Steven Lawson: Standing for the Truth

well the topic that has been assigned to me is standing for the truth Martin Luther was a man who stood for the truth it's one thing to believe the truth it's something else to stand for it publicly at the cost of your own life the date was April 17th 1521 and Martin Luther had been summoned by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles v to appear at the Imperial diet of worms and despite the warning of friends not to come Luther nevertheless appeared at the diet of worms thinking it would be an open debate for him to present his beliefs in the scripture having no idea that in reality it was a heresy trial Martin Luther preached his way from here in Vinton burg all the way to verbs is one of the greatest preaching journeys that has ever taken place and when Luther appeared at the diet of worms there were the ecclesiastical hierarchy of the day there was a table in the middle of the room and Luther's books and works were there and the prosecuting attorney for the Roman Empire for the Roman Catholic Church asked Luther to questions Martin Luther are these your books and number two will you recant live for now sensing that this is not an open debate but that he is standing at his own heresy trial asked for the night to give careful thought for the answer that he would give Luther appeared the next day and said yes these are my books and I cannot recant these books because my books are filled with the Word of God and to recant my books would be to recant the scripture it's and then he gave that famous statement that's already been quoted but let us hear it again unless I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by clear reason for I do not trust either in the Pope or in counsels alone since it is well known that they have often aired and contradicted themselves I am bound by the Scriptures then I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God I cannot and I will not recant anything since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience I cannot do otherwise here I stand god help me and by this bold declaration Luther declared the Bible to be the sole authority upon which he stood and he saw it to be a higher authority than the Pope then church tradition or ecclesiastical councils to this point the Roman Catholic Church had a spouse scripture and church tradition scripture and ecclesiastical council Scripture and the Pope but Luther took his stand and said scripture alone Martin Luther defied the Pope in Rome he stood against Cardinal caccia ton at Augsburg he was resilient before Martinek at Leipzig he burned the papal bull here in Vinton burg he was immovable at the died of burns before Johann Eck and he confronted publicly Erasmus in his magnum opus bondage of the will if Martin Luther did anything he stood for the truth the Word of God he was an evangelical Atlas he was a German Hercules he was a modern-day Athanasius who said contra mundum against the world he was one man against 1,000 years of dead tradition Martin Luther asserted the scripture alone he said God she would hold us solely to his word that we may learn to despise the great cry Church church fathers fathers and the cry the church cannot air the church cannot air Luther said we should learn to put out of sight the Church Fathers temple priesthood Jerusalem God's people everything and anything and listen only to what God says in his written word close quote and so in this session as we think about standing for the truth I have two main headings that I want to sit before you number one where Luther stood and then second why Luther stood this would be very easy to follow and I want to begin with where Luther stood he took a firm stand as you well know on the Word of God he was the poster child for Sola scriptura and there are six truths about where Luther stood that I want to set before you today and I want us to be very clear about where Luther stood number one he stood on the divine inspiration of Scripture this is what this is always the high ground for any Reformation or any Great Awakening or any spiritual revival it is beginning with the fundamental truth that the Bible is the very word of the Living God and second Timothy three and verse 16 the Bible asserts all Scripture is inspired by God it is one word in the Greek Theo nu Stas all Scripture is god-breathed and it truly not so much that the doctrine of inspiration as it is the doctrine of expiration that God has breathed out his word that the Word of God has literally proceeded out of the mouth of God it's not that there was a text and then God breathed into a text and caused a dead book to come alive no it is that the Bible itself has been breathed out of the mouth of God and this is to say that God is the author of Scripture God is the source of all Scripture and we can say this that with every text of Scripture there is a primary author and there is a secondary author the secondary off there is the human instrument that God has chosen to record this text but above the secondary author is the primary author capital a and though there were 40-plus human authors that God used for the 66 books in the Bible over and above it all there is but one primary author and that is God himself in Matthew 4 and verse 4 Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone quoting Deuteronomy 8 verse 3 but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and the Bible is crystal clear