The Authority Of God's Word by Apostle Emmanuel Iren: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

The final authority of the scriptures

Every believer is expected to have a biblical worldview. It means the word of God becomes the lens through which you see the world

It is not just about going to church, being part of a service group or even giving regularly

Psalm 119:105

Don't be found speaking like those who say "let's put the Bible aside". The word is your perspective and the lens through which you have safe passage in life

Romans 3:4

It must become known by everyone who knows you

Phrase from the early days: God said it, I believe it, and that settles it. The word of God must end every argument on any position or any topic at all

The doctrine of the final authority of the scripture: the belief that the Bible alone is the ultimate and supreme authority in all matters of faith, doctrine and practice

The Protestants call it Sola Scriptura. It is Latin for scripture alone

An iconoclastic age

A lot of people are revolting against the word of God. We are in an iconoclastic age

Iconoclastic: a person or an idea that attacks or rejects established beliefs, traditions or institutions, especially religious or cultural icons

Illustration: the barricade

On a high-rise balcony there is a barricade. You can see it as a protection or as a restriction. It is not a restriction, it is a protection

Those who see the word of God as a restriction ask why the Bible says what it says on marriage Hebrews 13:4.

If what I feel is legitimate, why can't I go by what I feel?

The Bible says sex is a covenant relationship made for marriage alone. Culture says obey your thirst, go with how you feel, there is such a thing as casual sex.

The Bible says there is no such thing. Sex is never casual

When culture speaks on finance and bloodlines and the Bible doubles down on integrity, there is the temptation to see the word of God as a restriction instead of the protection it is

I can tell you with all confidence, every culture that disregards biblical principles will self-destruct. They may reject the Bible, but if they reject God's principles it will self-destruct

The leading atheist of this generation wrote a best-selling book, The God Delusion, to prove to believers that they are deceiving themselves and there is no God. He has raised many disciples

Even he, seeing the extremes of far left ideology in the US, came on air to say he prefers a Christian society.

He is not a Christian, but he believes a society built on Christian values is better

Real tweets: "I send my kids to Christian schools and I am an atheist. In my opinion the indoctrination at public schools is far more dangerous"

Yes, they are going to teach the existence of deity. But is that really harmful?

Another: "I am an atheist, but I also support Christianity and even send my children to a private Christian school.

Studying sociology has given me an understanding of the importance of the teachings of Christianity to civilization as a whole. I don't mock believers. I respect their faith"

A culture that tells you to cast off virtuous restraints and do as you will soon discovers the consequences in a very harmful way. By then it might be too late

Why politics in America ended up the way it is: even people who didn't like the current president put their bias aside and voted for him because they saw where the far left was going.

Even liberals said "you are taking this too far"

People started coming out saying "I identify as a cat". I'm not joking

There was a billionaire who was indifferent about these things until he sent his son to school and the boy came back with his sex changed without his permission

Many people in their adolescence now testify "I was young, I was naive, but unfortunately I can't take it back"

The illusion of freedom is a deception. You are not free to do whatever you like. It is a lie of the enemy. There will be consequences. A life devoid of principles will self-destruct

People who just drink and smoke look free and you look like you are not. See them when they are trapped.

Those who thought it was freedom to drink alcohol and are now hooked and addicted. If you are so free, stop

Some of these things are just branding. Someone drinking four cans of soft drink, you say that's too much. Someone who downs three bottles of beer is a real man. Which one has more sugar?

Which is more damaging scientifically?

Secular scientists, not Christians, have come to say there is no advantage to drinking alcohol. None whatsoever. No net positive. Red wine being good for you is a lie

If it doesn't make sense medically, if it has damaged people's finances and broken marriages, who is telling you it's cool?

Many times the people who discover that God was right find it is too late

I saw on social media a lady playfully biting her husband's ear and someone commented "God, give me another chance. I had someone that loved me like this and I was a fool"

There is a way you would take marriage advice online. There was a trend where people put up statuses saying don't mind all these husbands, we are happy in our own house.

Such people lead you astray

Go with the word. The word of God can be trusted

Unity of the faith

Jesus prayed for unity John 17:20 to John 17:21

We want unity for the church. The truth is nobody wants to be the one pointing out what others are getting wrong. Nobody has time for that

Paul also preached God's will for unity Ephesians 4:11 to Ephesians 4:13

Imagine you could go to any nation, enter any church and worship, the standards so reliable. One of us traveled to Texas and found out you can't just attend a church.

Someone inside must recommend you

God wants unity of the faith, but not at any cost. A lot of people stop at that verse. Look at the next verse Ephesians 4:14

A lot of people think that to accomplish unity of the faith we have to look away from the errors of some ministries. That is not how you get unity.

