OPEN: Back in the Old Testament, in the book of Jeremiah, we read an intriguing story of a Jewish King who didn’t like something God had to say. The King’s name was Jehoiakim and God had had Jeremiah write down a prophecy condemned the King and his kingdom because of the evil that King had allowed to take place. God sent a warning to Jehoiakim and the nation of Judah to repent… or else.
But instead of repenting of his sin Jehoiakim decided to show his contempt for God’s prophecy. He ordered a scribe to come into his chambers and read the prophecy in his presence. And after 3 or 4 columns of the scroll of the prophecy had been written on were read (roughly equivalent to 3 or 4 pages from a book) the King took a knife and cut off that section from the scroll, and he crumpled it up and threw it into a fire. And Jehoiakim did that with the entire scroll until the all of the prophecy had been completely destroyed.
Jehoiakim cut out the sections of the prophecy he didn’t like… which was pretty much all of it. And over the centuries, people have – to one degree or another – done exactly the same thing to God’s Word with their own knives.
ILLUS: For example, Thomas Jefferson created his own personalized Bible using a similar technique. Jefferson titled the finished product: “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth.” And what he did was, he took several copies of the Bible and literally went through the Gospels, taking a penknife and cutting out the sections of Gospels that he LIKED. Then he’d paste those sections he liked into a journal – and that became his Bible.
The parts he left out the parts were rejected because he felt those sections were “contrary to reason.” You see Jefferson was offended by the idea that God would reach down into this world and “interfere” with the affairs of men. So anything that smacked of a being a miracle was ‘contrary to reason.” He left out anything that spoke of God’s miraculous power. Things like:
• the feeding of the 5000
• the various healings Jesus did
• and (of course) the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
ILLUS: More recently in the 1990s, about 150 religious scholars did pretty much the same thing.
They got together in something they called the “Jesus Seminar” and voted on verses in the Gospels as to whether these verses actually spoke of true events (as opposed to stories they felt the Gospel writers had made up). They voted by means “colored beads”:
Red meant - yes, Jesus said or did that.
Pink: The passage sounded like it could have been Jesus.
Gray: Maybe.
Black: Definitely did not happen.
They rejected many parts of the Gospels they felt were ‘over the top. For example, they rejected things like
• the passage where Jesus said: "I am the way, and I am the truth, and I am life". They felt it was “too exclusive”. The very idea that Jesus would say that there was no way unto the Father except by Him was offensive to them.
• And they rejected Jesus’ parable about the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 as being too judgmental.
• And, of course, they rejected the resurrection of Jesus from the dead as being too outlandish to be believed.
Now, why would they do that?
Why would these scholars (and Jefferson) cut away so much of the Bible?
Very simple: they did not believe ALL SCRIPTURE was God breathed.
They believed the Bible was a man-made document filled with errors and made-up stories.
ILLUS: When I was a boy I grew up in a college town. And I constantly heard that the Bible was filled with errors and wasn’t trustworthy. So when I finally went away to College and attended a secular college I decided to ask around and find out what errors they could tell me were there. What I found was that their “errors” were actually just “accusations” they felt had substance just because they made them. It would be like (name one of the upright men in the congregation) going down the street with his niece… and somebody who didn’t like saying “I just say him going down the street with a pretty young thing and he must be fooling around.”
These accusers throw a bunch of mud at Scripture and wait to see how much sticks. There’s no substance to their accusations, but that doesn’t stop them from making them.
One of the scholars I have in my files says “if you press a skeptic to name just 5 errors in the Bible… they can’t.
Now, by contrast, back in 2007 the “San Antonio Express-News” reported that reviewers of upcoming math textbooks for that year found 109,263 errors in books being purchased for Texas schools. One 2nd-grade math book, for example, had 4 plus 7 equaling 10. Pretty sure that wasn’t right.
