{"id":18217,"date":"2016-04-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/2-timothy-027-why-preach-the-bible-part-2\/"},"modified":"2016-04-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-04-17T05:00:00","slug":"2-timothy-027-why-preach-the-bible-part-2","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/2-timothy-027-why-preach-the-bible-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Timothy 027 – Why Preach the Bible? – Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[100],"series_event":[454],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-18217","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-2-timothy","series_event-2-timothy","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"2 Timothy 027 - Why Preach the Bible? - Part 2","sermon_date":"20160417","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2016","sermon_notes":3555,"sermon_slides":3556,"sermon_mp3":3558,"sermon_id":"417161056259","series_or_event":454,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":100,"chapter_and_verse":"3:15b-16a","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nWhy Preach the Bible?\u00a0 Part 2\n\n4-17-16\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2 Timothy 3:15b-16a\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 27\n\nIf we could take our Bibles and open them to the book of 2 Timothy, chapter 3, taking a look today at the second part of verse 15 and into verse 16.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is Why Preach the Bible? Part 2.\u00a0 And those of you that are visiting with us for the very first time we have been moving through the book of 2 Timothy.\u00a0 Paul, of course, writing this book to encourage a very young man, Timothy, his prot\u00e9g\u00e9, not to quit in his calling because of adversity but to continue on in that calling because God, who is in the rewarding business will reward the believer that endures in what God has called them to do.\n\nHe\u2019s told Timothy to be faithful in the ministry, chapter 1; chapter 2 he\u2019s described what faithfulness looks like through ten word pictures that we\u2019ve walked through.\u00a0 And then beginning in chapter 3 he begins to talk about the reason he must be faithful, because the last days will come and once the last days come it will be hard; ministry will become hard or difficult.\u00a0 And this is a great subject that\u2019s neglected from many pulpits and yet it is a huge subject in the New Testament as we have said, the subject of the apostasy.\u00a0 Apostasy basically means a departure from known truth.\u00a0 As the church age continues on the church will have a tendency to depart from truth.\u00a0 And Timothy, you are to be faithful in the midst of that encroaching apostasy.\n\nSo the subject of the apostasy really begins in chapter 3, verse 1 and goes all the way into chapter 4, verse 8.\u00a0 Paul has described the apostasy, verses 1-7.\u00a0 He\u2019s given some examples of apostates from Jewish tradition, verses 8 and 9.\u00a0 And what we have been exploring lately is the antidote to apostasy, not just the anatomy of apostasy but the antidote, what do you do in the midst of it.\u00a0 You really don\u2019t get the impression that the apostasy can be stopped; what you get the impression of is how we, as individual Christians, react to it.\n\nSo Timothy is to react to it in two ways: number 1, he is to pursue Paul\u2019s example that Paul had exhibited to Timothy over a 20 year period.\u00a0 So Paul, in verses 10-13 has given examples from his ministry, his character, and even in his own difficulties of how he himself endured despite adversity.\u00a0 Timothy, you\u2019re to do the same thing.\n\nThe second thing you are to do, Timothy, as the apostasy swells and grows, almost like a tidal wave, and as the church becomes progressively more disinterested in the Scripture you, on the other hand, are to cling to the Scripture, read the Scripture, devote yourself to the Scripture, and you are to openly preach or proclaim the Scripture.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve entered into this tremendous section here where we are dealing with the primacy or the priority of the preaching of the Word of God in the local church.\u00a0 Of all of the messages that the local church today needs to hear I think this would be one because there is so much compromise in this area.\u00a0 We noted some examples of compromise last week.\n\nBut what he does is he gives Timothy here about nine reasons in total, why he against all odds, must continue on with the Scripture, the preaching and teaching and the studying of the Scripture.\u00a0 The first reason we\u2019ve already covered, number 1, the Scripture had an impact on Paul.\u00a0 Paul, of course, of all the things to know about him, he was a changed man.\u00a0 You look at Paul before he was saved and Paul after he was saved\u2026 of course when Paul, before he was saved was named Saul, and you look at him after he was saved and as he began to grow you see a totally different man with a totally different mission and totally different purpose.\u00a0 He describes that change a little bit there in verse 14 and then verse 15 there\u2019s the conjunction \u201cand\u201d the Greek word kai<\/em> that leads us into verse 15 and so you get the impression that Paul was changed because of the Scripture.\u00a0 Just as the Scripture changed me, Timothy, it\u2019s going to change you and even though the apostasy will swell it will change other people\u00a0 under your sphere of influence.\n\nThe second reason Timothy is to continue on preaching the Scripture is because of the impact that the Scripture has on the salvation of the soul.\u00a0 As Richard was reading the verses this morning you might remember him reading verse 15, most of which we covered last week, \u201cand that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you wisdom that leads to salvation.\u201d\n\nThe fact of the matter is, \u201cfaith comes by hearing,\u201d hearing by the what?\u00a0 The Word of God or the word of Christ.\u00a0 You cannot have an actual salvation occur independent of the hearing or perhaps reading of the Word of God.