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Lessons and Sermons from the Longmire Road church of Christ in Conroe Texas USA
We engage in studying the Bible with
individuals,
we spend a lot of our time talking about
context.
Spend a lot of our time trying to convince
individuals that the Bible
was written contextually, that we need to
look at the context,
the remote context, the immediate context,
the overall context of a book or a place
in which we study.
In order for us to be able to ascertain,
or for order for us to be able to
understand what it says.
But sometimes it is not the context that
we struggle with when we study
the Bible with individuals, trying to
convince people of the veracity
of the scriptures. Sometimes it is the
language or the verbiage of the Bible.
We aim to convey that words have meaning.
We aim to convey that words have specific
meaning,
and at times, even when it is a generic
word.
It still has a specific meaning in the
context.
Because many times what happens is we read
the scriptures and people will interpret
the word in a certain way, or they will
say,
Well, this means this or this means that,
and that's not how the word is written,
or that's not what it means at all.
And so we spend a lot of our time in order
to convince them,
we spend a lot of our time trying to
explain the importance of words,
but more specifically the importance of
the words of scripture.
And the reason this is important for us to
grasp,
and for everyone else, especially those
with whom we are studying,
those who we are trying to reach with the
gospel,
the reason it is important to grasp is
because of how the Holy Spirit inspired
men to write the Bible. What we have in
the Bible is what
is called plenary or complete verbal
inspiration.
Complete verbal inspiration.
It means that every word in the Bible
comes from the mind of God.
That's what plenary verbal inspiration
means.
Every word comes from the mind of God.
And when we talk about the words of the
Bible,
when we talk about the scripture as it's
referred to,
we're not talking about some random text
that are pulled together by Matthew,
Mark, and Luke and John, Paul and Peter,
James, Jude, you name them. We're not
talking about some random text pulled
together
by the writers. We're talking about
The Holy Spirit, who the Holy Spirit used
to convey the will of God using
his own words. The Holy Spirit used these
men to convey the will
of God using Jehovah's own words.
That is plenary verbal inspiration.
And so let's aim to prove that the
veracity of that statement,
rather, as well as the detriment of not
holding to it.
By looking at three things tonight.
Number one, we will consider the doctrine
stated.
We'll take a look at Second Timothy
chapter three,
verses sixteen and seventeen, and we'll
look as the doctrine is stated very
plainly
for us to understand and then also
supporting scriptures that relate
to that doctrine. We'll also, number two,
take a look at the doctrine denied.
There are those who do not hold to plenary
verbal inspiration,
and we'll take a look at two specific
instances,
one called thought inspiration and the
other one called materialism.
No, not of the covetous nature.
But then also we'll took a look at take a
look at the doctrine demonstrated.
At the end we want to just see how
important it is for us to look at
the words of Scripture, not as the musings
or as the use of man's words,
not with words which man's wisdom teaches,
but that which God teaches. And so let's
consider first of
all the doctrine described. Let's go to
Second Timothy chapter three,
verses sixteen and seventeen. Second
Timothy chapter three
Verses 16 and 17, and let's notice the
doctrine described.
In 2 Timothy chapter 3, the Apostle Paul
is encouraging young Timothy
to stay faithful and to stay grounded,
and he points him towards the scripture.
And in that context, as he tells him to
stay faithful amidst persecution,
to stay faithful in troubling times,
in that context, the Apostle Paul points
him towards something that is sure
to help him. Something that he can count
on and rely on,
the word of God.
You have known the Holy Scriptures,
which is able to make thee wise unto
salvation.
From a young age, Timothy, you have known
the Holy Scripture.
All Scripture, he says, all Scripture is
given
by inspiration of God. And it 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.
And here we have one of the grandest
statements in the Bible about the Bible.
We have here within the text of that the
apostle Paul gives Timothy
a statement that really decimates anything
other than plenary verbal
inspiration. And what do we mean?
Well, the word inspiration in the English
comes from the Latin word
in and spirare. In being in,
and then sporari being to breathe,
to in breathe, to breathe in. That's where
the English word comes from.
However,
This translation of the Greek word
theonustos,
as the Apostle Paul writes, pasa grapha
theonustos.
All graphi writings, scripture is God
breathed,
theonustos. The apostle Paul writes,
passa graphi, theonustos. But we have in
the English translation,
we have all scripture is given by
inspiration.
