The Inspired Word

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Intro:

Good morning.
For many of the sermons this year, as we have said, we’re going with a theme of “Back to Basics.”
That’s certainly true for the topic this morning - “The Inspired Word.”
Let’s go to the all familiar passage found in 2 Timothy 3:15-17:
2 Timothy 3:15–17 NKJV
and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Let’s start this morning by a quick breakdown of verse 16, and then after that, I want to talk about some proofs for the inspiration of Scripture.
(And there are a lot of them! But we will look at several this morning).

2 Tim. 3:16

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
5 Key words or phrases we want to look at quickly.
Inspiration:
The Greek Word here is theopneustos.
It literally means “God-breathed.”
It conveys the idea that the Scriptures came literally and completely and directly from the mouth of God!
Now God used some 40 human authors to write the words down, that’s true!
But He INSPIRED them (theopneustos) (God breathed to them) every Word!
Doctrine:
The Greek word here is didaskalia.
It means “teaching.”
The things that Jesus taught, the things that the apostles taught, the things that Moses taught, and the prophets and other inspired men in the O.T. taught …
They are all in agreement — And amazing fact when you consider that some 40-ish men separated into various geographic locations and separated by two or three thousand years all agree with the major theme of the Bible — God created man, man sinned, man needed a Savior!
Correct doctrine, correct teaching is important!
1 Tim. 4:6 - “If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.”
2 John 1:9 - “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.”
2 Tim. 2:2 - “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
Reproof:
This word actually does not mean “rebuke.”
I used to think that. Rebuke is more in line with our next word “correction.”
Reproof in the Greek is the word elegmos and it means to convince, convict, or prove.
So the Scriptures give us everything we need to convince people the truth about God, convict of sin, and prove the need for Jesus as Savior!
Correction:
This is the Greek word epanorthosis and it means “correction” or “improvement.”
It’s also the idea of fixing a mistake.
So when someone sins, they need correction, they need repentance, they need rebuke, they need improvement to fix the mistake.
And then finally …
Instruction in Righteousness:
The Greek is paideia en dikaiosyne, which means “nurture or instruction or training in righteousness, in proper mindset, in Biblical worldview.”
I love that word paideia, I’ve preached a sermon on it (It’s also found in Eph. 6:4) and if you want to go back and review on the meaning of that word, we have it on Sermon of the Week with the podcast network.
So those were the concepts we need to glean from 2 Timothy3:16 - namely, the Bible contains everything we need for all of that!
Now with the time we have remaining, I’d like to look at some …

Proofs for the Inspiration of the Scriptures:

