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Preachers Can Go Wrong, God's Word Can't: 10 Vital Facts

Dr RJ Sing, 20 October 2019, 26 min

This is the whole service. The video opens where he begins, at 37:44.

Originally preached as “The Integrity of God's Word”

Sermon outline

Whatever preachers or the media are saying, keep your eyes on the integrity of God's Word, because it is God speaking to you: it recreates, renews, builds, heals and lives on your lips.

Main text

Hebrews 11:1-6
Hebrews 4:12-13

Opening

He says he is deviating slightly from the series he has been preaching on wealth, because so many things are being said in the media and by preachers who are missing the mark and losing their balance. Without naming anyone, he says even the best teachers can take a wrong direction, so the church must stick to the integrity of God's Word. He reads Hebrews 11:1-6 in the NIV, and Hebrews 4:12-13 in Moffatt's translation, explaining that God and His Word are one.

The Word is God speaking to you
Don't take every word from a man or woman of God as correct, because sometimes they are only expressing an opinion. 'Thus saith the Lord' is repeated over 2,000 times, God and His Word are one, the Word is always now, and Jesus is the living Word, the Logos, alive not only on the page but on the lips of a believer.
“The word is God speaking to you.”
- Hebrews 4:12-13
- John 1:1
1. The Word is our contact with God
The Word reveals the thoughts, intentions, plans and ways of God. We don't need an astrologer or a soothsayer to hear about our future: our future is in the Bible, and God's plans for us are good, not evil.
“Our future is in the book.”
- Jeremiah 29:11
2. We are convicted by the Word
When we hear, read and study the Word it must convict us, encourage us, direct us and make us doers, not hearers only. The Holy Spirit's conviction is threefold: of our union with Satan before we were saved, of the righteousness now available to us, and of sin, because people do not believe in Him. Anyone who does not know God can receive Christ today.
“This conviction can come from no other source than the Word.”
- John 16:8-11
- James 1:22
3. We are recreated by the Word
God brought us forth by the word of truth, and we were born again of incorruptible seed through the Word, which imparted eternal life to us. Without the Word we would not know redemption, substitution or righteousness. In Christ we are new creatures, reconciled to God and translated from darkness into His kingdom of light.
“It is the word of God that reconciled us back to God.”
- James 1:18
- 1 Peter 1:23
- 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
- Colossians 1:13
4. Our minds are renewed by the Word
Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, putting on the new man who is renewed in knowledge. The mind is renewed by studying, receiving and acting on the Word; someone can study for years and never act on it, and hearers who are not doers deceive themselves.
“Because what we hear, we must do.”
- Romans 12:2
- Colossians 3:10
- James 1:22
5. We are indwelt by the Word
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, directing your thoughts and conduct; that is why a child of God has a brightness and a life about them. When His words abide in you, you can ask and receive with confidence, and Christ dwelling in your heart roots you in love.
Illustration: You can't stay angry for long, because after a while the love of God prods at your heart and tells you your actions are wrong.
“A child of God is full of love because you have God on the inside.”
- Colossians 3:16
- John 15:7
- 1 John 5:14
- Ephesians 3:17
6. We are built up by the Word
Paul commended the believers to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build them up and give them an inheritance. The Word builds the Christ nature in you; you cannot build someone up spiritually with philosophies or the theories of man.
“You can only build someone up with the word of God.”
- Acts 20:32
7. We are healed by the Word
He sent His word and healed them, and the truth that Jesus bore our sicknesses becomes a reality in our spirit and then operates in our bodies. We are not free from storms, but God is with us and watches over His Word to perform it, and the Word has taught us the authority of the name of Jesus.
“Yes, a challenge may come to you, but the word of God will change that.”
- Psalm 107:20
- Isaiah 53:4
- Jeremiah 1:12
- Mark 16:17
8. We know the Father through the Word
We know the Father not through our imaginations but through the Word, which says the Father Himself loves us as He loves Jesus. If we love Jesus and keep His word, the Father and the Son make their home in us. If the Father makes His home in you, He will pay His way: your rent, taxes and bills will be met, so a child of God need not fear lack.
“We don't have to fear lack because the Father will provide for you.”
- John 16:27-28
- John 17:23
- John 14:23
9. Faith comes through the Word
Faith does not come by storytelling or story-hearing but by the Word of God, the word of faith that is preached. Look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith; believers lay hands on the sick and they recover, and whatever we ask in His name He will do. Because God lives in you, you need not be fearful, fretful or anxious.
“Faith does not come by storytelling or story hearing. Faith comes by the word of God.”
- Romans 10:17
- Romans 10:8
- Hebrews 12:2
- Mark 16:18
- John 15:16
10. The Word on our lips
God wants us to speak His Word out, not just read it silently. With the mouth confession is made unto salvation, and the Greek word for salvation means preservation, healing, wholeness and soundness. God's Word in your mouth becomes God's Word, and you are His ambassador.
“God's Word in your mouth becomes God's Word.”
- Romans 10:9-10
- Proverbs 3:5
- 2 Corinthians 5:20
- Colossians 3:16

Putting it into practice

Weigh what preachers say against the Word; don't take opinions as truth.
Be a doer of the Word, not a hearer only.
Let the Word dwell in you richly and direct your conduct.
Speak the Word out loud over your life.
Keep your balance: don't sway to the left or the right.

Closing

He urges the church, whatever preachers or anyone else are saying, to keep their eyes on the Word and stay balanced in the centre. He invites anyone who needs prayer to stand with hands raised, prays for their needs to be met, and prays for students writing exams to remember what they studied, not be anxious and get good results.

In his words

“We must stick to the integrity of God's word.”
“Jesus is the Logos, the living thing. Not in the book, not in the written page, but in the lips of a believer.”
“We don't have to go and look for an astrologer or a soothsayer to hear about our future. Our future is in the book.”
“You cannot build somebody up by philosophies or the theories of man.”
“Don't sway to the left or to the right. But keep right in the center and have an absolute balance in your life.”

Every scripture in this message