Why the Bible?

Introduction

Today we continue the series titled ‘Why?’ Where we are looking at more basic doctrines & teachings and simply explaining ‘why’ - ‘why’ we should do a thing.

The first issue that began it all was a message titled ‘Why Church?’ - where we looked at the importance of church, and why church should be a priority in our lives.

Why Church?

Because Jesus was Crucified for It

Because it’s God’s Chosen Vessel to Accomplish His Will

Because of Our Command

Because of Our Commission

Because of Our Concern

It shows whether we’re concerned about our Brethren, our Commission, our Command or even our Lord.

Why Train?

We looked at The Particulars, The Process & the Permanence of Training our Children

Today we’re going to look at another basic but essential in the lives of not only every Christian, but to every soul born of woman, for reasons we’ll discuss momentarily. We’re speaking today about ‘Why the Bible?’. What makes the Bible so special, and why should it be a major part of my life?

Church I want to make something clear first, and that is the Bible should be one of the most important things in your life. It should be something that you cherish, something that you make time for, something that it atop your list of things that you would desire to have if stranded on a deserted island.

So Why the Bible? First off - because of it’s Author

I. Because of it’s Author

2Pet. 1:20-21 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

The Words of God through the Pen of Men

(Ill.) On Friday a man by the name of Salmon Rushdie was stabbed. He is an author and wrote a book called “The Satanic Verses” back in 1988. The book dealt with a passage of Scripture in the Quran that evidently Muhammad stated, then recanted saying that Satan tempted him into saying it. Many muslims believed that Rushdie treated Muhammad irreverently and therefore issued a fatwa - which is essentially a bounty on his head.

(Ill.) I don’t know a lot of authors, as far as their work is concerned. One prominent author I thought of was Steven King. There’s a segment of our society that when they hear that there’s a new Steven King book out, they rush out and get it - because they have faith in the book being good because of the past work that he’s performed.

Church one reason why the Bible should mean something to us is simply because of the Author Himself. We’re talking about God!

After listing the six days of Creation the Bible tells us: Gen. 2:1 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” Think of that for a moment. Everything that you know - and everything that you don’t was Created by God in the span of 6 days! (And we’ve not really even scratched the surface of God’s Creation).

The Bible should be preeminent in our lives because of its Author.

Church - has God proved Himself to you? Has He done marvelous things in your life? If the only miracle God ever provided me was that of saving my wretched soul, I’d still stand amazed! But this should move us - in knowing His PAST works, get us looking into His ETERNAL WORD!

We should cherish the Bible because of it’s Author

Why the Bible? Because of the Author. Secondly, Because of it’s Accuracy

II. Because of it’s Accuracy

Psa. 12:6-7 “The words of the Lord are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”

Jesus said: Mat. 5:17-18 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.”

The Proof found in Prophesy

By one count, there are over 2,000 prophesies in Scripture, approximately 1,500 of them have been fulfilled already, with around 500 left. There are over 300 specific unto Jesus Himself that were fulfilled by Him alone!

I had this one illustration that I’d given in the past concerning just 5 prophesies of Jesus in the OT that He’d fulfilled in the NT. I don’t remember what exactly the mathematical & statistical odds were that one man could fulfill those 5 prophesies, but I remember the illustration of the number. If you covered the state of Texas in Silver dollars 2 feet deep and placed one specially marked Silver Dollar somewhere amongst them, the odds that one person could fulfill those 5 prophesies were the same is if you took one shot to randomly select that special silver dollar. That’s how astronomical the odds are that one person could fulfill those 5 prophesies, yet Jesus didn’t just fill 5, He fulfilled over 300!

Only a Sovereign God can write down today what will happen years from now!

Why the Bible? Because of the Proof found in Prophesy

The Proof of Preservation

Not only do we have the proof of Prophesy, but we have the Proof of Preservation.

Not only simple Preservation of Accuracy in every jot & tittle, but some others that I hope you get:

Preservation of Theme

God Seeking Man

We see it in the Garden w/ Adam - Gen. 3:9 “And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?”

Then we see it with Jesus - Luk. 19:10 “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Redemption through the Blood

In the Garden as well - Gen. 3:21 “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

We see it in Egypt - Ex. 12:13 “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.”

We see it through all the OT Sacrifices at the Tabernacle - Ex. / Lev.

We see it through Jesus - Rom. 5:8-9 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Preservation of Doctrine

Isa. 40:8 “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Judgment upon Sin

All throughout - Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, De, Josh, Jug, etc… Through the teachings of Jesus and the epistles & thru Revelation

Substitutionary Atonement

The animal in the garden instead of Adam

The ram on the mount instead of Isaac

The Christ on the Cross instead of you and I!

Salvation by Grace - Again all throughout. We see it in:

God showed Grace:

To Adam

To Abraham, Isaac, Jacob & Joseph

To Moses, the COI as a whole

David, Peter, Paul

And aren’t you thankful He shows Grace to you and I?

