Divine Truth, 12 August 2018
14 08 18 Filed in: Sermons | Truth on Trial
Divine Truth
D6 Series—Truth on Trial
2 Timothy 3:12-17
Series Overview: God is truth and the source of all truth.
Big Idea: The Bible is God’s message to all humans, revealing Jesus, the truth.
Truth.
Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
Jesus had already declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
Our August series, Truth on Trial, is a look at how God reveals Himself to us.
Last week we said general revelation is God speaking through creation:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)
Every creation has a creator. You can’t get something from nothing. Now theoretically speaking, some scientists from the University of Michigan have said you can conjure particles from a vacuum under the right conditions, but actually even then their “nothing” is something, according to Popular Science magazine.
This building had a creator…or creators. It didn’t just appear one day. This space reflects the creativity of its creators.
Someone designed and created my shoes. The same can be said for my phone and car and drinking mug. Music and paintings and sculptures all reflect their artist.
If you look at nature, you will see incredible examples of God’s creativity. I know, there are some who believe this is all one big cosmic accident or that aliens are responsible for our universe (seriously!), but I choose to believe in a Creator…and Romans 1:20 affirms it.
But last week we said there’s another way God speaks, another source of truth. We call it special revelation. Special revelation refers to God revealing Himself through supernatural means, including dreams, visions, physical appearances, the Bible, and most of all Jesus. Our focus last Sunday was on Jesus. He is the truth. God is true. Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus is true. Jesus is truth. He makes the rules. We follow them…or suffer the consequences.
Today we turn our attention to another type of special revelation—the Bible. Is it truth? Can we trust it? How do we study it? What is its purpose?
What is the Bible, and why should I care? I’m glad you asked!
I was raised to believe in the importance of reading the Bible. As a child, I didn’t understand a lot of it, but I was told—like vitamins—it was just good for me.
It could’ve been worse! I could’ve been raised Catholic during the era of the Latin Mass, sitting through Sunday after Sunday unable to understand a single word spoken!
The Bible is not a book, but rather a collection of books. There are 66 books, written by approximately 40 people over 1500 years in three languages—Hebrew, Greek, and a bit of Aramaic. The authors were kings, leaders, servants, and everything in between. There are poems, stories, wisdom, prophecies, and instructions. Yet for all of its diversity, it has a marvelous unity to it. I don’t think its an overstatement to call it a miracle.
The Bible is the most popular book in history. If included in the NY Times bestseller list, it would be number one every single year.
It is the most powerful book in history. Millions of lives have been transformed by these writings.
It is the most precious book in history. People have devoted their lives to translating it into more languages than any other book in history, some even dying for the right to do so or acquire copies of it.
But despite its uniqueness among other books—sacred or secular—its purpose is most important. The Bible is a fantastic tool we have for understanding Jesus…and ourselves. It addresses life’s most fundamental questions, including origin, meaning, morality, purpose, hope, love, and eternity.
My friend Alex is often asked how he knows the Bible is true. He says, “If it’s not, it should be!” There’s nothing like it. Nothing!
Today’s scripture reading offers both a brilliant declaration about the Bible along with an important message for how to read the Bible. Paul is writing to his apprentice, Timothy. He writes,
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:12-17)
These last two verses are the most popular in this text.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Some have wrongly concluded the Bible was dictated by God to its authors, the breath of God turning into words on a page. Others seem to feel the Bible itself becomes God. Some have tragically turned the Trinity into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Bible. Our English vocabulary fails to perfectly describe the original Greek word. Some have translated it “God-spirited.” We naturally jump to thinking Paul is referring to the 66 books we have in our leather-bound Bibles, but since the New Testament had not yet been compiled, he is speaking of the Old Testament and, no doubt, oral sources. This phrase “God-breathed” or “God-spirited” is unique not only in the Bible but also in Greek literature before Paul’s time. He was likely creating a word picture to convey the idea that God’s Spirit is behind the images and narratives we have in Scripture.
That alone makes the Bible unique. People put pen to paper—or papyrus—but the Bible is God-inspired. If that’s true, we can say Scripture is God’s divine truth. It is unlike any other piece of literature. Human authors wrote it, but they were filled and inspired by God the Holy Spirit.
