:11:41.039 --> 00:11:44.159
Your favorite theologian or author or podcaster can testify.
00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.080
The church fathers can testify.
00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:51.679
Your grandmother can testify and be a witness to what something might mean or what this means.
00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:53.120
You want to listen to them.
00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:53.759
They're important.
00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:55.039
Witnesses are important.
00:11:55.279 --> 00:11:59.039
But when the testimonies conflict, who do you turn to?
00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.279
Who renders the verdict?
00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:02.879
Scripture.
00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:03.519
This.
00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.960
This is the supreme judge of all things.
00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:16.000
Paul actually goes on to say that because the Bible is God-breed, because God's word is God-breed, it teaches us, it has authority to teach and rebuke and correct and train.
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:22.799
In other words, Scripture doesn't just give us information, it has the authority to shape us and confront us and form us.
00:12:23.279 --> 00:12:29.600
Scripture is breathed out by God so that the people of God can be shaped by the voice of God.
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:33.600
And that means that none of the other voices get the final word.
00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.679
Scripture does.
00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:39.840
And if Paul were to end right there, I think most of us would nod our heads in agreement, right?
00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:40.799
Like, makes sense.
00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:43.600
Of course I believe that the Bible is the final authority.
00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:45.600
Of course I believe in soulless scriptura.
00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:46.559
But Paul continues.
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.840
And look at what he says in chapter 4, verses 3 and 4.
00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:53.919
He says, The time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.
00:12:54.080 --> 00:13:01.279
Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:05.600
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
00:13:05.840 --> 00:13:08.879
Now remember, Paul isn't making this up as like a hypothetical.
00:13:09.039 --> 00:13:10.799
He's already watching it happen in Ephesus.
00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:13.120
And notice what he says the temptation is.
00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:18.399
He doesn't say that people are going to reject the Bible and throw it aside and not use it or believe it at all.
00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:27.919
He says that they will gather around them other teachers, voices, you could say other authorities, influences, to suit their desires.
00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:33.440
That the people will go looking for others to confirm what they already want to believe.
00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:38.080
They don't abandon scripture, they just add other voices alongside it.
00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:41.279
You remember like 10 years ago when streaming first became a thing?
00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.080
And everybody was adding a plus to their name.
00:13:44.240 --> 00:13:44.639
Remember that?
00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:49.519
So it was like, okay, Apple TV Plus and Discovery Plus and Paramount Plus and Disney Plus.
00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:53.200
It was like they went to like the streaming Oprah, you get a plus, you get a plus, you get a plus.
00:13:53.360 --> 00:13:54.639
It was ridiculous.
00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:59.440
We find ourselves often subscribing to what I call the Bible plus.
00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:07.679
And the danger of subscribing to the Bible plus is that when you put something next to Scripture, it rarely stays next to Scripture.
00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:11.759
It actually starts to stand over Scripture, and it becomes a filter.
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:17.120
And once it becomes a filter, Scripture starts to shrink in its importance and its authority over you.
00:14:17.360 --> 00:14:25.519
And only the parts of Scripture that actually pass through that filter, whatever it might be, get to keep teaching to you and rebuking you and correcting you and training you.
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.759
And God's word gets smaller and smaller and smaller in your life.
00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:32.080
Just enough Bible to comfort you.
00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:36.960
Just enough Bible to agree with your opinions, but not enough to correct you.
00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.120
Not enough to rebuke you or confront you.
00:14:39.279 --> 00:14:40.720
Just enough Bible to inspire you.
00:14:40.879 --> 00:14:43.279
Not enough to form you into the image of Jesus.
00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:49.679
This is the danger of placing any other authority on equal footing with the authority of Scripture.
00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:53.759
It will almost always take over and become superior to the Bible.
00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:57.120
And it's the plus that ends up getting the final word.
00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.679
And if you don't believe me, let me give you some examples.
00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:03.600
See if you recognize any of these or have experienced them for yourself.