in the claim that it makes for itself that the Bible has come down out of this world it is a message that has come down from the very throne of grace and Martin Luther held strongly to the doctrine of divine inspiration Martin Luther said quote the Holy Spirit is the author of this book close quote and Luther said we attribute to the Holy Spirit all of the Holy Scripture in other words Martin Luther held that every jot every tittle every verb tense every word every phrase every sentence every literary unit and every book of holy scripture has come down to us by the Holy Spirit of God Luther said the scriptures although they were written by men are neither of men nor from men but from God close quote in other words Luther asserted that when the Bible speaks God speaks that God speaks through the pages of written scripture and Luther said we must make a great difference between God's Word and the word of man a man's word is a little sound that flies into the air and sin vanishes but the Word of God is greater than heaven and earth yes greater than death in hell for it forms part of the power of God close quote in other words man speaks in his words just evaporate in the air they have no power they cannot save they cannot sanctify they cannot give a god-centered worldview but when God speaks the power of God is released and there is power to save and power to sanctify through the written word of god so this is where Luther stood he understood that the Bible is divinely inspired it is breathed out of the mouth of God second litter held to the inerrancy of Scripture that what God has spoken is without any air Luther maintained with the Bible asserts of itself that the Bible contains the pure unadulterated and are see as our seaspar all would say unvarnished truth of God Titus 1 verse 2 says God cannot lie and God is the never lying God God speaks pure truth God always tells it like it is and whatever God says in his word is truth the word truth very simply means reality it's the way things really are man is what God says man is in his word sin is what God says it is in his word salvation is what God says it is in his word heaven and hell is what God says it is in its word whatever God speaks in his word is absolutely true Hebrews 6 and verse 18 says it is impossible for God to lie you see there are things God cannot do and God cannot act contrary to his own holiness God cannot act or speak contrary to his own nature God can only speak that which is infallibly true because God is the God of truth Jesus said I am the way and the truth the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth those scripture is the word of truth everything about God is perfectly true and Psalm 12 and verse 6 the Bible says for the words of the Lord are pure words that is to say there is no contamination of human opinion or worldly philosophy or secular ideologies that are mingled into the pure truth of God's Word and the imagery here is that of a of an ancient smell Turing practice where a precious metal would be put into a furnace and the heat would be greatly increased such that it would become so hot that there would be a separation and the impurities would rise to the surface and the smelter would skim off of the top the impurities that would rise to the surface and leave behind a pure precious metal that is the picture that the psalmist David is giving us here when he says the words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried in a furnace on the earth refined seven times it's the idea of perfection that the Word of God is absolutely in errant and infallible psalm 119 verse 160 the psalmist writes the sum of your word in other words the Alpha and the Omega the sum in the substance the every individual part the macro the micro the sum of your word is truth and every one of your righteous testimonies is everlasting in proverbs 30 verse 5 says every word of God is tested and again is the imagery of the refining process of an ancient metal and the separation and the removal of of anything that has impurities in it the Word of God has been spoken by God and as though tested by God it is an absolutely pure book and Jesus said in John 17:17 sanctify them by your word your word is truth Martin Luther believed that Martin Luther did not believe that the Bible was just a collection of of human perspectives and and different insights from inspired men no Martin Luther understood the authors were not inspired it is the Bible that is inspired and Luther said if God has said it it must come to pass for no one should ask whether it is impossible but only determine whether God has said it close quote in other words all that matters is what does God say and let God be found true let every man be found a liar Paul says in Romans three Luther contended that the Bible is free from all contradictions he said the Holy Spirit cannot contradict himself close quote in other words the entire Bible Luther believed speaks with one voice it presents one one dilemma for mankind but one solution of salvation one pattern for holy living one plan for the end of the age one plan for the family that the Bible never speaks out of both sides of its mouth but that the Bible speaks with perfect unity and harmony Luther said scripture will not contradict itself on even one article of faith and Luther went on to declare at another time the Apostles show that one should not trust the Holy Fathers and the church unless it is