Do You Really Believe the Bible? - Louie Giglio

0:32 I was just thinking, we're two messages in to talking about God's Word. Anybody believe the Bible? I'll use the Bible word. We're using Scripture, but I'll just say Bible for my question. Anybody believe the Bible? Show of hands if you believe the Bible. Okay, great. That's awesome. That's going to get interesting a little bit later in the talk, but that's wonderful and very encouraging, and we're all here to be under it today one more time. We've talked about its uniqueness. Last week, Pastor Grant talked about how reliable it is, and what an incredible message. If you haven't listened to the message from last week, you've got to carve out time and just go back and sit with it. I loved sitting with it again. I've taught a lot of what Pastor Grant was teaching last week and read a lot about it and been around that all my life, but I just loved sitting in that talk again. And if you've got any voice in your life, some professor coming out of left field with all the Bibles just full of errors, it's just a book concocted by men, blah, blah, blah, or some voice that's in your feed telling you that God's word is just another thing. I'm telling you what Pastor Grant helped us see last week is that this this book is the most reliable piece of ancient literature that exists in the world by a long shot. And I loved what he said when he said, you don't have to turn your brain off to be a person of faith. Amen. And so God isn't inviting you today just to blindly come and pick up the scripture and say, okay, well, they say it's the word of God. So I'll get in and, you know, try to figure out how to navigate life with it. No, this is the most reliable ancient text that exists in the world. All the evidence stacks up in favor of scripture. And if you just dig a little bit and dig under the question and press through and keep searching, you'll find that.

2:32 It's unique, it's reliable, but what I want us to see today is that it is powerful. And I wanna talk for a few moments today about the authority of the word of God. Now, I already know, and I'll just put my disclaimer down early that when you use the word authority, it stirs up a whole lot of emotion and a whole lot of thinking because a lot of us don't want anybody in our lives to tell us what to do or we don't trust people who have power, or maybe someone has misused their authority at some point in our story. But authority is a good word at its heart and at its core. And really, it's just talking about the power of the word of God. And God wants us to come under the power of the word so that we can live out the power of the word. God's plan for you is a powerful life.

3:30 A life marked by authority. Not authoritarianism. Not dictatorship. Not position. But you moving through life. Not with the mentality that I am a pinball machine life. Just being pinged around by circumstances and what other people did to me. And situations and climates and things are up and then they're down and then they're left. and then they're right and I'm just kind of bouncing through life. God wants you to walk through life with authority to know who he is and who you are and to exercise the power of the word of God. Amen? I felt all that and I wasn't sure if maybe anybody else did. Our text has been 2 Timothy 3.16. It says, all scripture is God-breathed. And so if you're wondering, where do we get this whole breath on a page idea? That's where we got it, right there.

4:39 And Pastor Grant was reminding us again last week, it's not just ink on a page, it's breath on a page. It's a miracle. And it is useful. What's useful? All scripture is useful. All of it is useful. Exodus is useful. Deuteronomy is useful. It was to Jesus tempted in the wilderness three times. The gospels are useful. Revelation is useful. The Psalms are useful. For what? For teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and training in righteousness so that, here's the outcome of all scripture, so that the servant of God, not just somebody rolling through life that's like, yeah, I'll read the scripture.

5:33 No, the person who is already positioning themselves to be useful in God's kingdom story so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Don't you want that to be said about your life? A, that you're a servant in God's kingdom plan, and B, that you are thoroughly equipped for every good work. Well, how do you get there? You get there by letting all Scripture be powerful in your life and in your story. Today, we're focusing in on this part of what Scripture is about. and it is there for teaching to rebuke us. Hello, everybody's excited about that, I know. To correct us, I know everybody wants a whole lot more of that.

6:24 And to train us up, to say, come on, you can do it. Come on, pick up the ropes, you can go. Come on, put more weight on, you can handle it. Come on, one more lap, don't quit. That's what scripture is doing in our lives. Not all scripture is God-breathed to encourage you and to soothe you and to support you and to affirm you. No. It is to teach you because you don't know everything. It is to rebuke you because sometimes you just need somebody to get right up in your business. It is to correct you because if it's up to you, sometimes you're going to drive off the cliff. And it's to train you. It's to let you know that there is more potential in there than you are realizing right now.

