Is The Bible A Special Book?
Introduction
2 Timothy 3:15
According to Google, nearly 130 million books have been published. Among all the books, the Bible is the most influential book the world has ever known. Patrick Henry said, “It is worth all other books which were ever printed.” No other book has influenced so many people as the Bible.
I. AUTHOR OF THE SCRIPTURE
A. DIVINE AUTHOR
God the Holy Spirit is the divine author of the Scripture. The Bible is referred to as the Word of God. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God." (2 Timothy 3:16) The word "inspiration" means "God-breathed." Inspiration was the Holy Spirit's supernatural work. Inspiration applies to the words of Scripture.
B. HUMAN AUTHORS
"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." (2 Peter 1:20-21)
The Scripture was written down by men who were not writing from any act of human will or from any personal interpretation but rather moved by the Holy Spirit to write down what was spoken by God.
Approximately 40 men of diverse backgrounds wrote the Bible over the course of 1500 years.
These writers wrote at different times. They lived in different cultures. Some of the Bible writers were fishermen, others where shepherds, some were kings, and even physicians. The Scripture was written on three continents: Asia, Africa, and Europe. The Bible was written in three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament making a total of 66 books. They all proclaim the same true God. They all pointed to Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation.
II. ACCURACY OF THE SCRIPTURE
A. CHARACTER OF GOD
The integrity of God rests upon the truthfulness of Scriptures. If the Word is full of errors and half-truths, then God cannot be trusted. The promises God made in Scripture that have been fulfilled declare the integrity of God. The covenants God made with Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David confirm the character of God. The Bible declares His moral purity. His character is unchanging. "For I am the LORD, I change not." (Malachi 3:6)
"God is not a man that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should repent. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good." (Numbers 23:19)
B. CLAIMS OF THE SCRIPTURES
1. God's Word is perfect and pure.
(Psalms 19:7, 119:140)
The Word of God is perfect and pure just like its Author. We believe the Scripture is God breathed and is infallible because God cannot breathe out error.
2. God's Word is Truth.
(John 17:17)
Jesus claimed He was the truth, (John 14:6) therefore God's Word is Truth. In John 17:17, Jesus said: "thy word is truth."
3. God's Word is eternal.
(1 Peter 1:25; Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 40:8; Luke 21:33)
In 1 Peter 1:24, Peter said, "the word of the Lord endureth forever." Psalms 119:89 makes the same claim. Isaiah 40:8 states, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever."
Jesus said, "And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." (Luke 16:17)"Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." (Luke 21:33)
III. AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES
A. POWER TO CREATE THE UNIVERSE
The Bible has a lot to say about the power of words. Words were the instruments by which God created all things.
"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." (Heb 11:3)
Nine times the words, “And God said” appear in Genesis chapter one. Each time God spoke He created, formed, or made something. The beautiful and amazing creation exists by the command of God.
"By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." "For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast." (Psalm 33:6, 9)
"So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isa 55:11)
The power of God is seen when Jesus spoke to a dead man named Lazarus and raised him from the dead. A miracle was performed before the eyes of those present.
B. POWER TO CONVERT THE SINNER
God's word has the power to convert the lost sinner. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek." (Romans 1:16)
In Psalms 19:7, David wrote, "The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul.
In James 1:21, we read, "Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."
Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” Peter wrote, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." (1Pe 1:23) It is clearly stated from these Scriptures that the Word of God has power to convict and convert a sinner.
IV. ATTACKS AGAINST THE SCRIPTURES
A. ATTACKS OF SATAN
Satan attacks the Scripture by his lies and deception. In the fall of the human race, Satan implanted doubt in the heart of Eve concerning the Word of God. "Has God indeed said?" She fell for Satan's lies and deception. From the very beginning, Satan's intent was to get people to doubt the Word of God.
Satan attacked Jesus after He returned from the wilderness. Satan wanted Jesus to disobey the Word of God. If Jesus would have given in to temptation, Satan would have succeeded in his plot. Satan knows the importance of the Scripture. Satan can quote Scripture. This is something most Christians cannot do.
B. ATTEMPTS OF MAN
Satan has been very successful in his attacks against the Bible. Paul wrote that "the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." (2 Corinthians 4:4)
False preachers and teachers are planted in churches, schools, colleges, and universities to undermine the truth of God's Word. The New Testaments writers warned of the effort to destroy the Word of God. Some of these people have denied the Bible as being the Word of God. Others twist the Scripture and others deny certain parts of the Bible. The faith in the Bible is crumbling in America. The foundation of America is decaying because of it. If Satan can destroy the faith of people, he can cause them to lose their soul and destroy this nation.
Evangelist and preacher D. L. Moody said, "The Scriptures were not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives."
In 1776, Voltaire, the French philosopher, announced, "One hundred years from my day, there will not be a Bible in the earth except one that is looked upon by an antiquarian curiosity-seeker." One hundred years later Voltaire was dead and his own press and house were being used to print and store Bibles by the Geneva Bible Society.
As a young man in 1949, Billy Graham battled within his soul. Is the Bible the word of God or is it not? Can I believe it or not? He talked to his friend J. Edwin Orr early one evening and laid out the great dilemma of his heart. Orr said, "You'd better go off and pray and get the matter settled." So off he went into the woods to settle the matter once and for all.
By his own admission, everything that has happened in Billy Graham’s life goes back to that night when he put the Bible down and knelt before God and said, “Oh, God, I do not understand it all, but I am willing to believe it and willing to obey it.”
That was the turning point for Billy Graham. Six weeks later the great crusade began at the Canvass Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles, a meeting which would change the course of American history. The crusade was extended and extended and extended because so many thousands of people were coming to Christ.
During that crusade, I discovered the secret that changed my ministry. I stopped trying to prove that the Bible was true. I had settled in my own mind that it was, and this faith was conveyed to the audience. Over and over again I found myself saying, “The Bible says.” I felt as though I were merely a voice through which the Holy Spirit was speaking.
"The Bible is to me the most precious thing in the world just because it tells me the story of Jesus." George MacDonald
“The Bible is the book of my life. It's the book I live with, the book I live by, the book I want to die by.” N. T. Wright
LESSON FOR LIFE
1. The Bible is the word of God whether it is read or not read.
2. The Bible is the word of God whether it is believed or not believed.
3. The Bible is indestructible. Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Mat 24:35)
4. A person who rejects the Word of God is also rejecting the God of the Word.