March 18, 2012
INTRODUCTION:
Today we are celebrating God’s Word, the Bible. Our friend from the Gideons has shared with
us the ministry of Gideons International that seeks to put a Bible in the hands
of every person on the planet who wants one.
We’ve also spoken briefly about the work of Bible translation through
groups like Wycliffe Bible Translators who have as their goal, to provide God’s
Word in all of the languages and dialects of every tribe, tongue, and nation on
earth.
But why are these groups so “gung ho” about getting
Bibles to everyone? What’s the big deal
about having a Bible?
TRANSITION:
That’s a fair question, and this morning I want to try
and provide a good answer. Of course, we
who are believers already have an opinion on this subject. I’m not looking at this subject from a purely
objective standpoint because the Bible has already made a profound impact on my
life. I love the Bible and I believe
that it is God’s Book, His revelation of Himself and of His plans for time and
eternity. His Word has been my comfort
and my guide. The Bible has been my
friend and companion. I am incapable
of being objective today because I am a fanatical Bible-lover, Bible-believer,
and Bible-thumper. And I will never
apologize for it. Let me tell you why.
The
words of Jeremiah 15:16 come to my mind, “Your words were found and I ate them [absorbed them,
digested them], and Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my
heart.” That is the
testimony of countless millions who, like me, have learned to love the Word of
God. It is the same thing David was
feeling when he wrote Psalm 19:7-10, “The law of the
LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making
wise the simple.
8
The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the
LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9 The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the
judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether.
10 They are more desirable than
gold, yes, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the drippings of
the honeycomb.”
In
September of 1832 Sir Walter Scott, the famous Scottish historical novelist,
playwright, and poet lay dying. Sir
Walter, a great Christian, said to his
secretary, “Please bring me the book.”
His secretary stood there looking at
the thousands of books in Scott’s library and she came back in and said, “Dr.
Scott, which book?” He said, “The book, the Bible, the only
book for a dying man.” And I
would have to add that the Bible is not just the only book for a dying man,
but it is also the only book for a living man, because it is the Word of
Life as well as our Hope in Death.
This
is going to be a 2-part message. Next
week my goal will be to explain some things that God’s Word will do for you if
you will study it faithfully. That’s the
pragmatic part. That’s next
Sunday. But before we get into that
subject I need to lay some groundwork.
Today, to prepare us for that, I want us to take the next few moments to
explore why the Bible is so powerful, why it is unlike any other book ever
written, and why we should study it.
MAIN BODY:
First
of all, I need to state from the very beginning that I’m approaching this
subject from the standpoint that the Bible, the Scriptures including the 39
Books of the Old Testament and the 27 Books of the New Testament, are the Word of God. It is not man’s opinion, it is not human
philosophy, it is not just somebody’s ideas, it is not a polling of the best
thoughts of the best men, but it is the Living and Abiding Word of God. That’s our jumping off place for this
study. And as such, there are several things
we need to realize about the Bible and about why we should study it.
There
are seven characteristics of the Scriptures that I want to share with you this
morning.
#1. God’s Word is Infallible
That just means the Bible has no mistakes in it. In it’s original autographs it is without
error. In Psalm 19:7, which I read to
you a moment ago, the Bible says of itself, “The law of the Lord is perfect.” That means it is flawless; in fact, it has
to be flawless because it was authored by God who is flawless. If God wrote the Bible, and if God is the
ultimate authority, and if God is flawless in His character, then it follows
logically that the Bible is flawless and the Bible is the ultimate
authority. You see, the fact that God is
perfect demands that the original autograph, the original giving of the Word of
God, must, in and of itself, also be perfect.
So we begin by saying that the Bible is infallible, which is the
first reason to study it, because it is the only book that never makes a
mistake. Everything it says is
the truth.
#2. God’s Word is Inerrant
Not only is the Bible infallible in its totality, but it
is also without error in its parts, down to the smallest details. The word we use to describe this quality is “inerrant.” In Proverbs 30:5-6 we read, “Every word
of God is tested; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
6 Do not add to His words or He
will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar.” Psalm 12:6
puts it this way: “The words of
the LORD are pure words; as silver tried in a furnace on the earth,
refined seven times.” Every word that God utters is tested and
found to be pure and true. Not only is
the Bible in total the infallible Word of God, but also even in the
smallest details, every word is true.