Now that English translation.
Does not do it justice, does not do
theonustos justice.
~ to translate theonustos inspiration,
inspirare, in from the Latin, the idea of
breathing into,
that is unfortunate. Because the apostle
Paul here,
as we mentioned, uses the word grafe,
and just for our understanding,
the word graphe is writings, and often the
word graphe is going to be used
to refer to scripture. So when the Bible
refers to scripture,
it's referring to the writings.
Of something, and he translates the word
writings as ~ in scripture
in the New Testament, and so it means the
thing written,
the letters on the page, to put it very
plain and simple.
So the Apostle Paul says that the letters
on the page,
the writings are theonustos. Theonustos.
Now it's very interesting here that the
apostle Paul does not use
the term breathe into. He does not use
that term.
If you go to Genesis chapter two and verse
seven.
It's not up there on the board.
I failed to put that in. Genesis chapter 2
and verse 7.
It says in the Septuagint, the Septuagint
being the Greek translation
of the Hebrew Old Testament. In the
Septuagint,
the Bible reads in Genesis chapter 2 and
verse 7,
and the Lord God formed man out of the
dust of the ground and breathed into
his nostrils. Now that word there,
breathed into in the Septuagint,
is an effusing. I don't know that I said
that right.
But let's just go with that one.
But that word, enafu,
se sen, that word is to blow or to breathe
into.
It's from the root word there,
enafus-o. Enafu sa'o. Enfuse.
To breathe into. That is the word to
breathe into something.
God breathed into man the breath of life.
And he became a living soul.
And so when you look at the Greek text,
when you look at the text that the Lord
uses as it is translated,
that is a word that the Holy Spirit there
inspired to write in the Hebrew means
to breathe into. That's not the word the
Apostle Paul uses here when
he talks about Theonustos. In 2 Timothy
chapter 3 and verse 16,
there is a different word entirely.
It is not in feudus, but the neustos.
Theonustos. It means to
Blow. It means to breathe, to exhale.
You see, that's different from breathing
into something.
This is to breathe out. Theonustos,
inherently in the concept, is to breathe
out,
not to breathe into something.
Very important. All scripture is not
breathed into something.
All scripture is breathed out by God.
And so Benjamin Warfield would write in
his authority and inspiration
of the scripture. He's a 17th century ~
Scottish professor,
if I'm not mistaken. It says the Greek
term has nothing to
say of inspiring or of inspiration.
It speaks only of spiring or spiration,
the idea of to breathe. What it says of
Scripture is not that it is breathed into
by God or is the product of the divine
inspiration.
In breathing of into the human authors,
but that it is breathed out by God.
Breathed, God breathed the product of
creative breath or creative breath of God.
And so God is not breathing life into
writings that already existed.
It is not the case that the apostles wrote
something and then
God breathed into those writings.
The breath of life, if you will,
or he breathed into those writings,
and what they now wrote became the word of
God.
Nope. That's not how it worked.
It is not the case that he is not
breathing into the writers.
It is not the case, as we'll look at
later,
that he is breathing into the writers,
and then the writers are writing their own
words or their own thoughts.
No, the writings, the words,
the scripture.
proceed from God. The scripture come out
of Him.
They are His will written by human authors
in His own words.
All scripture proceeds from God.
All Scripture is exhaled by God.
All of it. How much of it?
How much of the writings? How much of the
words?
How much of Scripture
The apostle Paul, as he writes here,
inspired of the Holy Spirit, he does not
mince words,
if you will. He does not say some of it.
He says, Passa grafe. That is all of it.
All of it comes from God. And so the rest
of the Bible then bears this
out in vivid fashion that all the
scripture comes from God.
All the scripture is exhaled by God.
It is not that he breathed into something.
That is, he breathed into something that
already existed.
It is not that he breathed into the human
authors and then they wrote what they
thought. No, God breathed the word out.
It is from his mind. And what we read in
the rest of the Bible is
an affirmation of that principle.
If you go with me to Romans chapter 19,
or Romans chapter 9 would be better since
there is no 19.
Romans chapter 9 and verse 19.
17, Romans chapter 9 and verse 17,
the Apostle Paul talking about Pharaoh.
It's a very beautiful passage.
It's a parenthetical passage in Romans
chapter 9.
