Word of God

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all having a great day so far. I know that some of you got here early and hung out with everyone, and some of you got here a little late because you are commited to worshipping with everyone. The good news is that immediately following the service we will have another time to hang out and chat before we get to Sunday School and so whether you were here early or late, we still get to hang out and have a good time together right after service. We also get to have all of our kids go back to their amazing teachers now. We clearly have the best Kids Teachers in Ogle county so don’t forget to thank your teachers for all that they are doing for your family and your kids right now. As a matter of fact, go ahead and pull out your phone and send a text thanking one of your kids teachers right now…If you don’t have their numbers, then ask them when you pick up your kids after church this morning. I also want to welcome those of you that are joining us online this morning. Whether you are joining us live, or though one of the Podcast streams later this week we are excited that you have found us and pray you will be blessed as you focus a little on the Gospel with us today.

Now, this morning I have to tell you that I am really excited about this new sermon series that we are starting this morning. We are going to be doing a series called, “I Believe” and this series is all about the doctrines that we believe as a church. I am going to be picking some of these and going over them, and then maybe next summer we will hit the rest of them. Now....I know what you are thinking, Doctrines? This does not sound exciting at all...” Well…that’s only because you don’t know what doctrine really is do you? You see every faith tradition, or even political party, or other organization has a set of doctrines or beliefs that everything they do must align with.

But here's the fun part: Doctrine isn't just a dry list of rules and regulations. No, it's more like the secret sauce that adds flavor and zest to our faith journey. It's like the glitter sprinkled on a Sunday school craft or the extra marshmallows in your hot chocolate on a chilly winter day. Doctrine brings depth, understanding, and a touch of divine wisdom to our walk with God, making it vibrant, exciting, and oh-so-satisfying. So for our purposes here we are going to say that Doctrine is a set of guiding principles that helps us navigate the twists and turns of life, Kine of like a GPS for our souls. It's like having a roadmap that leads us to the ultimate destination of deepening our relationship with God and living a life that reflects His love and grace.

Why do we want to study doctrines? Well, because this is not just some dusty old concepts that gather dust on the shelves of theology books. No, these doctrines, that we are going to look at, are the bedrock of our faith. They are the building blocks that shape our understanding of who God is, what He has done for us, and how we are to live in response to His love. That’s not the only reason though, take a look at

1 Peter 3:15 (ESV)

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

You see, we are also told to be prepared to give a defense of what we believe. Well, in order to give a defense of what we believe…we kind of have to know what we believe, so…we are going to take a few weeks and study some of the doctrines that guide us as a church...And today, we're starting with the granddaddy of them all—

The Doctrine of the Bible.

The Bible, my friends, is not just any book. It's not a collection of outdated fairy tales or a self-help manual that promises instant success. No, the Bible is God's divine revelation to humanity, a love letter written across the ages, inviting us into a deeper relationship with our Creator. It's like the ultimate instruction manual for life, with everything we need to navigate the twists and turns of this crazy world.

But let's be honest, sometimes we can approach the Bible with a little fear, right, a little caution? We open it up, and suddenly we're faced with a genealogy that makes our head spin or a list of laws that seems more confusing than understanding quantum physics. You know what…it's okay; we've all been there! That’s ok....today we are going to start off by looking at why we actually believe what is written in the pages of Scripture.

So, grab your Bibles, dust off those bookmarks, and get ready to dive into this extraordinary journey. We'll be exploring the depths of God's Word together, learning, laughing, and growing as a family. And who knows, by the end of this series, you might just find yourself quoting Scripture left and right, leaving your friends in awe and wondering if you've joined a secret society of biblical scholars....and maybe they will be right…it’s just not a secret :)

But before we jump into the nitty-gritty of the doctrine of the Bible, let's take a moment to pray and ask for God's guidance and understanding as we open His Word. So, join me in prayer, and let's invite the Holy Spirit to be our guide, our teacher, and our source of wisdom as we dig-in on this journey through the doctrine of the Bible.

Prayer

John MacArthur says, The doctrine of Scripture is absolutely fundamental and essential because it identifies the only true source for all Christian truth.

Now, let me ask you…raise your hand if you know what we believe, as a church, about the Bible?

Give a chance for hands to raise, and ask a few people to share.

That’s really good stuff there, and much of it fits into what we believe as a church. This morning I am going to tell you exactly what we believe as a church, and then we will talk about the why a little bit. Now, this is not going to be a 3 point sermon with an opening and a conclusion like normal pastors preach. You see, you guys hired me becuase, well...Im not really normal. So we are going to discuss this doctrine of the Bible and understand why we believe what we believe, but First of all, as a church

We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

(II Timothy 3:15-17; II Peter 1:19-21; Matthew 24:35; John 5:39; Romans 15:4; Psalms 119:89; Isaiah 55:8-11; I Peter 1:23) Now there are alot of big claims right there and you might ask yourself, How can we actually believe this stuff with confidence? Well, first of all, let’s look at

What the Bible says about the Bible

Yeah, thats as good as any place to start with. Let me tell you the main verse that we look to as a church to define the doctrine of the Bible

2 Timothy 3:16–17 (ESV)

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

So let’s break down the main points of our statement about the Bible. First of all, The Bible is the Word of God.