certain that they have the Word of God only scripture is to be considered inerrant close quote so in other words Agustin is right only to the extent that Agustin is in alignment with the Word of God and down through the centuries those who have been teachers in the church are correct only to the extent that they speak with perfect unity with the Word of God itself that's where Luther stood he stood on the divine inspiration of Scripture he stood on the inerrancy of Scripture third Luther stood on the authority of Scripture Luther believed that the Word of God is the highest arbitrator in the church and that when the Bible speaks everything and everyone in the church must yield to the Word of God Luther believed that God rules and reigns in his church through the mediation of his word in Psalm 19 verse 7 the Bible is referred to as the law of the Lord meaning the law that has come from the Lord and in the next verse in Psalm 19 verse 8 the Bible is referred to as the commandment of the Lord in other words the scripture is not a collection of suggestions for us to consider it's not a collection of opinions for us to ponder if they are not laying out it is not laying out options for us to muse no the scripture is speaking with divine authority and contains Commandments that we must obey Luther was convinced of this and Luther insisted that preachers must quote prove their claims with the word when they extolled the authority of the fathers or they extol the authority of Augustan or of Gregory and likewise extolled the authority of the councils referring to the church councils our answer is those things have no claim on us we demand the word close quote now this is what Spurgeon would go on to say in his lifetime I will not believe a matter until I can put finger on chapter and verse and that is exactly what what Luther is is claiming and this put him at odds with the papal Authority in Rome as if addressing the Pope directly Luther declared quote my dear Pope you must not lord it over scripture nor must I or anybody else according to our own ideas the devil has that attitude close quote it in other words it is the epitome of arrogance and it is the epitome of rotten pride to elevate any man above holy scripture scripture rules and reigns in the church and by contrast luther forcefully declared scripture alone is the true Lord and Master of all writings and doctrine on the earth that is the the early foreshadowing of Sola scriptura listen to it again scripture alone in other words Sola scriptura is the true Lord and Master of all writings the Luther went on to say God's Word wants to be supreme or it is nothing and Luther also said God forbid that there should be one jot or one tittle in all of Paul which the whole Church Universal is not bound to follow and keep close quote in other words Luther understood that the scripture reigns supreme over every Church and over every believers life in every generation on every continent that it is the Word of God that is the Lord and the master over the life of the church he held to the authority of Scripture and that was the test to which Luther was put at the diet of Verne's what would be the defining and ultimate authority in the church will it be the Pope will it be church tradition will it be ecclesiastical councils or will it be thus says the Lord and for Luther he bowed the knee to the authority of the word of God itself fourth and this is a major point not only did Luther stand with the inspiration the inerrancy and the authority of Scripture but fourth Luther stood with the purpose cuit II as Scripture and by that word we mean the clarity of Scripture and by this word we mean that Scripture is listen it is the most lucid book that has ever been written and this was so critically important because at the time of Luther the Bible was being withheld from the people and the Pope and the Cardinals and the hierarchy of room said the people are too stupid to read the Bible and the people cannot interpret the Bible for themselves so we will withhold the Bible from them we will not translate the Bible into their vernacular language we will keep the Bible in Latin which was the language of the classroom but it was not the language of the farmer in the field nor of the blacksmith in his shop they preached in Latin they conducted their worship service in Latin and they kept the Bible in Latin and the people did not understand Latin and in essence they said to the people if we want your opinion we'll give it to you Martin Luther said no the Bible is the most lucid and clear book that has ever been written in matters of salvation and Christian living God knows how to communicate the God of heaven and earth is a speaking God and he can speak in such a manner that he can be clearly understood and that is why Martin Luther after the diet of worms was kidnapped by his friends taken to the Wartburg castle and there he translated the Bible into the German language he began in 1521 it was published in September of 1520 - it came to be known as the September Bible in Martin Luther gave the greatest give that he could give to the german-speaking people he gave them a Bible in their own language game over from that point a common man could take a Bible and read for himself there is no mention of purgatory in the Bible there is no mention of a treasury of merit in the Bible there is no mention of a Pope in the Bible there is no mention of of last rites in the