That Word Above All Earthly Powers
That Word above all earthly powers
no thanks to them abideth;
the Spirit and the gifts are ours
through him who with us sideth.
Let goods and kindred go,
this mortal life also;
the body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still;
his kingdom is forever!
-Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” 1529ad
The above is the last verse of a hymn by the reformer Martin Luther. If you want to hear a good modern arrangement of this nearly 500 year old hymn check out THIS ONE (sadly they omit the verse quoted above). In it Luther refers to “the Word.” The way of Jesus is one in which we look solely to the Bible or The Word as our authority. As the hymn points out the Bible is often attacked or undermined. It is a dangerous book indeed! It has changed more lives than any other book in print (and there are more in print than any other book!). With these things in mind, we want to bring some clarity and confidence to our congregation about the power of our Bible. We’ll be taking the month of August 2023 to do just that. We’ll explore the Sufficiency, Clarity, Authority, and Necessity of the Bible (easily memorized by the acronym “SCAN”). The Kingdom of Jesus is forever the hymn tells us and so are his words:
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
-Matthew 24:35
Sufficiency
(2 Peter 1:15-21, August 6 2023, 41 Minutes)
Clarity
(Acts 17:1-15, August 13 2023, 35 Minutes)