#3. God’s Word is Complete
The Bible is not only infallible and inerrant
but it is complete. There needs
to be nothing added to it. There are
people today who believe we need to add to the Bible but they are what I like
to call “wrong.” They say that the Bible
is just an old, outdated record of peoples’ spiritual experiences from
centuries ago. They say that we need to
update it to reflect modern man’s more enlightened spiritual understanding of
things. In fact, many of them say that
the Bible is still being written.
They say that when someone stands up in church and says, “The Lord spoke to me and said
such-‘n-such…” they are equally inspired with Isaiah and Jeremiah or any of
the other prophets. In other words, they
claim that the Bible is not complete.
However, at the end of the last book of the Bible, the Book of
Revelation, we read these words in 22:18-19, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of
the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the
plagues which are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from
the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.” I believe it’s significant that the Bible
ends with a warning not to take away anything and not to add anything. That’s a testimony of its completeness. It is infallible in its total, it is inerrant
in its parts, and it is complete.
But there’s more.
#4. God’s Word is Authoritative
If it is perfect and
complete then it is the last word.
It is the final authority. One of
the greatest musical compositions ever written was Handel’s “Messiah,” and one
of the loveliest oratorios of that magnificent opus was based on Isaiah 40:1-5,
which says, “Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God. 2
“Speak kindly to Jerusalem;
and call out to her, that her warfare has ended, that her iniquity has been
removed, that she has received of the LORD’S hand double for all her sins.” 3
A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; make smooth
in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill
be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a
broad valley;
5 then
the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the
LORD has spoken.” “For
the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” When
God speaks, everybody listens because His is the final authority. This same passage in Isaiah 40 drives this
point home in verses 7-8: “The grass
withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely
the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower
fades, but the Word of our God stands forever.” The
Word of God will be around long after everything else is gone. Moreover, the Bible demands obedience. It is not a book for discussion, and by that
I don’t mean that we shouldn’t discuss its implications, applications, and
meanings, I mean that we shouldn’t discuss whether or not it is true. It is authoritative, and it affirms
for itself that it is true and calls upon us just to believe it.
In John chapter 8 you
have the little incident where Jesus is confronted by some of the Jewish
leaders, and as Jesus faces these leaders there’s a little dialogue going on,
and there of course are other people there and it says in the text, “As He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.” No doubt some of them were leaders, but Jesus said
to them in verse 31, “If you abide in My Word, then you are truly disciples
of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” In other words, He demanded a positive response
to His truth; He demanded a response to His Word. That’s because it is authoritative. In Galatians 3:10, Paul quoting the prophet
Habakkuk said: “Cursed
is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law, to
perform them [to do them].” Amazing! Cursed is anyone who does not continue in
everything that is written in this book.
That’s a tremendous claim to absolute authority. And one more passage… In James 2:9-10 we read
this: “But if
you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as
transgressors. 10 For whoever
keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” In other
words, to violate the Bible at even one point is to break God’s law. It is authoritative in every part. So we have seen that God’s Word is infallible,
inerrant, complete, and authoritative but we ought to add yet
another word, and this is truly a great word.
#5. God’s Word is Sufficient
For whatever it is in the heart of a man that is
necessary the Bible is sufficient.
In II Timothy 3:15 there is a great message from Paul to Timothy: “…and that from
childhood you have known the Sacred Writings [i.e. Scriptures] which are able
to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in
Christ Jesus.” First of all then, God’s Word is
sufficient for salvation. The Bible is
able to make you wise unto salvation.
Ask yourself this question: “What is more important than salvation?” Nothing!
The greatest wisdom in the universe and the Bible is that which leads to
salvation. But there’s more, verse 16 goes
on to say: “All
scripture is inspired by God and profitable” now watch this... “for doctrine,”
that’s teaching, principles of wisdom, divine standards, divine truths; “for reproof,”
that means you’re able to go to somebody and say, “Hey brother, you’re out of
line, you can’t behave like that. There’s
a standard and you’re not making it with that standard.” That’s reproof. But God’s Word is also profitable “for correction.” That says to that person you’ve just reproved,
“Don’t do that, do this; this is the right path over here.” So through the Word you teach, you reprove, and
you show a corrected way. And further,
God’s Word is profitable, “for training in righteousness.” Now you point out the new way and, show them
how to walk in it, step by step toward Christian maturity.