\u00a0 A motivational talk is not something that God uses to alert people to the fact that they need to trust in Christ.\u00a0 He uses one and only one source to make people aware of their need to trust in Christ and that is His Word.\u00a0 If you subtract the Word of God from the diet of the local church the opportunities for individual salvation falls dramatically.\n\nAnd this is why Timothy became a Christian and why he eventually became the man of God that he became, because from infancy he was taught the Scripture by both his grandmother and his mother; he makes a reference to that back in 2 Timothy 1:5.\u00a0 [2 Timothy 1:5, \u00a0For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.\u201d]\n\nNow you\u2019ll notice there in verse 15 it mentions salvation, which the Scripture is instrumental in bringing to pass.\u00a0 But then it goes on, as you\u2019ll notice the word \u201csalvation,\u201d it goes on and it describes what salvation is.\u00a0 It describes how salvation is acquired.\u00a0 And there\u2019s just a little clause there at the very end of verse 15, it\u2019s so simple and it\u2019s so short that we have a tendency to just brush right by it, but I want to draw\u00a0 that clause to your attention.\u00a0 It mentions \u201csalvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 Salvation is important.\u00a0 Well, what is salvation?\u00a0 It is acquired or it is gained through faith in Christ Jesus.\u00a0 The Word of God is the book that spells out that plan of salvation for us.\n\nNotice this word \u201cfaith.\u201d\u00a0 The Greek noun for faith is pistis<\/em>, the noun form is pisteu<\/em>\u014d<\/em>, and that word is a word used frequently in the New Testament (and in the Old Testament) it simply means to trust, to rely upon, to depend upon, to have confidence in.\u00a0 Don\u2019t take my word for it, here\u2019s a quote from a leading Greek dictionary and it defines pisteu<\/em>\u014d<\/em>, the Greek verb coming from the noun, pistis,<\/em> it defines it as to believe.\u00a0 Well, what does that mean?\u00a0 To be persuaded of something and hence to place confidence in, to trust, signifies in the sense of the word reliance upon.\u00a0 Not mere credence, reliance upon.\u00a0 It is most frequent in the writings of the apostle John, especially his Gospel; he does not use the noun, pistis<\/em>, but of the writers of the Gospels he uses the verb 99 times.\u00a0 John, of course, (as we know having spent three years in it at this church, in fact we were in John longer than Jesus had had His earthly ministry) is a book written to the unsaved.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting that in this book to the unsaved the verb pisteu<\/em>\u014d<\/em>, is used 99 times.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost as if God is saying don\u2019t mess this one up guys, this is the condition for salvation.\n\nA lot of people, and you\u2019ll notice this definition here, it says not mere credence; a lot of people are confused about this because they think salvation is related to knowing things about Jesus.\u00a0 Before I was saved\u00a0 I knew a lot of things about Jesus; I could rattle off facts and figures concerning His birth, the time period that he lived in, who His mother was, and those kind of things, but you see, I was not a Christian at that point in time.\u00a0 I had information, a mindful of information, but there was not yet the trusting heart.\u00a0 When a person responds to the information about Jesus Christ with a heart that trusts Him,\u00a0 and Him alone, for the safekeeping of their soul, that is the moment they become a child of God and a Christian.\u00a0 Consequently we say over and over again at this church that faith is the single condition which must be exercised by the lost sinner in order to enter into a relationship with the God that made them and also the God that redeemed them.\n\nIn fact, this is so clear that the New Testament tells us this 99 times in John\u2019s Gospel, probably about 200 times total in the New Testament\u2014faith alone in Christ alone.\u00a0 Now on Wednesday nights, our Wednesday night study on Wednesday night we have been doing a study on the doctrine of salvation; we call Soteriology, which is the Greek word for salvation.\u00a0 In fact, when you look at the word salvation there at the end of verse 15 or towards the middle of verse 15 it is the Greek word soteria<\/em>, which means salvation; soteriology being the study of the doctrine of salvation. We have spent a lot of time talking about this one condition of salvation which is faith alone.\u00a0 If you wanted to review that material I would challenge you to review lessons 5-12 where we have gone into depth on this subject.\n\nAnd one of the things that\u2019s so interesting about this verse is its simplicity.\u00a0 I mean, the first reaction I had when I read this verse is where\u2019s all the stuff.\u00a0 You say what stuff?\u00a0 Well, the stuff that people say you have to do to get saved; I mean, where\u2019s the business about walking an aisle?\u00a0 It\u2019s not here.\u00a0 Where is the business about a contrite heart that wreaks and wails before God?\u00a0 Not that that\u2019s a bad thing in and of itself, but that\u2019s not here either.\u00a0 It\u2019s just the simple word \u201cfaith.\u201d\n\nYou say well, aren\u2019t there two kinds of faith, the faith that saves and the faith that doesn\u2019t save?\u00a0 I don\u2019t see that here at all, it just says \u201cfaith.\u201d\u00a0 And by the way, if you ever buy into this idea that there are two kinds of faith, the faith that saves and the faith that doesn\u2019t save, they call it faith versus saving faith, you spend your whole life as a Christian wondering if you have the right kind of faith. \u00a0The Bible knows no such distinction, it simply uses this simple expression \u201cfaith.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing here about emotion, nothing here about sorrow, nothing here about walking an aisle, I don\u2019t mean to step on too many toes but there isn\u2019t anything here about turning from your sins, not that turning from your sins is a bad thing to do, but those things are never held out as the simple condition by which a lost sinner receives salvation.