(Bizarre News ezine@gophercentral.com 11/17/07)
Now, my point is this: The Bible is an extremely accurate book. And in spite of the constant attacks of skeptics down thru the ages, it remains the best-selling book in the world. And the Bible has lasted as long as it has because it is a GOD BREATHED document.
God literally wrote the thing. Or actually… you could say He ghost wrote the thing.
ILLUS: You know what ghost writing is? That’s when a celebrity pays a good writer to write a book in their name. The book is named for the celebrity, but their book was actually carried by the ghost writer. And that is just what happened with Scripture.
The KJV version of 2 Peter 1:21 says: “… prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved (carried) by the Holy GHOST.”
Did you catch that?
The Holy Ghost (Spirit) was a “ghost writer” of the Scriptures.
• Isaiah may have had his name on the book, but it was the Spirit that carried him along.
• Matthew may have written the Gospel, but it was the Spirit that ghost-wrote his book.
• Paul may have written letters to the churches, but it was the Spirit that dictated the words.
And that’s actually what Paul claimed happened even when he spoke: “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.” 1 Corinthians 2:13
But Paul told Timothy, the proof of the pudding was in what Scripture was capable of doing in the lives of those who read were instructed by it: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED for every good work.” As II Timothy 3:16-17
The Bible has the power to transform us and remake us even better than before.
David put it this way:
“Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me.
I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes” Psalm 119:98-99
The Bible can make me wiser than my enemies and smarter than my teachers? How can it do that?
A philosopher by the name of Vishal Mangalwadi recently wrote a book called “The Book That Made Your World”. He noted that whether you talk about politics or science, education or technology, the Bible was the key that unlocked the Western mind. He found that it was the biblical notion of human dignity that formed the social structure of western nations like the U.S. That the Bible created a fertile ground for women to find social and economic empowerment. That Scripture uniquely equipped Western culture to cultivate compassion, human rights, prosperity, and strong families. And that it shaped our very concept of education and science.
Take Isaac Newton for example. He made major contributions to mathematics, optics, physics, & astronomy. He discovered the law of gravitation, formulated the basic laws of motion. He developed calculus, and he analyzed the nature of white light. I can’t even understand half the things that he discovered.
But behind all of his science was the conviction he learned from the Bible that God had made the universe and that He’d made it according to a mathematical structure. And that God had gifted human beings with ability to understand that structure
Then there was Robert Boyle – the father of modern chemistry. He agreed with Newton. Because of what Boyle had read in the Bible he looked at that the universe as being filled with an extreme degree of orderliness. He saw this was true because God ordained laws that guided everything in our world. And Boyle believed it was the scientist's duty to discover what laws God had established.
Then there was Johann Kepler. His 3 laws for planetary motion are the basis for our understanding of the solar system today and they have shaped how astronomers - even to this day - view the heavens. Kepler believed that there was a mathematical precision and orderliness in the universe; and that the scientist's duty was to discover what mathematical formula God had used.
Because of what he’d learned from the Bible, Kepler believed that God had created the world according to an intelligent plan and that that plan could be understood thru observation and reason. In fact, he’d read in Scripture that God encouraged the heathen to look carefully at creation so that they might come to know God. So Kepler strove to prove the greatness and majesty of creation, so that mankind could have a deeper & more powerful worship of their creator.
My Point Is This:
These men didn’t just become wiser than their teachers. They BECAME our teachers.
Their research formed the foundation of much of what we call science.
And they formed that foundation because of their belief in the God of the Bible.
These men believed this because they believed that ALL Scripture was God-breathed was useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Scripture changes people.
And it even changes civilizations - because God has given it the power to do that.
ILLUS: This summer I listened to a presentation by a representative for a missionary team called “Ambassadors for Christ to the Philippines.” He told of a person who had such a passion to go to the Philippines. This missionary went down to the Philippines on a shoestring budget, and something in what they did struck a chord with the native population, so that today – 25 years later- there are nearly 40,000 Christians in 700 Church of Christ congregations there.
