huh Mike Hixson, and I'm with Counterpoint. B.J. Clark is with me today, and we always like to get together and talk about the Bible. Today, we're going to be talking about the authority of the Bible. Please stay tuned. Thank you for being with us today as we explore the authority of scripture. BJ, always great to be with you. Good to be with you too, BJ. Today, as we talk about the Bible, and of course, what we're emphasizing today has to do with the authority of scripture. By that, we simply mean that everything that we do in faith and practice is found in this book called scripture. So, there are some who would say, Well, you know, it's really not that big of a deal to make sure that you're following every point, every precept of scripture. So, how would you counter that? I would say, Ask us if it matters whether you follow every precept of scripture. This is the man who grabbed the ark as it was toppling because the oxen were pulling an oxen cart with the Ark of the

Covenant inside of it. When Aza grabbed a hold of the Ark, he died before the Lord. According to Second Samuel 6 and First Chronicles 13. David thinks God's been unfair to us at first and asks in First Chronicles 13:12, How shall I bring the Ark of God home to me? The answer scripture scripture had already authorized the way in which it was to be transported. Exodus 25, he wanted it transported by the polls. Numbers Chapter 3, he wants it transported by the sons of Kohath who are Levites. Numbers Chapter 7, the sons of Kohath don't even get any oxen or oxen carts when a gift is given because the service of the sanctuary belonging unto them was they should bear upon their shoulders. But in spite of those clear authoritative statements in scripture, the scripture they had, they didn't follow those written precepts, and that's what led to the disaster. If following scripture or not following scripture is no big deal, then others should not have died, sure, and you know

what B.J. We come to the New Testament, and you know what things were written before time. Yeah, four times Paul said were written for our learning. So can we learn from other? We ought to learn from us, you know, and we ought to take to heart what scripture has to say about the Authority that rests within this sacred book. B.J., you know Jesus said on one occasion, All power, all authority has been given unto me in heaven and on Earth. All right, if Christ is all authoritative, and he is, and if his word is to be used to God instruct Us in this life today, the problem that some see is, Well, Jesus is in heaven, and we're on Earth. So that being the case, you know, I mean, surely we have to have something else to guide us. So how do you respond to that good news? He left us accomplice. He left us a GPS by which to determine the gospel Plan of Salvation and how to get from Earth to Glory. The directions never need to be updated. They're here. They're just as inspired today as when

they were first given it would be inconceivable that God would go to heaven and the person of Jesus Christ and say, You all just figure it out for yourselves. No, he spoke truth. His word is truth (John 17:17), and that truth is what they obeyed, and that's how their hearts were purified (1 Peter 1:22-23). That's how they were born again. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). This book was given so that we wouldn't be at sea without accomplishment. That's right. You know, when Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul said that he had written these things. He said that thou mightest know how to behave thyself, conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the Living God. So, what Paul is saying there is that this word is a template, a pattern. So, when we talk about the authority of scripture when it comes to the organizational structure of the church, now in 1 Timothy

Chapter 3. You've got Paul there legislating the criterion for those who would serve as elders and deacons in the church, and that would be their pattern. They had to meet certain qualifications. Now, granted, there is the church universally, and you have one body, one head, but locally you have a congregation that's autonomous in nature, that is self-governing, and that congregation is governed by men who meet that criteria in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. They serve as elders, pastors, bishops, and then in chapter 3, verses 8-13, he talks about the qualifications of those who serve as deacons. So, the authority of Scripture tells us that those who serve as elders have certain responsibilities entrusted to them so they might adequately govern the church. Absolutely. In fact, think about how wonderful it is to then be able to have the standard to go to, because when someone asks you a question, then you've already got the answer that's been given and never needs

