2 Timothy 3:15 – From infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
16- All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
17 – so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Hebrews 4:1 – For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
2 Peter 1:20 – Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.
21 – For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Introduction
If you are a Civil War buff, November 19, 1863 is probably a date that you are familiar with because on that day Abraham Lincoln went to a town about an hour or so north of here, a town called Gettysburg. He made the journey to speak at the dedication of the national cemetery that was being established there in the wake of the crucial battle that had been fought on that ground four months prior.
As I’m sure all of you know, the words Lincoln spoke November 19, 1863 are famous all over the world today. They are much-loved and oft quoted. Most school children memorize them. In fact I’m sure most of us could do a fair job at recalling the content of the very brief speech that Lincoln delivered that day. Even now its words stir our emotions.
Well, in light of the fact that Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is so highly revered today I think it is very interesting to note that the president’s speech was not so highly thought of by many of those who were present to actually hear it on November 19, 1863. This critical attitude is reflected in a review written by the editor of a Harrisburg newspaper who heard Lincoln’s address. He said:
We pass over the silly remarks of the President. For the credit of the nation, we are willing that the veil of oblivion shall be dropped over them and that they shall no more be repeated or thought of.
I share this bit of history trivia because over the years many have reflected that same kind of skepticism toward the words of the Bible. Even today there are people who consider the words that make up this book to be silly, senseless, and irrelevant to today’s living. But in a similar contrast, for believers like you and me, there is no book that has ever been written whose words are so profound, whose truths are so timeless, whose heroes are so inspiring, whose message is so uplifting, as is what we think of as the Book, God’s written word, the Bible. I mean belief in the Bible is at the heart of our faith! It is indeed one of our essential beliefs. And, this morning I want us to remind ourselves why that is so.
As I told you last week, today I want us to refresh our memories as a church when it comes to why-in spite of what many skeptics think or say- why it is that we revere the Bible as we do here at Redland. I want us to remind ourselves why it is that we center our church life around the study of this book.
There are several reasons but I want to cite three.
(1) First, we know that the Bible is inspired.
In other words, it is our conviction that this Book is the Word of God and not man. Many years ago here at Redland when my predecessor returned from his first sabbatical he instituted our customary response to the reading of the sermon text in each worship service. He would read the Scripture and then say, “This is the Word of the Lord.” He taught us to respond, “Thanks be to God.” When I became pastor eight years ago I continued this tradition because in my mind it serves as a weekly reminder of our belief that the words of this book are different from the words that are to follow. These are not just my words, they are God’s words! Now, I know this tradition is not common among Baptists-but again this is one thing that makes Redland unique. We make this a part of our weekly worship here because it reminds us that, “All scripture is God-breathed … none of it originated in the will of man …”
And it is important for us to remember that the entire Bible-beginning with the Old Testament makes this claim. The Scriptures themselves claim to be the word of God. I mean, if you were to sit down and read from Genesis to Malachi you would count over 3,800 times in which phrases like “Thus says the Lord” or “This is the word of the Lord” are used. And while we’re on the subject I would remind you that the writers of the New Testament also repeatedly recorded their belief that the Old Testament was God’s word by directly quoting the Old Testament over 300 times as being the “Word of God”.
In fact, Jesus Himself affirmed the authority of the Old Testament, when He said in John 10:35 “for we know that the Scripture is true forever…” and in Luke 16:17 when He said, “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest detail of the Law to be done away with.”
The Scripture and the Law that Jesus was referring to would have been the books of the Old Testament. The truth is every tenth recorded saying of Jesus is a direct quote of the Old Testament, His favorite source being the book of Deuteronomy.
So the Old Testament claims to be the word of God. And not only does the New Testament affirm this fact, it repeatedly claims to be God’s Word as well. In Galatians 1:11 Paul says that the things he teaches were not from man but were a “revelation of Jesus Christ.” In 1 Timothy Paul refers to the gospel of Luke as being “scripture”. The apostle Peter confirms that Paul’s writings were God’s words by saying in 2 Peter 3:15: “Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.” In Revelation John claims to be writing the word of God at least three times. I could go on and on but suffice it to say that from Genesis to Revelation-from the beginning of this book to the end-the Bible repeatedly states that when we read these pages we are not reading the words of men but instead we are reading the words of God Himself.
But perhaps the greatest witness to the divine origin of this book is the way it was written. The Bible was written over a period of 1500 years in places all the way from Babylon to Rome. It was written by approximately 45 different authors ranging all the way from kings to poets, to prophets, to a physician, to farmers and shepherds, to fishermen, to a tax collector, apostles, a pastor, and other spiritual leaders. Not a one of these men knew that he was writing what would become a part of one book, the Holy Bible, yet when gathered together into the canon of Scripture, they tell a complete story.