You get unity by refusing to endorse and accept it

Some think unity is to embrace all teachings no matter what. As long as you are a church, don't bother about the nitty-gritty of doctrine, let's hold hands and sing kumbaya

A lot of people think it is honor and love to look away from the excesses of certain doctrinal positions. Paul says it is immaturity. It is what spiritual children do

What many people think is proof of love is proof of immaturity. If you are still tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, you are immature, a spiritual babe.

You have grown up when you are no longer tossed to and fro

So what is unity? The Greek word is better expressed as unanimity. Unanimity of the faith. Paul says speak the same thing 1 Corinthians 1:10

When we all speak the same truth, that is the unity. It is not that we gather in the same hall and hold hands. The unity is that we agree

The Bible does not teach unity in spite of conviction. It is unity of conviction.

We unanimously believe that Jesus Christ is God who took on flesh, dwelt among us, died on the cross for our sins, rose for our justification, and when we place our faith in him we are saved

There are tenets of the faith too sensitive and too integral for us to be indifferent about

Questions to ask yourself

Are you still a child? Are you still tossed to and fro? Do you just swallow everything you are taught? Do you vet it according to the word?

Trickery of men and cunning craftiness

One reason a lot of false teachers get away with falsehood is that we assume they are sincerely wrong.

The Bible lets you know there were and are men deliberately trying to trick you Ephesians 4:14

Some hold on to a doctrinal position so they can get more money out of your pocket. They know it is a lie.

Others hold on because of the power and authority the position gives them

The more serious one is craftiness. The same Greek word is used in 2 Corinthians 11:3, where the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness

Every false teacher is the devil's opportunity to influence your mind.

We have a very limited understanding of how the devil moves. We think all he wants is to attack your health, finances and future.

The Bible says the devil appears as an angel of light 2 Corinthians 11:14

He will appear to be on your side, giving good advice that is perverted, giving scriptures that are perverted. He quotes scriptures Matthew 4

It is Satan's method to twist the scriptures. Did God say you cannot eat of any tree of the garden? You shall not surely die. That is interpretation.

That is what he did in Genesis 3

That is what he tried with Jesus in Matthew 4, twisting the scripture to get him to jump from the pinnacle of the temple

The devil uses people. There is a reason Jesus could look at Peter and call him Satan Matthew 16:23

You don't only see Satan with a conspicuous red horn. You see him where there is manipulation of scriptures, wrestling scriptures to say what God did not intend

Are there people who are sincerely wrong? Yes. Some take it to the extreme, so vile. A lot of Christians, the more they grow in doctrine, the worse they become in behavior.

That is not what I am advocating

What I am saying is: you must honor the word of God above any position, above anybody.

No matter how old, respected and established the preacher is, the word of God is senior to all of us

If the person loves Jesus, he will not have a problem with this statement. Every knee will bow to the integrity of God's word and to the name of Christ

Truth at all cost

Martin Luther: Peace if possible, truth at all cost

The reason it has been hard for some simple truths to be established is sentiments. We dance around sentiments. We can't just say "the Bible does not teach this, this is not right"

To honor the word of God we must make sure the mouth of truth is not stopped. Paul preached about a certain false preacher whose mouth must be stopped, meaning silenced Titus 1:11

It takes audacity. It takes teaching the truth consistently and constantly in this church

We believe in generosity. There is no need to threaten believers that if you don't give the devourer will devour you

When I first preached this, in 2014 I think, one lady said she would not come to this church again. I asked, are you so determined to be devoured?

I told you no devourer will devour you and you are angry. Is that not good news?

Give cheerfully. Give freely. Give consistently. Just teach that. I began to teach that before it was even a conversation in the body of Christ in this nation

Let him be accursed

Galatians 1:8 to Galatians 1:9

Paul put himself there: even if we. He is not trying to other people. Let him be accursed means recognize him as not part of us

There are matters too trivial to split over. But there are some you don't joke with

I did a video reaching out to Muslims, explaining the deity of Christ. Some Christians commented saying Jesus is not God. Until we get back to proper doctrinal teaching, make no mistake

It is easy to blame pastors for churches not teaching doctrine. The biblical position is that it is your fault, or our fault

2 Timothy 4:3

The reason false teachers exist is that there are false Christians who can't endure sound doctrine. Some say you pray too much or the message is too deep. You want vibes

People have used vibes and mistakenly entered a cult. In the name of revelation they say next week everybody bring fish.

You ate it, started swimming in your dream, and woke up with your leg crossed on the wall

Paul puts himself under the authority of the scriptures also. That is the humbling thing: even if we

Jesus honored the written word

Look at the temptation of Jesus Matthew 4. How did he respond to every temptation? It is written. It is written. It is written

This is the word made flesh, and he honored the written word

Illustration: the road to Emmaus

Luke 24:27

The men on the way to Emmaus were talking to Jesus about Jesus. They didn't know it was Jesus. Jesus did not just say "Hey, look, it's me"

Moses means the books written by Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy). All the prophets means the Old Testament

He didn't say "see, I'm alive, touch". He first showed them in the word. As he showed them in the word their hearts began to burn Luke 24:32

When he went to their house and broke bread with them, their eyes were opened and they knew him Luke 24:30 to Luke 24:31

This is a spiritual pattern. God wants you to see him in his word first before you have any encounter with him.

