Sermon Brief
Date Written: June 1, 2010
Date Preached: June 6, 2010
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: Great Questions of Our Faith
Sermon Title: Can I Trust the Bible?
Sermon Text: 2 Tim 3:16-17 [ESV]
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Introduction:
Many people have doubts about whether or not we can trust the Bible as Scripture. Many people have asked the question, “Can I Trust the Bible?” And I will be the first one to tell anyone that this is a legitimate question. Scripture calls for our faith, but that faith is not a blind faith, but a faith in substantive evidence and revelation provided by God.
There are areas of our lives that we will have to trust God and take a leap out into the unknown trusting Him to lead us in the right direction, however, Scripture is NOT one of those areas.
This morning I want to share some insights into the reasons why we can trust Scripture and the reasons why we can have faith that it is “God-breathed” as Paul wrote in our passage this morning.
Can We Trust it to be TRUE? Psalm 18:30 [ESV]
30 This God—his way is perfect; the Word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
First of all in this category, we can ask the general question of “What is the Bible?” Many look at the Bible as a book of religion or a historical book about a certain people, but the Bible is so much more than history or religion.
The Bible is actually far more than just a book; in fact the Bible is a small library of many books and letters. In fact, the Bible is a collection of 66 books/letters that have been compiled by men of God who were led by the Holy Spirit to formulate what we now know as the Bible.
We know that there were basically 40 different human authors to Scripture, but all were guided by the leadership of the Holy Spirit. These authors ranged in station in life from kings to fishermen, from priests to gov’t officials, from farmers and shepherds to doctors and historians.
The Bible was completed in its entirety nearly 2,000 years ago and stands today as the best-preserved literary work of all antiquity with over 24,000 ancient New Testament manuscripts discovered thus far. Compare this with the second best-preserved literary work of antiquity, Homer's Iliad, with only 643 preserved manuscripts discovered to date.
Yet through all this diversity and apparent DIFFERENCE a book of unity is formed and written, with common themes woven throughout the entirety of Scripture!
The Bible is divided into 2 main categories, the OT and the NT. When we look at the OT it is a story of a people, a nation and their relationship with God.
When we look at the NT it is a story about one man, the God man Jesus, and about what His life, death and resurrection has done for humanity. The NT reflects the fulfillment of much of what the OT pointed toward.
In reading the Bible, one can find that the Bible has always been the best commentary on itself. It never pulls any punches or tries to hide the ‘ugliness’ of sin. The Bible is clear in its message… it is a message that is consistent from cover to cover in Scripture, and that is God reaching down to His creation… and the ultimate redemption of those who trust in Him.
The Bible is an ancient script that has weathered the ravages of time, and has not changed! God’s Word is as sure today as it was when it was being penned… Can we trust the Bible? When it comes to reliability and continuity, after over 2000 yrs it stands true to the test.
So pastor it survived over time, that is amazing in and of itself but is the message of the Bible trustworthy? Well what many people overlook when reading Scripture is the fact that Jesus Himself expressly trusted Scripture! When He taught in the synagogues He was exposed and used many copies and translations of Scripture!
Jesus trusted the accuracy and truth of Scripture, shouldn’t we? But there are those who not only want to know if we can trust Scripture’s accuracy but also…
Can We Trust its MESSAGE? 2 Tim 3:16
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Jesus knew the Scriptures thoroughly, even to words and verb tenses. He obviously had either memorized vast portions or knew it instinctively: John 7:14-15 [ESV]
14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?"
Jesus believed every word of Scripture. He often quoted the prophecies concerning Himself and how they were fulfilled in His coming…
Jesus believed that the OT was historical fact. This is very clear, from the Creation (cf. Genesis 2:24 and Matthew 19:4, 5) onward, much of what He believed to be true and factual has long been under fire by critics, as being mere fiction.
Finally, Jesus believed that the books of Scripture were written by the men whose names they bear:
Jesus warned against replacing Scripture with something else, or adding or subtracting from it. The Jewish leaders in His day had added to it with their Oral Traditions and brought the ire of Christ against them.
Jesus did NOT worship Scripture, but in His actions we can see that He fully believed Scripture to be TRUE and TRUSTWORTHY! What Jesus DID do was that he fully honored Scripture—even though it was written by the hands of men? This leads us to conclude that our Lord Jesus Christ considered the canon of Scripture as God’s Word, written by the hand of men.