Peter wrote,
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
The Alliance Statement of Faith says,
The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men. They constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice.
As I stated last Sunday, I am not the authority at First Alliance Church, nor is our District Superintendent, Thomas George, or the Alliance President, Dr. John Stumbo. Because the Bible was inspired by God, it is our best source of special revelation, that which reveals God to us. God is our authority. Jesus is our Senior Pastor. The Bible is the best tool we have for learning about God…in order to know God.
You can read a biography of George Washington and learn about him, but it won’t lead to a relationship with him.
The Bible contains four biographies of Jesus—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—but it provides so much more than facts. Taken as a whole, the Bible is a beautiful narrative, a love story of God and humanity.
I find it simply astonishing that the Creator of the universe would speak to us, not only through creation, but through the Bible and Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1-2)
Listen to the Father’s heart as recorded in the book of Jeremiah the prophet:
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:12-14)
God speaks through Jesus and the Bible so that we might know Him, not just about Him. He wants us to find Him! He wants us to know Him! The Bible is not to be approached as an encyclopedia to acquire facts, but rather a love letter to build a relationship. Yes, there are facts and instructions, stories and prophecies, but the overarching message is that of a Father to His children, expressing His character, love, and desires, inviting them into a deeper relationship with Himself while challenging them to obey and follow.
So What?
If the Bible is divine, we must read it…and obey. Jesus’ half brother, James, stated it so plainly.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)
We read and study the Bible to know God and to know God’s will for our lives and to obey him. This idea of obedience is not politically correct in our society. We like to do our own thing. We like to create our own rules, be our own person, do what feels good, and pursue individual happiness. That works…until it doesn’t! If God is God, He knows best. I love these words from God to Job:
“Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!’
“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
As the light approaches,
the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
it is robed in brilliant colors.
The light disturbs the wicked
and stops the arm that is raised in violence.
“Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!
That’s just the beginning, but you get the idea! If God is God, He knows best. He makes the rules. He is the authority. We can choose to follow God and His Word or follow our own sinful desires and suffer the consequences.
It amazes me how many so-called Christians have complete disregard for the Bible. They like the idea of God and His love, but ignore His wisdom, His will, His instructions. I have one friend who claims to follow God yet is choosing to deliberately violate the clear teachings of the Bible because…He thinks He knows better than God?
Family, we all mess up, we fall…and we are to get up. I’m not talking struggles with sin. I’m speaking of willfully picking and choosing things from the Bible. It’s not a buffet! Either the Bible is true and authoritative or it’s not.
We often struggle with the commands:
Mark Twain famously said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
Here’s my simple challenge to you: read the Bible this week!
Read it on your phone. The YouVersion website and app are totally free.
Listen to it on your phone. The YouVersion website and app are totally free.
Study with Pastor Soper at Mission 119. The website and app are totally free.
Grab a copy of the New Living Translation of the Bible at our Information Center. Free!
Read a verse. A chapter. A book. A great place to start is the book of Mark. It’s the shortest biography of Jesus.
If you want a challenge to your lifestyle, read the book of James. It will rock your world.
Looking for a way to connect with God in praise? Study the Psalms.
Jesus said,
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)
Do you know Jesus? Do you know His voice? The Bible is one of our primary tools for knowing Jesus, hearing His voice, and obediently follow Hiim.
In closing, most people who say they don’t believe the Bible have never read it! I think most people who say they do believe the Bible have never read it! This is God’s special revelation to us! The Creator of the universe! You owe it to yourself to read it…not for information, but for transformation. It’s all about Jesus!
Credits: some ideas from D6.
You can listen to this message and others at the First Alliance Church podcast here.
D6 Series—Truth on Trial
2 Timothy 3:12-17
Series Overview: God is truth and the source of all truth.
Big Idea: The Bible is God’s message to all humans, revealing Jesus, the truth.
Truth.
Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” (John 18:38)
Jesus had already declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
Our August series, Truth on Trial, is a look at how God reveals Himself to us.
Last week we said general revelation is God speaking through creation:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)
Every creation has a creator. You can’t get something from nothing. Now theoretically speaking, some scientists from the University of Michigan have said you can conjure particles from a vacuum under the right conditions, but actually even then their “nothing” is something, according to Popular Science magazine.