But not only was that mission helping to convert people to Christ, the teachings of the Bible made a powerful impact on the culture there. The speaker told of arriving in that part of the Philippines back in the 70’s and being overwhelmed by the stench of sewage and garbage as he got off the plane. Many of the people there lived in terrible unsanitary conditions.
But as that civilization became influenced by the teachings of Scripture, the land began to change. The government began establishing modern drainage systems and trash control. And the leaders of that city were so convinced of the powerful effect the Bible had had on their entire culture, - they have asked for the churches to teach Bible in their schools.
The point is: when the Bible is taken seriously nations change, cultures change, and people change. The Bible is the Good News that transforms all of this. In fact, that’s what the word “Gospel” means: “good news.” The Gospel message is full of God’s grace and God’s forgiveness.
But if the Bible is “good news” why would anyone want to cut out parts of it? Well, folks cut away things from the Bible because the Bible isn’t ALL good news.
Some of the Bible is BAD NEWS for many people.
Just like the judgment on Jehoiakim (we talked about at the beginning of the sermon) the Bible has words of condemnation and words of warning of God’s impending judgment. God tells people “you can’t always do what you want to do, because certain things are NOT acceptable. And if you do those things… there will be consequences.”
For example: I Corinthians says “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
People who live these kinds of lives (or who approve those lifestyles) squirm when they words like that. This is NOT good news to them. That’s not what they want to hear.
So they’ll either avoid God’s word (by NOT reading it/ or NOT going to church) or they’ll try to find a church that will tickle their ears. Or they’ll even cut out the Scriptures that make them uncomfortable.
ILLUS: Years ago I was preaching in a church where a deacon was committing adultery… a lot. It wasn’t a large community, so I guess it shouldn’t have been a surprise that almost everybody in town knew what this man was doing. In fact, I later found that most people in church knew what he was doing.
Now what does the Bible tell me to do about Christians who practice sin? It tells me to confront the sinner and even remove them from church if they won’t repent.
But I had a problem. The major elder of that church was the deacon’s cousin, and he had no intention of allowing his cousin to be disciplined for his evil actions. He called a Board meeting where I was informed in no uncertain terms that this deacon had repented and I wasn’t to speak on this matter ever again.
“But he hasn’t told me he is repentant!” I objected.
And the Elder looked me in the eye and said “Well, he’s mad at you.”
Well, I ended up making that Elder mad at me in one of our Elder meetings, and he climbed me up one side and down the other. At one point he shouted at me:
“I know Paul said we should discipline people… but Jesus didn’t. Therefore we don’t have to.”
Now that was pure heresy.
But I later talked to a prominent theologian in our brotherhood (Jack Cottrell) and he commiserated with me and said “Yeah, that’s one of the 3 great heresies entering the church.”
Apparently, about the time I was having this problem with that Elder, there was a group of theologians who got together and called themselves “Red Letter Christians”. They named themselves Red Letter Christians because there’s a red letter edition of the Bible that has all the words that Jesus spoke in Red (one of their prominent spokesmen is Tony Campolo).
These theologians rejected any authority in the Bible except the things Jesus said (and even some of that they doubted). But everything else – things in the Old Testament and most of the New – were optional. Even letters written by Paul or Peter or John… didn’t make the cut.
And I use that term “cut” deliberately, because these Red Letter “Christians” are essentially heretics who have gotten out their penknives to cut away at God’s word– just like Jehoiakim did.
Now, that’s a dangerous thing to do.
Peter warned the Christians of his day about messing with Paul’s writings
II Peter 3:15-17 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. (Paul’s) letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position.”
Peter was warning the Christians of his day (and he was warning us)
• stay away from these men with penknives.
• don’t listen to these folks because they’ll drag you away from Jesus.
Peter described them as ignorant, unstable people… lawless men who will be destroyed. And that’s exactly what happened to Jehoiakim.
God destroyed him.