There are many that we could look at, but we will look at several that are some of my favorites.
These really are amazing, and there’s no way to explain around these other than to say the Bible HAS to be inspired by God!
I want to tell you about I resource I have called “Believe the Bible.”
I’ve mentioned a week or two ago the resource called “Back to the Bible,” which is great for evangelism.
Well, “Believe the Bible” is great for PRE-evangelism, we might say.
What do I mean by that?
Well, let’s say you go to try to have a Bible study with somebody, but they say, “Oh, I don’t believe the Bible. No thanks.”
That’s where “Believe the Bible” comes in!
“You don’t believe the Bible? Would you mind telling me why not?”
“Well, I just think the Bible is too outdated, and it was written for a different time.”
“I believe in a Higher Power, but I’m not sure about the God of the Bible.”
Etc. Etc. Etc.
That’s when you say, “Well, I just so happen to have these booklets called Believe the Bible. There are three of them. Would you be open to discussing what’s in them sometime?”
And if they say yes, you’ve just got yourself a pre-evangelism Bible study, if you will! (You’ve got to get them to BELIEVE the Bible, and then you can have a Bible study with them!)
Most of these evidences for the inspiration of the Scriptures are found in this resource.
Isaiah 40:22 NKJV
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
Now how did Isaiah know that the earth was a circle, or a sphere?!
When he wrote this book well before the time of Christ?
Isaiah wrote in the 700s BC I believe it was.
When did scientists begin to figure out that the earth is a sphere?
Pythagoras in the 500s BC began to float the idea around, and it was Aristotle a couple centuries after that who was able to, in fact, confirm it.
And then a man by the name of Eratosthenes figured out the circumference of the earth in 240 BC.
And Isaiah knew it a few hundred years before! How? (He was inspired by God to know it).
Genesis 6:15 NKJV
And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
This ratio of 300:50:30 (which reduces down to 30:5:3) is literally the PERFECT ratio for a seaworthy vessel.
If you want a FAST ship, then it’s a different ratio, but if you want a SEAWORTHY vessel that can carry a ton of cargo and not capsize, then 30:5:3 is the perfect ratio, and the US Navy used this ratio in WW2 to build cargo ships for that very reason!
How did Noah know that?
Because God told him!
Ecclesiastes 1:7 NKJV
All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.
Ecclesiastes 11:3 NKJV
If the clouds are full of rain, They empty themselves upon the earth; And if a tree falls to the south or the north, In the place where the tree falls, there it shall lie.
Amos 9:6 NKJV
He who builds His layers in the sky, And has founded His strata in the earth; Who calls for the waters of the sea, And pours them out on the face of the earth— The Lord is His name.
Job 36:27–30 NKJV
For He draws up drops of water, Which distill as rain from the mist, Which the clouds drop down And pour abundantly on man. Indeed, can anyone understand the spreading of clouds, The thunder from His canopy? Look, He scatters His light upon it, And covers the depths of the sea.
What are all these verses talking about?
The water cycle! (Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, then evaporation again!)
How did all of these Bible writes know these scientific concepts before science figured it out?
God inspired their knowledge of it and they wrote it down!
Psalm 8:8 NKJV
The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas.
What’s being described here?
Ocean currents!
The father of oceanography, Matthew F. Maury, and American naval officer, read this passage in Psalm 8, and set out to map the ocean “paths” we now call currents — and that he did!
He is considered the very first oceanographer (basically a geologist of the oceans), and he contributed a lot to this field.
Here is what Matthew F. Maury had to say: “I have been blamed by men of science, both in this country and in England, for quoting the Bible in confirmation of the doctrines of physical geography. The Bible, they say, was not written for scientific purposes, and is therefore no authority in matters of science. I beg pardon! The Bible is authority for everything it touches. What would you think of an historian who should refuse to consult historical records of the Bible, because the Bible was not written for the purposes of history? The Bible is true and science is true.”
(The Bible does have some science in it [scientific foreknowledge], and the Bible definitely has a lot of history in it! Even though the Bible is not a science or history textbook, it’s a book of theology; it still has elements of science and history to it, and can be trusted in both fields!)
Genesis 17:12 NKJV
He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
I’ve mentioned this before, but what is significant about the 8th day?
That’s when vitamin K levels surge in a newborn, and vitamin K is essential for what? Blood clotting.
Thus, the 8th day is the safest day to perform a circumcision so the child doesn’t bleed too much, and God knew that!
Let’s look at a few more …
Leviticus 17:11 NKJV
For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’
For many, many years physicians mistakenly practiced bloodletting.
They thought that sickness was caused by “bad blood,” and so their thinking was — You’ve got to get it out!
Thus, they would bleed the patient with razor blades or leeches, and of course patients that lost too much blood ended up dying.
If only they had made the connection to Lev. 17:11, they would have realized that the life of the flesh is IN the blood; therefore, blood letting was a bad idea!
Isaiah 44:28 NKJV
Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,” And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’
Isaiah 45:1 NKJV
“Thus says the Lord to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
These are prophecies of Cyrus, that he would let God’s people return to Judea after the Babylonian captivity.
And this prophecy was uttered about 150 years before the Persian King Cyrus was even born!

Conclusion:

What is the bottom line?
The bottom line is that there is PLENTY of evidence for the inspiration of the Scriptures.
We can trust the Bible — It contains everything we need for life and for godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
2 Timothy 3:16–17 NKJV
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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(Give invitation).
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