00:15:04.000 --> 00:15:06.240
First, Bible plus church tradition.
00:15:06.879 --> 00:15:09.039
This is actually at the heart of the Reformation.
00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:17.600
That the Roman Catholic Church at the time, this is 1500, 16th century, had held Scripture and tradition right next to each other.
00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:20.159
But over time, tradition had become more important than Scripture.
00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:24.159
And so they were teaching things and making people do things that were not in God's word.
00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:29.360
And so Martin Luther comes along and he says, Hey, what is with all this stuff?
00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:35.200
That I can't find it in this text and in the original text.
00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:42.720
And so when we put church tradition next to the Bible, what happens is that the way we've always done things becomes more authoritative than God's Word.
00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:50.159
The traditions, the practices, the interpretations that were handed down to us start to carry the same weight as Scripture itself, and then more weight.
00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:53.279
And over time, tradition becomes this lens, this filter.
00:15:53.440 --> 00:16:00.399
And whatever tradition has already decided a passage means, or what we should do, or how we should live, is what we're supposed to do.
00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:01.360
How about this one?
00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:02.960
The Bible plus logic.
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.879
Which I love this one because I'm logical and I like to think logically.
00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:11.120
But this is what happens when we put theological systems next to the Bible.
00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:13.759
In Reformed tradition, we love to do this.
00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:14.639
We love our systems.
00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:15.360
It's great.
00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:16.320
Until it's not.
00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:20.320
We organize everything that the Bible says into this like coherent framework.
00:16:20.480 --> 00:16:22.559
And we make it all fit and we make it all work.
00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:28.799
But the problem is that when scripture doesn't quite fit the system we design, we ignore it or we explain it away.
00:16:28.879 --> 00:16:34.960
And we we draw this box and we try and fit God in the box, and when God doesn't fit in the box, we say, well, we're just gonna forget those parts about God.
00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:37.440
He needs to fit in our box, in our system.
00:16:37.600 --> 00:16:38.480
What about this one?
00:16:38.799 --> 00:16:40.639
Bible plus the miraculous.
00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:47.120
I see this with my friends in the charismatic tradition sometimes, to where spiritual experience becomes the ultimate authority.
00:16:47.279 --> 00:16:55.519
Where a prophetic word or a tongue or a healing or a feeling in worship becomes more important than what God says.
00:16:55.919 --> 00:17:07.920
Even when the Bible contradicts what those prophetic words might mean, or puts guidelines around how to use those spiritual giftings, we believe that the Holy Spirit still uses those giftings.
00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:10.400
But he's clear on how they're supposed to be used.
00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:11.279
What about this one?
00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:17.039
The Bible plus modernity, where we take contemporary knowledge and that becomes the authority.
00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.680
So we take science and history and modern ethics.
00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:23.519
And it's this move to say, like, we know more now than they did back then.
00:17:23.759 --> 00:17:24.079
C.S.
00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.920
Lewis calls that chronological snobbery.
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.200
Like, we know better because we're newer, I guess.
00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:40.559
And so scripture gets filtered through the current moment, and you end up with a faith that honestly almost always looks like whatever culture and science and whatever else is happening at the moment, believe.
00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:43.359
Or this one, Bible plus consensus.
00:17:44.000 --> 00:18:01.119
Where what the group thinks becomes the authority, where the most popular opinion or the loudest voice, or what most people in the room already think, the voice of the people starts to drown out the voice of God when we always say, well, what do we all think about this rather than going to trusted authorities and starting with scripture?
00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:02.160
Last one.
00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:04.000
The Bible plus nothing.
00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:08.000
Seems like a trick, but it's I think the most important.
00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:13.519
Because the Bible plus nothing sounds like sola scriptura, sounds like scripture alone.
00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.200
Or just me and my Bible.
00:18:15.519 --> 00:18:23.519
But when you start to strip away every single voice, every authority, the only authority left is you and me.
00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:30.319
If you don't have anything else to look at scripture with and alongside, you're the one who's filtering it.