Once again, if we claim Jesus as Savior! If our faith is in Him, we have to be able to trust what He trusts, to believe in what He believes in… The Bible is God’s Word according to Scripture and according to Jesus!
The disciples were simple, ordinary men who received instruction from Jesus for over 3 yrs and they garnered a love and trust for the Scripture they had grown up with, but saw embodied in the person of Jesus Christ.
These men preached and ministered according to the Scriptures and ultimately all of them gave their lives to tell the message of Christ to the world around them by revealing it through the Word of God…. by using the Scriptures!
Now to me, if these men were willing to die for the message of the Gospel… if they were willing to die for the Word of God… then we have to believe that they trusted the message of God’s Word and believed it to be worthy of OUR trust as well. Wouldn’t you agree?
We can see that the accuracy and truth of Scripture can be verified, and we can also see that the message of Scripture is one that Jesus had full faith in… so if it is accurate and true… and the message is good enough for Jesus, then…
How Can God’s Word/Bible benefit us? v.16-17:
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
17 that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
The Bible is God’s word and its primary benefit to us FIRST is that it reveals who God is… The Bible is God revealed to His Creation thru the written hand of those He created! It reveals God through their writing styles and personalities! It reveals God by the guiding hand of God’s Holy Spirit!
But when we look INTO God’s word… we can see many examples of how His Word benefits us…
Let’s look first to King David! He is a central character in the OT, and he wrote much about the word of God! David fully believed that God was revealed in Scripture. David believed that God’s Word was there for us to know God, and David trusted His Word.
In Psalms, David wrote:
Ps 12:6 [ESV]
The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times
David believed God’s Word was the most valuable thing he could ever experience or know…
Ps 18:30 [ESV]
This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true;he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
David understood the protective nature of God’s word for those who read it and trusted in it…
Ps 33:4 [ESV]
For the word of the LORD is upright,and all his work is done in faithfulness.
David believed that God’s Word revealed the right life to live, and that God is faithful in His promises…
Ps 33:6 [ESV]
By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
David believed and trusted in God… He knew that the creation around him was a result of the spoken word of God!
Ps 119:11 [ESV]
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
He placed great faith in God’s word to help him to live as God would have him live… God’s Word will help us to flee from and resist our sinful nature.
Ps 119:105 [ESV]
“Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path…”
David fully understood that the Word of God revealed the right path for his life… that it lit the way for his life and actions!
Jesus in His teaching also was an example of great benefit for those who use, read and apply God’s Word to their lives:
First, look at Jesus in the wilderness after 40 days of fasting! Satan approaches Jesus to tempt Him, but Jesus rebuffs Satan by doing what? By using the Word of God! Look at Matt 4:3
3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written…”
We can see this process repeated by Christ two more times, once in v.7 and the next in v.10… We too can use God’s Word to avoid evil and rebuff temptation in our lives!
We also see Jesus using Scripture to repudiate false teaching and misconception about God… do you remember the story the Pharisees approached Jesus with in Matt 22?
It was a ridiculous story about 7 brothers. The oldest brother married a woman, but died. His brother then married her to give his dead brother an heir, as per their custom… but he died before that could happen. This happened 5 more times… all the brothers marrying this woman and dying before they could produce an heir.
The question asked by the Pharisees is found in Matt 22:28 [ESV]
28 In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her."
Jesus saw thru their misconceptions about the tradition and He understood the entire teaching was misleading and destructive to whomever heard it… So Jesus answered:
Matt 22:29-30 [ESV]
29 But Jesus answered them, "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Jesus understood that to KNOW God you had to KNOW the Scriptures! To know the God you have to know God’s Word! God’s Word reveals who God is and makes plain the ways of God!
But Jesus also knew that Scripture benefited those who read it by revealing to them His part in God’s plan for eternity…
Matt 26:56 [ESV]
56 But all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled."
The ‘this’ Jesus was speaking about here was the fact that the High Priest had sent a goon squad at night to arrest Jesus… and Jesus knew He was about to face the Crucifixion.
After Jesus had died and rose from the grave, He still passed on the benefit of God’s word to those He came into contact with… On the road to Emmaus He met up with 2 of His disciples who did not even recognize Him…
Luke 24:27 [ESV]
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Both David and Jesus understood the benefit of Scripture for ALL of us, and we can read about it when we go to God’s Word…
But preacher, what are some of the practical applications I can take the Bible and apply it to my life and reap the benefits of God’s Word?