This building had a creator…or creators. It didn’t just appear one day. This space reflects the creativity of its creators.
Someone designed and created my shoes. The same can be said for my phone and car and drinking mug. Music and paintings and sculptures all reflect their artist.
If you look at nature, you will see incredible examples of God’s creativity. I know, there are some who believe this is all one big cosmic accident or that aliens are responsible for our universe (seriously!), but I choose to believe in a Creator…and Romans 1:20 affirms it.
But last week we said there’s another way God speaks, another source of truth. We call it special revelation. Special revelation refers to God revealing Himself through supernatural means, including dreams, visions, physical appearances, the Bible, and most of all Jesus. Our focus last Sunday was on Jesus. He is the truth. God is true. Jesus is God. Therefore, Jesus is true. Jesus is truth. He makes the rules. We follow them…or suffer the consequences.
Today we turn our attention to another type of special revelation—the Bible. Is it truth? Can we trust it? How do we study it? What is its purpose?
What is the Bible, and why should I care? I’m glad you asked!
I was raised to believe in the importance of reading the Bible. As a child, I didn’t understand a lot of it, but I was told—like vitamins—it was just good for me.
It could’ve been worse! I could’ve been raised Catholic during the era of the Latin Mass, sitting through Sunday after Sunday unable to understand a single word spoken!
The Bible is not a book, but rather a collection of books. There are 66 books, written by approximately 40 people over 1500 years in three languages—Hebrew, Greek, and a bit of Aramaic. The authors were kings, leaders, servants, and everything in between. There are poems, stories, wisdom, prophecies, and instructions. Yet for all of its diversity, it has a marvelous unity to it. I don’t think its an overstatement to call it a miracle.
The Bible is the most popular book in history. If included in the NY Times bestseller list, it would be number one every single year.
It is the most powerful book in history. Millions of lives have been transformed by these writings.
It is the most precious book in history. People have devoted their lives to translating it into more languages than any other book in history, some even dying for the right to do so or acquire copies of it.
But despite its uniqueness among other books—sacred or secular—its purpose is most important. The Bible is a fantastic tool we have for understanding Jesus…and ourselves. It addresses life’s most fundamental questions, including origin, meaning, morality, purpose, hope, love, and eternity.
My friend Alex is often asked how he knows the Bible is true. He says, “If it’s not, it should be!” There’s nothing like it. Nothing!
Today’s scripture reading offers both a brilliant declaration about the Bible along with an important message for how to read the Bible. Paul is writing to his apprentice, Timothy. He writes,
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:12-17)
These last two verses are the most popular in this text.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Some have wrongly concluded the Bible was dictated by God to its authors, the breath of God turning into words on a page. Others seem to feel the Bible itself becomes God. Some have tragically turned the Trinity into the Father, the Son, and the Holy Bible. Our English vocabulary fails to perfectly describe the original Greek word. Some have translated it “God-spirited.” We naturally jump to thinking Paul is referring to the 66 books we have in our leather-bound Bibles, but since the New Testament had not yet been compiled, he is speaking of the Old Testament and, no doubt, oral sources. This phrase “God-breathed” or “God-spirited” is unique not only in the Bible but also in Greek literature before Paul’s time. He was likely creating a word picture to convey the idea that God’s Spirit is behind the images and narratives we have in Scripture.
That alone makes the Bible unique. People put pen to paper—or papyrus—but the Bible is God-inspired. If that’s true, we can say Scripture is God’s divine truth. It is unlike any other piece of literature. Human authors wrote it, but they were filled and inspired by God the Holy Spirit.
Peter wrote,
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:20-21)
The Alliance Statement of Faith says,
The Old and New Testaments, inerrant as originally given, were verbally inspired by God and are a complete revelation of His will for the salvation of men. They constitute the divine and only rule of Christian faith and practice.
As I stated last Sunday, I am not the authority at First Alliance Church, nor is our District Superintendent, Thomas George, or the Alliance President, Dr. John Stumbo. Because the Bible was inspired by God, it is our best source of special revelation, that which reveals God to us. God is our authority. Jesus is our Senior Pastor. The Bible is the best tool we have for learning about God…in order to know God.