Why the Bible? Because of the Author. Because of it’s Accuracy. Next, Because it’s Accessible

III. Because it’s Accessible

Martyrs have Died for it

Consider some of the penmen:

Matthew - “he wrote his gospel in Hebrew, for the use of the Jewish converts; but it was afterwards translated into Greek by St. James the Less. He then went to Ethiopia, ordained preachers, settled churches, and made many converts. He afterwards proceeded to Parthia, where he had the same success; but returning to Ethiopia, he was slain by a halberd in the city of Nadabar, about the year of Christ 60”

Mark - “He then went to Egypt, and constituted a bishopric at Alexandria: afterwards he proceeded to Lybia, where he made many converts. On returning to Alexandria, some of the Egyptians, exasperated at his success, determined on his death. They tied his feet, dragged him through the streets, left him bruised in a dungeon all night, and the next day burned his body.”

Luke - “was hanged by priests of Greece on an olive tree”

Peter - “Having been nine months in prison, Peter was brought from thence for execution, when after being severely scourged, he was crucified with his head downwards; which position, however, was at his own request.

Paul - “Was imprisoned for two years, then beheaded by the order of Nero”

William Tyndale was one of the first to translate the original greek & Hebrew into english. He stood against the Catholic church - because the teachings of the Catholic Church did - AND DO - run contrary to the Word of God. Unfortunately, many of the unlearned didn’t know that because they didn’t have the Word of God in their language to compare it to. Because of William Tyndale’s labor for the LORD in the Scriptures, he was taken, imprisoned for 1.5 years, strangled at the stake and then his body burned.

It’s because of their sacrifice and that of many others, that you have it today!

Martyrs have died for it

Our Forefathers Relied on it

(In Sunday School today) we we spent time examining the mindset of our founding fathers, the way they viewed the Word of God and the role that it played in the formation of our country.

Church, God has richly blessed this country! Our country was founded upon the Word of God! We have strayed mightily since, but a legacy still remains, and that is we have the ability and the freedom to have, hold, study and meditate upon the Word of God!

There’s not a soul in this country that does not have access unto the Word of God! If I had to guess, every one of you has the Word of God in your house several times over! You have God’s Eternal, Holy, Wonderful - life-giving Word at your fingertips!

It’s the key that opens every door

It’s the answer to every problem

It’s hope for the hopeless

It’s help for the helpless

It encouragement for the downtrodden

It’s cool water to a thirsty soul

We have access unto the greatest physical thing that world has in it! But church all too often, we treat it as a trinket instead of the treasure that it is! We treat it as an accessory instead of a necessity! We carry it to church and home again, sit it on the coffee table until it’s church time again!

The saddest thing about all this is that there’s people in this world that DON’T have the Word of God in their language. There’s others who have it in their language, but they can’t afford to have it!

Why the Bible? Because you CAN!

Why the Bible? Because of the Author. Because of it’s Accuracy. Because it’s Accessible & Finally (for today) Because of it’s Ability

IV. Because of it’s Ability

Psa. 19:7 “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.”

It’s Able to Convert

Convert - change from one thing unto another. God’s Word has the ability to do just that!

The Sinner to the Saint

Consider some of these examples for a moment:

Moses

From a murderer to a leader to an intercessor

Jacob

From a self-centered man to a humble patriarch

The Centurion

From a Christ Crucifier to a Christ Believer

The Philippian Jailor

From Suicidal to Saved

Paul

From Persecutor to Preacher

Not only has it changed these men, but the Word of God has made a change in me! When I heard that I was a sinner under the Judgment of God, but Jesus loved me and gave His life for me & I put my faith in Jesus, things have never been the same! God took this miserable wretch that I am and saved me, made me whole! Gave me life and purpose! That’s the power of the Word of God!

The Word of God has the Power to Save and make a sinner a saint!

The Saved to the Sanctified

Psa. 119:9 “BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

Not only does the Word of God have the ability to save, but also to Sanctify!

I’m talking about the cleaning process after conversion -

The Bible tells us: Joh. 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

Eph. 5:26 “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,”

Let me tell you what the church needs today - it needs a good washing! The Word of God can provide that!

The Saved to the Sanctified

It’s Able to Change

Desires

Paul desired the blood of Christians, but when the Word met him on the road to Damascus, he desired to convert others to Christianity! His Desires changed!

Dispositions

(One’s inherent character) The Word of God can change your disposition -

I’m not the same man that I was! That’s because the Word of God has made a change in me!

But it also changes descriptions

Descriptions

Your testimony - the way someone would describe you.

If someone who knew me 30 years ago described me as I was then, compared to as their description of me today it would be vastly different!

It will change descriptions

Destinations

Church, the Word of God has the ability to change your destination!

Jesus said: Joh. 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

This blessed book has the power to change where you go when you die!

V. Because it’s Alive

VI. Because it’s Applicable

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VII. Because of it’s Authority

Conclusion