2Timothy 3:16-17
The Bible and Me
We must be careful to never forget the basics. Only with a strong foundation
can we build a sure future. Tonight, I want to speak on the most fundamental
basic Christianity has, the Bible.
Let me share three simple but basic thoughts.
I. The Bible is necessary.
A. Let me read a statement that I wrote some years ago.
The Bible is to the Christian what air is to the mammal; what water is
to the fish; what food is to the organic; what fuel is to combustion.
Without the Bible, Christianity ceases to be. The Bible is absolutely
and unequivocally necessary. The Bible describes our God, our
existence, our fault, our redemption, our future, and our purpose. It
commands our actions, our loyalty, and our attitudes. Simply put: If
the Bible is removed from the Christian faith, there is no Christian
faith.
B. Consider that the Bible reveals the character of God.
John 1:18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in
the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
1. God cannot be seen, probed, analyzed, or studied, either with the
human eye or any tool that man can create.
a. This is the very reason that many say there is no God.
b. However, they refuse to accept all He has created and all that
He has written as evidence.
2. God’s creation tells us of His power, and God’s Book tells us of
His nature.
3. Simply put-There is no other way to know about God’s nature than
by His Book.
4. Everything we know about God comes through the revelation of the
Word of God.
C. Consider that the Bible reveals our origins.
1. Without the Bible, we have no history;
if we have no history, we do not know how to act now;
and if we do not know how to act now, there will be grave
consequences in the future.
2. If we have no Bible, the theory of evolution is as good as any
other notion as to where we came from.
a. That theory basically asserts that we are animals.
b. We have no soul; there is no eternity; life is what we see
before us.
3. That false history has lead to false philosophies of life.
a. Only the strongest will survive.
b. All things are justified if it is necessary to insure your
survival.
c. While you are surviving, think only of yourself and your
pleasure.
4. But the Bible gives us a completely different history.
a. We were created in the image of God.
b. We are all unique, special, and made with purpose.
c. One day, each of us will stand before God and give an account
of what we did with the gift of life.
5. Biblical history gives us a different set of philosophies for
life today.
a. It is not the strongest that will survive but the righteous,
for God will make it so.
b. All things cannot be justified—not even to survive. There are
right and wrong behaviors which are defined the Creator.
c. While we are here, we are to serve the God for our reward
awaits on the other side.
6. Now, if you don’t think those two historical models are going to
make a difference in our future, you are sadly mistaken.
a. Everything about our present and future is being shaped by our
view of the past.
b. It is essential that you get it right.
c. It is my opinion, that that can only be done by the Bible.
D. Consider that the Bible reveals our fault and our redemption.
1. Without the Bible, people might be persuaded that things are not
so bad.
a. To be honest, even without the Bible, I would have a hard time
buying into that one.
b. Some actually believe that man is getting BETTER!
2. But, again, the Bible tells us something different.
a. Life is not what it was intended to be.
b. Sin has skewed it and skewed us.
c. Jesus Christ came to restore both us and our existence.
d. By faith and obedience, we can become what we were intended to
be.
II. The Bible is not only necessary, it is necessary in its totality.
A. The Bible can not be dissected into parts which can be individually
accepted or rejected.
1. Some do that.
a. They "believe the Bible," but not the part about creation.
b. Or they "believe the Bible," but not the part about Jonah and
the great fish.
c. Or they "believe the Bible," but not the part about the virgin
birth, the substitutionary death, and the bodily resurrection
of Jesus.
2. The reason you cannot do that is because the same promises and
processes which have preserved one part of the Bible, preserves
all parts of the Bible.
3. If fault is found with any portion of the Bible, then the fault
exists for all of it.
4. If any section of Scripture fails the test of reliability, it all
proves untrustworthy.
B. The Bible tells us that God gave His Word by inspiration, has kept His
Word by preservation, and helps us to understand it by illumination.
1. The Bible was given to us by the means of inspiration \\#2Tim 3:16\\.
a. It means "God breathed" and is explained in…
2Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any
private interpretation.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of
God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
b. God "moved" upon men. That means "brought them along."
(1) Did God give an idea and let men write it? No. That’s too
much room for error.
(2) Did God give the Bible word for word and let men pen it?
No. The Bible has too much personality.
(3) Inspiration is somewhere in the middle.
(4) Good enough so that we can preach the very words of the
Bible with confidence and authority-just like I’m doing
now-but diverse enough that the personality of the
writer also came through.
2. Then God has supernaturally preserved the Bible.
Psalm 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of
earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for
ever.
a. God’s Words are given pure by the process of inspiration.
b. God’s Word are "kept" from generation to forever by God!
c. That brings us the question of translation.
(1) If God gave the Bible in one language (I know there were
three but for the simplicity’s sake I will say one), and
He has preserved it, are all translations preserved?
(2) The answer to that is obviously NO.
(3) Then the question becomes "Are any translations preserved
and if so which one?"
(a) That is a legitimate question and you need to be able
to answer it.
(b) What makes you think your translation is the one and
only translation that is preserved.