\n\nIt is just so easy and so simple it is astounding to me how confused we\u2019ve made it.\u00a0 And I think the reason we\u2019ve confused this so severely is we just think it\u2019s too good to be true.\u00a0 I mean, there must be something else in the mix that I have to do, I have to perform, so we have a tendency in our works righteousness to insert things that God never inserted and in the process we become Pharisees.\u00a0 A Pharisee is someone who elevates their own tradition above and beyond the Word of God.\u00a0 Jesus had His sharpest conflict with such individuals called the Pharisees in the New Testament.\u00a0 Pharisees were just people that added to the Scripture.\u00a0 And I fear many times because we just don\u2019t believe it\u2019s that easy or that simple, we become Pharisaical, not on the basis of the Word of God but on the basis of pride, religious tradition and pride and in the process we add to the Word of God.\u00a0 Don\u2019t let the simplicity of that little expression escape notice, \u201cand that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation\u201d and all it says is \u201cthrough faith which is in Christ Jesus.\u201d\n\nI\u2019ve used this example before so if you\u2019ve heard it before forgive me, but Charles Blondin used to walk back and forth across a tightrope suspended across Niagara Falls.\u00a0 And in fact he was so skilled at this crowds would gather on the shores and watch him do this.\u00a0 And he actually became so adroit, so skilled at this that he actually was able to push a wheel barrow across a tight rope suspended across Niagara Falls.\u00a0 And the crowds would gather and watch him do this and one day he called out to the audience, he says do you believe that I can do this feat?\u00a0 And of course they all said yes, we believe, because they had seen him do it over and over again.\u00a0 And then he asked that chilling question, all right, which of you all wants to get into the wheel barrow?\n\nSee, it\u2019s not until a person actually moves from data to trust that they become a Christian.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I put this definition up here on the screen; it tells you exactly what faith is.\u00a0 Faith is a synonym for trust.\u00a0 Well trust in what?\u00a0 What exactly are we trusting in?\u00a0 Faith, as\u00a0 you know is only as good as the object it\u2019s placed in.\u00a0 I can trust in any number of false ideas but I actually don\u2019t become saved until I trust in a specific object and that object is given there in verse 15, \u201cthrough faith which is in\u201d who? \u201cChrist Jesus.\u201d\u00a0 The object of faith is not a church, it\u2019s not a denomination, it\u2019s not a ministry style, it\u2019s not a brand of scholarship, it is faith in Jesus; Jesus is the object of faith.\n\nNow there are a lot of different Jesus\u2019 out there, unfortunately.\u00a0 The Mormons, not if but when they come to your door, the Jehovah\u2019s Witnesses, not if, but when they come to your door, will talk about Jesus also.\u00a0 But you see, their Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible because when you begin to probe what you\u2019ll discover is their Jesus is a created being.\u00a0 He is not the eternally existent Second Member of the Godhead.\u00a0 So the Jesus that we are trusting in cannot be a false Jesus, it\u2019s cannot be a fake Jesus, it cannot be a phony Jesus, it has to be the real Jesus as revealed in the pages of Scripture.\u00a0 And that real Jesus is identified with the expression \u201cChrist.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Now for many years I used to think Christ was Jesus\u2019 last name.\u00a0 Mr. Christ I used to think was His name.\u00a0 But Christ, Christos<\/em>, simply means the Messiah, the anointed one.\n\nIn Hebrew we would use this expression, the Mashiach<\/em>.\u00a0 In other words, the Jesus that you are trusting in must be the Jesus revealed in the Scripture because only that Jesus has the power to do what He is promising to do, which is to save the soul.\u00a0 Over in John 4, the woman at the well, had trusted in the right Jesus because she says this, \u201cThe woman said to Him, \u2018I know that the Messiah is coming, (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.\u2019\u201d [John 4:25]\n\nI know there\u2019s a Jesus coming; I know there\u2019s a Messiah coming, verse 26 of John 4 says this, \u201cJesus said to her, \u2018I who speak to you am He.\u2019\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I AM the Christ, I AM the Messiah, I AM the one who is the eternally existent Second Member of the Godhead, I AM the one who is about to rise from the dead not too long into the future, and therefore I am the only one that has the power to do what I promised to do, which is to save your soul.\n\nSo Timothy, what you are to do in your ministry is you are to continue on teaching and preaching the Word of God.\u00a0 And he\u2019s really given two reasons thus far, number the Word of God changes people, including Saul of Tarsus, verse 14, a man who desperately needed to be changed, like we all do.\u00a0 And number 2, the Scripture creates an opportunity for the lost sinner to trust in the right Jesus and consequently be saved.\u00a0 You remove the Scripture from the guide of the local church and those two things that I\u2019ve just mentioned disappear.\n\nBut there\u2019s something else, there\u2019s a third reason and we\u2019ll probably not get beyond this one here (in verse 16) this morning.\u00a0 There is a third reason why you are to continue on with the preaching and teaching of the Word of God and this has to do with number 3, the divine origin of the Scripture, because he starts to talk about this in verse 16 where it says, \u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 We\u2019re just going to focus this morning on this expression \u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God.