From a spiritual perspective we are all born into darkness and we are sinners, but God’s Word brings light into our lives…like David said,
Ps 119:105 [ESV]
“Your Word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path…”
Until we begin to read God’s word, we grope in darkness… God’s word is practical in the sense that it opens our eyes to the spiritual darkness we are born into and live in until God intervenes in our lives!
But God’s Word does not stop there… after our spiritual darkness is removed and the light of God’s Word shines on our lives, it reveals to us the grave nature of our sin, and our need for forgiveness and cleansing from that sin! God’s Word is practical in that it leads us to the point of confession of sin and repentance.
But God’s Word does not stop there… after we come to the point where we have confessed our sin, and repented of that sin, God’s Word contains a promise and a plan for us… it is called salvation!
God’s Word reveals that when we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that we are saved! God revealed this plan to the writer of Hebrews and His word reveals that to us today! We can know salvation by confessing Christ as Lord and believing in our hearts that He is our Lord and Savior!
God’s word does not stop with revelation…
God’s word does not stop with bringing a holy light to our dark lives…
God’s word does not stop with leading us to confession/repentance…
God’s word does not stop with providing salvation to those who confess Christ as Lord…
You see God’s Word is the gift from God that keeps on giving to those who will allow it to saturate their lives! God’s word brings about spiritual maturity and growth in the Lord to live as God has called us to live!
God’s word reveals God to His creation, enlightens our path, enable confession of sin, provides the promise and reality of salvation, and it sustains those who know God in this life, preparing us, shaping us and molding us into the believer God desires us to be…
God’s word is so very relevant in this world today… it is not some antiquated and outdated book that we should ignore, but it is the very revelation of God Himself to His creation, and when we take God’s Word and put it in our lives, we please God and God leads us!
Conclusion:
Many people will argue this fact with me, but the reason for the malaise in our country today is NOT because of politics or the politicians, but it is because our country has abandoned the principles upon which it was founded… the principles of God’s Word!
At one time in our country’s life, God’s Word was revered and respected as THE way, but today, most Americans only think of God’s Word as something for Sunday School and church but that it has no practical application in life… but when we remove God from our everyday life… we lose our sense of direction and our moral center!
When we lose our moral center, we are capable of falling for anything that comes along… and THAT is why we are where we are today. You can’t blame the Democrats, you can’t blame the Republicans, you can’t blame the liberals or the conservatives… we have to realize that it all stems from the people of our nation turning away from the Word of God and turning to their own wisdom!
David said, “I will delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your Word.” Now I know that David had his faults and David was not perfect, but David was considered a man after God’s own heart! David understood the importance of believing in, trusting in and putting into practice the things we can learn from the Word of God… from our Bible!
Today I want to ask you a question… “Do you trust the Word of God?” Don’t answer that question too fast now… “Do you trust the Word of God?”
If you say, “Yes… I trust it” then are you tithing as God has commanded? Are you sharing your faith in God with others as God has commanded? Do you forgive those who have hurt you or done you wrong, as God has commanded? Are you willing to love those who God loves? Are you willing to GO where God wants you to be?
Do you trust God’s Word this morning? Maybe you are here this morning and you are having difficulty tithing as God has commanded, you just don’t see how it can work… you know what you make, you know your bills… and you know what you are supposed to give God, but you don’t give it because you don’t fully trust what God says about bringing the tithes to the storehouse… He has promised blessing beyond your belief…did you know that?
Do you trust God’s Word this morning? maybe you are here this morning and you are having difficulty sharing your faith with those God places in your path? Are you obedient to the call to share your faith? He is calling you to share your faith with others, today I call on you to surrender to His call and come down to this altar and make things right with God today!
Do you trust God’s Word this morning? Maybe you are struggling with forgiving those who have hurt you or those who have wronged you? God’s Word is very explicit about what our duty is as believers…we are called to be reconcilers… we are called to offer up forgiveness! Scripture teaches that if we cannot forgive… we cannot be forgiven! Today if you are having difficulty forgiving… I call on you to step out… move fwd and make things right with God…
You may be here today and you just can’t bring yourself to love as God has commanded you to love… Are you being the ‘Good Samaritan’ God has commanded us to be? Today if you are struggling with this, I call on you to submit to Him and surrender your pride and come down and make things right with God at this altar…
As Bro Steven comes to lead us, I call on you to step out and come as we begin to sing… would you stand as we sing our Hymn of Invitation?
