Speak Boldly – Part 2

In this message from David Platt from Acts 2:14–41, we’re reminded of the power and sufficiency of God’s Word.

Explore more content from Radical.

Chapters

• 0:00 Picking Up Last Week’s Thread
• 1:07 The Word’s Authority In Acts 2
• 3:20 Joel And Psalms Ground Peter’s Case
• 5:15 Scripture As The Source Of Authority
• 7:16 The Pool, Not The Diving Board
• 10:20 Without The Word, Preachers Are Helpless
• 14:40 Fresh Revelation Vs. Explanation Today
• 18:05 Stories, Experience, And Misplaced Authority
• 22:00 Power Of The Word And Miracles
• 26:00 Why We See Fewer Signs Here
• 29:20 The Word’s Relevance To Real Life
• 33:10 Promises For Fear, Grief, And Hope
• 37:15 Why Listen To Anything Else
• 39:20 God’s Agenda: Glory Of Christ
• 42:10 Transformed Into Christ’s Image
• 46:00 Genesis To Revelation Bookends

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

You are listening to David Plott Messages, a weekly podcast with sermons and messages from pastor, author, and teacher David Plott.

SPEAKER_01: 0:08

I want us to pick up where we left off last week. Um I mentioned to you last week that I was pretty um ambitious in what I thought I could get through last week. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure if this is not going to become a part three next week, but we'll see. Let me encourage you to pull out your celebration guide notes that are in there. We're looking at five reasons why the word of God must be central in our worship. And last week we began looking at Peter's sermon in Acts chapter 2, using that as an example of how the word was central. We began to talk about the word's magnitude. You've got those notes filled in there on your on those pages because of the word's magnitude. We talked about the significance of God's revelation, the fact that he has revealed himself as the word and he has revealed himself through the word. And then we talked about the seriousness of man's proclamation of the word. Because the preacher has the responsibility to expose the voice of God, not his own voice, in order to exalt the greatness of God. We magnify God by magnifying his voice. So I want us to pick up where we left off last week and look at the second reason why the word of God must be central in our worship. And that reason is because of the word's authority. Because of the word's authority. What I want you to do is I want you to start with me in verse 14. And I want us to begin to look over this sermon again. I want us to think about the authority that was found in this message. Look at verse 14. The Bible says Peter stood up with the eleven, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. We talked about how that word address the crowd literally means to speak with great gravity or seriousness. And he begins to preach, first Christian sermon, fellow Jews, and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you. Listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. It's only nine in the morning. No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams, even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and on and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord, and everyone who calls in the name of the Lord will be saved. Now those verses he just quoted were from Joel. Anybody know where in Joel? In Joel chapter 2, verses 28 through 32. Either we have Bible scholars here, or they've got a little note down at the bottom of their Bibles that tells them, some of you probably have it, Joel 2, 28 through 32, instant Bible scholar status, okay? So we come to he quotes from Joel. So out of the first part of the sermon, we've got a pretty heavy Old Testament emphasis. Then we get to verse 22. Men of Israel, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. And you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. David said about him, I saw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices, my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your holy one see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life, you will fill me with joy in your presence. Now there he's quoting from Psalms. Anybody know where? Psalms chapter 16, you're catching on. All right, verses 8 to 11. He's quoting from Psalms. So now we've got Joel, then we've got Psalms chapter 16, then he continues, Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. And seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of this fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Or is he quoting from there? Psalm chapter. Where's that one? Psalm chapter 110, verse 1. And then he comes to a conclusion. Therefore, Lot all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. What I want you to see as we read through this first Christian sermon is that it is packed full of Old Testament scripture. This sermon had authority in Acts chapter 2 because it was saturated with the Word. You got just about half of the verses that are describing the sermon here that are direct quotations from the Old Testament. Peter knew that if he was going to stand to speak with authority on this particular day, he had a responsibility to stand and to use the word of God. That was where the authority would come from. And what we see from the very beginning is a precedent being set in public worship for the word to saturate the worship of the church, for the word to saturate what happens when the believers gather together. I had it described to me when I went to seminary to study under a good friend of mine named Dr. Jim Shaddocks. He has preached here before. He's been my