\u201d\n\nThe third reason you are to continue on teaching the Scripture and peaching the Scripture and studying the Scripture is because it\u2019s God\u2019s book.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually inspired by God.\u00a0 Now that expression \u201cinspired by God,\u201d is a translation of a Greek word that we call a hapax legomena<\/em>, which is a fancy way of saying it\u2019s used once and only once in the whole New Testament, right here.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually a compound word made up of two words.\u00a0 The Greek word\u00a0 is theopnuestos<\/em>, made up of two words, Theos<\/em>, what does Theos<\/em> mean? God, and pneustos <\/em>meaning breath. \u00a0So when your English translation says, \u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God\u201d what it is saying here when it indicates \u201cinspired by God\u201d is that is simply a translation from a Greek word meaning God-breathed.\n\nTimothy, the Scripture is God-breathed, it is the very breath, dare I say the very saliva of God.\u00a0 Other than the incarnation of Jesus Christ and creation itself it is probably the closest thing you will ever get in this life to God and His direct revelation.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the Scripture is; it is \u201cGod-breathed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 2 Peter 1:20-21, you might just want to jump over there for a quick second.\u00a0 2 Peter 1:20-21, holding your place here in 2 Timothy, and it\u2019s sort of interesting to me that Timothy, 2 Timothy is Paul\u2019s last word and testament.\u00a0 2 Peter is Peter\u2019s last word and testament.\u00a0 In other words it\u2019s what Paul and Peter wrote at the very end of their lives.\u00a0 And isn\u2019t it interesting that at the end of their lives both writers make powerful statements about the Word of God and its importance.\n\nNotice 2 Peter 1:20-21, a parallel passage, it says, \u201cBut know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter<\/em> of one\u2019s own private interpretation, [21] for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.\u201d\u00a0 That is an unpacking, if you will, of the expression \u201cGod-breathed\u201d used in 2 Timothy 3:16.\u00a0 It is a description of something we call inspiration, which deals with the actual penning or recording of God\u2019s message to man.\u00a0 The message that we have from God has come to us from God because the Holy Spirit moved the writers of Scripture to pen God\u2019s message.\n\nAnd that\u2019s why the Scripture is not a matter of one\u2019s own private interpretation.\u00a0 Paul, when he wrote his thoughts they were really not his thoughts; they were God\u2019s thoughts.\u00a0 Peter, when he wrote his thoughts were really not his thoughts, they were God\u2019s thoughts.\u00a0 God simply used them as His instrument to pen God\u2019s message to lost man.\u00a0 \u201cBut know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter<\/em> of one\u2019s own\u201d private \u201cinterpretation, [21] for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men\u201d were \u201cmoved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.\u201d\n\nNow in 2 Peter 1:21 where it translates \u201cmoved\u201d it is the Greek verb phero<\/em>, which is used in the New Testament elsewhere, Acts 27:15 and verse 17 if you want the exact address, it is used elsewhere in the New Testament of wind that fills the sails of a boat.\u00a0 And as wind fills the sails of a sailboat the sailboat is propelled along.\n\nActs 27:15 says, \u201cAnd when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along,\u201d that is phero<\/em>, the same verb used in 2 Peter 1:21.\n\nActs 27:17 says, \u201cAfter they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along,\u201d again phero<\/em>.\n\nSo what is the point?\u00a0 The point is simply this: just as the Holy Spirit came upon the writers of Scripture and they ended up penning God\u2019s message, in the exact same way wind comes alongside a sailboat and propels it along.\u00a0 As the wind is propelling a sailboat in the same way the Holy Spirit propelled, empowered, influenced the writers of the Scripture, both Old Testament and New Testament.\u00a0 And consequently Peter tells us that the Scripture is not a matter of one\u2019s own private interpretation, the interpreter here being the writer.\u00a0 It\u2019s very different than false prophets.\u00a0 False prophets give their own ideas.\n\nThe book of Jeremiah, chapter 23 and verse 16 says, \u201cThus says the LORD of hosts, \u2018Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the LORD.\u201d\u00a0 A false teacher, a false prophet was speaking vain things, they came out of his or her mind.\u00a0 Not so the writers of Scripture who were propelled along by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0 And consequently Scripture is not a matter of one\u2019s own private interpretation.\n\nIf you believe this then what you start to believe is that this book is not like reading the editorial of the newspaper.\u00a0 This is not an opinion piece by some man; this is God\u2019s book.\u00a0 This is God\u2019s revelation to lost man.\u00a0 You say well wait a minute pastor, hold the phone, was not the Scripture written by men?\u00a0 Was not Paul and Peter and others who penned the pages of God\u2019s Word, were they not human beings?\u00a0 And the answer is they were human beings.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the deal:\u00a0 God, when He decided in His sovereignty to use humanity to pen His truth He respected their person\u00adalities, their backgrounds, their life experiences and their temperaments.\u00a0 He did not, as in the case of a demon possession, you know when a demon possesses somebody in the New Testament he, the demon, subjugates the person they\u2019re possessing.\u00a0 That\u2019s not how it worked with God in the writing of Scripture.\u00a0 God did not subjugate these men.\u00a0 What God did is he ended up using them as writers of the Scripture.\u00a0 So they were authors of Scripture as well.