The Miracle of the Inspiration of Scripture
May 8th
2011 AM
Pastor Craig Ledbetter
I.
Introduction (Heb 1:1)
A.
The questions everyone asks:
1.
IS there a God? Does He really
exist?
2.
How can we know Him?
3.
And most of all, Does He care
about what we go through?
B.
The very foundation of
Christianity is the Bible.
1.
Not the church, or
experiences, or miracles, or visions
2.
But the perfect, pure,
inerrant word of the living God in a Book
3.
Faith ONLY comes by hearing
and believing the WORD of God (Rom 10:17)!
C.
Most people look for God in
mystical, spiritual ways
1.
Like in their feelings, omens,
disasters
2.
They look for a deity in the
stars, in unexplainable experiences
D.
But God speaks to us in
“words”
1.
Exodus 20:1
2.
Matthew 4:4
3.
He has always spoken (Gen
1:1-3)
4.
Those words, spoken, and
penned by men, are not the words of men, but the words of God Almighty (1Thes
2:13), given to us through the marvellous miracle of inspiration (2Tim 3:16)
5.
The entire Bible (All
Scripture) was written by a group of very human authors. Moses (full of
frustration and anger), David (problem with lust), Peter (impulsive), Solomon
(proud). The only way in which fallible humans could have written so much
inerrant text would have been for them to have been inspired by God.
E.
The priceless gift of the
words of God in our hands
1.
Tells us God’s laws and His
righteousness
2.
Presents to us God’s salvation
– the Gospel
3.
Gives us a sure hope
4.
Comforts us
5.
Feeds our spirit
6.
Saves our soul
7.
Transforms our lives
F.
No wonder countless millions
have given their very lives at the stake, and on the mission field, and in
dungeons, and torture chambers – all so that people would hear the wonderful
words of God!
II.
Message
A.
The Meaning of Inspiration
(2Tim 3:16)
1.
It is the influence of the
Spirit of God upon a godly man for the purpose of writing down God’s words
2.
It is GOD speaking into our
world (Heb 3:7; Acts 28:25; Mk 12:36)
3.
Those words that God spake
are:
a.
Pure words – holy words (Psalm
12:6; 119:140)
b.
True words (Psalm 119:160;
John 17:17)
c.
Perfect words (Psalm 19:7)
d.
Precious and rare words (Psalm
19:10)
e.
Sufficient words (Luke
16:29-31)
f.
Saving words (2Tim 3:15)
g.
Exposing words (Heb 4:12)
4.
No other Book is like THIS
Book!
B.
The Process of Inspiration.
1.
God spoke – God breathed out
His words INTO the ears, and minds and hearts of His people
2.
The Holy Spirit moved holy men
of God to write down those words (2Pet 1:21; 2Sam 23:1,2; Heb 1:1) – guiding
them, and protecting them from error
a.
They didn’t faint, froth at
the mouth, shake uncontrollably
b.
They just stood up and spoke
what God told them to say
1)
Jeremiah 9:1
2)
Isaiah 8:1
c.
After they spoke the words of
God, they then wrote them down (Rev 1:19; Dt 31:9; Gal 6:11)
d.
Just as this PEN has no life
in itself, and no ability to make sense or write truth unless acted upon by me,
so also do men not have the ability to write such a perfect, pure Book unless
filled and guided by God’s Holy Spirit!
3.
Ultimately, a letter, epistle,
a book of the Bible was born
4.
An example (Acts 3)
a.
God gave men miraculous power
to do the impossible
b.
Not to just go about healing
c.
But so that it could be proven
that they (as ignorant and unlearned as they were) could be used to pen the
perfect and pure words of the almighty God of heaven and earth!
d.
Each man that was used to pen
the portion of Scripture had his own colour, and texture, like each different
pen that you or I might used to write something
e.
God did not “dictate” all the
words of the Bible (some he did, when He said, “Thus saith the Lord”), but
rather moved the minds and hearts of the holy men of old as they wrote
5.
Another example
a.
Psalm 22
b.
Isaiah 53
6.
The miracle of inspiration is
finished (Luke 24:27; Rev 22:18,19)
C.
Three Great Proofs of
Inspiration.
1.
Prophecies fulfilled
a.
There are many hundreds of
prophecies in the Old Testament alone. Conservative Christians generally state
that all of the 200 or so prophecies in the
Hebrew Scriptures that foretold the life of Jesus Christ came true; they
had a 100% accuracy.
