“The Word of God Written: The Might of His Word”
The Rev’d Quintin Morrow
II Timothy 3:14-17
Preached at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Fort Worth
January 13, 2002
Let us pray: “Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,One God, for ever and ever. AMEN.”
The B-I-B-L-E,
Yes that’s the book for me.
I stand alone on the Word of God.
The B-I-B-L-E
I sang the words of that song growing up in Sunday School. Perhaps many of you here did as well. It is a song which proclaims, albeit in a child-like manner, the absolute trustworthiness, sufficiency and reliability of God’s Word, the Bible. It is too bad that more of us don’t carry the convictions of that song with us into adult- hood. Yet, statistics indicate that we don’t.
For, while the Bible is the most translated book in history (with it being translated into well over 1,000 different languages) and while the Bible is the best-selling book in history, with over 30,000,000 being sold annually, surveys indicate that Americans, at least, don’t read the Bible very much, and believe what is says even less.
Statistics indicate that less than 20% percent of Americans who claim to be Christians read the Bible daily. Statistics indicate that fewer and fewer Americans believe that sex outside of marriage is wrong, though the Bible clearly says it is. Fewer and fewer Americans believe that there is objective truth, though the Bible claims to be that. Fewer and fewer Americans believe that abortion is the taking of innocent human life, though the Bible says it is. Burglary is up. Murder is up. Divorce is up. Domestic violence is up. And the Bible has strong words of condemnation against all of those things.
So how may we account for the fact that Bible sales are up, but evil and vice in our land are also up? The answer must be that people either don’t know, or don’t believe, what the Bible claims to be—namely, the very Word of Almighty God.
Today we are beginning a 3 part sermon series on God’s Word, the Bible. We will be focusing in this short series on 3 crucial aspects of God’s self-revelation to us in the Holy Scriptures. Firstly, we will be examining God’s Word written: The Might of God’s Word. Secondly we will look at the importance of preaching next week in God’s Word proclaimed: The primacy of preaching. And Finally we will look at God’s Word received: Being Doers of the Word and Not Hearers Only.
Today we will be examining God’s Word written, the Bible. Our text this morning is II Timothy 3:14-17.
But continue thou in the things thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works (II Tim. 3:14-17).
In this familiar passage of Scripture St. Paul instructs young Timothy, a new pastor and his son in the faith, about the Gospel. He warns him about the godlessness of the last days and admonishes him to stay constantly in the Scriptures, which, the apostle says, “are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ”; and where elsewhere he says are able to save both Timothy and his hearers.
First, notice the claim the Apostle makes for Scripture. Look at verse 16: All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. All Scripture is inspired by God, Paul says.
Notice first the all. The word “all” in English is what is known as a “universal inclusive.” That means, everything included in a particular category. In this case, the “all” refers to the written Word of God, the Bible. “All Scripture” means all of the Bible, both Old and New Testaments; all that which God has spoken and been inscripturated, or written down, is considered Scripture and therefore inspired God.
The Greek word Paul uses to describe the Scriptures as “given by inspiration of God” is the word theopneustos. Theopneustos is a conglomeration of two other Greek words: Theos, meaning “God.” Theos is where we get our English word “theology” from. And the word pneuma, meaning “wind,” “breath,” or “spirit.” You men here who have used a pneumatic drill will know that a pneumatic drill is a drill driven by air. Literally translated, the Greek word theopneustos means “God-breathed.” All Scripture is literally “God-breathed.”
What the Apostle is communicating here, folks, is that your Bible—all of Holy Scripture—finds its source and origin in God. Almighty God is the ultimate author of the Bible in your hand (and the Bible collecting dust on your bookshelf, for that matter). All Scripture has been generated by God. It was He who caused it to be written. It is God-breathed; it came from His mind and mouth. Truly, the Bible is a divine book because its author is God. Those words written in its pages are God’s words, because All Scripture is God-breathed. In other words, what the Book says, God says. There is no difference.
But not only is the Bible a divine book, but it is also a human book.