to be updated. I told a young man one time, I said, Look, your life will be so much simpler if you will come to the conviction that this is the inspired word of God and that it has already decided what truth is. That's right, and there's nothing so you won't have to worry about what the latest change is in society. You won't have to keep up to date with any of that because this book is perpetually relevant. I don't know why, but when I was a little boy, maybe seven years old, I had this idea that I would memorize the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. I got through about halfway in the first volume in the first entry and decided to give up that dream for another dream instead. I thought to myself, though, What if I had at that young age throughout my life memorized every word of the encyclopedia that existed at that time? I might be the Jeopardy champion someday. But I'll tell you what, something else that encyclopedia at the time I was

memorizing it. Is it the same as encyclopedias I would read today? No, there have been some modifications, there have been new entries because of new discoveries. This book is different than that. Exactly right. It never needs updating. Its inspiration is shown by the fact that it's perpetually relevant and on target for whatever the cultural situation is. This is the word of God, and what a wonderful thing it is to have a compass that is not changing from year to year, month to month, week to week. Yeah, exactly. You know, the psalmist said, Forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven. And you know, Peter in 2 Peter chapter 1 talked about how God's given unto us all things pertaining to life and godliness. Everything that we need to know about godly living, about life in Christ, it's been revealed. And so, you know, when it comes to the life of a Christian, how we become a child of God, how we're to live for Christ, all of that is spelled out in scripture. I think

about, for example, our worship to God. God hasn't just given us the latitude where you guys just, you know, draw it up however you want to do it. No, God's given us a pattern. John 4:24 is still a good scripture, right? Absolutely. And so why not turn to that standard instead of putting our finger in the wind to say which way is the wind blowing. Let's go that direction. And there's so many people today who are patterning the church after what the market community is demanding and not after what God has revealed. And so next year, it'll be something different. Ten years from now, if the Lord lingers, it'll be something different. And yet this book right here is always going to be fresh and completely up to date. And that is one of the reasons why we keep pointing them into this. You and I are not on this program quoting what some denominational theologians said. You and I are quoting each other as the source of authority. What are we doing this when you say how

would you counter that the answer comes back with scripture? Because if I were just to say to you, Well, Mike, you know, the way I see it, my opinion is, well, my view is, that'd be worthless. Because on the day of judgment, I'm not going to be sitting on the Judgment seat of Christ. This book, the words that Christ spoke, will judge us in the last day, John 12:48. So, this is where we're going to point men when they seek guidance. Here is the answer, here are the directions. Absolutely. You know, BJ, you said something that caught my attention a minute ago, and that is, we're going to look out and see what the world wants, and then we're going to modify our behavior or modify how we do business so that we can attract the world. And my question is, you know, where do we ever get the idea that the world is the standard? And so, you know, we find out what the world wants, and then we cater to their carnal desires. No, if I understand scripture right, we alter our lives to fit the word.

of God. It's not vice versa. We don't alter the word to fit our lives, and I think sometimes unwittingly we have compromised and conceded Divine truth. Yeah, I remember years ago a friend of mine who was a preacher in the city told me that there was an elder in a large congregation in Memphis, and this congregation, to my knowledge, is no longer in existence. But he stood up in front of the church, held up a book, The Purpose-Driven Church by Rick Warren, and said, This is going to be our pattern. Now, that was a death knell. Yes, I mean, you know, this is the pattern; that's the inspired word of God. What he held up was not. You've heard the old saw that we still repeat when it comes to man-made creeds, and it would also apply to man-made books written by uninspired men. If they have more in them than the Bible has in it doctrinally speaking, then they've got too much. If they've got less in them than the Bible has in it, they've

got too little if they've got exactly the same thing in it that the Bible has in it. Then just go by the Bible and you don't have to use anything else as your authority. I'm not saying it's wrong to write books about the Bible, but you'll never hear me or you say when I try to justify whether baptism is for the remission of sins. You'll never hear me say, Well, let me read from this book the brother so-and-so wrote and I'll prove to you it's for the remission of sins. He might have mentioned in his book Acts 2:38, but that's where he would want me to go too. That's right. Here's the reason why we're requiring it is because of what's in the inspired word of God. Basic instructions before leaving Earth. B-I-B-L-E. I didn't come up with that, but that's what this book is absolutely. You know, Paul asked the question one time, What does the scripture say? in Romans chapter four. And I think that's a I

