How Scripture Authorizes

Introduction

When Sherry and I were in Florence, Alabama this past week, and I was preaching for the Helton Drive Church there, we were staying with Mel and Cindy Ambrose. I had known them for several years because of my time in Auburn. Their son Mel Ambrose III attended school in Auburn, and so I got to know him and his mom and dad. And so we were staying with them while we were there, and the lessons that I am preaching today on the subject of authority are the result of my discussions with Mel, older Mel, one of the elders of the church there at Helton Drive. We were talking about the importance of this subject, and that generation after generation needs to be reminded of these important things. Of course, we understand God possesses all authority.

And we would do well to remember, as Terry Slack reminded us a couple of weeks ago, that today, as his people, we have come into the audience of one. We have brought our attention and our worship, our prayers, our singing to the very throne of God, the living God, in three persons, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And all of what we do in this place is to honor him and to be directed to him. We know this about our God as we see in Jesus Christ that all authority had been given unto him in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28 and verse 18. That he, according to Colossians chapter 1, by him all things were created, both in heaven and on earth. All things have been created by him and for him, and in him all things hold together.

He possesses a name that is above every name. Philippians 2 and verse 9. And so we are sustained by God’s power. In him we live and move and have our very being. He gives life and breath to all things. Acts 17, verses 25 through 28. God has disclosed himself to us in two ways. He has disclosed himself to us in the nature that he has created. And both of these things are recorded in Psalm 19. The heavens are telling of the glory of God. And their expanse is declaring the work of his hands. Romans chapter 1 emphasizes that by the things created we can know that there is a masterful designer, that there is a creator that has given life to all things. He has not only disclosed himself to us by nature, but this psalm further indicates that he has disclosed himself to us in a special way, that is by revelation.

The song that we sing. I didn’t get together with Sean ahead of time about this, which is really amazing and also scary that Sean and I think so much alike. Scares me anyway. 439. The law of the Lord is perfect. That’s right out of Psalm 19, beginning in verse 7. The other way in which God has disclosed himself. There’s natural revelation. There’s special revelation. And it’s this special revelation, the book of God, that we have in our hands that I want to speak to you about this morning in regard to God’s authority. And the proper way to appreciate and to comply with his authoritative instruction. Now, I want you to look at this line that I’ve drawn, and I want you to tell me how long it is.

How long is that line? Well, we’ve got a 60-inch television, and that’s about. And well, I’m 30 inches. Just throwing it out there. I feel like it’s 30 inches. How do you feel? Is that what’s going to determine how long that line is? Or shall we appeal to a standard to determine its precise length, whether it be in inches or millimeters, or whatever other standard of measurement you might use to determine the length of this line. We need to approach God’s special revelation in the right way. As it serves as a standard of authority in our lives because it issues from the most powerful being that exists who has no rival, who has given us this instruction by which to live.

That no man, and that rules out every single man on the planet who has ever lived or who will ever live. No man made up the rules for understanding authoritative communication. Now, I’m going to give some labels to some things. I’m going to give you some labels, some terms that are actually not even found in the Bible, but they are terms that are used to describe what is already there in God’s authoritative communication. And the reason why that’s important to explain is that when you bring this up to some people, they’re saying, you’re making up rules that God doesn’t have. Those terms are not even found in the Bible. They are just terms given to describe what is already there. And there’s another term for that.

It is axiomatic. They are axiomatic. They are inherent within communication. Somebody says, Well, why do we need to do that? Why do we need to assign terms to it? Well, I hope people understand. Well, why do we need to do that? Because people innovate, people tamper, people don’t submit to the standard of God’s authority, so then you have to try to explain it because of the evil that men propose. None of this that I’m teaching you this morning would be necessary if everyone would simply humble themselves and respond appropriately to an all powerful God. These things become necessary because people divert from the truth and do not submit themselves humbly to the will of God. And so what we’re talking about as we talk about authoritative communication is the fingerprints that God places in this special revelation that helps us to better understand.

1. Generic and Specific Authority

Two important things as we begin. There are two kinds of authority. Now, this is not to be confused with commands, examples, and inferences or necessary inference. Now, we’re going to get to that in a moment. The ways in which we establish biblical authority. I’m talking about all authoritative communication. Whether it be in command, example, or inference. There are two kinds of authority. There is generic authority, and there is specific authority. And whether you can presently state the difference between the two or define either, let me tell you, while these terms are what we have given to what’s already there, you understand generic and specific authority, even if you’ve never heard a lesson on this in your life. If you’ve never heard these terms before, you understand it.

