Keep sharing good news without ads.
Source: https://www.sermonindex.net/speakers/david-oliver/the-word-of-god/
Psalm 25, please. Verse 9,. The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way. Verse 12,. What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose.
Acts chapter 20, verse 28,. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to feed the church of God which he has purchased with his own blood.
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock, also of your own selves shall men arise seeking perverse things, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn every one of you, night and day with tears. And now brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among them, all them which are sanctified.
I'll just highlight for you in verse 32, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace. There are always problems among the people of God, and I think perhaps if I might just tie in with what we have been listening to earlier today, I would remind you that don't be overcome with problems, just long for the day when the problems will all be resolved.
I think the Lord allows a lot of things that we might realize this is no place to stay. We have a home above and long for that moment. We have been reminded of those that are responsible to feed the sheep, to shepherd them, and yet they are also referred to, I take it, in the marginal reading in Hebrews chapter 13 as guides.
There are difficulties, there are decisions that have to be made. I have a two-fold thing in my mind then, and a real concern in this aspect. In fact, I'll tell you just by illustration. I got an email not too long ago from a young man and he wanted guidance about an issue in his life, and he had been reading along and he got a little thing out of the Bible, and he thought that was a go signal for him to do what he wanted to do.
Now it might have been. I don't know. But it is a tremendously important truth to find from the Word of God. How does the Word of God intend to guide people? You say, I don't follow you yet, David. Okay, let me try again.
I cannot take the Word of God and make it a Ouija board and somehow or other just make it say some magic thing to me. That is far too subject to my own emotions, and he that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.
But the Word of God gives us guidance in itself as to how to not only interpret but how to apply the Word of God to present circumstances. And so what I want to bring before you will have relevance to young believers and the guidance that they need in every aspect of living.
It will have relevance to all of us relative to how we are guided by the Word of God, and specifically is in the realm of the guidance that God provides for those who guide the flock. Because I think I'm fair in saying this.
We may be living in days that are the most difficult days ever for shepherds. That may be the case. And it is a tragic thing when shepherds say, we do not know what to do. And I'm not throwing stones.
As Maria said, I'm not a shepherd either. I haven't had the responsibilities these men do. And when I say it's a tragedy when they say they don't know what to do, initially that's a good thing. Finally it's a fatal thing.
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. And while I'm not pretending to know all the answers, I am absolutely sure that the book has the answers. There is in the Word of God every resource we need.
Paul says you're to feed the flock and you're to preserve the flock. And the resource that you will have is God and His Word. And so I want to just give you a quick run through in the book of Acts. I'll just catalog with you, from your memory now, some of the problems that existed in the book of Acts.
Because assembly testimony in the book of Acts had plenty of problems. Don't be alarmed because if it's of God it shouldn't have any problems. It was of God and it had plenty of problems. But every problem found an answer in the Word of God and if I can just get that across simply and clearly I will have spent these moments to profit I trust before the Lord.
Just problems in chapter 6 of the book of Acts is a problem of interpersonal relationships. The widows were not being fed fairly and there were men that needed to be raised up to take care of that work.
In chapter 8 there was a cultural issue that came up. Because Philip went down to Samaria and would you believe it? Samaritans got saved and the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. A problem. A cultural issue.
Cultural prejudice. When you come to chapter 9 there's another problem. There's a ravening wolf that comes to the door and wants to break bread with the assembly. His name is Saul of Tarsus. And you have a congregational preservation that's required.
How will the assembly be preserved from a man like this? Potentially. When you come to chapter 11 you have the reality that the Gentiles have been brought in. And the men at Jerusalem want to know more about this because this is not some minor thing.
What have you done Peter? You've gone into Gentiles and you ate with them. So you have a matter of spiritual promotion. You mean that the Gentiles are going to be coming in to the same blessings we have?
In chapter 11 at the end of the chapter there's a financial problem that's rising for the believers at Jerusalem. And there's going to be a famine. And Agabus gets up and he speaks in the assembly at Antioch about the need and the Christians respond to help to partner financially with the Lord's people in Jerusalem or Judea.