You can read a biography of George Washington and learn about him, but it won’t lead to a relationship with him.
The Bible contains four biographies of Jesus—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—but it provides so much more than facts. Taken as a whole, the Bible is a beautiful narrative, a love story of God and humanity.
I find it simply astonishing that the Creator of the universe would speak to us, not only through creation, but through the Bible and Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. (Hebrews 1:1-2)
Listen to the Father’s heart as recorded in the book of Jeremiah the prophet:
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” (Jeremiah 29:12-14)
God speaks through Jesus and the Bible so that we might know Him, not just about Him. He wants us to find Him! He wants us to know Him! The Bible is not to be approached as an encyclopedia to acquire facts, but rather a love letter to build a relationship. Yes, there are facts and instructions, stories and prophecies, but the overarching message is that of a Father to His children, expressing His character, love, and desires, inviting them into a deeper relationship with Himself while challenging them to obey and follow.
So What?
If the Bible is divine, we must read it…and obey. Jesus’ half brother, James, stated it so plainly.
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)
We read and study the Bible to know God and to know God’s will for our lives and to obey him. This idea of obedience is not politically correct in our society. We like to do our own thing. We like to create our own rules, be our own person, do what feels good, and pursue individual happiness. That works…until it doesn’t! If God is God, He knows best. I love these words from God to Job:
“Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone
as the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
“Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!’
“Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
As the light approaches,
the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal;
it is robed in brilliant colors.
The light disturbs the wicked
and stops the arm that is raised in violence.
“Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!
That’s just the beginning, but you get the idea! If God is God, He knows best. He makes the rules. He is the authority. We can choose to follow God and His Word or follow our own sinful desires and suffer the consequences.
It amazes me how many so-called Christians have complete disregard for the Bible. They like the idea of God and His love, but ignore His wisdom, His will, His instructions. I have one friend who claims to follow God yet is choosing to deliberately violate the clear teachings of the Bible because…He thinks He knows better than God?
Family, we all mess up, we fall…and we are to get up. I’m not talking struggles with sin. I’m speaking of willfully picking and choosing things from the Bible. It’s not a buffet! Either the Bible is true and authoritative or it’s not.
We often struggle with the commands:
- - Love your neighbor as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; Matthew 19:18; Mark 12:31)
- - Care for the hungry, the stranger, the sick, the prisoner (Matthew 25:40)
- - If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it (Matthew 16:25)
- - Whoever divorces and marries another commits adultery (Matthew 5:27-32; Mark 10:11-12; Luke 16:18)
- - You must be perfect (Matthew 5:48)
- - The last will be first, and the first last (Matthew 20:1-16)
- - Judge not, that you be not judged (Matthew 7:1-6)
- - Renounce all your possessions (Luke 14:33)
- - Abstain from all sexual immorality (Matthew 15:19; Acts 15:20; 1 Corinthians 6:18)
- - Do not lie (Leviticus 19:11)
- - No other gods, including the person in the mirror (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7)
- - Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant (Mark 10:43)
Mark Twain famously said, “It ain’t those parts of the Bible that I can’t understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand.”
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)
Here’s my simple challenge to you: read the Bible this week!
Read it on your phone. The YouVersion website and app are totally free.
Listen to it on your phone. The YouVersion website and app are totally free.
Study with Pastor Soper at Mission 119. The website and app are totally free.
Grab a copy of the New Living Translation of the Bible at our Information Center. Free!
Read a verse. A chapter. A book. A great place to start is the book of Mark. It’s the shortest biography of Jesus.
If you want a challenge to your lifestyle, read the book of James. It will rock your world.
Looking for a way to connect with God in praise? Study the Psalms.
Jesus said,
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (John 10:27)
Do you know Jesus? Do you know His voice? The Bible is one of our primary tools for knowing Jesus, hearing His voice, and obediently follow Hiim.
In closing, most people who say they don’t believe the Bible have never read it! I think most people who say they do believe the Bible have never read it! This is God’s special revelation to us! The Creator of the universe! You owe it to yourself to read it…not for information, but for transformation. It’s all about Jesus!
Credits: some ideas from D6.