Bible there is no mention of salvation through baptism or through church membership and in some places they were so outraged they rose up and tore the church down because they realized we have been lied to all of these years and then that spread to England and a man named William Tyndale followed suit and he said that he would translate the Bible into the English language such that a plowboy in the field would know more of the Word of God than the Pope in Rome Calvin's cousin translates the Bible into French and the Reformation is on it was the ultimate back to the Bible movement that there has ever been at the heart the Reformers believed that that the Bible is lucid it is clear that a father can sit in his home and read it to his children and the children can understand the way of salvation and that a mother can read for herself and see how she is to live her life this is based upon the purpose cuit II of Scripture let me give you some Bible verses for this Psalm 19 in verse 8 the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes this word pure means clear it means without ambiguity in other words it's like crystal clear water that you can see into and you can see what is lying at the at the bottom it's the opposite of a muddy stream or or a muddy lake that you cannot see in - Luther believed that the Bible is not murky that it is not muddy Luther believed that the Bible is crystal clear that you can look into the Bible and clearly see the way of salvation that a blind man can see it and then in Matthew 12 then verse 5 jesus said to the Pharisees have you not read do you have two eyeballs do you have brain cells that are touching between your ears do you know how to read because if you can read you would know the truth and the same is said in Matthew 19 and verse 4 have you not read this is Jesus addressing the Pharisees and when they try to catch him on the issue of divorce and remarriage and Jesus appeals to the scripture and says have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female if you could only read you would know the answer it's right in front of your eyes this is the total opposite position of the Roman Catholic Church in those days previous to the to the Reformation because they understood that if a Bible is put into the hands of people who can read for themselves they will get a different message than what they're being told Psalm 20 excuse me Matthew 22 and verse 31 is yet another one of these passages in which Jesus makes his appeal to the scripture and says if you can read you will know the answer and jesus said in this text but regarding the resurrection of the dead have you not read what was spoken to you by God Luther took a strong stand on the purpose cuit II that scripture Luther said quote no clear book has been written on earth than the Holy Scripture close quote some people say oh it's just so hard to understand not in matters of salvation not in matters of Christian pursuit of holiness it's not hard to understand it's just hard to swallow sometimes but it's not hard to understand Luther said everything there is in the scriptures has been brought out by the word into the most definite light and published for all the world to see again Luther said quote the meaning of scripture is in and of itself so certain and accessible and clear that scripture interprets itself and tests and judges and illumines every thing else close quote in other words what's in the Bible is clear what's outside of the Bible is murky what's out in the world is hard to understand but what's in the Bible is clear and when you see into the Lucid pure Word of God that opens up everything else in the world when you understand the scripture you understand the world you understand yourself you understand God in fact you can't come to know God and you can know the way of salvation Luther also said quote there is not on earth a book more illicitly written than the Holy Scriptures close quote this is where Luther took his stand and it was in total contradiction to the dogma of Rome at the time moreover he maintained quote scripture is intended for all people it is clear enough so far as truths necessary for salvation are concerned close quote and what he is alluding to in admitting here yes there are parts of scripture that are hard to understand of course there are but they have nothing to do with the way of salvation and they have nothing to do with essential matters of Christian living the difficult parts are peripheral issues the crystal-clear parts are what are essential for heaven and hell and living one's life for the glory of God Luther certainly did not deny that some parts are difficult to understand as I just said but he did say quote if you cannot understand the obscure then stay with the clear and he said if the words are obscure at one place they will be made clear in another place close quote this is exactly what John Knox said in the Scottish Reformation that what is unclear in one part of the Bible is made clear by another part of the Bible in other words scripture interpret scripture Thomas Watson the Puritan would say that just as only a diamond is sharp enough to cut another diamond only Scripture is sharp enough to interpret another text of Scripture and this is where Luther stood this is where Knox stood this was a Reformation truth but not only the purpose cuit II has scripture that is clear it's understandable it's not to be withheld from the people there