Scripture repeatedly claims to be the Word of God. The prophets in the Old Testament appealed to it as the foundation for God’s promises and judgments. Christ and his apostles based the whole of Christian doctrine on the Scriptures. Over 2,500 times in the Old Testament alone the Bible asserts that God spoke what is written within its pages. From the beginning to the end and continually throughout, this is what the Old Testament claims.

The phrase “the word of God” occurs over forty times in the New Testament. It is equated with the Old Testament. It was what Jesus preached. It was the message the apostles taught. It was the word the Samaritans received as given by the apostles. It was the message the Gentiles received as preached by Peter. It was the word Paul preached on his first, second, and third missionary journey. It was the focus of Luke in the book of Acts, who recounted its wide and rapid spread. Paul was also careful to tell the Corinthians that he spoke the word as it was given from God, that it had not been changed, and that it was a manifestation of the truth. And Paul acknowledged it as the source of his preaching.

We read in

Genesis 1:3 (ESV)

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

We can rest assured that #1. Scripture is the Word of God.

Thats not all though is it? I mean our statement requires more than Scripture being the Word of God. We also made the claim that Scripture is inspired and without error…That’s a pretty big claim right there. So where did that claim come from? Well, I will start with the idea that Scripture is without error, because that is a claim that many people use to try and discredit Scripture, and I want you to know the truth here.

This week I googled how many mistakes and contradictions are in the Bible. It’s interesting what I found. Feel free to look for yourself. I saw anywhere from 800 to 50,000 mistakes and contradictions are found in Scripture. Of course it depends on which site you look at and what they are using as a mistake or contradiction. For instance, some will point to the different genealogies of Jesus that are found in Matthew and Luke. How can this person come from two totally different genealogical lines? Or they will point to the flood of Noah and say something like, “Science has proven that there was never a world wide flood, and every legendary creation myth has some sort of flood story, so clearly this is untrue.” Well, we aren’t going to get into every single myth that is used to attempt to discredit Scripture as the Word of God, but I do want you to understand that the Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors over a period of around 1,500 years. Each writer wrote with a different style, from a different perspective, to a different audience, for a different purpose. Just because there is literary and language differences does not mean that the Scripture is not actually unified. We looked earlier this year at the Best Selling Book of all time and I will point you back to listen to that series on one of our podcast options (Google, Apple, Spotify) to see some more specific thoughts about that book. However, I will tell you that it is only an error if there is absolutely no conceivable way the verses or passages can be reconciled. Even if an answer is not available right now, that does not mean an answer does not exist, right. Time and time again people have found a supposed error in the Bible in relation to history or geography only to find out that the Bible is correct once further archaeological evidence is discovered…and there is constantly new archeological evidence being discovered.

So, what does it mean to say that the Bible is without error? Without error, when applied to Scripture, means that the Bible is without error in the original copies. It is therefore free, when properly interpreted, from affirming anything that is untrue or contrary to fact. In other words, the Bible is the model for what is true and right. Paul claimed that Scripture is inspired by God. It is the product of God’s own work through human authors by the power of his Spirit . Since these written words are the words of the God of truth, they must be without error. Inspiration deals with the "how” Scripture was composed, but it also directly implies that it is the work of God. Later as Jesus is praying to the Father in heaven her says,

John 17:17 (ESV)

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

If God’s word is truth…then #2. All Scripture is without error.

Now, Scripture being without error is completely tied up in how we have the actual words of Scripture today and the idea that Scripture is fully inspired, and written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The revelation of God was captured in the writings of Scripture by means of inspiration, which has more to do with the process by which God revealed himself than the fact of his self-revelation. We understand where the inspiration of the Bible came from. You see, in 2. Tim we read that “All Scripture is breathed out by God”, meaning that it is written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Then look at this in

2 Peter 1:21 (ESV)

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

You see, Peter explains the process, or the means that the Scripture came to be. By this means, or this process, the Word of God was protected from human error in its original record by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Now, it is very important that we understand this is according to the original manuscripts though isn’t it. I mean, there have been bad translations over the years. For instance, the Passion Translation is a horrible translation and should never be used. Then there is the Message translation that is a beautiful poetic way to read Scripture devotionally, but should always be paired with a true translation. Then of course there is the New World Translation which is the Jehovah’s Witness translation of the Bible where they have added and taken away from all parts of Scripture in order to “prove” their theology. That is only a few…

This is why it is important to understand how a particular translation was made. What manuscripts did they use in order to put together this English translation that you are reading. For instance, the King James Version of the Bible used what is called the “Textus Receptus”, or recieved text. Now that is a fine set of manuscripts, but the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls showed a few discrepancies with that particular translation. It seems that the scribes who wrote the scrolls that were used in the Textus Receptus made a few changes along the way and so the more modern translations today use some earlier and more reliable manuscripts. Now, the changes they made are all in line with Biblical teachings, but there were some small scribal shifts as well as a few additions in order to round out particular passages. So, in other words, they use manuscripts that are closer in time to when the original authors wrote them. So while KJV is a fine translation and everything in that translation is affirmed throughout Scripture…from a scholarly perspective, it is not the most accurate to the original manuscripts. That is why we do not use that translation as a default…becuase we want to honor the inspiration of the original manuscripts. Now, all of that to say that #3. The Holy Spirit directed human authors to write the words that we see here.

