United In Christ · Growing In Grace · Reaching Out In Love

Sunday Morning Sermon Summary 

More Than a Book (2 Timothy 3:16, 17)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

    ME:     Three possibilities (for my sermons)

            1. Teach the Bible to people (hoping to engage some serious learners)

            2. Teach people the Bible (hoping to teach so people learn facts – Walk Thru…)

            3. Teach people to “live a life that reflects the values, principles, and truths of the Bible.”

                                                                                                                                                             (Andy Stanley)

WE:     (Sentence) THE BIBLE: Learn it, learn to love it, love to live it

GOD:  #1 REASON FOR BELIEVING SOMETHING:  If something is true, it’s true.  It will cost me dearly if I’m wrong.  (James Sine)

WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE BIBLE: READ IT WITH ME FROM THE SCREEN!

“This Church accepts the Bible as the basis of all doctrine and practices.  We believe the Bible to be the infallible, authoritative, inspired Word of God, and the only standard for Christian living.”

2 Tim 3:16-17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

1. INSPIRED  ‎”God's breath is the irresistible outflow of His power. When Paul declares, then, that "every scripture" or "all scripture" is the product of the Divine breath, "is God-breathed," he asserts … that Scripture is the product of a specifically Divine operation.” (ISBE)

2 Peter 1:19-21 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 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.

It was through an operation of the Holy Ghost on these men which is described as "bearing them along.” Very specific:  not to be confounded with guiding, or directing, or controlling, or even-leading … goes beyond all such terms:  What is "borne" is taken up by the "bearer," and conveyed by the "bearer's" power, not its own, to the "bearer's" goal, not its own. The men who spoke from God are here declared, therefore, to have been taken up by the Holy Spirit and brought by His power to the goal of His choosing. (ISBE)

2. AUTHORITATIVE

John 10:33-36 "We are not stoning you for any of these," replied the Jews, "but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, 'I have said you are gods' (Psalm 82:6)? If he called them 'gods,' to whom the word of God came — and the Scripture cannot be broken—what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world?

“The meaning of the word broken” here is that it is impossible for the Scripture to be annulled, its authority to be withstood, or denied. precisely what is true of Scripture is that it "cannot be broken." (ISBE)

3. INFALLIBLE (without error, trustworthy, timeless)  - Psalm 82: 6 quoted by Jesus

'I have said you are gods') Insignificant, “most casual clauses”. Down to its most minute particulars, it is of infallable authority. (ISBE)

4.  “the basis for all doctrine and practices and the only standard for Christian living.”

Hebrews 4:12, "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. (“word have I hid…” Psa. 119:11)

YOU:   We’ve defined what the Bible is, that God gave us the Bible, that God has spoken through the Bible, that God has revealed His truth to us through the Bible, and that God works in our lives through the Bible.

WE: Why SHOULD I believe in one thing or another? (REASON  VS. CAUSE)

It provides the best explanation for the tough issues of life

a)         accounts for all the issues we hold to be relevant

            The Bible is not about me or you.  It’s about GOD.  What we “hold to be relevant” is that the Bible provides the most accurate picture of the God who has revealed Himself in nature, in the man Jesus, and expects to be reflected in our own lives.

b)         is internally consistent

            “66 books, written by forty people in 3 languages over 1500 years (no internet!)

            “The more I study and the more I teach and engage in dialogue with unbelievers and critics the more confident I have become in the rock-solid integrity and truth of           Christianity. In fact, I am overwhelmed by the profundity, coherency, and intricate internal consistency of Christianity. I am awed by the majesty and brilliance, not to mention the power, of the Scriptures.” (R.C. Sproul)

c)         is consistent with everything else we hold to be true

            Historically reliable – earlier and more numerous originals (DSS: 100 BC, eyewitness    authors, canon process, archaeological discoveries,

            Tested over time – “by the end of the 2^nd century, nearly 90% of what came to be known as the NT was accepted by Christians as apostolic and divinely inspired.” (Colson). Canon established in 382 (Aristotle – 1100 years)

            Defensible – most controversial, highly debated; Post-modern say no historical documents can be trusted to be accurate.  Das Kapital, Darwin, all falling to continuing scrutiny.  Not the Bible.

●1861: a French scientific academy printed a brochure offering 51 incontrovertible facts that proved the Holy Bible to be in error. Today, there is not a single one left.
●The ancients believed the earth was held up by Atlas, or resting on pillars, or even seated on the backs of elephants. Job 26:7 (KJV "He spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing. (Job the oldest book)

●Earth is flat: Isaiah 40:22 (KJV): "He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,”

●When Ptolemy charted the heavens, he counted 1,026 stars in the sky. Jeremiah 33:22 (KJV): "As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured: so will I multiply the seed of David My servant, and the Levites that minister unto Me." (As early as Genesis 12)
●When the black plague was killing one-quarter of Europe’s population, in the 14th century, it was the church, not science that helped overcome that dreaded disease. Leviticus 13:45 (KJV) "All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be."

d)         provides along with our other beliefs a more coherent picture of the world, ourselves and others than any alternative.

            The more we know about our world, the more the consequences of a Godless worldview work themselves out in our world (World wars, crime, welfare, relativism, abandonment of the 10 commandments and teachings like the Beatitudes and other lifestyle principles taught by Jesus) the more the wisdom of the Scriptures are verified.

“The best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted, had I nothing to go on but the five books of Moses, the Psalms, and the Bible as a whole.” (Nobel winning astronomer Arno Penzias, quoted in Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey, p. 189 )

#1 REASON FOR BELIEVING SOMETHING:  If something is true, it’s true. 

            It will cost me dearly if I’m RIGHT.  (James Sine)

            “Take up your cross and follow me”

            LEARN IT, LEARN TO LOVE IT, LOVE TO LIVE IT.  (To whom much is given…)

Legend:

Green: Mission and Vision
Blue: Illustrations and quotes
Red: Scripture

Note to the visitor:  These are Pastor Paul’s sermon notes from Sunday Morning.  They probably won’t make much sense if you weren’t in the service.  Feel free to contact Pastor Paul if you’d like more detailed information.
For past sermons, please visit the Sermon Archive. 

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