\u00a0 God, the ultimate author but He used human writers in the process.\n\nAnd if you become sensitive to this you\u2019ll start to see their personalities come out, these writers of Scripture.\u00a0 For example, Peter talks more about water and the flood than any biblical writer.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because Peter was a fisherman, he liked water.\u00a0 Matthew 4:18 tells us that Peter was a fisherman.\u00a0 [Matthew 4:18, \u201cNow as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.\u201d]\u00a0 Luke talks more about the pre-natal activities of Jesus and John the Baptist in their mother\u2019s wombs than any other biblical writer.\u00a0 Why would Luke talk about such a thing?\u00a0 Because he is a physician, or a doctor, Colossians 4:14 says that.\u00a0 [Colossians 4:14, \u201cLuke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, there\u2019s this very odd statement that you find in Acts 1:18 and it\u2019s dealing with the suicide of Judas.\u00a0 And it says this: \u201c(Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Now I read that and I say that\u2019s more information than what I\u2019m interested in.\u00a0 Why would Luke even talk about that?\u00a0 Well, intestines, things like that are interesting to him given his background.\n\nOr you take Matthew, Matthew talks more about monetary sums than any other gospel writer.\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s in Matthew that we have the parable of the talents; we think a \u201ctalent\u201d is an ability, but a \u201ctalent\u201d actually biblically is a monetary sum that people are entrusted with.\u00a0 In fact, Matthew, and this is interesting because we just had April 15th<\/sup>,\u00a0 is the only Gospel writer that talks about Jesus and Peter going fishing, and they find a fish and inside the fish is a coin.\u00a0 And Jesus says to Peter, pull that fish out, grab the coin out of its mouth and use that to pay your what?\u00a0 Taxes, and I wish I could pay my taxes that way.\u00a0 But only Matthew talks about this particular story.\u00a0 Now why is that?\u00a0 Because Matthew was a what?\u00a0 A tax collector.\n\nSo what you have in the Scripture is a miracle of God equivalent to the virgin Mary where God brought forth His Son using a human womb, Mary\u2019s womb.\u00a0 In the same way God birthed, or brought forth His Word using these human instruments to accomplish His will.\u00a0 So this is what we refer to as the dual authorship of the Bible.\u00a0 We have Author, capital A, God who was like the wind that propelled these folks along, and then we have author, little a, where God actually used their skills, backgrounds, temperaments, styles, personalities, life experiences, which by the way God had given to them as well, did He not, and why would He not use those things to fulfill His purposes.\n\nSee God is not interested in overriding people.\u00a0 He\u2019s interested in using people as they are, just like myself, just like\u00a0 you.\u00a0 Your gifts are not an accident, your life experience is not an accident, these are all things that God can sovereignly and wants to sovereignly use to further His purposes on the earth.\u00a0 And so what is being described in 2 Peter 1:20-21, 2 Timothy 3:16, it is a process that we call inspiration dealing with how the Word of God was actually recorded and penned for the benefit of humanity.\n\nNow if you read doctrinal statements, I know you probably don\u2019t stay up late at night reading doctrinal statements, but I\u2019m going to read to you something out of page 3 of our Sugar Land Bible Church statements of faith.\u00a0 And this is what it says:\u00a0 \u201cThe Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of God. Divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts and words of the Bible, so that the whole Bible,\u201d watch, \u201cin the original manuscripts,\u201d oh-oh, \u201cis without error. The Bible is God\u2019s revelation to man and is therefore the final authority for all Christian faith and practice.\u201d\u00a0 All of that sounds good except for this one little part here where it says inspiration, inerrancy, is only for the original manuscripts of the Bible.\u00a0 The process of inspiration where God\u2019s message is recorded only applies to the very first manuscripts.\n\nQuestion:\u00a0 Can we look at those manuscripts?\u00a0\u00a0 The answer is no, we can\u2019t, because we don\u2019t have them any longer.\u00a0 Now before you hit the panic button I want you to understand something about the sovereignty of God.\u00a0 What do people do when they think they\u2019re found a splinter in the cross, or the nails of Jesus?\u00a0 They idolize those things, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 What would we be doing as lost human beings if we actually had the original manuscripts?\u00a0 We would turn those things into idols.\u00a0 And consequently God, in His sovereignty, has not allowed us to keep those original manuscripts.\n\nAnd beyond that, think about this for a minute.\u00a0 If there was only one manuscript that Paul wrote, for example, 2 Timothy, and somebody damaged it or stole it what would happen to Christianity?\u00a0 The Christian cause would be destroyed, wouldn\u2019t it.\u00a0 So what is sort of shocking to discover is the original manuscripts are things that we don\u2019t actually possess.\u00a0 Well, then what are we reading here? We are reading copies of the manuscripts because what you have to understand about Christianity is this: Christianity has always been an evangelistic faith.\u00a0 The goal of Christianity is always to take the things of God and let others in on what God is doing; it\u2019s called evangelism.\n\nSo we don\u2019t have the original manuscripts, what we have are not the manuscripts themselves but we have vast, vast copies of the original manuscripts.\u00a0 Now you say well, then, what good is Christianity, I don\u2019t even have the original manuscripts.\u00a0 Can these copies that we have really be trusted?\u00a0 And what I want to communicate to you is we come out smelling like a rose on this issue.