doesn't have to be an interpreter a middleman a priest on the inside but that a common man can take the Bible and understand the way of salvation but this the sufficiency of Scripture this also is where Luther stood that the Bible is entirely sufficient to carry out all of God's saving and sanctifying purposes nothing else needs to be added to the Bible and the Bible is complete in and of itself in matters again that lead to conversion and lead in sanctification no other outside book of human opinion or religious superstition needs to be added and some 19 verse 7 the law of the Lord is perfect and the word perfect here in the Hebrew means complete whole comprehensive lacking in nothing listen you can put a child of God in a dungeon with a Bible and he will know more if what's going on in the world then all of the the the big shots in this world who walk among the people a Christian with a Bible has a comprehensive presentation of Scripture of truth that is made known to them everything that God is doing in the world is in direct alignment with his written word no one will ever be saved apart from the written word of God no one will be sanctified apart from the written word of God what God is doing in the world he is doing through the see of scripture Isaiah 55 verse 11 my word which goes forth from my mouth shall not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire and without succeeding in the manner for which I sent it what God is saying is that his word is able to carry out all of his purposes here upon this earth and it never returns to God without accomplishing the purpose for which God has sent his word into this world and second Timothy 3 verse 17 makes this very clear after God says all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching for reproof for correction for training in righteousness he then says so that the man of God may be adequate equipped for every good work now let's just think about this for a moment if you have the Bible you are adequate and equipped for every good work not just some work in ministry not just a lot of work in ministry but every good work that God has for ordained for you to walk in it is the Bible the written word of God that equips you and enables you to carry out that task that we need to be more like what Spurgeon said of John Bunyan why the man is a walking Bible prick him anywhere and he bleeds bib line if we want to be more effective in our own personal ministries we need to become more and more walking Bibles and we need to bleed bib line from our from our innermost being adequate so that the man of God may be adequate second Timothy 3:17 this word adequate refers to persons who are made complete made capable and who are proficient in everything that they are called to be or do and the word equipped in this text means to be enabled to meet all of the demands of righteousness now we need other books but only to the extent they help us understand the book and to apply the book we don't need any other insights we don't need any other opinions we have divine insight and we have divine truth that is in the Word of God what other books sir how they serve us is simply to help us more correctly bring into focus the meaning the message and the application of the book this is where Luther took his stand and he was willing not to die for what the Church Fathers said but for what Matthew Mark and Luke and John had to say Luther said this word referring to the scripture this word is the word of life it is the word of truth it is the word of light of preaching of righteousness a salvation of joy of Liberty of wisdom of power of grace of glory and every blessing beyond our power to estimate it's all bound up in the Ministry of the book in our lives Luther said what kind of God would he be if his word is insufficient and is in need of supplementing by men close quote what kind of God would he be he would just have holes in his soul if his truth is not enough for us and that men now have to augment what God has to say in order to fill in the gaps now Luther says that is in essence an attack on the person of God himself he believed the scripture is sufficient to lead the sinner to a saving knowledge of Christ listen to Luther we should know that God has ordained that no one is to come to a knowledge of Christ or to obtain the remission of sin without external and general means that external and general means is a reference to the special revelation that is contained in the Word of God he says God has deposited this treasure in the word what a treasure we have in the word and not only the purpose QT and not only the sufficiency but finally as we think of where Luther stood the invincibility that scripture litterer understood that the Bible is a superior weapon that it is an invisible weapon in the hands of a skilled and straightforward handler of its message he understood that no human weapon can match the weaponry of the Word of God and Ephesians 6 and verse 17 after Paul has said put on the full armor of God gird yourself with the loins of truth but on the helmet of salvation and the breastplate of righteousness and hold forth the shield of faith and shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace then in the climactic position Paul says take the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God we need to unsheath the sword and wield it in the power of the Holy Spirit what power there is in the Word of God remember