Internet Preachers is a sermon teaching us that it’s not what the preacher says that matters, it’s what the Bible says, without compromise, that counts for eternity.

Key verses:
Acts 17:1-12

Turning the World Upside Down

Take your Bible, if you will, and turn with me to Acts chapter 17, the Acts of the Apostles, and chapter 17. I want to look at the first 12 verses tonight and particularly look at verse 12, and encourage you with that. In Acts chapter 17, beginning at the first verse, Luke is writing, he says:

Acts 17:1: “Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:”

Acts 17:2: “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,”

Acts 17:3: “Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.”

Very important statement, “this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.”

Acts 17:4: “And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.”

Acts 17:5: “But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.”

Acts 17:6: “And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;”

That’s interesting that they say “These that have turned the world upside down.” If you remember on the day that we call Palm Sunday, as the Lord came into Jerusalem, the people, the leaders, the religious leaders, said this is turning the world upside down. I wonder if these are some of the same people who were in that crowd. I don’t know that; doesn’t say that. I don’t want to state it definitely because it may not be the same people, but it just makes me wonder. In verse seven:

Acts 17:7: “Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.”

Now, what are they doing there? They are upset about the faith question because they’re teaching that Jesus is the Messiah, and these people are very upset about that. But they’re also bringing a legal charge against them. Why? They are disobeying the government. They’re disobeying Caesar, so their intention is to get them in a great deal of trouble, and so verse eight says:

Acts 17:8: “And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.”

Acts 17:9: “And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.”

Now, where it says, “taking security,” that basically means that they had to post bond to get them to let them go, had to put up some money or some sort of security. Verse 10:

Acts 17:10: “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.”

He did the same thing. You know what else? That’s what Paul did wherever he went. He first went to the synagogue to preach there, the first place he went every time. Verse 11, “These,” – the people in the synagogue at Berea:

Acts 17:11: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

“Therefore,” – because of all this, because of what “they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether these things were so”:

Acts 17:12: “Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.”

Now, it’s interesting, many of them believe. He didn’t say they all believed. He said, “many of them believed; also of honorable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few.” But focus, if you will, in verse 11, “these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether these things were so.”

Speaking the Same Thing

I want to share some other verses with you. If you will, hold your place here in Acts 17, and turn with me over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and I want to show you something there. 1 Corinthians was a letter that Paul wrote, obviously, to the church of Corinth, and he wrote it to help the people there in the church with problems they were having in the church. The whole book, basically, is correcting errors and problems in the church. So, look at verse 10, 1 Corinthians 1:10. This is a very, very important verse for any church. He says:

1 Corinthians 1:10: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,” – I’m pleading with you, “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing.” Now, what does that mean? It means you say the same thing, the same words, at the same time. That’s not what it means. It means that you are together in what you are saying. You’re united in your purpose.

What should you be talking about? Well, you know, there’s a little old song that people sing sometimes, and I heard it on the radio just yesterday, I think. Let’s talk about Jesus and that’s what it means, “that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you.” There’s not to be divisions in the church. There are not to be divisions in the body of Christ. We are all to be in harmony. We’re all to be on the same page, as we would say in today’s vernacular. We are to be speaking the same thing, and there are to be no divisions among you.

You know, I’m reminded of Proverbs chapter six where it says:

Proverbs 6:16: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him:”

Do you know what that seventh one is? “He that soweth discord among the brethren” – somebody who divides the brethren, “that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind,” – you’re thinking the same way, “and in the same judgment.”

“Now, I want to have my independent thinking.” You will. You will have your independent thinking, but we need to be together on the things of God according to the Word of God. Now, look at verse 11:

1 Corinthians 1:11: “For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.”

1 Corinthians 1:12: “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.”

“I am of Paul,” – I’m a follower of Paul. Now, say, “I am of Apollos.” Now, you may not be as familiar with Apollos. This is not the only time he’s mentioned in the New Testament, but he was apparently quite an orator and quite a speaker, and the people liked to hear him preach.

I can tell you this. When I was a student at Tennessee Temple school, and we had about 5,000 or so students in the school at that time, we had chapel all throughout the week, Monday through Friday. We’d have chapel time and various speakers, but often, guest speakers would come in, and I tell you, there were many speakers who were very popular.