Finally, assuming of course at this point that the Bible is the Word of God. And…if it is the Word of God, then it carries the authority of God. In a biblical worldview, original and ultimate authority resides with God and God alone. God did not inherit his authority—there was no one to will it to him. God did not receive his authority—there was no one to give it to him. God was not elected to authority—there was no one to vote for him. God did not take his authority—there was no one to steal it from. God did not earn his authority—becuase it was already his.

So, since Christian teaching is all about biblical authority. Christians must affirm a high view of Scripture and doctrine. But with equal importance, you also have to make Scripture the basis for translating sound Christian doctrine into godly living. Simply put, Christian doctrine serves as the constitution of godly living. Just like the skeleton is to the body or oxygen is to breathing, doctrine proves indispensable to Christianity. Without Scripture, believers would be stripped of truth in their effort to live out the faith.

Therefore, right here we have the we have the reason for the last statement about the Bible having supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct. You see, we actually believe that #4.The Bible has given everything needed for life and godliness.We read that in,

2 Peter 1:3 (ESV)

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Now that was alot of information and hopefully alot of foundational information for this series as we seek to understand why we believe what we believe. I do want to share a couple of things that will give us some additional scientific information about the historicity of the Bible, or more specifically, the New Testament. So....get your pen ready here. There are 5686 handwritten manuscripts of the NT (some from 2nd and 3rd centuries). There are 9000 major early translations of the NT (in other languages) 36,289 quotations from the 2nd and 3rd centuries make the entire NT (except for 11 verses) completely reproducible. The number of NT manuscripts overwhelm any other writings from antiquity . For example, Homer’s “Iliad” has the most at 643 manuscripts. Most writings from antiquity that our culture sees as reliable have less than 10 manuscripts, with only 5 writings having more than 10. That is a pretty big number…

Then there is the date. The earliest NT documents are from 25 years after the books were written. The earliest to full books 150yrs, earliest to whole Bible 200yrs. These copies are being copied during the lives of the authors and the other witnesses and other contemporaries These books were written within years of the actual events Some people will wrongly argue that the NT was written in the 2nd century as anonymous writers and contain mythical and fictional events. However, in order for something to become myth or legend you need at least 2 full generations (so there are not at the same time) and remoteness of the event (Jesus’ resurrection was in Jerusalem not some back woods village)

Lastly let’s look at the accuracy of the translations. Scholars have looked at the Scriptures we use today with the earliest manuscripts as they are found, and here is what they say. Metzger, a highly regarded scholar says that the NT has been transmitted with 99.5% accuracy. That brings to question the .5% though doesn’t it…Well, the .5% does not affect doctrines. These are not missing text, this is just scribal error, notes, that have been incorporated. In other words, an extra period or a space where there was no space. Metzger also compared the Hindu bible and the Illiad and found the NT to be more accurate than those. A.T.Robertson, another NT scholar, says that the NT is at least 99.9% accurate. Then Nestle & Aland say that it is 96.84%. You see the point is that there is a general consensus with highly regarded scholars that everything we have today meshes with everything they had then...

What does all of this to for us today? Well, it means that we can trust what we read in Scripture as true, which means we can apply everything we read in Scripture to our own lives to see how to live a life more pleasing to the Lord. We can also be assured about the reality of sin and the judgement that will await those who have ignored the words in this book. We can also know how to avoid the judgement of the wicked that we will face, and instead be filled with the Grace of God. On top of that we read that Jesus came to give us life, and not just any life, but to give us an abundant life. You see, with this book, which is the best selling book of all time, we can choose to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, or a life that is pleasing to self, and we can know the difference.

Listen, I know this was alot and I want to say that if you are here this morning and you are struggling to understand how Scripture applies to your life or your situation, then please reach out and let’s get together and talk. There is alot of conversation in our culture about self care and counseling…almost every add I see on YouTube is for an app called “Better Help” that offers counseling for whatever you need…listen, every one of those counselors, as good as they may be at making you feel better…is not offering you the truth of Scripture. They are offering the “truth” of this world, which is born of the prince of lies and the great deceiver that we read about throughout Scripture. If you want help understanding the answers that only Scriptures can give, then reach out to me in person, by text, or online and we can discuss the realities of Scripture and how that applies to your life. I will tell you though, when you are faced with Scripture its not always easy because you have to confront the realities of your own sin, but you also have the hope of the only one who never sinned…Jesus Christ.

Next week we will begin talking about the Trinity of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and try to understand the three persons of the Godhead…at least a little bit.

Lets Pray...