when Jesus was tempted and tested for forty days in the wilderness we have the three climactic temptations that that were thrown at him by the evil one as he came under the assault of spiritual warfare and when the evil one said command these stones to become bread Jesus didn't respond by quoting Josephus or quoting some intertestamental source Jesus responded it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and then he was taken up to the highest mountain point worship me and all the kingdoms of the world will be yours how did Jesus thinned off the temptation of Satan by unsheathing the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God and Jesus said it is written you shall have no other gods you shall not worship anyone else but God and then tempted to jump off the the temple you shall not put the Lord your God to a foolish test Jesus made his appeal to the Word of God just like you and I must make our appeal to the word of God when we use it and the power of the Holy Spirit and with faith and this is exactly what Martin Luther understood he understood to stand alone against the pappas tree to stand against a thousand years of dead religion to stand against the ecclesiastical hierarchies of the day that he was no match for all of that influence but one man equipped with the sword of the Spirit is equipped with superior weaponry if need be to take on the entire world and that was Luther's confidence Luther said the Bible is alive it speaks to me the Bible has feet it runs after me the Bible has hands it lays hold of me close quote he's playing off Hebrews 4 verse 12 for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword Luther understood every other book is a dead book there is only one living book that is the inspired the inerrant the infallible the all-sufficient Word of God he understood that this book is alive and that imparts life and it is used by God to be the seed that is planted in the soil of hearts that God uses to to germinate and bring forth the the new birth Luther understood this and so lizard where did he take his stand he took his stand where you and I must take our stand on the Word of God Sola scriptura that was Luther through and through and to take a stand anyplace else is to have both feet firmly planted in midair it is to have no place to stand but to stand on Scripture is to stand on an immovable rock that will never be moved Jesus said he who hears these words of mine he who hears these words of mine and acts upon them as like a very wise man who built his house upon the rock and when the rains came and the winds blew and beat against the house it did not fall because it was built upon the rock he who hears these words of mine and does not act upon them there's like a very foolish man who built his house upon the sand and when the rains came and the winds blew and beat against the house great was its fall because it was built upon the sand for us to build our lives upon any human philosophy any religious ideology that is not rooted and grounded in the Word of God is to build our house upon sand and no matter how attractive that house will be it will come tumbling down on the last day for sure and it will come down even before the last day but if we build our lives upon the words of Jesus and the words that are recorded in Scripture itself then no matter what storm may blow into our life and no matter what the gathering storm on the last day will unleash we will not fall because we have built our life upon the solid rock of divine revelation that is found in the Word of God so this is where Luther stood this is where you and I must stand with both feet on this rock now why Luther stood this will be much shorter why Luther stood four things number one to abandon the Word of God is to abandon God himself God and His Word are inseparably bound together when the Bible speaks God speaks 2nd Timothy 3:16 which I've already quoted all Scripture is thea new stas God breathed it is the very breath of God it is a very mouth of God to depart in the slightest from the Word of God is to take steps of apostasy and it is to abandon God Himself who is the truth this is always the first step of the downfall of any denomination of any church of any so-called professor or Minister it is to take one step off of the high ground of the inspiration the infallibility the inerrancy the authority the sufficiency and the invincibility of Scripture it is to put one foot onto the slippery slope that will take one down down down down it's to abandon God Himself you cannot have God and abandon his word it's not like going through a buffet well take God but no thank you on his word now it's all or nothing to abandon the Word of God is to turn your back on God himself second why Luther stood and Luther understood this he cannot abandon the Word of God for he would be abandoning God himself second to abandon the Word of God is to abandon Jesus Christ there is an inseparable connection between the Living Word and the written word in fact the written word is referred to as the word of Christ Romans 10 verse 17 faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ in Colossians 3 verse 16 the Bible says let the word of Christ richly dwell within you even the word itself is referred to at times as the word of Christ to abandon the written word is to abandon the Living Word third it's to abandon the truth to walk away from the scripture is to walk away from the truth second