I mean, if someone should read the New Testament without a knowledge of the Old they would ask, “What came before this?” If one should read the Old Testament without a knowledge of the New, he would ask, “Where is the rest of this story?” When properly understood no book contradicts the others. No book adds to previously written truth except to enlarge upon it or explain it. The only reasonable explanation for all this is that each of these 66 books have a common Author: God through His Holy Spirit.
I mean, the fact that this group of 45 vastly different people could write the words of this book and produce a book characterized by unparalleled unity is in itself a powerful testimony of the fact that it is God’s word. No group of people could even come close to accomplishing this unless they were inspired by the same Source.
So one reason we revere this book is because we believe it does not just contain the word of God. We believe this is the Word of God. We believe the Bible does not just contain truth. As Jesus said in John 17:17, “Your Word is truth.”
We believe that, as the 1963 edition of the Baptist Faith & Message puts it, the Bible, “…is truth without mixture of error.” And you know, the same Holy Spirit Who inspired the writing down of this truth will sit with you as you read from its inspired pages and help you to understand the wisdom that is there. This is Jesus’ promise. In John 16:13 Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, “…He will guide you into all truth.” And that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You see, when we come to know God through our personal faith in Jesus, we come know the Author of this book and from then on whenever we read from it’s pages, He is there inside us, helping us to comprehend its meaning, showing us things we would miss otherwise.
Way back when I was a youth director, my favorite book on youth ministry was Five Cries of Youth which was written by Merton Strommen. I loved that book! When I first read it as part of a seminary class I thought, “This guy gets it! He understands teens! He comprehends their struggles.” I said this because within the pages of this book Strommen was very accurate in his description of the basic needs of adolescents. In fact, I think it’s still applicable to today’s teens. Well, as I said I studied this little book in seminary. In subsequent years I taught it myself in seminars I led on youth ministry. I even memorized sections of it.
Then in 1987, I attended an advanced youth ministry seminar at Southern Seminary and guess who was one of the guest speakers? Merton Strommen! I was thrilled! I had lunch with that great old gentleman from the hall of youth ministry fame and we talked for a couple hours about his book. And as we did he pointed out things to me that I had never seen before, in spite of the fact that my copy was dog-eared on nearly every page and so highlighted it was hard to read.
Well that’s the way it is with the Bible, only better. I mean, if you are a Christian, you don’t have to travel to some seminar because you have the Author of this book living inside of you! And every time you read from it’s pages, He will guide you to understand it. Just as our Lord promised, “He will guide you into all truth!”
Understand: this is the only book in which the author can make that claim for this is the Word of God, and only our omnipresent God in the form of His Holy Spirit can be inside of all believers all the time, helping each of them to understand the particular text they are reading.
And I don’t want to seem overly pious, but must point out that in my opinion, denying the fact that these are God’s words, denying that this is God’s written teaching, well, it is in essence yielding to the same temptation Satan gave to man in the garden of Eden. Do you remember the serpent’s question? When Eve hesitated to eat and reminded the serpent of God’s rule, he said, “Hath God said this Eve? Is this really His word on the matter?” (Gen. 3:1)
So we do revere this book. We plan our lives around its principles because we believe this is the word of God. Here at Redland it is our conviction that God hath said these things.
(2) A second reason we honor the Bible is because it is believable.
I mean, experience has shown that our faith in this book is well-placed. I say this for three basic reasons.
A. First, contrary to what many have said over the years, the Bible has turned out to be good HISTORY.
To show you what I mean, let me take you through a little exercise developed by Bill Hybels. I’ll give you a few brief examples of historical statements and you tell me if they are good or bad history.
- Number one: World War I was a bitter four-year conflict fought from 1890 to 1894. Good history or bad history? Right-this statement is bad history! Why? What’s wrong? Right! The dates are wrong. World War I was fought between 1914 and 1918. Good history pays attention to dates and gets them right. Bad history doesn’t.
- Second statement: World War II was a bloody conflict between Allied and Axis forces fought on the battlefields of Mexico from 1939 to 1945. Now, are the dates right? Yes, the dates are right. What’s wrong? Right! The place. The geography is wrong. WW II was not fought in Mexico, but rather in Europe, the South Pacific, and a few other places. Good history gets geography right. It pays attention to it.
- Third statement: Margaret Thatcher, premier of the Soviet Union, will always be remembered as the leader who engineered the unraveling of the USSR. Okay “class” why is this third statement bad history? Right! It’s the wrong person. It was Gorbachev, not Thatcher and good history gets the people right.