As the Apostle Paul almost goes on this
side mission,
if you will, to explain something.
It's a very beautiful passage,
but he talks here about Pharaoh and how
God raised up Pharaoh for his glory.
But notice what he says: for the scripture
says unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose,
Have I raised thee up that I might show my
power in thee and that my name might
be declared throughout all the earth?
And so the apostle Paul writes
emphatically the graphe,
the writings, the scripture said unto
Pharaoh.
Well, wait a second. What do you mean,
the scripture? What do you mean,
the writings said unto Pharaoh?
Well, let's go to Exodus chapter 9 and
verse 16 and let's see where that
is recorded for us. Let's see the account
as it played out.
As what the Lord did is the Lord speaking
to Moses,
tells Moses what he needs to go tell
Pharaoh.
In Exodus chapter 9 and verse 16,
the Bible says, In in very deed,
for this cause, this is God speaking,
have I raised thee up for to show in thee
my power and
And that my name may be declared
throughout all the earth.
God told Moses the words.
Moses delivered those words to Pharaoh.
The apostle Paul does not say when he
writes by inspiration,
he does not say, Moses said unto Pharaoh,
that's not what he says.
He says, the scripture says unto Pharaoh.
What is Paul doing here? Paul is using the
word scripture
and God interchangeably. Paul is saying,
using the word scripture, he says,
the scripture said unto Pharaoh,
but when we go back to Exodus chapter 9
and verse 16,
it wasn't the book wasn't talking.
He's talking about God. And he's saying
that this is the will of God.
This is the word of God. When you read
scripture,
you are reading God's mind. And so the
Apostle Paul uses that term
interchangeably.
He refers to Scripture as being God's
word.
The Scripture says. The Word says.
And we can go into the study about that,
about the Word saying this. The writing
says it.
But then we go further. Not only do we see
this in Romans chapter 9
and verse 17 that the Apostle Paul
Uses the term scripture and God
interchangeably,
but also in 2 Samuel chapter 23 and verse
2,
a verse with which we are all very well
familiar,
it says, The Spirit of the Lord spake by
me.
The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
David says, and he says, His word was in
my tongue.
He does not say his thoughts were in my
tongue,
he says, his words were.
were in my tongue. I spoke the words of
the Spirit.
I was relaying to you the exact thing that
the Spirit wanted
me to say. And so David said the words
were not his own.
Once again leading credence to the fact
here,
to the doctrine as it is described,
that all scripture, all writings come out
of God.
And so the writers are just affirming this
over and over.
Listen, we're not talking about our
thoughts here.
We're talking about the words of God.
We move on. The Apostle Paul, notice what
he says in 1 Corinthians chapter 2,
verses 12 and 13. 1 Corinthians chapter 2,
verses 12 and 13. He says, Now we have
received not the spirit of the world,
but the spirit which is of God.
That we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God.
We talked about this last week.
He says, the reason we are able to have
such a strong faith,
the reason we are able to know what God
has purposed and planned
for our salvation is because we have
received the mind of God through whom?
Through the Spirit, who searches all
things,
yea, the deep things of God, we can know
what God wants.
He says then that we may know all things
that are freely given to us of God.
Verse 13, he says, which things also we
speak,
not in the words which man's wisdom
teaches.
Listen, we're preaching unto you.
We're preaching unto you, and we're
telling you the things that God wants
you to know. But I'm not preaching like
Mornay's preaching.
You see, Mornay's preaching using words
that he has studied,
using words that he sat down and wrote
down in his sermon.
That's what I'm doing.
I am preaching and teaching words
according to man's wisdom.
Why? Because I'm not inspired.
But the Apostle Paul says that's not what
they did.
When they declared the gospel of Jesus
Christ,
they are not speaking the words which
man's wisdom teaches.
Then what is it, Paul? What words are you
using?
Whose words are you using? He says,
but that which the Holy Spirit teaches,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
And so Paul emphatically states this when
we're preaching to you,
we're not using man's words. God is
conveying his will
in human language using his own words.
And so Paul is not talking about where he
got his thoughts,
he is talking about where he got his
vocabulary.
Now some may say, well, there are
different styles in writers.
Yes, the apostle Paul writes differently
than Peter.
Mark and and and Luke and and and Matthew,
they all write differently. That is the
beauty of how God inspired men.
God is using his words through the agency
of this writer over here.