But one memory I have is when they announced that the chapel speaker one day that week was going to be Bill Rice. Now, not the ones that have been here, the granddaddy of them all, if you will, that Bill Rice was going to be there. You could hear it going through the crowd, “Oh, Bill Rice, Bill Rice, Bill Rice is coming.” Everybody got excited. They wanted to hear Bill Rice. If you ever heard him, you’d understand why.

The point that I’m trying to make is, they were excited to hear that preacher. A lot of people were excited to hear Apollos. He was, apparently, again, quite the eloquent man. “And I of Cephas,” – so, “I am of Paul; and I of Apollos.” I follow Paul. Well, I follow Apollos. Well, I follow Cephas, which is again Peter, and then some said, “and I of Christ.”

I follow, you follow, Paul or Apollos or Peter if you want to. I’m following Christ. Well, I would say of the list there, that’s the best one.

Sent to Preach the Gospel

But look at the next thing he says:

1 Corinthians 1:13: “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”

“Is Christ divided?” You say you’re a follower of Christ. “Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you?” The answer to both those questions is no. “Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Certainly not.

1 Corinthians 1:14: “I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius;”

1 Corinthians 1:15: “Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name.”

Didn’t want them to be disciples of Paul, wanted them to be disciples of Jesus. Verse 16, he says:

1 Corinthians 1:16: “And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other.”

Watch this. This is so important:

1 Corinthians 1:17: “For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”

“Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel,” – do you see that? “Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel,” there. Paul might as well take a big black magic marker and he drew a line between the Gospel and baptism. They’re not the same thing. Jesus didn’t send me to baptize. He sent me to preach the Gospel. Did he baptize folks? Yeah, a few. He mentions them. But that’s not why he came to Corinth. He came to preach the Gospel. So, it’s very important that you understand here. And Paul makes this distinction over in the 15th chapter. Paul defines the Gospel. The interesting thing is when he defines the Gospel, he doesn’t mention baptism at all. Here, he says, “Christ sent me not to baptize,” – I wasn’t sent “to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words,” – not with me persuading you by my wisdom, “lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.”

1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

Now, leave 1 Corinthians and go back to Acts 17, if you would, and while you’re turning, I want to share just a few other verses with you.

Psalm 119:89: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”

Don’t miss that.

Psalm 119:89: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.”

Psalm 119:105: “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Psalm 119:60: “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.”

Now, that’s all from Psalm 119, and the entire psalm is the longest chapter in the Bible. It’s about the Word of God. Then, in John 17:17, when Jesus is praying to His Heavenly Father, He prays and says:

John 17:17: “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

Discern Preaching on the Internet

I want to talk to you tonight about Internet preachers. Now, I’m not going to stand here and tell you all Internet preachers are bad. I would be the chief of hypocrites if I did that because I’m pretty sure I’m preaching on the Internet right now. So, I better not be preaching against all Internet preachers, that’d be pretty foolish. I’m not saying that and there’s a lot of good on the Internet. There’s a lot of good things out there, there’s a lot of bad things on the Internet, too. And folks, we need to be discerning.

Recently, a few weeks ago, my wife and I were down in Boca Raton, and we were attending a lecture on artificial intelligence. The lecture was very good and presented the case very well. He pointed out that there are some good aspects of artificial intelligence, but there are also some dangerous aspects of artificial intelligence.

I saw one of those just in the last couple of days. There is a man, who I believe is still living, I’m pretty sure he is, I haven’t heard otherwise, though he is up in years, by the name of John Lennox. Now, John Lennox is from England, and he is known as a mathematics professor, but he is also quite a Christian apologist. There is a video out on YouTube that has John Lennox saying, “I was wrong, and the atheists were right, and I have changed. I no longer believe in Christ, believe in the Bible, and all that.”

Now, you look at it, it looks like John Lennox, it sounds like John Lennox, but it isn’t John Lennox. That is an AI imitation of John Lennox and it’s already out there. So, if you didn’t know that that was an AI imitation, you’d look at that say, “Well, John Lennox has denied Christ.” That’s not what happened. Do you understand what I’m telling you?