II Peter chapter 1 and verse 21 says that “…men spoke—and we can rightly replace the word “spoke” with the word “wrote”—men spoke and wrote as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”
What this means is that the Bible, while God’s Word, did not fall from heaven. Rather, the Lord moved upon men to write, communicate and transcribe His Word. All Scripture is God-breathed, it finds its source and origin in God. But the Bible also is the work of men. The Holy Spirit moved upon these specially selected men to inscripturate His words. The image we get of the Scriptures being written is that of a boat, with a sail, lying still in the middle of a lake. Suddenly, the wind picks up, fills the sail of that lifeless boat, and pushes it across the lake to its destination. Likewise, the Holy Spirit inspired the human authors of His Word to write, and they wrote at His behest, at His will, His Word. Thus, while the Scriptures find their source in God’s words, they find their expression in man’s words. None- theless, we still with confidence call our Bible “God’s Word.” Indeed, in over 2,000 instances in the Old Testament alone, the Bible asserts that what is written there is what was spoken by God. And the phrase “the word of God” occurs over 40 times in the New Testament.
Not only do we claim that the Bible’s author is God, because the Bible makes that claim for itself, but we also proclaim that God’s Word is infallible and inerrant. Now, it might surprise some of you here today that I make that statement. Many battles have raged over the concept of biblical infallibility—in seminaries, Bible colleges and denominations—and there have been many casualties. Infallibility is the shiboleth that stumbles all but the bravest, and those uncompromisingly committed to the divine authorship of the Bible.
Since the beginning of the last century when so-called scholars and critics began making it their profession to destroy the credibility of the Bible, the notion that the Scriptures are truly reliable and trustworthy in all they teach and proclaim has slowly faded away among the ordained clergy of mainline denominations. Indeed, sadly, I can name on one hand the priests I know in the Episcopal Church these days who would stand up and publicly affirm with a straight face, as I am doing, that the Bible is infallible.
Yet, I believe and loudly proclaim that, indeed, God’s Word the Bible is free from error in all that it teaches and proclaims, and that God’s Word the Bible is not capable of error in all that it teaches and proclaims. Truly, if Almighty God is the author of the Bible, and He is incapable of error, why would we spend time questioning what He has caused to be written?
But what does the Bible say about itself? Psalm 12:6 declares that “the words of the LORD are flawless, like silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified seven times.” Psalm 19, which uses synonyms like “law,”
“ordinances,” “precepts,” “statutes,” and “commands” for God’s Word, declares that Scripture is “perfect,” (v. 7) “trustworthy,” (v.7) “right,” (v.8) “radiant,” (v.8) “sure,” and “altogether righteous (v.9).” And all of Psalm 119 is a nothing more than 176 verses in praise of the rightness and reliability of God’s Word.
And that is really what we are talking about here, my friends: the reliability, the trustworthiness of the Bible you hold in your hand. Is it, or is not God’s Word? And is it, or is not trustworthy in all that it teaches and proclaims? The answer to both questions is “It is!”
We need not wonder about whether Christ was raised bodily on the 3rd day, because God’s Word says he was. And you can trust God’s Word. We need not fear where the righteous will spend eternity when they die, because God’s Word says they will spend an eternity in heaven. And God’s Word is trustworthy. You need not worry, if you are a child of God, when troubles and turmoil and sadness comes your way, because God’s Word says that He will be with you, and that the righteous will triumph in the end. And you can trust God’s Word. His word is flawless, pure, right, true, trustworthy and righteous altogether.
Indeed, far from the burden of proof resting with those who claim an absolute trustworthiness of Scripture to make a cogent, reasonable case, I believe the burden lies with those who don’t. Once the reliability of Scripture is called into a question, a Pandora’s Box of doubt and insecurity is opened and cannot ever again be closed. If the Bible contains errors, where are they? And who decides? If the Bible is in error about Noah’s ark, how can I trust it for Christ’s resurrection? If the author of I Samuel is in error about David and Goliath, how can I trust St. Paul on justi- fication by faith? The Bible is the Word of God written, and it is accurate and true in all that it teaches and proclaims.
But not only is the Bible God’s Word; not only is it reliable and trustworthy in all that it teaches and proclaims, but it is also sufficient. The Bible is sufficient. Sufficient for what? For eternal life.
At the ordination of a Roman Catholic priest, the ordinand is given “the instrument”—a chalice and paten—and told by his bishop to go and offer sacrifice for the living and the dead. In the Anglican tradition the new presbyter is given a Bible and told by his bishop to go and preach the whole counsel of God.
We believe and hold that God’s Word, the Bible, is clear and sufficient—apart from tradition, apart from the declarations of any church, apart from encyclicals, pastoral letters and the pronouncements by bishops—to give you everything you need to know about how to gain eternal life. And that isn’t to minimize the role of tradition, the church or bishops. It is only to say that God has written down everything you need to know to have eternal life, and it is found in this book, the Bible.
