Back to the Word

Intro

How do you go back to the word of God when the world is telling you it is fake, it has been changed to much. Sometimes we face people who do not follow the Bible but seem to know the bible better then what lots of Christians do. The idea is that we need to know what we believe and why we believe it because of the false teachers will twist the word of God. There is also the problem we face of people seeking a emotional or subjective experience alone and ignore the revelation we have from God in the word of God. It is easy to seduce people who rely only on the emotional or subjective experience who never go back to the word of God. but back to the importance of knowing the word of God.

The argument is there that it has either changed to much, culturally things have changed to much, people making words believe whatever the want it to believe. I wanted to give a little info about the Bible we have now and how we can trust that it is the word of God. Compared to the New Testament, there was much less controversy over the canon of the Old Testament. Hebrew believers recognized God’s messengers and accepted their writings as inspired of God. While there was undeniably some debate in regards to the Old Testament canon, by A.D. 250 there was nearly universal agreement on the canon of Hebrew Scripture. The only issue that remained was the Apocrypha, with some debate and discussion continuing today. The vast majority of Hebrew scholars considered the Apocrypha to be good historical and religious documents, but not on the same level as the Hebrew Scriptures.

with the OT being settled and stable by the birth of Jesus at latest, and the NT gaining large agreement even before the end of the second century. Although it wasn’t until the fourth century that the NT canon was officially decided, there is good reason to have historical confidence in the process. These books were largely decided on by virtue of three factors: their divine qualities, reception by the churches, and connection to an apostle. The scripture we have now, at least the word for word translations of the bible (not so much the paraphrase versions like the message) where found to be almost identical to original copies. The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of over 900 manuscripts discovered in the caves around Qumran near the Dead Sea.  Between in 1947 and 1956 numerous excavations discovered a variety of scrolls and fragments in 11 caves, including copies of every book of the Old Testament except for Nehemiah and Esther.4 The manuscripts date from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D., with some of the earliest, dating to the early Hellenistic era, approximately 250 B.C. We have found that what we have in the word for word texts is almost identical to the original copies we have. Punctuation and the odd word here and there that we have trouble translating but that is about it.

why do I say this? Because we go back to the word of God and trust that the Bible we have is what God gave man. We can trust in the dependability of the word of God and the reliability of it. In order to not be led astray we need to understand that it is not myths that we follow, but God’s words confirmed by Him and spoken through man given to us for us to grow closer to God.

16 - Not Myths but the word of God

Back to the basics and back to the word of God.

2 Peter 1:16 CSB

16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

It is not cleverly contrived myths that we follow. It is not just some made up words of man that we say are the word of God. It is likely that the false teachers at the time where claiming that the incarnation of Jesus, His life miracles and resurrection and ascension that where taught by the apostles where all lies. They were just stories that where made up by the disciples of Jesus.

specifically it was the power of Jesus and His second future coming that they said where myths. There where some teachings at the time that said the second coming had already taken place. But we do know it as truth, they were eyewitnesses to the ascension of Jesus and His promises to come back again. After all that was minor compared to some of the things that Jesus had already done.

it is not the life of Jesus that people question, there is to much historical proof of Jesus of Nazareth to doubt he was an actual man. But what is hard to believe is what He did. But the evidence is there, we can trust the word of God because it was given to us by God through the mouths of people that where there to witness it. This should give us joy knowing that we have the true word of God, that the more we dig in ancient Israel the more proof we find that Jesus is who He said He was!

17-18 - Confirmed from God

When Jesus was crucified, The authorities told people to lie about what happened with Jesus Matthew 28:13

Matthew 28:13 CSB

13 and told them, “Say this, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him while we were sleeping.’

Matthew 28:15 CSB

15 They took the money and did as they were instructed, and this story has been spread among Jewish people to this day.

Even to this day the lie has been spread. People wonder about the different accounts of the death and resurrection of Jesus. But you should me more concerned if all the accounts where the exact same, that would look a little to suspicious. It is normal for eye witness accounts to vary in certain details. It is not myths we follow but the very word of the one true God. Jesus was who he said He was and it was also confirmed by God Himself.

2 Peter 1:17 CSB

17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased!”

This goes back to the baptism of Jesus. John the Baptist had a ministry of repentance turning people back to the Lord God as signified by there baptism in the Jordan. It was prophesied that John would do this. Jesus came to be baptized in a show of obedience. it was confirmed by God that day for all to see and Hear that Jesus was the son of God. God himself.

an interesting fact, this is one time where we see a reference to the trinity. God the Father, Son and HS as three beings in one place though they are all one. God’s voice, the HS in the dove coming down and Jesus rising out of the water.