Because again, they’re inherent in communication. They’re there. You can say, I don’t like this, I reject this, but I want to tell you, it’s there. You can’t take it out of God’s word. And I want to illustrate this with you this morning. If Logan Wiggington would be coming up here and stand by my little table here, I’m going to illustrate this. Logan understands this. He’s an obedient child. I used to do this with bread. He’s too old. He’s gone. But Logan is going to help me out, and he’s going to demonstrate generic and specific authority. Now, Logan, the first thing I want you to do is I want you to hand me any item from that table. Okay. So we’ve chosen the white book. And we’re going to go by colors here.

This is the white book. He was obedient. I gave him choices, generic possibilities that he could choose anything, but it was specific in that it had to be from this table. He couldn’t hand me the computer or this up here. I mean, it had to be from this table. Now, I want to get more specific. I want you to hand me a book. Okay. So, again, specific, said in contrast to baseballs. Baseballs are not books. But there were three books that he could choose from, and so that was generic, and he chose this particular book. Now, I want you to hand me the blue book. See, he’s so obedient. I knew it. Ten years old. Right? You’re 10? Ten years old. I bet if he was five, he could do this.

See, there, it’s not like Scott and Amy are such good parents, and they’ve been teaching Logan about generic. It comes up at lunch and dinner at home all the time. Generic and specific authority. You want to make sure you get this, son. The preacher, you coached him, didn’t you? No. I just said come up and do what I ask you to do. And so I asked for the blue book. See how specific? The more specific you get, not a baseball, but the blue book. Alright. Now I want you to hand me the Astros signature on a baseball. I want you to hand me that baseball. The one that has the Astros signatures on it. It has the Houston Astros on it. Yeah, it’s that one. Yeah, that’s the one.

All right. Well, you’re done. Thank you, Logan. You were very obedient.

This is the basic way that we communicate in all areas of life. In all areas of life, we are dependent upon these things as we communicate. Let me give you an example. You get a prescription from your doctor. And you take it to the pharmacist. The doctor doesn’t have to tell the pharmacist all the drugs he’s not supposed to give you. Do you know how many drugs there are now? And how big pharmacies have to be? But he tells them the specific drug. And once he tells the pharmacist the specific drug, and he can get in trouble if he gives you another drug, but he gives you the specific drug. He doesn’t say, well, we have 3,000 milligrams of this drug in our office. I’m just going to give you 3,000 milligrams.

No, there’s a specific number that the doctor gives him, 25 milligrams. And so he measures out 25 milligrams. You see, he doesn’t have to tell him all the things he can’t or the amount that he can’t give. He specifies what it is that he wants. All authority has generic and specific elements. The more generic it is, as we illustrated, take an item from the table, the more choices you have. You had five choices when I said, take an item from the table. And Logan did well with that. The more specific I am, the fewer choices that one has. But all authority has both generic and specific elements. Now, let me show you this in the Bible and how this is important. And we’ve perhaps heard this before when somebody has talked about generic and specific authority when God tells Noah, I want you to build an ark, and I want you to use gopher wood.

Not really sure what gopher was. What kind of wood that is today? Do we still even have that kind of wood? But I bet it was pretty good for ark building. And so God tells him, I want you to use gopher wood. And so we see a certain object, wood, as in comparison to some other object that could be chosen to build a boat. And the type is a specific kind of wood that ruled out all the other types. Gopher wood. And you know what Noah did when God gave him this instruction. Okay, how does how does generic and specific authority work? How am I supposed to figure this out what God wants me to do? He didn’t have those terms and labels, but he understood the communication.

I want gopher wood. Now, what size? Gopher wood? Well, God didn’t specify that. You see, that’s generic. Two by four, two by ten, whatever it is, two by twelve, four by six. The size of planking is not specified. In the regard to the offering of the red heifer in Numbers chapter 19 and verse 2, you’re going to have to read the whole context of that to see why God wanted a red heifer. But again, the specific nature of that authority is in terms of color and type. He didn’t say black pig. If you come with a black pig, you are not being obedient. Even a red pig or a black heifer. He said red heifer. Anything else constitutes rebellion and disobedience. Now, one thing he didn’t specify was how old the red heifer had to be.

Red heifer. Two years old, three years old, five years old. That hasn’t been specified. You see, the generic part of that allows choices. Go preach the gospel to all nations. The message is specified. The good news of Jesus Christ. But what about the method? Camel, walking, cars, as I chose last week, or an ampling, as I sometimes choose. The method is not specified. First day of the week, the disciples came together to break bread. Notice how that’s specific in regard to day, the first day of the week, but generic in terms of the time of day. What time on the first day of the week? 10 a.m., 6 p.m. That’s not specified. That’s generic, allowing choices. Unleavened bread in regard to the Lord’s Supper. The type of food.