So, again, now, there are a lot of good John Lennox videos out there, by the way, that you can look at, but beware of that one because it isn’t real. It looks real, it does, but it isn’t. And I’ve heard and there’s a prime example of that, that they can take anybody, and they get samples of your voice, so then the AI can imitate your voice. And they get pictures of you, and they can put that all together and make you say anything. Anybody watching is going to think that’s you.

So, there are good things about artificial intelligence, there are dangerous things about artificial intelligence. There are good things on the Internet, there are horrible things on the Internet. I’m not saying you can’t use either one of those things because, again, to the best of my knowledge, we’re using the Internet right now. But what I am saying to you is: be careful. Be careful and be discerning, be discerning.

Believe Not Every Spirit

John writes in 1 John and says to try the spirits, believe not every spirit. Try the spirits of what sort they are, and he even gives us a test. He says that every spirit that confesses that Jesus is the Christ is of God. Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus is the Christ is not of God. Now, that sounds simple on the surface because you think everybody that says “Jesus Christ.” No, that’s not what it’s saying. It’s not saying that every spirit says there was a man who lived 2,000 years ago in the Middle East and named Jesus, who was called Christ. That’s not what he’s saying.

When it says that every spirit that confesses that Jesus is THE Christ, trust me, in studying your Bible little words make a big difference. Jesus is the Christ, is of God. And when you say Jesus is the Christ, you’re saying that He is the one sent from God. He is the anointed one, He is the Messiah, He is the Savior, and there is no other. In other words, those who proclaim Him as their Savior are of God, and that spirit is of God.

If they do not say that Jesus is the Christ, born of God… I was talking to somebody about eight months ago. I guess maybe 10 months ago now, and I asked him, “Is Jesus Christ come in the flesh?” Well, again, that doesn’t mean there was a man named Jesus who was called Christ who walked around a human body. What it means is, Jesus the Christ, the Lord the Savior, did He come in the flesh?” And they said, “No.” Now, did they understand the implications of that? Well, I’m not sure. But the spiritual implication of that is to deny Christ, and therefore, that spirit is not of God. Very important that we understand that.

Acts of the Apostles

Now, let me go very quickly here in the time that we have. The book that we read from tonight is called The Acts of the Apostles, and what it is, is the story of what happened next for the first 32 years after Jesus Christ was crucified, buried, rose again, and spent 40 days on Earth showing himself alive, as it says in the very first chapter of the book, “by many infallible proofs.” In that first chapter, it says that He showed himself alive after His passion for a period of 40 days.

We also learn in that chapter that the apostles were promised that they would be baptized with the Holy Ghost. And the Lord Jesus gave them orders and said:

Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

In that same chapter, chapter one, it says:

Acts 1:9: “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.”

Acts 1:10: “And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;”

Acts 1:11: “Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

You saw Him go; He’s coming back in like manner in the same way you saw Him – that’s how He’s coming back. Then, the apostles in chapter one, towards the end of chapter one, enter into what I like to call the great 10-day prayer meeting. At the end of that time, they elected an apostle to replace Judas Iscariot. They elected Matthias.

Chapter two records the coming of the Holy Spirit to empower and dwell the apostles and, indeed, all born-again believers in Jesus Christ. It tells us about Peter and the others preaching the Gospel of Jesus to a great multitude of people. When Peter finished, 3,000 men were saved and then baptized. We’re told of the birth of the church, the beginning of it.

In chapters three through eight, we read about the miraculous days of the early church, Spirit-filled believers. Peter is not the only preacher mentioned, but he is the one mentioned most often in chapters three through eight. Then, in chapter nine, we learn about taking the Gospel beyond the borders of Israel to the uttermost parts of the earth. And the preacher most mentioned from chapter nine forward is the Apostle Paul.  Now, Peter appears again at least a couple of times after that, but the preacher most mentioned from there forward is Paul.

