Sermon Tone Analysis

TEXT: 2 Timothy 3:16

TOPIC:  The Bible is God's Word

Baptist Faith and Message Sermon 1, *Written by Calvin Wittman*

May 11, 2009

 

Introduction: Today we begin a series of studies into the foundations of our faith.

Over the next couple of months we will be studying some of the foundational principles and teachings which guide our faith and practice.

One of the things most lacking among Christians today is a firm grasp of the doctrinal truths whereupon their faith should be built.

Now, I know, when someone mentions the word doctrine, many things come to mind.

For some the very word conjures up images of stuffy classrooms where men in bad tweed suits drone on endlessly about theological minutia.

For others, doctrine is frightening because they feel that they are somehow academically inadequate to grasp the complexities of theology.

And for others doctrine is well and good but to them it seems far removed from their everyday experience where they struggle to live out their faith in practical ways.

But nothing could be further from the truth.

Doctrine teaches us how to think and how we think always determines how we act.

If we do not think right we cannot act right.

Doctrine is the foundation whereupon our practice is built.

The Bible tells us that Jesus preached doctrinally.

Matthew 7:28 says that after Jesus finished preaching the Sermon on the Mount, that the people were astonished at His doctrine.

Doctrine, simply put, is nothing more than a systematic way of understanding scripture.

Doctrinal studies give us a panoramic view of scripture, allowing us to gain a comprehensive understanding of scriptural teaching on any given subject.

In the original language the word translated “doctrine” literally means teaching, instruction or that which is taught.

In the New Testament it also carries the idea of a more developed set of truths or practices which are to be learned and followed.

This is the foundation of our understanding of what doctrine is.

We begin this morning where all good theological studies should begin, with scripture itself.

If one were to look over the course of Church history one would notice that the first few centuries of the Church were preoccupied with the question: Who is Jesus?

It was the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. which settled that question, affirming both the humanity and divinity of the Lord.

For more than a thousand years after this the question became: What is the Church?

It was during this period that the Roman Catholic Church sought to be recognized as the only true church.

Then the reformation came and in the early 16th century a renewed understanding of what makes one a member of God’s family was ushered in by Martin Luther who preached that we are saved by grace through faith and that our salvation could not be dependent upon anyone other than Jesus.

But since the reformation the questions have shifted from the Son of God and the Family of God, to the Word of God.

The raging battle during the last several centuries has been over the nature and authority of scripture.

What is scripture?

How can we know it is God’s word?

Is it reliable?

What evidence is there that scripture is reliable and why did God give us His word?

 

Let’s begin this morning by examining the nature of scripture, what is it.

Then we’ll look at the witnesses to scripture and finally we’ll take a look at the purpose of scripture.

*1.

Nature of Scripture  - Word of God*

 

As Southern Baptists our confessional statement, the Baptist Faith and Message, states that:

“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 truth 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.”

(The Baptist Faith and Message 2000)

As we seek to understand the nature of the scripture, that is, what the bible is, there are *three terms *we should understand.

The first is the term, “revelation.”

A.

The Bible is Divine *revelation* \\   \\ Revelation is the direct divine influence which communicates truth from God to man.

There are two types of revelation: General revelation and special revelation.

General revelation is where God reveals His nature and purpose through creation and through history.

Psalm 19:1 says that the “Heaven’s declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims the work of His hands.”

Romans 1:20 assures us that, “From the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, that is His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He made.

As a result, people are without excuse.”

That’s why the scripture says that the fool has said in his heart that there is no God.

One has but to look at the intricacies of nature or of the human body to realize that there is a Creator.

Only a fool or a person with an atheistic agenda could come out and say that the universe was an accident.

I’ve seen many accidents in my day and never had I seen one of them create a flower, a puppy, a child or a galaxy.

You see, God has revealed Himself to all humanity through creation.

But general revelation, by itself, is insufficient to tell us all God wanted us to know about Himself and His plan for humanity.

That’s why He gave us scripture.

Scripture, at its core, is God’s written revelation of Himself to us.

It is the only source available to us of certain knowledge about God.

Without scripture, each of us would be left on our own to figure out Who He is, what He is like and how we can relate to Him.

Scripture is God’s written revelation of Himself to us.

The ancient Egyptians had no written revelation of their gods like we have from our God.

They did not have the certain word we have about Who God is and how we can relate to Him.

That’s why the ruins of their temples are filled with depictions of their gods as half animal and half man.

In their fallen state they imagined God’s after their own image and after the image of created things.

Because we have Scripture, God’s revelation of Himself to humanity, we are not left to wonder.

We don’t have to grope in the darkness trying to imagine who God is and what He is like.

Scripture tells us all these things.

The Bible is God’s written revelation of Himself to us.

The second term we need to understand in “Inspiration.”

B.

The Bible is Divinely *Inspired *-

 

When the bible says that all scripture is inspired by God, it is speaking about a special kind of inspiration.

It’s not the kind of inspiration Mozart or Beethoven had when they composed musical masterpieces and it’s not the kind of inspiration you have when you see a sunset and are moved to write a poem.

This is a different kind of inspiration; a unique type of inspiration.

In 2 Timothy 3:16 the Bible says that all scripture is inspired by God.

This word literally means, God-breathed.

The doctrine or teaching of the inspiration of scripture simply tells us that the scripture is an accurate transference of truth from God to man in language which we can understand.

We hold to an understanding of inspiration known as the verbal plenary theory.

Simply put this means that as a musician blows air through his musical instrument to create a specific sound, God’s Spirit blew through the instrumentation of humanity to produce a certain and perfect word.

Every word of the Bible is fully inspired and is exactly what God intended it to be.

Can you imagine how much God had to dumb it down for us to be able to get it?

And the thing is, even though there is much we can understand, we will never understand it all.

God’s word is like its author: We can know Him truly but we can never know Him fully.

Even when we get to heaven, when we are able to see more clearly and to understand more fully, we will ever be the creations and He will ever be the Creator.

We will never fully understand all there is to know about God.

But there is a wonderful verse in Deuteronomy 29:29 which says, “The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.”

The divine inspiration of scripture assures us that it is the word of God not merely the words of man.

It is exactly what God wanted us to know, nothing more and nothing less.

It is inspired, or breathed by His Spirit.

This gives us a confidence and a certainty that we can rely upon.

The third term we need understand is the word “Canon.”

C.

The Bible is a completed *Canon *–

 

You may have heard people speak to the Canon of scripture.

What they are talking about is the completed record of God’s word.