\u00a0 I mean, we come out so far ahead compared to other works of antiquity, I\u2019m not sure if you can read my chart but it\u2019s comparing \u00a0the manuscript evidence of the New Testament with other accepted works of antiquity.\n\nFor example, Caesar\u2019s works; we have ten manuscripts of that, no original, ten manuscripts.\u00a0 And how long of a distance is it between the earliest manuscript and the original copy?\u00a0 1,000 years.\n\nPlato, we all revere Plato, seven copies, 1200 year distance.\u00a0 Thucydides, 8 copies, 1300 year distance.\u00a0 Tacitus, 20 copies, 1,000 year distance.\u00a0 Suetonius, ever done your devotional life on Suetonius?\u00a0 Probably not, 8 manuscripts , 800 years distance.\u00a0 Homer\u2019s The Iliad<\/em>, 643 copies, 500 year distance between the earliest copy and the original.\u00a0 Look at the Bible in comparison.\u00a0 24,000 copies, would you say that\u2019s a lot in comparison to everybody else?\u00a0 And look at the time distance between when the New Testament was written and the earliest manuscript, 25-50 years.\n\nSo if you, if people, if the history channel is going to sit in judgment on the Bible because we don\u2019t have the original manuscripts then you have to throw out every other major work of antiquity.\u00a0 Nobody challenges\u2026 you know, Dan Rather doesn\u2019t run specials challenging Plato, or Thucydides, they\u2019re only challenging the Bible.\u00a0 And yet compared to Plato, Thucydides, what we have in the New Testament \u00a0is a vast number of manuscript copies and a very, very short distance between when the New Testament was written and the earliest available manuscripts.\n\nMy point is simply this: it is true that the doctrine of inspiration applies only to the original writings; it is true that we do not have the original writings, but what you have in the Scripture are as close as you could humanly get in terms of reliability.\u00a0 The Bible is not the actual writings of Paul or Peter, they\u2019re copies but the copies, compared to any other work of antiquity are highly, highly, HIGHLY! [Exclamation point] reliable.\n\nNow do these 24,000 copies, do they agree with each other on every point?\u00a0 The answer would be no.\u00a0 Yes, they agree with each other 99% of the time; no, they don\u2019t agree with each other 1% of the time.\u00a0 Now before that bothers you too much let me say this: that 1% never relates to a major doctrinal issue.\u00a0 They agree on, obviously far more than they disagree on, but you\u2019ll notice, for example as you\u2019re looking at different Bible versions you\u2019re studying the woman caught in adultery, John 8, if you\u2019re reading out of the New American Standard Bible there\u2019s this strange little mark that says \u201cThis story is not found in the earliest manuscripts.\u201d\u00a0 If you\u2019re reading out of the New King James Bible what you\u2019ll discover is that little mark is not there.\u00a0 So what is happening here?\u00a0 Some of the manuscripts contain the story, some of them don\u2019t\u00a0 And that is an example of the 1% disagreement amongst these manuscripts.\u00a0 And the goal of text criticism, since we do not have the original, is which of these manuscripts that deviate from each other, ever so slightly, which one is accurate?\u00a0 And people devote their entire lives to this.\u00a0 It\u2019s a science called Text criticism.\n\nThe New King James Bible, the King James Bible, basically says if the story is found in the majority of the manuscripts it\u2019s authentic.\u00a0 The New American Standard Bible says no, the story must be found in the earliest manuscripts.\u00a0 And so scholars debate which one is accurate; is it the majority or is it the earliest?\u00a0 And there\u2019s a healthy knock-out, drag-out debate amongst people on the same team over that issue.\u00a0 And this is a little introduction, if I can give this to you, on what we call text criticism.\u00a0 But what you have to understand is these areas of disagreement represent 1%, probably less than 1% of all the areas these manuscripts agree on.\n\nWhat can we be sure of?\u00a0 We can be sure that what we are reading out of the Scripture, with the exception of the one percent disagreement amongst Bible translators and text critics, is reliable, highly reliable, in fact, we\u2019re so far ahead in compared to other works of antiquity, highly reliable copy.\u00a0\u00a0 So this promise of God-breathed the breath of God, the saliva of God, this does not apply to the copies that we have, it only applies to the originals that once existed, and yet these copies that we have are astoundingly\u2026 astoundingly accurate, far, far ahead of all of these other works of antiquity that I\u2019ve referenced.\n\nThis view of the inspiration of the Bible, the Bible being God-breathed in its original manuscripts, is not something that Paul thought up.\u00a0 It is not something that Peter thought up.\u00a0 This was the thoughts of God and the mind of God and it was actually a viewpoint that Jesus Himself had when He walked the earth.\u00a0 You see, because when Jesus walked the earth there was no New Testament yet.\u00a0 The only thing you had is what we call the Old Testament, we refer to it as Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, TNK: Tanakh, T stands for Torah, that would be the first five books of the Bible, the Law of God.\u00a0 N stands for Nevi<\/em>'<\/strong>im<\/em>, meaning prophets.\u00a0 K stands for Ketuvim, like the Psalms, referring to writings.\n\nThat is how the Jews organized their Scripture, by Tanakh, T--Torah; N--Nevi\u2019im\u2014K, Ketuvim.\u00a0 So when Jesus walked the earth the only thing that He had was Tanakh.\u00a0 When Jesus looked at Tanakh what did he see?\u00a0 He saw exactly what Paul is talking about here and Peter, he saw the very breath of God in its original manuscripts and the very saliva of God.\u00a0 In fact, let me give you some quotes of Christ.\u00a0 Notice, if you can, Matthew 22:43-44. \u00a0This is Jesus making a statement about Psalm 110, written a thousand years before Christ walked the earth.