Preaching the Gospel

Now, we just read from the 17th chapter. The first four verses of that chapter are in Thessalonica. Paul and Silas went to the synagogue of the Jews, it told us, we’ve read this already, and as Paul’s manner was, they preached in the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Now, why did they do that? Because that’s where he was going to find people gathering, the Jewish people gathering. He wanted to preach to them. Paul writes:

Romans 1:16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

So, it says that he reasoned with them and taught them in an orderly logical manner. He reasoned with them out of the scriptures. Everything he preached and taught was out of the scriptures. Don’t miss that. Everything Paul preached and taught was out of the scriptures. In his epistles, he often quotes from the Old Testament.

In verse three, Paul preached and it says, look at verse three, if you will:

Acts 17:3: “Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.”

He is the Messiah. So, the answer to the question in 1 John, “Is Jesus Christ come in the flesh?” is yes. Is Jesus the Christ? Yes.

1 John 5:1: “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.”

So, this Jesus whom I preach unto you is Christ. He is the Savior. He’s the long-prophesied Messiah, and you put your faith and trust in Him. Then, in verse four, it says:

Acts 17:4: “And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.”

“And some of them believed,” – isn’t that interesting? Some of you’d think they would have all believed. They didn’t. Some of them believe. Now, when it says some of them, it apparently doesn’t mean three or four because it says, “Some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.”

So, apparently it was some of them, certainly not all of them. I don’t even think we could safely say the majority of them, but a good number of them did believe. Where? In Thessalonica. The epistles of 1 and 2 Thessalonians are written to this church that we’re reading about here in Acts 17, in Thessalonica.

Some Conspired

But then trouble arises. Verse five:

Acts 17:5: “But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.”

“The Jews which believe,” – not many of them did believe, some of them believe. Those who “believed not, moved with envy,” Why were they? Because Jewish people were following the Gospel that Paul was preaching. They didn’t like that. “But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort,” – I always thought that was an interesting phrase. “And gathered a company, and set all the city in an uproar.” In other words, they had a riot, and were assaulted. They attacked “the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people.”

Acts 17:6: “And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;”

“And when they found them not,” –  the apostles; it means they didn’t find them. “They drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also.”

Acts 17:7: “Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.”

“Whom Jason hath received,” – that’s their words, “and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar.” Now, isn’t that interesting? You’ve got Jewish religious leaders getting upset because people weren’t obeying Caesar. That’s interesting. They’re upset because you’re not obeying a pagan king. “Well, shouldn’t they have respect for authority?” They should, but that’s not why they were doing this. And they said, they’re claiming, there’s another king, one Jesus. That’s rebellion. It wasn’t rebellion. Jesus said:

John 18:36: “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

Verse eight:

Acts 17:8: “And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things.”

Acts 17:9: “And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go.”

A Nobler People

Acts 17:10: “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.”

Now, the brethren immediately, verse 10, send Paul away. In verses 10 to 12, Paul and Silas moved to Berea which is a city in Macedonia. Today, we would say it was in northern Greece, north of Mount Olympus. Again, Paul and Silas go to the synagogue as was their custom. Look at this verse 11:

Acts 17:11: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Who are these? The Jews in the synagogue in Berea. These people, these were more noble than those in Thessalonica. In what way? Was about to tell us, “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness,” – because Paul didn’t just go in there and talk, and he didn’t just tell clever stories, and he didn’t just put on a good show.

He preached the scriptures to them. What scriptures? The ones they had. “Well, you mean Matthew, Mark?” No, those books weren’t written yet. He preached to them from what we call the Old Testament. That’s what they had come together to study on that day. That’s what scripture he had and that’s what he preached from. Can you preach Jesus from the Old Testament? It’s been done many times, countless times, for thousands of years.

But they were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word: Number one with the readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily, whether these things were so. They heard what they were being taught, and they said, “Is this really right?” So, they search the scriptures. How often? Daily. Daily, they search the scriptures. Daily to see whether what they were being taught was right or not.

Before I go any further, let me say this: if you do that honestly and with an open heart and not filter in outside material, you’ll just take the Bible for what it said, and you’re going to come out in the right place. The difference between the people in Berea and the people in Thessalonica, we’re told very clearly in verse 11 is that they searched the scriptures daily, whether the things they were hearing from Paul and Silas were true or not. They were glad to hear the Word, but they didn’t just accept Paul’s teaching at face value.