1)
That a woman would have a seed
(Gen 3:15) – a child without a husband – 4004 BC
2)
That that woman would be a
virgin (Isaiah 7:14) – 750 BC
3)
That the child would be born
in
4)
That the nation of
b.
Hundreds of other prophecies
not related to Jesus have already come true. This could not have happened unless
the authors of the Bible were inspired by God.
1)
Concerning future would
empires (Daniel)
c.
If one of those prophecies did
not come true, then the entire writings of that prophet were to be rejected, and
the prophet could be stoned to death for lying (Dt 13:3; 18:20)! God took His
words that seriously!
2.
Advanced Scientific Revelation
a.
The earth is hanging upon
NOTHING (Job 26:7)
b.
The earth is ROUND (Isaiah
40:22)
c.
The universe is immeasurable
(Jeremiah 33:22)
3.
Changed lives – by the words
of this Book (John 6:63, 68; 8:30-32; Acts 17:6)
D.
Purpose of Inspiration.
1.
So that mankind would have
hope (Rom 15:4) – a sure hope. All other writings are either pipe-dreams of
drugged up dreamers, or dismal records of man’s inhumanity towards man! Only the
Bible tells us where to look for, and how to trust a loving, almighty, all wise
Creator God. People don’t read
2.
So that we would have a
perfect revelation of who God is and what He expects of us.
a.
Creation tells us that there
is a God
b.
Only the Bible tells us His
name, where He lives, why He created us, and what He thinks!
3.
So that anyone can hear and
know and believe God’s words enough to trust God, and obey God, and enjoy God
for the rest of their lives!
a.
John 20:30,31
b.
2Tim 3:14-17
4.
Anyone can know God! Not
because God’s words are sitting on a page somewhere in a library (that never did
anybody any good ever), but because it gets read and engraved into the hearts
and minds of the hearer (Heb 10:16)
III.
Application (Psalm
68:11)
A.
God gave us His word. But He
didn’t just give it to a select few people
B.
The world NEEDS this Book
C.
Let’s join with all of
history, and become part of the great company of publishers of it – getting it
into the hands and hearts of every person on this planet –starting with your
family, and your neighbour and your co-worker
D.
First by reading it
E.
Then by obeying it – living it
out in the open - We are living Bibles
F.
Making sure that just as holy
men of old were guided and under the perfect control of the Holy Spirit, so we
too should be under the control and direction of the Holy Spirit today!
IV.
Conclusion
A.
IS there a God? Does He really
exist? How can we know Him? And, Does He care about what we go through?
B.
“Jesus loves me, this I KNOW.
For the BIBLE tells me so!”
C.
The BIBLE is the very
foundation of Christianity!
1.
God has spoken unto us in
“words” – not mathematical formulas, or chemical equations, but words, and
sentences
2.
They were NOT the words of
men, but the words of God given to us through the marvellous miracle of
inspiration (2Tim 3:16)
a.
Tells us God’s laws and His
righteousness
b.
Presents to us God’s salvation
– the Gospel
c.
Gives us a sure hope
d.
Comforts us
e.
Feeds our spirit
f.
Saves our soul
g.
Transforms our lives
3.
No wonder countless millions
have given their very lives at the stake, and on the mission field, and in
dungeons, and torture chambers – all so that people would hear the wonderful
words of God!
D.
So, Inspiration was the
influence of the Spirit of God upon a godly man for the purpose of writing down
God’s words. It was when GOD spoke into our world
1.
God spoke – God breathed out
His words INTO the ears, and minds and hearts of His people
2.
The Holy Spirit moved holy men
of God to write down those words – guiding them, and protecting them from error
E.
Three Great Proofs of
Inspiration.
1.
Prophecies fulfilled
2.
Advanced Scientific Revelation
3.
Changed lives – by the words
of this Book (John 6:63, 68; 8:30-32)
F.
The Purpose of
Inspiration.
1.
So that mankind would have
hope – a sure hope.
2.
So that we would have a
perfect revelation of who God is and what He expects of us.
3.
So that anyone can hear and
know and believe God’s words enough to trust God, and obey God, and enjoy God
for the rest of their lives!
G.
Has it made any
difference in YOUR life?
1.
O how love I thy law! It is my
meditation all the day!
2.
Thou through thy commandments
has made me wiser than my enemies
3.
The law of the Lord is perfect
converting the soul – converted MINE!
H.
Next week – Preservation of
the Bible. What good is a perfect Bible that gets lost or ruined by men’s hands?
Craig Ledbetter | Pastor |