- Okay, here is one more: Michael Jordan played basketball for over a decade for the Chicago Bulls in the ’80s and ’90s, but his play was rather lackluster. Now, are the dates right? Yes. Is the place right? Yes. You know the person is right. Well, what is wrong? Of course, the essence of the statement is wrong. Michael had more than a little luster, don’t you think? I wish I had just a fraction of his luster!
Well, bad history, among other descriptions, could be defined as any account of an actual event that plays loose with dates, places, people or storylines. And unfortunately there is a lot of bad history out there. For example, every once in a while a new book will pop up and claim that there was no Holocaust in World War II, that the whole thing was made up for propaganda purposes, and when they do people cry out that the history in this book is flawed because we know the dates. We know the people. We know names of murderers and those who were murdered. We know the storyline. None of that can be refuted so anybody who tries to alter the reality of the Holocaust or any other well-documented event in history is going to have a tough go at it because good history will stand up to the challenges that come its way.
All of that is to say that when you study the Bible and you compare it to accepted history, you discover that the events surrounding the teachings of the Bible have all been well established historically. In fact, today, there is wide documentation and corroboration and cross-checking that show the Bible to be not bad history, and not just good history, -hear me on this-the Bible has been proven to be outstanding history. The Bible passes with flying colors when it comes to things like dates, geography, people, and the storylines that it references.
A prime example of this is found in the book of Acts. Remember? One thing I pointed out as we studied that history book of the early church last year is that even secular historians admit that Luke’s history book is amazingly accurate when it came to dates, geography, people, and actual historical events. And Acts is not alone in this. The entire Bible has been found to be good history. In fact, and I must confess a certain prideful pleasure in this but the truth I s many times information in the Bible that secular historians once disputed as fables or mythsturned out to be
For many years, secular scholars scoffed at the notion that Moses could have written the first five books of the Bible. Historians claimed that in the days of Moses, people were preliterate. So they said, “This is an obvious situation where the Bible is bad history.”Many years later, however, archeological digs uncovered tablets, scrolls, and writing instruments that clearly show that a good portion of Moses’ entire culture was literate, in fact, quite intelligent and sophisticated. Researchers discovered that mankind had been writing four hundred years before Moses even came on the scene.
The narratives about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were once considered legendary, but as more has become known these stories are increasingly corroborated. There was also a time when historians said the names of the kings of Israel that the Bible lists were legend at best because there was no proof that these kings ever really lived, much less ruled. But over the years as archeologists have dug and dusted their finds, they have discovered concrete proof of the existence of every one of the forty-seven kings in the exact places the Bible said they had reigned. It turned out to be good history after all!
In fact, there have been thousands of archaeological finds in the Middle East that support the biblical record. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was once thought to be mythological, until evidence was uncovered that these cities were situated just as the Old Testament says. Archaeologist Clifford Wislow writes that he has found, “…permanent evidence of the great conflagration that took place [in Sodom and Gomorrah] in the long distant past.”
Here’s another one. The Bible makes about three dozen references to the Hittites and critics used to charge that there was no evidence that such people ever existed. But in recent years archaeologists digging in modern Turkey have discovered the records of this wicked and long-dead nation. In his best-selling book, The Bible As History Werner Keller writes,
In view of the overwhelming mass of authentic and well-attested evidence now available, .as I thought of the skeptical criticism which from the eighteenth century onward would fain have demolished the Bible altogether, .there kept hammering in my brain this once sentence: “The Bible is right after all.”
I love Keller’s statement! I mean, it’ so exciting to hear that the more we learn about the people and the times that the Bible describes, the more we see how historically accurate this book really is.
And you know, the fact is, we don’t have archeological evidence like this for any other religious book from the ancient world. Now, please understand my spirit in what I’m about to say. I’m not trying to demean or degrade people who follow the Mormon faith, but did you know that the Book of Mormon, which millions of well-intentioned people put their full faith and confidence in, fails the history test flat? It fails so much that when the Smithsonian Institute studied the Book of Mormon they issued an official statement declaring it to be, “devoid of any historical reliability whatsoever.” In other words, when the Book of Mormon mentions a river that existed in the one civilization it describes, well, there is no record of that river or mountain or coinage or city or people group, not one shred of historical evidence that would tether it to reality, not one.
I would be weak in the knees if I were involved in a belief system where the truth source had no tether to historical reality. Wouldn’t you? Well, that’s not our concern with the Bible. The Bible is believable because passes the historicity test with flying colors.