7:19 And that's what God's word is about. Pastor Grant was leading us to Psalm 19, and it does a lot of things, the word of God. It does revive the soul, amen. It does make wise the simple, give joy to the heart, light to the eyes. It does warn the servant, and it does bring a great reward when you keep it. It is Psalm 119, a lamp unto my feet, and it is a light unto my path. But it is more than anything, This miracle breath is a course correcting wind that puts you and me in a position to live out God's best for our lives. Psalm 29 is a good combo to go with Psalm 19. Ascribe to the Lord, almighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. And then look down at verse 3, talking about the voice of God. The voice of the Lord is over the waters.

8:12 Can you say over the waters with me? Over the waters. And we're gonna add on to that in a few moments. The voice of the Lord is over everything, including me. The voice of God is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty waters. He's not whispering all the time. Yes, it is a still small voice, but it is also thundering, the voice of God. The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. The Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. And they're like, well, what is the big deal about the cedars of Lebanon? These are some of the strongest trees in existence. And he's saying, I need you to know that when God speaks, his word breaks in pieces, the strongest of trees. He makes Lebanon skip like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox.

9:14 You're like, what is going on with that? Well, this is Mount Hermon. And so he's looking out at the landscape and he's saying his voice makes the mountains move. His voice shakes the earth. The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare. And in his temple, hello, all Christ, say it with me, glory, glory. So yes, it's unique. And yes, it's reliable. But it is also powerful. And it is God's authority for our lives. I'm just reading Psalm 29 and I'm thinking about what God's word does.

10:13 His word is over. His word thunders. His word is powerful. It is majestic. It breaks. It shakes. It strikes with lightning. it twists and it strips bare now i'm starting to realize why we're not spending a whole lot more time in it A few Sundays ago, I came out of our house to come to church, and it was kind of foggy because we'd had that front move through like three or four o'clock, and serious storm wind and crazy. Does anybody remember this like about a month ago or so? And we had just felt it coming against the house all night, woke up, and there was just limbs all over the deck in the yard, and the furniture on the deck was all moved like from over here to over there, and I'm walking to get in the car and I look into the backyard and I see this guy back here. I'm like, how in the world do we not hear that? That's about a hundred and I don't know, 20, 30, 40 foot tall pine tree that's about this big at the bottom. Nothing wrong with a perfectly healthy tree. And so I grabbed my phone and I didn't have time to stop. I needed to get to church and I just, you know, zoomed up and snapped a picture, came back later after church and walked back into the yard. And that's looking down at the tree going through the fence into my neighbor's backyard sadly got that all fixed and you really can't tell exactly in this picture, but I just stand in there looking at this thing, and it wasn't necessarily like the wind came in a straight line and just snapped it. It was the only tree of all these trees that was down, but when I saw the end of the tree, it still had all the needles on it, even in winter, and they were all up above all the other trees who are not you know, pines and don't have anything on the branches. And I really, I'm not an expert on anything, honestly, but it kind of felt looking at it like the wind situation, whatever happened,

12:19 grabbed onto the tree and twisted it. And then it snapped. And I, reading Psalm 29, I was like, this is the Lord. He gets into us with his word and things that look invincible. He just goes. a stronghold in your life he can do that through the power of his word something that you are up against in life that looks invincible don't forget about the authority of his word. In your life, I got my life exactly like I want it. Nobody can do anything, and he's like, I could, because my voice isn't just unique, and it is not just reliable.

13:15 It's powerful in the very best kind of way, because at the end of the power of the word of God is that you will be fully equipped to do every good work. So when I come to the word, what's my primary expectation? It is that there's gonna probably be an adjustment.

13:45 I see how this is gonna go. So I'll do the amens also. Amen. I'm expecting when I come to the word that is highly likely as a result of it, I am gonna be moving in a different direction. I'm gonna have a different attitude, different set of thoughts, beliefs.

14:09 Something's gonna shift and something's going to change. Yes, there's insight there. Yes, there's wisdom here. Yes, there's encouragement there. All those things do come from the word of God. But the breath on a page is powerful to snap curses and uproot lies. And that's what I'm expecting when I get into it. I'm expecting things to snap and to break. I'm expecting curses to be exposed and be snapped into. And I'm expecting lies that I have told myself, that other people have told me, that I've told other people. I'm expecting them to be uprooted and stripped bare by the power of the Word of God. it's not that it's the most reliable piece of ancient literature that exists, and so let's put it in a museum and put it under glass.

15:04 It's quite different. It's that it puts me under glass. It puts me under the microscope of God's best intentions for my life. And it shows me Christ, and it shapes me into him. in Romans 8, Paul said, and we know that in all things God works for the good. But jump down to verse 29. For those God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed. Can you say conformed with me?

