Title The Bible
Content br> It is a special privilege for me to preach the Word of God this evening. Im
thankful to God for calling me to study his Word and to live according to his
Word and help others do the same. Whenever I get a chance to preach, Im
reminded of the fact that Im not here to talk about my opinion. I really have
nothing to offer. Im not here to talk about my experiences or my own thoughts.
What I think about doesnt mean anything because what I think is subjective and
indefinite. What we need is something absolute. Something we can cling to.
Something objective, sure. And these things can only be found in the Word of
God. Gods Word is truth and truth is absolute. And because its absolute, it is
exclusive. The Bible alone is true and theres nothing else. And this is what I
want to talk about tonight.
How do we know what we know?
We know that God is three persons in one essence. We know that God created
the world. We know that Jesus Christ came to seek and save the lost. we know
that Jesus Christ died for sinners to pay for their penalty. We know that we are
saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know all these things?
Where do we get the idea? We know these doctrines because they are taught in
the Bible. We believe these things because the Bible says so. The only way we
can know the truth is by studying the Bible, which is the Word of God.
Text
In the given amount of time, we can only touch upon a few things about the
Bible. And to look at some of these points, lets turn to 2 Tim 3:16-17. Here is
the fact that there will be difficult times. vv. 13, 14.
All Scripture
Here is a clear explanation of what the Word of God is. Paul says, All
Scripture is inspired by God Paul is referring to the whole Scripture. The
whole scripturesthe narratives, such as Genesis, the law, Leviticus, history, Kings
and Chronicles, Poetry Psalms, Prophetic books, such as the book of Amos. All
the books of the Bible is what Paul is talking about. Liberal scholars say that
the Bible is not the Word of God but that it contains the Word of God. But
Paul does not say that the Scripture contains the Word of God. He says that the
Scripture is the Word of God.
God-breatheed
These liberals also believe that the Bible has errors since human beings wrote it.
They say that since humans are not perfect, they have made mistakes and God
has allowed it. But Paul clearly says that the Bible is inspired by God. That
God is the author and the Bible is his very words. It is true that human beings
can make mistakes. But the text does not say that the writers were inspired but
the Scripture was inspired. The Bible is literally, God-breathed. It came out of
God. Jesus said in Matt 5:18, For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth
pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is
accomplished. Every word and every letter is inspired by God and they will all
come to pass.
The writers were superintended by the Holy Spirit to record an infallible,
inerrant Word of God. These were not human words. These were Gods words. 2
Peter 1:21 says, For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but
men moved by the HS spoke from God. The Bible originates from God. These
words are Gods Words.
K. S. Kantzer defines inpiration this way, Biblical inspiration [is the] . . . work of the Holy
Spirit by which, without setting aside their personalities and literary or human faculties, God so
guided the authors of Scripture as to enable them to write exactly the words which convey His
truth to men, and in doing so preserved their judgments from error in the original manuscripts.
Profitable
This inspired Word of God is described with one wordGods Word is profitable,
or useful. The Scripture was useful in the time of Paul and it is useful in our
time. Some people say that the Bible is no longer applicable and it is out of
date. They say that we live in a different culture today. We live in a
computerized society and things have changed from the time of Paul so it is no
longer useful. But when Paul says to Timothy, Scriptures he is writing in the
first century AD referring to books like Genesis that dates back to 2000 BC.
Things were radically different then compared to the time of Moses. But Paul
still declares that the Word of God is useful.
Isa 40:8 says this, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our
God stands forever. And Jesus said in Matt 24:35, heaven and earth will pass
away, but my words shall not pass away.
The bible is not limited to a specific era or culture. The Bible is eternal, it lasts
forever. It applies to all men everywhere at all times.
Profitable for teaching
Then Paul specifically mentions four things that the bible is useful forteaching,
proof, correcting, and training. Lets take the first one. The Bible is useful for
teaching, which means to instruct or to inform. When Paul commands us to
renew our minds in Romans 12:2 he is talking about changing our thoughts and
thinking patterns to be like Gods. In order for us to think like God, theres only
one way. We must learn how God thinks. Where do we learn how God thinks?
We learn from the Bible. It tells us what God thinks about sin, about man,
about salvation. If we want to have a mind of God, we must study the Bible.
Profitable for reproof
Second, the bible is useful for reproof. Reproof means to convict or to rebuke.
In other words, the bible rebukes us when our deeds are evil. Though rebuking
is what the Word of God does, it is a concept nowhere to be found in the life
of the church today. The concept of rebuking is not only never practiced but
condemned as sinful. The church has abandoned the biblical command to rebuke
and have called it legalism. Rebuking is thought to be harsh, and unnecessary. It
seems as if the church is always scared about what the world thinks about the
church. Were often afraid that when we expose someones sin, the world will
think that the church is attacking ones privacy. People will have negative
opinions about church and no one will attend its services. If we practice church
discipline, we will empty out the church! So the church is more concerned
about appealing to men rather than appealing to God.
But however man may think, it is clearly stated that rebuking is what the Word
of God does. In order for holiness to be maintained in church, there has to be
rebuking. Sin cannot be tolerated. Sin must be pointed out and abandoned. Paul
commands Timothy in chapter 4 verse 2, Preach the word; be ready in season
and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
One of the main reasons why the church looks like the world is because we
have embraced sin and called it love. If we want Gods will to be done, if we
truly believe that the Bible is the Word of God, we must welcome its revuke in
our lives.
Correcting and training
The Bible not only rebukes but it also corrects. It not only tells us what not to
do but also what to do. It doesnt just leave us with the things that we cant do
but it directs our life. Then as we continue to go through the process of change
through the sanctifying work of the Bible, we will be trained in Gods
impartial.
The Word of God teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us and trains us in
impartial.
And all of these have a purpose. Lets look at verse 17. Paul says, that the
man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. All of these
things have a purpose. And that purpose is to be equipped for good work. The
same idea is said in Ephesians 2: 8-10. Lets turn there for a moment. We are
created in Christ Jesus for good works. The reason why we are saved is to do
good works! Thats the reason why God made us. Christ didnt die for us so we
could just live a happy life. He died for Gods glory that will be shown in our
good works. We must be taught, rebuked, corrected and trained in the Bible so
we could do good works.
We can see that the bible shows us how to live as Christians. We are to do
good works and the bible enables us to do good works. Which means studying
the bible is not an option but a necessity. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, Do your best
to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to
be ashamed and who correctly handles the Word of truth. We are all servants
of God and thus all of us are to present ourselves as one approved to God.
And to be approved, we must be able to correctly handle the Bible.
The bible is the Word of God that is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting
and training in impartiality. God has given us his word so that we may live a
holy life for the sake of his glory. Gods word will teach us to think like God.
Gods word will rebuke us in our sinfulness. Gods Word will correct and direct
us to the right path. And Gods Word will train us to do good works. Gods
word does the work of sanctification to those who believe. May we study and
live in obedience to the Bible.