They searched the scriptures to see if what he was telling them was accurate and, more importantly, and this is the implication there, don’t miss this, they believe the Word of God more than they believe the word of men. Let me say that again, they believe the Word of God more than they believe the word of men. You and I must do that. We must believe the Word of God more than the word of men – well, Apollos said, well Paul said, well Peter said.

Now, Apollos was not one of the apostles, that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a preacher of the Word, but even though Paul and Peter are apostles, search the scriptures and see if what they’re telling you is true.

God’s Word or Man’s Word

See, it’s not about the title that a person has or their background or their education. I’m not saying those things aren’t important, they are, they matter.

This doesn’t happen as much as it used to. For years, when we’d get visitors here, first-time visitors from another state, most of the time, who would come, and they would just want to know about the church here. And when I would meet them, they found out I was the pastor, and they would say, “So, where did you go to school?” They don’t ask me that as much anymore because it’s not as important to them. So, when they would ask me where’d you go to school, I’d say, “Well, let’s see. I went to McFarland Methodist Kindergarten, and then I went to Cedar Hill Elementary School, and then I went to Norcrest Elementary School, and then I went to Tedder Elementary School,” and they said, “No, that’s not what I want to know.” I know that’s not what they wanted to know. I know what they wanted to know. They want to know where you get your Bible and where you get your theological training.

Now, you know what? People aren’t asking me that anymore. Why? It’s not as important to them. It’s not as important to them as it used to be. That may be a good thing, maybe a bad thing, but that’s the case. If you want to know where I got my Bible training, I went to Tennessee Temple University. I went to Pensacola Christian College and Great Plains Baptist Divinity School; in case you were asking. Nobody was, but in case you were.

So, how do you know whether what you hear is God’s Word or man’s word? Very important. If there’s a question about whether what the preacher preaches is right and true, don’t just ask another preacher or teacher. When I first became a pastor here, an issue arose in the church. I’m not going to tell you what the issue was because that’ll take us down a whole other road. But I went to school, went to all those schools I told you about, and I came out, and I thought I knew what I believed on that issue. I had it firmly set in my mind.

Then I had to deal with it with real life people, and it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was going to be. So, I did what I just recommended you not do. I picked up the phone, I called another pastor and said, “Pastor, what do you think about this?” I called five different men, all of them good men, good preachers. You know what I got? Five different answers. That’s a true story.

So, I’m going to tell you what I did, and I’m not telling you this to try to sound super spiritual or anything like that. That’s not the case. But I came to the conclusion after talking to these five different good men and getting five different answers to the same question. I finally said, “Well, Lord, I guess I’m not going to get the answer from man. I got to get the answer from you.” I don’t do this all the time. I don’t want to give you that impression, but I took a chair, just a straight chair, and I put my Bible on the seat of the chair, and I got down on my knees in front of that chair, and I prayed. I said, “Lord, show me.”

I read every passage in the Bible on that subject, and after I’d read every passage in the Bible on that subject, I said, “Alright, Lord, this is where you want me to stand on this issue.” Why? Because it’s what the Bible said. I mean no disrespect to those five preachers. Don’t misunderstand me. These were all men that I respected and still do, but I need to get the answer from Him, and that’s what I’m trying to tell you. We need to get the answer from God’s Word. So, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you into all truth. He’s promised to do that. Jesus said, “When the spirit of truth comes, He will guide you.” When the comforter comes, He’ll guide you into all truth.

And then believe the Bible for what it says. Don’t add to it. Don’t take away from it. Don’t interpret it in the light of man’s ideas. Just believe the Bible for what it says. Now, there are some things that we can disagree upon and still have Christian fellowship with each other. There are some things that we’re not going to see the same way, and we don’t necessarily have to see those things in the same way in order to have fellowship.

No Compromising of Core Beliefs

But on the other hand, there are things that are not open to compromise. There are things that we cannot give and take on, and those are the things that matter. A lot of things aren’t all that important, but the things that are essential are important. Well, what are those things that we can’t compromise on? I’ve made a list here, actually, not my list. It’s comprised from different studies over the years.