15:36 That's what God's plan is for your life. He does not want to leave you like you are. He does not want to leave you in the shape that you're in. He wants to mold you and to conform you. Conform you into what? Into the image of his son. his plan is to make you into the image of Jesus, not to make you Jesus, but to make you like Jesus, because he needs more Jesus on earth.

16:02 And the best way he can get Jesus into your company is to make you like Jesus. To get Jesus into your boardroom is to make you more like Jesus. To get Jesus into your dorm room is to make you more like Jesus. And so that's his plan. And he uses a lot of things to conform us, but one of the main things he uses to conform us is the power of the word. And if we allow it, it will shape us and show us Christ. It will shape us into him and show us more of him. And at the end of that, we become people who are walking in the authority of God's word. gosh what a what a thought anybody know anyone like that i was thinking about somebody they're actually in the 9 30 and every time i'd scan around the room i saw them i kept thinking this is this is the personification of this message today this person does not isn't super loud they don't come in the room and just all boisterous and shouting at everything i've never ever heard this person raise their voice but when they walk into rooms authority walks into the room do you know what i'm talking about? Oh, they don't have like a badge on or some big high position of power, but when they pray, they pray with authority. I'll never forget one of the passion gatherings we did way back when, and some of the speakers were at a lunch before the conference began because I like to get the team around a table so we can all realize I'm not just a plug and play talk coming into this thing, but we're a family of servants who are trying to do something common together.

17:49 And we prayed at the end of that lunch and one of the people around that table started praying and I mean, have you ever been like this where everybody's got their head bowed and their eyes closed and somebody starts praying and you're like. I was like I don't know if I've ever heard anybody pray like that I guarantee you heaven was listening you ever heard somebody praying and you're not really sure whether heaven even needed to be listening or not they're like reminding people but in heaven of things like you know sister Mary's having surgery at 2 30 tomorrow down at St. Luke's and they're like we know. What do you want? I'm sorry, that sounded a little more, I did not, I'm not representing heaven when I said that. I apologize. But this person was praying and it was like, what kind of authority is that? They feel like they just walked up to the throne of grace to receive grace and mercy in their time of need.

18:50 And God wants you to live that life where you walk in authority, you are under authority, and things move. because of the power of God's word. Let's talk about what an authoritative life, a life filled with authority looks like. That person, number one, believes in the God of the word. In other words, they've not stopped at the word. They believe that the God of the word is as powerful as the word. If the word's unique, then God is unique, amen. He's not just one of a few. He's unique. If the word is reliable, he is reliable. You can trust him fully. If the word is powerful and has authority, he is powerful and he has authority. The best kind of authority in life.

19:43 That's what they said, interestingly, about Jesus, that he had and spoke with authority. Now, when I say that again, I'm not saying that God is authoritarian, although he could be if he wanted to be. he's not operating in your life right now today as a dictator he's giving you somehow miraculously free will now ultimately it all is going to play out his way but he's not making you do anything today even though he has all power and all authority but make no mistake about it he's unrivaled, and he is the sole authority on the abundant life. and he's without equal in terms of spiritual authority. Everything bows to the name of Jesus.

20:47 Do you know him? they said about Jesus after the Sermon on the Mount where he had done all this amazing teaching, which most of us know. We'll come down to that in a moment. And most of us believe. When he was finished, Matthew records, this is the end of chapter seven. When Jesus had finished saying these things, what things? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Don't lay up for yourself treasures on earth where they can be stolen. Lay up treasures in heaven where they're going to be there forever. When you get there, you'll still have all the treasure that you lay up there. Turn the other cheek. Bless those who persecute you. All these things that he's taught. When he was finished, the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law. don't you want to be like that?

21:49 Don't you want people to say that about you? She talks like she has authority, not like positional authority, not like anybody signed her up for some kind of special access code thing, but she just has it on her life. And that's what he's wanting for you. It says in Ephesians that at his resurrection, he's hoping our eyes will be opened to see this, to know that the power that raised him up or that's in us is the same as the mighty strength that he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead. This is Ephesians 1. And seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above all rule and authority, power and dominion in every name that is invoked not only in the present age, but also in the one to come. Yes, he's savior.

