Sermon Tone Analysis

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

* *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 competent, equipped for every good work.[1]

God is described as the One who never lies [*Titus 1:2*].

If God cannot lie, we should enjoy great confidence in the veracity and in the accuracy of the Bible.

This is especially true if it can be demonstrated that the Bible is the Word of God.

Of course, the Scriptures are frequently identified as the Word of God.

Here are a few examples.

To the Corinthians, Paul affirmed the ministry of the missionary band which had ministered to them when he wrote, we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ [*2 Corinthians 2:17*].

He denied any tendency of those same missionaries to play fast and loose with the revealed Word of God.

He wrote, we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways.

We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word [*2 Corinthians 4:2*].

He claimed in the Colossian letter that he became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known [*Colossians 1:25*].

The message he had declared, and which was also placed in written form, was received not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers [*1 Thessalonians 2:13*].

The food we eat is to be received with thanksgiving, because it is made holy by the word of God and prayer [*1 Timothy 4:5*].

Despite being bound with chains as though he were a criminal, the Apostle could nevertheless rejoice because the word of God is not bound [*2 Timothy 2:9*]!

Older women are responsible to train younger women to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled [*Titus 2:5*].

In this brief study of a few of the instances where the Scriptures are spoken of as the Word of God, it should be apparent that the words written in your Bible should be received with confidence.

This is the inerrant, infallible Word of God.

We are not at the mercy of mere emotion or subject to the whims of mere mortals to reveal the mind of God.

We have something more sure, the prophetic word [*2 Peter 1:19*], to which we may resort.

We have a revelation which did not arise in the will of mere mortals long dead, but we know that men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit [*2 Peter 1:21*].

It is this infallible book to which we turn our attention in this hour.

In all the world, there exists no other book, no other Word, which can be said to be infallible—flawless.

I ask you to focus with me on the last letter from the Apostle, written to Timothy, his erstwhile travelling companion who had been appointed to the pastorate of the Church in Ephesus.

In *2 Timothy 3:14-17* we find our text.

The Setting of the Revelation — In the preceding verses [*2 Timothy 3:10-13*], the Apostle sets the stage for this particular revelation which concerns the Word of God.

Without that setting, we will be bereft of the meaning of what God chooses to reveal.

You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

I understand the revelation to indicate that as time moves toward a conclusion, the Word of God will be increasingly doubted.

The godly will experience increasing persecution as the age moves to its consummation.

Evil people and impostors will increasingly be evident as the age nears its end.

This does not necessarily mean that the saints will be jailed or tortured, though that possibility does exist.

What is more evident is that the people of God who believe the Word will be increasingly marginalised.

I read the news reports and I am dismayed to realise that the Word of God anticipated the conditions prevailing in these last days.

Increasingly, scholars, even those supported through the gifts of evangelicals and Baptist, cast doubt on the Word of God.

Clark Pinnock was during the 1960s a biblical scholar who strongly defended the Bible as inerrant and infallible.

He was assured that God is sovereign, omnipotent and omniscient.

Today, Professor Pinnock, paid with moneys donated by the Baptists of Canada, is an universalist—he believes everyone will be saved.

He is an avowed annihilationist—he denies that God would condemn any soul to hell.

He no longer believes the Bible to be accurate or authoritative.

He ridicules those who hold to the positions he once espoused.

He is just one of a growing multitude of professors who have deserted the Faith, and who teaches what people desire to assuage their itching ears.

Increasingly, Christians are marginalised.

Let me give an example to illustrate what I mean.

On September 11, 2001, a day of international infamy, Islamic thugs pirated aeroplanes belonging to companies registered in the United States of America and turned those planes into great, flying bombs to murder thousands of innocent people in New York and Washington, D.C.  Immediately, government leaders around the world began to worry that Muslims would be insulted if it were acknowledged that young, Arabic males between the ages of seventeen and forty-four were the murderers.

Christians, especially, were cautioned to be careful in their speech.

Islam, we are constantly assured, is a religion of peace.

That is true, if you accept the peace of the graveyard.

In an article published in Christianity Today, Jeff Sellers states that “no Friday passes without at least one … execution in the public square [in the Saudi capital of Riyadh] following the noon prayers.

Apostates—those who renounce Islam—are beheaded, and blasphemers—Christians—are hanged.[2]

Jerry Vines, Pastor of the First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida, speaking at the Pastors Conference of the Southern Baptist Convention during meetings in Saint Louis, Missouri, this past June, commented on the difference between Islam and Christianity.

Brother Vines described Muhammad as a “demon-possessed paedophile,” noting that there are vast differences between the Muslim faith and the Faith of Christ the Lord.