When you come to chapter 13 and you're looking there at the fulfillment of the word of the Lord Jesus to the uttermost parts of the earth. And you have leaders in the assembly that were teaching them.
And those leaders began to fast and to pray. I have no question what they had in their mind. God has said the work is going to advance further than this. How do we contribute to the furtherance of the work of God in accordance with the divine purpose?
Evangelical progress. And they're waiting upon God as a problem that would be resolved. And there is in chapter 15 a crisis of doctrine. Right? Except you be circumcised you can't be saved. And there will be a gathering together of the elders and those principles involved.
And they will go over the experience of Peter, of Paul, of Barnabas. And James will finally take them to the word of God which will resolve the problem. And so, have you got all those problems in your mind?
Let me just see if I can simply and quickly point out to you the resource of the word of God for each of those problems. In chapter 6 interpersonal problems. There are, imagine the disciples, the apostles, the leading men who are being criticized of all things by widows that they're not being fairly taken care of.
Now, what do those men do? They take the word of the Lord Jesus very seriously. If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother hath ought against thee, go, leave thy gift at the altar, and go and be reconciled unto thy brother.
The priority, the first thing that's got to be taken care of, is this matter so that the spiritual rift that could come out from this is going to be taken care of. My beloved brothers, here is the word of God, simply and clearly.
Maybe if I just tell you basically what I have in mind, then you'll be able to follow it. I think you will find that the application of the word of God will either be by parallel, or by principle, or by divine purpose that's revealed, or the very precepts, the statements of the word of God and there is one case where it will be prophecy, and we'll need to be very clear on the distinctiveness of that.
But those ways of dealing with the word of God will be illustrated. Here is the principle of the word of God. Before worship, which has its highest place, the priority is to take care of the interpersonal relationship issues.
And so, they have the word of God for this, and the spiritual responses, it's not to defend ourselves, listen, we're busy and we're doing the best we can, don't be so dissatisfied. Be content with such things as you have.
Rather than self-defense, the men are willing to sacrifice themselves in order to be reconciled, that there might be harmony among the people of God. They're not going to hold on to their own rights.
The Lord Jesus does not say go and try to be reconciled to your brother, the Lord Jesus says be reconciled. Do everything that's possible to be reconciled to your brother. Number two, when you're looking at what took place there in Samaria, and the work of God is going on and Philip's seeing great blessing, and all of a sudden, men show up from where?
Jerusalem. None of your business, go back home. Oh, but wait a minute. Here is men acting proactively, because they have the example of the Lord Jesus, right? I quote it from John 4, so you know, you've got to go back there.
The Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. So how is it going to happen that the Jews are going to now put up with Samaritans that claim to be saved? Well, you say the grace of God overrules all of that.
Really? It ought to. With all honesty, it ought to. But some of them were people just like you and me. They weren't exactly perfect. And here are men acting proactively. They recognize from what the Lord Jesus did in John 4, that God's interest goes beyond Judaism, that God's interest will embrace the Samaritans.
And they go down to Samaria to solidify the work, so that there will be harmony in the work of God, guided by the purpose expressed in the ministry of the Lord Jesus in John 4. Am I going too fast? Can you catch the picture?
First of all, you have the application of the principle the Lord Jesus gives, relative to worship and the responsibility of being reconciled. Now you have the Lord Jesus giving an example in the word of God that expresses the purpose of God.
God intends to bring in Samaritans. So let us do everything that we can to facilitate the work of God in breaking down these prejudices. And there are still prejudices in the year 2011 if I'm up to date.
Proactive to recognize the purpose of God and to solidify the work. In chapter 9, you have this Saul of Tarsus coming. And they're afraid of him. You know the Apostle Paul, and you know the great man that he was, and you know how he was so wonderfully converted, and you don't understand what those people had faced.
But you see, they had the word of God to guide them. Love your enemies. Bless them that curse you. Pray for them that despitefully use you. Why would you pray for them? Because God might surprise you someday and actually answer prayer.
And so, in John chapter 16, I just quoted from Matthew 5, but in John chapter 16 the Lord Jesus speaks about those that thought they were doing God's service by persecuting the believers. But now he speaks about a paraclete.