mentor over the last uh six or seven years. I remember in preaching class, he said, guys, we're going to look at sermons and how we use the word of God and worship and especially in preaching like a swimming pool. Now follow along the illustration. He said, There's a lot of folks who think when it comes to preaching, the word is the diving board. And so what they do is they stand up and they read a couple verses and then they close the Bible and they move on to what they want to talk about the rest of the time, never to return to the word. Giving their own ideas, their own opinions. That's the diving board. Second, many people use the text, the word of God, as the pool furniture. You kind of swim over to the side every once in a while, take a little dose from the word here, take a little dose from the word over there, make reference to it every once in a while, but you're really enjoying the time you've got in the pool on your own. How many of you have ever heard sermons where the scripture is the diving board or the scripture is the pool furniture? He said, instead of using the word as the diving board or pool furniture, let's use the word as the pool itself. And let's jump into this thing and let's swim around in it. And let's saturate our worship with the word. And let's walk through it in and out and let's enjoy all that it's in there. Now, why dive into the word? Why would we need to dive into the word? Well, two reasons. Because number one, apart from the word, the preacher is helpless. Apart from the word, the preacher is helpless. Peter, if you could just put yourself in his shoes on this particular day, well, what you've got is you've got people who are who are sound of a violent wind, you've got tongues of fire resting on their heads, and then there's all of his friends speaking in different languages. And Peter, the pressure is on. You've got to stand up and explain all of this. So Peter stands up and he knows. He knows that he's helpless apart from what the word has said about what's going on there. He knows that his authority is completely based on his knowledge of the word and his explanation of the word. They would proclaim the word of the Lord all throughout the Old Testament. That's exactly what we see happening here in Acts chapter 2. And he even says, when he's quoting from Joel, that the Spirit's going to come upon you and you're going to prophesy. And the responsibility of the prophet was to take the word of the Lord and to speak it. Don't miss it. We've got to grab a hold of this. If the prophet doesn't have the word of the Lord, then he has nothing to say. I want us to draw the connection to preaching today. If the prophet, if the preacher does not have the word of the Lord, then he has nothing to say. The whole thing was these prophets would stand up in the Old Testament, they'd say, Thus saith the Lord, and they would start to give the word of the Lord. Well, the preacher today, his responsibility, my responsibility is to come before you and say, Thus saith the Lord, and to deliver the word of the Lord to the people. That's exactly what we see happening here. Now, at this point, we need to remember that there is a slight difference between the preaching of the New Testament and the Old Testament and preaching today. The role of the word and the Old Testament and New Testament worship and the role of the Word today. And that day, basically, I think it could be summarized by three different types of communication. You had, first of all, fresh revelation that came from God. A lot of this stuff that we see that's written in Scripture, first time it was coming down the chute. God given it to his people, the people are proclaiming it. We even see that in Jesus when he says, A new command I give you. He begins to give fresh revelation from God. Then at other points, you've got explanation of the revelation that had already been given. Peter's doing that right here. We've got revelation from the Old Testament, and here's how to explain it today. You've got even Jesus saying, You have heard that it was said, and talking about what was said before. And then you've got people persuading based on those things. So you've got this fresh revelation sometimes. Sometimes you've got explanation of what's already been said. And they're using that to persuade people. When we come to preaching today and to the role of the word in our worship today, we don't have the first element. All we've got is explanation and persuasion. We don't have fresh revelation. Now, by that I don't mean that God is not still speaking to his people. He's obviously still speaking to his people, but I do mean this. God is not sitting back in heaven thinking, man, I really wish I would have included some more things in that book. David, could you bring a fresh word that is completely separate than what's in the Bible? That's how cults begin, isn't it? But somewhere along the way, doesn't the contemporary face of preaching look like we need to add to this because it's just not enough. We wander around looking for a fresh word from the Lord. I remember sitting in a worship service one time. The guy who was supposedly preaching that day had forgotten to bring his Bible. You don't forget to bring your Bible when you're preaching, but he forgot to bring his Bible. And so he stood up, and for half an hour, he basically, the thesis of his message was, I did everything I could to try to come up with a word from the Lord to bring to you today. He said, I took walks, I thought about it everywhere I went, I prayed, I did this and that, and he