Leavened bread would not be compliant, would it? And yet, what about the size or the color of the bread? And then finally, in Colossians chapter 3 and verse 16, we’re admonished to sing to one another, and that specifies the kind of music that God wants in our assemblies. And the generic part of that is what about singing in parts? Soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. And so, all authority has generic and specific elements. And here’s what’s important about understanding in terms of this authority that’s inherent in all communication, and that is that generic authority includes expediencies. Doing things the best way to get those things done, the use of songbooks and pitch pipes and those sorts of things are generic authority. It includes expediencies. However, the more specific authority is it excludes substitution.

As we’ve already seen, the black pig would not work for the red heifer in Numbers chapter 19 and verse 2. And so whether you even understood these labels that men have introduced, generic and specific authority, these things don’t originate with men. They are inherent within the communication itself. Specific authority excludes any substitution. Now, so we come to baptism. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Baptize is specific in regard to action. It is generic in regard to location. Is there only a specific location in the world where one can be baptized for the remission of his or her sins? That’s generic. Romans 6 and verse 4. The action of baptism. Baptism is a burial. Sprinkling or pouring does not constitute a burial.

It’s specific as to action. And it’s specific in regard to substance. The Ethiopian eunuch said, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized? Not oil, not Holy Spirit baptism, that’s something else. Not fire, not a baptism of fire, but water is involved in the one baptism of Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 5. Now, understanding this is important because whether we’re talking about commands or examples or inferences, all of them possess these generic and specific elements. Somebody says, well, again, you’re making all of that up. I read a book several years ago, written by F. Lagard Smith, where he proposed a new way of understanding God’s authority and special revelation. He came up with some new terms. He came up with the terms purpose, principle, and precedent.

2. The Bible Teaches Us by Way of Commands

I thought that was cute. I mean, you’ve got P and P. But I’m not sure if it’s ever going to take hold because you haven’t read the book, have you? But again, he’s just trying to put labels on what is already there. And these have worked for other generations. I don’t see, these are the simplest way I know to describe how it works. And let’s start with commands. And this is the love of God that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 1 John chapter 5 and verse 3. When Paul is giving instruction to Timothy, and he talks to him about holiness and godliness and training ourselves in that, he says, prescribe and teach these things. 1 Timothy 4 and verse 11.

3. It Also Teaches Us by Way of Examples

And then perhaps the most commandment laden book of the New Testament is 1 Peter. 1 Peter is noted for the many commands, specific commands in just five chapters. At least in the 30s, the most heavy concentration in chapters 4 and 5 of 1 Peter. And chapter 1. Do not be conformed to the former lusts, which were yours in your ignorance, but be holy in all your behavior as God is holy. And so the Bible teaches us by way of commands, but it also teaches us by way of examples. But all examples are rooted in commands initially. That’s where they come from. But the command may not have been recorded for us, simply the example, and Paul authorizes us in understanding this communication by example. If you look in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, and again, all of these commands, examples, and inferences have generic and specific elements.

As he says, I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church. So Paul’s example is what he encourages them to follow, to be imitators of him as he is of Christ, 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 1. In Philippians 3, in Philippians chapter 3 and verse 17, Paul again talks about this matter of examples when he says, Brethren join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern that you have in us. And then in verse 9 of the next chapter, the things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace shall be with you.

It’s interesting in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, he makes his appeal to the church at Thessalonica on the basis of the example that he had set.

He says, When I was among you, I set an example as one who worked, in verses 7 through 9. And they also withdraw themselves, he says, from every brother who does not follow that example. And we understand God’s desire for the local church in terms of the plurality of elders from the standpoint of example. When Paul issues his instruction to Timothy and Titus about elders and their qualifications, they were to appoint elders in every church. And whenever elders are mentioned in the New Testament, whether it be in Acts 14, 23, or Philippians 1 and verse 1, or 1 Peter chapter 5, they are always spoken of in the plural, or the example of Acts 20, the elders at Ephesus, the elders at Ephesus came and met Paul.

4. The Bible Also Teaches by Implication

And then, well, let me get ahead of myself. I want to talk about inferences for just a second. The Bible also teaches by implication. We must draw conclusions on the basis of inferences that the Scriptures make. The Scriptures imply things, and then we infer what they imply. For example, Jesus argues this with the Sadducees about the resurrection. His answer to them was an answer on the basis of necessary inference. He said, You guys should know that there is a resurrection. That when a person dies, that’s not the end of everything. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And it’s implied in this statement, when he says, I am. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Simple verb tense. He did not say, I was, as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in the past.

He didn’t say, I was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He says, I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And they should have inferred from what that statement implies that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. There’s another one in Acts chapter 11, in regard to the conversion of Coroninius, Peter comes and tells the men in Jerusalem, this is what happened. When I preached to Corneas, the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as like it did on us in the beginning. And what are we to make of what happened? And when they heard this in verse 18, what did they conclude? God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life. And perhaps even a little bit clearer in Hebrews chapter 7.