B. We’ve also found the Bible to believable because it contains good science.
Don’t misunderstand me. The Bible is not primarily a book of science but whenever it addresses scientific issues it is absolutely accurate. For decades science and the Bible were thought to contradict each other. I remember my Old Testament professor in seminary talking about this, saying this was not true. He said, “Truth does not contradict truth.” In other words, he taught us that if scientists using their God-given brains discovered something to be true, it would not contradict God’s Word because as I said a few minutes ago, this written word is truth. Well, my professor was correct, and today’s research scientists are discovering this. Those who are genuinely searching for truth they are realizing that God’s Word is truth, even scientific truth.
For example more and more scientists are finally admitting that their research shows that an outside power of some kind was necessary to kick-start the forming of this universe. They are finally admitting that the old equation: space + time + chance = the possibility of the start of the universe, they are admitting that this equation is flawed, that it doesn’t add up! They are admitting that you’d have to wait a long, long time-forever actually-for nothing plus nothing plus nothing to produce anything. Their study, their search for truth, is confirming this.
In fact, in recent years, even some committed atheistic scientists are seeing a possible parallel between the creation story of the Bible and the Big Bang Theory. Some are now saying that at some point maybe, just maybe, something or Someone ignited the activity that resulted in the world taking form. I mean, the creation account is no longer considered as preposterous as it once was.
Another point of agreement between Bible scholars and scientists is that no new matter is being created. As all you science students out there know, the first law of thermodynamics says that the actual amount of energy in the universe stays constant, nothing is being added. And, interestingly enough, the Bible, written thousands of years ago, has always held that position. Genesis 2:2 states that after He completed His creation endeavor, God stopped creating. He rested. He decided not to add anything additional to the equation of creation. So there’s no disagreement between the Bible and science when it comes to the formation of new matter.
Here’s another example. In the Book of Genesis, the Bible says that God formed man from the dust of the ground and, of course, after his death, the Bible says man’s body-not his soul, but his body-is going to return to the dust of the ground. Well, after centuries of speculation about what makes up the human body and some bizarre theories along the way, many modern scientists have come to agree with theologians that the constituent elements of the human body are the same as those elements found in the earth, another example of literal common ground between scientists and biblical scholars.
Here’s one more. Back in Genesis 1:24, the Bible says that living creatures will reproduce after their own kind, and only after their own kind. Of course, for the last 200 years, scientists with an evolutionary bent have been desperately trying to show evidence for any kind of reproduction, some proof that would indicate a gradual evolution from one lower kind of living thing to a higher form of living thing. They’ve looked for proof of change within the species because the whole concept of evolution depends on showing this kind of phenomenon. But listen to what paleontologist, Stephen J. Gould, wrote a few years back:
Species exhibit no directional change during their tenure on earth. They appear in the fossil record looking much the same as when they finally disappear.
And he’s an agnostic scientist!
Do you understand what he is saying? Scientific research is slowly forcing serious students of science to consider adopting the position the Bible has held for thousands of years, that living creatures only reproduce after their own kind-that ole Darwin got it wrong.
Well, I could go on. But my point is that we have found the Bible to be believable because it has been proven to be good science. Not a single scientific discovery has ever contradicted an important biblical fact, which makes sense because these words were inspired by the Creator of this universe.
C. And then another reason we consider the Bible to be believable is because we have found its teachings to be good psychology.
You know, I’m certainly not a psychologist. The classes ministers take to earn a Master of Divinity degree include only minimal training when it comes to psychological counseling.
We should get more because all ministers are called on by people who are going through tough times. People who are afraid or depressed or perplexed-people who need help-come to us. Well, when people come to me for guidance all I know to do is to counsel them out of the wisdom of this Book. I do this because I am thoroughly convinced that the Bible teaches the best psychology available to human beings. I’m not putting down modern psychiatry or the amazing new drug therapies that are available. But I do believe that the wisdom of the Bible is the surest foundation a person can build their one and only life on.
So when people like you come to me and ask for input at critical decision points of life, I don’t look at the writings of the latest guest on a TV talk show; no, I turn to the Scriptures where God has spoken and given His wisdom. I do this because all my life I have seen the wisdom and truth from the Word of God contribute to people’s emotional stability and growth and deepening faith. I turn to this Book because I am convinced it is the best psychology out there-the absolute best. And, I’m not alone. Psychiatrist J. T. Fisher writes,
If you were to take the sum total of all authoritative articles ever written by the most qualified of psychologists and psychiatrists on the subject of mental hygiene, if you were to combine them and refine them and cleave out the excess verbiage, if you were to take the whole of the meat and none of the parsley, .and if you were to have these unadulterated bits of pure scientific knowledge concisely expressed by the most capable of living poets, .you would have an awkward and incomplete summation of the Sermon on the Mount. And it would suffer immeasurably through comparison. For nearly two thousand years the Christian faith has been holding in its hands the complete answer to this world’s restless and fruitless yearnings. Here … rests the blueprint for successful human life with optimism, mental health, and contentment.