told some humorous stories in between that made everybody laugh, and basically came to the end and he said, I did everything I could to come up with a word from the Lord, and I just couldn't come up with one. And so he closed down and he said, Maybe that means the word doesn't, the Lord doesn't have a word for us today. I sat there thinking, you've got 66 books that you know are the word of the Lord. Just stand up, open the Leviticus if you want, and preach it. And you've got a word from the Lord. You don't have to wander around looking for something to preach. You've got it right here. Just proclaim it. That's the job of the prophet. And if you don't have this, you have nothing to say to the people that you stand before. Apart from the word, the preacher is helpless. And I'll be honest, this frees me up. I don't have to spend my week wandering around trying to think of what new word or innovative word I'm gonna bring to you for today. I'm not the chef. I don't cook the food. I just bring it to the table. And I try to bring it hot, all right? I don't have to create something to bring to you. We've got the word and the authority of the word here. But what we've done in contemporary preaching today and in our worship today is we have taken the authority of the word, we have put it in the background, and instead we have put up the authority and experiences of the preacher at the forefront. We've reversed it. And as a result, so many sermons are long on storytelling and the preacher's experiences. And people even say, well, David, you can't preach on anything if you haven't experienced it. Let's think about that for a second. Would it be required of me in order to preach on drunkenness to experience drunkenness? Would it be required of me to preach on a variety of different sins that we just won't go into for me to experience those things? Absolutely not. Ladies and gentlemen, my authority to stand before you today is not based on my opinions or my experience. It is based on the word of God. That's the only authority that there is. And apart from that, the preacher falls flat on his face. I remember preaching one time in East Tennessee. I was preaching these good old-fashioned revival meetings throughout the week. It was one of those areas of the country where they still bring out some snakes every once in a while. And uh I was preaching every night, but during the day they wanted me to go to some of the schools to speak in the schools and uh and try to get people to come that night. Of course, they said, well, you can't preach from the Bible or you can't mention Jesus. You just got to give a speech. And so I did. And some guys can do that really well. Some guys can can really draw a crowd in that way, and I think that's great. But I learned really quickly that week that apart from the word and apart from Christ, I I am not a very good communicator. Some of you might think that I'm not a good communicator even with the word, but you should see it without the word. It's even worse. And I realized God began to show me very clearly at an early point in my ministry that apart from the power of his word, I fall flat on my faith. And some people ask me, well, David, how long do you how long do you spend preparing a sermon for Sunday? And I I usually tell them around the number of hours that I spend, and and sometimes people will say, Well, why do you spend all that time? Why don't you just stand up and let the Holy Spirit speak through you when you come to church on Sunday? Well, here's why. Not that I don't think the Holy Spirit could do that. But if I'm going to stand up to say, Thus saith the Lord, I better know what the Lord saith before I come before people. Apart from the word, the preacher is helpless. And not only that, apart from the word, the church, don't miss this, the church is powerless. This is the central foundation upon which the church is built here in Acts chapter 2. That's why the first thing it says is they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. If we had time this morning, we'd go through the whole book of Acts and see the role of the word and the proclamation of the word that goes throughout the building of the church. It is the foundation for the power in the church. Now we know in Acts chapter 2, verse 42 through 47, the Bible says not only did they devote themselves to these things, but everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. And what you've got is a picture of the word going forward. It's advancing, being proclaimed, and what's happening is miraculous signs and wonders are being done that kind of validate the word and show, help enlighten the power of the word. Happens all throughout the book of Acts, particularly when the word is going to new places that it hasn't gone before. The thing is, it's happening all around the world today. You go to other countries, particularly countries where the word is not known. You're seeing miraculous things happen and you hear testimonies. Even in Indonesia, when Larry and Dan and I were there in June to hear stories of what God is doing to bring Muslims to Christ. There's one leader of a mosque, they're called Imams. This leader of a mosque is in the mosque one Friday, as is the ritual, and he's praying and he's bowing down this whole bowing ritual, and he's bowing down on this mat. And one time when he is bowing down, he opens his eyes and he looks, and there on the mat, he sees the image of a face of Christ. Now, would that just cause you to take a little second look if you're a Muslim praying to Allah and you look down