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a lot of nuances in this quote that I don\u2019t want to get into, I just want to show you one thing.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201c\u2018He said to them, \u2018Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, [44] 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, \"SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET '?\u201d\n\nHe\u2019s quoting Psalm 110:1 to make a point about Himself.\u00a0 But what he says, most interestingly in verse 43 is this: \u201cHe said to them, \u2018Then How does David in the Spirit call Him \u2018Lord,\u201d\u201d did you catch that phrase?\u00a0 \u201chow does David in the Spirit\u201d make this statement in Psalm 110?\u00a0 In other words, Jesus Himself believed that the Spirit came upon David, a human writer, and as the wind propels the sails in a sailboat and the boat is pushed along, in the same way the Holy Spirit came upon David, respecting David\u2019s gifts, talents, temperament, styles, literary background, but the Spirit of God used those things to pen God\u2019s message in Psalm 110.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s not the belief of Peter and Paul only, that\u2019s what Jesus thought about Tanakh.\n\nLet me give you another example.\u00a0 Take a look at John 10:34-35, he is quoting here Psalm 82:6, a Psalm of Asaph.\u00a0 Watch this.\u00a0 \u201cJesus answered them, \u2018Has it been written your law, I SAID, YOU ARE GODS\u2019? \u201c\u00a0 Now let\u2019s not go into that because that would take another three hours to unpack what that means so we won\u2019t deal with that.\u00a0 At this point He\u2019s simply quoting Psalm 82:6.\u00a0 Verse 35 says, \u201cIf he called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken),\u201d and he goes on revealing His point, but in the process He says, \u201cIf he called them gods, to whom the word of God came,\u201d who wrote Psalm 82:6?\u00a0 It was Asaph, correct answer.\u00a0 But God wrote Psalm 82:6 also because God \u201ccame upon\u201d Asaph, the writer of Psalm 82, and he ended up penning God\u2019s message.\u00a0 Dual authorship: Asaph is the author, little \u201ca\u201d, God is the Author, capital \u201cA\u201d in the original manuscripts.\n\nTake a look at Matthew 5:18, Jesus is making another statement about Tanakh, here\u2019s He\u2019s making a statement about the T, Torah.\u00a0 Actually before we go to Matthew 5:18 look at Matthew 4:4, \u201cBut he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every\u201d what \u201cword that proceeds from the mouth of God.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus Himself believed that the words in Tanach, which comprise the sentences, which comprise the paragraphs, which comprise the chapters, which comprise the books, each word was put there by God through inspiration.\n\nNow take a look at 5:18, Jesus says, \u201c\u2018For 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.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Jesus let me tell you something else about T in Tanach, the words were put there by God and so were the letters.\u00a0 And the smallest strokes of the pen, which sort of in Hebrew looks like a little apostrophe, those smallest strokes of the pen were put there by God Himself as he magically and strategically used, miraculously I should say, these writers of Scripture.\n\nYou see, when Jesus looked at Tanakh what did He see?\u00a0\u00a0 He saw that the strokes of the pen, which make up the letters, which make up the words, which make up the paragraphs, which make up the chapters, which make up the books were there because God put them there.\n\nWhy Paul says to Timothy, going back to 2 Timothy 3:16, should you continue on with the Scripture, because \u201cAll Scripture is God-breathed\u201d in the original writing.\n\nNow one other quick point, did you catch the adjective \u201call\u201d?\u00a0 We\u2019re back in 2 Timothy 3;16 by the way, did you catch the adjective \u201call?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God.\u201d\u00a0 What does the Sugar Land Bible Church statement of faith say?\u00a0 \u201cThe Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, are the verbally inspired and inerrant Word of God. Divine inspiration extends equally and fully to all parts and words of the Bible, so that the whole Bible, in the original manuscripts, is without error.\u201d\n\nThat word \u201call\u201d is so significant and let me tell you why it\u2019s significant; it does not give me the right as a preacher or a teacher or a reader to pick the things that God said.\u00a0 The adjective \u201call\u201d precludes that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have the luxury to say this part of the Bible is important over here, but not this part because \u201call Scripture,\u201d not some, \u201call\u201d is inspired by God.\u00a0 You know, if that word \u201call\u201d was not there you would put so much power into human beings who would then decide what they like and what they don\u2019t like.\u00a0 But the word \u201call\u201d precludes that.\u00a0 The word \u201call\u201d shapes one\u2019s ministry philosophy.\u00a0 Unless you understand the word \u201call\u201d this church and the ministry philosophy of this pulpit won\u2019t make any sense to you.\u00a0 Why in the world did we pick it up in the middle of verse 15?\u00a0 Why not just start in verse 16 when we started the sermon?\u00a0 The answer is we didn\u2019t cover all of verse 15 yet, \u201call\u201d means all, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Who am I to leave out or chop out a part of verse 15?\n\nLook at 2 Timothy 4:2, next chapter to the right, \u201cpreach the\u201d what? \u201cpreach the word; be ready in season and out of season\u2026\u201d and so forth.\u00a0\u00a0 Watch this: \u201cAll Scripture is God-breathed,\u201d 2 Timothy 3:16.\u00a0 \u201cPreach the Word,\u201d verse 2 of chapter 4, next chapter, that means what part of the Bible must be preached?