************ Sermon on Belgic Confession Article 5a ************
Doctrine: Believe Scripture
By: Rev. Adrian Dieleman
This sermon was preached on March 15, 1998
B.C. 5(a)
1 Peter 1:22-2:3
"Scripture: Believe and Do Not Doubt"
I Scripture and Faith
A The longest sermon ever preached: 37 hours. The longest non-stop public reading of Scripture: 52 hours.
I was a little startled when I read of these world-record making events. Why would anyone want to read the Bible for 52 straight hours or preach out of the Bible for 37 straight hours? Who would or could listen for so long? Of course, the two men who established these records, did so in order to get their name in a record book somewhere.
Why is the Bible preached? Why do we read the Bible for devotions, during worship, in Bible Study, and at the Christian School? We don't do this to shatter world-records and establish someone's name in history. We don't do this to pass the time between Sunday breakfast and the opening kickoff or tipoff. We don't do this to irritate our teenagers and make them late for the basketball game. We don't do this for interest's or curiosity's sake. We don't do this because it is good for our children to get some religious training. We don't do this so we can get straight A's on Bible tests. If the Bible is preached or read for any of these reasons, we not only have failed, but we have also failed miserably.
Scripture itself tells us its purpose and therefore its use. Listen to the following texts:
(John 20:31) But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
(Romans 1:16) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ...
(2 Timothy 3:15) ... from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
(1 Peter 1:23) For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
Why is the Bible preached? Why do we read the Bible? Very simple, really: God wants us to have faith. God wants us to have faith for only those who have faith can please Him and be saved. However, the Holy Spirit works faith only through the reading and preaching of the Word.
It is clear from the verses I just read that our faith is not just produced by but is also completely dependent upon God's Word. What we have to realize is that there is an unbreakable relationship between faith and the Word. Faith and the Word can no more be separated from each other then rays of light can be separated from the sun. God uses the Bible as the meat and potatoes, as the food and drink, of His children's faith-life in this world. God uses the Bible — His holy, inspired, canonical Word — says the Belgic Confession, "for the regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith."
B God, first of all, gives the Bible for the "regulating" of our faith. In this fallen world, marked by intellectual and spiritual and moral confusion, the Christian needs a ruler, a yardstick, a canon by which to judge faith and belief and practice.
Many people in today's world would disagree with this. They say that what a man believes and does is his own concern and no one else's business. We hear that over and over again with the sexual charges against President Clinton. And, we hear things like: "I don't hurt anyone." "It doesn't matter what you believe so long as you do believe." "My belief is real to me so don't tamper with it."
The church cannot go along with this kind of thinking because she knows the power of sin and evil. She knows what happens when it is up to each man to do what is right in his own eyes. From beginning to end the book of Judges tells us the result: homosexuality, rape, corruption, injustice, idol worship, adultery, death, bloodshed. The church will not and cannot let mere man decide what is true or false, what is right or wrong, what is approved or condemned. Doctrine and life are determined by what the Scriptures say. The Scriptures regulate the believer's being: they are the standard for his or her belief, faith, doctrine, and life.
C God also gives the Bible for the "founding" of our faith. The Bible is the foundation upon which we build what we believe. Think of a house: a poor foundation will eventually cause the whole structure to come tumbling down. The Bible talks about a house built on sand. When the rain falls and the floods come, when the wind blows and beats against the house, then the house will come tumbling down. A Christian whose faith is not fully founded upon the Word of God is like that house built on sand. The Bible also talks of a house built upon a rock. When the rain falls and the floods come, when the wind blows and beats against the house, then the house will remain secure and standing. A house built upon a rock is like a Christian whose faith is built upon the Word of God.
My brothers and sisters, to have faith — a solid, living, vital faith — we must turn to the Word of God. We must read that Word. We must hear that Word. We must study and meditate on that Word. For only then can our faith have an unshakable foundation.
D God also gives the Bible for the "establishing" of our faith. To grow in our faith, to be strengthened in our faith, to mature in our faith, to become more and more like Christ, we must turn to the Word of God. Listen to what Peter says in this evening's Scripture reading:
(1 Peter 2:1) Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation ...
Think of a baby: in order to grow and develop and mature, the baby needs milk, lots and lots of milk. Likewise with us: to grow and develop and mature in the faith, to get rid of sin, to grow up in salvation, we need the pure spiritual milk, even the Word of God.
Why is it, do you think, that many wives are more spiritually mature than their husbands? Why is it that in many families the mothers have a closer walk with God than the fathers? If this is true in your family and marriage, do you know why? This is an easy question to answer: because of the Word. Nationwide, more ladies study the Word than men. It seems to be true in this church too. And, a good part of the credit for ladies studying the Word has to go to Coffee Break. In three churches now I have watched women blossom and grow in the faith as the result of studying the Word in Coffee Break. I can only praise the Lord for that. And I can only pray that husbands will imitate their wives so that they too will grow and increase in the faith.