and you see the face of Jesus with a smile on his face saying, Saint, I want you to come to me. And so he he found this lady who he knew was a believer, came to faith in Christ. Stories of miraculous things happening. I remember one dream vision type story where there was a uh there was a woman who had an abortion, uh, wanted to have an abortion, was planning on having an abortion. The rate, the abortion rate in Indonesia is just sky high. And there was a lady that I was talking to that had a home for unwed mothers to help them find alternatives to abortion. This particular woman who was gonna have an abortion went to sleep one night and saw in her dream a vision of a guy. She didn't know who it was, but he was holding some sheep in his hands and had lambs surrounding him. And he came to her in that dream and vision and said, I don't want you to kill that baby that is inside of you. I put it inside of you for a reason, and it belongs to me. She got really scared, and so the next morning she decided, I'm not gonna go to go through with the abortion. She went to the doctor who was gonna do it, said, I'm not gonna do this. And the doctor said, You need to go to this home that has some help for mothers that are in a situation like you're in. And so she goes there. She walks into this lady's office. When she walks in, she sees a picture of Jesus on the wall. She didn't even know who it appeared to her in her vision. She looks up and she says, That man appeared to me in a dream. Who is he? She begins to tell him her about Christ. She becomes a Christian, her and her father are both. She has the baby, and he gets adopted by a Christian family there in Indonesia. God is doing amazing things around the world. Now, here's the question I have wrestled with over the last six months in particular. The question I've wrestled with is why don't we see things like that happening here? We hear stories like that. How come we don't hear those kind of stories in Birmingham? And the best conclusions I've come to, based on studying the word and talking with folks, is two things. Number one, I think on a whole, we're just not aware of the supernatural around us. The Enlightenment has affected uh affected us so much that everything is explained by reason or rationalism, and we're just not open to the fact that there are supernatural things that happen in the world that we just can't explain. For the second reason, and this is where coming in to what's going on here in the book of Acts, you see, and I mentioned earlier, you see these wonders and signs happening most often when the word is going to new places, and that's exactly what you see in the world today. But in places like Birmingham, where the word is already there, those wonders, those miraculous signs are not necessary. Because the power is inherent in the Word. And if the Word is there, then we need no miraculous signs. To validate it. Remember Luke 16? When Luke tells about the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man is in hell, and he says, Send somebody to my brothers to tell them the truth. Send somebody who would perform some kind of miracle to show them. And what does Abraham say? He says, They've already got the law and the prophets, they've got the word. Even if somebody was raised from the dead, they still wouldn't be convinced. I'm convinced that today we have the power inherent in the word to see amazing things happen in Birmingham. The question is, will we be a church that takes God at His Word, that listens to His Word, studies His Word, and depends on the authority of the Word. We've got to make the word central in our worship because of the Word's authority. Third reason we make the word central in our worship because of the word's relevance. Because of the word's relevance. Now I want you to see what happens here in Acts chapter 2. What kind of precipitates this sermon is in verse 12 and 13. The people, as they watch what's going on, are amazed and perplexed. And so they asked one another, what does this mean? Some, however, made fun of them and said, They have had too much wine. And Peter stood up with the 11, raised his voice, and addressed the crowd. So what you've got is the people asking, What's going on? There's something that's happened on that day that needs an explanation. And so Peter takes the word from the Old Testament and begins to apply it to today. I want you to see two characteristics of the word here. Number one, the word speaks to contemporary needs. The word speaks to contemporary needs. It addresses the present situation here in Acts chapter 2. But don't miss it. Peter addresses the present situation with writings that were written literally hundreds of years before that. So the word speaks to contemporary needs, but listen to this, the word speaks about eternal promises. What you've got is a timeless word that Peter is applying to a contemporary context. That's exactly what the prophet or the preacher does. It's kind of a bridge builder, bridging the gap between, okay, these words were written thousands of years ago now. How do they apply to our contemporary context? And the Bible is timeless and relevant enough to speak, not only in Acts chapter 2, but for us to study this word today and see how it applies to our lives in the 21st century. The word speaks to contemporary needs, the word speaks about eternal promises. It's a both end here that we're seeing set up. Now, let's be honest. At this point we think, and some of us would say, but we're kind of afraid to say, well, I don't understand why we study the Bible. Because