140810 The Bible is a Safe Source

2 Peter 1:16-21 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” ¹⁸ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹ And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, ²⁰ knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. ²¹ For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

One of the problems mankind has is a misunderstanding of the nature of the Bible. I have, a number of times, heard people say, “The Bible can be made to say anything you want it to.” In fact, I have demonstrated myself how this can be done. The Bible has in it the words, “There is no God”! These words are found in Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. However, when they are put in their context the words make sense. The passage really says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’”. The context usually makes clear any passage that we are confused by. If you have a problem with a particular passage first read that which is written before and after, and then, if that doesn’t solve the problem, keep reading.

There is an old saying that I’ve seen in churches and I have heard quoted often. “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it”. That looks right and sort of harmonizes with what I feel. However, that saying has a serious problem! The problem is right in the middle of it. If God said it then that settles it! My believing it doesn’t make it any truer! My believing it only makes it more real to me but it doesn’t strengthen the passage itself.

Peter wants it understood that when he reported on the experiences he had with the Lord Jesus Christ and when he spoke of Christ coming again he was not using any kind of subterfuge. The word of God is…

Not a myth. A lot of teachers have risen over the years who focus on myths. Their teaching causes people to doubt the Bible. Paul faced a similar problem among the churches he had established. He wrote to Timothy to encourage him to teach only the truth Turn to 1 Timothy 1:3-7 and listen as I read. As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, ⁴ nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. ⁵ The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

The problem of false teachers was not limited to the first century church. Today, everywhere you turn, there is an abundance of false teachers.

Obviously, we see all around us Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Mormons. They prey on people who have been offended by the church or neglected by the church and its ministry. We should be ashamed of the ways the Christian church has failed people making them easy targets for the cults.

There are those who promote some kind of prosperity teaching or who claim they have found some secret code in the Bible. There is great danger in being drawn into these false doctrines. Please be careful that you avoid the myths and special interpretations of the Bible that draw you away from the simple faith based on the plain word of God. Many people, having been drawn away to some cult group, find it very hard to come to the truth. After all, they thoroughly believed what they were being taught only to find that it was false. The devil then convinces them that they will never understand the Bible, or, that they are being misled again by the truth. Peter wasn’t just repeating stories he had heard…

Peter was an eyewitness. The Gospels tell us the story. Turn with me to Luke 9:28-36. Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. ³⁰ And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep, but when they became fully awake they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. ³³ And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he said. ³⁴ As he was saying these things, a cloud came and overshadowed them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. ³⁵ And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” ³⁶ And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

When the disciples told about the magnificent glory of Jesus Christ they were telling what they had seen. Some of the disciples had been present, at the time of Jesus’ baptism, when God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son”. They walked with Jesus day after day as eyewitnesses to his ministry.

In his first little letter the Apostle John said that what he was telling about was what he had heard, he had seen and examined, what he had touched with his own hands. The writers of the New Testament, every one of them, had seen the Lord Jesus Christ during his life on earth or, in the case of Paul, after his resurrection. These eyewitness accounts were accepted by the historians of the day and of the immediate years afterwards.

Jesus’ ministry was not some fairytale or myth. These men spoke the truth and what they wrote became the New Testament. What they based their teachings on was truth growing out of their belief in the Old Testament as Scripture. All of the things they saw surrounding Jesus confirmed for them the fact that…

The Bible is a light in the dark. The longest Psalm in the Bible was written as a tribute to the word of God. Every verse contains some reference to Scripture. One of the verses used to be taught every year in Vacation Bible School. Every year, during assembly each day, we would quote Psalm 119:105. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The children were encouraged to recognize the light given off by the bible.

The book of Proverbs tell us that the commandment, in other words the Bible, is a lamp. And also that the teaching of the word is a light directing us to a way of life. Again and again the Bible asserts itself to be a light in the darkness. From the spoken word in the Garden of Eden to the writings of Moses, the historians, the poets, and the prophets show that the Bible is a light to direct the path of the reader through the darkness of this age. Let’s turn to 2 Timothy chapter 3 for the remaining three points in this message. Peter tells us, in our original text, that the prophetic word which is fully confirmed needs to be heeded because it is not just the words of men. This is a position that Baptists, along with other Christian groups, have long held. Listen while I read from the Baptist Faith and Message.

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

It is important to recognize that…

The Bible is sufficient for our salvation. Listen while I read 2 Timothy 3:14-15.  But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it ¹⁵ and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

Paul was writing to Timothy to encourage him to stick to what he’s been taught over the years. It happens that his teachers were his mother and grandmother. From his childhood he had been taught the sacred writings that we call the Old Testament. There was no New Testament yet because it was in the process of being written. But the Scriptures that he had been taught were definitely enough to make him wise for salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. There are many people today who ignore the Old Testament as though it is not for today. Sometimes teachers, or preachers, will refer to the Old Testament as the Jewish scriptures as though they do not apply to us.  Folks, we need to recognize that the Old Testament is what Jesus taught from as well as all the disciples. Everything in the New Testament grows out of the Old Testament roots.

One of the problems that I see today is people taking verses out of the Bible and building a teaching on them. The Bible needs to be understood in its entirety and according to its historic interpretation. You see…

The Bible is not privately interpreted. Look at the next verse 2 Timothy 3:16. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

All Scripture is God breathed! It really doesn’t matter who wrote it down, which languages it was written in, or which culture surrounded it. God the Holy Spirit carried the writers along putting the words in their mind and allowing them to write it down. These men who wrote the Bible very often knew they were writing God’s word even when they did not understand it. The prophets studied and meditated on what the Spirit was saying when he impressed them to write. Though they did not understand all that they wrote they did understand that they were writing for a future generation. In fact, they were writing and announcing truths that the angels did not understand.

The Bible, all of it, is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. It seems to me there is a progression of thought here. There seems to be four levels. The Bible is profitable for teaching everything we need to learn. After having been taught we sometimes get distracted by some false teaching. Then we need someone to draw us back to the word in reproof. As the reproof works on us the Bible provides correction. When we turn away from the truth the truth itself stops us and turns us back to the right path. Then…

The Bible is the source for training. Look at the next verse 2 Timothy 3:17. Training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. The Bible has as one of its goals making the taught, reproved, corrected and trained believer complete! The Bible, properly taught, provides all the preparation needed to complete the believer. The Bible provides spiritual and mental equipment to prepare for every good work.

Of course, the Bible is not a science book, or a history book, or a math textbook. Wherever the Bible touches any of these disciplines it tells the truth. Nowhere in the Bible is there anything that contradicts any proven fact of science, history or any other realm of learning. In fact, while men were teaching that the earth is flat, Isaiah speaks of God as the one who “sits above the circle of the earth”. Seven hundred years before Christ!

The Bible is a miracle! It was written over a period of 1500 years, by over 40 different authors, in three different languages representing many different cultures. Yet at the same time it has a remarkable unity that is not matched by any other set of books, religious or secular. It may very well be difficult to understand sometimes but don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. Peter said that he sometimes found some of the things Paul wrote to be hard to understand. It is very easy to be drawn away by slick charlatans who twist the Bible message to their own advantage. Many years ago I determined, for myself, to simply believe the Bible rather than try to explain it. What I’ve discovered is that when I need it I understand it. But if you don’t know the Bible you’re not likely to ever understand it. We should listen to the warning of the apostle Paul, he wrote to Timothy “the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off in myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

All scripture quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.