Sermon: From God To Man – There Is Something Special About This Book

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From God To Man: 

There Is Something Special About This Book

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • October 27, In the year of our Lord Christ, 2019 

Prelude: 

1. Would a personal visit from God change you? 
   1. If Jesus came to see you, would it cause you to believe? 
   2. Did in-person fellowship with God keep Adam and Eve from sinning? 
   3. Did hearing God’s voice from Mount Sinai keep Israel from sinning? 
      1. Exodus 19.9
         
         9 And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I come to you in the thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and believe you forever.”  So Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.
         
         – Exodus 19.9
         
      2. Yet, Exodus 32.8 shows what happened later:
         
         8 “They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them. They have made themselves a molded calf, and worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!’”
         
         – Exodus 32.8
         
2. However, a book captures the experience in a way that does not fade. 
   1. You can read it and read it again. 
   2. You can think on it. 
   3. The information is all there and 
      1. you do not have to rely upon your memory, 
      2. which either fades or changes. 
   4. Peter said something in his second letter 
      1. that amazed me the first time I read it in the ASV of 1901:
         
         19 And we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts…
         
         – 2 Peter 1.19
         
      2. Translated literally from the Greek:
         
         καὶ ἔχομεν βεβαιότερον τὸν προφητικὸν λόγον, ᾧ καλῶς ποιεῖτε προσέχοντες…
         
         – 2 Peter 1.19
         
         And we have confirmed the prophetic word, which well you do you pay attention…
         
      3. Revelation from God in one form or another backs the written word, but 
         1. we should look to the written word. 
         2. There it is in black and white, preserved forever. 

Persuasion: 

1. The Origin of the Bible 
   1. God makes Himself known in a limited way through creation:
      
      18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse… 
      
      – Romans 1.18–20
      
   2. He also choose to use the written word, 
      1. for which we should be thankful.  
      2. He will not allow it to be changed:
         
         89 Forever, O LORD,
         Your word is settled in heaven.
         
         – Psalm 119.89
         
      3. And He has kept His promise. 
         1. He has not rewritten it. 
         2. The Dead Sea Scrolls show that it has not changed. 
   3. The message of the Bible is 
      1. that man has made a mess of things, but 
      2. from the beginning God has provided one who would fix our lives. 
2. That Savior Came from Heaven and Became a Man 
   1. At the right time things happened:
      
      4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law…
      
      – Galatians 4.4
      
   2. God used about 40 writers to reveal all that historical information to us. 
   3. Jesus the carpenter from Nazareth is 
      1. the one that the Bible is about. 
      2. In fact, the Bible calls Him the Word of God:
         
         13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
         
         – Revelation 19.13
         
         1. The Book of Revelation calls Him the Word of God because 
         2. He is the epitome of the written word of God. 
            1. He is God’s final message to man.
               
               1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…
               
               – Hebrews 1.1–3
               
            2. The Bible shows us that message. 
3. The Bible Is the Word of God 
   1. Second Timothy 3 shows why that is significant for us:
      
      16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
      
      – 2 Timothy 3.16–17
      
   2. The claim for the Bible is that 
      1. it is inspired of God, and 
      2. that makes it: 
         1. inerrant, 
         2. infallible, and 
         3. sufficient for our needs. 
4. Inspired 
   1. It came from God Himself. 
      1. God breathed into it, into the writers. 
      2. Therefore, what comes out is God’s breath, God’s word. 
   2. Writers made that claim. Here are just two: 
      1. Jeremiah 1.9
         
         9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me:
         
         “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.”
         
         – Jeremiah 1.9
         
      2. Hosea 1.1
         
         1 The word of the LORD that came to Hosea the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel.
         
         – Hosea 1.1
         
   3. The Bible shows repeatedly that it came from God. 
      1. That means God inspired the text, 
      2. not just the writers. 
   4. To be more specific it is verbal-plenary inspiration. 
      1. Verbal: Inspiration applies to the very words of Scripture. 
      2. Plenary: that is full, applying to all of Scripture. 
5. The Bible Is Inerrant and Infallible 
   1. That means the Bible is without error. 
      1. The Bible does not lie. 
      2. It does not deceive 
         1. It tells the truth. 
         2. God cannot lie, therefore, His word cannot lie. 
   2. The Bible does use figurative language, estimates, or rounding off, etc. 
      1. That does not destroy its accuracy, but 
      2. does show that it was written with specific purposes. 
      3. First Kings 7.23
         
         23 And he made the Sea of cast bronze, ten cubits from one brim to the other; it was completely round. Its height was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits measured its circumference.
         
         – 1 Kings 7.23
         
         1. The circumference would be slightly more than 30 cubits, 
         2. using π to get the number, but 
            1. the purpose of this context was not mathematical precision, 
            2. rather to give us an idea of how large the sea of bronze was. 
      4. Second Samuel 8.13
         
         13 And David made himself a name when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Syrians in the Valley of Salt.
         
         – 2 Samuel 8.13
         
         1. Was it 18,000 exactly? 
         2. Or was the writer giving us an idea of how many were killed? 
6. The Bible Is Sufficient 
   1. It does not contain too much information. 
   2. It does not lack any necessary information.
      
      2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
      
      – 2 Peter 1.2–4
      
      1. I affirm that I direct my life with the knowledge of this passage. 
      2. The result being that I have grace and peace multiplied. 
         1. That happens because the Bible is sufficient for life. 
         2. You do not need additional philosophy or whatever. 
   3. God promised that He would preserve His word:
      
      89 Forever, O LORD,
      Your word is settled in heaven.
      
      – Psalm 119.89
      
      8 “The grass withers, the flower fades,
      But the word of our God stands forever.”
      
      – Isaiah 40.8
      
      31 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
      
      – Mark 13.31
      
7. VII.God Gave His Word to the World 
   1. Not to make us smarter or even wiser. 
   2. It is about revealing 
      1. our condition, and 
      2. the solution. 
   3. Therefore, we have to handle the Scriptures properly:
      
      15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
      
      – 2 Timothy 2.15
      
   4. Ultimately it is about Jesus:
      
      44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.”
      
      – Luke 24.44
      
      43 “To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.”
      
      – Acts 10.43
      

Exhortation: 

1. Some people want God to speak to them directly. 
   1. They want the Holy Spirit to tell them the truth. 
   2. However, to know exactly what God wants to say open the Bible. 
   3. Remember the conversation between Abraham and the rich man in Luke 16. 
2. If Jesus appeared to you today, 
   1. He would not say anything different from 
   2. what has already been revealed through the Bible.