But number one, the verbal – that means word by word and plenary – that means absolute and complete inspiration of scripture. Every word of the Bible is inspired, and it is completely inspired. It’s not more inspired in one place than it is in the other. What does “inspired” mean? It literally means God breathed, that’s what it means.

John R. Rice wrote a book decades ago titled “Our God-Breathed Book – The Bible,” and that title tells you a great deal. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says:

2 Timothy 3:16: “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”

2 Timothy 3:17: “That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

How much scripture is given by inspiration? All.

2 Peter 1:20: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

2 Peter 1:21: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

How did they write the Bible? They were moved by the Holy Ghost. John writes:

Revelation 22:18: “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:”

I don’t know about you, I don’t want that added to me.

Revelation 22:19: “And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”

That’s pretty serious, folks. How serious? Eternally serious. The Bible itself, and don’t miss this, the Bible itself claims to be the very Word of God more than 2,000 times, not just in a few verses that I’ve read to you, but more than 2,000 times. You’ll find things like, “thus sayeth the Lord” or “the Word of the Lord came to me.” More than 2,000 times, the Bible claims to be the Word of God. The first thing – the verbal and plenary inspiration of scripture.

Number two – the inerrancy and infallibility of the scripture. Not only is the Bible inspired it is infallible. “Well, there’s so many mistakes in the Bible.” There are no mistakes in the Bible. The preservation of scripture means that the Bible has been preserved by God himself and is not changed.

I mentioned this this morning, and tonight, I thought I’d show it to you. We’re going a little over time. I’m going to hurry up here. This is a replica of the first Bible printed in English that was legal. There were Bibles in English prior to this one, but they were considered illegal by the Crown of England. This is also called the authorized translation because it was legally authorized by King James I. This is not an original King James Bible, but it’s the size of what the Bible would have been that was printed in 1611, and it is an exact replica. This is what the original 1611 looked like, okay. This is actually from our church library back there. If you want to see it later, you can.

But this one is an actual Bible and the title page on this Bible says, “Printed at London by Robert Barker, printer to the Kings most excellent Majesty, 1613.” This is a third edition King James Bible, it is. The book you’re looking at right here is 411 years old. It is not a replica. It is the real thing. I was showing it to some of the folks before the service, and Brian, back there, asked me, “Where’d you get it?” I told him I bought it new. Boy, it’d bother me if you didn’t laugh at that. I did not buy it new, but I got it from the family of the person who did buy it new. So, other than that family, I’m the only one that’s owned that copy.

Now, I have, years ago, I don’t really take it out of the case hardly ever anymore because it’s very old and very fragile, and I don’t want it to be damaged. But I did one time come up here with it and preach from that Bible. Why? Two reasons. Number one – I just wanted to say I did, and number two – I wanted to show the people in the congregation that it reads just like the one I have right here [a modern-day KJV Bible] and does. Some people are going to say, “Well, some of the words are spelled differently.” Yeah, they are the Old English spelling that has been revised, but we’re not talking about the spelling of words, we’re talking about word for word translation. So, the infallibility of the Bible, the preservation of the Bible, the inspiration of the Bible, these are not up for compromise.

Number three – the Bible is our only rule for faith and practice. What we do in this church and how we do it needs to be according to the scriptures. Now, we do some things that are tradition, and we try to always delineate that and let you know this is not what the Bible tells us to do. This is just a tradition, but we follow the scriptures. We need to follow scriptures and our church Constitution dictates that we follow the scriptures. Every item in our church Constitution is backed up by Bible verses.

Number four – the virgin birth of Christ. That is not up for compromise, it’s not up for discussion.

Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Matthew 1:23: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”

Galatians 4:4: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,”

The virgin birth is not up for compromise.

Number five – The sinless life of Christ is not up for compromise.

Hebrews 4:14: “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”

Hebrews 4:15: “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

No sin in him, none; the sinless life of Christ – number five.

Number six – the deity of Christ. The Bible says in John 1:1 to3:

John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

John 1:2: “The same was in the beginning with God.”