And he is able to use this writer and his
words and it come out the way it does.
Don't ask me how that works. That's God.
You know, if we're we're we're saying,
well, well, how is God able to do that?
He made a donkey talk?
Okay, I think the argument stops there.
If you're worried about, well,
how exactly he did that, he made this
donkey talk,
and so we're not even going to talk about
the fact of how nothing
is impossible to God. But the the idea
here that Paul is conveying to us
is that the word of God, the Holy Spirit,
it's not the words of Paul the Benjamite.
It is not my wisdom, Paul says.
This is God's wisdom. And continue on.
In 2 Peter chapter 1, verses 20 and 21,
the Apostle Peter here says the same thing
as everyone else has said from
the Old Testament all throughout
Scripture.
Knowing this first, that no prophecy of
Scripture is of any private
interpretation.
We talked about that. This is not the
interpretation of the writers,
the individual writers. He says it's not a
private interpretation,
for the prophecy came not in old time by
the will of man.
But a holy men of God spake as they were.
Notice this word here in the Greek,
Pharaoh. Pharaoh.
As they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
He uses the word here, the Holy Spirit
uses the word Pharaoh.
I love this study because it is so
illustrative of what God did.
See, the word pharaoh means to be borne
along or to be carried.
It's very specific.
Because to be born is the word Farain.
It is not the same as to be led.
To be led is the word hagain in the Greek.
And so it is to take someone and lead them
along the way.
You are leading them, they're walking,
you're walking, you're showing them the
path.
That's hagain. That's not what the Holy
Spirit did.
But also it is not the same as the word
Hodagain.
To be hot again to Hodagain.
In the Greek is the idea of being
directed.
So you have Hagain, which is to be led,
and then Hadagin is to be directed to be
told,
go over there. That's Hagagain.
That's not the word he uses. The Holy
Spirit did not lead these
men to the truth so that they can speak
it.
No. He did not direct them to the truth so
that they could speak it.
No, that's not the word he used.
He uses the word forin, it means
They were carried. What that means is they
were picked up and borne along.
The one who is being carried does not
contribute
to the carrying. If someone's carrying
you,
you don't say, Well, you know what,
I carried myself. That's that's not how
that works.
And so that's why the word pharain is used
here,
the word pharaoh is used. The one that is
the one who is born contributes nothing
to the movement induced, but it is the
object to be moved.
And so it is not the case that,
as Peter says, that the holy men of God,
they spake as they were carried by the
Holy Spirit.
He said, We didn't have anything to do
with this.
These are not our words, these are the
words of the Holy Spirit.
These are not our thoughts or our ideas or
our private interpretation.
This is the word of the Holy Spirit.
They were giving credence to God and God
only.
All throughout your Bible, those who spoke
for God,
those who spoke on behalf of God,
the prophets of God, all of them,
they never said, Well, you know what?
This this is what I think. No.
They said, But we cannot but hear see
speak the things which we have seen and
heard.
It says, we cannot but give you those
things which the Holy Spirit has given us.
That's all we can give. And so the Bible
is clear.
All the words in this book belong to God.
All of it. That's why the King James had
such grand respect,
more so than others maybe. I'm not saying
the King James is perfect,
but it's certainly the authorized
standard.
That's why they had so much respect that
when they supplied a word,
what did they do? They put it in italic so
that you know that,
hey, that's not God. That's us putting it
there.
We want you to know he didn't it's not in
there.
But we put it in italics so that you can
know,
so that the sentence could be more
complete,
so that you can understand that this thing
comes from God.
I don't listen, I've studied this over.
I sat in my office and I I go through this
over and over,
and even this afternoon I changed and
chopped and changed and stuff.
This is God's word. This is not the words
of man.
I don't think we fully grasp that.
That we're not dealing here.
When we open the pages of Scripture,
we're not dealing here with the words of
people like you and I.
We're dealing with the word of God.
We're dealing with the exact mind of God.
At times, God will reveal the mind of
others in this word.
The book of Ecclesiastes is a great
example of that.
As the Lord reveals the mind of Solomon
perfectly.
Reveals his mind to us because Solomon
says some foolish things in there that
are not right.
And so it should not be taken as the
revelation of God's mind.
God's just telling us this is what Solomon
was thinking.
But overall, we understand that this is
the word of God.