I’m telling you, the Bible is a fantastic book! It can take somebody who doesn’t know God, who
isn’t saved, and save them. And
then it can teach them, and then it can reprove them when they do wrong. But it doesn’t stop there. It will point them to the right thing to do,
and then show them how to walk in that right path. And then the result is in verse 17: “That the man of
God may be adequate [complete, talking about character], equipped
[talking about life-skills] for every good work.” The incredible reality of the Bible is that it is
sufficient to do the whole job! It is
one product that does everything. The
Bible is infallible, inerrant, complete, authoritative
and sufficient. But that’s not
all. Let me give you two more
qualities that it has.
#6. God’s Word is Effective
Listen to the words of
Isaiah 55:11, “So
will My Word be…” says the LORD, meaning, this is the way My Word is
going to work. “So
will My word be… which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me
empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in
the matter for which I sent it.” Isn’t that great? God’s Word is effective. I can tell you that one of the incredible
things about being a preacher of the Word of God is that I know with certainty
that it will always do what it says it will do.
Years ago I tried my hand at door-to-door sales work
but I wasn’t very good at it. I found
that it is hard to sell a product in which you do not have total
confidence. But that’s never a problem
with the Bible, because it is always effective, it always does exactly
what it says it will do. That’s a tremendous
reality about the Scriptures! In I
Thessalonians 1:5 Paul comments on the effectiveness of God’s Word in the lives
of the Thessalonian believers: “For our Gospel did not come to you in word only, but
also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction;
just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” He’s reminding them that when they first
heard God’s Word they knew immediately that it wasn’t just words. That’s because when the Word goes forth it
has power; it has the Holy Spirit and, you can have the assurance it will do
what it says!
So what have we said up to this point? That the Word of God is infallible in
total, inerrant in its parts, complete so that nothing is to be deleted
from it or added to it, authoritative so that whatever it says is
absolutely true and commands our obedience, sufficient so that it is
able to do to us and for us everything we need, and effective meaning it
will do exactly what it says it will do.
But I have one more to add.
#7. God’s Word is Determinative
This last one is a little bit harder to explain. What I mean by “determinative” is that
how you respond to the Word of God is the determiner not only of your life here
and now, but also of your eternity. In
John 8:47 we hear Jesus say, “He who is of
God hears the words of God.” Did
you get that? “He
who is of God hears the words of God.” Notice that it’s in the plural there. Then Jesus goes on to say, “For this reason you do not hear them, because you are
not of God.” In other words,
God’s Word is a determiner of whether an individual is of God, or not of
God, based on whether they truly give heed to the Word of God.
In I Corinthians
2:9-14 Paul explains that there are two kinds of people: Christians, who can
understand and receive the things of God, and, “Natural People,” meaning
unbelievers, who cannot understand and receive the things of God. What makes the difference? Those who know Christ have the Spirit of God
living in them and it is the Holy Spirit that opens our mind to God’s Word.
You’ve probably spoken with people who readily admit
that they don’t understand the Bible so they never even attempt to read
it. That’s because an unbeliever finds
the Bible to be a closed book, impossible to really understand. That’s because they lack the one thing
necessary to unlock it—the life of God in their soul evidenced by the presence
of the Holy Spirit. So, the Word of God is
just a book of poetry, pretty sayings, and interesting yet irrelevant old
stories. To us who know God, on the
other hand, it is Living, and Powerful, and Life-giving, and Glorious. That’s because it is infallible, inerrant,
complete, authoritative, sufficient, effective and determinative.
CONCLUSION:
So what can I say in conclusion? God’s Word, the Bible is a marvelous gift from
God himself. In the words of Hebrews
4:12 it is “living
and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the
division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the
thoughts and intentions of the heart.” It contains the words of eternal life, and if
you read it, and study it, and believe it, it will make you “wise unto
salvation.”
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