00:18:30.480 --> 00:18:34.000
And so the Bible plus nothing becomes the Bible plus me.
00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:40.880
And if you aren't sure if you've ever subscribed to the Bible plus me, here's a really helpful diagram to make you think about it.
00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:42.240
The Bible plus me.
00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:46.160
You read something in the Bible and it creates a feeling or a thought in you.
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:48.079
That's not right.
00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:49.200
It can't mean that.
00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:50.319
God wouldn't say that.
00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:53.119
That's not the God I know or the Jesus I worship.
00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.200
That's an outdated way of thinking.
00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:02.160
And you begin to filter God's words through you and your thoughts and your feelings and your experiences and your desires of what you would like to be true.
00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.440
And then what do you do?
00:19:03.920 --> 00:19:09.440
Well, often you turn to other people to see if they can confirm what you feel or think or desire.
00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:20.480
And so we go to our friends or a podcast or we watch other pastors on YouTube who think differently than our pastor, or we go to a favorite author or an influencer who make us feel validated and right in our thinking.
00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:25.279
And then, somewhere along the line, we finally come to God's word.
00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:36.799
And we come to it with a predetermined conclusion on a subject and the evidence and the support that we've already gathered from others, and we ask this book to say what we've already decided it needs to say.
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.000
That's the Bible plus me in action.
00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.079
And honesty moment, for me, this is the one that's easiest to fall into.
00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:46.400
It's the easiest trap to fall into.
00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:47.920
I think for many of us it is.
00:19:48.079 --> 00:19:50.240
Most of us don't even realize we're doing it.
00:19:50.480 --> 00:19:56.960
The person who is most confident that they don't have a Bible plus is usually the person whose plus is themselves.
00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.240
Here's a more faithful version of reading the Bible.
00:20:00.559 --> 00:20:05.119
You face a question about faith or the intersection of life in faith.
00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:13.759
Or you read something in the Bible that unsettles you, and your first response is actually not to go somewhere else or what do I think, it's to actually just keep reading God's word.
00:20:14.240 --> 00:20:23.119
Instead of starting with yourself, you start with scripture and you go back to it and you read it again, and you read other passages that speak about similar topics or similar themes.
00:20:23.519 --> 00:20:25.680
Before you decide what you want the answer to be.
00:20:25.920 --> 00:20:31.920
Before you consult your feelings or your preferences or your politics, you open the Word of God, you ask a super simple question.
00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:34.960
What has God said here?
00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:41.759
Then, and this is important, then you bring in other voices, trusted voices.
00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:45.680
Because solo scriptura does not mean read the Bible in isolation.
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:56.559
All of those other voices we've been talking about today, tradition, reason, experience, science, your pastor, your community, the wisdom of Christians who've been reading this book for 2,000 years plus more, right?
00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.400
Those are all helpful.
00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:05.440
And then, and only then, after you've started with God's word, you've gone to other trusted sources, then you come to yourself.
00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:09.440
But here's the thing, by the time you get to you, you already know the answer.
00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:15.039
You already know what God's Word says, you already know how the church understands it and how other disciplines understand it.
00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:17.279
Now the question is, what are you gonna do with it?
00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:23.039
That's what it means to affirm sola scriptura, to claim the Bible alone.
00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:26.319
But the Bible alone in the sense that nothing else gets the final word.
00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:30.480
It starts and ends with this text and what God's revealed in it.
00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:36.559
So I think the real question isn't whether or not you believe in sola scriptura or would affirm it, because I think most of us would.
00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:41.680
We've been kind of conditioned that, yeah, scripture first, God's word above anything else.
00:21:41.839 --> 00:21:44.799
I I think the real question is do you practice it?
00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:47.920
Are you living it, not just affirming it?
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:56.000
And if you're not sure, can I just give you a few helpful things that you can do to make sure you resist the temptation to put anything above God's word?
00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.839
One of the ways we talk about following Jesus is this idea of disciples.
