Preservation (Part 2)

Review

Turn to Matthew 4

After inspiration, preservation is the second link in the chain of communication from God to man.

God has promised to providentially preserve His Word.

We studied several of these promises last week. We accept this reality by faith, believing that God has sovereignly kept this promise throughout history.

Introduction

Sometime between 900 and 1100 AD, a project was undertaken in the Byzantine Empire to compile a massive encyclopedia. It contained over 30,000 entries on subjects including history, ancient religion, and biographical sketches of classical authors. It was called the Suda.

The book relied heavily on quoting other encyclopedias, commentators, and historians. That fact makes this book a treasure trove to historians today because it preserves direct quotations from...authors whose works otherwise vanished. In some cases, an entire author is known only because the Suda quoted them. It’s like a time capsule of lost Greek literature.

A similar dynamic exists between the New Testament and the Old. The New Testament contains 295 citations of the Old Testament.

A General Introduction to the Bible, Revised and Expanded

(approximately one verse of every 22.5). Allusions range from 613 to 4,105, depending on the criteria used.

One person said,

A General Introduction to the Bible, Revised and Expanded New Testament References to the Authenticity of Old Testament Books

Most of the controversial passages of the Old Testament are referred to, for example, the creation, Fall, Flood, miracles of Moses and Elijah, and Jonah in the great fish. Those are not just alluded to, they are authenticated as historical events by the New Testament. If these major miraculous events were considered authentic, there is no difficulty in seeing that the New Testament accepted the rest of the events of the Old Testament.

Let’s look at some examples.

Read Matthew 4:4

Jesus here cites Deuteronomy 8:3.

Read Matthew 4:6

Satan here cites Psalm 91:11-12.

Read Romans 15:9

Paul here cites Psalm 18:49.

Read Romans 15:10

Paul here cites Deuteronomy 32:43.

Read Romans 15:11

Paul here cites Psalm 117:1.

Read Romans 15:12

Paul here cites Isaiah 11:10.

Next slide here

“Every quote of the Old Testament in the New Testament assumes that the Old Testament has been preserved.” - Pastor Frank Camp

As you read through the New Testament, perhaps you should mark every time a writer quotes or alludes to some passage in the Old Testament. It might surprise you how often it happens.

A General Introduction to the Bible, Revised and Expanded New Testament References to the Authority of Old Testament Books

In summary, of… [all the books in the Old Testament] (all but Judges, Chronicles, Esther, and Song of Solomon) are quoted or referred to as authoritative.

A General Introduction to the Bible, Revised and Expanded New Testament References to the Authenticity of Old Testament Books

Several of the Judges are referred to in

This does not bring those books into question, it just simply means the New Testament writers had no specific reason in their writing to reference those books. Ultimately, then, we trust that the Lord lead the Old Testament scribes such as Ezra to include these books as part of the Old Testament canon exactly as He intended to.

We have seen that God has preserved His Word just like He promised that He would do. In the time remaining tonight, I want you to consider that another evidence for preservation has been the fact that it has proven indestructible.

Next slide here

God’s Word has proven indestructible

Edward Gibbon — in The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire dealt with this mainly when describing the Great Persecution under Emperor Diocletian.

Gibbon recounts that in February AD 303, Diocletian issued several edicts against Christians.

It was ordered that:

Christian churches be demolished.

Sacred Scriptures be burned.

Christian assemblies be prohibited.

Christians holding government positions be removed from office.

It was a systematic attempt to obliterate Christian writings. The Roman authorities searched out copies of the Gospels and other Scriptures, publicly burning them. It was intended to strike at the heart of Christian practice — by removing the source of its teaching. Some Christians betrayed their Scriptures (traditores) to avoid punishment, while others hid them at great personal risk.

We can find such attempts to destroy or silence God’s Word recorded in the Bible itself.

Turn to and read Jeremiah 36:20-26.

Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned the scroll of Scriptures that Jeremiah had written.

Turn to and read Amos 7:12-13

Amaziah the priest tried to silence Amos the prophet of God

Turn to and read Acts 12:1-2.

Herod attempted to eliminate and silence the eyewitnesses of the risen Christ - the ones who would preach and write about Him.

This has been the story of God’s Word throughout human history. Satan has made countless attempts to destroy it.

Conclusion

From Antiochus to Diocletian, from medieval censorship to modern totalitarianism, the pattern has been consistent:

Destroy physical copies.

Forbid possession or translation.

Control or distort the message.

Yet, as with Jehoiakim’s scroll in Jeremiah 36, the Bible has repeatedly been recopied, and spread again — often in greater numbers after persecution. Hundreds of years before you were born, God was keeping His promise to preserve the Scriptures. That is why you get to hold it today. God has kept His promise and He will do so into eternity.

History has memorialized some of the agents of protection that God used to preserve His Word. We will learn about some of these next week.