And again this makes sense because our Creator inspired the writing of this book and one reason He did is because He intended it to be a sort of handbook for life.
Since I became a Christian 44 years ago, I have tried to live according to the principles of this God-inspired owner’s manual. There have been times when I have failed to live up to this commitment. But I have learned a basic truth. When I do live according to the teachings of the Bible, my life works better. That doesn’t mean that these past 44 years have always been easy, because sometimes obedience is the hardest path to follow. As the Bible says, the narrow road is the most difficult to traverse. But when I live according to the principles taught in Scripture, I experience the presence and the power of God in my life.
For example, I have found that just as God says in Philippians 4:6-7, when I am anxious or worried, if I talk to Him about it, if I pray, “…the peace of God which transcends all human understanding…fills my heart and mind.”
I have discovered that if I “…trust in the Lord with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding…” well then just as Proverbs 3 promises, “…God makes my paths straight.” He tells me what to do and what to say.
My marriage is best when I obey the teaching of Ephesians 5 and “…love my wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her…”
In my conversations with people who are angry with me I have found that “…a gentle answer DOES turn away wrath…” just as Proverbs 15:1 says.
I could go on and on reciting verse after verse but suffice it to say that I have not come across a single promise or precept or principle in the Bible that does not do what it says it will do. In other words, The Bible works. It is indeed the guidebook for life. I’m healthier psychologically, healthier relationally, whenever I follow its guidance.
And I am not alone in this. Over the centuries millions and millions of people have discovered the same thing. In fact, thousands of faithful Christians have given their lives rather than reject the teachings of this Book because like me they have found that when we read it, and believe it, and apply it to our lives, we are never the same, which leads to the final reason we revere this book….
(3) It is powerful.
When people apply the teachings of the Bible to their lives, they change. They are transformed into better people, Godly people. It’s amazing to behold! And the secret of this book’s power is that fact that it tells us how to come to know God personally, how to have Him actually walk through life with us much as He did the first human beings.
I’m reminded of a story I once came across about a five-year-old girl named Karen who was given a Bible for her birthday. A few days later her mom noticed Karen reading it. In fact, she watched and saw that Karen wasn’t just reading it, she was writing in it. She looked closer and noticed that her daughter was circling the Word of “God” whenever she saw it. She asked, “Karen, why are you doing that?” And Karen replied, “So I’ll know where to find God when I need Him.”
Well, little Karen was wise beyond her years, because this is the main reason God has given us this Book: so that we can know where to find Him, or rather how to find Him, how to come to know Him so He can guide us to experience the full, abundant lives He intended us to have.
In fact, this book has the power required to take a life that has been lived all wrong and turn it around. This book contains the power to help anyone start over; it has the power to enable a person to be re-born.
Steve May tells of a girl named Dee who grew up in an affluent home in east Tennessee, having all she wanted but not what she needed. Her parents never took her to church or taught her anything about Christianity. When Dee went to college she began to abuse alcohol and drugs, and soon her life became a never ending search for a good time. One thing she and her friends liked to do on weekends was to rent out some rooms at a local motel for a three-day non-stop party. On one such weekend the group devised a contest to see who could steal the most from the room. One of the things Dee stole in this contest was the Gideon Bible. Her companions thought it was funny and so they declared that Dee was the winner.
Several weeks later, Dee’s life began to fall apart. She discovered that she was pregnant. Her boyfriend left her and she found herself all alone. One night in the midst of her fear and uncertainty, she picked up the Bible she had stolen from the motel room and began to read. And as she did for the first time in her life, God suddenly became real to her. She prayed and asked Jesus to be her Savior. She committed to serve Him as Lord. This happened because she read from the Bible and as John’s gospel tells us this powerful book was inspired and written “…that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.” (John 20:31)
You know, if I had to summarize my belief about the nature of this Book of books, I would say it is basically an invitation from God to us, an invitation from Creator to Creation. In these pages is God’s written offer to know Him personally, to walk with Him daily. And, like all invitations God’s word calls for our response.
This morning you may need to respond by bowing your head silently and committing to center your life around the teachings of the Bible. You may want to come forward and join this church pledging to help us as we obey God’s word and work to fulfill the great commission it contains. Or you may want to walk forward and publicly accept God’s invitation to a personal relationship, deciding to become a Christian and follow Jesus as Savior and Lord.
However you feel led to respond to God’s invitation, won’t you come as we stand and sing?