The Bible – The Word of God
The Bible is not a book of philosophy, although it is
philosophical. Do not go to the Bible
for a scientific treatise. However,
there is no discrepancy between ascertained facts of science and the
Bible. The Bible is not a book of
history. The Bible was given to man from
God, revealing Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God, the Son, the only
Saviour.
John 14:6 Jesus
said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life: no one comes to the
Father except by (through) Me.
He is the center and the circumference. It is Christ from Genesis to Revelation.
John 5:39 You
search and investigate and pore over the Scriptures diligently, because you
suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them. And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me!
The Bible is as high above all other books as the
heavens are above the earth. Someone has
said of the Bible: “Read it to be wise,
believe it to be safe and practice it to be right.”
I. The Bible Itself
claims to be the inspired Word of God
A. “All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God.”
Upon this
statement
of fact evangelical Christianity stands.
The Bible claims to
be the
inspired Word of God. By “inspiration”
we mean that the
Holy Spirit exerted His supernatural influence
upon the writers of
the
Bible. The writings were inspired not
necessarily the writers, for
the Bible
no where claims to have been written by inspired men.
1. The Holy
Spirit is the Author of the Bible. II
Peter 1:21 For no
prophecy ever originated because some man
willed it [to do so—it
never came by human impulse], but men
spoke from God who were
borne along (moved and impelled) by the
Holy Spirit.
Christ told His disciples that He would leave “many things” unre-
vealed, and that the Holy Spirit would come and choose certain
persons and through them reveal His perfect will unto man; and
that the Holy Spirit would be the believer’s teacher.
John
16:12-15 I have still many things to say
to you, but you are not able to bear them or to take them upon you or to grasp
them now. But when He, the Spirit of
Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes; He will guide you into all the Truth
(the whole, full Truth). For He will not
speak His own message [on His own authority]: but He will tell whatever He
hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him],
and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will
happen in the future]. He will honor and
glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will
reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.
Everything that the Father has is Mine.
That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the
things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to
you.
2. Man is the
instrument used by the Holy Spirit to write the Bible.
3. Results: the infallible Word of God.
Therefore, the Bible is free from error
and absolutely trustworthy Psalm 119:89 Forever,
O Lord, Your Word is settled in heaven [stands firm, as the heavens].
Matthew 24:35 Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
II.
The Bible is a Difficult Book
Because it came from the Infinite to the
finite—from the unlimited, all powerful God, to limited man. Therefore, you cannot understand the Bible as
you would understand the writings of Plato or Socrates. You can study the great philosophers with the
natural mind, and by diligent application, grasp their profound meanings. If the Bible could be understood by natural
man, it would be a natural book, and could not be the Word of God. Since the Bible is from God, and therefore
spiritual, before you can receive its teachings, you must be born of the
Spirit.
John 3:6 What is born of [from] the flesh is flesh [of the physical is
physical]; and what is born of the What is Spirit is spirit.
Always approach the Bible praying that
the Spirit will be your teacher and will guide you to a better understanding of
His Holy Word, or it will remain a difficult, closed book.
John 16:12-15
III. The Bible is
a Book of Oneness
The oneness or unity of the Bible is a
miracle. It is a library of 66 books,
written by over 35 different authors, in a period of approximately 1,500
years. Represented in the authors is a
cross section of humanity, educated and uneducated, including kings, fishermen,
public officials, farmers, teachers and physicians. Included in the subjects are religion,
history, law, science, poetry, drama, biography ad prophecy. Yet its various parts are as harmoniously
united as the parts that make up the human body.
For 35 authors with such varied
backgrounds, to write on so many subjects, over a period of approximately 1500
years, in absolute harmony, is a mathematical impossibility. It could not happen! Then how do we account for the Bible? The only adequate explanation is: “Holy
men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
IV.
The Bible Claims Special Power
A.
“For the Word of
God is quick, and powerful…“
1.
The Bible claims dividing power as a sword.
Hebrews 4:12 For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it
active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged
sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the
immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our
nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and
purposes of the heart.
The Bible will separate man from sin
Psalm 119: 11 Your word have I laid up in my
heart, that I might not sin against You.
Or sin will separate man from the Bible.
Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
2.
The Bible claims reflecting power as a mirror.
James 1:22-25 But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners
to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the
Truth]. For if anyone only listens to
the Word without obeying it and being a does of it, he is like a man who looks
carefully at his [own] natural face in a mirror: For he thoughtfully observes himself, and
then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. But he who looks carefully into the faultless
law, the [law of] liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into
it, being not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys],
he shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience).
In the Bible we see ourselves as God
sees us—as sinners
[Romans 3:23] who after being born again
are saints but may still sin.
3.
The Bible claims cleansing power as water.
Ephesians 5:26 So that
He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the
Word.
David prayed that God would “wash him from iniquity” and “cleanse him from sin”
Psalm 51:2 Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and
cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin!
4.
The Bible claims reproductive power as seed
I Peter 1:23 You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed,
sperm) but fro one that is immortal by the ever living and lasting Word of God.
We are the children of God because we
have been born into the family of God by the incorruptible seed of God. This is the new birth. John 3:1-7 …Nicodemus…came to Jesus…Jesus answered him. I assure you most solemnly
I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot
ever see (know, be acquainted with and experience) the kingdom of God…Nicodemus
asked, “How can a may be born when he is old?...Jesus replied…unless a man is
born of water and [even] the Spirit, he cannot [even]
enter…
5.
The Bible claims nourishing power as food
I Peter 2:2 Like newborn babies, you should crave (thirst for, earnestly desire)
the pure (unadulterated) spiritual milk, that by it you may be nurtured and
grow unto [completed] salvation.
The Bible is spiritual food for the
soul. No Christian can remain strong in
the Lord and not study the Word if God.
V. The Bible
Commands the Believer to Study the Scriptures
A. “Study
to show yourself approved unto God” is a command.
As you study the Bible, you will discover that it does
not just contain the Word of God—It is the Word of God!. You must also keep in mind that the Word of
God contains the WORDS of God, as well as the words of Satan, demons, angels
and man—both good and bad. God is truth
and cannot lie Satan “is a liar and the father of it”
John 8:44 You are
of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and
gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does
not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is
natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all
that is false.
Man is natural and is therefore limited
and does not always speak the truth. To
illustrate – Matthew 22:15 – 46: Here we
have the words of Jesus, of the Pharisees, of the Herodians and of the
Sadducees. The Pharisees , Herodians and
Sadducees were trying to entangle Jesus in His teachings, that they might
accuse Him of breaking God’s law. Their
words were spoken with evil intent, revealing the thinking of the natural
(lost) man, along with the words of God that came from the lips of Jesus.
As you study the Bible, ask yourself
these questions:
1.
Who is speaking: God, demon,
angel, or man???
2.
To whom is He speaking, to the nation Israel, to the Gentiles, to the
church, to men in general or to some individual man or being??
3.
How can this Scripture be applied to my own life to make me a more
obedient Christian??
Rhema – personal word from the Lord to
you as an individual for application.
Logos – the general Word that you should
be found reading often and every day. In
reading the Logos, the Rhemas will be delivered!
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