Hebrews chapter 7, I first heard this from Paul Earnhardt a long time ago. This is fascinating.

The problem a Jew would immediately recognize with this is that Jesus was from the tribe of Judah, not the tribe of Levi. So he has to be a priest of a different kind or a different order. And that’s what the Hebrew writer is talking about. It is after the order of Melchizedek. And he says, interestingly, in Hebrews 7, the reason why he has to be a priest after a different order, look at this. For it is evident, Hebrews 7.14, that our Lord has descended from Judah a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. Jesus could not be a Levitical priest because he was from the tribe of Judah. And God had spoken nothing about priests issuing from the tribe of Judah. And so therefore it must be implied that he is a priest of a different order, after the order of Melchizedek.

5. Not Every Command Involves Our Response to God

Now, one thing we need to understand about these commands, examples, and inferences, so that we can properly approach God’s special revelation is that not every command and not every example, and not every, even every inference necessarily involves our response to God. And context determines this. There were some things commanded just to a specific audience for a specific time. We still have to ask questions when we read the Bible, like who, what, when, where? The way we understand any book that has been written. Who’s the audience? Who does this apply to? Is this meant to be universal for all time? Or is this meant just for that given audience that he spoke to? Illustration. Jesus tells his apostles, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound or shall have been bound in heaven.

That has no relevance to you and me. Because we’re not apostles. That was apostolic authority that he was given to them in a time when God’s word was being given. That wasn’t true for all believers of all time. Another one, these signs will follow those who believe. They will drink deadly poison. Had a sermon on this not long ago. They will take up deadly serpents. They will speak in new tongues. And all the things that are mentioned in Mark 16, these are the signs that will follow them to believe. But this is not all believers of all time. This was for a limited time and for the purpose of confirming God’s message in a time when revelation was still being dispensed. And so you have to understand from the context.

And so somebody comes along and says, you know that covering business in 1 Corinthians chapter 11? Those women are told to wear that. Well, yes, they are. There’s no question Paul is saying, a woman who prays or prophesies without her head covered, that’s a dishonor. But the question is he demanding that particular practice for all women of all time? Or was there something in relation to that culture and a custom and the way femininity was shown in that culture? Is that really the issue there? Some have concluded that it’s not. I’ve concluded that it is for me. Greet one another with a holy kiss. Does he say that the only way that brethren can greet each other is by literally kissing? I’m not sure if that’s such a great idea.

6. We Must Respect the Silence of the Scripture

Is it the nature of the greeting or the greeting that’s being enjoined upon us? Anointing one another with oil. See, you have to ask, what is the context of these statements? Even a context regarding fasting. We have to consider who is that being spoken to? Why did they fast? Do all disciples for all time need to fast? Is it a command? And again, as we saw in Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 14, we must respect the silence of the scripture. Somebody said, Well, God didn’t prohibit that. Well, what did he authorize? He didn’t say, now there can’t be a priest from Judah and Benjamin and Reuben. He said, priests descend from the tribe of Levi. Of the other tribes, he said nothing. Silence. Silence allows nothing.

Conclusion

There is authority, and there is generic and specific aspects to that authority. And if we want to comply to God’s will, that’s really the issue. All of this is just an academic exercise that you will succeed in performing if you have the right heart. Really, this is not hard, is it? This isn’t rocket science. We had a 10-year-old young man come up here and illustrate how authority works. Isn’t it amazing that God communicates to us in this way and that we can communicate with one another in this way? Isn’t this a marvel as we look at how God has created the nature of communication? And that we can communicate so effectively and efficiently with one another. But again, if you’ve never heard of the terms, and I think this is going to help you somewhere down the road, you’re going to be in a discussion with someone about the Bible and what it teaches, and people are going to want to throw these things out the window and act like they don’t exist.

Why do they do that? Because they don’t want to do what God says. They don’t want rules. They want to be the rule maker. And so it’s easy to just set these things aside and ignore them and do whatever you want with the will of God. Make it say whatever you want it to say. But if your mindset is, I want to humble myself before God. I want to do what the Lord instructs me to do. You’ll see this. You’ll honor it. Even if you don’t know the labels that we put on it. It’s already there. I didn’t make this up. This is the nature of this communication. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. That’s not hard. That’s not rocket science. That’s simply God’s appeal to you to remedy your sinful condition.

And if there’s someone in this audience this morning who needs to do that while there’s time and opportunity, as we studied in our adult auditorium class, there comes a time when the patience of God runs out. Seek the Lord while he may be found. We’ll talk more about authority tonight. If anyone needs to respond, come now. Zion calls.