The Scriptures (BFM #1)
Text: 2 Timothy 3:10-17
By: Ken McKinley
(Read Text)
Today we are starting a series on the Baptist Faith and Message. Now some people would ask, “Why are we doing that? Why go over the BFM when we can just look at our little tract and read it for ourselves?” Others might say, “Why do we need to go over all this doctrine? I would rather hear about how to handle the stress in my life, or how to be the best I can be in this life.”
The reality is that we live in an era of “How to” sermons, where the emphasis is often on making people happy rather than helping to become holy. A lot of pastors today would rather stick their finger in the air and check the winds of desire to decide what the “felt needs” of their congregations should be. Now I’m not saying that pastors shouldn’t be sensitive to the needs of their congregations, I’m saying that the topical sermon approach is not the way we should do it. Historically pastors preached expository sermons. There is nothing that the people of God need more than the WHOLE COUNSEL OF GOD. And that’s what expository preaching brings. That’s when you study, examine, and unpack a section, a theme, or a book of the Bible in its entirety and present it, as it was written, to the congregation. When you study the Bible in your private study time, you shouldn’t just pick and choose a passage here and a passage there, because you’ll miss important points. Well it’s the same when preaching. We have to preach the full counsel of God, even the difficult parts, even the hard to understand parts, even the parts that make us uncomfortable. (Now I’m saying this in a series that’s semi-topical, so please pray for your hypocritical pastor, tonight, but seriously, we need to go through this series).
The word “doctrine” simply means teaching (in its basic sense). When Jesus preached, He preached doctrinally. Turn with me to Matthew 7:28 (read). They were astonished at His teaching. Now it’s also implied that doctrine goes beyond teaching. It is teaching the truth of Gods Word and it is implied that those truths will be learned and put into practice.
And so this series is a doctrinal series in its most basic sense. It’s my prayer that through this series we will have a better understanding of the religion / denomination we hold dear, but also that we will listen, learn, and then live out the truths we cover here.
So let me begin by asking a question: How much is your Bible worth? A person can buy a bare-bones NIV Bible for about $8.00. A good NKJV or ESV study Bible will run about $100.00. The 1599 Geneva Bible (the same one used by the Puritans when they first came to the U.S.) costs about $400.00. And if you can find an original Gutenberg Bible you’re going to pay more than $100,000.00
But those prices are determined by men. They will charge more for the version, the type of paper, the covering (whether it’s paperback or leather), the notes that have been added to it (not to mention who added them), and then they total all that up and determine a price for the particular Bible you are wanting to buy.
The reality is however; that the Bible is priceless.
Let me tell you why
In the first point, The BFM says, “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is the record of God’s revelation of Himself to man… it has God for its author.”
Now let me tell you, it’s important to know who the author of a book is. If you pick up a book titled, “How to make friends and influence people,” and you find out that the author is Charles Manson, you might want to put that book down and try a different one. Well the Bible itself claims that God is its Author. Our text says that ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration. But what exactly does that mean? It means that God so controlled the Biblical authors that they wrote the truth that God wanted to show mankind. But at the same time, they were still able to write in their own way, with their own personality and style. In theological terms we call this verbal plenary. Every word of the Bible is exactly as God intended it to be, and yet He allowed man to write it in their own writing styles and with their own personalities showing through.
So one question that people often ask is, “So how do we know that for sure?” “How do we know it was inspired by God? I mean couldn’t someone just say that? Why should we accept that statement?”
Well let’s think about that for a minute.
Let’s say that you were able to question 40 different people on their religious views; people from every type of background, ranging from shepherds to kings, priests to soldiers to fishermen; on 3 separate continents (Asia, Africa, and Europe), in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic), and you had them write their answers down in different forms or styles of writing; ranging from poetry to historical, to prophetic, to parables, to personal letters, and then you were able to do this over a period of hundreds of years. And the questions you asked them were their thoughts about God, and about God’s will and plans for mankind, what kind of book do you think you would end up with? Would all those people agree? But with the Bible that is exactly what we’ve got, and yet it is a book of harmony and consistency.
Next we could look at the Bible’s survival compared with other ancient writings. The Bible has more manuscript evidence than any 10 pieces of classical evidence combined.
