God’s Word over us is the final authority. God’s Word under us is the foundation of promises. For either of these to be effective, we must have God’s Word in us. The Reformation exploded out of a desert of biblical truth. The people were starving for the gospel and God’s Word. That’s why translating the Bible into languages the common people could read was so huge. People literally gave their lives to have a Bible in their language.

Scripture Over Us (We Submit to Scripture)

This is the issue of authority; the foundational issue of the Reformation. The word “submit” here is good, but I think it must be much more than merely submission.

“Thus says the Lord: 
   “Heaven is my throne, 
and the earth is my footstool; 
   what is the house that you would build for me, 
and what is the place of my rest? 
All these things my hand has made, 
and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. 
   But this is the one to whom I will look: 
he who is humble and contrite in spirit 
and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV)

God is glorious. Heaven is his footstool. Yet, the kind of person God gives his loving attention to is one who trembles at his Word. “Tremble.” Why “tremble”? Why not read the Bible like the newspaper? Because “the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8) Or we could put it this way, The New York Times withers and Oprah’s Book Club will fade away. One million books are published every year. The Library of Congress has 16 million books. It is the storehouse of all the wisdom of man down through the ages. All of it will wither, fade, and burn. But the smallest thing God has said will last forever.

Our trembling is a loving, treasuring, trembling. “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97) This whole Psalm 119 is a long love song about Scripture. Ten times it uses the word “delight.” It is more delightful than other things we delight in, like sweets (honey), or money (thousands of gold and silver pieces).

Let’s be honest, aren’t we often giving Scripture less attention than “tremble” and “love”?“Ambivalent” and “disinterested” might be closer to the truth. I know this because I see how long Bibles with names on them remain in the church lost and found. It’s almost as if these people don’t even realize their Bible is missing.

The real issue is not how or what I think about the Bible, it is how or what I think about God. The more I reverence him, love him, worship him, the more I will treasure his Word.

Luther said, “The truth of Scripture comes first. After that is accepted one may determine whether the words of men can be accepted as true.”

What do you do when you get your mail? We look at who the mail is from. Mail that comes from people we don’t care about we call what? Junk mail. We much prefer personal mail. Especially from someone we care about. If it’s from a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, or wife, we may save that for the last one to open. Read it. Re-read it. Read it again. We may keep that card, put it on the fridge, put it by our nightstand. We don’t want to throw it away. Why? Not because of what it says but who it’s from.

If treasuring Scripture is a struggle, ask yourself, have I downgraded God? Ask God for a fresh heart vision of his glory, goodness, power, love, mercy, kindness, and grace. Treasure Scripture over us.

Scripture Under Us (We Stand on Scripture)

Martin Luther stood before a council (The Diet of Worms) requiring him to recant of his teachings and writings. He refuses to recant and concludes with these words, “Here I stand. I cannot do otherwise.” “Here I stand.” What did he mean? He meant that Sola Scriptura was not merely Scripture over him but also under him; under him as the foundation of his faith and hope. “Here I stand.”

“Stand” means trust. Trust what? Trust that God’s Word will prove to be true. Trust in the promises of God. This is a huge blessing to us because so much of what God has said are promises from God to us.

• “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
•  “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6)

We have these and hundreds of other promises. We show that Scripture is our foundation when we take God at his Word and apply his promises to the difficulties of life.

I know for me over the years God has used different passages at certain times in my life right when I needed it. It gave me perspective. It sustained me. It got me through. I’m sure you could testify to the same.

Jesus said some people build their lives on sand, but others on the rock of God’s truth. Which are you? Of course, it is times of difficulty where our real foundation is revealed. Like buildings in these hurricanes. You don’t know which ones are wobbly till the winds and rain come. Maybe you are in a hurricane time right now. Everything feels shaky. You are fainting. You are weak. Do you actually believe the promises of God for his presence and provision?

Here’s some Bethel Church history. When we built the auditorium 18 years ago, we placed under the pulpit three things before they sealed it with concrete: a Greek New Testament, an English Bible, and a hymnal. Dr. Joe Stowell II, the first pastor of our church, was invited to our grand opening. We shared that we had buried a Bible under the pulpit. He was in his early 90s but when he came to the pulpit, he looked down, and he said, “It’s good to be standing on the promises.” Indeed. Here we stand. We cannot do otherwise.

Scripture in Us (We Meditate on Scripture)

Scripture Through Us (We Live Out Scripture)

Read More