it's pretty antiquated. It doesn't really address a lot of the pressures that we face in the 21st century. I've got, some of you are thinking, I've got this, this, and this going on right now in my life, this happening along my life, and you're going to come in here today and speak about what happened 2,000 years ago. And tell me about the Jebushites and the Amorites. What does that have to do with me? Is the Bible really worth listening to when it comes to the 21st century and all the pressures and concerns, difficulties, trials, decisions that we have to make? Should we even listen to the Bible? Well, it's at this point I want us to dive in and just think for a minute about the eternal promises that speak to contemporary needs. I've got a list on there. We're not going to have time to turn to all these, but I want you to remember Joshua chapter 1, verse 8 and 9 says, Do not let this law, book of the law, depart from your mouth, because in it you will find prosperity and success. You will be prosperous and successful. That is not material prosperity or material success. Let's not be so Americanized that we look at success and prosperity just through material eyes. It's talking about success and prosperity in your life and your family. Even if that means difficulty, the word brings prosperity and success. Psalm chapter 19 says the word converts our soul, makes us wise, gives joy to our hearts. It gives joy to our hearts. It makes wise the simple, enlightens our eyes. Psalm 19 goes on to say it is everlasting, it is true, it is righteous, invaluable, and sweet to the taste. Psalm 119, 105 says the Bible, the Word of God gives guidance and direction for the future. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light into my path. You want to know God's will, God's purpose for your life? Go to the Word. It gives guidance and direction for your life. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 1 through 11. Comfort and strength in our troubles. Comfort, comfort, my people. That's how Isaiah 40 starts, that it comes to the end and it says, You will mount up with wings as eagles, you will run and not grow weary, you will walk and not be faint. Comfort and strength in our troubles. John 1, 1 through 14 tells us that the Bible, the Word of God, reveals Jesus Himself. John 17, 17 says it is the source of truth and holiness. Philippians 4, 4 through 7 says it gives us peace amidst anxiety. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your request to God. And what does the Bible promise you? The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and will guard your minds in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3, 14 through 17, which is actually the passage that you'll be sent on email this week if you want to continue in study and memorization of the Word. Talks about how the Word gives wisdom for salvation, teaching, rebuke, correction, instruction, and matures and prepares us to serve God. 1 Peter 2.2 says the word gives spiritual nourishment. Is the Bible relevant? If I could, I'd like to add to that list. Is the Bible relevant? When we feel alone and isolated, and the word tells us in Joshua 1 5, I will never leave you or forsake you. I will be with you always. When we are confused about what decision to make in our family or in our job, and the word tells us in Proverbs 3, trust in me with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding, and all your ways acknowledge me, and I will make your paths straight. When it feels like the world is caving in around us, and the Lord says in Zephaniah 3:17, I will quiet you with my love, and I will rejoice over you with sin. How about one chapter? Romans 8, when we are struggling with sin, and the Bible gives us a promise that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death. When you're uncertain and fearful about the future, and Romans 8 says, You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the spirit of sonship, and by him we cry, Abba, Father, the Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, we are heirs, heirs with God, and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we may share in his sufferings, in order that one day we are going to share in his glory. How about when things aren't working out the way they were supposed to? When Romans 8, 28 comes to our hearts and says, In all things our God works together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose? How about when we're facing those insurmountable, seemingly insurmountable trials, and Romans 8 says, if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? How about when that husband or wife leaves, or when the mom or dad is no longer in the house and God whispers to our hearts that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation that can ever separate you from my love? How about when we're afraid and we don't know what's coming in the future? And God says in Isaiah 43, fear not, I have redeemed you, I have called you by name, and you are mine. And when you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The flames will not set you ablaze, because I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, and you are precious and honored in my sight, and I love you. Ladies and gentlemen, Mark chapter 13, verse 31 says, Heaven and earth will pass away, but his word will never pass away. You see how the question, the question becomes, not should we listen to the Bible, the question becomes, why would we want to listen to anything else? Why would we fill our worship with anything but this word? The preacher's job