(c) Some will quote Ps 12:6-7 and say, "Because my KJV
says it is."
(d) You can’t do that! Ps 12:6-7 is in there lousy
translation too.
(e) The answer to that question must come from outside
the Bible because the Bible does not tell you that
the KJ is preserved.
(4) I do not pretend to understand all the questions that can
be asked about original languages, correct translations,
and possible meanings.
(5) However, I do believe the King James Bible is the Bible
for English speaking people today and that is the most
accurately translated Bible version available.
(6) What’s more, I do not see any other translation in the
near future ever rivaling the KJ because most translators
have turned away from the manuscripts that the KJ Bible
were translated from.
3. What is my answer as to why I believe the KJB is the preserved
Word of God for English speaking people?
a. The King James Bible was translated from manuscripts which
have been available since the original was given God.
b. These manuscripts through with the King James Bible have won
millions of souls, stirred countless revivals, sparked a
reformation, started the modern missionary movement, founded
countries, and kept the church not only alive but pure and
vibrant.
c. All the other modern translations were influenced by
manuscripts which were rejected by the early church and
discarded. Some of them were completely lost for 1500 years.
d. I cannot see where the newer manuscripts have done anything to
aid Christianity. Instead they are the Bibles of the modern-
day, compromising, rock-n-rap churches, who cancel their
services for convenience, sing and dance instead of preach,
talk of love and never of sin, and emphasize psychology over
obedience to the Word of God, in part because they have no
confidence that their translation is accurate and
trustworthy.
e. All of the modern-day versions have a problem.
1. If the King James Bible and the manuscripts it was
translated from are not reliable, why should we even
think about trusting those which were rejected and
lost for centuries, for they certainly can not be the
PRESERVED WORD OF GOD, since they were rejected and
lost to so many generations?
2. And if the King James Bible and its manuscripts are
reliable, why do I need to change?
(a) And don’t give me that, "It is too difficult to
understand" because until the last 100 years, the
King James Bible was one of the United States public
school’s reading primers.
(b) If that is what you think, take note the next point.
C. The Bible can only be understood by illumination of the Holy Spirit.
1Cor 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for
they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
1. The reason most can not understand the Bible is not because of
difficulties of the translation but because of the condition of
their hearts.
a. We can not understand the Bible apart from God.
b. That’s why so many cults and false perversions have sprung up.
2. When a church member say they do not understand a word-for-word
translation of the original manuscripts, they are not confessing
to have less brain power but to no relationship with God.
III. With that in mind, what kind of relationship should we have with the Word
of God. Three possibilities:
A. We may scoff at it.
2Peter 3:3 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers,
walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens
were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
1. Obviously, these people doubt the reliability of the Bible.
a. They may doubt God as the Author, doubt inspiration, doubt
its preservation, or have no Holy Spirit to guide them.
b. Then, they go to the place to mock, ridicule, and scoff it.
2. The Bible tells us about this type of person:
a. \\#3\\ Their motive is their LUST.
(1) They are lost.
(2) The Bible deprives them from things they want.
(3) Lester Roloff-"The Bible will either keep you from
sin or sin will keep you from the Bible."
b. \\#4\\ Their hope is that all things continue like always.
(1) Barring some catastrophe, most "scientists" believe that
today.
(2) That in itself is a fulfilled prophecy. The world did
not think like that 150 years ago.
c. \\#5\\ Their heart is willingly ignorant!
(1) That means he’s ignorant not because he doesn’t know but
because he won’t believe.
(2) Is sin keeping you from the Bible? Have you been bitten
by the snake of false philosophy? After hearing the
truth, will you continue to cast if away?
B. Some may believe but without the zeal and without confidence.
Luke 24:21 But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel:
and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done.
1. \\#Luke 24:21\\ "But we trusted"-past tense.
2. Circumstances had weakened their believe. Jesus was dead!
3. Sometimes arguments weaken our beliefs. That is the danger of
certain schools. They sow seeds of doubt.
a. There is no proof which disproves the Bible.
b. There are corrupt scientists who are perverting evidence
to prove what they already believe.
c. That is not to say there are not difficulties with the Bible,
but there are also plausible answers.
C. Some will believe to the place they will contend for it.
Jude 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common
salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye
should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
1. That means we believe it, read it, obey it, and fight for it.
2. Now, perhaps my answers don’t satisfy some people.
a. That’s fine.
b. I figured out many years ago that I don’t fit well into
anybody’s camp so I gave up trying to please people a long
time ago.
c. But it is my belief that I love this Book enough to fight for
it and die for it.
The Hammer and the Anvil, by John Clifford
Last eve I passed a blacksmith’s door
And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime;
When looking in, I saw upon the floor,
Old hammers worn with beating years of time.
"How many anvils have you had," said I
"To wear and batter all these hammers so?"
"Just one," said he, then said with twinkling eye,
"The anvil wears the hammers out you know."
And so, I thought, the anvil of God’s word,
For ages skeptics blows have beat upon;
Yet, though the noise of falling blows was heard,
The anvil is unharmed—the hammers gone!"
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