Timothy 2 verse 15 refers to the scripture as the word of truth that is to say it is the Word of God that contains the mind of God it reveals the character of God it shows the way to God it displays the glory of God the scripture is the self revelation of God himself to us it is the self disclosure of God to us and so to abandon the scripture is to abandon the truth and it is to enter into a world of lies and error and darkness and self-deception and all the rest and then forth and finally while Uther stood on the scripture if he knew otherwise it would be to abandon God abandon Christ abandon the truth and fourth it would be to abandon the gospel itself which is the only way of salvation it is to take steps away from the narrow path that leads to life in Ephesians 1 in verse 13 Paul says in him you also after listening to the message of truth , the gospel of your salvation here Paul equates the message of truth with the gospel of salvation and you walk away from the word of truth you are walking away from the message of salvation James 1 and verse 18 James writes in the exercise of his will referring to the sovereign will of God he brought us forth by the word of truth the only way anyone anywhere is ever saved ever brought into the kingdom the only place where God exercises his sovereign will in salvation is where the seed of his word has been sewn into the human heart and God germinates that seed and sovereignly brings forth eternal life from that seed and we must hear 1st Peter 1 verse 23 for you have been born again not a seed which is perishable and when he speaks a seed that's perishable it is a metaphor or an analogy for the passing wisdom of this age it's the the temporal perceptions a fallible man it's like a perishable seed that when it is sown it produces nothing Peter says for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable that is through the living and enduring Word of God and then he quotes Isaiah 40 in verse 8 all flesh is like grass in all its glory like the flower of grass the grass withers the flower fades away but the word of our God abides forever next verse and this is the word that was preached to you salvation comes through the mediation of the word of God and as the Puritans said the primary ordinary means of grace is the preaching of the word of God that seed that imperishable seed must be sown because like produces like and only an imperishable seed can give way and produce eternal life this is why Luther took his stand on the Word of God and this is why we are so fixed and settled in our convictions and this is why we stand where Luther stood and we stand where Luther stood because of why Luther stood where he stood we are convinced if we're to see a great work of God's Spirit again in these days it must be a return to Sola scriptura every Reformation every Great Awakening every true revival has been preceded by and ushered in by a return to the exclusive claims of Scripture JH Merle Dubonnet the great historian of the Reformation said quote every Reformation emanates from the Word of God close quote if we're to see such a Reformation in our day then pastors and preachers and pulpits must be fiercely committed to Sola scriptura the preacher has nothing to say apart from the Word of God he is a mouthpiece for our scripture and elders and pastors must govern their churches by scripture alone our worship services must be regulated by Scripture alone it matters to God how we worship Him and our witness to the world must be impelled and governed by Sola scriptura God will honor the preacher who honors his word God will honor the church that honors his word God will honor the denomination that honors his word God will honor the believer who honors his word but God will abandon the man the ministry or the denomination that abandons the Word of God as the Reformation began to break Luther was approached explain what is taking place here in Europe explain the Reformation Luther gave this famous answer I simply taught preached wrote God's Word otherwise I did nothing and then I slept and the word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince and never an emperor inflicted such damage upon it I did nothing the word did it all we're not looking for gospel gimmicks in these days we're not looking for trendy little techniques we're looking for men and women and churches and seminaries and ministries and denominations who will stand up with the Word of God teach it preach it write it sing it counsel it lift it up let it out and let it fly and let the word do its work let us pray father in heaven thank you that you have entrusted to us this written record of your truth Lord give us a greater devotion to this book a greater submission to the message that comes to us from this book a greater hunger and desire to eat of this book and drink of this book Lord make us walking Bibles as we follow Christ in the Christian life and Lord these are desperate in dark days just as Martin Luther once lived in so long ago and lord I pray that you will raise up such men in this hour who lead the church and who a rally your people and that we will see the light of your truth expel the darkness once again so father use the example that has been set before us 500 years ago to bring us back to old paths in Jesus name Amen you

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Length: 63min 42sec (3822 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 07 2017