think that's a fair question. What does the Bible have to say? I know that there's been a trend among some today to go back and revisit certain subjects, or for example, you know, we're going to go back and re-study the woman's role in the church, and we're going to restart a what the Bible has to say about instrumental music. And it seems to me that they always come down on the side of, well, you know, we've come to the conclusion that God now grants us Liberty for a more expanded role for the women, or that God wouldn't have a problem with us using an instrument. Well, I think we do need to ask a question, what does the Bible have to say? But we need to make sure that we come down on the side of truth and not just Embrace what culture wants in this stand. You know, I was talking to someone very recently about a young man that's struggling with this faith, and he's starting to believe that, you know, maybe there are more expansive

roles for women than we've traditionally taught, and maybe mechanical instruments of music and worship is not that big of a deal. And then I was not surprised then to hear this person tell me that this same young man is denying the inspiration of the scriptures. Now think about this. If that's true, if this is really what this young man is doing, is it hard for you to believe or understand why this particular young man is struggling with understanding the truth on some of these other matters? Because he doesn't even believe what about this book that it's God-breathed, that it's the authoritative standard. And if you ever get to the point where you deny this as the authoritative standard, then you can end up doing whatever your heart tells you to do. That's right, because that will be the standard by which you live your life. And that's the worry that I have about our world that we live in. It's a Biblical concern. There seems to be such a divorcing of This Book used to be Mike.

if you were having a discussion with someone at the kitchen table about a religious issue, the common view ten well decades ago now. We'd have to say the common view was, well, let's get out the Bible or whatever it says. That will decide it. Now, if you tell someone, well, the Bible says, what you get back a lot of times is, so, so what? They don't see that this book has the right to tell us what to believe and what to do. Until we get them to see that and embrace that, we're never going to be able to convince them. Yeah, I think you're right. I remember years ago, Tom Holland, a man that you and I both respected and did a lot of good in his lifetime. I remember brother Holland said that once you abandoned the authority of scripture, he said there's no Shoreline. And really, you know, you get out there at some point, it's how are you going to really definitively say this is right, this is you can't, no, because you've

conceded and given up truth and compromised. I remember talking to a brother years ago. This brother was in the military at a very young age. He was stationed away from his family, and I would assume providentially, somehow, he came in contact with a gospel preacher. This man had a Baptist background, and so he said that the preacher in the Lord's Church began talking to him. And so, he pulled out his Cox manual for the Baptist Church, and he read to him where it said in the apostolic days baptism was the door into the church. And then following that, he said, But now that's changed. And this guy told me, he said, The preacher looked at me, and he said, 'I got a question. Who had the authority to make that change?' And he said, Man, when he said that to me, he said he turned my world upside down, right? And I jumped in my car, drove 12 hours to see my daddy in Louisiana, and I wanted to know what about this. And he says, Dad asked him, he said, Who you've

been talking to well that started him on a journey of questioning what he had been taught and eventually he obeyed the gospel later preached and served as an elder. But the point is the question that was raised was valid. Who had the authority to make that change? Well again either we have an authoritative standard or we don't and if we don't then we're wasting our time. Jesus already has all authority according to Matthew 28 18. That leaves none for you for me. You and I are not the head of the church. We can't form a group of preachers and say we're going to be the head of the church and tell people what to do. A send out a counsel a convention won't decide truth. It's decided already and that's why this statement that I know you've heard and you feel the same way I'm sure I do about this the old statement that was intended to mean something good. God said it I believe it that settles it. In truth that's not a good statement because if