\u00a0 All of it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have the luxury of saying well, I don\u2019t think this part over here is relevant, or this part over here is applicable.\u00a0 All means all, and hence you see why we move slowly, gradually, methodically through books of the Bible.\u00a0 As we are moving through books of the Bible I am not in control.\u00a0 I don\u2019t really want to be in control.\u00a0 I want God to be in control.\u00a0 And the only way to keep God in control of content and diet is to move through all of His Word right down to little clauses, commas, and things of that nature.\n\nAfter all, what did Jesus say, quoting the book of Deuteronomy?\u00a0 \u201cMan shall not live on bread alone but on\u201d what? \u201cevery word,\u201d not some words, \u201cevery word.\u201d\u00a0 Topical studies don\u2019t cut it, folks, I\u2019m not against topical studies from time to time but\u00a0 you will not get an intake of all of the Word of God through topical studies.\u00a0 What did Paul say in the book Acts, chapter 20, verses 26 and 27?\u00a0 \u201cTherefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. [27] For I did not shrink from declaring to you the\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201cwhole purpose of God.\u201d\u00a0 Why would Paul be into the \u201cwhole purpose of God?\u00a0 It\u2019s because of what he would write to Timothy here in 2 Timothy 3:16, \u201cAll Scripture is God-breathed.\u201d\n\nNot only is it God-breathed, it doesn\u2019t have any errors in it.\u00a0 Jesus said in John 17:17, \u201cSanctify them in the truth, Your Word is\u201d what? \u201ctruth.\u201d\u00a0 You say well, don\u2019t you believe that the Bible is true related to spiritual things but when it comes to history, archeology, science, geology it can have mistakes in it?\u00a0 No I don\u2019t believe that, not in the original manuscripts do I believe that at all.\u00a0 If the Bible has mistakes in it related to things you can see and validate and verify, like history, archeology, geology and things of that nature, if it\u2019s got mistakes in it from that angle how in the world can you trust it on things you can\u2019t see: angels, demons, heaven, hell, redemption, forgiveness, and things of that nature.\n\nYou see, the philosophy of ministry at Sugar Land Bible Church is the entire Word of God as we read these highly reliable copies is inspired by God through dual authorship.\u00a0 When God inspired these people to write they weren\u2019t writing books primarily about science, or archeology, or history, yet the doctrine of inspiration and inerrancy guarantees that when these men brushed on those subjects, which they did every once in a while, they are accurate in what they say.\n\n \n\nSo what we believe in is total inerrancy.\u00a0 All of the Scripture being inspired by God, therefore necessitating that all of the Scripture be taught.\u00a0 Timothy, you have to stick with the Bible in the midst of the apostasy.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because this is God\u2019s book; this is not your book.\u00a0 Paul says this is not my book.\u00a0 This is God\u2019s book, this is God\u2019s truth, all of it is God\u2019s truth.\u00a0 The Bible doesn\u2019t merely contain the Word of God, the Bible doesn\u2019t become the Word of God.\u00a0 The Bible IS the Word of God.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an editorial, not an opinion from a man, although God did use human beings to record His Word.\u00a0 It is the only book on planet earth that you have that records God\u2019s message to man as guaranteed through full inspiration and full inerrancy.\n\nSo Timothy, you must make a straight path through the Word of God in\u00a0 your preaching and your teaching ministry.\u00a0 You must imitate what you saw me do where Paul says I have given you the whole counsel of the Word of God.\u00a0\u00a0 See folks, there is a lot of error being propagated today, not based on what people say, listen to me very carefully, we\u2019re close to wrapping up, not based on what people say but based on what people omit.\u00a0 There is a sin of commission; there is a sin of omission.\u00a0 God is not going to evaluate pastors and preachers and teachers, and by the way, as you know he says the teachers incur the stricter judgment, He is not going to evaluate pastors and teachers simply based on what they say; He is going to evaluate them based on what they omitted.\n\nNow I have a personality that\u2019s sort of a people pleasing personality, believe it or not.\u00a0 And if I was really in charge of this process I would duck subjects for fear of offense.\u00a0 Yet, if you believe that \u201cAll Scripture is inspired by God\u201d and \u201cGod breathed,\u201d if you are committed to moving through the entire Scripture and expounding it, ducking subjects is not a possibility.\n\nBut let me tell you something, on that kind of ministry the blessing of God rests.\u00a0 I have been doing this for enough years to know this much: God honors His Word. I don\u2019t have all of the catchy cool answers to problems that people have today.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know a lot about managing a church.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know an awful lot about managing interpersonal conflicts among people.\u00a0 Those of you that have come to me for counseling know that I\u2019m probably not the best marriage counselor or counselor at all.\u00a0 But\u00a0 I know this much: God wants His Word taught.\u00a0 God honors His Word when it\u2019s taught.\u00a0 When it\u2019s not neglected, negated, chipped, chiseled, cut to ribbons He honors His Word and he honors ministries that will make the full counsel of the Word of God a priority.\u00a0 Shall we pray.\n\nFather, we are grateful for this statement on God-breathed, God inspired.\u00a0 Help us, Father, to use these things to inform us, not only on how we conduct a ministry but how we live our personal lives.\u00a0 We will be careful to give You all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name.\u00a0 And God\u2019s people said\u2026.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t