Did you know there is more historical evidence for Jesus than there is for Julius Caesar or Alexander the Great, yet no one ever questions that they existed, or that they were real people.
Think about this for a minute: The Iliad was written by Homer around 900 B.C., the earliest copy that we know of was written about 400 B.C. (nearly 500 years after the original was written), and we have 643 copies from antiquity of that work. The New Testament was written approximately between 40 A.D. and 100 A.D. The earliest known copy of that work was written in 125 A.D. (just 25 years later), and we have some 20,000 copies from antiquity of the NT. What that means is that we know our modern copies when written in the original languages are as close to the original as we could possibly get. No scholar in their right mind would dare say that the copies we have the Iliad is for sure an exact copy of the original.
We could look at the archaeological evidence:
Nelson Glueck, a world famous archaeologist said, “No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference.” (Glueck, Nelson. Rivers in the Desert: History of Negev. Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia, 1969, p. 176.)
I could quote several more if I had the time. We always hear about some new discovery that is supposed to disprove the Bible, and it makes front page news, but then a week or two later, it’s shown to be false, and the retraction is placed on page 20 in small print.
We could look at the prophecies of the Bible, we could look at the lives that were changed, we could look at statements in the Bible about the universe or even the world being round (in a time when secular archaeologists and anthropologists state than mankind was only found in parts of Africa and the Middle East).
The BFM says, “It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction… truth, without any mixture of error.”
If God wrote it, how could it be wrong?
The BFM goes on to say, “It reveals the principles by which God judges us and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the truth center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds and religious opinions should be tried.”
Again; if God wrote it, not only is it NOT wrong, it is RIGHT! And it’s the final word. It’s the final word on truth! It’s the final word on morality (I don’t care what Oprah or Dr. Phill say)! It’s the final word of judgment, on sin, on heaven and hell, on salvation, or everything it discusses. Our theology, our ethics, our morals, our faith – all are judged in comparison to the standards given to us in the Bible.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that there are probably quite a few denominations that were started, not because of what certain people thought the Bible said, but because of what they felt was right. “I know the Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith, and that not of ourselves. That it’s the gift of God and not of works, but I just feel that that’s too easy, so I’m going to try to keep the OT law to make sure I’m saved.” Or, “That’s too easy, I think that baptism is a requirement for being saved.” Let me just say this, if that’s you this morning I recommend that you read the book of Galatians ASAP!
The last part of point one says, “All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.”
It’s all about Jesus. Did you know that the Bible is the best selling book of all time? And it’s probably one of the least read books as well. I recently saw a poll that said only about 10% of Americans read their Bibles on a daily basis. And we wonder why we’re in the shape we’re in.
I don’t think that God gave us His word so that we could use it as a leaf presser or as a decoration on a book shelf. No, He expects us to read it, to know it, to live it. If you have no desire for the Word of God then something is wrong in your spiritual life.
Please understand, I’m not trying to put a burden on anyone. I’m not saying that you have to read your Bible everyday. For some people that just isn’t a reality. What I am saying is that every Christian who understands that God; in His mercy and grace has saved them from the wrath to come, should want to know that God better, and we do that by spending time in His word – which is God’s ordained means of sanctifying us, causing us to grow in our faith and in our knowledge of His will, and is the power of God to salvation.
So we need to read it, we need to know it, but also…
We need to practice it.
Somewhere along the way, Christians got the idea that all we had to do with the Bible was read a verse here or a verse there and all would be well in the world. We’ve substituted hearing for doing. But the purpose of the teachings of Scripture is largely to show us how we are to live. We are to be doers of the word and not hearers only. That’s what James 1:21 says, that if we are hearers but not doers, when we are deceiving ourselves.
Turn with me quickly to Matthew 7:24-27 (read).
So… How much is your Bible worth? Its value is not determined by how much you paid for it. It’s determined by how much you read it, understand it, and do what it says. And so this morning I want to challenge you to read your Bible daily, not because it’s required of you, or to put a burden on you. I challenge you to do that because of the difference it will make in your daily life. I challenge you to do that because of the difference it will make when you face the storms of life; the trials, tests and tribulations of life. Study to show yourself approved, a workman who needs not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