Subsequently, if it is his words,
you don't have a right to change it.
You don't have a right to change it.
Imagine someone coming along and changing
your words that you wrote down
or that you spoke. You wouldn't like that.
But some people come along and they see
what the Lord has said and they want
to change stuff. You can't do that.
You don't have the copyright to change
God's word.
If you say something different than what
God has said,
that's why the Bible says false teachers
are what?
They're liars. Why? Because they are not
telling you the truth about what God said.
If you change the word of God,
you are deceiving people. Why?
Because it's not the truth. That's why it
is such a high crime in the sight
of the Lord to be a false teacher.
Because you are taking the words of God.
Twisting it to fit your own narrative.
We have to understand that when we look at
the scriptures,
that it is completely verbally inspired.
That all of it, the Apostle Paul says,
is exhaled by God. All of it is
theonustos.
Passa grafe theonustos.
All scripture is exhaled by God.
But consider then the doctrine denied.
Obviously, if there is a standard of
righteousness,
there are going to be those who are going
to speak against it.
Various so-called scholars have set forth
their own opinions on
the method of inspiration. Now there are
varying methods of inspiration.
We don't have time to look at all of them,
but we'll consider two of the most popular
ones,
as least as it is seen in even today's
society.
The first one is that of thought
inspiration.
Now, thought inspiration is the idea that
God gave man the idea of
And allowed man to arrange the message.
And so what we read in the Bible is not
God's words,
it is the writer's composition of what God
said,
which is to say, it is the writer's own
interpretation of what God said.
God gave Paul the idea of salvation,
he gave the apostles the idea of
salvation,
and then they wrote it down in their own
words.
They wrote it down how they thought it
should be written down.
Well, it's easy to see where this doctrine
leads and why it is so popular with many
individuals. Because then they can say
things like,
Well, that's just Paul's opinion.
Right? That's just Paul's opinion.
Because after all, those are the words of
the Apostle Paul.
They don't see it as Theoneistos,
God exhaled. No, that's what Paul wrote.
That's just his opinion. Sinful actions
are justified because my opinion
is on the same par as the Apostle Paul's.
Well, I just don't agree with the Apostle
Paul.
Well, you're not agreeing with God.
That's just Paul's opinion. We can have
differing views and still all be right.
That's where that comes from. Peter had
his opinion,
you have your opinion, I have my opinion.
We're all fine. These were just men like
you and I.
You're right. They were men like you and
I.
They were subject to like passions,
like you and I. Yes, we understand that
these were not super spiritual,
superhuman individuals.
Who could never sin, who walked in such a
way with halos on,
we understand all of that. And so for
somebody to say,
well, just like they, they're just like
us,
and just like they could get it wrong,
we like we can get it wrong, they could
get it wrong as well.
You're absolutely right. But when it comes
to this book,
the mistake you make is thinking that
these are their words.
And because it's not their words,
it's not wrong. If it were their words,
Then yes, we can have differing views and
still all be right,
but it's not. It promotes a cafe style
religion,
believing and obeying only what you like,
and the rest is irrelevant. How many times
have you sat down and talked with folks
and said, Well, I know what Paul said,
but I really like this over here?
Well, wait a second. Well, that's what
Peter said,
but I really like what he's what what so
and so says over here.
That's a cafe style religion.
That's the idea of I want to obey this,
but not that. You can't do that.
If all scripture comes from God,
which it does, then all of it is relevant.
Then all you can't pick and choose which
you want to do or where what
you want to obey. But not only does it
promote a cafe style religion,
it selectively attributes authority to
certain passages.
People want to hold on to one passage
while completely rejecting
or ignoring the other.
Want to hold on to this passage over here
because we really like it.
We like what it says here, but at the same
time,
we'll completely ignore another passage
over here.
We got to be careful that we don't do that
in the Lord's church.
That we don't hold to one passage,
but we ignore the other passage.
The fullness of his word, the sum of his
word is truth.
Not cherry-picking the passages we like
and then running with it,
but taking in the whole word of God.
And so
We need to understand that there are not a
few problems with this view
of thought inspiration. Have you ever
tried to express an idea without using
words?
Go like this. Yes, you have. It's called
charades.
It's fun because it's very difficult.
But we understand that in order for us to
express an idea,
we have to use words.