is not to make the Bible relevant, the Bible is relevant. The preacher's job is to show the relevance of the Bible. It speaks to contemporary needs about eternal promises. Fourth characteristic. Because of the word's magnitude and its authority and its relevance. Fourth, because of the word's purpose. Because of the word's purpose. Now, here's where I want us to really dive in deep into God's agenda in scripture. We've talked some about agendas here at Brookhills. We've talked about how if we have different agendas that we can yield our seats, if that would be the best thing to do. I want us to look at God's agenda in Scripture. Number one, God's agenda in Scripture is to show us the glory of Christ. We talked last week about how Peter's sermon is radically God-centered. And at the focal point of that sermon is the person of Christ. If you even look over in verse 22 through 24, you see mainly three characteristics of Christ that are emphasized here. First of all, Christ is a man accredited by God. Men of Israel, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles. Number two, he was a savior provided by God. Look in verse 23. This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge. And you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. God purposed for his son to die to save us from our sins. And finally, he is the Lord exalted by God. God raised him from the dead in verse 24, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. So the whole purpose here is the Bible is showing us the glory of Christ. And Peter is using the Old Testament to show the glory of Christ. When we do secret church in a couple of months in November, we're going to walk through the Old Testament. One of the fun parts of that evening will be seeing how Christ is in and out of every single page of the Old Testament and how his presence fills all of Scripture. He is the center of this whole thing. So the Bible's agenda is to show us the glory of Christ, and then second, to transform us into the image of Christ. Now, here's where I want us to camp out and do a little bit of turning. I want you to, once you've written that down, transforming us into the image of Christ, I want you to turn with me to Genesis chapter 1. And at the same time, you hold a finger in Genesis chapter 1. I want you to turn the other hand over to Revelation chapter 21. Alright, we're going to have a little fun here, okay? Go back and forth a little bit. Genesis chapter 1 on one hand, then have it ready to flip over to Revelation chapter 21. I want you to see some bookends on the Bible that show us the Bible's purpose. Genesis chapter 1, verse 1 obviously says, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. So God is revealing his glory through creation from the very beginning. But I want you to look with me especially at Genesis 1, 26 and 27. Look at what the Bible says there. First book in the Bible, Genesis chapter 1, verse 26 and 27. It says, Let us make man in our image and our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them. So what we see in the very beginning of the Bible is God creating man in his image. In the image of God we were created. But then we get to Genesis chapter 3, and sin enters the picture. I want you to look at Genesis chapter 3, verse 22. What you've got is Adam and Eve, man experiencing the effects of sin. Verse 22 says, The Lord God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. So the Lord banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. Here we've got a picture of the image of God being marred by sin in man. So that's how the Bible starts. Introduction. Now, hold your place here and go over to Revelation chapter 21. Verse 1. The Bible says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. So what you've got is the restoration, recreation of the earth here in Revelation chapter 21, like it was intended to be in Genesis chapter chapter 1 and 2. So you've got those bookends on the Bible, where then we see the image of God marred by sin and the fall of man in Genesis chapter 3. I want you to look at Revelation chapter 22. I want you to look with me at verse 1 and 2. This is talking about heaven, and it says, The angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. Now, I want you to keep that in mind. Turn back to Genesis chapter twenty chapter three. Look at verse 24, the verse we didn't read at the end of this chapter. Look at what it says. After God drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim in a flaming sword, flashing back and forth to guard the way to the what? Tree of life. Man banished from the tree of life in Genesis chapter 3, Revelation chapter 22, the tree of life is now bringing healing to the nations because there is no curse anymore for God's people. So what we've got is this curse in the beginning as a result of sin, but you've got in the end no longer any curse, and you've got a whole story in between of God recreating his people into his image. These are bookends of the Bible, and the rest of the pages of scripture are basically one big story of God recreating us, you and me in his image. We see it throughout the Old Testament, how he wants his image to be reflected in his people. Psalm 17, verse 15 said, Our satisfaction as people only comes in seeing and knowing the likeness of God. And then when we get to the New Testament, we see this unfold more and more. Let me take you on a little tour. Go to Romans chapter 8. Go to Romans chapter 8. I want you to look at a verse actually that I just quoted part of just a second ago. I want you to see, maybe underline in your Bibles, the places where you see God talking about how we were created to be in his image. Look at Romans chapter 8, verse 28. It's a verse I just quoted a second ago that said, we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. Listen to what verse 29 says, though. So basically what Scripture's telling us is from the very beginning, God is predestined for us to look more like Jesus, to be conformed into the image of Christ. Turn over two books to the right to 2 Corinthians. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 3. What we're seeing is the agenda of the Bible. 2 Corinthians chapter 3. Look at verse 18. It's a key verse here. Listen to how it's similar to Romans 8.29. It says, We who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. So we're being transformed in his likeness so that we reflect his glory. With ever increasingly ever-increasing glory, we become more like Christ day in and day out. Turn over a couple of books to Philippians. You'll come to Galatians and Ephesians, then Philippians chapter 3. Look at Philippians chapter 3, verse 20 and 21. Showing us the purpose of God in the Bible. Our citizenship is in heaven. Philippians chapter 3, verse 20. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so they will be like his glorious body. We can continue on. Colossians chapter 3, verse 10 talks about how we're putting on the image of Christ, the new man, day in and day out. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 and 4 talks about how we are maturing into the image of God. 1 John chapter 3, verse 2 says that one day we will be like him. We will be transformed into his presence. This is the whole agenda, the whole purpose of the Bible. Don't miss it. To show us the glory of Christ and to bring us, transform us into the image of Christ. Now at this point, I want us to dive a little deeper into our contemporary context and why the word must be central in worship. The word's purpose is to show us Christ and to make us look more like Christ. We've got that on the table, right? Now, if that's the word's purpose, then I want us to think about what is not the word's purpose. I want you to follow along with me here because some of you might hear me say this and think that I'm heretical. I don't think I am. I don't want you to think I am. So I want you to follow along real close here. If the word's purpose is to transform us into the image of Christ, then that means the word's purpose is not to answer every question we may have in life or to give direction for every single circumstance we may face in life. This is not an answer book for every single question that we'll face. There's a lot of questions that are not answered in the Bible. We can think of tons in this room just to begin to listen. What does the Bible say about dinosaurs? I don't see a lot about dinosaurs in the Bible. Every kid asks, what does God say about dinosaurs? I don't know. Maybe let's go a little deeper though on what happens in our lives. What does the Bible say about raising teenagers? Is the Bible a specific handbook on how to raise teenagers? Well, sure, there are some principles that are foundational, but this book was not written to give us a how to manual on how to raise teenagers. The Bible is not written to, the Bible doesn't answer questions like how to walk through. Divorce recovery. What does the Bible say about walking through divorce recovery? Walking through the grief process. Not a how-to manual for that. What does the Bible say about managing our money? Two of the biggest needs in churches. How do I handle my marriage and how do I handle my money? What does the Bible say? Practical advice. Is there a lot of specific advice about how to invest your 401ks or your or your how to handle your social security social security or your investments or your stocks or your trading? Bible doesn't give a lot of specific direction on that. And then there's social issues. What does the Bible say about cloning? Now, obviously, don't get me wrong, there's some principles that are foundational in Scripture for these things. But the Bible was not written to be a handbook, how-to manual, for how to deal with every single situation we face in life and answer every single question we may have in life. And in light of that, what we've got to ask ourselves is if that's not the purpose of the Bible, and the preacher wants to address those issues that are very real in people's lives, if I want to address divorce recovery or how to raise teenagers or how to manage your money, because I know those needs are here, and the Bible doesn't specifically address those in much depth. Certainly there's some things, but in much depth. Well then if I want to preach on that, then basically I've got two options. Either number one, I can start to take the word and twist it to say things it was not intended to say, and give a bunch of good how-to sermons on how to manage your money wisely and how to raise your teenagers wisely. Or if that doesn't work, I can go to the Christian bookstore and find the latest book on how to raise teenagers and preach that instead of the Bible. Which is happening across the board today in churches. So what we've got to ask ourselves is, is the focus of our worship going to be good stuff, or is it going to be God's stuff? Now, this, let me explain. Good stuff, I'm referring to some of the things I just mentioned, how to raise teenagers, how to walk through divorce recovery, how to handle grief, how to manage your money. Good stuff, stuff that is important for all of our lives. I'm