22:42 Yes, he's my friend. Yes, he's Lord. Yes, he's the Lamb of God. Yes, he's the coming King. But he has all power and all authority. You're walking around with Jesus Christ in you, and he is all authority, all power, over all dominion, every name, every position. He is above it. And he's in you. Do you know him? Do you know the God of the word? Or have you just picked like a couple of characteristics of him that you really jive with and that's kind of where your relationship stays? He's a man upstairs. If I need him, I know he'll be there for me. Or are you walking with him in his authority? If you are and you believe in him as the authority, then the second thing that's going to lead you to a life of authority is that you're going to come under the word. You're gonna come under God and come under the word of God.

23:42 If his voice is over the waters, then you also realize his voice is over you. And you didn't come today going, hey, some dude's gonna get up there and they're gonna open the scripture and they're gonna teach and I'm gonna see what I think about it and I'm gonna see whether I like it or not and then I'm gonna decide what I'm gonna do with it. Or did we come into church today and go, God, my posture is I wanna humble myself under your word. So help this guy. Teach it truthfully. Share it fully. Because I want to come under it totally. I want to not come over the word and not even come equal to the word. I want to come under the word of God.

24:36 And when I open it, I expect things to change and I expect to get corrected. I expect a little rebuke. I expect somebody to get up in my business. I expect to be taught. But I expect to be trained so that I am fully able to do every good thing as I serve God's kingdom purpose. The third thing in getting toward that life of authority is not only to come under it, but it ultimately is to apply it. I ask if you believe the Bible kicking this thing off. And obviously, I think you knew where I was going asking that question. the answer to whether or not I believe in scripture is the degree to which I adhere to it not the declarations I make about it. I'll give time. I'll give time.

25:30 that's how I answer the question of course I believe in scripture of course I believe in the bible but am I seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, or am I seeking something else and seeking that third? Am I really laying out treasure in heaven, or do I really have a vast majority of my portfolio down here on earth? Am I really blessing people who persecute me, or I just heard Jesus say that, and it sounded like something he would do? Or am I doing that? Am I not going, and not only am I not going to slap back, I'm going to actually try to find a way to bless you. that's how I know that I believe that Jesus has all authority. And when he says it in red, in the Sermon on the Mount, I go, that's what I'm doing.

26:26 Because I believe it. Because I believe him. This is what James is encouraging us to do in that text in James 1. He says, dear brothers and sisters, everyone should be quick to listen, and slow to speak, and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly, there's our word, getting under, humbly, humble yourself, and accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Wow. See, this isn't God trying to slap some legalism on our lives, and say, you better get in there, and you better obey everything that's in there, and You better walk that walk and get on that straight and narrow line. No, this is God saying, if you want to be saved, not to heaven saved, saved in life, this is how. If you want to live full and to reach your potential, then this is how.

27:28 Humble yourself and accept the word that is planted in you. It's not legalism, it's beliefism. I believe it, therefore, I'm gonna actually put it into play in my life. He says, do not merely listen to the word. Man, I've done a lot of that in my lifetime. And so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom and continues in it, not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it, wow, they will be blessed in what they do. you know whether or not you believe in the Bible by how much you adhere to it.

28:35 and a lot of us don't believe it near as much as we think we do the fourth way that we live with authority is we wield the word I love Jesus when he came down to the very end of his ministry on earth. He gave this great commission in Matthew 28. He came to them and he said, can you just read these first line with me? All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Let's read that again. all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me all authority is his and the very next word he says is a verb if you take out the therefore all authority in heaven all of the power of heaven and all the power on earth which isn't that much compared with all the power in heaven has been given to me.

29:50 Go and make disciples of all nations. He explains what that means. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything I've commanded you. And I'm gonna be with you the whole way. Don't worry. But the operative mission is go make disciples of everybody on the planet. And what he's implying is I have all this authority Now I'm sending you in my authority.

30:22 Not your authority. You're not gonna go, hey, it's Louis here. I'm supposed to be making disciples. Can you come to the door? No, you are going in my name. You are going under my umbrella. You are going with my commission and my authority on your life. It's like that centurion who came to Jesus in Matthew 8 and wanted Jesus to come and heal his child. And he said to Jesus, you don't even need to come to my house. he said, Jesus, I am a man under authority, and I got people under authority, under me, and I say to this one, go do that, I say to this one, go do that, and they do it, so I know all you have to do is say the word, and Jesus said, this guy gets it, this guy right here. he understands that I have all authority in heaven and on earth, and I just say things, and things shift, and I'm sending you with my authority.