Renee Pach in the inspiration and
authority of the scripture wrote,
in reality, it is plain that ideas can be
conceived of and transmitted only
by means of words. It is impossible to
disassociate one's oneself or itself from
the other. You cannot disassociate the
idea from words.
How are you going to convey the idea that
of salvation?
How are you going to convey how man must
be saved without using words?
Without just giving with giving people a
thought,
if you will.
He further stated that if the expressions
in the Bible are not inspired,
if we don't have the words of God,
what happens is the exegetical study of it
loses its meaning.
Why do we study words? The word studies
become obsolete.
What do we do normally when we talk about
baptism?
What do we do? We try to tell them what
about baptism?
That the word baptize or baptizo in the
Greek means to be submerged.
It means to be submerged.
But the word sprinkling is rantizzo in the
Greek.
So maybe it's the case that the Apostle
Paul just used baptizo.
Maybe he just used that. That doesn't mean
that we have to be submersed.
That's just the word Paul used.
You see how easy that is? That's what
thought inspiration brings you.
It'll the the exegetical studies,
the word studies become obsolete because
why are we trying to study
the words that men use?
The reason we try to do that is because
that's the word God used.
If God said stand on your head,
then that's what you need to do.
Why? Because God said it. And fortunately
for us,
He did not say that. He just said,
be submersed, immersed in water for your
remission of sins.
If God only gave the thought, then every
argument we have ever made from
the Greek collapses.
Every argument that we ever made from the
language collapses.
Hence, it does not matter what the
original language says,
it still remains someone's interpretation
of what God says.
But not also this study becomes ambiguous.
What does this passage mean to you?
Well, this is what it meant to the Apostle
Paul when God gave him the thought.
When you read, when you read through the
scriptures,
it becomes what does this mean to you?
The Apostle Paul in First Corinthians
chapter one and verse 10,
he then contradicts himself.
Because if he just receives the thought,
he says all of us need to be on the same
page.
Well, how can all of us be on the same
page?
The only way all of us can be on the same
page is if this book says exactly
the same thing to everyone. Thought
inspiration denies that.
What we would have in thought inspiration
is a paraphrase.
We would have not the word of God,
we would have what the writers thought
about the word of God.
And incidentally, if these are the
thoughts of the writers,
how is it possible for you to come up with
a differing view?
At best, your opinion would be an opinion
about their opinion.
If they had an opinion about God's word,
what you then read from them is your
opinion of their opinion.
And the only way you could have or form an
accurate opinion about God
and what he said is if you received
revelation from God.
That's the only way you could have an
accurate opinion.
Exegesis become obsolete.
How do we interpret the text? You examine
the context,
the word usage, the grammar, you apply
common sense and draw necessary
inferences,
all based on what is written. But if the
words themselves are not inspired,
the entire exegetical process loses its
footing.
You are no longer discovering what God
said,
you are merely guessing at what he may
have meant.
Exegesis has value only because of the
words of Scripture that have authority.
Thought inspiration.
Is an attack on verbal, plenary,
verbal inspiration, but then also there's
materialism.
Materialism is the idea that the Bible is
wholly a product of human reasoning.
And so this theory was set forth by
Francis Bacon and expanded by
in the 17th century. It's an old doctrine
by English philosopher Thomas Hobbes.
Thomas Hobbes did more to advance the
doctrine.
And so Hobbes put forth that all that
existed was brute matter.
And because all that existed was brute
matter,
and there were no immaterial beings,
there were no celestial beings,
there were no human souls or angels or
deities,
there were nothing like that. And since
all that existed was brute matter,
then the Bible, he says, was wholly a
product of human reasoning.
This book just it's just a book that men
wrote.
It's no different than Homer's the Iliad.
It's just another book that some men
wrote.
And it does not come from God.
There is no divinity attached to it.
There's a lot of people today who believe
that.
To say that the Bible is wholly a product
of human reasoning does
not only attack the credibility of the
book,
but also it attacks the character of
Jesus.
Note what it says in John chapter 14,
25 and 26. John chapter 14, 25 and 26.
These things have I spoken unto you,
being yet present with you, Jesus says.
But he, the comforter, which is the Holy
Spirit,
Whom the Father will send in my name,
he shall teach you all things and shall
bring to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto you. Note, ~ not only
does Jesus profess an immaterial being,
the Holy Spirit, he emphatically proclaims
that the truth which
the apostles preach came from God.
