FTR 2

2 Pet. 1:21 "Not one part of the Holy Writings came... because of what man wanted to write. But holy men who belonged to God spoke what the Holy Spirit told them."

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Listen to the importance that Jesus placed on listening to and obeying the Word of God:

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock” (Matthew 7:24-25).

The "rock" Jesus mentions is not only Himself, but the Word that He taught, as well as the whole Bible, for "The whole Bible," says Paul, "was given to us by inspiration from God..." (2 Tim.3:16).

Jesus also had a warning for those who rejected His teachings. He said:

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:26-27).

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I believe one of the big reasons people don't take Scripture seriously is they don't truly, deep-down believe it is God's Word.

But if the Bible is not God’s Word, then those who have believed it throughout the ages were sadly mistaken.

And those who have given their lives to spread the Gospel died in vain.

And those who gave their lives to give us the Bible in our own language also died in vain!

But it IS God's Word!

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Let me give you four good reasons for believing this:

The Bible teaches inerrancy--exempt from error.

Jesus affirmed inerrancy

The church historically has believed in inerrancy

God’s character demands inerrancy

FIRST, the Bible teaches inerrancy about itself:

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The word translated “inspiration” means, “breathed out by God.”

So God Himself "breathed out" the Scriptures.

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SECOND, Jesus affirmed that the Bible is inerrant:

He said, “For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one jot or tittle will pass from the Law until all of it is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).

Jots and tittles are small marks in the Hebrew alphabet, which distinguish one letter from another.

The meaning here is that all of the Bible will be fulfilled, right down to the minutest pen stroke!

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Jesus affirmed inerrancy in many other places as well.

For instance, people who believe parts of the Bible are in error often point to the first eleven chapters of Genesis.

These are the chapters that describe the Creation account and the Great Flood of Noah's day.

Now, we all know that the THEORY of evolution stands in total opposition to the Genesis account of Creation.

Yet Jesus believed these portions of Scripture to be literally true!

JESUS cited the Genesis account of Creation in His teaching:

“And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who MADE THEM at the beginning ‘made them male and female’’” (Matthew 19:4).

And He affirmed the reality of the great, world wide flood that many scientists in our day mock:

“But as the days of Noah WERE, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matthew 24:37).

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Jesus also cited the Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself, telling His hearers that those things which were written by the Prophets were literally being fulfilled in Him!

“Then He said to them, 'This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything which is written concerning Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled'" (Luke 24:44).

The stunning fulfillment of prophecies surrounding Jesus' own life should have shown the people of His day that the Bible is without error.

By referring to these passages, Jesus clearly revealed that He BELIEVED them!

So church, how can we take a lesser view of the Scriptures than Jesus did, and still claim to be His followers?

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THIRD, The Church has embraced inerrancy throughout the centuries.

Since the days of the Apostles, the Church has believed the Bible.

This doesn't prove inerrancy by itself, but it would be foolish to deny what has been embraced by Christians since the birth of the church.

They accepted the Scriptures as God’s Word.

Martin Luther said, “The Scriptures, although they were written by men are not of men, but from God.”

Men like William Tyndale, John Wycliffe, and others gave their very lives to translate the Bible they so believed in that others might understand it.

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FOURTH: God’s Character Demands that the Bible be true!

The character of God Himself requires that the Bible be without fault because He is without fault.

Paul wrote to Titus about the “...God, who cannot lie. . .” (Titus 1:2).

Moses said of the character of God:

"God is not like people. He tells no lies. He is not like humans. He doesn't change his mind. When he says something, he does it. When he makes a promise, he keeps it" (Numbers 23:19).

SUMMARY: So, the Bible teaches inerrancy about itself, Jesus trusted its inerrancy, the church historically accepted its inerrancy, and the character of God requires inerrancy.

What a fabulous book we hold in our hands!

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ON TOP OF ALL THESE THINGS, The Bible is also a spiritually living book unlike any other.

“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, piercing between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It reveals our innermost thoughts and desires." (Heb 4:12)

This Bible is a living book and God is the Author;

It has the power to change your life!

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Now, you might be thinking, "Jeff, this is good, but I just don't see why I should read it all time. I get bored and it doesn't seem to do me much good!"

Ah, but it DOES do you good, even though you may not always be aware of it!

Let me tell you what it does for you:

ONE, the Bible will keep you from sin:

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119: 11)

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SECOND, the Bible is your personal guidebook for how to live.

"God uses (Scripture) to prepare and equip his people to do every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16, 17).

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THIRD, the Bible has the power to on-goingly change your life:

"Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

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FOURTH, the Word brings us comfort and hope in times of trouble:

“...whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4).

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In light of all these powerful truths about the Bible, how then should we respond to it?

I close with two responses:

One, OBEDIENCE:

Once we have knowledge of the Word, we must be obedient to that Word in order to call Him Lord.

“But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say” (Luke 6:46).

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Second, SUBMISSION:

We should subject our personal emotions and will to scriptural authority:

The Bible says, “We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5).

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As we respond this way, we have an incredible promise:

“And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continue to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transformed into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18 AMP).

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Let's stand together and read God's promise to Israel concerning His Word:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8).