The Perfection Of The Scriptures Series

Sermon Series: God’s Perfect Word

THE PERFECTION OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES

2 Timothy 3:14-17

Series Intro: We have met here tonight because we believe the Bible. We believe in the God of the Bible; the Christ of the Bible; the plan of salvation revealed in the Bible; and everything else written in the Bible.

We hold up our Bibles and we say, “This book is the Word of God! I believe it is true from cover to cover. It is without error and it is absolutely perfect.” I believe that too, but I fear that many do not know why they believe that. Friends, everything we believe either stands or falls on the accuracy of the Bible. Therefore, it is imperative that we know why we believe what we believe about the Bible.

I would like to take the next few weeks and preach a series entitled God’s Perfect Word. I would like for us to consider the doctrine of “Bibliology”. That is a word that means “The study of the Bible.” I think it would be good for us to get to know our Bibles better. We need to know where it came from; why it can be trusted and why it carries ultimate divine authority. So, have your Bibles ready and follow with me as we study God’s Perfect Word.

Sermon Intro: A good word that describes the Bible is the word “unique”. The dictionary defines the word “unique” as follows, “1. only one: being the only one of its kind 2. better than others: superior to all others 3. unusual: different from others in a way that makes something worthy of note.” It is the only book of its kind in existence! Several features point out its uniqueness, and by way of introduction, I want to share those features with you today.

o The Bible was written over a period of 1,500 years

o The Bible was written by over 40 different authors (Among them were kings, military leaders, peasants, philosophers, fishermen, tax collectors, poets, statesmen, musicians, scholars and shepherds.)

o The Bible was written in many different places, at many different times and by people experiencing many different moods.

o The Bible was written on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.

o The Bible was written in three different languages: Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.

o The Bible is written with many different literary styles: Poetry, historical, narrative, law, and prophecy.

o The Bible addresses hundreds of difficult issues without a single contradiction.

o The Bible is a book of great diversity, yet, in spite of this, it unfolds a single continuous story, and it does so without ever contradicting itself.

o The Bible has for its main character God Himself, made known through the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, the Bible is a unique book! But, this uniqueness was not accidental, it was purposeful. So how can this be? Simply the Bible achieves its uniqueness through a process known as Inspiration. It is that process that I would like for us to investigate together today. Our text, verse 16, says that “All scripture is given by inspiration of God”. The word “inspiration” literally means “God breathed”.

If God has given His Word, delivered by His very breath, then it stands to reason that the scripture He has given us is absolutely perfect. So let’s look into the matter of inspiration and think together for a while about The Perfection of the Holy Scriptures.

I. HE PROCESS OF BIBLICAL INSPIRATION

What process did God use to get His Word into the hands and hearts of men? There are three terms that must be addressed as we deal with this matter of Inspiration.

A. Revelation

• The first step in getting the word of God on paper is the process known as revelation.

• This is the process whereby a man hears from the Lord just what the Lord wants written down.

• At varying times, God used varying means to give His revelation to men.

o He spoke through angels - Gen. 18; 19; Luke 1-2; Matt. 28; etc.

o He spoke through an audible voice - Gen. 3:9-19; Ex. 20:1-17; Josh. 1:1-9He spoke in a still, small voice - 1 Kings 19:11-12

o He spoke through nature - Psalm 19

o He spoke through animals - Num. 22:28

o He spoke in dreams - Gen. 28:12; Matt. 1-2; Matt. 2:19-22

o He spoke through visions - Isaiah 6:1-6; Daniel 7; 8; 10; Acts 16, 19

• We do not know the exact process by which God spoke to the original authors, but we have God’s Word on the fact that He did, 2 Pet. 1:21, “for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”