Either Jesus is lying or Mr. Hobbes is
wrong.
I'm gonna go with Mr. Hobbes is wrong,
and he knows it now. We will get into the
characteristics of this book,
which showcases its divine origin,
but let it suffice for now, as we are
running out of time,
let it suffice for now to highlight some
of the most brilliant minds
to have ever walked the face of the
planet,
and let's just see their brilliance in
action.
Since he says that this book is wholly a
product of human reasoning.
Let's just look at the most brilliant
minds that have ever walked the face
of this planet. Let's look at Aristotle.
Aristotle, it was one of history's
greatest philosophers.
He taught that men have more teeth than
women.
That's what he taught. All the philosophy
in the world could have been corrected
by simply counting. All you had to do was
count.
But the brilliant minds of the world.
It was the same Aristotle who taught that
mice and insects arose spontaneously from
mud and rotting grain with no parent and
no creator.
That's what Aristotle said. Meanwhile,
this book said, In the beginning,
God. In the beginning, God created.
You want me to believe that brilliant men,
that intelligent men, this is a product of
human reasoning?
That's the product of human reasoning.
Consider Claudius Ptolemy.
Claudius Ptolemy, the leading astronomer
of the ancient world,
who insisted that the earth occupied the
center of the universe and does
not in any way move. His reasoning
dominated astronomy for more than
a thousand years. And meanwhile,
Job, who predated Ptolemy by centuries,
wrote that God hangs the earth upon
nothing.
Hangs the earth upon nothing. It was
Francis Gelton,
and you have listened to this genius.
Francis Gelton.
Who just happened to be the cousin of
Charles Darwin,
by the way. He invented the doctrine of
eugenics,
the scientific perfecting of the human
race by selective breeding.
His ideas were carried to their logical
conclusion
by the Nazi regime.
That's the world. That's the reasoning of
the world.
That's the minds of the world.
We're not even gonna go into Charles
Darwin and all of the things that
he said and all of the things that they
came up with.
Are we supposed to believe that this book,
perfect as it is, in what it teaches,
in what it promotes, are we supposed to
believe it is the product
of human reasoning? No. Over the course of
human history,
brilliant men have repeatedly spoken with
absolute confidence,
only for history to correct them.
Man writes books that require new
additions,
revised conclusions, and public
retractions.
Yet, in contrast, the scripture has
endured examinations without issuing
an apology or publishing a correction.
Human wisdom changes with every
generation,
but the word of God abides forever and
will continue to abide even now.
There are servants of Satan in this world
who want you to believe that this book
is a product of human reasoning.
It's not.
It is the mind of God revealed.
Very quickly. Consider then, consider the
doctrine demonstrated.
We have stated it, we have considered
those who deny it.
Now let the Bible demonstrate plenary
verbal inspiration in plain form.
Consider the precision of a single word.
In Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16,
the apostle Paul is making the case for
Christ.
And how does he make this case?
Remember, he's inspired of the Holy
Spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit make this case?
He says now unto Abraham his seed where
the promise is made.
He said, Not unto seeds as of many,
but as of one, unto thy seed, which is
Christ.
Paul's entire argument turns on the
difference of singular and plural.
You don't think grammar means anything in
the Bible?
The entire argument about the Christ and
who the Christ is comes down
to this grammar.
Singular versus plural. If God gave Moses
the thought and let Moses pick the word,
Paul has just built a doctrine on Moses'
grammar.
Paul's argument is solid because he
appeals to God's grammatical use,
not man's. The apostle Paul says God's
grammatical use here is singular,
seed, not seeds. He's talking about the
Christ.
We can go on and we look at this even in
our day and time in the New Testament.
The Lord said ordained what? An elder in
every church?
Elders plural.
Not elder singular. That's very important.
Why? Because God says what He says,
means what He says, and He says what He
means.
He didn't say one elder. He didn't say
evangelistic oversight.
He said elders plural. And so that's what
the church does.
The Bible says that there is one church.
The Bible doesn't speak of multiple
churches.
He says there multiple bodies.
There's one body. Singular. It's
important.
And so we can see how words play a part in
the and how we interpret the scriptures.
And if the words didn't come from God,
then certainly we shouldn't give any mind
to it.
In Matthew chapter 22, verses 31 and 32.