not going to negate it's important, certainly important. And then God's stuff is the truth that is revealed in Scripture to conform us into the image of Christ. And the question we've got to ask is in our worship, are we going to focus on the good stuff or are we going to focus on the God stuff? Now follow along with me. In our worship, if we focus on good stuff and we neglect God's stuff, then what we do is we rob ourselves of the truth that is necessary for realizing God's purpose in our lives. It's not about what we don't get. We get good information on Sunday morning. What we don't get is the truth we need to grow into the character of Christ. We get the practical advice and wisdom from the preacher, but we don't get the word that needs to feed our souls to bring us into the image of Christ. We rob ourselves of the truth that is necessary for realizing God's purpose in our lives, and second, we rob God of the glory that is due to his name. And what we do is we create a church culture where everybody's dependent on the preacher for all the answers. And the preachers for his wisdom and his advice on this or that. Ladies and gentlemen, can I be honest with you? I'm just not that good. I don't have all the answers for every single situation we face. I don't have good enough sound financial advice to give all of you advice on exactly what to do with your investments. And I don't have all the answers for how to raise your teenagers. And it's not just because I don't have teenagers, even if I did, I think across this room there's all kinds of different scenarios represented with teenagers, all kinds of different personalities that are represented there with children. There's not one blanket answer for that. And so what we've done is we've created a church culture where the preacher is supposed to come out with a hat on each week and communicate according to this question or that question that people are facing. And what happens is we begin to draw attention to the preacher himself. We rob ourselves of the truth that is necessary for realizing God's purpose in our lives, and we rob God of the glory that is due to his name. Let me share with you a quote from a guy named Walter Kaiser. I think it'll be up here on the screen. He said this many pastors can preach whole messages with little more than a tip of the hat to a clause or two, taken from a biblical context that few, if any, recognize. Even more pastors have decided that using the Bible is a handicap for meeting the needs of the different generations, therefore they have gone to drawing their sermons from the plethora of recovery and pop psychology books that fill our Christian bookstores. The market forces demand that we give them what they want to hear if we wish them to return and pay for the mega sanctuaries that we have built. I don't want us to be robbed of the truth, or our God to be robbed of the glory that is due to his name. When we focus, though, on God's stuff instead of good stuff, we fill ourselves with the truth that is necessary for realizing God's purpose in our lives, and we glorify God. Catch this, we glorify God by becoming like Christ. It is not that all of these issues, whether it's managing money or raising kids or walking through divorce recovery, they are all extremely important, extremely significant issues. But instead of me trying to provide the answers week in and week out, twisting scripture or preaching other books from the Christian bookstore, if we walk through the Word and we fed the character of Christ and we get in touch in our lives with the power of the Holy Spirit, and we begin to walk with the Holy Spirit, then we'll discover He has all the answers. And he is able to equip you to follow Christ as you raise teenagers, and he is able to strengthen you to walk through divorce recovery, and he is able to give you guidance and sustain you by his grace as you walk through the grief process and as you walk through cancer and as you walk through all the trials that we may face. It's the character of Christ and being in touch with the Holy Spirit that is most important, and that happens through being fed God's stuff week in and week out. I remember when my father passed away a couple of years ago. I began to walk through that grief process. And I remember getting emails from people in church who gave me how-to steps to deal with my grief. Here's how to do this. You should do this and this and this, and everything will be fine. That was not the most beneficial advice. What was most beneficial to me in those days were the people who told me over and over again before that day that God can be trusted. And God is faithful, and God sustains by his grace and his mercy, and God upholds you with his righteous right hand, and God has conquered death and sin and the grave. And so your dad didn't need to worry about what happened after he breathed his last breath because he was headed to heaven. It was the promises that revealed the God, the character of God that were most important when I began to walk through those things. In our worship, are we going to focus on good stuff or on God stuff? And this is why we've said at the Church of Brook Hills, our agenda is to become like Christ and to make disciples in the image of Christ in all nations. And if anybody has an agenda besides that, then you're not welcome here as a member because our purpose is to grow into the image of Christ. And that comes through our time in his word. That's the word's purpose.

SPEAKER_00: 48:09

We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radical.net.