2 Peter 1:18 CSB

18 We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.

It was not just something that Jesus say, but again eyewitnesses that spoke of this saying, we say it to! this is truth. Jesus was the son of God and these are His words that where given to us by Him. This is in reference to the Transfiguration on the mount. When Jesus was revealed Himself in glory and majesty to a few of the disciples. They saw Jesus revealed in glory as the God the son. We can know that What Jesus said and taught is truth, this is all to say that the truth of God we have now, has been affirmed by God and we can trust it and live by it for all to see the glory of the living God. You see we have the word of God, given by the prophets of old, fulfilled in the life of Jesus through the eyewitness of the apostles. This word we have here that shines light into our lives in the darkness that we face. Warren Wiersbe said that

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Two: Wake up and Remember! (2 Peter 1:12–21)

men die, but the Word lives, and experiences fade, but the Word remains.

The experiences we have fade away, the emotional experiences we have tend to fade away and then times get hard. If your faith has been based on emotional experiences you had it is not enough, it will not last. But the word of Gd remains forever, it is our truth and we need to go back to it.

19-21 - Spoke through man

We live in a dark world that keeps getting worse and worse. We have the word of God we are told that teaches us they way in which we should walk, how to live a life for God. But what we learn is that it is a light in the darkness. The word of God shines a message of hope into the world around us.

2 Peter 1:19 CSB

19 We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

This Prophetic word, this word has been confirmed by God. The same word that was spoken by the OT prophets, is confirmed through the life of Jesus. We to have the prophetic word given to us, the bible. Not only that we are told to pay attention to it, and why do we do that? It is compared to a light shining in the darkness. Like a lamp on to our feet and a light onto our path we are told. It lights the way for us, it shines light into the darkness we face and shows us the way in which we need to go. To live a light for God.

This is a thing we are to do till we go home to be with the Lord we are told, or till we see Him again. Until the day dawns is a reference to the second coming of Jesus. a cross reference to that is

Romans 13:12 CSB

12 The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

and the phrase here “the morning star is a reference to the messiah that is going to come again on that day. We can go back to the book of Numbers to see the phrase used there as well.

Numbers 24:17 CSB

17 I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.

It points to a time of great hope. This word of God that w have, and we end with a reminder that though the word was spoken through man it was given to them by God.

2 Peter 1:20–21 CSB

20 Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The prophets of old did not interpret by their own words, what they gave us was spoken by God. The false teachers , like they are now, are interpreting scripture in a way that is false though they claim it to be truth. It is through the HS the the word of God is interpreted. The scriptures are God breathed, not the interpretations of man but through the spirit. Since it was given to us by the will of God it can not be understood by the will of man. The false teachers we see claim to be interpreting through the HS, but they will be found out by you being in the word of God, taking it as a whole book, in the context of the whole bible interpreted by the work of the spirit.

We must have a love, a desire for the coming of Jesus again, it must be a shining star in our hearts, a hope for all to see. We must get back to the word of God.

So what?

I remember once when I was in Germany I was in the crowd during a worship concert. They sang in German, but I knew the band well enough to know they where singing to God. I did not know the words, but I could feel God at work that night and it brought me to tears. That has happened a few times to me over the years but there have also been times where my faith was low and I felt like pulling a Jonah and running away from God. If I where to rely on my emotional experiences alone for my faith in Jesus i may not be living for God now.

There are many false teachers that either twist the word of God, or try and get you to base your faith on emotional experiences. But what we read here, what we have to know is that we need to get back to the Bible and trust it as the complete word of God.

Experiences fade but the word remains

It is not myths we follow, not cleverly contrived stories but the word of God. Experiences fad, men live and die but the word of God endures forever. When we found the dead sea scrolls I would have liked to have seen the faces of the archaeologists when they started to compare them to the word of God we have now! What we have is the word of God and though emotional experiences are okay, they can bolster our faith we must get back to the word of God, for it is the ever enduring word of God.

It is based on Eyewitness account

because of the proof we have, we know that what we have is from people that where actually there with Jesus!We can trust it to be the truth of God. Jesus is who said He is and we can trust that this word that we have can chage our lives.

It is a light in the darkness

The word of God does not leave us without hope we are told it is a light that points the way in the darkness. It points to a time when Jesus is coming back, and we will go to be with Him. You want to know what life has in store for you? go back to the word of God. Do you fear being led astray by false teachers? go back to the trustworthy word of God. Are you struggling? find hope in the word of God. Ask The HS for guidance, for understanding comes only from Him.

so what is the point? We are told to grow closer to God, we learn how to do that from His word. We are told the word of God is a lie, it has changed to much, the proof says otherwise. We must go back to the word of God so as not to be led astray, it is life changing. Be alert! wake up and remember the word of God.