Boundaries_Gods_WordLast Updated: 11/10/2012 11:51 PM

“The Boundaries of God’s Word”

Times & Locations Preached: Orleans, November 11, 2012

Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 4:5-8

Accompanying Song: “Give Me the Bible”

Subject: Authority, Bible

Objective: To demonstrate that the authority of the Bible limits what the church is allowed to do.

Location:C:\Users\Mike\Documents\1_My_Documents\1_Christian\Topical\A\Authority_Bible\Authority_Bible_SRMN\Boundaries_Gods_Word.docx

Introduction:

  1. Continuing our study of Bible Authority
  2. Began with a lesson explaining the importance of having the right attitude because unless we want to know the truth, we’re never going to find it.
  3. Last lesson I demonstrated that God’s word has authority. It is inspired by God and it was written with commands and prohibitions that man is required to follow. Failure to do so will be disasterous.
  1. (Title) God’s word has boundaries.
  1. When we say words like “boundaries” or “limitations” or “restrictions” we sometimes think of something negative. Think of not getting our way.
  2. Not always so
  3. Yellow lines on road - child playing in street – car wreck when people cross yellow line or violate other traffic laws – guard rail – traffic signs – air bags – jail cells limit bad people from doing bad things - danger high voltage sign – Point: Boundaries are often for our on good

Body:

  1. The Law of Exclusion
  2. What if I were to ask you what is the work of the church?If you gained your answer by looking at the denominations around us you might conclude…
  3. The work of the church is to
  4. Feed the homeless (missions do this)
  5. Have a community centerto rent out to the public for various events
  6. Have youth programs so the young people have a good environment to play games, hold sleepovers, etc.
  7. Operate schools (the Catholic church ran a school in my home town)
  8. Operate a daycare or preschool (there is a church not far from here that does that very thing)
  9. Serve coffee and doughnuts, cookies and have soup suppers and chicken dinners.
  10. Entertain (some churches hold festivities – they celebrate many of the major secular holidays).
  11. Support campgrounds, orphans homes, etc.
  12. Perhaps you have seen other things churches are involved in like these.
  1. I am not saying any of these activities are wrong or sinful by themselves, but remember we are not asking what WE WOULD LIKE THE CHURCH TO BE, but WHAT CHRIST INTENDS HIS CHURCH TO BE.
  1. Again, suppose I asked how the church should be organized…
  2. Some churches are governed by a church committee
  3. Others are ran by a board of deacons
  4. The catholic church is headed by a Pope and under him are Carinals, Arch Bishops
  5. Some are governed by popular vote (democracy)
  6. Some have one man whom they call the pastor who is to run things.
  7. What is the right way? Again, not what we think, but it is Christ's church. What does He indicate He wants?
  1. Illust. I purchased a piece of land right next to yours.
  2. I decide I want to build.
  3. The local laws state I am allowed to build on my property.
  4. (Click hillbilly house) You come home after being on vacation and are shocked to see that I have built right in front of your front door.
  5. You would most likely protest. Why? Because it is your property.
  6. But suppose I show you a permit that I have to build on my property.
  7. You’d say, “That’s right…it permits me to build on MY property.”
  8. But suppose I argue that although it gives me permission to build on my property, IT DOESN’T SAY I CAN”T BUILD ON YOUR PROPERTY.
  9. Does that make it all right?
  10. Of course it doesn’t. Why? Because when the authorities gave me the permit to build on my property that only authorized me to build ONLY on my property…not anyone else’s.
  11. God has done the same thing in the Bible.
  12. When God specifies that something is to be done in a particular way, no other way has been authorized.
  13. What we are describing is a law of exclusion. The law of exclusion states, “A statement or command to do a thing only authorizes the doing of that thing. The doing of all others is, in effect, forbidden.”
  1. We practice this law all the time.
  2. When the speed limit is 55 mph we understand we can’t use the argument to the officer, “Well, the sign doesn’t say we can’t go 80!”
  3. When someone makes a statement, that statement has certain boundaries.
  4. We should expect no less of God’s word.
  1. Staying Within the Boundaries of God’s Word: Approval
  2. Bible calls O.T. our schoolmaster/tutor – brings us to Christ (Gal. 3:24); teaches us about mind of God
  1. (Rom. 15:4) “…whatever things were written before were written for our learning…”
  1. Noah – Commanded to Build An Ark (Gen. 6)
  2. Responsibility: “Make thee an ark of gopher wood…” (Gen. 6:14)
  3. Response: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him…” (Gen. 6:22)
  4. Result: “…every living substance was destroyed…Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.” (Gen. 7:23)
  1. Able (Gen. 4)
  2. Responsibility: Offer sacrifices to God
  3. Response:

(Hebrews 11:4)

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. (NKJV)

  1. Faith comes by hearing what God says (i.e. the Bible; Rom. 10:17)
  2. Heb. 11:4 says he acted “by faith” (i.e. he did what God had told him to do)
  3. Thus we must conclude that Cain offered a more excellent sacrifice in the eyes of the Lord because He did what God said.
  1. Result: God Pleased
  1. Abraham
  2. Responsibility:(Gen. 12:1) Go to a land God would show Him
  3. Response:(Heb. 11:8) “…he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
  4. Result: (Heb. 11:12) God blessed Abraham to become a great nation (in spite of the fact he and Sarah could have no children at the time); God fulfilled other promises as well; descendants inherited the promised land and it was through Abraham that the Seed – Jesus Christ came to save the world through whom the whom world is blessed!
  1. The Results of Ignoring God’s Commands
  2. Cain (Gen. 4)
  3. Responsibility:Just like his brother Able, to offer a sacrifice
  4. Response: God did not accept Cain’s sacrifice
  5. (Gen. 4:5)
  6. God not a respecter of persons (Ac. 10:34)
  7. Result:
  8. We must conclude God told Cain what to offer but he changed those commands - chose to offer his sacrifice in his own way, in place of God’s
  9. Heb. 11:4 we read previously says “by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain”
  10. Able’s sacrifice was better because it was done “by faith”
  11. If Cain did exactly as God had said, how could God NOT accept it?
  1. Nadab and Abihu
  2. Responsibility: To Burn Incense w/fire (Lev. 10:1a)
  3. Response: Put “profane” fire in their censer (Lev. 10:1b)
  4. Result: Burned alive/killed (Lev. 10:2)
  1. King Uzziah, King of Judah (2 Chr. 26:16-20; Ex. 30:1-10)
  2. Responsibility:Hewanted to burn incense to the Lord but he had no command to participatein burning incense; He insisted He would burn incense; priests tried to stop him saying

(2 Chronicles 26:18)

And they withstood King Uzziah, and said to him, "It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed! You shall have no honor from the LORD God." (NKJV)

  1. Response:

(2 Chronicles 26:19) Then Uzziah became furious…”

  1. Result:

(Chronicles 26:19) “…and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense. And while he was angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead, before the priests in the house of the LORD, beside the incense altar.” (NKJV)