In this statement, he was iterating information provided by Muhammad himself.

For those of you who are sensitive to such matters, the Christian Faith does not teach young women to strap explosives to their bodies and kill grandmothers and babies in strollers.

The Christian Faith condemns the wanton slaughter of innocent men and women through self-immolation.

The Christian Faith never promises sexual gratification for those who murder the innocent.

The evidence suggests that sincere Muslims do not worship the same God that calls all mankind to life in Jesus His Son.

For your information, the Hadith [volume 7, book 6, number 64 and 65], a highly respected source for Islamic teaching among Muslim clerics and followers, verifies that Muhammad married a six-year-old girl and consummated the marriage when she was nine.

A lengthy passage from the Hadith [volume 1, book 1, chapter 1] shows that Muhammad himself believed he was under demonic influence.

This is not bigotry to cite the very source Muslims wish to impose on the entire world.

It is but calling people to think—a most neglected practise in this day late in the age.

Instead of weighing what was said and considering the authenticity of the source cited, religionists and politicians and journalists alike rushed to condemn the ignorant preacher who dared make such a statement.

The overreaction appeared calculated to ensure that every Christian will learn to keep his or her mouth shut and continue in the meek manner expected of them by the ever-vigilant world of modern tolerance.

The fact of the matter is, the one whom Muslims call Allah is vastly different from the God that Christians worship.

The God that Christians worship is a God of love, mercy and grace who has already provided for eternal life through the death and resurrection of his Son.

Islam, like all other religions, is a religion of works and fear.

Pastor Vines is a godly pastor, and a genuine Christian who desires to see all people come to knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ and place their faith in Him.

It is important to note that he certainly did not question the rights of Muslims to believe what they believe, nor would his Baptist convictions ever permit him to coerce by force anyone else to become a Christian.

He simply spoke what he felt was the truth in love.

One thing that Bible-believing Christians and Muslims faithful to their own beliefs both agree on is this—truth matters supremely.

Muslims believe they have the truth.

We Christians believe we have the truth.

However, the one truth that every Muslim must confront is this truth—that Jesus Christ Himself said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through Me [*John 14:6*].

This statement was made by a man in whom anyone has yet to find any sin.

That cannot be said of Mohammed or anyone else.

Well, should we be surprised at the lack of perspicuity displayed by the pluralists?

God clearly warned through this letter drafted by His holy Apostle that all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

I fully anticipate that the spokespeople for this fallen world are incapable of recognising truth, much less espousing truth.

If they should speak the truth, it would only be an accidental and incidental utterance.

The Foundation Undergirding the Word of God —All Scripture is breathed out by God [pa`sa grafh; qeovpneusto"].

Breathed out by God is the translation of one Greek word qeovpneusto", a biblical hapax.

Under the influence of the Vulgate *inspirata*, the English rendering of qeovpneusto" has for centuries been *inspired by God*.

qeovpneusto" is a compound word, made up of two Greek words—qeov", [*God*], and pnein [aorist pneu(")], *to breathe*—with the verbal adjectival ending –to".  Literally, *all Scripture is God-breathed*.[3]

The image conveyed suggests God blowing through an instrument, much as one would play a flute or a trumpet.[4]

God is at work providing Scripture, guiding those who write and superintending their words to ensure that what is written is true and in keeping with His divine will.

It is not that God mechanically dictated every word of the Bible, but it does speak of the fact that He energised and guarded those who wrote, thus ensuring that all which was written is accurate and trustworthy.

Today, we say that the Bible is inerrant and infallible.

God provided a perfect revelation of all that is beneficial for us and of all that reveals His Person to us.

This statement concerning the imagery conveyed by this singular word raises a question of some importance.

What is the meaning of the adjective breathed out by God?

Is the word active in meaning, which would suggest that all Scripture has an inspiring effect?

If the word is active, it indicates that Scripture is filled with God’s breath and that it breathes out the Spirit of God.[5]

In this case, it would mean that the Word is energised as I read it.

Though this is true, we should be careful not to impose on the Word our thoughts.

Is the word passive in meaning, suggesting that all Scripture has its origin in God, is the product of the breath of God?

The Greek word (qeovpneusto") contains the suffix –to", which frequently suggests a passive meaning.[6]

Ultimately, the issue is decisively settled by Professor Warfield who demonstrates that in patristic literature the word qeovpneusto" bears “a uniformly passive significance, rooted in the idea of the creative breath of God.”[7]

He further indicates that this conclusion is confirmed by “the consideration that compounds of verbals ending in –to" with qeov" normally express an effect produced by God’s activity.”[8]