A paraclete that will come alongside. Do you know that there was a paraclete in Jerusalem? His name is Barnabas, the son of... Do you want me to give you the Greek word? I'd like to, too. But it's the same word.
It's a related word to paraclete. Paraclases. But that's Barnabas. And there's a son of consolation that comes around. And he says, you know what the truth is about this man? He's seen Jesus on the way.
And the Lord's spoken to him. And his life is consistent. He's a changed man. And so, the word of God would guide them in this circumstance. What we're looking at now is the word of God and this actual precept, what the Lord Jesus said, pray for them that despitefully use you.
The word of God to guide them in the crisis. When you come to chapter 11, chapter 10, you know Peter going into Cornelius' house. You and I know that's no minor thing. And the guides in Jerusalem want to know, now Peter, why did you do this?
This is not... But Peter had the same problem, right? Lord, I've never eaten anything that's unclean. I wouldn't go in to eat with unclean people. It's a major crisis. Is there anything from the word of God to guide them?
Well, John chapter 10 is the guidance. Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And there shall be one flock and there shall be one shepherd. This is the divine purpose. The Lord Jesus reveals before he went home that Jew and Gentile are going to be brought together in one.
And now they glorify God at the end of that dissertation and the explanation by Peter. They glorify God that God has granted unto the Gentiles repentance. But don't forget, remember what the Lord Jesus said before he left the disciples, Luke chapter 24?
That they were to go and to preach to the Gentiles and preach remission of sins preach repentance and remission of sins in my name to the Gentiles. They had the precept of the Lord Jesus, the actual words of the Lord Jesus.
They had the disclosure of the purpose of God to bring in Gentiles. You say, David, that's all so obvious. Why are you going over that? Because you can't just take things for granted. You need men that are acquainted with the word of God.
You need men who not only know how to give an outline of John 3 and verse 16, but there are men that understand the God of the Bible because they've gotten to know him by personal experience. And they share in his thinking.
And they share in his desires. And they share in the very way in which he works. So here are men now and they are dealing with this matter of the Jews and Gentiles and they have the perception from the word of the Lord Jesus to guide them relative to what they should do.
If you come to chapter 13, no wait a minute, let me go to the end of chapter 12, 11. Okay, so Agabus stands up. Do you believe that there are no more prophets, right? All the prophets are finished and there will be no more prophets, right?
Do you all believe that? I just led you down the garden path. I don't. There will be prophets after the Lord Jesus comes for the church. There were prophets at the foundation of the church. The foundation of the apostles and the prophets.
But what Peter quotes in Acts chapter 2 will be fulfilled after the Lord Jesus comes and there will be prophets raised up. And they will not have some new prophecy. They will have the ability to identify Old Testament or New Testament prophecies and say this is that.
You know, we've got a lot of people trying to do that now and telling you that George Bush back in the days of the invasion of Iraq, he he's the Antichrist. And then they come up with other, all kinds of interpretations.
None of them have scriptural authority for existing as prophets, let alone for what they prophesy. But there will be men raised up in a day that's coming and they'll say, you see what's happening here?
It's all lining up for the abomination of desolation and so on. But these New Testament prophets have the same responsibility. You see, I would take it, if you go back to Luke 21, I'm going to be so fast on this that you're going to have to look this over again and decide David's wrong.
But that's okay. In Luke chapter 21, there's a difference between what the Lord Jesus gives in his prophetic outline from what he did in Matthew chapter 24. I would take it that when he speaks of wars and rumors of wars, nations rising against nations, and famines and earthquakes, that he was talking about events that would take place before A .D. 70.
Whereas in Matthew, it's events that will take place in a day that's still future from us here. And these prophets looked into the word of God, what the Lord Jesus had said, and they said by divine guidance, they said, now is the time when the famines are coming.
And believers here in Antioch, you're indebted to these believers in Jerusalem and you need to support them because of what is going to take place. But it's the word of God that guided them. These men have the word of God, they apply the word of God to the circumstances, and as such, they develop this partnership between Jews and Gentiles, between a nascent work in Jerusalem and a work that is spreading and will spread further than Antioch, and bring in the Gentiles right until it goes to the city of Rome at the end of the book of Acts.