  1. Man’s Ways Are Sometimes Different From God’s Ways
  2. Let’s think about the 3 examples we just discussed: Cain, Nadab & Abihu and King Uzziah…
  3. All 3 were of the mind to do something religious…worship…something they intended to do religiously to please God.
  4. Generally speaking, God was pleased when men gave offerings to Him or burnt incense to Him.
  5. But notice in each of these instances these men began with the intent of pleasing God but ended up making God angry with them.
  6. Each of these men obeyed God…except they changed just one small thing.
  7. That small thing, instead of bringing these men closer to God ended up harming their relationship with Him!
  8. Lesson: Not all religious gestures…even gestures that are mostlythe way God wants them done are pleasing to God. If we want to please God we must follow His pattern and follow it exactly!
  1. (Prov. 14:12) repeated again in Prov. 16:25 verbatim; some things may seem right to us; does not mean they are right in God’s eyes!
  1. The Need For Authority Seen In N.T.
  2. (Mat. 21:23-27)
  3. First, notice their question (v. 23) shows they understood the need for authority “…"By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"”
  4. Second, Jesus asks a similar question (v.25): "The baptism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?..."
  5. This passage teaches us some important things:
  6. The religious leaders understand a basic truth in matters of religion: We need authority to do things in matters of religion.
  7. They were offended because they thought Jesus had simply taken authority upon Himself and began teaching.
  8. This would clearly be wrong and they knew it and challenged Jesus on this basis.
  9. Jesus acknowledges they are right…if we are going to do things in matters of religion Jesus indicates He agrees, one does need authority which is why He questions them about John’s baptism.
  10. Jesus, through His questioning indicates there are only two possible sources authority can originate from…either from God or from man.
  11. Of course, in this case, if they admit the authority for John’s baptism came from John, it had to be accepted (but if they admit that, then they will have to answer why THEY didn’t accept it then so they pretend not to know. So something God has ordained is authoritative.
  1. The words of Jesus are authoritative.
  2. (Mat. 28:18)
  3. Moses (O.T.) foretold (Dt. 18:18)
  4. Peter in Ac. 3:22 acknowledged that this was Jesus Christ the prophet Moses was speaking of.
  1. The words of the Apostles are Authoritative (Ac. 15)
  2. A disagreement arose in the church over the subject of circumcision.
  3. Judiazing teachers felt that Gentiles could not be saved unless they were circumcised because the Law of Moses required it.
  4. Paul and Barnabas disagreed.
  5. They had a meeting in Jerusalem to discuss the matter.
  6. The matter decided: Notice how they discovered the answer (Ac. 15:24)
  7. Some were teaching things that were unsettling people (some people who considered themselves obedient to God, saved) were now being told they were lost & they would remain doomed to hell unless they were circumcised according to the law of Moses.
  8. Peter said these teachers were wrong: “…we gave no such commandment…”
  9. So unless a commandment has been given specifically through the words of the apostles, these teachers had no right to impose their teaching upon others! They had no authority to do so!
  1. The Examples Given in the Bible Are Authoritative
  2. The Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11)
  3. (1 Cor. 11:20-29)
  4. Corinthians – had departed from partaking of L.S. in the way that it was intended to be taken.
  5. Was one man’s opinion just as good as another?
  6. Did God give them liberty to decide how to partake of the communion however they saw fit?
  7. No!
  8. How did Paul prove it was wrong?
  9. He pointed them back to the example – when it was instituted to prove that it had to be done that way and no other way!

Conclusion:

  1. We must do everything God says, as God says to do it (Mat. 23:23)
  2. What is Jesus saying?
  3. Do the small things matter to God? Yes! “….you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done…”
  4. Do the bigger matters matter to God? Yes! “…without leaving the others undone.”
  1. Lots of other examples we could use to show that the word of God is like a fence…keeps us within certain boundaries…parameters.
  1. When God commands that something be done:
  2. It must be done…
  3. It must be done the way He wants us to do it
  4. It cannot be altered in any way whatsoever if we want to be certain we are pleasing God.
  1. When God commands to do something, that only authorizes us to do that particular thing.
  2. We’re not authorized to do that thing PLUS a few other things!
  3. We’re not allowed to do it His way OR our way.
  4. It is only His way. Any other is unlikely to please Him.

Invitation:

  1. We could offer any number of ways for you to be saved
  2. Only the examples given is the way God has approved of.
  3. Will you follow those examples and be sure that you are saved…God’s way and not man’s way?

Bibliography

Dictionary, E. I. (1897). Thomas Nelson, Public Domain.; From The Power BibleCD program is Copyright ©1999-2006 Phil Lindner, Online Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fields, W. (1996). Old Testament History: An Overview of Sacred History and Truth. Joplin, MO: College Press Publishing Co.

Geneva Bible Notes. (1599). Public domain.; From The Power BibleCD program is Copyright ©1999-2006 Phil Lindner, Online Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary From Hitchcock's New and Complete Analysis of the Holy Bible. (late 1800s). Public domain.; From The Power BibleCD program is Copyright ©1999-2006 Phil Lindner, Online Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Hoerth, A. J. (1998). Archaeology and the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.

Matt Hennecke, M. a. (n.d.). Manna Bible Maps. Allegiant Technologies, Inc. and 1997 MetaCard Corp.

McClister, D. (2010). A Commentary on Hebrews. Temple Terrace, FL: Florida College Press.

Smith's Bible Dictionary. Public domain.; From The Power BibleCD program is Copyright ©1999-2006 Phil Lindner, Online Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

Strong, J. (1890). Strong's Greek and Hebrew Dictionary Taken from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Public domain.; From The Power BibleCD program is Copyright ©1999-2006 Phil Lindner, Online Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.

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