George Mueller said this about God's word: "The vigor of our spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts. I solemnly state this from the experience of 54 years. The first 3 years after conversion I neglected the word of God. Since I began to search it diligently the blessing has been wonderful. Great has been the blessing from consecutive, diligent, daily study. I look upon it as a lost day when I have not had a good time over the word of God."
II Faith's Response to Scripture
A God has given us the holy, inspired Scriptures for the "regulating, founding, and establishing of our faith." In the very next sentence, the Confession tells us faith's response to Scripture: "And we believe without a doubt all things contained in them." This only makes sense, of course. If the Bible is instrumental in faith and for salvation, then we must recognize its accuracy and its dependability.
Important issues are at stake here. If the Bible is not a reliable revelation of God, man, and sin, how can we rely upon its assurances of salvation? If we doubt the account of God's dealings with Adam or Israel, by what right may we assume that the story of the Savior's birth, life, and death are dependable?
In looking at Articles 3 & 4 we learned that Scripture is the holy, divine, inspired, expired, Word of God. It comes from God. He is its source. So like God, Scripture does not deceive, it is inerrant, and it is non-failing. Faith's response to Scripture, then, can only be belief and not doubt.
B Doubt is one of the Christian's chief enemies. Doubt is the lack of complete conviction and confidence. It comes in two forms: it either calls into question the authority and accuracy of God's Word, or it undermines our assurance of salvation. In either form, it springs from a heart which either consciously or unconsciously rebels against the words and works of God; it springs from a heart which distrusts the reality and reliability of God's promises. Pride and vanity are its essential characteristics. Whatever its form, there is a stubborn refusal to submit totally and completely to the Word of God.
J. Wilbur Chapman tells of the time he attended one of D. L. Moody's evangelistic services in Chicago. After the service Mr. Moody sat beside him.
He asked me if I was a Christian. I said, "Mr. Moody, I am not sure whether I am a Christian or not."
He very kindly took his Bible and opened it to John 5:24, which reads as follows: "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."
I read it through, and he said: "Do you believe it?" I said, "Yes." "Do you accept it?" I said, "Yes." "Well, are you a Christian?" "Mr. Moody, I sometimes think I am, and sometimes I am afraid I am not."
He very kindly said, "Read it again," So I read it again.
Then he said, "Do you believe it?" I said, "Yes." "Do you receive Him?" I said, "Yes." "Well," he said, "are you a Christian?"
I just started to say over again that sometimes I was afraid I was not. Moody became angry. He turned on me with his eyes flashing and said, "See here, whom are you doubting?"
Then I saw it for the first time, that when I was afraid I was not a Christian I was doubting God and His Word.
Doubt is like a disease. It robs the mind of clarity, the will of conviction, and the heart of God's comforting presence. Many a Christian has laid on his or her death-bed in fear and trembling because they have suddenly doubted their own salvation. Their doubts rob them of comfort. Or, consider what it does to the church. Doubt is raised about the accuracy of the Genesis account and the church becomes paralyzed in dealing with those who do not speak and preach the truth. Doubt is raised about the meaning of God's Word and the church permits what is clearly prohibited by that Word.
Now, which believer has not at one time or another experienced the flutter of doubt in heart and mind? Who here has not questioned at one time or another — and that includes me — the trustworthiness of God's Word? Who here has not wondered about the surety of their own salvation? If we are honest, we have to admit that we all go through moments of doubt.
C What do we do about doubt? Doubt is never removed by debate or reason. Weighing all the evidence and arguments for and against the Christian religion will not silence its stubborn voice. We waste time when we try to convince the doubter of the reliability of God's Word and promises. Even God's mighty judgments or wondrous miracles fail to convince them that do not believe. Remember the parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus? The rich man, who is in the fires of hell, is talking with father Abraham:
(Lk 16:27-31) "'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, (28) for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' (29) "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' (30) "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' (31) "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
What, then, do we do about doubt? When Nathaniel doubted whether Jesus was the Christ, Philip did not argue with him; rather, he said, "Come and see" (Jn 1:47). When Thomas doubted that Jesus had really risen from the grave, his doubt was not stilled by argument but by a meeting with Christ.
The only cure for doubt — your doubt, my doubt — is a confrontation with the Jesus of the Scriptures. Only by opening the Word and humbly coming unto Christ is our doubt removed. For when we meet Jesus in the Word, the Holy Spirit changes hearts and minds, and creates faith and belief. I think here of the song that we sing:
When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his Word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.
Trust and obey,
for there's no other way
to be happy in Jesus
but to trust and obey.
(P.H. 548:1)
But now a word of caution. The believing, trusting response to God's Word does not automatically resolve every problem and exclude every question. We need to keep reminding ourselves of what the Apostle Paul says:
(1 Cor 13:12) Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Yes, there are problems of interpretation. Yes, there are areas of dispute. The reason is simple: we don't know everything and we are not told everything. However, these questions and problems are secondary to knowing and meeting and serving Christ. Once we have known and met Christ, we can live with our questions unanswered and our problems unsolved.