God told Jeremiah that Jehoiakim’s “…body will be thrown out and exposed to the heat by day and the frost by night. I will punish him and his children and his attendants for their wickedness; I will bring on them and those living in Jerusalem and the people of Judah every disaster I pronounced against them, because they have not listened.” Jeremiah 36:30-31
That’s NOT good news.
When men like Jehoiakim bring penknives to a fight with the Bible (the Sword of the Spirit) they’re bound to lose. And that makes sense if you think about it. If you had a choice of fighting with a penknife of a sword… which weapon would you chose?
And these folks have already lost. God says they will be destroyed. But even worse - the people who listen to them will suffer.
And that’s bad news.
But notice WHY God brought judgment on Jehoiakim and all Judah – they “have not listened.” They refused to love the truth and so be saved.
That’s why we need to be committed to standing firm with the Bible. We do nobody any favors by trying to water down the warnings and judgments of Scripture.
ILLUS: There was once a fiery preacher who often spoke on the subject of sin. He minced no words, but defined sin as "that abominable thing that God hates."
Some of the members of in his congregation came to him and urged him to tone down his sermons. They said: "We wish you would not speak so plainly about sin. Call it something else. Call it an 'inhibition,' or 'an error' or a 'mistake,' or even 'a twist in our nature.'"
"Oh," replied the preacher, "I think I know what you mean. Come with me."
He took them down to the church kitchen, reached under the sink and drew out a bottle of cleaning liquid which had a skull and cross bones on it.
"What you would have me do is put another label on this bottle. You’d want me to not call it poison, but something more pleasant... like lemonade.
But that’s not going to happen. When God calls something sin, evil, depraved or an abomination, I will call it by no other name."
The Bible is “Good News”
But there is poison in this world that the many want to pretend won’t hurt us.
God can not give us the good news of Christ’s love and salvation if we ignore the dangers of those poisons.
But if we LISTEN to God - if we realize that God saved us to avoid sin - then the good news is that He will change our lives.
Remember we read I Corinthians earlier: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10
That’s bad news.
But in the next verse Paul tells us the GOOD NEWS:
“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:11
CLOSE: Years ago, a minister friend of mine named Bryan told how his brother had been a man who would have nothing to with church. He preferred to "enjoy" life, to party, and to drink... and drink... and drink.
He was a salesman for "84 Lumber" and he not only drank while at meetings, but also had his home well stocked.
One day, as Bryan's brother was in a fast food restaurant and he saw seedy looking man in a long black trench coat and scraggly hair come through the door. And the tramp walked right over to his table.
“Oh great,” he thought, “ he wants a handout.”
But instead, the stranger asked “Can I give you something?”
Taken back, he said "sure."
The stranger reached into his trench coat, and took out a Bible and said "read this."
It was a “witness” Bible with page numbers marked in it. It started with the inside cover and instructed the reader to turn to page 25. And there on that page would be a scripture highlighted with a short explanation in the column, and at the bottom of the page would these words: “Turn to page …” And on that page there’d be another scripture outlined and another instruction to turn to another page.
These “witness” Bibles are designed to lead a person to understand how to become a Christian.
Quietly, Bryan's brother took the Bible. And later, at home, as he began to read it he became convicted as he turned from one page to another to read the underlined scriptures.
But it was the final reference shook him. It was found on page 84 of the Bible - and he himself worked at 84 Lumber. He was so shaken by that that he put down the Bible, walked over to the kitchen cabinet where he kept his bottles of alcohol and poured it all down the drain.
He started going to church, and he became a Christian. And he never touched another drop of alcohol again.
The Good News of the Bible is NOT that it is the foundation of modern science.
And it’s not that Scripture is historically accurate.
The Good News of Scripture is that God loves us and made us in His image. But that image has been so tarnished by our sin that God reached down into our lives. He sent Jesus to live amongst us and to die for our sins and rise from the dead so that we might become His children and have the promise of an eternity with Him.
INVITATION.