Scripture is sufficient; it is all that is required and necessary, by itself, to show you the way to everlasting life. It is sufficient. In fact, Article 6 of our own 39 Articles of Religion (found in the back of your Prayer Book, by the way) says it this way:
Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.
In other words, if ain’t in this book, you shouldn’t believe it. When someone or some church or group teaches that you must do “such-n-such” to get to heaven, the first question you ask is: “Where do you find that in the Book?” Book, chapter and verse, I want to see it. Why? Be-cause God’s Word is sufficient. It is all that is necessary. St. Paul admonishes young Timothy to stay in the Scriptures because they are “able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.” The Bible contains all things necessary for salvation. It is sufficient.
And finally, not only is the Bible God’s Word, reliable and trustworthy in all that teaches and proclaims, and sufficient, it is also instructive.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect—or complete, mature—thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
The Bible is God-breathed, Paul says, and it is also instructive, useful. Useful for what? For our teaching us: it has doctrinal content; it is divine revelation about God, about man and about how the universe works. It is useful for correcting us; the Greek word Paul uses here is one denoting the righting of a fallen or wandering object, or restoring that which has fallen. The Bible is useful for rebuking us; it reproves us for wrong behavior or erroneous belief. It is useful for training us in righteousness, and for equipping us for every good work. In short, the Bible is guidebook for charting your way to everlasting life, and it is the handbook for living the Christian life.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me put this as simply as I can. You can know about God without the Bible, but you can never know God without the Bible. You can look at the wonder of sky, and sea and flower and know that there is a creator. Indeed, the Bible itself says that heavens declare the handiwork of God. But you can never know the creator without first opening this book.
The Bible is useful to us. It reveals God to us. The LORD has chosen to reveal His character, attributes and plans in the pages of the Bible. Scripture is useful to us to correct us when we fail. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand,” it says. “Liars, fornicators, thieves and all the unjust will not inherit the kingdom of heaven,” it says. The Bible is useful in bringing us comfort in the midst of bad times. “Behold, I am with you always, even until the end of the age,” it says. “My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory,” it says. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because you are with me,” it says. The Book is useful to bring us a word of forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive us our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness,” it says. “His mercies are new every morning,” it says. “I will remove your sins from you as far as the east is from the west,” it says. The Bible is useful in giving us hope. “Behold, I come quickly,” it says. “The righteous shall shine like the sun,” it says. “There will be no more pain, nor sorrow nor death in that place, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,” it says. “There is laid up a crown of life for the righteous,” it says.
Folks, unbelievers, tyrants, and skeptics have tried for generations to destroy this book, the Bible. The French humanist Voltaire prophesied a 170 years ago that within a century there would not remain a single copy of the Bible anywhere on planet earth. And now the Geneva Bible Society is currently printing Bibles on the very printing presses he used to publish that statement.
Dear people, that you Bible you hold is God’s Word. It is reliable and trustworthy in all that it teaches and proclaims. It is sufficient to make you wise to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And it is useful for you to know your creator and what He expects you to believe and do.
Thomas Cranmer, the first Protestant Archbishop of Canterbury, the compiler of our prayer book, and martyr for the Gospel, wrote this in one of his homilies:
Unto a Christian man, there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledge of holy Scripture; forasmuch as in it is contained God’s true word, setting forth his glory, and also man’s duty. And there is no truth or doctrine, necessary for our justification and everlasting salvation, but that is, or may be drawn out of that fountain or well of truth…. [This book], therefore, ought to be much in our hands, in our eyes, in our ears, in our mouths, but most of all in our hearts. For the Scripture of God is the heavenly meat for our souls, the hearing and keeping of it maketh us blessed, sanctifieth us, and maketh us holy; it turneth our souls; it is a lantern to our feet; it is a sure, steadfast, and an everlasting instrument of salvation….
Fathers, you are the priest in your home. Minister this book to your wife and children. Mothers, you are the educators of the home. Wean your children on the words and doctrines and promises of this book. Businessmen, you are an example of Christ in your office. Obey the commands of God on honesty and integrity in your business found in this book. Christian, commit the words of this book to memory. Plant them in your heart. Order your conduct to conform to the precepts of this book. Unbeliever, believe the warnings and the promises of forgiveness and salvation in this book. They are true.
Hebrews 4:12 says,
For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Next week: The Word of God Proclaimed: The Primacy of Preaching.
The B-I-B-L-E
Yes, that’s the book for me.
I stand alone on the Word of God.
The B-I-B-L-E.
Amen.