John 1:3: “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Listen to verse 14 of the same chapter:

John 1:14: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

The deity of Christ is not up for compromise.

Number seven – The atoning death of Christ is not up for compromise.

Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:9: “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

The atoning death of Christ is not up for compromise.

Number eight – The next one, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ after His resurrection. He made the appearances accounted in Acts chapter 1 and 1 Corinthians 15. He made appearances for 40 days after the resurrection and showed himself alive. Luke says by many infallible proofs. The same writer, Luke, in chapter 24:39, records Jesus saying:

Luke 24:39: “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”

The bodily resurrection of Christ is not up for compromise.

Number nine – Salvation, the forgiveness of sins and the new birth is by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ.

John 3:15: “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

John 3:17: “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

John 3:18: “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Number ten – Baptism and church membership, the next one for believers only, that’s not open for compromise.

Acts 2:41: “Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.”

Verse 47 of the same chapter:

Acts 2:47: “Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”

Who was added to the church? Those who were saved.

In Acts 8:36, the Ethiopian man asked Phillip if he could be baptized:

Acts 8:37: “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”

Then they both went down in the water, and Philip baptized him.

Number eleven – The autonomy of the local church, that is, that the local church is to be self-governing:

Acts 14:23: “And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.”

“And when they,” – who’s they? the elders of the church. Paul preached to the elders of the church at Ephesus, and he said this:

Acts 20:28: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you,” – who? The elders of the church at Ephesus over all the flock, “over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”

Number twelve – Separation of church and state:

Luke 20:25: “And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s.”

Acts 5:29: “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Separation of the church and state.

The thirteenth item on this list is the priesthood of the believer:

1 Peter 2:9: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

Number fourteen – And then, the personal physical return of Jesus Christ for his church is not up for compromise. Jesus said:

John 14:1: “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.”

John 14:2: “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”

John 14:3: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Luke 1:32: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:”

The first verses, John 14:1-3, Jesus is coming to take his people home. The second one, Luke 1:32, He is coming to establish His kingdom.

Now, these are the core beliefs of Christianity, and these are the core beliefs at West Park Baptist Church. Any preacher you hear on the radio, the television, the Internet, or any other source, or live, in person in a pulpit, or anywhere else you hear, if they do not come to present the Word of God clearly on these issues, you don’t need to be listening to that preacher. You don’t.

Now, they can differ on some other things. I gave you a list of 15 beliefs that matter, that cannot be compromised. You must understand and believe that you have disobeyed the Word of God when you violate these 15 beliefs. These are the fundamentals. This is where the word “fundamental” comes from. You must understand that Jesus paid for our sins on the cross. He was buried, and He rose again the third day. You must understand that He is the Son of God, and He came into this world to save sinners like you and me. And you have to understand that He is calling you to put your faith and trust in Him. You call on Him. You trust Him to save you, save your soul, and give you a home in Heaven, and He will do it. How do you know? He said so:

Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Romans 10:10: “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Three verses later:

Romans 10:13: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Now, you are trusting Him as your Savior as I expect most everybody in the room right now has, then you need to grow in your faith. You need to follow Him, and you need to understand the beliefs that matter. If you do that, you follow Him. Be discerning. Don’t let somebody else lead you astray. Don’t let somebody come along with a strange doctrine and give you some line like, “Well, I know you’ve always been taught this, but let me tell you what is…” No.

What does the Bible say? Listen, it’s not what this preacher says, it is what does the Bible say. You stand on the Word of God, and you don’t turn to the right hand or to the left. You stand firm on the Word of God. Don’t compromise, don’t let anybody lead you off on the wrong path. Stand for what’s right. Stand for what’s true because these are the things that count for eternity.

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Let’s pray. Father, thank you so much for your Word. I ask you to help us take it to heart and, Lord, I ask you to help us to believe those things, those truths which you have made self-evident, those things which we find solidly taught in your holy scriptures. And help us, Lord, to be like the Bereans and search the scriptures daily to see whether the things we are taught are true. Forgive us, Lord, if we’ve ever taught anything that isn’t true.

Heads are bowed, and eyes are closed. I don’t think I need to explain the invitation. The altar’s here if you need it. Father, bless now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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