31:24 go in the name of Jesus. Go under the plan and purpose of Jesus. Go to fulfill the mission of Jesus. Go in the power of Jesus. Go and carry the authority of Jesus. Go and speak the name of Jesus. And wield the powerful word of God as you go. Paul said, we've got this armor, we've got to suit up in this mission, right? and of a helmet of salvation, a breastplate of faith, our loins gird with truth, feet with the gospel of peace, prayer in the spirit always. There's an offensive weapon, something that you pull out and you use it. And what is it? He said, and take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.

32:21 We don't need your opinion. We don't need to rehash all the stuff again. We don't need another latte with a friend. You need to take up the authoritative word of God and wield it. You don't have to raise your voice. You don't have to get loud about it. You don't have to punch the air. You just have to know. I know him. And I am under him. and I am obeying him, and therefore I am wielding now the power of the mighty word of God, and I expect trees to twist and snap, maybe not in 30 seconds, maybe not in 30 minutes, and maybe not in 30 days, but I will not stop speaking the wind of God to the trees that need to come down. And I'm going to take authority. I'm going to take authority. Dear friend, you have it. I've told this story so many times, but going back to Passion One Day 03, we had one day in 2000. Now, 2003, we're doing one day again in a field in North Texas.

33:39 All of our leaders, again, talking back about that group of people leading worship and speaking. We were all there the night before on our knees, on our faces, in this very nice event tent. A big tent, big roof, you know, real floor. But the wind starts blowing. And if you've ever lived in Texas or Oklahoma, you know things can change fast. And it gets dicey in about 10 minutes. And we, you know, somebody stands up and says, let's agree in Jesus' name. You know, threefold court can't be broken. Lord, we just want to come in the mighty name of Jesus. We pray against this storm and against this wind. we pray, God, that we'll see a miracle right now. We speak against the wind, and we speak against the waves, because Jesus did that. And when he did, they woke him up out of the boat. He speaks to the storm. The storm dies down, and his people go, who is this guy? Even the wind and the waves obey him. And so we're going to do that. We're people of faith, and we started speaking. And the more we prayed, and the louder we got, the more the wind blew until in one big gust. I'm not exaggerating The whole tent just came about six inches off the ground and went back down.

34:46 And we were like, we better go outside and pray. We're walking out now. We're in the wind now. In Jesus' name. And we were going for it. And about that time, a bolt of lightning hit about 80 yards from where we were standing. And we all scattered as fast as we could to the RVs that we were living in. So I'm not saying that if a big front moves in from Alabama, that you have the authority to stop it. but you do have authority over your family. and you do have authority over your brain and what you think, and you do have authority over your feelings. They do not have the authority. You have the authority, and you have the authority to speak to lies, to speak to the past, to believe for the future, not your opinion not what you want but to speak the mighty word of god the breath on a page that is wind that breaks trees and it is wind that redirects your boat and gets you going in the direction that god wants you to be going in so every day we're coming to it and we're walking in it it's like a sail for our little boat and we're just like spirit of god through this word of God, you blow me where you want me to go today. You lead me to the destination you want to lead me to today. I'm not in my boat with my motor going, with my Bible right here just saying, oh God, thank you for being in my boat. I already know where I'm going.

36:29 No, I got the sail up today. And I'm saying, I don't want just the gentle breath of, I want the mighty wind of the Ruah of God. I want to get where God wants me to be, and I know he wants to blow me there through the power of the breath, miraculously on the page. So where does that leave us today? It leaves us evaluating our answer to whether or not we believe scripture. And honestly, it probably leads just about all of us to repent. Amen. Congratulations to the one blessed person here today, and you've got it all right up to now.

37:24 But most of us need some course correction in our thinking, in our believing, in our actions, in our attitudes. and if you don't want that today, let's just say that you have some things in your life right now that you are not willing to negotiate with God. You've already heard from God on them, and you're like, mm, doesn't matter.

37:50 I'm here, I got here today, but I'm not changing that or that. I'm just bold-faced lying. all those songs we sang because he isn't going to go, man, that's so cool that you know that there's nobody in the grave, but you are right now. You're living in there with a stinky corpse, so you can save it. and I promise if that's you right now this book is closed at your house because how could you get in it and tell it that it can't get in you if you're super confident and achieving great things right now and you got your story exactly the way you want it everything's turning out the way that you expected it to and you got your hands on the steering wheel and life is fantastic for you right now.

38:55 I got a feeling this book is closed at your house today because you don't need any course correcting, any teaching, any training, any rebuking, any correcting. You don't need any of that. You've got...