00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:04.559
And in our church, we've been using this really simple definition of a disciple.
00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:10.960
A disciple listens for the voice of God and obeys the will of God on the mission of God.
00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:14.960
Discipleship starts with listening to God's voice.
00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:18.079
And the primary place that God speaks to us is through His Word.
00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:23.519
And so, to end, here are four simple practices for listening well to God's voice.
00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:26.480
First is this start with scripture.
00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:30.000
Seems obvious given the content of this message.
00:22:30.240 --> 00:22:31.839
But I just want to reiterate this.
00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:45.599
The next time you have a question about faith or life or ethics or relationships or politics or whatever it is, before you Google it, before you turn to a podcast, before you text a friend, before you check whatever, open your Bible.
00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:54.160
And it sounds so basic, but honestly, when was the last time you had a real question about something in your life or in your faith?
00:22:54.319 --> 00:22:58.400
And the first, your very first response was to go to God's Word.
00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:05.440
But before anything else, to actually start with Scripture before turning to any other source of authority in your life.
00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:08.319
Second, sit with the discomfort.
00:23:08.559 --> 00:23:11.920
The next time you hit a passage that bothers you, don't move on.
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:12.960
Sit with it.
00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:13.920
Read it again.
00:23:14.079 --> 00:23:15.119
Read it in context.
00:23:15.279 --> 00:23:17.519
Read other passages of scripture because here's what I found.
00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:26.000
Whenever the passages that make me the most uncomfortable are almost always the ones where God is using to get at something inside of me.
00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:30.240
Something inside of me that needs to change or become more aligned with his will.
00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:34.240
And my discomfort is not a sign that the Bible is wrong.
00:23:34.400 --> 00:23:40.400
It's a sign that the Holy Spirit is at work within me and trying to get to something in me.
00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.680
You can, there's really two ways you can approach the Bible.
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You can read the Bible or you can let the Bible read you.
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The invitation is to let the Bible read you.
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And as it reads you, it's going to teach you, and it's going to rebuke you, and it's going to correct you, and it's going to train you up in righteousness.
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Let it do the work it was designed to do, why God gave us this text.
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Third, read with others.
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The best defense against the Bible plus me is actually other people who will tell you honestly when your plus is showing.
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That's what community's for.
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That's what this church is for.
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To help you hear what God is actually saying, even when it's something that you don't want to hear.
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So bring it to your community.
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Bring it to your pastors.
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Ask me your chat about.
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I seriously, I love to answer Bible questions.
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It's why I do what I do because for myself, when I started to understand God's word and truly understand what it was saying and what it meant for me and what I was supposed to do with it, my relationship with Christ changed and my life changed.
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And so I love helping others figure out what this text might be saying to them.
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Read with other brothers and sisters from other traditions or other periods of church history.
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Look to the creeds and the confessions of our faith to help you make sense of how others have understood and experienced God.
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Last one, four.
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Pray before you read.
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It's both the simplest and most powerful one, I think.
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Before you open your Bible, pray.
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Ask the Spirit to illuminate the scriptures, to show you what's true, to show you the areas in you that need to be corrected.
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And at its most basic, just pray one sentence.
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Lord, have the final word over me.
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That's it.
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It's literally solo scriptura as a prayer.
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It's you saying to God, I'm not coming to this text to confirm what I think.
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I'm coming to listen to you, to hear your voice.
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And whatever you say, God, I want that to be the thing that shapes me most.
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Lord, have the final word over me.
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Four simple practices.
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None of them are complicated.
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None of them require a seminary degree, just a Bible, a little bit of time, a willingness to let God be God because you know that you are not.
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And the good news is, you don't have to give it right.
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You just have to start somewhere.
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And God will meet you as you attempt to hear his voice and listen to his word and faithfully read this book.
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And he will form you, and over time, slowly, gently, sometimes painfully, God's word will shape us into the people he's calling us to be.
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Would you join me in prayer?