It says, but as touching the resurrection
of the dead,
you have not read that which was spoken
unto you by God,
saying, I am the God of Abraham and the
God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.
God is not the God of the dead,
but of the living. Jesus decimated an
entire sect,
the Sadducees. He decimated their entire
doctrine using the present tense verb.
That's how smart our Lord is. Their entire
doctrine,
he says, He said, I am. That's a present
tense verb.
If you were in the audience, you would
have,
wait a second, did he just say I am?
Wait a second. If he said, if he said I
am,
that's current, that's right now.
That means if he says he is currently the
God of Abraham,
that means Abraham is still alive.
And that means that the dead do rise.
There is a resurrection. Entire doctrine
decimated.
Just by using the present tense verb.
And so Jesus proved the resurrection of
the dead by using what?
Grammar? Who's that? That's God.
That's why it's important for us to
understand that this comes from God.
Consider ~ 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 10
through 11.
The prophets did not always understand
their own words.
Notice this of which salvation the
prophets have inquired and searched
diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should
come unto you,
searching what or what manner of time the
Spirit of Christ which was
in them did signify, when it testified
before him the sufferings of Christ
and the glory that should follow.
Listen.
They had the word of God, they had the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit,
but they didn't understand everything
perfectly and say,
Well, I know exactly when the Christ is
going to come,
I know exactly who he's going to be,
I know exactly all of these things.
No. They looked into it, they were
wondering too.
If this was a product of human reasoning,
then how is it that they didn't understand
their own reasoning?
Daniel chapter 12, verses 8 and 9,
Daniel said, and I heard, but I understand
not.
Then said I, O Lord, what shall be the end
of these things?
And he said, Go thy way, Daniel,
for the words are closed up and sealed
till the time of the end.
Daniel says, I know what I said.
I heard what I said, but I don't fully
understand it.
God says, Don't worry.
A man cannot compose in his own words a
message that he does not himself
understand.
Thought inspiration requires the writer to
know what he is saying.
Daniel did not. He wrote it anyway.
Make perfect sense. Why? Because God is
the author.
Brethren, God has spoken. Not in words
which man's wisdom teaches,
but in words which the Holy Spirit
teaches.
That is plenary verbal.
Inspiration. This entire book comes from
God.
And brethren, if this entire book comes
from God,
does that not mean that we have to be
obedient to all of it?
Do we get to then choose and say,
Well, I don't want to do this and I'll do
this and I'll do that?
No, we don't. Complete inspiration demands
complete obedience.
We should not use or treat the Bible.
As the idols would, and make of it an
idol.
That is certainly not what we should do.
But what we should do is we should not
discard what we have in our hands.
We have direct communication from God.
We can know exactly the mind of God
because He gave it.
And the question is: how are you using the
mind of God?
If you want to know.
What God is like, get into the book.
You want to know what God wants you to do
with your life as far
as righteousness is concerned?
Get into the book. You want to know
whether you're right or wrong on
a certain issue as it relates to
righteousness?
Get into the study of the book.
God will answer it if you're willing to
get into it.
Heaven's invitation is extended tonight,
but specifically to those who are outside
of Christ,
you need to hear words whereby you must be
saved.
When they sent to Cornelius' house,
he wasn't saved by the Holy Spirit.
He wasn't saved by the angel who appeared
and said,
listen, you need to send. No, he was saved
by Jesus the Christ through
the words that he heard. That's what the
Bible says.
And so tonight, hear these words that
Jesus is the Christ,
the Son of God, that he was proven to be
so through his death,
his burial, and his glorious resurrection.
And he ascended up into heaven and is
seated at the right hand of
God till all enemies be made his
footstool.
And you don't want to be the enemy of God,
and you don't have to be. And in order to
be part of the fold of God,
to be considered in the family of God,
the Lord says you need to believe that
glorious gospel.
You need to be willing to repent of sins.
Follow God's word, what he has said.
Follow if it's contrary to God's word,
you're no longer going to do it.
That's what repentance is. Confess his
good name before witnesses.
And then be immersed in water to have your
sins washed away.
Why do I have to be baptized? Because
that's what the book says.
That's what the writing says. And if
you're going to be obedient to God,
you have to be obedient to all scripture.
And what it says is that he who believes
and is baptized will be saved.
And God will add you to his glorious
kingdom,
which he died to establish while we stand
and as we sing.