The word of God to guide these men, and perhaps the best illustration I can give you is from Acts chapter 15. Now, I'm going to call on your memory, okay? Peter says I went into Cornelius' house and God blessed the Gentiles there.
And Barnabas and Saul say we've been preaching to the Gentiles and God's verified his work with signs and miracles. That's not enough. You have got to have the word of God, not experience. You judge experience by the word of God.
You must have the word of God. James says, now let me just tell you a little bit what the prophet said. That in those days, I will build up the house of David, the tabernacle of David that has been broken down, and I will place my name among the Gentiles.
Now, my first look at that, I say, James, wow. That's quite a stretch. How are you going to get from that to not being circumcised? The principles of the word of God have all the power of the precepts of the word of God.
Don't make up principles, but discover the principles of the word of God. Young believers, be very careful when you say there's no scripture against that. If there are principles in the word of God that apply to it, understand that those principles have authority to guide your action.
Fair enough? You see, the prophet is talking about days that are still future. And he's talking about raising up the throne of David. And he's talking about the fact that in those days he will have Gentiles as associated with his name as he has Jews associated with his name.
And if God is going to bring in Gentiles without making them Jews and therefore proselytes, if God is going to bless Gentiles as Gentiles then, then don't restrain what God is doing now and say that Gentiles must become Jews in order to be in the blessings.
I said that too fast, didn't I? Try it again. In that future day, it will be Gentiles as Gentiles that will bear the name of God in testimony. In the coming kingdom, there will be Jews and Gentiles. There will be nations, the sheep and the goats.
There will be sheep in that coming kingdom. Gentiles that will be blessed as Gentiles. They don't have to become Jews, proselytes in order to be blessed. That's what the Jews had been used to in the past.
And that's what these men wanted for the present. If they'll become Jews, then they'll be blessed by God. We'll accept them. And what James says is this. This is the way God is going to work in the future.
It's a principle of how God works. And the principle will guide us for the present moment. Do you remember what they said when they reported the outcome of that gathering? It seemed good unto us and to the Holy Spirit.
Never act until it's good unto us and to the Holy Spirit. How would you know what the Holy Spirit's mind is? Because you all feel good about it? Because the Word of God says so. The principles of the Word of God to guide us in every circumstance.
We do not take the Word of God and get the impressions out of it, disconnected from context and disconnected from the meaning of the passage. Within the meaning of the passage may be a parallel to our circumstance.
There may be principles that will be available. And there may be the purpose of God that is revealed. It may be the actual precepts. And in the special case in Acts chapter 11, it will be the prophecies given by the Lord Jesus Himself.
Now, let me just conclude at this point, because that seems like a strange message with which to end ministry. But let me see if I can get it over this way. One of these days there will be no more problems.
Hallelujah. But don't let us live with an anticipation of the coming of the Lord that robs us of the rich resource we have for the present until the Lord Jesus comes. Don't please let us lie down and become road pizza because difficulties in our day are so great.
We have all the resource we need for the day in which we live. Young believers, in your college experience, in the difficulties you face on the job, the Word of God is sufficient to guide you and preserve you.
Learn to use it in keeping with the way the Word of God is intended to be used. Learn to trust it. I commend you. I put near to you as a tool, as a reference, as a resource. I put near to you, Paul says, with all the difficulties that are coming from without and from within.
I put near to you the God who is able to preserve you and the Word of God that is a sufficient resource for you in every circumstance. I think it would be all right if younger and older, those that bear the burden and heat of the day, those that are facing trials and difficulties, those that are young and wondering about the pathway of life, I think it would be a good thing if we all left with this confirmed in our souls.
We have the resource we need. The Word of God is still relevant and effective and sufficient. And may the Lord help us to profit from this infinite resource that whoever the man of God may be, whoever the difficulty may be, whatever the century may be, all Scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God in his emergency might be perfect, truly furnished to every good work.
The resource is here. Devote yourself. Take what our brother said yesterday. Buy the truth. Get the mine of gold from the Word of God. Get to know God. And live in this world with a godliness that is classic, the same godliness that has come down since the days of the Lord Jesus and lived by Old Testament believers as well because of the power of the Word of God.