God said it, that settles it, whether I believe it or not. Exactly, it's settled in heaven, as you noted from Psalms 119. So, we need to get back to the Bible, speak only as the Bible speaks, speak all that it speaks, and that's never going to go out of date. I can show you right now best-selling books in the religious bookstores, and 10 years from now, they won't be the best-selling books. There'll be some newfangled book, but this book will be always perpetually exactly number one. If this isn't number one, then we're, uh, where again, like I said, at sea with no direction. You know, Isaiah said it well in Isaiah chapter 40 and about verse 8 when he said, The word of our God stands forever, and this is the word of the Eternal God. I want to go back to something you mentioned a moment ago in Acts 2:42 about the early church continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. If I understand that correctly, there was divine teaching that

they adhered to. Now they would have understood that the apostles' doctrine was authoritative. In other words, it carried weight. You mentioned First Corinthians Chapter 14, verse 37: The things I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. Correct. So they understood this book or this message to be divine and that it was to be their guide. So if that was the case then, and we talk about God's word not changing, wouldn't it only stand to reason it's the same authoritative guide today? Absolutely. John 16, Jesus says, I'm going to leave. He said, I have many things yet to say to you, apostles, but you can't bear them now. I'm going to leave. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, has come, he will guide you, your apostles, into all truth. Okay, how's he going to get the truth to give to the... He shall take of mine and show it to you. And then he mentions the Father's involvement in John 12, 50, and so the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all involved, and the message that comes down that chain is revealed to a writer inspired who writes down only what the Holy Spirit would want written down, in the sense that the Holy Spirit superintends over the process to make sure that down to the word, it's matching of what God would say and teach. And then you have God's word, even if it's not in Red Letters. You remember some years ago, our good and dear brother in Christ, the Garland Elkins, was on a Donahue program. Later in that program, separate from the issue that brother Elkins was on there to talk about, there was a young woman that was on there that had engaged in some activities that were opposed by the church where she had attended. And then she made this statement about only the red letters, you know, that that's not in Red Letters, as if to say if Jesus didn't say it, it wasn't binding, it's not authoritative or binding. As we noted First Corinthians 14.

37 completely demolishes that idea because when Paul said the things I write of The Commandments of the Lord, how did they get that way? The Lord gave the message, the Holy Spirit inspires it and breathes it out to the writer who records it. It's preserved providentially, and here we are today, 2,000 years plus later, and we still have the same exact guidance that was always given, and it's not in need of improvement. Peter said in second Peter chapter 1, holy men of God spoke as they were moved, bored along by the Holy Spirit. So as you go to the moment ago, God superintended their writings, and so you know combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words, and so every word inspired by Almighty God. BJ, when we talk about the word of God and the power of God's word and the importance of this word, you know the Hebrew writer talked about how the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword. I think sometimes people have the idea that when

We open scripture and start talking about what God said. In some way, that's going to prohibit us from engaging in maybe a fuller lifestyle, or it's limiting us on the enjoyment we might have in this life. I don't think that's the end. You know, God gave us His word to help us, not hurt us, right? And you know, when Paul wrote Second Timothy chapter 3 verse 16, he said, All scripture given by inspiration of God is profitable. God looked at my word and said, It can better your life. The problem is, let me tell you what the problem in our country is. We think we know better than God. True. And so the reason why our nation is in the test bin is because we've decided, You know, we're going to leave God out of the equation. Well, my question is, How's that working out? Not so well, you know, that's right. We've tried the ways of evolutionary thinking. You are a highly developed mammal that came from an ape that came from primordial ooze. And so how is that

working to make men act like they ought to act. It's not working. Show men they're made in the image of God, Genesis chapter 1. Show them the glory of God and what God wants us to do to glorify him, Matthew 5. And you know this idea that the Bible is outdated and obsolete. These people don't understand that God embedded this word with his power. Just that like at creation, he spoke the world into existence with words. His words are powerful and the word of the Lord is right, Psalm 33:4. And it's still just as right today as it was the first time he spoke it. And we just need to get humble enough to admit he knows more than we know. I can't make a universe. Can you make one, Mike? No. And so maybe we should bow to the one who already did and honor what he said since he's obviously smarter and more powerful than I. Well, you know, Coast to Coast, Paul to pole, people need to step back and think about what OC has said many years ago when he said the way of the Lord is