Only those who first believe Jesus in his word will eventually see him. That is the pattern in a generation that exalts experiences

Some pray "Lord, I want to see men as trees, I want to encounter you" Mark 8:24. Encounter him in his word

Honor that word above experience. It doesn't matter if it is a 3D, 4D, 5D vision. If what you saw contradicts the word of God, discard it. Throw it in the bin instantly.

This way you protect yourself from satanic manipulations

Let every other name fade away. Let every experience bow to the word of God

They have Moses and the prophets

Luke 16:19 to Luke 16:31

This was a true life story that Jesus told. I know because he mentioned real people. Abraham. If it was a parable he wouldn't say he went to Abraham's bosom. It happened

The rich man in Hades made two requests. First, that Lazarus dip his hand in water so a drop can fall on his mouth.

The answer was that there is a large gulf separating where you are and where we are

Second, that someone be sent from there to warn his brothers so they won't come to that place. Jesus said they have Moses and the prophets, meaning they have the Bible

Many people want supernatural encounters, someone who will come and say "I've been to hell, it is a very bad place, make sure you don't go there." That is not God's preference

When it comes to understanding eternity, the word of God is the final authority in a sensational generation

That is why a lot of people lie. One young boy said he had an accident at five and went to heaven.

He said he sat in front of the angels and asked them to sing for him, and he told them to sing "We Will Rock You". Liar.

People who read the Bible will know it is a lie

Someone said he saw Jesus in a vision and saw the hole from the nail in his palm. Jesus could not have been hung on the cross by the palm.

It had to be the wrist. His body weight would tear it down

After the family had made millions writing books and doing a movie, the boy repented. He said he didn't see anything and didn't go to any heaven. He planned it with his parents.

And where is all the money?

There are those who were told that before they pray they must first buy a list of items. The next time someone asks you to bring a list, ask him questions

Romans 3:4

Is the Bible corrupted?

Another move the devil tries is to discredit the word of God. They tell you the word has changed, that the Bible you have is corrupted

A man came up with a lot of conspiracy theories. The Bible has been changed, corrupted. He had millions of subscribers and deceived many people

We have a lot of Christians who can't defend elementary truths. It is not their fault. You can't defend what you were not taught

His argument was that according to the Sinai Bible, Jesus was never crucified, which if true would mean Christianity is false

A Christian scholar and historian, Wes Huff, who works with early Greek and Coptic manuscripts, asked if he meant Codex Sinaiticus.

It is a 4th century Greek manuscript, from about 325 to 350 AD, and its text of the gospels reads almost identical to the modern Greek text we translate from

He can go to the end of Matthew 27 in Codex Sinaiticus and Jesus is being crucified there. The man then said he misquoted, he meant the Gospel of Barnabas.

That is a known forgery with no indication of knowing first century Jewish understanding

Many people would have watched that and said "I'm not really sure about this Christianity thing"

Christianity has too many enemies to not have been debunked by now. If it was false, if there was something they could find, they would have found it

Go and read about the Dead Sea Scrolls. They kept saying that if we find more ancient manuscripts we will discover that what we have is corrupted.

They found an exact replica of the book of Isaiah and several other books

The final say

Make the word of God the final say in your life. Final say over your health, over your finances, and most importantly in matters of faith. Jehovah has the final say

Psalm 33:6, Hebrews 1:3

Jude 1:3

Contend

The message will not die in your day. Fraudsters will not parade themselves as Bible scholars in your day. Not on your watch

Some say the gospel, the younger generation is not interested. Look at this church. Don't allow the enemy to lie to you

Church hurt

No matter the falsehood you see in churches and the church hurt you have experienced, hear this. Thousands of flights take off every day and land successfully.

You don't hear about them because bad news sells. The one out of thousands that crashes makes the rounds

It is true of pastors. I know many thousands of faithful pastors who have not bowed. It is not celebrated because the one that had an issue is what everybody blows up.

There are still good churches and good pastors out there

Illustration: the keyboard

Someone who had never learned to play the keyboard came forward and played "Great Is Thy Faithfulness". It did not sound good

Is anything wrong with the keyboard? Is anything wrong with the song? The issue is who is playing it

Then someone who can play handled the same keyboard and the same song. Same keyboard, same song

Something powerful can be handled by someone who doesn't have the skill. If you are not careful you will think the issue is the song or the instrument. It was the person handling it

In the same way someone unfaithful will use the sword of the word of God to wound you. The problem is the handler

If you've been hurt in church, don't ditch church. It was the person handling it. The word of God is still the final authority

• Father, we honor you. We love you. Thank you
• Thank you for the authority of your word
• Your word is final in my life