right. God's way is always right. And I think that our nation today, we're suffering not because we're following the word. We're suffering because we've chosen to divorce ourselves from the word of God. And because we've abdicated that. Look at the Mayhem and the problems that we face. We talk about the authority of scripture, and you know there's not enough paper in Washington to legislate the behavior, the social ideologies of men. Look, just go back to the Bible. I mean, it would, it would, it's so simplistic. Ah, you know who would have a problem with, you know, treating your neighbor like you want to be treated. Great. I mean, who has a problem with that? Who has a problem with just the sanctity of life? One of the things that we've been dealing with the past few days, you know, taking of human life, and we talk about all the abortions and the bloodshed, you know, just respect the sanctity of life. And guess what? We can have peace and a better way of life. Is the home ever

broken up because people were following the word of God. Our husbands ever mean to their wives because God's word teaches them to be that way. Our wives ever, you know, detrimental to a marriage relationship because they're following God's orders. Our children ever unruly because they're doing what God said to do. Think about all the different ways in which our world would be improved if only, if only we could get them to take the medicine God has given and to see the difference it would make in a society. You know the book written years ago, What if the Bible Has Never Been Written, showed what happens in societies where there's no vestige of the word of God. And what you and I are fighting today in this culture in which we live is we're swimming hard, it seems, against the current to try to get people to stay with us and not abandon it. That's right, and not just give in to letting themselves go wherever the water flows and leads them to go because I'm telling you it's

headed for a waterfall. Oh, absolutely. You remember in Mark chapter 5 when Jesus healed, or rather cast out demons, uh, the man identified himself as a legion. He said, We're many. And after having cast out those demons into a herd of swine, the Bible says that he was later sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. Well, you know that guy was a maniac, and you know, I think about when a tornado comes through and just completely destroys a city or a town, and that's what life is like without the word of God. But then you get the word of God implemented into the hearts and lives of people, and guess what? You see tranquility, peace, harmony, serenity. You know, you see people who are clothed in their right mind, doing what's right, and isn't that what everyone wants? They want that peace, they want that tranquility. There was a song some years ago written, a country western song, Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. We've got people looking for fulfillment in all the wrong places. Read the book of

Ecclesiastes: The Inspired Diary of Solomon, and see how that worked for him. He tried this, he tried that, he tried wine, women, wealth, wisdom, earthly wisdom. He tried all of that, and it was still emptiness, grasping for the wind. I've got what I've got, nothing. And then finally, the book concludes with what everyone needs, and that is to realize if we'll fear God and keep his commandments. That's the whole of man. That's what life's all about. That's it, BJ. Before we close, what about becoming a Christian? What would a person need to do? Well, people will become Christians in the same way they did in the first century, by hearing that Jesus bled and died for them, and embracing his deity, confessing him to be the Son of God, and believing that he is with every fiber of their being. The book of Acts shows us people embracing him in faith and repentance, and confession is made according to Romans 10:9-10 unto salvation. And then, so what do I need to

do as a penitent confessing believer what they were told to do in Acts 2:38. Repent to end something else. Be baptized for the remission of sins. That's authoritative because the inspired word of God says to do it. And then the Apostle Paul, when he was Saul of Tarsus, was told, Get up and be baptized to wash away your sins. An inspired preacher told him to do that. That's right, and that's what we need to do. Thank you, thank you, BJ. Appreciate you being a part of our program today. We hope that what we've said about the authority of the Bible has been a blessing to you. Hope to see you back here again next week. Until then, God bless. foreign [Music]

The AUTHORITY of the Bible | Counterpoint with Mike Hixson & BJ Clarke

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